The remains of the late Robert Campbell, ex-chief factor of the Hudson's Bay company, were brought into the city Saturday by the M. and N. W. express, and were accompanied by the deceased's two sons, J. A. and G. L. Camphell. There being no train from Strathclair to Winnipeg till this week, if was necessary to drive with the remains to Minnedosa in order to catch Friday's train. Before leaving Merchiston ranche a brief service was held, conducted by Rev. Mr. McKay and Rev. Mr. Rogerson, at which all friends and neighbors were present, testifying their affection and esteem for the deceased gentleman. The funeral took place Saturday, leaving the Manitoba hotel at 2 p.m. for Kildonan cemetery, and was very largely attended. The following gentlemen were pall-bearers: W. Clark, Sheriff Inkster, Jas. McDougall, Duncan Macarthur, Archibald McDonald, W. F. Luxten, W. H. Adams, Dr. Lynch.
The following biographical sketch of the deceased gentleman, supplementary of the notes which appeared in Thursday morning's Free Press, will be of much interest to the public generaily :
Mr. Campbell passed away quietly and peacefully at noon on the 9th inst., surrounded by his family. It was literally a falling asleep. There was nothing organically wrong with him; it was just the exhaustion of old age. Up to the last he refused, with indomitable pluck, to remain in bed, although at times he was extremely weak. He was moving about as usual on the 8th, but complained of feeling very feeble, and toward evening his breathing became labored. During the night it was easy to see that death was not far off. He was conscious to the end and sank gently to rest, grateful, as usual, for any little attentions shown him. He was 86 on the 21st of February last, having been born on the 21st of February, 1808. He was a son of a Perthshire sheep farmer and was educated
partly at the country school and partly at Perth. He assisted his father on the farm till 1830, when attracted by accounts of the free, active and adventurous life of the prairies, he entered the service of the Hudson's Bay company, coming out on the company's ship to York Factory.
He was at first connected with the experimental farm at this time established by the company at St. Jumes. While so employed, he accompanied W. Glen Rae on an expedition to Kentucky for the purpose of purchasing sheep which the H.B. company were
anxious to introduce into the settlement. They succeeded in their mission after a tedious and harassing trip, but in driving their flock accross the country, a sad diminution in numbers was caused by the destructive spear grass, which was the means of reducing their original fiock of about 1,400 to 200 or so by the time they reached Fort Garry.
In 1884 Mr. Campbell was transferred to the fur trade and sent to Fort Simpson. Previous efforts to that end having proved abortive, he subsequently volunteered to establish a post on Dease's lake, an enterprise attended with not a little danger, on account of the hostility of the coast Indians who traded in that direction for their Russian employers. Of this offer Governor Simpson wrote as follows: "I am very much pleased at your spirited tender of your services to establish Dease's Lake, which has called forth the approbation of the council and led to your promotion, etc.” In 1838 Mr. Campbell accomplished the work he had undertaken to do, and discovered the head-waters of the Steekin, afterwards well known in connection with the "Cassiar" goldfields in British Columbia. With reference to this, Governor Simpson wrote in the following terms: "I have to express my entire satisfaction with your management in the recent voyage down the Steekin, bearing ample evidence that the confidence reposed in you was well placed."
In 1840, he was appointed by Sir George Simpson to follow the west branch of the Liard river, and from its source to cross the height of land in search of any large
river flowing westward. In carrying out these instructions he discovered the Pelly, which he so named after Sir H. Pelly, the home governor of the company. He eventually explored it down to Fort Yukon (situated almost directly on the Arctic circle), thus proving that the Pelly and Yukon were identical. He then ascended the Porcupine, crossed the mountain to Peel river, and reached Fort Simpson by the Mackenzie, which was thenceforth adopted as the highway toand from the Pelly country, instead of the arduous and dangerous route by the Liard. Mr. Campbell afterwards had this vast stretch of country correctly laid down on the map of North America by the late J. Arrowsmith; hitherto it had been a blank. Mr. Campbell called many of the tributaries of the Pelly after his own friends or after rivers
in his native land, but with characteristic modesty refrained from placing his own name on the map, though Sir George Simpson desired that the Pelly should be named the Campbell.
