Trail Blazer of the Canadian Rockies by Thomas E. Wilson (review)

REVIEWS 445 manyhistorians. The results demonstrate, however, thatarduous andunpromising asthetaskmaybe,fewsignificant advances willbemadein thestudyof traditional Indianeconomies withoutanattempttoquantify. It is inevitablethat even like-mindedscholars will disagreeon variousspecific issues. To my mind, Heidenreich(p. 9o) hasaccepted too easilythe notionthat Huroniawasacul-de-sac intowhichtheIroquoiantribeslivingnorthof LakeOntario retreated as aresult ofthe Iroquois aggression. Thetrade potential ofthe canoe route runningnorthwardalongtheeasternshoreof GeorgianBayseems to havebeenof equalor evengreaterimportancein late prehistorictimes.I alsobelievethere is evidence of atleastsometradingactivities eastof theOttawaValleyin earlyhistoric timesand do not find anybasis on whichto suggest that Huron trade in central Quebecin the I64OSwascarriedon by ChristianHuronsoperatingfrom the St LawrenceValley(p. •67). Instead,theevidence seems to indicateclearlythatthese traderscamedirectlyfromtheHuron country.Heidenreichalsoaccepts G.T. Hunt's thesis that the Iroquoisfoughtthe Huron to securecontrolof their trade routes. While A.W. Trelease's arguments in favourof motivessuchasfur piracyand the seizureof newhuntingterritorieshavebeendevelopedinadequately, I am now inclinedto attachgreaterimportance to thesefactors thanI did formerly.Finally, withrespect toAppendixi, greatcaution isrequiredbeforeaccepting mostproposed translations of Huron tribalor placenames andfewfirm historical conclusions can be basedon suchevidence. Greatdifficulties are encountered in determiningthe exactmeaning ofsome Iroquois place names thoughtheIroquoislanguages arestill spoken. I canonlyjoin withHeidenreich in hopingthatsome qualifiedlinguist will takeupthetaskof producing anauthoritative study of theHuron language fromthe masses of recordeddatathatare available. On mostpoints,however,I am in fhll agreementwith Heidenreich's conclusions. Regrettably, thepublisher hasdonethisbookagreatdisservice. All of theillustrationsarecrowded intothelastfewpages, theseventeenth-century mapsareinadequatelyreproducedso that the fine print is illegible,and Heidenreich'sown magnificent mapsof vegetation, soils, andthelike arereproducedon a hopelessly small scale. It is sad to think that the first work to win the Sainte-Marie Prize and one that will remain a standardreferencefor many decadeshasfallen prey to such unwarrantedparsimony. BRUCE G. TRIGGER McGill University Trail Blazerof theCanadian Rockies. THOMAS E. WILSON. Calgary,Glenbow-Alberta Institute,i97•. Pp.54.$•.oo paper. TomWilson was oneofCanada's most interesting mountain guides. Thehighlight of hiscareer washisclose association, asa packer, withthesearch for,andsurvey of, Rogers' Pass inthe188os. TrailBlazer ofthe Canadian Rockies ishisstory ofthatsurvey. It ismost notable foritscolourful anddetailed descriptions ofMajorA.B.Rogers and oftheimmense difficulties andobstacles faced bythesurvey party. Wilson's adventures andexperiences lostnothingandperhaps gained something inhistellingofthem.Indeed,manyofhiscontemporaries werehighlysuspicious of 446 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW himandthoughthisstories grossly exaggerated, if notentirelyapocryphal. Some of thedetails in hisaccount havebeenchallenged byothers. Yetheaccurately reflects thespiritandattitudes ofthetimes, andhisstory has beenextensively butjudiciously used byrecentwriters, notably PierreBerton. Thiswell-edited publication, complete withhelpfulreferences andexplanations, is not a comprehensive historyof the survey.It is, asthe introductionclaims,'the recollection of a man who had been a keen observer of the events and was able to dictateastorywhich,in manysequences, isavailable fromnoothersource.' T.D. REGEHR University ofSaskatchewan, Saskatoon Telegrams oftheNorth-West Campaign, •885. Editedwith introductionandnotesby I•V. sMom•MORTO• andRv.G•NA•.I• I-I.•O¾.Toronto,The ChamplainSociety, •972.Pp. civ,43•. Availabletomembers of thesociety. On 26 March •885therewasa sharpexchange of riflefire between asmalldetachment of Mounted Police and militia volunteers on the one side and a band of M/•tis on the other at Duck Lake in the North West Territories. These shots marked the opening engagement ofthemilitarycampaign known inourhistory astheNorthwest Rebellion.Viewedfrom the standpoint of generalmilitaryhistory,the operation whichtookplaceinnorthernSaskatchewan in •885appears small andinsignificant; from thepurelyCanadianpointof view,it isimportant,notonlybecause it wasthe mostdramaticepisodeof the lastdeterminedeffort of the M/•tisand Indiansto preservethe old culturalpatterns,but because it constitutedthe first militarycampaigntobecarriedoutwholly byCanadian militiaunderthedirection oftherecently established Ministryof MilitiaandDefence. It isthislatteraspect of theNorthwestRebelliontowhichthisbookdrawsparticular attention.The introduction, writtenby Professor Morton of ErindaleCollege, gives anexcellent account ofthestrategic andtactical sideoftheCanadian operations against theM/•tisandIndians,andin sodoingcorrects someof theerrorsfoundin earlieraccounts (suchasindicating that Middletonneverintendedoriginallythat Ottershould relieveBattleford,butshould, instead, co-operate withhimintheattack onBatoche) andconfirms thewidely heldcontemporary opinionthatMiddleton was the principalbunglerin a campaignof bungles.Evenmore significantly, the book emphasizes themanyproblems attending thelogistical andadministrative side ofthe campaign, thedifficulties encountered intransporting thetroops, theextravagances of improvisation, andtheextensive lobbying for favours. The student whotakesthetimetoreadthetelegrams selected andannotated by Professors MortonandRoywillbestruck bythevast variety ofdetailwithwhichthe minister, Adolphe Caron, thentheyoungest minister intheMacdonald cabinet, had todeal;communications, notjustfromthegeneral whocommanded thetroops, the railways which transported them,andthecompanies which fedthem,butalso from militiaofficers, mounted policemen, members of parliament, mayors of towns and cities, surgeons, landagents, telegraph operators, andsurveyors. Some of Caron's correspondents hadadvice to offer;others, their services; mostimportuned for ...