Few living today can recall the hardships of traveling winter trails over frozen rivers and lakes, or crossing the hundred miles of muskegs and unbridged rivers and creeks between Athabasca Landing and Sawridge, on Lesser Slave Lake. The winters were long and cold, summers had hordes of mosquitoes and other blood sucking insects, and although they were short, the daylight hours were endless and the sunshine produced rapid growth of vegetation, both wild and cultivated.
The early settlers had to be an exceptionally hardy lot. All records of tales from the land applaud the Wonderful Peace River Country to the fullest, far outweighing any hardships they endured and consequently this influenced more people to leave homes and friends and try their luck in this new land.
The famous Fur Trader, Alexander Mackenzie, described the scenic grandeur and growth in the Peace River in glowing terms. Gardens are reported growing in many reports of the Fur Traders around 1800 at Fort McLeod on the Peace River and a garden at Fort Fork had been so good men were sent back to Dunvegan in 1906 to plant after it had been abandoned. It is reported that a wheat sample from Fort Vermilion had won a prize in 1876 in Philadelphia, and Rev. Brick from Shaftesbury won a prize with grain one year.
All the missions pioneered in farming. St. Peter’s mission on Buffalo Bay and St. Bernard’s Mission on Lesser Slave Lake carried on aggressive farming operations for years and many a weary traveler was always sure of food and lodging.
These pioneers had to overcome any hostilities of Indian Tribes, as the Indian people had claimed land for generations and settlers encroached on the hunting and trapping way of life. The Cree Indians occupied land between Churchill and the Saskatchewan Rivers.
Beaver Tribes lived to the west and the Chipewyans to the north. The Metis gradually moved westward before the advance of civilization and settled around such places as Lesser Slave Lake, Sturgeon Lake, Bear Lake, and Flying Shot Lake. Some of these had been followers of Louis Riel.
Fur traders had been interested only in fur and so discouraged settlers as a threat to their business. However some were always more adventurous and used the trading business as a means of exploration. It is known that men like Alexander Mackenzie, Fraser and Thompson added greatly to the knowledge of the west.
The Hudson Bay Company originally established posts close to Hudson’s Bay and trappers had to come to them, this as early as 1670. However the NorthWest Company moved in to compete and established many posts. In 1778 Peter Pond established a post on the Athabasca River. Alexander Mackenzie continued the work and built at Fort Vermilion and Fort Chipewyan. In 1792 Fort Fork was constructed on the Peace River approximately ten miles upriver from present day Peace River Town. In 1805 Dunvegan was built and for many years was the headquarters for the fur trade along the Peace. Trails led in all directions. Grouard or Lesser Slave Lake as it was known had been built in 1801 [sic] and continued to grow till in 1898 it became the headquarters instead of Dunvegan.
In 1883 a road was cut from Edmonton to Athabasca Landing. A trail had been in use for a long time and now wagons could go through without too much difficulty. Another road allowed trips to be made to Fort Assiniboine through the Swan Hills and on to the shores of Lesser Slave Lake. This was the road mostly used by the Indians on the summer pilgrimages to Lac St. Anne. They also connected trails linking Whitecourt, Sturgeon Lake, and Grande Prairie.
However the Athabasca Landing road was the most popular route as in summer most of the trip could be made by boat. Boats could go from Athabasca Landing to Mirror Landing. Here it was freighted to Soto Landing and from there again by boat could continue up the Slave River across Lesser Slave Lake to Shaw’s Point. Then by land seven miles to the present town of Grouard. From here the road was rough and muddy pot-holes across country to Peace River, where freight could again be loaded on boats and barges for further distribution at any destination up or down the river.
In 1883 the Hudson Bay built a Steamboat for use on the Athabasca River called the “Graham” and Bishop Grouard build the “St. Joseph”. After this many more were built, and by 1892 scheduled routes were established.
It was only a few years later Barney Maurice had a steamer “Neskaw” and several gasoline boats on the lake; but of course in winter everything froze and teams and sleighs were used to travel the entire distance.
As time went on roads were made on both sides of the lake. The north shore was high and dry but so rocky it was almost impassable and the south low and swampy and wet, so travelers were often mired in mud.
The Catholic Mission began in 1846 when Father Tache arrived from Isle a la Crosse. Father Bourassa visited Indians including those at Lesser Slave Lake in 1845-46, and Father Lacombe visited in 1855. Many others followed enduring hardships and gave so much of their lives to help people build a new way of life with schools, hospitals, roads and missions. The mission at Dunvegan was considered the oldest with the one at Grouard, St. Bernard the second Catholic mission and built on a permanent base about 1871. St. Peter’s Anglican was built on Buffalo Bay in 1885.
The buildings of the mission at Dunvegan have been renovated and made into a museum. The original benches and interior finish remains the same and pictures painted by Father Grouard on moose hide still hang in the Church.
Father Grouard spent sixty-nine years in the north and had traveled thousands of miles by foot, dog team or any other mode available and had added many of the necessities of life to the people during those years. Steamboats, flourmills, lumber mills, roads, missions, schools, and hospitals were all part of his work.
By the year 1920, Father Grouard had his headquarters at Grouard, where he died in 1931. The name of Lesser Slave Lake had been renamed “Grouard” about 1900 to honor him.
