The element of doubt that has existed around this place has dissapeared. FORT GEORGE HERALD Don't put off your Fort George trip. You may get left The best time to travel is now. VOLUME 1, NO. 56 SOUTH FORT GEORGE, B.C., SEPTEMBER 2, 1911 $3 DOLLARS PER ANNUM Fort George^Indian Reserve No.l, Comprising 1366 acres, situated at the junction of the Frasfer aud Nechaco Rivers, was sold by the Fort George Indians^st Tuesday night to ah individual named F. G. D. Durnford, whom circumstances indicate to be acting as agent for the Grand Trunk PacifiCx Railway Company. The Consideration in the agreement was the sum of $100,000. Every member of the tribe, with the exception of threejndians, signed the agreement-of-sale. The mass meeting of tho Fort George Indians, held in Chief Loui's house on the-In? dian Reserve last Tuesday night, resulted in a decision by the band to sell the reserve. A new factor in the situation appeared, in the presence of a gentleman named F. G. D. Durnford, who acted as nominal purchaser. There were present at tlwL'jSale, Father Cocola, the Indian . missionary, who has had charge of the affair in regard to the protection of the Indian's interests, F. C, D. Durrjford, acting as agent for the purchasers, L. G. Mactlaflie, manager of the. Hank of B. N. A. here, who witnessed tlie signatures-, and the Indians. Father Cocola"s instructions from the Department were, we understand, to sell the reserve in the best interests of his charges. Mr. Durnford has been living at the Hudson's Bay post here for several weeks past, and it wius generally understood here that he was waiting aj favorable opportunity to continue a tour of_ the Northern Interior by» way of the Bulk-ley valley and Hazel ton.' His connection , with the Indian reserve deal was unknown until he appeared upon tbs scene at the Indian conference in the capacity of purchaser. Mr. Durnford addressed the Indians at some length upon his desire to purchase the " reserve for the sum of 8100,000. Pierre Hoi, a French half-breed acted as interpreter. Father Cocola,, to whom the interpreter "conversed in French, did not address the gathering. Three Indians, headed by Joe. Quah, tftev self-styled second chief of the tribe', refused^4-0 sign the agreement, his two supporters JSJmg his son and son-in-luiW. Quah Jure always""obstructed the sale, •thinking.-"tniit. by so doing.he would force the Jwtfite men to pay an enormous price. He once intimated to The Herald, that' if the pumiiiKorSi would give him about twenty thousand-dollars for his share, that he. would discontinue^ his- obstruction tactics. In an interview "with" Father Cocola the day previous to the "sale he informed The-Herald that the identityxo.f the purchasers ..was not definitely esta'blishedxVThe reserve will be sold to the test advantage °f the Indians," said Father Cocola. "Th(jy are poor people, and children to all intentsS*nd purposes. It is my duty to protect their inX lerests all the time; the wishes of the gen-oral public must l>e a secondary consider-ion.,"! That the G.-T. P. are the purchasers there is very little room for doubt. Mr. Durnford, who is the only person with a knowledge of the identity of the purchasers, refuses to divulge the information. Father Cocola has no knowledge, of the matter, merely satisfying himself that Mr. Durnford represented the necessary capital to complete the? purchase. Mr. Dtirnford1 was at one time in the employ of the Dominion government at Ottawa. Indications would point to the fact that he has been entrusted with the commission to purchase the reserve for the Dominion, who, in turn will transfer it to the (1. T. P. in the same way as the sale of the Indian reserve was'put through at Kupert, the G. T. P. paying the purchase' price to the Indians. Tl«3 railway company are supposed-to hold the reversionaryrights of the province in this matter,/therefore, after the Indians have relinquished their rights to th'e land the reserve remains the property of the Federal/autborities, or-4he concern they:.. purchase for. The Cl. T, P> have already nuuli/two previous attempts The New Northern Hotel is now completely framed and covered in. Work on the interior is progressing rapidly,, 1). W. Campbell.! representing the -Saskatchewan Flour Mills, ofvMoo.sc Jaw, was amongst the arrivals on.Thursday last. The bill at the Fort George Theatre next week will be changed \Vednesdav_ji_nd Sat-ui-flay. ¦ Tl*»re -will be no s.Uow on Monday night, as the, theatre, has been rented by the Socialist partyjiere for a meeting. '. The British Columbia Express Companyis big steamboat "B. X." left hsr/i this morning with the South Fort George baseball team aboard, and- a large party of excursionists from this place to witness the ball game to be played at Quesnel tomorrow between- the borne team and Quesnel. News was received hore yesterday of a fatal accident which occurred on the Cariboo road near Sond Creek' last. Tuesday when, a Qbinese passenger was killed ami it driver seriously injured when a car