and follows the Fraser River over an excellent stage road constructed by the
Canadian government to the little town of Quesnelle, 223 miles north. Good
stopping-places abound along the road. Here the road ends, and the trail turns
to the west, and passing over a nearly level country with good grass, reaches
Fort Fraser on Fraser Lake, 125 miles
from Quesnelle. Fort Fraser is a Hudson Bay post and trading-store, with two
white men and several families of Indians, quite well civilized, settled near.
A limited amount of supplies will be obtainable here. Up to this point the
trail is quite level, and though there are hundreds of creeks, none are deep or
hard to pass. The three rivers, the Blackwater, the Mud, and the Nechaco, can
be forded except in high water, when rafts will have to be used and poled or
paddled across. Neither of them is very wide. Many trails cross the route, and
it will be necessary to have a native guide, unless some means should be taken
to mark tl1e main trail. “In this 125 miles there are over 300 good hay swamps
and many Indian villages where feed for the horses can be found in abundance.
Indeed, the longest drive without good feed for the horses will not exceed
fifteen miles.” *
Beyond Fort Fraser the next supply point is Stuart, a Hudson Bay post, with three or four whites and eighty or one hundred Indians, who live in cabins and make their living by hunting, fishing, and trapping. From Fort Fraser to Hazleton is probably 325 miles. The trip from Quesnelle to Hazleton can be made by pack animals, and will require from sixteen to twenty days. Hazleton has a small population of prospectors who winter in the neighborhood. A Hudson Bay post, a few cabins, and a couple of stores are all that are to be found here, although about 15,000 Indians trade at this point. The goods are brought up by a Hudson Bay boat on the Skeena River during high water.
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