CHAPTER XIV

NEW SASKATCHEWAN

The story of modern Canada is a story of amazing mistakes and delightful discoveries. At every stage of development popular surmise has been made to look foolish by the accomplished fact.

“The statesman is alive who prophesied that if a railway were ever built around Lake Superior it would not earn enough money to buy axle grease.” So I was informed by Mr. Arthur Hawkes, the genial publicist, who added: “On my first visit to Canada in 1885 I heard an Ontario man warning emigrants against going so far into the wilds as Winnipeg.”

As for Saskatchewan, it was not so very long ago when people shrugged their shoulders over that “frozen and barren wilderness.” It was opened up by railways, and behold Saskatchewan to-day as a smiling country that is excelled for grain production nowhere in the Empire. I learn that the agricultural produce of the province has already reached an annual value of £30,000,000, the total cereal crop for a year—according to Government figures—exceeding 200,000,000 bushels. When one understands that this is the yield from only twelve per cent. of the available arable land of Saskatchewan, one begins to see grounds for the prophecy, which has been uttered by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, that the day is not far distant when Saskatchewan will produce annually a billion bushels of grain. And the curious fact has to be noted that the Saskatchewan of all those figures and references is not Saskatchewan at all, but only the southern half of Saskatchewan—the half that has been opened up by railways.

What particularly struck me in travelling through the province was that, when on the most northerly margin of the settled country, I kept coming upon farmers whose wheat and oats had won important prizes. The farmers were disposed to think the fact was sufficiently explained by their agricultural aptitude. But I could not help suspecting that their terrestrial latitude had a good deal to do with it. A six months’ Canadian summer is longer—from a plant’s point of view—than a seven months’ Canadian summer. For wheat and oats do not make much progress in the dark; and the lengthening of the winters as one goes north is, within a limit only to be fixed by experience, a disadvantage of no account beside the advantage of longer summer days.

Settlement has probably not yet reached the ideal latitude for wheat growing. At any rate, having regard to the rapidity with which railways are extending, the time has come when, to Canada and her prospective immigrants, the possibilities held out by Northern Saskatchewan have become a matter of eager interest. I will therefore focus such meagre evidence as is available on the subject.

The first witness we will call is the Venerable Archdeacon J. McKay, who for forty-five years has been in charge of Church of England missions in the West. For a decade he lived on the Churchill River, a little to the north of Lac la Rouge. Therefore he is in a position to give us tidings of territory situated about two hundred miles north of the limit of the surveyed lands—territory, however, which is still within the area of Central Saskatchewan.

The Archdeacon leads off with this appetising fact: cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, and currants grow wild and abundant in the district. He reports that there are plenty of trees there, notably spruce and poplar, which are good for pulp-wood if not very important as timber. At Lac la Rouge he has seen good wheat raised for seven years in succession without any trouble being experienced from frost. Potatoes also grow there splendidly; indeed, as the reverend gentleman put it, the locality is “all right for raising anything that can be raised anywhere in Saskatchewan.” He explained that if the country were cleared of timber it would, in his opinion, be fair agricultural land. With regard to stock, he could merely say that he himself had kept, at the mission on the Churchill River, fifteen head of cattle and two horses.

Archdeacon McKay is also able to testify concerning the Ile à la Crosse country, which lies in much the same latitude as the area already alluded to, but some hundred and sixty miles farther west. This is his instructive summary: “Plenty of timber, and plenty of hay as a rule—some prairie hay and some swamp hay—and the soil is fairly good. It is better than at Lac la Rouge, and it gets better as you go west.” Questioned as to the wild grasses, he described them as “long,” and as “very much the same as the natural hay in Manitoba.”

