James W. Tyrrell, C.E., D.L.S.
William Briggs
Toronto
Third Revised Edition
1908
In
the years 1885, 1893 and 1900 J.B Tyrrell working on behalf of the
Canadian Geological survey, and his brother, (the author) James W.
Tyrrell conducted three expeditions of the Canadian sub-arctics lying
north of the 59th parallel, including surveying as well as documenting
the "savage" Eskimos of the region.
The expedition
begins "One beautiful May morning" as the author and his brother make
final preparations from Toronto to meet up with their team of rustic
canoe-men and portagers. Among the team is a recommended man named John
Flett who is well experienced and an Eskimo linguist.
Three
more members of the team are brothers who are Iroquois experts from
Caughnawaga these being Pierre, Louis, and Michel French. While at Fort
McMurray two more strong fellows would join the expedition they were
James Corrigal and Francois Maurice.
The author J.W.
Tyrrell refers to three of the above men as "half breeds", the author
than goes on to give explanation for why he has not hired Indians from
Lake Athabasca because he considers them to be lazy in disposition.
Boarding the train in Toronto begins the five day ride to Edmonton.
"We
arrived early on the morning of the 22nd at the busy town of Calgary,
pleasantly situated in the beautiful valley of the south branch of the
Saskatchewan river, and just within view of the snow-clad peaks of the
Rocky mountains." "On the evening of the same day, in the teeming rain,
we reached Edmonton".
As the journey continues J.W.
says " we reached the height of land between the two great valleys of
the Saskatchewan and Athabasca rivers. Here, upon a grassy spot, we
made our first camp." The author continues "our slumbers were somewhat
broken by the fiendish yells of prairie wolves from the surrounding
scrub, and the scarcely less diabolical screams of loons sporting on a
pond close by. An effort was made to have the later removed, but any
one who has ever tried to shoot loons at night will better understand".
Soon the author and his brother come across a moose which they shoot
multiple times before killing the poor creature.
I
really like the sketches and photographs of the journey and the authors
writing style is better than his shot but through only the first few
chapters in the authors perception of his fellow man is clearly that of
an education of the later Victorian era in which the author classifies
people as either Gentleman, half breeds or savages.
Among
the indigenous people a man by the Christian name of Moberly agrees
to help the expedition find the way but unfortunately the guide is
unreasonable and lags sulking behind the members of the expedition.
After canoeing to Moberly's village they finally arrive where Moberly
pulls a screaming fit and threatens to not lead the men unless they
hand over to him a portion of their supplies, with this the men head
on without their guide.
The early part of the
expedition heads through thick sheets of rain, up hill portages
climbing through dense forest and jagged rocks carrying thousands of
pounds of supplies and over small lakes as the expedition turns into a
fantastic journey and civilization slowly disappears. One of the last
stops before heading into the wild of the sub-arctic is at Fort
McMurray, a settlement containing five small log buildings and then a
number of Indian villages containing Cree tepee's pass by.
As
the people disappear the men are joined by huge swarms of mosquito's
and black flies and unfortunately James Corrigal receives a gash to his
knee but is thankfully still use full. The hardship and sheer brute
struggle of the journey shows the men of the expedition to be worthy of
the truly heroic challenge facing them.
Pierre turns
out to be the strongest canoe man in the bunch with the ability to
guide his canoe through the most rugged rapids. The nineteenth century
photographs of the people and the journey are truly amazing, thankfully
on just about every page they are found.
Soon the
trees start to thin out and become more isolated and gnarled, the air
becomes colder, the mosquito's go away and glaciers appear. The men now
look across a barren rocky landscape covered in mosses and to their
good fortune find miles of herds of caribou of which the men kill a
couple dozen and spend the next three days cutting up and drying for
the long journey they have before them.
Near the
outlet of Markham lake the men make a discovery as J.W. explains "It is
worthy of note that at this point some very old moss grown "tepee"
poles and fragments of birch bark were found, indicating that in days
gone by the spot had been visited by Indians". The author goes on to
say "There was more than sentiment to us in the fact, for from the old
rotten poles, few and small though they were, we built a fire that gave
us not a little comfort and cheer."
