The Great North- West 383 



discussing the political relations between the North-West and the 

 older portions of the Dominion, I wish, with a view to impressing 

 the reader with the great agricultural and pastoral advantages and 

 the vast natural resources of those areas to give yet a more com- 

 plete description of that part of Canada. 



The extent of the prairie country has already been hinted at. 

 I refer to that portion of it within the Canadian North -West. It 

 commences where the 49th parallel intersects the 95th meridian, 

 and trends north- westwardly for more than fifteen hundred miles 

 to the Peace River ; and beyond its width varies from two hundred 

 to five hundred miles. The whole area is computed to contain over 

 1,000,000 square miles, but the best informed authorities place the 

 fertile lands within those limits at 300,000,000 acres. The whole 

 territory has been divided into five districts, viz.: the Province of 

 Manitoba, and the territories of Assiniboia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, 

 and Athabaska. These are unquestionably destined to become the 

 five future great Provinces of the Dominion, and to contain a popu- 

 lation greater than all other portions of Canada together outside 

 of them. 



Although the five districts named conform to natural geo- 

 graphical divisions, there are no marked differences to place one in 

 contrast with the other. The climate, in winter, will be found 

 most severe in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, while in Alberta and 

 Athabaska it is much milder. Assiniboia may be regarded as 

 between these. For a long time it was supposed that these vast 

 territories were scarcely habitable on account of the severity of the 

 climate, and that only a small portion of them was fit for success- 

 ful agricultural pursuits. Now it is well known that, although the 

 winters are long and quite cold, there is no part of the world in 

 which mankind reaches a healthier or hardier physical manhood 

 than in the North- West. It is indeed the healthiest portion of the 

 known world. Not only is this the case, but these vast territories 

 are proven to be the greatest bread and meat producing areas on 

 the face of the globe. These astonishing facts have been long in 

 reaching the minds of men, but they are now pretty generally 

 known, and, with their recognition, the status of Canada is greatly 



