“Tn route via Pine Pass there are no waterways that can be used
for the purpose of bringing in supplies or equipment. The route from
Prince George via the Parsnip River and Peace River follows navigable
waterways practically the entire distance, while the route from Vander-
hoof via the Nation River has the advantage of both roads, which are
already built for a distance of about 65 miles, which could be extended at
a small cost, and river navigation used for balance of way.

“Two alternatives might be considered in connection with a line
running into the Peace River country. One from Prince George follow-
ing the present projected location via Crooked River and Summit Lake;
thence down the Parsnip River to Finlay Forks. In connection with
this line, however, it would leave the Nechako Valley and the large areas
around Stuart River and Stuart Lake and Big Prairie to the north without
railway transportation, which is a larger and more fertile tract than that
around the Crooked River.

“The other alternative would be to continue down the Nation River
to the Parsnip; thence following the Parsnip to Finlay Forks instead of
turning north near the 124th meridian to Gaffney Creek and Manson
River. This route would be practically the same distance and construc-
tion about the same. In this connection, however, it would be necessary
to run trial lines over both routes before it would be possible to determine
the most advantageous one.”

Present travel into this district from Fort St. James, to which motor-
cars run from the railway at Vanderhoof, is via the Manson Creek Trail,
which was made during the rush to the Omineca placer-diggings in the
early sixties, 117 miles long from Fort St. James to Manson Creek.
Little or no work was done on this trail for many years until surveyors
working in Nation Lake District put the southerly portion into good
condition in 1912 and 1913. Most of the bridges were gone, however,
and the trail was in poor shape and impassable at high water. During
the past two years considerable work has been done under direction of
W. Steele, of Manson Creek, to put this trail into better condition.

Until recent years travel into the Omineca and Manson Creek
District was via the trail westward from Hazelton to Takla Lake, and
thence via Tom Creek and Germansen Lakes to Manson Creek.

In 1871, when the Omineca placers were attracting considerable
attention, the stern-wheel steamer “ Enterprise ” was built at Soda Creek
and navigated the Fraser, Nechako, and Stuart Rivers, and thence via
Stuart Lake, Tachi River, Trembleur Lake, and Middle River to Takla
Lake ; but expected travel via this route did not develop, and the steamer,
after,its initial trip, was taken to Trembleur Lake and left on the lake-
shore, where the remains of the hull and what has been left by Indians
and others of the machinery still remains. Other than occasional trips
made by a number of launches taken into Stuart Lake and small boats,
this great connective waterway which offers a navigable route for about
200 miles north from the railway has not been used. The Chinlak

Five.