Once more we hear of prairie fires; and it would seem that they have been particularly destructive in the rocky districts. Cross-examined with regard to timber possibilities, Archdeacon McKay recalled the interesting circumstance that he himself had erected a saw-mill, which was run by water-power, at Lac la Rouge. He added these significant details: “The logs average seventeen to the thousand feet, and are fourteen or fifteen feet long. The diameter would be about two feet across at the butt. They are large, clean logs, very much the same as those at Prince Albert. This good timber is scattered all over the country, sometimes for miles.” Pressed to give a more definite impression of the timber area, he said he believed it extended right away to the borders of the province. It appeared that he had travelled backwards and forwards a good deal, “visiting Indian camps and so on,” and he noted very much the same kind of trees everywhere. Of course there are muskeg in some places, and in others he saw “heavy timber.” Reindeer Lake was the most northerly point he had reached, and he saw plenty of trees up there.

It will now be of interest to learn what light the Archdeacon can throw on the fauna of unknown Saskatchewan. “In Lac la Rouge and the lakes generally,” he said, “fish are abundant. They are mostly white-fish and lake trout. The Indians do not sell them; they have no market. For some time there would be plenty of fish for commercial purposes. I saw a lot in Reindeer Lake.” With regard to fur-bearing animals, “sometimes they are on the increase, sometimes on the decrease, but on the whole there is a decrease, especially in beaver.”

Archdeacon McKay gave some interesting details with regard to climate. A peculiarity of the country round Lac la Rouge, it seems, is that “the frosts are very late.” On an island in the lake he has seen potatoes growing in October, with the tops untouched by frost. He imagines that the large body of water serves to equalise the temperature; and he recalled the interesting fact that when Mr. Chisholm, the Indian inspector, came out one year to make treaty payments to the natives towards the end of August, the potato plants were unaffected both on the mainland and on the islands, “and the inspector told me that crop was a good deal touched at Prince Albert before he left.”

The snowfall is not very heavy. Three feet on the level, it appears, would be considered deep snow. As a rule, the first frosts come in September. He had known potatoes to be “touched,” but not seriously, on the fifteenth of that month. As for the time of sowing, grain could go in, as a rule, by May 5th. That was the date on which the Archdeacon had been in the habit of sowing wheat. He plants potatoes about fifteen days later.

Asked to give his impressions of the winter and summer temperatures, once more he drew an analogy between unknown Saskatchewan and a district in settled Saskatchewan. “In winter,” he said, “judging from my own sensations, the lowest temperature is about the same as at Prince Albert. In the summer time the weather is as hot as at Prince Albert. But, of course, the country of which I am speaking is farther north, and therefore the days are longer.” Of the Lac la Rouge district he reports that, speaking generally, there is sufficient rainfall for crops. One summer there was quite a long spell of dry weather, and it affected the wild fruits; but that was an exceptional state of things. The rainy season is quite equal to Manitoba’s. Thunderstorms and hailstorms occur, but not more frequently than in the south.

“The only whites in the country,” said the Archdeacon, “are the Hudson Bay officials and traders. I built the saw-mill to provide lumber for our mission buildings and boarding school. The number of Indians who take treaty money in that district is over five hundred. They are Crees.”

In conclusion the Archdeacon pointed out that canoeing and pedestrianism represent the only means of reaching the desirable and productive region in which for so many years he has resided. Naturally he is anxious for a railway to connect settled Saskatchewan with Lac la Rouge. “It is all level country,” he said; “there would not be the slightest difficulty in constructing the railway.”

We will now turn to the evidence of scientific investigators. Acting for the Federal Government, Mr. J. Burr Tyrrell explored the vast tract of country between Athabasca Lake and Churchill River—the country, that is, lying north of the area with which we have hitherto mainly been concerned. With Mr. Tyrrell was associated that other distinguished and experienced geologist, Mr. D. B. Dowling.

Mr. Tyrrell reported that the country is generally forested, though most of the timber is small black spruce and tamarack. Banksia pine forms thin, parklike woods on the sandy plains. In places berries grow in great profusion, chief among them being the common huckleberry and the small cranberry. The former thrives in the deciduous woods along the Churchill River, while the latter covers the dry slopes from the Saskatchewan northward. The blue huckleberry is found on the banks of Cree and Stone Rivers, but the bushes did not seem anywhere to bear much fruit. The raspberry occurs on the richer ground by some of the streams. The yellow swampberry is found abundantly in the moss of the wet spruce and tamarack swamps. On drier land towards the north he found the crowberry, while the Pembina berry grows in the deciduous woods beside the streams, especially in the southern portion of the district.