plunged over the grade into the ditch. It--appears that rains had renderpd the road'very slippery and that in rounding a'pend the car skidded "into the ditch. No' particulars are forthcoming, and the identity of -the dead Chinaanan is"not yef known here. ' ... Father Cocbla, who recently completed a tour of the country between here and Hazel-' ton,. "speaking of the wonderful mineral resources of tine country iirthe Babine-range, states that in the. Bear Lake country, near Did Fort Connelly there .exist great fields of anthracite" coal. X KEEP OFF/THE^ GRASS. In the issue, .of the" Winnipeg Saturday Post,' of August 19th., appears a letter to tlui cditc^Cjrotn George «J. Hammond., I tellingUliei PostMjjat the editor of thispub-1 lication is a bad,'naughty man? and asking j Knox ~Me(iee not to print.any more nasty things about tlie Natural Resources Company until he sends a^fellow up here to find I out if out if George Hammond ever told a j lie in his advertiscing literature. Woulc]'nt> that jar vq.ii/ B. A. Laselle, of this to\.yn-site.. also'butts-in with a nice little note appended *to Hainstiond's rag-ti'me, ^saying therein that he-has asked-us to^put out such X/'uncalled for criticism''' lojX^of times. Of 1 course he has, since establishing inter-pock-l-etbook relations with/George Haiiunond through;the mediaUolis of a gravel-peddler whoso-mtme might be Moses. But unfortunately Lasolje'is not'running The Herald or dictating^iis policy, and as he is'on'record. nlori|? different lines to, those laid down jhhis^tettcr to the Post he had better keep South Fort GeOrge and Other Fraser River Properties NaturaLLocatipn For Future City Here. On February l(Jt)v^l910, John Houston made the following prediction regarding the situation Jit Fort George." In tlie opinion of the \ editor of The Tribune, Fort Gjeorge will,7f6r t\vo or three years, be where it is today,,on 200 acres of land, fronting on Fraser River, and not a mile from the located line of the Grand Trunk Pacific railway through the Indian .reserve. "It is common opinion at Fort George that the railway company will purchase tlie Indian-Reserve land, some 1300 acres in all, make a portion of it into a towusite ancT" the re-. nriairiderv_railway yards. The iludsonV-Bay-L Company's-97 acres lying between thouln-dian reserye*~an3 tba ~2O0 acres! on which the town is now rrbuilding. Adjoining- the JIu^on_3ay._lConnp"any's 94 acres on the west is Bird's^ pre-emption '«of 110 acres. These four tracts have a frontage of a mile and a half on Fraser river, and about the. sfVne on. Nechaco river, and if sub-divided would make 10,000 town lots and loave-the railway 500 acres for yard purposes. Tien thousand town lots is enough for a city of 20,0,00* Fort George may have 20,000 people some.day; but the. editor of The Tribune will not .live to see theday.". John Houston's I prediction was fC irjje one. South Fort George, to which he alluded as "Fort-George'' is still, and always will Tbe until the railroadZtomxaiio is well established,' the centre of interest-here. The la"st"^5aragcfl|Ph of-"(-)ld- Jolin;'s'';~artic]6~was patheticall^ftrue^r-he died oii the eighth clay of the following1 month. v-...v \ /^ to purchase the reserve, both of which failed owing to. tl*e attitude of the Indians, who were holding out for large figures, owing to. the work of townsite -concerns that had stimulated their greed by offering the red-men high figures for the land. Dr. j\lcl)ougall, of Ottawa, who represented the government at one of the former attempts to purchase, was empowered to offer the sum of £65,000 only for the reserve. tThe Indians refused to sell for that sum. It was understood that the G. T. P. would not pay inorc, and, reading .between the lines, we seehi. to see the fine hand of diplomacy taking^^his. means of purchasing without establishing^ a bad precedent of raising their offer. \ It is probable that the G. T. P. will make an official public announcement with regard to the roserveirSale shortly. The Indians are given until June the first of next year to vacate t>he. land, during which period, however, they will not interfere with any survey work that is to be carried on throughout the land< The money is to be paid to the Indians in cash, but no date has yet been, set iorthe payment of the money. The Indians formed a committee to attend to the division of the proceeds of the^sale, and although he requested to be left off the body entirely, the Indians prevailed upon Father Cocola to preside over the work that the "committee were to perform. Discussing the plans for the Indian's future Father HJqcola stated that he was pleased at the outcome of tlseir deliberations. He had always advised them that a sale would be- desirable for their ^velfnre, tind in/the event of their deciding against the sale he would have used his influence to move tho tribe to another reservation, further removed from the. demoralizing1 in-fluencies of tne adjacent white men's towns. "It is like a new start in life for them," said