ard and getting them under arms I went over to notify the officer
commanding in the camp, but met Constantine with his forty-five ready
for action. He had scented the alarm and did not wait for notice before
getting out to see what was doing. A less keen-sighted or an excitable
man would probably have shot anyone looming up through the fog, as I did
from the direction of the shooting, but Constantine, though as quick as
a flash, always had himself in hand. After the rebellion he became an
Inspector in the Mounted Police, and had so approved himself as a
wide-awake, intelligent and courageous officer that when the Yukon
sprang up with its special demand he was appointed to be the pioneer in
that far region of the north. Of medium height but very compactly built,
Constantine was immensely strong, quick in his movements and capable of
enduring tremendous strain. If it came to a rough and tumble he was as
hard a man to handle as anyone would care to find. These qualities,
along with his mental alertness and judicial training, made him a good
man to send to a region where he had to exercise many functions until
fuller government could be established. Constantine first of all made an
investigating and exploratory trip accompanied by Staff-Sergeant Charles
Brown. Leaving Moosomin in May in obedience to orders to report in
Ottawa for special duty, Constantine received instructions to proceed to
the Yukon and make recommendations as to general administration. He
accordingly left for the north and by crossing over by the Lewes-Yukon
he reached Fort Cudahy on August 7, where he remained about a month
before returning by St. Michaels and arriving at Victoria in October. He
reported elaborately on the resources, climate and possibilities of the
whole country. This was in 1894, and in consequence of Constantine's
grasp of the situation and his talent for organization he was sent back
next year with the officers and men above indicated, arriving at Fort
Cudahy on July 24.

It was well that Strickland was a practical logger and builder, for
quarters had to be provided. It was a land of extremes, with intense
cold in the winter and equally intense heat in the summer. Constantine
speaks of an occasional 75 degrees below zero in the winter and the heat
as high as 120 degrees. In another report he writes, "The miners have a
simple method of determining when it is too cold to work by hanging a
bottle containing mercury outside the house. Whe