Episode 65
Mrs. Munshaw soon arrived at the studio with large home-made oatmeal and raisin cookies. Her daughter, Emily, made some tea for her parents and Joe to enjoy. Mr. Munshaw explained to his wife that he and Joe would be going on another photographic excursion to take pictures at the Fort George Indian Village. Joe gave Mrs. Munshaw the promotional folder with the map that he had picked up at the newspaper office.
"Why, thank you, Joe," said Mrs. Munshaw as she carefully examined the brochure. "Mr. G. H. Hammond is still trying to entice as many land-buyers as he can," she continued. Then she started reading part way down the page, "My word. Listen to this . . . 'Fort George occupies the same strategic commercial location in relation to its own territory as Chicago and Winnipeg. From the Rocky Mountains East to Lake Michigan - a territory comprising eight of the largest states in the Union - Chicago sits at the gate, and takes toll of all that goes in and comes out. It is the bung of the barrel - the place where the currents of trade must pass. North of the international boundary, Winnipeg occupies a similar strategic commercial position. It is the door through which every bushel of grain, every hoof of stock, every pound of merchandise raised or required for a territory one-third the area of the whole of Europe must go or come, and all are helping to build it up into one of the great cities of the continent.
Similar causes will produce similar results at Fort George. If, as I have already shown - the products of the rich Peace River district must come westward to the Pacific, they must flow through Fort George in one ever-increasing stream, the currents there splitting, one going straight west to Prince Rupert, the other straight south down the Fraser Valley to Vancouver. Think what it will mean when there passes through Fort George the imports for a rich and prosperous country as large as New York and Pennsylvania combined. Think of the enormous return traffic - the varied natural products of this region going down towards the sea. And they must pass through Fort George. It is the natural, the easy, the cheap, the inevitable route."
"Mr. Hammond makes it sound like there's a thriving metropolis here," commented Mr. Munshaw.
"How big is Fort George?" asked Joe. "How much land is there?"
"Well," answered Mr. Munshaw, "Fort George is divided into three parts. South Fort George is the liveliest of the three. Fort George proper or as it is sometimes designated, Central Fort George, comes next in importance. The Grand Trunk Pacific town-site, which the company calls Prince George, lies between the other two and is as yet uninhabited. The No. 1 Indian Reserve which borders the river contains 14,000 acres. The Indians will eventually be bought out and relocated away from their present Village.
"That doesn't seem fair," said Joe.
In the next episode, THE OLD FORT, Mr. Munshaw and Joe set out on another photographic journey and meet up with 'Sour Beans Mackenzie' on their way.