These explorers saw the moose, the barren ground caribou, the Canadian lynx, the grey wolf, red, black and cross foxes, the wolverine and the skunk. The black bear roams over the whole country. A few beavers may still be met with in many of the streams. The rabbit or American hare is found everywhere in the denser woods. Porcupines are plentiful around Cree Lake, and in those portions of the sandy country that have not recently been hunted over by Indians.

“The time at our disposal,” said Mr. Tyrrell, “did not permit us to make a close examination of the birds seen, but, generally speaking, except along the banks of the Churchill River, where ducks breed in great numbers, birds are not at all numerous in the district explored.” Coveys of ruffled grouse and spruce partridge were found in the thicker woods everywhere. A few snowy owls and bald-headed eagles were observed. Fish seemed to be everywhere abundant in the lakes and streams.

“The number of Indians who live in and travel through the country, obtaining a precarious existence by hunting and fishing, is,” we learn from Mr. Tyrrell, “very small.”

To quote another authority, Professor John Macoun (the well-known naturalist of the Geological Survey) said: “There can be no question about the value of the land north of the Saskatchewan, and settlers going in there are assured of three essentials—wood, water, and hay—for cattle. . . . The low altitude and the long day are fixed conditions.”

With reference to altitude, I may point out that Prince Albert is nearly five hundred feet lower than Regina, and that the Lac la Rouge district is two hundred and sixty feet lower than Prince Albert. Regarding the duration of sunlight, a careful record was made, over a period of four months, as to the relative length of day in the district under consideration, at Prince Albert and at Ottawa. Taking a date at random (June 20th), the figures were, respectively, 17 hours 30 minutes, 16 hours 42 minutes, and 15 hours 26 minutes.

In conclusion, let me briefly refer to the experiences of Mr. Frank J. P. Crean, who was specially commissioned to explore, in 1908 and 1909, the huge areas of Saskatchewan and Alberta lying north of surveyed limits. Mr. Crean reports that those northern countries are “capable of producing large quantities of cereals and farm produce and of supporting a large population. The over-abundance of water and lack of natural drainage, causing large swamps and muskegs, might, in my opinion, be easily remedied by clearing out some of the rapids on the Churchill River and providing outlets for the surplus water where natural outlets are lacking. Very little work would be necessary to open fine waterways navigable for small craft throughout the country. . . . The climate seems well adapted for raising any cereals. In fact, wherever wheat has been tried it has been grown successfully. . . . I would estimate that an area of fully 5,000,000 acres is suitable for settlement as soon as surveyed and made accessible by roads; and an area of about 12,000,000 acres of swamps, or land probably too wet at present for successful cultivation, could be reclaimed at a moderate expenditure. . . . In the south-easterly portion the soil is good, being a light loam, with a blue clay subsoil; towards the west the land is light loam with a sandy clay subsoil. . . . Of course the winter is cold, but not any colder nor longer than the winter in some of the settled portions of Saskatchewan. In August, 1908, a frost occurred almost all over the settled parts of Saskatchewan, but did not apparently affect the northern portion which I explored. . . . I was at Portage la Loche on September 17th, and the potato tops were not frozen in the least. The garden was also quite untouched. Cabbages, carrots, parsnips, etc., all looked well.”

Everywhere Mr. Crean found an abundance of hay. In places the meadows were small, but always numerous. Among the chief birds he saw were swans, geese, ducks, partridges, gulls, jays, kingfishers, crows, robins and loons. He noticed that the staple food of the native north of the Saskatchewan is fish, with which he is abundantly provided. “North of the Churchill,” Mr. Crean reported, “lies a district of great promise from a mineral point of view.” Finally, we learn, “there are many points where a large amount of water power could be developed.”