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Paul Kane's Journal of his Western Travels, 1846-1848 - History and ...

Paul Kane's Journal of his Western Travels, 1846-1848 - History and ...

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silence at The Pas, near which Franklin spent part <strong>of</strong> the<br />

winter <strong>of</strong> 1819-1820 (in fact, at Cumberl<strong>and</strong> House), during<br />

<strong>his</strong> first Arctic expedition, by York boat <strong>and</strong> canoe.<br />

frasher/Frasher /Frashur /Fraser, Colin See Fracher ...<br />

French R. rapids On the most complex section <strong>of</strong> the fur trade<br />

waterways, at the height <strong>of</strong> l<strong>and</strong> between the Lake Superior<br />

<strong>and</strong> Lake Winnipeg watersheds, these rapids seemed to<br />

necessitate a portage on the route along Maligne River (see<br />

River MaIane) between Lac des Mille Lacs (<strong>Kane's</strong> Lake <strong>of</strong><br />

they 1000 Isl<strong>and</strong>s) <strong>and</strong> Pickerel Lake, the latter in presentday<br />

Quetico Provincial Park, on the Ontario/Minnesota<br />

border.<br />

Froshur, <strong>Paul</strong> Joining the North West Company in 1819, <strong>Paul</strong><br />

Fraser (1797 -1855) was made an HBC Chief Trader in 1844.<br />

When Kane met him in <strong>1848</strong>, he had the charge <strong>of</strong> the district<br />

<strong>of</strong> Thompson River (west <strong>of</strong> the upper Columbia River <strong>and</strong><br />

east <strong>of</strong> the Fraser River), <strong>and</strong> likely was en route to York<br />

Factory with the annual brigade <strong>of</strong> furs. Governor Simpson's<br />

"Character Book" entry for him is brief <strong>and</strong> indifferent<br />

(208).<br />

Frot Asneboin Fort Assiniboine (est. 1824 as Athabasca River<br />

House) was visited by Kane October 10, <strong>1846</strong>, <strong>and</strong> November<br />

29 to December I, 1847. T<strong>his</strong> post was located on the<br />

Athabasca River, at its nearest point (about 110 miles) to the<br />

North Saskatchewan River, at the confluence <strong>of</strong> the Athabasca<br />

<strong>and</strong> Freeman Creek. The trail from t<strong>his</strong> post to Fort Edmonton<br />

fonned part <strong>of</strong> the principal transcontinental transportation<br />

route <strong>of</strong> the HBC.<br />

garden Isl<strong>and</strong> In American territory, Garden Isl<strong>and</strong> lies in<br />

Lake <strong>of</strong> the Woods between Big Isl<strong>and</strong>, Ontario (to the east),<br />

<strong>and</strong> Northwest Angle State Forest (to the west), the stretch <strong>of</strong><br />

the lake's western shore that belongs to the state <strong>of</strong> Minnesota.<br />

Its name derives from its being farmed, probably by<br />

Saulteaux.<br />

Garey See Fort Garey.<br />

gMpers/G-..ers/';-pers/';-pers House Jasper House (est.<br />

1799; moved 1811) was visited by Kane November 3-4,<br />

<strong>1846</strong>, <strong>and</strong> November 6-14, 1847. Jasper Hawes was in charge<br />

<strong>of</strong> the North West Company post on Brule Lake (a<br />

widening <strong>of</strong> Athabasca River) in 1814. The site <strong>of</strong> the fort<br />

was always downriver (east) <strong>of</strong> the site <strong>of</strong> the modem town<br />

that retains <strong>his</strong> name, located in Jasper National Park, in<br />

western Alberta. The fort's purpose was always that <strong>of</strong> a<br />

station where boats were changed for horses by westbound<br />

brigades about to cross Athabasca Pass, <strong>and</strong> vice versa for<br />

brigades headed to Fort Edmonton.<br />

Gentalmans wife See Haritt/Harett/H., Mr.<br />

the Govemer See Simson, Sir George.<br />

gr<strong>and</strong> bature [Columbia River] T<strong>his</strong> was a regular gravel bar<br />

on the upper Columbia River, upriver <strong>of</strong> Upper <strong>and</strong> Lower<br />

Arrow lakes, near the present-day town <strong>of</strong> Revelstoke,<br />

British Columbia.<br />

gr<strong>and</strong> bature / Gr<strong>and</strong> Bature [Whirlpool River, east <strong>of</strong> Committee<br />

Punch Bowl] Gr<strong>and</strong> Batture on the Whirlpool River<br />

(whose valley the east side <strong>of</strong> the Athabasca Pass trail fol-<br />

