TRAPPING THE THREE RIVER ZONE 
AN AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF TRAPPING LIFE ON THE HEAD¬ 
WATERS OF THE ATHABASCA IN NORTHERN ALBERTA-Part Five 
By RAYMOND THOMPSON 
I N the State of 
Washington, In¬ 
dians were a 
common sight in 
the neighborhood 
where I was raised. 
Twenty miles from 
my birthplace, a- 
cross the Columbia 
River was a large 
Indian Reserve and 
members of the Si- 
wash Tribe were 
quite frequently met 
with. I merely cite 
these facts to show 
that I was not alto- 
g e t h e r unfamiliar 
with some of the 
more general habits 
of our natives, and 
while there is a 
great difference in 
the customs and manner of living 
amongst Siwashes and the Crees of this 
North Country, the two tribes have still 
many traits in common. Of the individ¬ 
ual customs of the latter class, I was to 
learn much while living with Walters, 
the Free Trader. 
In the first place I found the Crees, 
as a people, of a different stamp entirely 
from what they are often pictured. 
They were about as peaceable as one 
could imagine and far more honest than 
white men. Nor were they easily duped 
in trade, and I have seen some of the 
older ones dicker for an hour over a 
twenty-five cent balance in their favor. 
I do not mean to say that Walters tried 
to cheat them, but they had traded with 
so many different calibres of men that 
they sure had their “eye teeth” cut. 
They were generally mighty well 
versed as to the condition of the fur 
market, getting reports with surprising 
frequency by “moccasin telegraph, and 
what’s more, they always demanded full 
value for their goods. Thus have I seen 
Walters pay better prices for furs, a 
hundred miles in the wilderness, than 
one would get from many of the out¬ 
side buyers. Naturally, he had to charge 
a pretty stiff price for his goods, for 
outside of the fact that it had cost him 
quite a bit of mony to freight it in 
there, he was justified in extracting a 
just profit. On this point the Indians 
were not too exact, and as long as they 
got good prices for their furs, they did 
not object to paying twelve and fifteen 
dollars for a hundred weight of flour, 
or one dollar for a pound of tea. 
The native Cree, as a rule, has one 
weakness, what he really wants, he will 
pay almost any price for. When he is 
flush with furs, or can get the credit, he 
stant he saw th, 
half of the pickle 
remained in the cor 
tainer he wanted 1 
buy what was lei 
Walters gave me 
wink and asked tl 
Cree what he won 
give for the pickle 
The Indian mu 
have sensed th, 
something was i 
for he soberly o 
fered a red fox sk 
worth ten dolla 
for the coveted j 
and Walters just 
soberly took him u 
W h e n Waite 
had first shown r 
his stock I w 
greatly amazed 
see a whole trui 
full of men’s suits. They were not tl 
cheap shoddy kind either, for I boug 
one of them myself and found out lat 
that it was made in a first class mann 
of good material. Some of these sui 
he had marked to sell as high as six 
dollars and I was naturally somewh 
skeptical when he assured me that eve 
suit would be sold by spring. But wh< 
the young “Bucks” started coming 
Mile'Ninety I was forced to admit th 
they were real “Sports,” not only d 
the suits disappear in a surprising ma 
ner. but the higher priced ones we 
first! 
I was somewhat amused to see he 
vain many of the younger Indians wei 
and after donning their new clothes th 
would strut about the place with all t 1 
complacency of our modern “ma 
flapper.” One thing in particular 
noticed was that the genuine Indian 
proud of his small, neat feet. I h; 
a habit of wearing two pair of me 
casins and naturally the outer pair wc 
fairly sizeable as I normally wear 
number eight shoe. More than once 
had these proud Crees joke me u 
mercifully about having such enormo 
feet and will never forget the time 
pulled off the outer pair and exhibit 
neat, beaded moccasins little if ai 
larger than those of the one who. jibe 
Incidently, the Crees wear moccasins t 
year ’round and it’s a wonder they doi 
die from rheumatism. 
W ALTERS had warned me, early 
the season, that the Indians wc 
fools for playing poker, and they neai 
always insisted on his having a gai 
or two with them. One night thr 
Indians stopped at La Rocque’s cal 
and the breed came up with the ne' 
that they wanted to play cards. I kn< 
just enough about poker to stay cle 
of it, but didn’t want to leave Walters 
or 
HusKies 
will buy anything that looks good to 
him. Walters had one long cabin fitted 
with several bunks and a couple of 
stoves, which his customers were allowed 
to use if they desired to stay over night; 
and I have seen some of the Crees come 
there with sizeable catches, trade their 
furs for grub, and sit right in the cabin 
till it was all gone but a little flour and 
possibly some lard and tea. 
The Crees buy very heavily such 
stuffs as larch jam, tinned fruits, pickles, 
in fact anything at all in the line of 
fancy groceries. There was one Indian 
named Alekc Red Moose, who always 
tried his best to beat Walters on a deal, 
not by underhand methods but by 
shrewd dickering. The Trader told him 
that he would get even with him for it 
and bye and bye his chance came. This 
was toward the end of the season and 
Walters was running pretty low in 
everything except the more necessary 
articles. Aleke Red Moose happened 
along a short time after we had opened 
the last jar of mixed pickles. The in¬ 
Pagr 1 
