Fur Route

About this blog.

This post is intentionally dated in the future so it appears first...

The HBCo posts that my father Mike (Paul Kelpin) managed are scattered along the oldest fur route into the Western Arctic - originally by canoe brigade following waterways rich with beaver pelts willingly harvested by Indian trappers. We first lived in Cumberland House, the first year-round inland post established by the HBCo. Then, after Mike attended fur school in Montreal, we were posted to Fort Wrigley for a year. The next summer we moved to Arctic Red River (Tsiigehtchic) 1° north of the arctic circle, then the following year to Fort Providence (Zhahti Koe) where we spent four years. For two summers Mike "relieved" post managers at Fort Norman (Tulít'a) and Fort Rae (Behchokǫ̀) having their biennial holidays, and then in 1958 we moved to Fort Chipewyan. Mike left the fur trade and the HBCo in 1967 after 18 years of service.

The following description of the canoe route used to transfer goods and fur west of Cumberland House is from Wikipedia:

From the depot at Cumberland House, Saskatchewan on the lower Saskatchewan River, north up the Sturgeon-Weir River, across Frog Portage to the east-flowing Churchill River which is mostly a chain of lakes, west up the Churchill past the depot on Lac Île-à-la-Crosse, through Peter Pond Lake to Lac La Loche and over the 12-mile Methye Portage to the Clearwater River whose waters reach the Arctic. The Methye Portage, which was first reached by Peter Pond in 1778 ranks with Grand Portage as the most difficult of the major portages. West down the Clearwater River to the Athabasca River at Fort McMurray, north down the Athabasca to the Peace-Athabasca Delta and the depot at Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, at the west end of Lake Athabasca. This was about as far as canoes could reach and return in one season and was the gathering place for furs from the rich Athabasca region and further west. One could continue into poorer country north down the Slave River to the Great Slave Lake and northwest down the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean.

Jumbo

Jumbo (Russell Frederick) Fraser

Born in Fort Chipewyan December 19, 1937

To parents Roderick Richard and Mable Ellen (Louttit) Fraser

Baptised in St. Paul's by Rev. G. A. Crawley January 23, 1938

Sponsored by godparents Eva Margaret Wylie and Peter Henry Fraser

Died in Fort McMurray November 15, 2022

Buried in Fort Chipewyan November 21, 2022

R.I.P. old friend of many...

Jumbo at the celebration of his niece Teara Fraser opening her airline Iskwew Air at Vancouver Airport on International Women's Day, March 8, 2019. Iskwew, a Cree word for woman, more broadly means “the home fire that blazes in the hearts of the woman.” This term speaks directly to the traditional role and responsibility of Indigenous women to maintain strong social networks within the community to preserve common identity. The name celebrates the first Indigenous woman-owned airline, all women, and all those lifting women. It was chosen as an act of reclamation of womanhood, matriarchal leadership, and language.

Jumbo made many contributions to The North blog. His great memory, love of his home town, and willingness to help gave me many leads in understanding Fort Chipewyan's history. In this post I will try to recollect some of the conversations we shared.

Jumbo was ten years older than me, so I didn't really have much to do with him when we lived in Chip. I went to the public school with his younger siblings - Hilda, Johnny and Edith come to mind, and of course I remember his mother Mabel who always led the congregation singing hymns. How much his family must miss him. And the town. And his wide circle of friends everywhere....

