Episode 66
Joe and Mr. Munshaw were off on another photographic mission. This time the two set out on foot. Joe carried a long wooden tripod and Mr. Munshaw his view- camera and several 4X5 inch glass plates in their light-proof holders. From the studio on Hamilton Avenue the two men walked down the hill towards the German bakery and the butcher shop. At the Fort George & Timber Trading Co. building and Clark’s Sawmill they turned left to follow a trail running parallel with the river. The road followed the shore-line away from South Fort George to a long wooden bridge that spanned the width of a back-water slough. (The Hudson’s Bay Slough) The flood waters of the Fraser were lapping at the bottom of the bridge as they crossed over.
“This bridge will soon be under water if the river keeps rising,” observed Mr. Munshaw. Five minutes of walking brought them to the fence-line of the Hudson’s Bay Company Store. The buildings that surrounded the main store were situated on the original site of the Fort George fur-depot and consisted of the store-keeper’s residence and several storage warehouses. The two men stopped long enough for Mr. Munshaw to point out all the highlights of the property. The fur-depot was founded by Simon Fraser, the explorer, back in 1808.
They continued on the trail that skirted the steep river cut-banks in the direction of the Indian settlement. On their left in a fenced in area Joe spotted a large wooden cross marking the center of a graveyard. Smaller crosses, rock tomb-stones and low-to-the-ground grave-houses lay in the same general area. Near the edge of the village in a field of wild daisies, stood a man dressed in a black suit vest, white shirt, black pants and a black Stetson hat. He continued to stand in one position and watched as Joe and Mr. Munshaw approached. “Hey, yous, what you got there?” was his greeting. He looked curiously at the camera equipment that Joe and the photographer carried. “Are yous surveying the breed’s village?” he enquired. “I hear’s they’ll be movin’ out come springtime,” he said spitting on the ground in front of them.
“We’re here to make some photographic images,” answered Mr. Munshaw. “This is my assistant, Joe, and I’m from the Photographic Studio in town. Munshaw’s the name.”
“Mackenzie’s my name,” stated the man. “Up from my stopping place on the Blackwater Trail . . . just had to visit my good breed-friends here at the ‘Fort’. I’ve been conducting a little trade I has,” he explained, as he held up a large leather bag with purse-like handles. Mackenzie had short bristled whiskers on his face and reminded Joe of old Sandy back at Tte Jaune Cache. Joe noted the continual flow of tobacco juice running down the man’s chin.
In the next episode, NO. 1 INDIAN RESERVE, Joe makes a shocking discovery.
