IN THE HEART OF THE CANADIAN ROCKIES CHAPTER I THE MOUNTAINS AND THEIR HISTORY "Westward the course of Empire takes its way" THERE is a wonderful fascination about mountains. Their massive grandeur, majesty of lofty height, splendour of striking outline-crag and pinnacle and precipice-seem to appeal both to the intellect and to the inmost soul of man, and to compel a mingled reverence and love. More especially is this the case where snow and glacier combine to add a hundred fold to all the other charms and glories of the peaks. Their inspiration almost overwhelms one as he gazes on their "Stainless ramps, Ranged in white ranks against the blue- untrod, And lifted universe of crest and crag, Shoulder and shelf, green slope and icy horn, Led climbing thought higher and higher, until It seemed to stand in heaven and speak with gods." Who can wander unmoved in the calm shelter of some verdant valley, a foaming torrent swirling tumultuously at his feet, or beside the placid waters of a moun tain lake, reflecting mirror-like the darkly sombre slopes of pine that lead us onward, upward to those "Palaces of Nature, whose vast walls Have pinnacled in clouds their snowy scalps, And throned eternity in icy halls Of cold sublimity; where forms and falls The avalanche the thunderbolt of snow! All that expands the spirit yet appals Gathers around these summits, as to show How earth may pierce to heaven, yet leave vain man below." But the fascination of the peaks permits no quiet acquiescence in this suggestion to remain in passive admiration at their base. The spell is on us-not of wonder only or of awe, or even love that can be satisfied with distance. A closer, fuller intimacy must be ours; gained by a reverent study of their character and form and nature, penetrating their reserve, breaking down barriers, till from point to point we pass to learn the fulness of their being, and on each soaring crest learn from itself and its environment new glories and fresh beauties in the world and its Creator. Such is the spirit of the mountaineer, and to gain this is at once his keen endeavour and his highest joy. No toil is too arduous for him to undergo; the very difficulties constitute an added charm; it is a science, loved and studied long and patiently, which in pursuit and ultimate achievement brings invariably a full reward. The tiny land of Switzerland is famed throughout the civilized world for the splendour of its mountain scenery. In the tremendous effects of absolute elevation and extent, wild desolation and rugged immensity, it cannot, of course, compare with the huge chain of the Andes or the vast summits of the Himalayas, but for variety and charm, as well as accessibility, it has well-grounded claims to the title of "The Prince of Playgrounds." The rich valleys, threaded by icy torrents, adorned by frequent waterfalls, clothed with dark, sheltering forests, or brightened by cultivated fields and vineyards, dotted with picturesque châlets, and eloquent of peaceful, healthful home-life, are invaluable complements to the magnificent lakes, the towering cliffs, majestic glaciers, and stupendous, ice-clad peaks, which form the crowning glory of that favoured country unique in scenic grandeur as in history. But though its scenery is unchangingly beautiful and the familiar Alpine monarchs retain forever the affection of the mountaineer, yet his soul will crave—and rightly so the chief joy of the climber's ambition, a “first ascent." He turns most naturally, therefore, to the great continent of America, where he expects to find plenty of new things and generally finds them on the largest scale. The United States, with its enormous area and limitless array of Nature's mightiest works and treasures, might well expect to possess some counterpart to Europe's pleasure-ground. But, hunt as we may amid the upland solitudes of Colorado's sea of lofty mountains, the noble peaks and canyons of the Californian Sierras, or the icy fastnesses of Mt. Shasta and the Cascade Range, the more closely they are studied, the more intrinsically are they found to differ from Switzerland. Each contains some of the splendid features that are all combined within the scanty limits of the little European Republic, but the wondrous glacial fields, the massing of majestic ranges, the striking individuality of each great peak, the forest areas, green pasture lands, clear lakes, and peaceful valleys, are nowhere found harmoniously blended on the western continent until the traveller visits that section of the Rocky Mountains which lies within the wide domain of Canada. Following the Continental watershed from Colorado northward, the ranges of Montana begin to display the characteristic features which culminate in the Switzerland of the Western Hemisphere. The rounded or gabled summits here give place to broken pinnacles, precipices rise in frequent grandeur, enormous seas of ice sweep from the alpine heights into the verdant heart of pine- and spruce-clad valleys, gemmed with emerald and turquoise lakelets, and silvery waterfalls and sparkling rivulets unite in producing a series of absolutely perfect mountain pictures. Two variations from the European prototype are certainly conspicuous. The one, that in this country of superlatives the ranges and peaks are multiplied tenfold. The area is vastly larger and the mountains are more closely packed together; but, as a consequence, the individual peaks, with some notable exceptions, are scarcely so strikingly characteristic as their Helvetian relatives. The other obvious difference lies in the wildness of the Rocky Mountain region. Except where the railroad, |