156 FOURTH EXPLORATION, 1880 



Superior. In 1870, Riel revolted and was quelled by General 

 Wolseley, who took a large number of Canadians across from Port 

 Arthur to Winnipeg. The next move of John A. was to unite 

 the Eastern Provinces with British Columbia, and this was ac- 

 complished in 1871. In making the bargain, he agreed with 

 British Columbia to build a railroad from Ontario to the Pacific 

 so as to connect the whole country. This bargain was strenuously 

 opposed by the so-called Liberals, or, as they were called then, 

 the "Grits." This opposition continued for over fifteen years. 



I will now try to explain the cause of the delay and difficulty 

 that occured in connection with the building of the road. Cap- 

 tain Palliser had been instructed by the British Government to 

 see if it were possible to overcome the difficulties of connection 

 between the Canadas and the country west of Lake Superior and 

 north of the 49th Parallel. Palliser was sent out in the year 1857 

 with a party of engineers and scientific men to see if there were 

 any practicable passes in the Rocky Mountains by which horses 

 could cross to British Columbia. After spending the summers of 

 1857, 1858 and 1859 in exploring the country, he returned and 

 reported on his mission. His conclusions regarding the passes 

 through the mountains were as accurate as his conclusions regard- 

 ing the lands. On page sixteen of his report is this revelation 

 "The connection, therefore, of the Saskatchewan plains east of 

 the Rocky Mountains, with a known route through British Co- 

 lumbia, has been effected by the expedition under my command 

 without our having been under a necessity of passing through 

 any portion of the United States' territory. Still, the knowledge 

 of the country, on the whole, would never lead me to advocate a 

 line of communication from Canada, across the continent to the 

 Pacific, exclusively through British territory. The time has now 

 forever gone by for effecting such an object. The unfortunate 

 choice of an astronomical boundary line has completely isolated 

 the Central American possession of Great Britain from Canada, 

 in the east, and almost debarred them from eligible access from 

 the Pacific, on the coast of the west." 



Years came and went; Canada acquired control of the in- 

 terior, united with British Columbia, and, as a part of the con- 



