Another start - Clear Water River - Carrying Place of Red Lake River - Spearing Fish -Arrive at Turtle Lake -Birds-Wild Rice-Otter-Turtle Lake.
On the eleventh we passed the junction of the Wild Rice River from the westward, with a body of water equal to half this River, and we have now less water with more moderate current. On the twelfth we arrived at the Carrying Place which leads to the Red Lake River, having come sixty four miles up this sinuous River. The east side, or right bank had fine Forests, but as we advanced, the Aspin became the principal growth of the Woods. The West Bank had patches of hard wood trees, with much fine meadow which led to the Plains, the whole a rich deep soil.
The Carrying Place is four miles in length of part marsh and part good ground to the Bank of the Red Lake River, in Latitude 48- 0- 55 N Longitude 95 - 54 - 28 W. Variation 10° east.
Our course was now up this River to the Red Lake, a distance of thirty two miles. Both banks of this River well timbered with Oak, Ash and other hard Woods, intermixed with much Aspin and Poplar. A rich deep soil, but now from the melting of the Snow every where covered with water, the country so level, that only a chance bit of dry bank was to be seen; At night we cut down Trees and slept upon them. As our provisions were dried meat we did not require fire to cook our supper, and a Canadian never neglects to have touchwood for his pipe. By Observations the head of the River on the banks of the Lake, is in Latitude 47-58-15 N. Longitude 95 - 35 - 37 W. The straight course and distance from Mr Cadotte's House is, N 82 E 35 miles, to perform which we have gone over 117 Statute miles and employed seven long days, setting off at 5 AM and Putting up at 7 PM.
At the Lake the kind old Chief, Sheshepaskut with six Lodges of Chippeways were camped. He gave us three pickerel and two large pike, a welcome change from dried meat. As they had no Canoe, and therefore could not spear fish in the night, they requested the loan of mine, which was lent to them. The spearing of fish in the night, is a favorite mode with them, and gives to them a considerable part of their livelihood. The spear handle is a straight pole of ten to twelve feet in length, headed with a barbed iron; A rude narrow basket of iron hoops is fixed to a pole of about six feet in length. A quantity of birch rind is collected and loosely tied in small parcels. When the night comes, the darker the better, two Men and a Boy embark in a Canoe, the one gently and quietly to give motion to the Canoe. The pole and basket is fixed in the Bow under which the Spearman stands, the Birch Rind is set on fire, and burns with a bright light; but only for a short time, the Boy from behind feeds the light, so as to keep a constant blaze. The approach of the flaming light seems to stupify the fish, as they are all speared in a quiesent state. The Lake or River is thus explored for several hours until the Birch Rind is exhausted, and on a calm night a considerable number is thus caught. Those in my canoe, speared three Sturgeon, each weighing about sixty pounds. For a clear water Lake they were very good; for the Sturgeon may be called the Water Hog, and is no where so good and fat as among the alluvials of Rivers. This, the Red Lake is a fine sheet of Water of about thirty miles in length by eight to 10 miles in breadth; the banks rise about twenty to thirty feet, the soil is somewhat sandy and produces Firs of a fine growth, with the other usual woods, and in places, the white Cedar but of short growth. This Lake like several other places, has occasionally a trading House for one Winter only, the country all around, being too poor in furrs to be hunted on a second winter. The Lake being covered with ice, and patches of water, at places we paddled the Canoe, and where the ice was firm, made a rude Sledge on which we placed the Canoe and Baggage, and hauled it over the ice to a patch of water and thus continued for seventeen miles; a laborious work and always wet, the weather frequent showers of Rain and Sleet, and then clear weather. We now came to a Carrying Place of six miles in length, in a south direction, over which we carried our Canoe and things.
The Road was through Firs and Aspins, with a few Oaks and Ash. Near the middle of the Carrying Place the Ground had many ascents and descents of twenty to forty feet, the first we have seen since we left the Red River. By 9 PM on the 23rd of April we had carried all over, and now had to cross the country to the Turtle Lake¹, the head of the Mississippe River at which we arrived on the 27th. Our journey has been very harassing and fatigueing; from Pond to Pond and Brook to Brook with many carrying places, the Ponds, or small Lakes were some open, others wholly or partly covered with ice; the Brooks so winding, that after paddling an hour we appeared to have made very little, or no advance.
The country everywhere appeared low and level, something like an immense swamp. Everywhere there was much wild rice (2), upon which the wild fowl fed, and became very fat and well tasted; The Swan was a very rare bird; and of the different species of Geese, [there were] only two species of the Grey Goose (3); but the Ducks [were found] in all their varieties : the Cranes (4) and Bitterns (5) upon their usual food were equally good; of the Plover species there were but few, the Ponds having their low banks covered with long grass. In some Ponds there were Pelicans (6) and Cormorants (7), the former as disgusting as usual. The large spotted Loons (8) were in every Pond that was open; this wily Bird as soon as soon as he saw us set up his cry and was at a loss whether to fly or
For the first time we saw the small brown Eagle, some days we saw at least a dozen of them, but always beyond the reach of our Guns. From Mr Cadotte's House on the Red River to this place, the Turtle Lake we have been nineteen days, rising early and putting up late, and yet by my astronomical observations, the course and distance is S 71 E 56 statute miles, in a direct line not quite three miles a day. These circuituous routes deceive the traveller, and induce him to think he is at a much greater distance from a given place than what he actually is. The Turtle Lake, which is the head of the Mississippe River, is four miles in length, by as many in breadth and it's small bays give it the rude form a Turtle. (NOTE. By the treaty of 1783 between Great Britain and the United States, the northern boundary of the latter was designated to be a Line due west from the north [west] corner of the Lake of the Woods (in latitude 49. 46¾ N) to the head of the Mississippe which was supposed to be still more to the north : This supposition arose from the Fur Traders on ascending the Mississippe which is very sinuous, counting every pipe a League of three miles at the end of which they claimed a right to rest and smoke a pipe. By my survey I found these pipes to be the average length of only two miles, and they also threw out of account the windings of the River, and thus placing the Turtle Lake 128 geo. miles too far to the north).¾
(1.) This statement by Thompson has been widely quoted, but is erroneous. The negotiators of the preliminary treaty of peace, November, I782, had before them a copy of the Mitchell map of North America, published in I755. The north-west comer of this map contained an "inset " map of the Labrador peninsula and Hudson Bay, doubtless inserted there because, at the date of publication, the geographical information respecting the Red river region was so meagre The Mississippi river is shown as a large stream where cut off by the inset map, and, to anyone relying solely upon the Mitchell map, it would seem evident that it would extend northward at least as far as the latitude of the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods. But for this inset map, and errors in the body of the map, our boundary would, almost certainly, have followed the St. Louis river from the present city of Duluth, thence to the headwaters of the Mississippi. Much geographical confusion has been caused by over-estimation of distances, but, as stated above, our territorial losses in this area are not due to this cause. [JAMES WHITE.]
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