For abeut thirteen years Mr. Campbell was engaged in this part of the country, exploring, extending the fur trading operations of the company, establishing posts, etc. It is impossible in a brief sketch to describe the innumerable hardships and perils of every kind encountered by him during this period; but it is safe to say that no man in the country went through more, or endured suffering and danger with greater resolution and fortitude than he did.
Dr. G. M. Dawson in his report to the government on the Yukon district makes the following remarks, which seem highly appropriate and deserved: "The utmost credit must be accorded to the pioneers of the Hudson's Bay company for the enterprise displayed by them in carrying their trade into the Yukon basin in the face of difficulties so great and at such an inimense distance from their base of supplies. To explorations of this kind performed in the service of commerce, unostentatiously and as matters of simple duty, by such men as Mackenzie, Fraser, Thompson and Campbell, we owe the discovery of our Great Northwest country. Their journeys were not marked by incidents of conflict or bloodshed, but were accomplished, on the contrary, with the friendly assistance and cooperation of the natives."
Equally true are the remarks of Sanford Fleming, F. R. S., in his presidential address to the Royal Society of Canada:
"Mr. Campbell, the discoverer of the Pelly-Yukon, the largest river fiowing into the Pacific from the American continent . . . . is one of the last rep useniatives of the great explorers of the Hudson's Bay company under the old regime. His name comes close to the end in the long list of active and undaunted men who, from the days of Mackenzie, traversed the mountains and unknown wilds; it would be difficult to find their peers in courage and endurance in any service."
In 1852, Fort Selkirk which Mr. Campbell had erected at the junction of the Lewis and Pelly, was raided and its slender garrison driven out by a band of unfriendly coast Indians. In consequence of this, Mr. Campbell started for Fort Simpson to report the disaster, This led to his making a remarkable journey. To Fort Simpson he travelled in a small canoe thence on snowshces to Crow Wing, and from there by stage, rail and steamer to London, England. From his starting point Mr. Campbell made a continuous journey by the route followed of 9,700 miles, nearly half of which was through an uninhabited wilderness, and of this distance some 3,000 miles were walked on snowshoes in the dead of winter.
On his return from England, Mr. Campbell resumed his duties with the Hudson's Bay company. In 1859 he married Miss Elleonora Stirling, also a native of Perthshire. Miss Stirling and her sister came out from Scotiand according to arrangement and met Mr. Campbell at Norway House, where the marriage took place. An account of this trip - not an ordinary one in those days - appeared in a recent number of Harper in an article giving a sketch of some incidents in the life of George Northrup, the well known
frontiersman and scout.
At the date of his marriage Mr. Campbell was in charge of Athabasca district. He was subsequently appointed to Swan River district, and there he remained till 1870, when he retired with the rank of chief factor. In 1871 his wife died in Scotland, a blow from which he never fully recovered. Of late years he resided principally in Manitoba with one of his sons, at Merchiston ranche, Riding Mountain. He was the first to import
west Highland cattle into the province, a breed which on account of their hardy nature and shaggy coats are admirably adapted for this climate. Mr. Campbell took a deep interest in his adopted country and never ceased to urge, in his numerous visits "home," the advantages presented in Manitoba and the Northwest to enterprising emigrants. He was a corresponding member of the Historical society and took a lively interest in its publications and transactions.
Mr. Campbell was a man of wide sympathies and gave liberally and unostentatiously to many church schemes, secular charities and other worthy objects. He
was a strong, but not a bigoted Presbyterian. Throughout his long, useful and honorable career, he consistently lived the blameless life of a Christian gentleman. He was an upright, generous-hearted man who did justly, loved mercy and walked humbly with his God. Physically, Mr. Campbell was exceedingly active and wiry, and had a constitution of iron. He is mourned by his two sons and a daughter, to whom he was ever the most affectionate of parents.