I was invited to Hilda's thirteenth birthday party, April 13, 1960. I must admit I was a bit in awe of Hilda. Although she was only a year older than me, I was still a kid while she was a developing young woman. She and Jumbo jived in the living room in the Fraser's big house - a wild and crazy performance that blew me away - that man could dance! Another time when I was visiting the Frasers Jumbo ate 22 pancakes, apparently a family record. That morning was the first and only time I tasted beaver tail. Once Jumbo's brother Johnny told me about the last caribou migration through the town, I think it was in 1951. Thirteen-year-old Jumbo ran out into the herd in the yard and brought one down with an ax! My long-lasting memory of Jumbo from my childhood was his enthusiastic friendship with our teacher Sarah. When writing the post about the Public School I phoned Jumbo to ask how to spell her last name, and he told me he is still in contact with her, and then phoned her to check my dates. Typical of him to keep his friends for life. I asked him if he could remember the hallowe'en when my father fired his shotgun to scare off the guys prowling around the teacherage trying to spook Sarah and Alice. He said he heard about that, but wasn't with that pack of boys as by then he already "had his foot in the door..."

I contacted Jumbo several times in the last year. He helped me with the location of Fort Wedderburn on Potato Island, the first public school building in old photographs, who built the Loutit, Fraser, Wylie and Flett houses, the history of Lily's on Wylie, the first Indian Affairs house, the public school moving to Edward Loutit's lot for the Junior Park Wardens, his father Roddy finding Edouard Trippe de Roche sitting on his skidoo in a skiff sunk in the Embarras delta mud, the fire that destroyed the Hamdon & Alley store, and the tragedy of the HBC store burning on New Years Eve, 1950. Jumbo's good friend Victor Mann, his brother Jim Mann and a Bay clerk perished in that fire - their residence was above the store. We had long delightful conversations both by phone and Facebook Messenger. 

I asked Jumbo one time if he knew about N****r Island which I was surprised to see named on a map in Kevin Timoney's book on the Peace-Athabasca Delta. He recalled, in great detail, the US Army docking at the wharf with a barge of Black soldiers enclosed behind a fence. "They kind of scared me," he said, "I had never seen a Black man before." This would have been in the summer of 1942, when the US Army was moving troops to build airstrips to support the Canol project in Norman Wells, so Jumbo was five years old. The US Army built the radio buildings, towers and residences for the Royal Canadian Corp of Signals that summer. He said the white soldiers set up camp in town, but Black soldiers were placed in an island camp two miles down the Rivière des Roches. Every day a few soldiers would leave town on an amphibious "Duck", returning in the afternoon. He waited impatiently for their return as they would give him a tin of rations that opened with a key. He chuckled to remember how much he enjoyed that...

DUKW, also called the Duck, was a 2.5-ton six or eight wheel amphibious truck built by General Motors that was used in WWII by the U.S. Army and Marine Corp. 

This 1942 U.S. Army B ration was likely the treat that Jumbo would have waited for daily...

Jumbo's family has a long connection with Fort Chipewyan, the fur trade and the HBCo. His great great grandfather Colin Fraser Sr. was hired as a piper by Sir George Simpson in Stromness, Scotland in 1827, competing with two others for the job. He brought with him a complete Highland costume and two bagpipes to serve as Simpson's personal piper, accompanying him on fort inspections throughout Rupert's Land. Colin became factor at Jasper's House in 1835 and raised a family with his Cree wife Nancy Beaudry. His son Colin Fraser Jr., Jumbo's great grandfather, moved to Fort Chipewyan with his wife Flora Rowland in 1887. He sold his property in what is now downtown Edmonton and used the proceeds to establish a very successful independent fur trade from his store near Little Island, west of the RC Mission. Their family of seven children married into Flett, Loutit, Wylie, McKay and other local families, making Jumbo proudly related to many of Fort Chipewyan's residents. 

Colin and Flora Fraser with their three daughters Maria, Louise and Mary, two granddaughters and an unidentified woman in about 1910-1920. Note the style of his moccasins. 

Colin Fraser's daughter Louise Wylie beside her house with one of her grandfather's bagpipes. Her son Horace donated these pipes to the Provincial Museum in Edmonton, where they were placed on display.

Colin Fraser Sr's Highland costume and bagpipes made a huge impression on local people. The following is from Through the Eyes of Others, an article on Colin Fraser in Nature Alberta, Winter 2014.

