The whole of the Canadian North West had drawn many explorers and traders, some of them pretty well living their whole lives in the wilderness. Some looked for adventure in this land that had not known the industrial age and they saw a great beauty in its pristine state. One of these men was Captain William Francis Butler. He is best known for the book he wrote on The Great Lone Land. He wrote glowing accounts of the vastness of the territory, the apparent fertility of the land and the wealth of natural life. Butler came to the Red River country in 1870 where he was asked by Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba Adams George Archibald to travel through the newly acquired western territory and report on conditions. He set out on 24 October for Edmonton, taking the trade routes of forts Ellice (Man.), Carlton (Sask.), Pitt (Sask.), and Victoria (Victoria Settlement, Alta), reaching Edmonton on November 26. After a few days’ rest he left for Rocky Mountain House, arriving on the 5th of December. He tried, unsuccessfully, to find a guide who would take him south into Blackfoot country. He returned to Edmonton and prepared for the journey back to Red River by dog team in the dead of winter. He arrived at Fort Garry on Feb. 20, 1871 and filed his report with Archibald. The report focused on the state of the native population and made recommendations as to how the Canadian government should go about establishing its authority with the least disruption. Butler introduced a plan to organize a police force for the northwest, this leading to the eventual founding of the North West Mounted Police. Not surprisingly the report and its author were enthusiastically received by Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald and his cabinet when Butler reached Ottawa in April.
Contact Terri Lefebvre Prince,
Heritage Researcher,
City of Yorkton Archives,
Box 400, 37 Third Avenue North
Yorkton, Sask. S3N 2W3
306-786-1722
[email protected]