Father Cocola to The Herald. Their plans include the building of a well laid out ! village on the Goose country reservation, which is situated about sixteen miles up I the Fraser river from here, on the Western j bank. The reservation comprises 2560 acres of splendid land. The village will^have e church and presbytery, and a school. It will be built on a uniform plan, several different styles of houses will be built and grouped round the church. It will in no wise resemble wrbat has been known to the Indians of this country, since the beginning of time, as their villages—straggling groups of hovels and smoke houses infested by venmin and the germs of disease. The houses forming tbe new village, when completed, "will be chosen by the drawing of lots. The favored ones in the lottery winning the houses nearest the church, which is tl«$ locality -most desired. Every family of Indians are to receive $2500. Each individual, man wolman and chiJd, receives an additional . $500, Widows will draw SI500. These Indians have been a poor people all their lives. They do not understand the value of a thousand dollars.und have no conception of the amount of money in the control of tine tribe as payment for their land here. Father Cocola will help them/and adviseHhem in everything, and iiv the big kindly priest, who for years pa^t has acted as doctor and surgeon, spiritual1 adviser and confidant»forv them oil, they have-- an advocate and mediator who has made their betterment his life's work. It is with a sigh of satisfaction that we record the sale- of Indian reserve No. 1 for railway townsite purposes. We have repeatedly stated that the sale would go througli this month, and we received the advice upoa which we based that statement from a source that leaves us no doubt as to the identity of ttoa purchasers. Fort George, we allude- to the Indian reserve, and other Fraser River properties, now stand upon a solid foundation. We await with interest the statement of the railway com pan}7. . According to the Prince Eupert' News there.has been^some delay' oX-er^the..signing of the contract for the last gap in the G. T. P., by. Messrs. Fole'y, Welch,,and Stewart. There is no doubt'expressed that the contract will go to that contracting firm, but it is known that the-Toronto Construction Co., whose representatives were here^some time ago, and 'Messrs. Wilson iS? Co., of Minneapolis1 were also in the field. The final 'survey of the'Grand Trunk Pac-iyc north from Edson into, the Peace Kiver country is being-eo-mpleted rapidly by L. E. Silco.x/ who with a party of assistants has been working through the country since the opening of spring. Mr,- Silcox is now about ,35, miles north of Edsorpand 'is working,towards, the town. The information has been obtained from good authority that when he reaches Edson. the final survey will be eompleteed. This should be by tlie end~of the present month... ' ;-Some difficulty hus been experienced in getting a "satisfactory grade^&vejr. the ndjgr Between the Athabasca and theMcLeod rivers- Several preliminary surveys were run and the final has been lo.ca.ted around the -eastern end of the ridge'where-it hais been possible t,o secure a four-tenths grade on tho road's main line. Following this survey the road will rim northeast from Edson until it passes jthe ridge between the McLeod and the Athabasca; aftervwhich it will swing around into the valley of the latter stream and" run northward to a suitable-place for crossing. It is understood that Mr. Silcox has connected up tl«* survey from Edson with the-old survey made in 1907 through UuvPine Pass. '-. ¦¦¦ According to the News, Montreal advices give it out definitely that the contract-'for the last stretch belongs, to. Messrs. Foley, Welch, & Stewart, the firm have promised, it is said, to have the steel .across the suiin-"mit to Tote Jauhe Cache by December. Railhead is now only twenty miles east of the Yeliowhead Pass at the summit, and grading is in progress west of the divide to^. Tote.-.iuu'ne. Cache. Messrs'. Foley, Weleia & '..Stewart will, undertake to completcChe entire British Columbia section ^before tbe end. of 1913, when the line^wiU be opened for through traffic. ^^~ ., .-— • r~TlK -AvortTri^rfgvthu rpu.te betweeii-Alder-mere ancUTete Jaime ('ache is much lighter on the.1 100-mile-Coast divJsiQrL-now_ befngr operated. Generally 8peakint"~tne country to be traversed is open, and level_ Illicit Booze Venders are Supplymgjndians. The blind-pigs that are peddling liquor to Indians bad better have a care. The easy-money gentry, who daily violate the Act by illicitly vending rank brands of rot-gut to white men should be brought to account for the practice, but the skunks that sow the seed of violence and crime in the poor bestial brains of the Indians, to line their pockets with money that should be expended in feeding and clothing tlie^swarm of biuigry .brown women and children on the rancherie, are lower in the plane of estimation than grave robbers. A disgraceful scene