Vol. XIII, No. 5 



WASHINGTON 



May, 1902 







• c =jT» - jZJ7rg 1 



'ATffiDNAL 

 ©MAIPHIKD 

 ZE 







RECENT EXPLORATION IN 

 CANADIAN ROCKIES 



THE 



By Walter D. Wilcox 



BETWEEN the United States 

 boundary and the Canadian 

 Pacific Railroad lies a part of 

 the Rocky Mountains which remains 

 unexplored. Captain Palliser, search- 

 ing for a pass across the Rockies, went 

 through the northern part of this region 

 half a century ago, but traveled so rap- 

 idly that his notes, even on the part he 

 visited, have almost no geographic 

 value. This large area, which is a 

 blank on Dawson's map, represents 

 more than 2.000 square miles in the 

 main range of the Rockies. Many trib- 

 utaries of the Elk and Kootenai Rivers 

 rise in this unknown region. Of these 

 the Bull River, a torrent too wild to be 

 crossed on a raft and too deep to ford 

 with horses, descends from the southern 

 part, its canyons and timber-choked 

 valley having defied every attempt to 

 find its source. 



Last summer Mr. Henry G. Bryant 

 and the writer made an expedition with 

 the purpose of exploring this region. 

 We planned also to make on our way 

 south an ascent of Mt. Assiniboine, a 

 conspicuous and superb peak of the 

 main range. In the latter attempt we 



were defeated. One of our Swiss guides 

 was bucked off a pony and his arm dis- 

 located on the way to the mountain's 

 base, and we had the further misfortune 

 of three days' stormy weather, which 

 covered the mountain with snow. We, 

 however, reached a point 11,000 feet 

 above sea-level on its southern slopes, 

 where we were compelled to turn back 

 by avalanches falling continuously on 

 every side. 



Four days later we reached our main 

 camp, near the forks of the Spray River, 

 20 miles south of Banff. Here we dis- 

 missed the two Swiss guides, and gave 

 them saddle horses and escort of one of 

 our men to a point within walking dis- 

 tance of the railroad. The two other 

 men were sent to cut out the trail for 

 the first day's march. 



A description of our outfit and gen- 

 eral plan is here advisable. Our Indian 

 ponies — fourteen in number — two tents 

 and Indian teepee, with sufficient provis- 

 ions for a long and hard journey, were 

 supplied at Banff by T. E. Wilson. Our 

 men were Tom Lusk, James Wood, and 

 Ben. Wood worth, the two former serv- 

 ing as packers and the latter as cook. 



