Between seven and eight hundred
people had gone up to those regions via Edmonton, bound for the
Yukon, many of whom, after a tale of suffering which might have
filled its boomsters' souls with remorse, had found solitary graves,
and the remainder were slowly toiling out of the country, having
sunk what means they possessed in the vain pursuit of gold. They
brought a rumour with them that some whites who had robbed the
Indians on the Upper Liard had been murdered. It was not known what
white men had penetrated to that desolate region, and the rumour was
discredited; at all events, it was never verified.
The treaty had been effected at Dunvegan, on the 6th, with a few
Beaver Indians, who still lingered by their tepees, pitched to the
west on the opposite shore. The half-breeds had camped near the
fort pending our arrival, and we found them a very intelligent
people, indeed, with some interesting relics of the old r?©gime
still amongst them. One, in particular, had canoed from Lachine
with Simpson sixty years before. He was still lively and active,
and a patriarch of the half-breed community. Large families we
found to be the rule here, some parents boasting of twelve or
thirteen children _under_ age. This, and their healthy looks, spoke
well for the climate, and their condition otherwise was promising,
being comfortably clad, all speaking more or less English or French,
whilst many could read and write.
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