Serious Ice and Snow

Out of my treasured collection of maps from my National Geographic Magazine collection going back to 1927, I pulled out "The Making of Canada: Yukon and Northwest Territories (1997)."  I wanted to know more details about where I'll be heading on my next virtual trip.

Amos Burg was interested in traveling through northwestern Canada by canoe.  He and his friend, George Rebec, "stowed three months' supplies of hard-tack and bacon, into our canoe for our 1,800 mile voyage to the Arctic Ocean . . . we were to traverse wind-swept lakes, descend the treacherous rapids of the Slave (River), cut through the Arctic Circle, cross the snowy passes of the northern Rockies, and go through the territories of seven semi-civilized Indian nations," ("On Mackenzie's Trail to the Polar Sea," National Geographic Magazine, August 1931, p. 127).

The two started their adventure on a June 18 day, on the Clearwater River in northern Alberta, the Canadian province north of the American state of Montana.  On the shores of the large Lake Athabasca, they joined a mining party to boat north on the Slave River to the Great Slave Lake. Ever-present in Canada on the rivers and lakes were huge mosquitoes, swarms of which were so thick that sometimes they almost blocked out the sun.

At the town of Resolution, Burg and Rebec parted company with the miners.  As they paddled their canoe, they encountered small settlements of friendly native Indians - the Slaves, Yellow Knives, Crows, Loucheux, and the Dog Rib tribes - along the way.  Particularly welcome was a short stop at the Police Station at Fort Smith; they were fed well.  "Fewer than a hundred men of all ranks, scattered among the twenty-four Royal Canadian Mounted Police posts maintain law and order in a region one-third as large as the United States" (p. 136).

The two had to carry the canoe on shore on stretches of the MacKenzie River where the wind whipped up the water, and to avoid rapids.  At the village of Norman, Rebec had to leave to return to work in Oregon (U.S.A.)  Mr. Burg reported that soon thereafter, he "had the good fortune to gain another companion," Hans, a young trapper, who came with two canoes and three dogs.  Burg "soon found that Hans was willing to eat anything, sleep in any place, and complain about nothing" (p. 149).

FYI: How are log cabins kept warm in the north?  By chinking the spaces between the logs with mud mixed with moose hair.

Two weeks and many miles later, Hans thought the Mackenzie River delta was too crowded with trappers and left to strike out on his own. Burg found the solitude to be a joy.  "This was a big moment for me.  There was no life to be seen - only that life I had come to know in the wind that chilled me and in the sun that gave warmth.  In the silence I could hear my watch ticking" (p. 151).

At the village of McPherson, Burg decided to sell his canoe, hire a Loucheux Indian guide, and hike across the Rocky Mountains to the Yukon River.  It was late August and the weather was icy and windy.  Even the guide, Abe, commented, "It is bad."  (p. 151).

The wilderness inhabitants were all busy preparing for the coming winter by hunting from the abundant herds of caribou and drying fish.  When Burg reached Old Crow Village, all 154 men, women, and children came out to shake hands with him.

The last leg of this journey was made as a passenger on the motorboat launch of an Indian named Bully Joe.  Several hundred miles and many shore adventures later, in late September, they reached the waters of the mighty Yukon River.  "Looking back from the scow, I could see Bully Joe throwing his helm to starboard, as we swung upstream for the whitewashed buildings of Fort Yukon, where rugged arms of chimney smoke curling skyward waved welcome to journey's end" (p. 156).

Recently on a TV weather report, I saw a map of Canada displaying below zero temperatures: -36, -56, etc.  My daddy's Tennessee blood flowing through my brain tells me that probably that is too cold for humans, especially ME! Therefore I have no desire, at this time, to travel to see the Yukon River in person.