Notes of an Egging Expedition to Shoal Lake, West of Lake Winnipeg 1
by Elizabeth Campbell
[T]he morning of the 10th [of June, 1867,] …I left home accompanied by two men, two oxen in two carts, carrying a birch-bark canoe and our baggage. We plodded on through “mud and mire,” travelling very slowly a distance of 15 miles on the public road to the Frog plain, where we turned off to the plains, taking the road leading to Shoal lake in a northwest direction. Soon after we entered on the plain we halted to allow our animals to feed and to refresh ourselves. While here we were joined by an Indian, his squaw, and their son. These people had been to the settlement with their spring trade. They had two carts, and were taking back, in exchange for their furs, flour, clothing and ammunition. This Indian resides in a house at Oak Point, and is reputed to be the best hunter in that district, which fact accounts satisfactorily for his comparative wealth. After a short stay we resumed our journey, which was continued until dark, making a distance of six miles from the settlement. We camped on the plain, and, after the usual preliminaries of cooking and supping, laid down to rest under a cloudless sky, and slept soundly until sunrise of a clear day.
- Donald Gunn
Although Donald set out at 10 a.m., and travelled ’til dark during one of the longest days of the year, he didn’t seem to make much progress, assuming that the settlement he refers to is the Red River Settlement (it could be Oak Point…).
There are some contributing factors to his lack of speed that must be considered.
Oxen are not noted for their speed. But travelling by Red River Cart would not be speedy even with the best and fastest horse pulling! The cart was made of wood – perhaps some iron fittings on the wheel and axle, but possibly not. As the wheel turned on the axle, the friction built up heat. It was necessary to stop frequently to grease the wheels/axle with animal fat to keep the wheels turning smoothly and the wear on the wheels/axle to a minimum.
Also, the settlement boundaries were some distance from the actual built up areas of it, so one could travel a fair distance before being out of the settlement boundary.
The comment about the First Nations man’s wealth got me thinking a bit, too. This journey occurred before the treaty and the native people were still mostly nomadic. A man of this race with a house may still have been quite unusual, although Peguis had encouraged his band to settle and take up agriculture to some extent. This man also had not one but two carts (and thus also two oxen), which may have been more widely associated with the Métis and European settlers. Many settlers may have had only one! And those carts were full of valuable merchandise – which would have taken a significant number of pelts to buy!
Tags: Donald Gunn, First Nations, First Nations HBC relations, Frog Plain, Oak Point, Red River carts, roads, trade, travel
