CHAPTER XIII 



THE PELLY MOUNTAINS 1905 



July 22. The next day was very hot, and after sifting 

 out provisions for the trip and arranging a pack for 

 Danger to carry, we spent the rest of the time about 

 Nahanni House. It consisted of nothing but a small log 

 cabin used for a store ; a small log warehouse, and another 

 cabin which Lewis occupied. Jim Grew, who had con- 

 structed a small cabin across the river for head-quarters 

 while trapping during the winter, had charge of the post 

 during Lewis's absence. He was over seventy-five years 

 old and had served at different Hudson Bay trading posts 

 all the way from Labrador to the Pacific. Though still 

 active, he was too old for the hard work necessary for 

 successful trapping; nevertheless he could not depart from 

 his old life, and chose to die in the wilderness. His life 

 was a mere existence, and three years later he was found 

 dead in a cabin on the MacMillan. Dan McKinnon, his 

 partner, was occupying Grew's cabin. Van Bibber, a 

 stalwart fellow brought up in the mountains of Kentucky, 

 was there to meet his partner, Van Gorda, and with him 

 was a young Indian boy from Liard Post. These two 

 men had wintered in the vicinity of the Pelly Lakes, and 



had planned to return there. 



194 



