SOURCES OF THE SASKATCHEWAN 119 



feet high. It lias never been seen from the Little Fork valley, 

 though it cannot be more than 10 miles distant. 



On July 22 we marched six hours, and reached Saskatchewan 

 river. The trail is very good, and runs for many miles through 

 forests of splendid timber, especially in the great valley of the 

 Saskatchewan. At the forks or junction the Saskatchewan is a 

 rapid stream about 150 yards wide and apparently quite deep, 

 and the pure blue waters of the Little Fork are soon lost to view 

 in the muddy volume of the main river. The Saskatchewan 

 valley is about four miles wide at this point, the river itself flow- 

 ing between bluffs of glacial drift, and while the massive moun- 

 tains on every side are between 10,000 and 12,000 feet high, they 

 are less imposing than usual because of their distance. The 

 main river runs about northeast, cutting through the mountain 

 ranges, and taking its source to the southwest among the highest 

 glacier-bearing peaks of the summit range. 



A very large tributary, which we called the "North Fork," 

 comes in from the northwest and joins the main river about one 

 mile above the Little Fork. This river is not correctly placed 

 on Palliser's map, nor was there any available information about 

 the region whence it comes. Even Stony Indians who travel 

 through these mountains know little of this river, because, it is 

 said, many years ago one of their tribe was lost while hunting 

 in that region, and they think he was destroyed by an evil spirit 

 dwelling there. At all events, they will take no chances in visit- 

 ing that part of the country now. 



Our route to the Athabasca, however, lay up this river, and 

 our first duty was to find a ford across the Saskatchewan. A 

 day w r as spent in finding a safe place, as the river was in summer 

 flood, though not at its highest stage. Mr Barrett, with charac- 

 teristic energy, discovered a ford about one mile upstream, where 

 the river spreads out among low sand islands to the width of 

 nearly half a mile. 



A sense of relief came when, the next day, after fording the 

 turbulent Little Fork, we had crossed the main river, which is 

 of great size at this point, only 30 miles from its most distant 

 source, and were safely on its north side. Turning northward 

 along a high bluff, we came in a short time to the North Fork, 

 which appears to equal the so-called Middle Fork or main river. 

 Aliout one mile above its mouth the North Fork flows between 

 rocky banks, and there is a fall or rapid in a constricted channel 

 blocked by immense masses of fallen cliff, where the water surges 



