FAREWELL ATHABASCA

Though Wawe Pesim (The Egg Moon), or June, had already brought summer
to the Great Northern Forest, the beautiful Athabasca still waited in
vain. Son-in-law had not yet appeared. After all--was he but a fond
parents' dream? I wondered.

Soon the picturesque and romantic Fur Brigade would be sweeping
southward on its voyage from the last entrenchments of the Red Gods to
the newest outposts of civilization--a civilization that has debauched,
infected, plundered, and murdered the red man ever since its first
onset upon the eastern shores of North America. If you don't believe
this, read history, especially the history of the American fur trade.

Meanwhile, canoes laden with furs and in charge of Hudson's Bay traders
or clerks from outlying "Flying Posts" had arrived; and among the
voyageurs was that amusing character, Old Billy Brass. A little later,
too, Chief Factor Thompson arrived from the North. Now in the fur loft
many hands were busily engaged in sorting, folding, and packing in
collapsible moulds--that determined the size and shape of the fur
packs--a great variety of skins. Also they were energetically
weighing, cording, and covering the fur packs with burlap--leaving two
ears of that material at each end to facilitate handling them, as each
pack weighed eighty pounds.

A fur pack of one hundred pounds--for the weight varies according to
the difficulty of transportation in certain regions--contains on an
average fourteen bear, sixty otter, seventy beaver, one hundred and ten
fox skins, or six hundred muskrat skins. A pack of assorted furs
contains about eighty skins and the most valuable ones are placed in