"One white man was dressed like a woman, in a skirt of funny colour. He had whiskers growing from his belt and fancy leggings. He carried a black swan which had many legs with ribbons tied to them. The swan’s body he put under his arm upside down, then he put its head in his mouth and bit it. At the same time he pinched its neck with his fingers and squeezed the body under his arm until it made a terrible noise."

Colin's elder brother John Fraser and his wife Sarah had substantial land in Edmonton on what is now Ada Boulevard. They built a cabin in 1871, and in 1908 added a large house known as the Fraser Mansion. The property was purchased by Concordia College in 1924 after John died. The buildings were being used as residences when I attended Concordia in 1963-65. The cabin, which may be the oldest surviving Edmonton structure, has since been moved to a rural property near Lindbrook. 

In 1926 Jumbo's great great great uncle John Fraser's cabin at my high school was being used as a girls' dormitory. That's the west wing of Concordia College in the background. 

This was Jumbo's family's house when we lived in Chip. He tore it down not long after this July 1980 photo – he said it was hard to heat. The house was built by his grandfather John James Loutit when he was post manager for the HBCo.

This house was owned by Jaunom Flett when I visited in July 1980. It was built by Jumbo's grandfather Colin William Roderick Fraser whose daughter Jenny Flett, Jumbo's aunt, was midwife at his birth and named him because of his large birthweight. Jaunom's father William did all the fur baling for the HBCo when we lived in Chip. 

Taken in July 1980, this was originally Jimmy Fraser's house. Jimmy was Colin Fraser's first son, so Jumbo's great great uncle. Jimmy inherited his father's fur trading business. 

Jumbo was never shy about being in the public eye, as you can see in his Youtube videos:

Metis Moment In Fort Chip

Former Fort Chipewyan Métis president Jumbo Fraser

Jumbo invited me to stay at his B&B Lily's on Wylie which he operated in the house that once belonged to his cousin(?) Lily Wylie, but I postponed the visit for too long.....

Jumbo's funeral was on November 21, 2022 at St. Paul the Apostle Anglican Church in Fort Chipewyan. The service was recorded and posted on his Facebook page, Fred R Fraser. The excellent 18-minute eulogy by Pierre? Peter? ? starts at 38:30. Check it out and hear more about this amazing man's life. 

"The late Fred "Jumbo" Fraser of Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation looks out at the expanse of Lake Athabasca"
From "Lifeblood: Fort Chipewyan's relationship to water", Canadian Geographic,  September 2023.

Fort Norman (Tulı́t’a) 1955

Among the most recognizable sights on the Mackenzie River, Bear Rock is three miles west of Fort Norman, across the Great Bear River. The HBCo compound is on a bluff overlooking the river. 
Photo by Charles Pineo, taken in July 2013, is from Google Maps. 

In the summer of 1955 Mike "relieved" the Fort Norman HBCo manager Jim Cummings during his biennial vacation. This was at the end of my first year as a day student at Sacred Heart Residential School in Fort Providence. I was excited about our adventure to another town. My grade one classmates in residence were even more excited to be re-joining their families for the summer. Many of them were from downriver, so I thought might run into someone during the summer, but it didn't happen.  

This photo is in front of the Residential School in Fort Providence, in 1955. The priests' house is in the background, and the boys' dorm is second row of windows at the west end of the school building.
These happy kids, all named in the archives, are probably leaving for home soon. Some of them would have been in my class.
Photo from NWT Archives.  

Mom packed up the big blue trunk with clothes for the summer and said goodbye to her garden. When the call came from RCSignals that the plane was close Angus drove us to the airport four miles upriver. The plane looked so big coming in. We took off right over the town, flew over Mills Lake, and followed the river to Fort Simpson where we left mail bags, freight and a few passengers. We took off to the east and turning back I could see the two rivers meet: the pristine Mackenzie with its Great Slave Lake water mixing with the brown mountain water from the Nahanni. This seemed a shame to me, that from here to the Arctic Ocean the river would never be clear again. The clear stream continued on the east shore for a long time before it disappeared. At the Norman Wells airport we were driven in a van to a small lake where we boarded a float plane that flew us to Fort Norman. There was no dock - we walked to the rocky shore of the Mackenzie on a board balanced on the airplane's float.

