52 



E. Petitot on the Athabasca District. 



away wild fowl, having caused such a famine that many died of 

 hunger and misery between 1879 and 1881. There were 900 

 Chipewyans and 300 Crees at Fort Chipewyan in 1862, but in 

 1879 I could only find 537 Chipewyans and 86 Crees, even includ- 

 ing those living on the river Athabasca. Now there is but one 

 single family of Crees at the lake, and the remnants of the tribe 

 have gone away to join their fellows of the Peace River. 



The same fate has befallen the Chipewyans. In their total of 

 500 must be reckoned those of Fort Smith, at the foot of the 

 rapids of the Slave Eiver, as well as those of Salt River, and 

 many families of the Great Slave Lake and Ox River. 



In short, the Athabasca district, comprising the Peace River 

 and parts of both the Lesser and Great Slave Lakes, now contain 

 no more than 2268 souls, including 150 half-castes and fifty-seven 

 white men of various origin — English, Scotch, Irish, and 

 French-Canadians. 



The following are the exact statistics in 1879, for which I am 

 indebted to Mr. R. McFarlane, the chief of the district: — 



Forts. 



Tinuej 



Crees. 



Half 



Castes- 



Whites 



Chipewyan, Smith, and Small Bed River ) 

 together 



537 



86 



50 



28 



Fond-du-Lac 



318 





15 



2 



Resolution (Slave Lake) 



300 





25 



15 



Vermillion (Peace River) 



234 



6 



15 



2 



Maclinrray (Clear- Water River) 



31 



22 



10 



4 



Dunvegan(Peace River)and Battle,together 



195 



137 



20 



6 



St. John or D'Epinette (Peace River) and ) 

 Slave Lake, together j 



195 





15 













1810 



251 



150 



57 



Grand total of the Athabasca district, 2268 



The following statistics of the whole Athabasca and Mackenzie 

 Redskin population (including women and children), were col- 

 lected with great care by myself in various localities in which I 

 have visited or stayed in at different times. I have before me 

 synoptical tables by tribes and families, including even the names 

 of the individuals. 



