The Missing HBC People
The Missing Hudson Bay Company People
It happend up in Caribou Lake (Deer Lake) There was an HBC (Hudson Bay Company) Post at Caribou Lake. There was manager, Mr Hendry, and a clerk Mr Sterling who was big and husky These two were HBC people. these men hated James Linklater *The Marten* because he performed the shaking tent. These white men and the Indians could not understand each other. Jakan Linklater, Marten's son. was talking to this big husky clerk at the Caribou Lake Store. They did not understand each other. The clerk threw Jakan out of the store and kicked him around. Marten said this white man who was trying to be smart would not be able to see the man who would fight him. These two HBC people left alone in the fall because all the people were out trapping during freeze-up. these two HBC people had a German shepherd-type dog. It was vert smart and understood what it was told but they also had five other huskies to pull sleds. before freeze-up, they used to set nets for dog food during the winter. In the fall they always had lots of fish to last through the winter for the dogs. these two people went to Windy Lake where there was a falls to fish.They alson took all of their dogs. They lived in tents while they were fishing. After freeze-up when people went to the store, there was no one there. I wouldn't be able to say who the first perosn who arrived at the post was and saw that no one was at the store. Soon the news spread that there was no HBC man or assistant and everyone knew the people were over at Windy Lake. The Indians thought they were over there fishing. they told Robert Fiddler. He said that we should start looking for the manager. When they arrived at the Hudson's Bay men's Camp, they only saw the German shepherd running out on the ice from the tent. Only this dog's tracks covered the ground. These two men had disappeared. They were gone; only this dog was left. The five other dogs were gone as well. As soon as the people realized they were gone, they went to Little Grand and brought back Mountie. The Mountie investigated and couldn't find a clue as what they did, where they went, or what happened. The sleds and dog harness were gone too, but plates and food were found inside the tent, Though the dog didn't touch them because it had a lot of fish to eat. The Mountie had lots of help from Indian people. They couldn't find a trace. Their canoes were there when they came in before freeze-up. In the spring they searched again but couldn't find a trace. We didn't know anything about what happened. At this time the white people did not know anything about how the Indians lived. If the white men knew Indians, a few days before that, Marten performed the shaking tent, If they asked for his help, they could have found out exactly what happened