The American Art <strong>Journal</strong>/Volume XXI • Number 2<br />

lowed) dominated the river at one point. Battures, the braided<br />

gravel bars that frequently appear on mountain-fed rivers,<br />

regularly divert t<strong>his</strong> river as it descends from the height <strong>of</strong><br />

l<strong>and</strong>.<br />

Gr<strong>and</strong> bature [Wood River, near Boat Encampment] Like the<br />

Whirlpool River to the east <strong>of</strong> the Athabasca Pass, the Wood<br />

River to the west was dominated by a series <strong>of</strong> braided gravel<br />

bars.<br />

Gr<strong>and</strong> Bonet Like the fall <strong>of</strong> the Pransin Horses or silver fall,<br />

t<strong>his</strong> portage on the lower Winnipeg River, <strong>and</strong> the first <strong>and</strong><br />

second Bonet, are today submerged under the waters dammed<br />

by hydroelectric projects.<br />

Gr<strong>and</strong> Coat See grond coat or big hill.<br />

Gr<strong>and</strong> Colay/Gr<strong>and</strong> Coliee/Coulay The Gr<strong>and</strong> Coulee,<br />

northwest <strong>and</strong> downstream <strong>of</strong> Spokane, Washington, was a<br />

fonner route <strong>of</strong> the Columbia River, but ages before the fur<br />

trade era, the riverbed had fallen well below the floor <strong>of</strong> the<br />

coulee, leaving it dry. Occupied today by a lake, a reservoir<br />

behind Gr<strong>and</strong> Coulee Dam (constr. 1942), in 1847 the coulee<br />

exposed<br />

to view the bases <strong>of</strong> the enormous rocky isl<strong>and</strong>s that now<br />

stud its bottom, some <strong>of</strong> them rising to the elevation <strong>of</strong> the<br />

surrounding country.<br />

T<strong>his</strong> wonderful gully is about 150 miles long, <strong>and</strong><br />

walled-in in many places with an unbroken length twenty<br />

miles long <strong>of</strong> perpendicular basalt 1000 feet high. The<br />

bottom <strong>of</strong> t<strong>his</strong> valley is perfectly level, <strong>and</strong> covered with<br />

luxuriant grass, except where broken by the immense rocks<br />

above mentioned: there is not a single tree to be seen<br />

throughout its whole extent, <strong>and</strong> scarcely a bush; neither<br />

did we see any insects, reptiles, or animals. (WA [209])<br />

Gr<strong>and</strong> daDs<br />

Part <strong>of</strong>, see the DaDs.<br />

Gr<strong>and</strong> Decharge The Gr<strong>and</strong> Decharge was a portage <strong>of</strong> 300<br />

paces. It marked the first carrying place on the Winnipeg<br />

River for the downriver traveler, thirty-three miles north <strong>of</strong><br />

Lake <strong>of</strong> the Woods on the upper section <strong>of</strong> the river. Here<br />

canoes were shot downstream or lined upstream, while their<br />

contents were portaged; hence, discharge is a more accurate<br />

name than portage for the work necessarily performed.<br />

T<strong>his</strong> carrying place was the first <strong>of</strong> five in a five-mile<br />

stretch <strong>of</strong> river. The others' traditional names are: Terre<br />

Jaune, Charette, Terre Blanche, <strong>and</strong> La Cave. Kane refers to<br />

the first <strong>of</strong> these as Yallo Mud (where there is yellow rock).<br />

The second he does not mention; the third he calls White Mud<br />

(where white clay protrudes); <strong>and</strong> the fourth Gr<strong>and</strong> de Equear<br />

or Gr<strong>and</strong> de Equsar. These last names seem to refer to Gr<strong>and</strong><br />

Equierre, the name <strong>of</strong> a fur trade post no longer in use in<br />

<strong>Kane's</strong> day. T<strong>his</strong> post, however, was located downriver, not<br />

upriver, <strong>of</strong> Lac du Bonnet.<br />

Gr<strong>and</strong> de Equear / Gr<strong>and</strong> de Equsar See Gr<strong>and</strong> Decharge.<br />

Gr<strong>and</strong> GuUete T<strong>his</strong> was not a common name for any <strong>of</strong> the<br />

portages, rapids, or falls on the Winnipeg River, but, given<br />

its location in <strong>Kane's</strong> journal, seems to be one <strong>of</strong> the seven<br />

portages on the Blanche River (see River Naloin), a whitewater<br />

channel <strong>of</strong> the Winnipeg River, full <strong>of</strong> what Kane<br />

called "beautiful cas caides" on June 10, <strong>1846</strong>, eight miles<br />

below Gr<strong>and</strong> Rapid <strong>and</strong> above Lac du Bonnet. Seven Sisters<br />

73

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