C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

248 Notes to Poges 29-30McKenzie. cousin of Alexander Mackenzie. Two of its namesin Native languages-Yatheekwen (Chipewyan) and Yatseekwen(Slavey)-mean "priest house." while the third-Kaitekum(Dogrib)-means "willow ground" (Aubrey to MacLaren).Located since 1804 on the north shore near the west end of thelake. it became a hub for exploration. trade. and travel to thenorth and west. earning the moniker "Emporium of theNorth." It came under the control of the HBC after thatcompany's merger with the NWC in 1821. The Oblates of MaryImmaculate (omi). a French order founded in 1816. establisheda mission there in 1851. followed by the Anglicans in1874. In 1898 the NWMP established a post there. and Treaty8 was signed at Fort Chipewyan in 1899 (Parker). The "rockysurroundings" remarked on by Vyvyan are the first sight of theCanadian Shield that the women had had since their rail tripthrough northern Ontario to Winnipeg.Fort Fitzgerald and Fort SInithFort Smith (Tthebacha) is the older of these two settlements.Located on the Slave River at 60' N. which marks the borderbetween Alberta and the NWT. it was established by the HBCin 1874 in the former homeland of the Slavey Dene. Duringthe 1870s. the Slavey were driven northward out of the SlaveRiver valley by the Cree as they moved west with the expansionof the HBC. In 1876. the Roman Catholic Mission at Salt Rivermoved to Fort Smith. In 1880. perceiving that steamboatswould never manage to navigate the four rapids on the SlaveRiver upriver from Fort Smith. the HBC built an outpost.called Smith's Landing. at the head of the portage aroundCassette Rapids (Zaslow 188). In 1915. the RNWMP establisheda post at Smith's Landing. renaming the site Fort Fitzgerald.after Inspector FrancisJoseph Fitzgerald (1867-19U). whoperished on the Peel River in February 19II while on the FortMcPherson-Dawson patrol (Holmgren and Holmgren 60).Unlike Fort Smith. NWT. Fort Fitzgerald is situated in theprovince of Alberta.Fort Smith acquired a federal Department of Indian Affairsrepresentative in 19II. a church-run hospital in 1914. a schoolin 1915. and an airstrip in 1928. In 1921. with all indicationspointing to an oil stampede to Fort Norman on the MackenzieRiver. the federal government's Department of the Interiorconcerned itself with "protecting the region and its nativemajority against the effects of too rapid changes" (Zaslow 188).Sitting at Ottawa. the Legislative Council for the NWT was abody consisting of seven high -ranking civil servants. FortSmith. the traditional entry point to the North by Europeansand Euro-Canadians. was identified by the council as thelogical territorial site for its administration of naturalresources and other Canadian government business in theentire NWT, which. though huge in terms of space. boasted apopulation in the 1920s of only about 8.000 people (NWT).Consequently. administration buildings were erected that year.and Crown Timber. Land and Mining Recording offices wereopened for the District of Mackenzie. Also in 1921. the firstCourt of Justice ever held in the Mackenzie convened at FortSmith. and it was presided over by Judge Dubuc. In 1922.nearly 10.000 square kilometres became Wood BuffaloNational Park. and wardens' offices were established at FortSmith (On the Banks 40. 79). The settlement remained theadministrative centre of the Mackenzie District until 1967(Northwest 152); in that year. the Northern TransportationCompany shifted freight operations from the Smith Portage tothe newly-completed Great Slave Lake Railway at Hay River. "Itwas more than coincidence that the territorial capital wasshortly moved from Fort Smith to Yellowknife" (Mackinnon32).where the Mackenzie, a vast hrown river, ...Vyvyan here means the Slave. not the Mackenzie. River.We went to call on the factor's wifeFrom 1922 to 1930 and perhaps longer. the HBC postmanager at Fort Fitzgerald was Charles Sydney Leggo (b. 1888or 1889), whose employment with the concern began in 1908.but which was interrupted by a stint with the Department of theAttorney General in Regina. From 1932 to 1935. he was HBCpost manager at Fort Smith. The peppery Jean Godsell. whowas not at Fort Fitzgerald the year ofVyvyan and DorrienSmith's trip. pictures him risibly. holding aloft a lightedlantern in order to watch as fire consumed the company'swarehouse at Fort Fitzgerald in 1922 (145). and dismisses MrsEdith Leggo because of her "general Ottawa-conscious intolerance"(147).a peculiar Inan narned HornbyJohn Hornby (1880-1927) was born in Cheshire. England to anaffluent middle-class family with interests in cotton. He waseducated at Harrow. where he excelled at sports. but developed