Anglican Church ministers came north in 1858 (Archdeacon Hunter) and R.W. Kirkby in 1859 and in 1865 Rev. Bompas began forty-one years in the north. He was aided greatly in his work through the years by men like E.J. Lawrence, Rev. John Gough Brick, and Rev. A.C. Garrioch. St. Peter’s mission on Buffalo Bay was built by Rev. Holmes in 1885. Thus these Churches did so much to make progress possible in this great land and advancement would never have come about as rapidly if it hadn’t been for their foresight, encouragement and faith. Other Church’s Denominations followed and each added greatly to the building of the country.
When the Klondyke Gold Rush started about 1896 thousands of men and women came north by this route also. Edmonton was the headquarters for outfitting these gold seekers. Freighters and guides prospered, – but most of the Klonykers did not. Many lost their all and some even lost their lives in many different kinds of mishap. A very few got through to the Yukon, but many became friends to the Indians and remained in the area and became traders, freighters, guides, and later settled to become farmers.
Grouard prospered and the population increased until the Metis population petitioned the Minister of the Interior, Frank Oliver to establish a Dominion land office with Cree speaking service. As Peter Tompkins was already Inspector of Indian affairs, he was also appointed first land agent at Grouard. At the peak of its growth in 1914-1915 Grouard boasted a population of over three thousand people. There were thirty-two stores, an Indian Office, Blacksmith Shops, Carpenters and Police headquarters. Its main street was a mile long. They tell us crime was practically unknown, although the bootleggers did a thriving business and many amusing incidents have been handed down.
Deome Desjarlais had a store in early Grouard and it is reported he made a great deal of money but mystery surrounds what happened to it. Many names pop-up in material we read and are repeated in every area of the Peace Country as generations multiply and scatter.
Fletcher Bredin was the first government representative when Alberta became a province in 1905 and he received some funds to cut trails and build roads.
The railroad was built with pick and shovel and five thousand men were employed, mostly Europeans. I can imagine many anxious times were spent to see who got the decisions when surveying bypassed Grouard. When the railroad came north in 1915 it went on the south side of the lake and left Grouard twelve miles from the steel. High Prairie became the centre and many businesses were moved from Grouard and new ones began. In 1914, eighty men left Grouard in a body to enlist in the Army.
Number 2 Highway was built parallel to the railroad and it too of course bypassed Grouard. A divisional point on the railroad at McLennan is still shipping in water, due to the fact that the man responsible for taking a sample from Round Lake broke the bottle and obtained another sample from Lesser Slave Lake, to the University for analysis. The water he should have taken would not have been suitable.
Grouard today has a population of a few hundred, mostly Metis, with only three stores. The Government has made a fill where the long wooden bridge stood across the Bay and another landmark is gone.
The Anglican mission has been closed for years and very little trace remains.
The buildings of the Catholic Mission all still there, but their activities are limited. This mission was still very active for several years after World War II. Father Farcade had a progressive Indian Arts craft and moccasin factory going which employed many by piecework. He also supervised a very active Co-Op, which was staffed by Indian help. This seems to have disappeared also.
The last decade or so has seen the passing of many of the colorful figures that had seen the transition of the area from wilderness to its present day status.
Among these was Barney Maurice who passed away in High Prairie in 1959 after spending sixty years in the Peace. His wife followed him October 2nd, 1967 at the age of eighty-eight years. Barney Maurice knew everyone and was known by everyone who had spent any time in the Peace Country and many glorious tales are still being related by the oldsters still living around High Prairie.
He knew Jim Cornwall well and knew the story of Twelve Foot Davis, who when he became ill was taken off his towboat. He was taken by Muskwa Ferguson — by team and wagon — a hundred miles to Buffalo Bay to Dick Hayes home, where Mrs. Hayes cared for him several months through a long illness till his death. He was buried in the Anglican cemetery at Lesser Slave Lake, but later Jim Cornwall had his remains moved to a grave on the hill overlooking the Peace River. This was to fulfill a promise he had made to Twelve-Foot Davis, and a large Cairn has been erected in his honor.
Barney Maurice came from Sweden when very young and had worked at many jobs and places before coming to Lesser Slave Lake in 1898. He left Edmonton in May 1898 to go to the Klondyke on horseback, crossed the Athabasca River at Fort Assiniboine on a raft, then over the Swan Hills by Indian Trails to what is now Joussard on Lesser Slave Lake. Then he went on to Peace River Crossing, crossed the Peace and followed the north side of the river to Dunvegan and then on to Fort St. John. There he had the misfortune of having all his money stolen and this ended his trip to the Klondyke. Many stories claim Barney and Sid Travers outlived most who tried the overland route to Klondyke. However, Barney spent some time prospecting along Finlay Forks and in the Cariboo. He staked a mica claim but had insufficient funds to develop it, so returned to Edmonton and for a time had a camp on the present site of Eaton’s Store. He worked at blacksmithing and was a member of the fire brigade. He also had a job, for fifty cents a week, cranking a pre-historic printing press which printed the Edmonton Post (early Edmonton Journal). He made his next trip north by dogsled and worked as a fur trader at Shaftesbury for Mr. A. Brick, son of the Rev. Brick.
Eventually he landed back in Grouard as a blacksmith, and also built up a large trading post and operated the steamer “Neskaw” between Athabasca Landing and Grouard via Athabasca River. This was a thirty-ton boat. He moved to High Prairie early during the War II years and when High Prairie became a village was elected its first mayor. He had certainly been “Jack of all Trades” and the accomplishments of his years in the north are hard to visualize, unless they could be seen personally. From pack trails through the wilderness to paved roads, modern homes with electricity, running water and modern heating methods — he saw them all.