251 



CHAP. XII. 



THE JOURNEY TO CANADA VIA ST. PAUL, 



Isolation of the Valley of Lake Winnipeg. — The Country drained by the 

 Saskatchewan. — Routes to the Valley of Lake Winnipeg. — The Northern 

 Route. — The Southern Route. — Pembina.— St. Joseph. — Deux Rivieres. 

 —Pine River.— The Mail.— The Red River Post Office. — Red Lake 

 River. — War Path of the Sioux and Ojibways. — Turtle Creek. — Burning 

 Prairies. — Height of Land Hills. — Caravans. — The Southern Slope. — 

 Leaf River. — Crow Wing River. — Table of estimated Distances between 

 Camps. — Crow Wing. — St. Paul. — Toronto. 



The valley of Lake Winnipeg is separated from the 

 valleys of the Mississippi and St. Lawrence by extensive 

 barriers, which have hitherto been instrumental in pre- 

 serving it from the approach and intrusion of civilized 

 races. The time has now arrived when this secluded 

 region is likely to attract a wide-spread attention, and 

 inquiry will naturally be turned not only to its resources, 

 but also to its relations in point of geographical position 

 and means of communication with the commercial world, 

 as well as the opportunities it may supply for establishing 

 a direct line of communication across the continent of 

 America between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.* 



* The Missouri is navigable as far as Fort Benton in long. 110° 80', lat. 

 47°40 / ; 3,120 miles from its junction with the Mississipi. The flat-bottommed 

 steamer "Chippewa" left St. Louis on the 1st June, 1857, and arrived at 

 Fort Benton on the 17th July. Returning she reached St. Louis on the 

 19th August, performing a distance of 6,240 miles in 80 days, or 78 miles 

 a day. At Dauphin's Rapids, above the Yellow Stone, the steamer was 

 hauled by line, with this exception no difficulty in navigating the Missouri 

 was experienced. This pioneer steam vessel carried 130 packages for the 

 American Fur Company. 



