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By Jeff Waugh
It wasn't until
the early 1860's that the Yellowhead Pass again began to
be frequently utilised. In the Fall of 1861 H.J. Moberly
quit his post as H.B.C. Factor at Jasper and made his way
(to Ft. George) through the Yellowhead with the aid of a
young Iroquois guide.
In 1862, a group of 115 men and 1 woman began to
ascend upon the yellowhead Pass. They had left Ontario
some months earlier and were heading to the British
Columbia Cariboo in search of gold. While in Fort
Edmonton they discussed the merits of this pass with a
party of miners returning from the Cariboo and decided to
travel this route to reach their destination.
They abandoned the last of their carts at Lac St.
Anne and struggled onward (spread along the trail for
over 300 kilometres) with pack oxen and horses and with
packs on their backs. After crossing the height of land
at the summit of the Yellowhead Pass the first of the
Overlanders camped at Cow Dung or Yellowhead Lake. As
their provisions were running frighteningly low, some
horses and oxen were killed and the meat dried. Others
hunted and ate squirrels, small birds, a porcupine and
even a skunk. They continued on and camped at Moose
River, Red Pass, and at the original's Tete Jaune's
Cache. On August 27th the first of the Overlanders
reached the Shuswap salmon-fishing camp at the new Tete
Jaune Cache. Here they traded ammunition, clothing,
needles and thread, etc. for salmon, huckleberries,
saskatoons and pemmican. On September 7 another party of
Overlanders passed by Yellowhead Lake. They became
trapped on an island by rising flood waters and were at
the point of starvation before being rescued by later
arrivals.
| "Still no sign of the
company. We are all beginning to feel
very weak. If they don't come up soon it
will be very serious work for us. Took
our last meal this morning, hardly, a tea
cup full of thin soup made with a bit of
beef about the size of your hand, a thin
piece of cake about the same size. Leader
is very bad. We lie about the fire and
smoke nearly all day, passing the pipe
from one to the other, and, strange to
say, I find the talk among men nearly
starving is what they would like if they
were at home..."
Alexander,
September 10, 1862
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The last of the Overlanders reached
Tete Jaune Cache on September 16.
At Tete Jaune their trails diverged. One
group decided to float down the Fraser to Fort
George and from there head south to Quesnel.
Canoes were made from dug-out cottonwood logs and
from oxen hides. Most of the men chose to build
rafts on which they tethered the oxen (or stored
their meat) for the journey. For the first 5 or 6
days of travel down the river no serious
obstacles were encountered. It wasn't until the
Grand Canyon of the Fraser was reached that
disaster struck. Canoes were overturned and rafts
torn apart. Four men died from drowning or
hypothermia.
| "Onward
they sped like an arrow. They
seemed to be rushing into the
very jaws of death. Before them
on the right rose a rocky reef
against which the furious flood
was lashing itself into foam,
threatening instant and
unavoidable destruction, and on
the other side a seething and
eddying whirlpool was ready to
engulf in its greedy vortex any
mortal who might venture within
its reach. With fearful velocity
they were hurried along directly
towards the fatal rock, their
ruin seemed inevitable. It was a
moment of painful suspense. Not a
word was spoken except the
necessary orders of the pilot,
which were distinctly heard on
shore above the din and tumult of
the scene. Now was the critical
moment. Everyone bent manfully to
his oar. The raft shot closely
past the rock, tearing away the
stern rowlock, and glided safely
down into the eddy below. The
agony was over. The gauntlet had
been run..."
McMickings
Diary |
On October8, the main group
of Overlanders reached Fort George. The
other group of Overlanders left Tete
Jaune Cache and travelled overland up the
McLennan River with over 100 head of
cattle and horses. About sixty miles from
Tete Jaune Cache their guide, Andre
Cardinal, turned back to Jasper. The
Overlanders slaughtered their cattle,
turned most of their horses loose, and
began constructing rafts for their
journey down the Thompson River to
Kamloops. During the run through
Murchison rapids and Hells Gate two men
died. On arrival in Fort Kamloops October
13, 1862, Catherine Schubert, the only
woman amongst the Overlanders, gave birth
to a baby girl. From this point and from
Fort George the Overlanders would make
their way to the Cariboo gold!
At the same time the Overlanders were
trekking up towards the Yellowhead Pass,
a rather curious group of travellers were
making preparation to follow their path,
lured, as well, by gold.
Cheadle and
Milton's Northwest Passage |
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