45
Report by Dr. Dawson.

Doctor G. M. Dawson, who was a member of the exploratory party of 1879 in
company with Messrs. Cambie, McLeod and Gordon, in his report in 1880, says :—

“The portion of the Peace River country, for which the exploration of last season
enables pretty accurate general information to be given, may be considered as extending
eastward from the Middle Forks of Pine River. West of this point, as already stated,
the areas of fertile land are small, being confined to certain river valleys which pene-
trate the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains and high plateau attached to them. With
this western limit, the region to be now described may be considered as bounded to the
north by the 57th parallel, to its intersection eastward with the Peace River. Thence
the boundary may be assumed to follow the Peace River southward to the mouth of
Heart Brook, near the confluence of the Smoky River. Thence to run south-eastward
to the extremity of Lesser Slave Lake, to follow the western border of the hilly region
lying to the south of the lake to the Athabaska River ; thence to follow the Athabaska
westward to the foot-hills, and, skirting the foot-hills, to run north-westward to the
first-mentioned point on Pine River.

“* West of the Smoky River, both to the south and north of Peace River, there are
extensive areas of prairie country, either perfectly open and covered with a more or less
luxuriant growth of grass, or dotted with patches of coppice and trees.

“The northern bauks of the Peace River Valley are also very generally open and
grassed, and parts of the valley of the Smoky and other rivers have a similar character.
The total area of prairie land west of the Smoky River may be about 3,000 square
miles. The remainder of the surface is generally occupied by second-growth forest,
occasionally dense, but more often open and composed of aspen, birch and cottonwood,
with a greater or less proportion of coniferous trees. Some patches of the original
forest, however, remain, particularly in the river valleys, and are composed of much
larger trees, chiefly coniferous, among which the black spruce is most abundant. Hand-
some groves of old and large cottonwoods are also to be found in some of the valleys.
Where the soil becomes locally sandy and poor, and more particularly in some of the
more elevated parts of the ridges before described, a thick growth of scrub pine and
black spruce, in which the individual trees are small, is found ; and in swampy regions
the tamarac is not wanting, and grows generally intermixed with the black spruce.

“The luxuriance of the natural vegetation in these prairies is truly wonderful, and
indicates not alone the fertility of the soil, but the occurrence of a sufficient rainfall.
The service-berry, or amalanchier, and the choke-berry are very abundant in some
places, particularly on the so-called Grand Prairie, which constitutes the great berry-
ground of the Indians. ; ;

“With regard to the climate of the Peace River country, we are without such
accurate information as might be obtained from a careful meteorological record, embrac-
ing even a single year, and its character can at present be ascertained merely from notes
and observations of a general character and the appearance of the natural vegetation.
Tt may be stated at once that the ascertained facts leave no doubt on the subject of the
sufficient length and warmth of the season to ripen wheat, oats and barley, with all the
ordinary root crops and vegetables, the only point which may admit of question being
to what extent the occurrence of late and early frosts may interfere with growth. This
remark is intended to apply to the whole district previously defined, though it must be
remembered, in considering the subject, that the conditions of places situated in the
bottom of the trough-like river valley, and 600 to 800 feet below the plateau, may be
considerably different from those of its surface. ney Z

“While regretting that the data at disposal for the determination of the agricul.
tural value of the Peace River country are not more ample, we may, I believe, arrive
with considerable certainty at the general fact that 1t 1s great. From such comparison
as can be made, it would be premature to allow that the climate of the Peace River is
inferior to that of the region about Edmonton or the Saskatchewan. It is true that in
both the Saskatchewan and Peace River Districts the season 1s none too long for the
cultivation of wheat. but if the crop can be counted on as a sure one—and experience
seems to indicate that it may—the occurrence of early and late frosts may be recent
with comparative indifference. The season 1s at least equally short throughout the
whole fertile belt from the Peace River to Manitoba, though early and late frosts are
not so common in the low valley of the Red River. The almost simultaneous advance