Fort Norman in 1974. Behind old town is the RCMP,  RC Mission, Indian Affairs, DOT, and the HBCo compound on the high bluff. The Great Bear River joins the Mackenzie just west of the village.
Photo from NWT Archives.

The HBCo compound is on a bluff overlooking the river and old town. Buildings consisted of the store which was right on the edge of the riverbank, two large log warehouses in the traditional hip roof design with dormers, our house in the same layout as in Fort Rae and Fort Chipewyan, the lighting plant and a small greenhouse. There were two large potato gardens that required some care, definitely not the most interesting gardening for Mom. 

The HBCo compound in 1983 with the two old warehouses, manager's house and the store on the riverbank. 
Photo from NWT Archives.

Our house looking west to Bear Rock. The house beyond the fence is RCSignals, where Cpl. and Mrs. Web Wade lived. 

Our house looking northeast from a warehouse window, with the lighting plant, greenhouse and sundial. The brown house behind ours belongs to Indian Affairs, where Mr. Albert & Mrs. Agnes Cotterill lived with their daughters Sharon and Wendy. The building above the lighting plant is the federal day school.

The store from a warehouse window.

The store in August 2016 from Google Earth Street View. 

RCCSignals buildings, with the house of Cpl. Web Wade & Mrs. Wade and the house of Cpl. Harry Baker, Mrs. Baker and their four sons. The building in the centre eventually became Wright's Convenience Store. 

Mom and my sister Tania looking for berries in the bush.

Going on a picnic with the RCMP boat. From the left, Mrs. Baker, my sister Tania (her face is behind Mrs. Timmins' chin), one of the Baker boys, my mother, another Baker boy, me, possibly the wife of the RCMP member, my father holding his hat, and Victor Menacho, RCMP Special Constable. 

Picnic by the river. On left is possibly the wife of the RCMP member, and behind her a woman we can't identify. Mom is in the sleeveless top, next to her is Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Timmins, a Baker boy, and Tania in the white t-shirt. 

Mom and several friends hiked up Bear Rock, scrabbling up the 40 degree slope. The Mackenzie Mountains are on the horizon, with the banks of Little Bear River just visible. 

Fort Norman and Great Bear River from Bear Rock. Mount Clark, elevation 1462 metres, is on the horizon.

Hiker beside the erratic on the ridge. 

 

Lake at the top of Bear Rock. 

Mrs. Timmins, a man I can't remember and Mr. Tim Timmins resting before the hike up the ridge and back down Bear Rock to the river.

Mike and a few friends made a trip to Norman Wells to explore the Canol road. I haven't found his photographs of that trip - if I ever do I will add them to this post. The Canol Project itself deserves its own post - the Mackenzie air fields and radio network developed for the project played a big role in supporting our living in the North.

Two years after publishing this post I heard from Rick Hardy* who was an eight-year old resident of Fort Norman when we were there. He doesn't remember our family that summer as he was with Noel and Harriet Gladu's family at the Bear River Rapids camp where Harriet was camp cook and Noel was a labourer. The camp was run by the NTCL to haul bags of yellowcake uranium ore over the portage around the rapids. Rick remembered many of the people in the photos and very kindly identified them for me, even contacting old acquaintances for help. These are numbered in the next two photos as follows:

