A CANOE TRIP TO RAINY LAKE. 



II \KKY SI I.YKK. 



Gold-bearing quartz was discovered in 



Northern Minnesota in the summer of [893, 

 though it was really known to a Few hunters 



20 years earlier. It was never fully investi- 

 gated, owin^ to the lack of railway facili- 

 ties, and to the country being broken by 

 lakes and water-courses, so that getting in 

 and out was accomplished with difficulty. 

 Notwithstanding these drawbacks, many a 

 hardy prospector traveled through the 

 region North of Rainy lake, and washed 

 " colors " from pounded rock. 



The last discoveries were on the shore of 

 Rainy lake and along Rainy Lake river, the 

 Northern boundary of Minnesota. The 

 only way to this new Eldorado was by a 

 land-and-water route from Duluth, or a 

 water route from the Lake of the Woods, 

 up the Rainy river. As both ways were 

 roundabout we decided, when the trip was 

 planned, to make our way across from 

 Fosston, Minnesota, to Rainy Lake city, 

 and add the exploring of an undeveloped 

 region to the pleasures of an outing. 



Early in the spring of '94, W. J. Hilligoss, 

 a veteran cruiser of Northern Minnesota, 

 Fred Ayers and I, left Fosston by team for 

 Red lake, 65 miles distant. Red Lake 

 Agency was reached the next day, just in 

 time to get the Captain of the steamer to 

 delay starting until we could arrange for 

 canoes, guides, etc. With the assistance 

 of the merchant at the Agency, who spoke 

 Chippewa, we engaged 2 Indians to show 

 us an old trail and portage from the head 

 waters of the Tamarac ro the Sturgeon. 

 We bought a birch-bark canoe and some 

 supplies, and loaded all on the steamer. 



A ride of 40 miles to the Northeast end 

 of the lake brought us near the mouth of 

 Tamarac river, where we were landed about 

 midnight. We at once turned in and slept 

 till sunrise. 



Our canoes were soon loaded for the long 

 voyage. The canoe of the guides was made 

 to carry all that could be put into it. They 

 watched the loads, and as the pile in theirs 

 grew larger, and the pile on shore dimin- 

 ished, they showed such signs of displeasure 

 we had to let them go; though when we 

 came to load our canoe, and 3 of us got 

 into it, we found it too heavily laden. 



The bank where we embarked sloped ab- 

 ruptly into 15 or 20 feet of water, so it was 

 with shaky feeling that we pushed off. 

 No accident happened, however. We pad- 

 dled steadily until about 3 p. m., when we 

 stopped for lunch. Hungry enough we 

 were. For 3 hours we had been looking 

 for the dry landing place our guides kept 

 telling us was just ahead, but finally getting 

 disgusted with their idea of distance, we 



pushed our canoe to the dryesl looking 

 shore we could see. It may have been dry 

 at one time, but now 2 feet of water covered 



it while dry grass, matted above, gave it 

 the appearance of land. By hanging tin- 

 tea-pot on a limb, and building a fire of 



grass and twigs, we soon had tea, which, 

 with our cold meats and baker's br< 

 made us forget we had had an unusually 

 hard half-day's work. 



The journey was continued until sun- 

 down. Then, for want of a better place, 

 we camped in a tamarac swamp and swung 

 our hammocks to the trees. 



The next day at noon we reached the 

 portage. Here our supplies were done up 

 into packs, suitable for carrying on the 

 back. We made one for each of the Ind- 

 ians, who were under agreement to do all 

 the packing. They sat by and watched us. 

 When all was ready to make the start at the 

 portage, they got up and walked back to 

 their canoes and took the homeward route. 

 The work before them was too much. We 

 saw no more of them; but as they were to 

 be paid when we reached the Sturgeon, we 

 were not out anything. Their departure 

 was not regretted, although we were at the 

 beginning of a portage we knew nothing 

 about. 



We began packing along the trail, over 

 trees and stumps, through dense under- 

 growth, and swampy places in which we 

 sank to the knees at every step. Six trips 

 were made, before sunset, to a point about 

 a quarter of a mile from the starting place. 

 ' Here also we were obliged to swing our 

 hammocks, as water stood all about. This 

 being the second experience in fastening 

 our hammocks, we missed some of the ex- 

 citement of the night before, when Hilli- 

 goss had stood up in his hammock, bal- 

 ancing himself on one leg while pulling the 

 boot off the other. You can imagine the 

 result; no bucking broncho ever landed 

 his rider in better style. 



The hard work of this part of the portage 

 started the veteran out early next morning, 

 along the trail, to find how far it was across 

 to the Sturgeon, and in what condition the 

 trail might be. In the meantime, the rest 

 of us moved the supplies another notch 

 along the route. About noon our friend re- 

 turned with the information that it was 4 T i 

 miles to the river, and that he had met some 

 acquaintances, land hunters, w r ho would 

 help us. 



With 3 hardy fellows added to our party, 

 we made good headway. Camp was pitched 

 that night in 2 feet of water; dry land could 

 not be found. By cutting a large number 

 of small jack pines, we built a crib above 



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