ansport Line of the
Company was dependent for its supply of provisions upon the buffalo meat,
which of late years has only been procurable in the Saskatchewan. Now,
however; that buffalo can no longer be procured in numbers, the Upper
Saskatchewan becomes more than ever a burden to the Hudson Bay Company;
still the abandonment of it by the Company might be attended by more
serious loss to the trade than that which is incurred in its retention,
Undoubtedly the Saskatchewan, if abandoned by the Hudson Bay Company,
would be speedily occupied by traders from the Missouri, who would also
tap the trade of the richer fur-producing districts of Lesser Slave Lake
and the North. The products-of the Saskatchewan proper principally
consists of provisions, including pemmican and dry meat, buffalo robes
and leather, linx, cat, and wolf skins. The richer furs; such as otters,
minks, beavers, martins, etc., are chiefly procured in the Lesser Slave
Lake Division of the Saskatchewan District. With regard to the subject of
Free Trade in the Saskatchewan, it is at present conducted upon
principles quite different from those existing in Manitoba. The free men
or "winterers" are, strictly speaking, free traders, but they dispose of
the greater portion of their furs, robes, etc., to the Company. Some, it
is true, carry the produce of their trade or hunt (for they are both
hunters and traders) to Red River, disposing of it to the merchants in
Winnipeg, but I do not imagine that more than one-third of their trade
thus finds its way into the market. These free men are nearly all French
half-breeds, and are mostly outfitted by the Company. It has frequently
occurred that a very considerable trade has been carried on with alcohol,
brought by free men from the Settlement of Red River; and distributed to
Indians and others in the Upper Saskatchewan. This trade has been
productive of the very worst consequences, but the law prohibiting the
sale or possession of liquor is now widely known throughout the Western,
territory, and its beneficial effects have already been experienced.

I feel convinced that if the proper means are taken the suppression of
the liquor traffic of the West can be easily accomplished.

A very important subject is that which has reference to the communication
between the Upper Saskatchewan and Missouri Rivers.

Fort Benton on the Missouri has of late become a place of very
considerable importance as a post for the supply of the