1. Mrs. Baker
2. Mrs. Timmins
3. Mrs. Agnes Cotterill
4. possibly wife of the RCMP member
5. Mrs. Green, teacher
6. my mother, Merry Kelpin
7. Cpl. Harry Baker, RCCS
8. Fr. Jean Grias, OMI
9. Mr. Albert Cotterill, Indian Agent
10. Paul Baton
11. Gabriel Horassi, who was working for Rick's Uncle George at the time
12. William Andrew, who was working for Rick's Uncle George at the time
13. George Gaudet, Rick's uncle
14. (possibly) Jim McCauley
15. (possibly) Fr. ? Denis, OMI
16. Wilfred Lennie
17. Victor Menacho, RCMP Special Constable
18. Paul (Mike) Kelpin
19. Four Baker boys - I played with these boys a lot that summer
20. Barbara Timmins
21. Sharon and Wendy Cotterill
22. me, Brault Kelpin
23. Tania Kelpin

Crowd meeting the plane and seeing us off at the end of the summer. I'm in the blue jacket with white collar. The blue trunk is ours. If you recognize anyone else in these photos please let me know...

Just before leaving for Norman Wells. The canvas bags are incoming mail. The aircraft is a DHC-3 Otter, probably one of the two (CF-CZP and CF-CZO) that Canadian Pacific Airlines bought in April 1955 to fly out of Norman Wells. I loved the unique sound of the Otter, a deep pulsing throb that you could often feel and hear before it flew into sight. 

In my research for this post I went through Mom's address book (a 1929 Journal Diary that she used all her life) to find entries for Fort Norman. If you recognize any of these people please let me know. Mr. A. Cottrell is identified as Indian Agent on page 80 of the Fort Simpson Sacred Heart Mission history. 

The local Dene population of Tulı́t’a spoke North Slavey, which was similar but different from the Slavey spoken in Fort Providence. These people are now known as the Sahtú (Great Bear Lake), and live in five related communities - Fort Good Hope (Rádeyı̨lı̨kóé), Norman Wells (Tłegǫ́htı̨), Fort Norman (Tulı́t’a), Fort Franklin (Délı̨ne), and Colville Lake (K'áhbamı̨́túé). During the Second World War men from Délı̨ne and Tulı́t’a were employed by Eldorado Mine on the east shore of Great Bear Lake transporting yellowcake uranium concentrate. The cloth sacks containing the yellowcake powder required physical handling several times going down the Great Bear River, with the workers having no protection. We now know that the powder is extremely toxic to breathe, despite its low radioactivity. More than half of the Sahtú men who did this work have died early of cancer. In addition to this loss to their community, the Délı̨ne people are horrified at the role they played in providing nuclear fuel for the  bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Village of Widows is a 1999 documentary by Peter Blow on the  Délı̨ne tragedy, and When a Dene Lantern shone in Hiroshima describes the community seeking reconciliation and attending the 1998 peace ceremony in Hiroshima. 

The old town west of the HBCo compound, The two-story wooden house is the Anglican manse, with the roof of the old Anglican church visible behind it. The brown square above the manse is the steeple roof covering the church bell. 

I was very surprised to discover that Google Street View is available for Tulı́t’a. I was able to "walk" the streets in 2016 to see what remains of the 1955 village, identifying buildings and finding photographs. 

The intersection of Bear Rock Drive and Blueberry Hill Drive photographed by Patrick Mahaffey in August 2009, from almost the same location as Mike's slide from 1955. 
Photo from Google Earth.

The old Anglican church, also by Patrick Mahaffey.
One of the oldest structures in the NWT, this was built by Alan Hardisty in 1880. Notice the dovetail corners, manually cut with such precision.
Photo from Google Earth.

I scoured photos in the NWT Archives for a historical perspective on the buildings in the HBCo compound. Here are a few....

HBCo compound in 1930-32.
Photo from NWT Archives.

HBCo compound in 1930-32.
Photo from NWT Archives.

HBCo compound in 1930-32. This appears to be the same sundial as in Mike's 1955 photo.
Photo from NWT Archives.

HBCo compound in 1942, with the Anglican manse and church to the west. The last house on the right belonged to HBCo pensioner Charles Timothy Gaudet, Rick Hardy's grandfather, who died three years before we lived in Fort Norman.
Photo from NWT Archives.

