New Rivers Of The North (Paperback, illustrated edition)

NEW RIVERS OF THE NORTH THE YARN OF TWO AMATEUR EXPLORERS OF THE HEAD-WATERS OF THE FRASER, THE PEACE RIVER, THE HAY RIVER, ALEXANDRA FALLS BY HULBERT FOOTNER AUTHOR OF THIEVES WIT, THE SUBSTITUTE MILLIONAIRE, ETC, WITH PHOTOGRAPHS BY AUVILLE EAGER AND THE AUTHOR NEW XBr YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1912, By GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY All rights reserved Printed in the United State of America To A. E. The intrepid partner of many voyages into trackless wilds. Vide the Edmonton Journal CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THE START ....... 13 II. ON THE TOTE ROAD .... 24 III. OUR OUTFIT ...... 43 IV. THE CHRISTENING OF THE BLUN DERBUSS ...... 60 V. OLD LADY FRASER ..... 75 VI, THE LILLIPUT RIVER .... 85 VIL THE SAPPHIRE CHAIN .... 97 VIII. THE MOUNTAIN OF GOLD . . . no IX. THE BIG CANYON ..... 121 X. A PEACEFUL INTERLUDE . . . 133 XI. THE MAJESTY OF THE PEACE . . 147 XII. THE BLUNDERBUSS ON HORSEBACK 160 XIII. THE UNEXPLORED RIVER . . . 172 XIV. THE GRAND GOAL OF OUR LABORS 185 XV. HOMEWARD BOUND .... 203 XVI. TRAVELING IN COMPANY . . . 223 XVII. ON OUR OWN AGAIN . . . . 241 XVIII. THE LITTLE RIVER AND THE BIG RIVER ....... 256 XIX. THE LAST STAGE ..... 269 ILLUSTRATIONS Alexandra Falls on the Hay River in late after noon Frontispiece FACING PAGE Mr. Footners journey began and ended at Edmon ton map 12 Claude and his bulls 32 The down bridge over Fiddle Creek 32 For ten minutes he left the helpless beasts standing in the icy water 33 Pop Hopper locked in the affectionate embrace of a muskeg 33 Mount Robson From the level of the Grand Forks River 48 A mass of gray rock, fantastically cleft and terraced and piled 49 A row of log shacks thatched with canvas ... 49 The greater part of the way theterrible Fraser was a very lamb in its behavior 64 A surveyor, his assistant, and three Indians ... 65 Entrance to the second canyon of the Fraser ... 65 Their greatest treasure in the world was the phono graph 65 Once around that point of rock nothing could turn a boat back 80 The drift pile at the mouth of the second canyon . 80 Ourselves in the Blunderbuss the surveyors picture 81 The start at Summit Lake 81 Surely there never was so little a stream that served as a highway of commerce 84 Fort MacLeod with its little white store and the in variable flag pole 85 9 ILLUSTRATIONS Like the Fraser in miniature with its rapids, its sharp bends, its densely wooded banks 85 We rigged the Blunderbuss with a poplar pole and a tarpaulin 92 A row of log shacks, crazily thatched with strips of bark 93 The still, black pools . . . crowded with fish, . 93 We met three Indians and a dog coming up stream . 96 A gaunt, raw looking stream continually eating under its banks 96 Cooking and eating amidst a waste of fine sand has its disadvantages 97 No word description of the Finlay Rapids is necessary because it is faithfully represented in the picture 112 A strange, troubled sea of mountain peaks . . . like a fantastic papier mache decoration . . . . 113 Mount Selwyn The mountain of gold from up the river 113 We quenched our thirst with snow 116 At our feet lay the Peace River, nearly a mile below 116 Mount Selwyn from the down river side . . . 117 We had no idea how she would behave on the end of a string 117 The river roared down out of sight between the walls below 124 Breasting the current like a pair of battleships . . 125 No boat could have lived long in those torn waters . 125 Sitting on his bagof flour, paddle in hand and pipe in mouth, he made a unique figure 128 Fort St. John in the late afternoon 128 Beaver Indians near Fort St. John 129 St. John Peace in his winter garb . . . . 129 The Blunderbuss arranged for the night . . . ...