47 
BRITISH COLUMBIA AND THE 
PACIFIC COAST. 
(Illustrated by the Lantern). 
By Councillor RICHARD LEIGH, J.P. Jan. 18th, 1916. 
Councillor Leigh remarked that “ the West ” has been 
gradually receding since the old El Dorado days, and to-day 
has come to refer to the land immediately on either side of 
the Rockies. 
The first portion of the lecture was taken up by a review 
of the early stages on the route to the Far West, and interest- 
ing references were made to Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto, 
as well as to the French element which is still in consider- 
able strength in the Eastern provinces. Niagara, though 
often considered as an exclusive possession of the United 
States, is, to the extent of three-quarters, entirely Canadian, 
and the lecturer made some interesting comparisons between 
the district round Niagara to-day and the same district as 
he first knew it forty-two years ago. Passing on to Winnipeg, 
Mr. Leigh said that less than fifty years ago the present town 
was a comparatively small settlement in the midst of prairie 
country, given over almost completely to Indians and the 
buffalo ; to-day it is a town of vast extent and rapid growth ; 
sky-scrapers are everywhere rearing their heads to the sky, and 
it has become a great emporium which serves the smaller prairie 
towns for miles around. As for the prairies themselves, the 
buffalo is almost extinct and the land is used for the more 
utilitarian purposes of cattle-rearing and farming. On the 
vast stretch from Winnipeg to Calgarry, there is a general 
rise in level, with the result that the atmosphere becomes 
drier ; the snow seems to alter its character and become 
lighter and much more powdery as the mountains are ap- 
proached. 
Near Calgarry is a large Red Indian encampment where 
the last remnants of a dying race are kept in security and 
contentment by a beneficent government. The lecturer 
praised the Canadian policy in dealing with these natives 
who, in reality, are a dispossessed people. Regular weekly 
supplies are given to them as long as their conduct is peace- 
ful and orderly. A comparatively small number of mounted 