The store in 1964.
Photo from NWT Archives.

Undated photo of the HBCo compound with the buildings as they were in 1955. Mr. & Mrs. Tim Timmins and their daughter Barbara lived in the house in the upper left corner. The brown house with the red roof was the Cotterills, and next door was the Indian Agency clerk.
The Northwest store is now located in the field in the centre of this photo. 
Photo from NWT Archives.

* Richard I. Hardy (Rick) shares heartfelt and very personal stories of his family and growing up Métis in Fort Norman, including his trauma experienced in a Catholic residential school, in his excellent book Mǫ́lazha: (Child of a Whiteman). 

Dock Dance 1959

In early fall of 1959 the community gathered on the government dock for an impromtu dance.  

Government dock on the evening of the dance.

Melvin, HBC clerk, in the yellow shirt. Possibly Lloyd Flett standing on the fuel drum. Frank Ladouceur* playing the fiddle. Sonia Popowich, public school teacher, in the striped sweater. My Mom in the red coat. Mabel Fraser in the white coat. Above Mom is Mabel's two-story house that was built by her father John James Loutit. 

Lily Wylie** in the blue dress, Leo Tuccaro, Charlie Bruno, Albert Voyageur dancing, Jessie Flett above his arm, Melvin Hansen in the suit dancing.

Barry Shields, HBC clerk, in the red shirt, Virginia Stewart in the white blouse, Sonia Popowich dancing with the happy guy.

* Frank Ladouceur was active in promoting Métis pride and heritage through his community activism and family traditions. Frank's great great grandfather Joseph Ladouceur moved from Quebec to Lac La Biche in 1804 to trade for fur. Frank's father Modeste left the family business in Plamondon to trap in the Athabasca delta when the prospects for Métis on the prairies had become grim. Each generation of Ladouceurs have maintained their French and Cree roots in language, music, and enthusiasm for living on the land. 

** The red roof barely visible above Frank's head is Lily's home which is now Lily's on Wylie Bed and Breakfast. 

Forestry Picnic 1963

In June 1963 Mr. Lawrence Yanik hosted a river excursion with the Forestry tug and barge. About 30 of us travelled 12 kilometers downstream to an island in the shallows near the east channel of the Rivière des Rochers . 

Everyone has loaded at the Forestry dock, and getting settled for a beautiful sunny but cool day on the water. People that I recognize: myself, Al Misko, Charlie Summers, Mom, Katherine McMaster, Charlotte Herman and her daughter Diane, Pat Dickson with her baby, and Bunny Yanik. Others, while familiar, I can't name for sure... 

Enjoying the sunshine...

Mr. Yanik, who knew the country very well, took us to a small island with plenty of room to spread out on a sunny slope and deep water for docking the MV Chipewyan. I think that's Al Misko waving to the camera.

The sun, while still high, had moved into the west by the time we left.

Mr. Yanik piloting the boat back home.

The Rivière des Rochers drains Lake Athabasca at the very western edge of the Precambrian rocks that form the Canadian Shield.  In 1963, before the W.A.C. Bennet Dam was activated*, much of the light-coloured green land in this image was open water. 

The land around the island we visited is now mudflats and willows, with only a few open channels.

Mr. Yanik winking at me at a party in the Yanik's basement, August 1964. 

I took this photo of Picnic Island in September 1964 when returning to school on a Courier Air Service flight that stopped at Swanson's Sawmill on the Peace River before carrying on to Edmonton. 

* The disruption by upstream dams isn't the only factor affecting water levels in this area. Isostatic rebound, the rising of land depressed during the last ice age, accounts for as much as 18 inches of relative elevation change in the 60 years since 1963, and the relentless progress of climate change continues to reduce inflow from the Peace, Athabasca and Fond du Lac rivers. Late 18th century fur traders recorded that the entire lowland area northwest of Fort Chipewyan was under water at that time, and named it Chipewyan Bay.