After a number of
days on the lower Dubawnt river navigating ice flows and open water
and down pouring rain the cold wet explorers come across at the second
rapids signs of people as J.W. tells us "the first unmistakable signs
of the recent habitations of Eskimos were discovered, They consist of
rings of camp stones, an old bow, several broken arrows, a whip-stock
and numerous broken or partly formed willow ribs of a "kyack," or
canoe."
The following day down a little stream called
the Chamberlain river on the edge of Grant lake the men of the
expedition spot their first Eskimo as the author explains "Towards
evening we sighted, upon the right bank" "the solitary lodge of an
Eskimo. In front of the doorway stood a man gazing towards us, and
behind and around him excited women and children were gathered. These
were all placed inside the "topick" or lodge, and the door laced up
securely. But the man remained outside."
The meeting
was cordial with the Eskimos and upon leaving the authors steersman
Louis commented that "They are not savage, but real descent people." On
the evening of the 26th of august the expedition reached a magnificent
body of water known as Aberdeen lake, the author says "a feeling of
awe crept over us. We were undoubtedly the first white men who had ever
viewed it, and in the knowledge of this fact there was inspiration."
On
the page opposite is a photo of one of the men standing next to an
Eskimo cairn. From here J.W. goes on to describe the daily life of the
Eskimos including types of tools they use and type of animals they hunt
also the author goes into their winter and summer homes and the
amusements of the people.
The author tells
of a ball game where the ball is made up of the bladder of a walrus,
J.W. tells us that the game is without rules and says "Here a woman,
carrying a child on her back, may be seen running at full speed after
the ball, and the next moment lying at full length with her naked child
floundering in the snow a few feet beyond her. A minute later the
child is in its place, and the mother, nearly chocking with laughter,
is seen elbowing her way after the ball again."
J.W.
describes Eskimo marriages and the women which is basically the two
parties agree they are a couple and go build their own igloo. Of the
brides J.W. says " Eskimo brides are usually very young, and often very
bonnie creatures. They lose much of their beauty, however, in early
life, and at about forty mature into ugly old dames."
As
the journey continues much of the men's time is spent hunting for
food, as winter begins to approach the canoes become bogged down in the
ice and the decision is made to abandon most of their supplies
including the rock collection which had been gathered.
With
the load lightened and the weather worsening the men make a last dash
in their now lighter vessels down the west shore of the Hudson bay the
canoes to journey further ends in the ice with no where to go except
over the frozen shore.
The men of the expedition are
hungry and weary while Michel French's feet have suffered frost bite,
Pierre too is physically weak, this is true of the author and his
brother while John Flett and Jim Corrigal are in the best condition and
agree to go on without the others the remaining fifty or so miles to
Fort Churchill to get help for the rest.
The return of
John and Jim is only a couple days wait and with them provisions and
help gets the expedition party to Fort Churchill where they can rest and
recover for a couple weeks while Michel's feet are attended by the
doctor there. At Fort Churchill the men gather supplies for the final
leg of the journey but due to crippling leg problems both the author and
his brother are left to ride bundled on sleds while Michel is left
behind to recover.
As the expedition come to its end
Pierre and Louis are both crippled from the snowshoes and must be
dispatched by horse and sleigh the rest of the journey. The men of the
expedition have traveled by canoe and hiking thirty two hundred miles
in eight months to accomplish their goal.
The book
ends with the author giving a rap up of the assets of Hudson bay
including animals, vegetables and minerals. In the end J.W. Tyrrell
expresses a great respect for his fellow man but especially for the
Eskimo people, his earlier classification of savages and half breeds
have been words and not backed by any dislike for his fellow man.To me
the books last jewel is it's second appendix, Eskimo vocabulary of
words and phrases.
Across the Sub-Arctics of Canada
was one of the best most exciting books I have read in a long time
though it may be difficult to find I do recommend this wonderful early
Canadian adventure, truly heroic!
Painting by Tom Thomson
