52 WILD LIFE PROTECTION FUND 



At this point we were in a wild country, which was but 

 little fenced, and much of the time I was engaged in geo- 

 logical research work on foot, so that if there had been any- 

 game in the country I certainly had excellent opportunities 

 for noting it. I did see about four coyotes, and flushed 

 perhaps half a dozen cottontail rabbits and jack rabbits, 

 and half a dozen grouse. I was told by ranchmen that 

 there were a few scattered antelope in the country, but 

 that they were fast disappearing. I was greatly shocked 

 by this absence of all wild life in this corner of Alberta, 

 which is a wild and desolate region, and one that would 

 receive the benefit of any overflow from the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, which are close at hand. 



Returning to Calgary, I took in a trip to Lake Louise 

 and back to Edmonton, where I was joined by my friend, 

 Mr. Theodosius F. Stevens, who came from New York over 

 that part of the Grand Trunk system, newly opened from 

 Toronto to Winnipeg which runs via North Bay and Coch- 

 rane. In response to my query to Mr. Stevens as to what 

 he had seen on the way, he replied as follows : 



"I believe I was the first passenger to whom a railroad 

 ticket was sold from New York over that part of the Grand 

 Trunk system running between Toronto and Winnipeg, via 

 North Bay and Cochrane, a distance of 1,257 miles. The 

 first through train left Toronto on July 13, 1915, and the 

 second through train, which was the one I took, left To- 

 ronto on July 15th. 



"Most of the country through which the road ran was 

 hardly settled at all. The railroad stations, for the most 

 part, were the only indication of human habitation. Occa- 

 sionally a small clearing and shack would appear in what 

 would otherwise have been an unbroken wilderness for 

 stretches of hundreds of miles. The timber was poor and 

 mean, and showed signs of extensive burning in a great 

 many places. 



"Although on the outlook for it, I saw not the slightest 

 trace of mammalian wild life, with the exception of a few 

 rabbits, and beyond a few water-fowl saw no birds of any 

 character." 



From Edmonton Mr. Stevens and I went over the Grand 

 Trunk Road to the newly opened Jasper Park, located in 

 the main Rockies at the Yellow Head Pass. Here we spent 

 several days, fishing and riding over the mountains. My 

 guides told me that it was an excellent bear country, and 



