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At eight P.M. we encamped in the Methye River at the confluence of the river Pembina. A route has been explored by it to the Red Willow River across the height of land, but the difficulties of it were so great that the ordinary route is preferred. On the 3rd we passed through the Methye River and encamped on the borders of the Methye Lake.
Though they are nearer to the forts than in winter, it frequently happens that high winds prevent the canoes from transporting them thither, and the residents are kept in consequence without a supply of food for two or three days together. The fish caught in the net are the attihhawmegh , trout, carp, methye, and pike . See page 143-4 .
Our companions said the ice of this river is always in the same insecure state, even during the most severe winter, which they attributed to warm springs. Quitting the river, we crossed a portage and came upon the Methye Lake, and soon afterwards arrived at the trading posts on its western side. These were perfect huts, which had been hastily built after the commencement of the last winter.
Frazer, who accompanied us from the Methye Lake, accounted for their being in this forlorn condition by explaining, that this band of Indians had recently destroyed every thing they possessed, as a token of their great grief for the loss of their relatives in the prevailing sickness.
The soil from Isle a la Crosse to this place is sandy with some portion of clay and the trees numerous; but the Methye River is stony and so shallow that, to lighten the canoes, we made two portages of five and two miles.
Back and I had travelled since our departure from Cumberland: From Cumberland House to Carlton House: 263. From Carlton House to Isle a la Crosse: 230. From Isle a la Crosse to north side of the Methye Portage: 124. From the Methye Portage to Fort Chipewyan: 240. Total: 857 miles. March 26, 1820. On the day after our arrival at Fort Chipewyan we called upon Mr.
And while we have him we will put the screws to him for all there is in it. It is the chance of a lifetime. What we want now is evidence and more evidence. "Here is the scheme: You fix up a consignment, five or ten gallons, the usual way, and instead of shooting it in by the Athabasca, cut into the old trail on the Beaver and take it across the Methye portage to a cache on the Clearwater.
The north side of the Methye Portage is in latitude 56 degrees 41 minutes 40 seconds North and longitude 109 degrees 52 minutes 0 seconds West. It is of course one hundred and twenty-four miles from Isle a la Crosse and considered as a branch of the Missinippi, five hundred and ninety-two miles from the Frog Portage.
We soon reached the Methye Portage, and had a very pleasant ride across it in our carioles. The track was good and led through groups of pines, so happily placed that it would not have required a great stretch of imagination to fancy ourselves in a well-arranged park.
On the 4th we crossed the Methye Lake, and landed at the portage on the north-west side, in one of the sources of the Missinippi. The lake is seventeen miles in length, with a large island in the middle. We proceeded to the north side of the portage with two men, carrying a tent and some instruments, leaving the canoes and cargoes to be transported by daily journeys of two or three miles.
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