W. S. Drury, of the firm of Taylor & Drury Limited, recently returned
from an extended trip to the upper Pelly country approximately six hundred miles from Whitehorse. Speaking of the trip, Mr. Drury gave The Star the following particulars:
He left Whitehorse on the Steamer Thistle. He went up the Pelly River a distance of about two hundred and sixty miles from Fort Selkirk, to the mouth of Ross River. At Ross River the firm have a general supply store, where a large stock of prospectors' and general supplies are carried. This is the trading centre for a large
territory and a store has been in operation here for over twenty years. The arrival of the Steamer once a year is a great event in the lives of the Indians of that remote district, and the fire boat, as they call it, is a wonderful piece of magic in their eyes.
About eighty miles above the Ross River Post on the Pelly is the old Pelly Banks Post of the Hudson's Bay Company. This post was abandoned about seventy years ago. Nothing remains except a few piles of stones, which were the chimney and fire place in the old Fort. About 1845 the Hudson's Bay Company explored the Pelly River, establishing posts at Pelly Banks and Fort Selkirk.
Fort Selkirk was raided by Chilkat Indians on August 15th, 1852, and
owing to the difficulties of supplying these posts from Hudson Bay the Company decided not to restock Fort Selkirk. About the same time the Pelly Banks post was destroyed by fire and abandoned.
Some years ago, Messrs Taylor & Drury Limited decided to establish an outpost at Pelly Banks, and the trip and means of transporting goods from Ross River to Pelly Banks, Mr. Drury describes as especially interesting. Scows or York boats are the means of transport. Eight to ten Indians are working on the line, one at the bow and one steering. After leaving Ross River, Hoole Canyon, which is not navigable, is the first obstacle. Here, all the goods are unloaded and packed about one-third of a mile to another boat kept above the canyon. Here the river is very swift with some bad rapids, but the boat men force the boat up and no more unloading is done. The last thirty miles before reaching Pelly Banks the river is more sluggish and no difficulties are encountered.
The district around Pelly Banks is a wonderful moose country and would
be more so if it were not for the many large timber wolves with which the district is infested. It is a matter of regret that only three or four men are prospecting in that
enormous territory, a great portion of which is unexplored and unknown.
Many stories are told around the post of beautiful waterfalls and
kot springs on the Nahanni and other rivers. The falls on the Nahanni have a drop of about two hundred feet and the river is about the size of the river at Whitehorse.
Mr. Drury came down the Pelly to Selkirk, a distance of about 340
miles, in a row boat. Here he met the Thistle on its return trip from Mayo and Dawson. On board the Thistle he joined Mr. and Mrs. Taylor and family for the balance of the journey home.
