The Great Lone Land A Narrative of Travel and Adventure in the North-West of America

William Butler left Montreal for Red River and Fort Garry on 13 Jun 1870 to meet up with General Wolseley who was travelling there to subdue the Red River Rebellion. He was to get a feeling for the temper of the Metis and managed to meet with Louis Riel their leader. When that completed, he was commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of the new province of Manitoba to travel as far west as he could and make a report of events with recommendations upon his return. Butler was a hard driving man who thrived in hard conditions and was indefatigable often enduring hours in the saddle, canoe, snowshoes, or dog sled. He hired drivers who provided their own dogs and sleds and was very sympathetic to the sled dogs who were beaten continuously to show more make them continue working for he detested abuse to dogs and horses. “Dogs in the territories of the Northwest have but one function – to haul. Pointer, setter, lurcher, foxhound, greyhound, Indian mongrel, miserable cur or beautiful Esquimaux, all alike are destined to pull a sled of some kind or other during the months of snow and ice: all are destined to howl under the driver’s lash; to tug wildly at the moose skin collar; to drag until they can drag no more, and then to die.” At times he despaired of his inability to make a difference in the lives of these dogs. “… what a host of sadly resigned faces rises up in the dusky light of the fire! Faces seared by whip-mark and blow of stick, faces mutely conscious that that master for whom the dog gives up every thing in this life was treating him in a most brutal manner.” He made it as far as present day Rocky Mountain House but for the lack of a guide in the deep winter was forced to return and write up his report which was presented in March 1871. . In it he advocated for the creation of a Civil Magistrate, an armed force of mounted and ground men to ensure the peace (future North West Mounted Police), and two government areas to parcel out land for settlers. He was sympathetic to Riel’s cause and to the native tribes he met along the way and to the bison which were being whipped out. This book made Butler famous because of his descriptive language, adventures, and engaging writing style. Every lover of Canadian history should read this book. show less

This was a magnificent tale of real-life travel in the North America of the 1870s. Trains and boats, horses and feet were the mode of transport. A landscape unrecognisable today (I'd imagine), as the native Americans still roamed free on the open prairie of the Mid West, and the lunatic rebel thrown in for good measure. And, it is all real.

Beware of some OCR problems though.

A well-written account of the author's travels in 1870s Canada and United States.