One Hundred Years Ago…

 …in the summer of 1906, Ancel Maynard Bezanson made his first trip into the Peace River Country.  Equipped with notebook and camera, he travelled up the Athabasca and Slave Rivers to Lesser Slave Lake and the village now known as Grouard.  From there he continued by saddle to Peace River Crossing, then on to Dunvegan, Fort St. John and Hudson Hope.  Bezanson was so impressed with the potential of the land that in 1907 he published The Peace River Trail, illustrated with photographs taken on his trip, some of which are re-produced here.   In 1908 he returned to the Peace with his bride, Dorothy Robillard, and established a townsite on the banks of the Smoky and Simonette Rivers.  The “Old Townsite of Bezanson” is now a provincial historic site.                  

“…the time is now at hand when the landseeker must leave the railroads behind and push out into the more remote regions.  And, surely, one could not desire conditions more favourable than are to be found here.”   The Peace Peace River Trail, page 14                                                                                                                                 

Peace River Bound

“Imagine a West… of broad prairies and timbered hills, where both water and feed for horses can always be found in abundance, and where the traveler can make his bed upon the ground, wherever fancy may dictate, with no fear of his rest being disturbed by intruder in any form.”    The Peace River Trail, page 14 

The First Night on the Trail

“Athabasca Landing is…. the final distributing point for freight to the north and northwest trading posts.  Here, during the summer months, one may see whole fleets of scows, loaded with supplies, embarking for the north.”   The Peace River Trail, page 19 

Athabasca Landing

 “…within ten miles of the mouth of the [Slave] Lake one may see
stretches of fine level prairie, several miles in extent.  Here, in July, the blue-joint was four feet high, and in September it was still standing tall and straight, apparently little hurt by the frost.  Tom Lyllac, a retired buffalo hunter, and a few natives have cabins at the mouth of the Lake."    The Peace River Trail, page 23 

Tom Lyllac's Cabin

“No steamboat whistle has as yet awakened the slumbering echoes of Lesser Slave Lake, but the “Northern Light,” destined for that honour, was built at Athabasca Landing last spring and was run up as far as the rapids in Slave River, where, being too late for the spring freshets, the depth of the water was insufficient, and she ran aground.”      The Peace River Trail, page 26-27

Northern Light Steamboat Aground in the Slave River in 1906

“At Slave Lake, Peace River Landing, Vermilion, Spirit River, in fact, wherever there is a trading post of importance, there also is a mission, and a mission farm well tilled, well managed and well improved. The good fathers at the Catholic and the good ministers at the Protestant missions do all the work themselves. They raise their own grain, grind their own flour, build their own buildings, and still find time to help their neighbor and educate his children.”    The Peace River Trail, page 27 
 

Roman Catholic Mission, Lesser Slave Lake

The Pouce Coupe [Prairie] is second in size to Grande Prairie…The Indians have wintered horses here for years… The Saskatoon, the most prolific and palatable berry native to the country, has never, within the memory of the oldest Indian, missed a bountiful crop each year…. The blue-joint, pea-vine and vetches would hide a horse in August, while the berries and plants most sensitive to frost showed no sign of damage in mid-September.”    The Peace River Trail, page 41-42 

Awaiting Her Lord’s Return