was enacted on Hatar' ilton Avenue last Tuesday night, when a crowd; of drunken Siwashes brawled and fought like a pack of sleigh dogs, within hearing distance of private residencies, and families that^had to suffer the indignity of waiting the termingtiion of the red-men's orgy, or send fo^thvyolunteers to take a hand in the .subuuing^ot. the frenzied mob The Herakkhas repeated lyx" bawled out" the provincial government for^not erecting a jail^hore. We have cited instancesNvithout nuprber when the lack of a place ,jmsoners in has caused the public ,. , , | sary exposure to sights of violence and newspaperman who died at Qu<£ J drujlkenness. The representatives of tto gov-ner Jast year from exposure to conditions his time worn constitution was jtnable to his A wide valley extends all the way from the head of navigation on the south fork of the Fraser to Fort George/ ._^.- ' The townsite of Houston, in the Bulkley valley is being boomed by a Vancouver firm forHJie G. T. P, Railway company. The town is .natned after John Houston, the/ veteran' stalid, whilst printing his pjiper hi South Fort. George. The townsite/is made up; of 1,765 lotsrone-quarter oJ/wUich are owned by the Provincial Gmernment, leaving •1,342' for sale. The/streets are 66 feet wide and, the lanes ^J-o feet. The lots -are 30x100 feet with "tky'Iane at the rear. The townsite" is principally level. The Buck. Hiver runs thrc-Utfrr the town, and two blocks have been reserved on its banks *for park purposes... The town is situated; about halfway between Fraser Lake and Hiiizc-lton^on the' route of_the C. T. P. ' '- ¦ Capitalists Coming Here. 31 r. Chandler S. Edwards, President of the North Coast Land Company,-' leaves Ashcroft about the 12th., of tho month with a party of distinguished English capitalists who will make South Fort George their headquarters whilst looking over the district with a view to investment in land for colonization purposes. Tl.ve party includes His Grace the Duke of Sutherland.," K. G., Lord Desborough, K. C. V. 0.-, Admiral Lord Charles Bcresfofd, Vicount and ViV countess Castlereaugh, Lord Stafford, The Hon. Arthur Stanley, Captain JIutton and' ]\Ir. A. Simpson. The party have been at-Brooks where ,th.e I)uke of Sutherland'ls heavily iiir toresteel in land, for the"past two weeks. South Fort George Unis already been visited- by LiinnviHstinguished peoplef but her history wiil^Tbng have been written before shejagfiin welcomes a party of men whose nafiies -arc household words in every corner of the world. The Duke of Sutherland is one of the-wealthiest nion in the Empire. Lord Charles Iteresford is England's' most distinguished Admiral. In 1882 he commanded the_Cond<>r in the bombardhient of Alexandria.- Be sorral-on. Lord -Wolsey's staff in. the Nile Expedition, and eommanckd ithe expidition which "rescued Sir Charles Wilson's party in SafiaTOther. members of^thej1 f party are,/\vell ltno.wn in -both ^tfaiyfair-,and . ernrnent tliat have visited this place must1 have realized that a jail was a very necessary. iteJm in1 a place so remotely situated as this, yet it is not built. The practice of selling liquor to half-breeds should-be confined to sale over the bar only. Any of the men who canJ purchase hquor under the act here as half-Kreeds are worse than Indians themselves, for when they come into possession of a bottle they hie themselves away .to'; their, Siwash tiliiliutus and get the"\vhble crowd drunk. Then tlje' particular hell demon that sleeps/in the cranium of the Indian awakes and' twists the brain of the red-niau until ,he.. sees reel—and mine stalks abroad. The Herald, kiiows tbat half-breeds here were ia possession of enough rum this week to craze the whole tribe. They buy it at Quesnel, through the medium of some white skjneti friend. When .The Herald gets the fads regarding some .suspected blindjpigs^ in this town we will publish tho,n?Imes, occupations, and addresses oiX-he,swine themselves. Cider venders KadxBetter sell the beverage with more dist'i'etioti also. Any liquor tthat will int(j>>-irfati' conies nnder Attorney-Gen-eraj^J^owsetls Liquor Act as a violation if ^trld to Indians,, arid judging from the cider jags some of the natives have carried, the dope that is sold under that appellution j Mill eertainly"bruigr theglad." Tikis is at present a "dry" town>—laut j what's the use? Ninety miles down stream there are two retail and,one wholesale licence, with steamboats/running betwleen; the ¦-points twice a week or., more often.. IJ The clearing of right-Qff.way is'now in progress on the G." T. P. east of here. A camp has, been establisliedrnear W. lash-brook> place .about eight miles frbto here by h.) party of French. Canadian's, who ha.vo taken n five-mile contract. Their first work was to biiild a . ferry boat,-which enables road and 'their camp. There are also quite them; to- cro?,s, the river between the wagon a number of station meii at ^wdrk along the line between here and Chicken's Lake to the west.—Interior News. Aldermere.