Category: Canadian Provinces

Shoal Lake, N.W.T. 27 Sep 1880 Marcus Smith 2 pg letter to his wife

Shoal Lake N.W. Territories 1880
“My Dear Wife… We have had wretched weather for six weeks past especially the last month. High winds and cold with rain overhead and swamps the men are constantly soaked to the waist almost- Our tents are always dripping and everything is damp some of us are suffering from rheumatism, and my joints are stiff. But I am otherwise well- But my long journeys are over..”

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Fort Ellice, N.W.T. 26 July 1880 4-page Marcus Smith letter to his wife

Fort Ellice, NWT July 26th 1880, My Dear Wife.. go to Halifax at the end of the season when the weather is cooler as the journey is a long and wearisome one..
you should hire a french girl to help you with the house work and make the girls talk as much as possible with the people so that they may pick up the vernacular tongue.-

Call on Dr. Robataille at Quebec when you are returning home- he you know is Lieutenant Governor-

The weather is hotter here than ever I have found it before- and I have had some hard work and expect to have a month more of it mostly in woods where the mosquitos are dreadful-.. ove and Kisses to all the children and yourself #marcussmith #canadianrailways #canadianrailwaysurvey #bchistory

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Camp 110 Miles West of Winnipeg 4 July 1880 Smith letter to his wife

“..At the same time comes a telegram from Schreiber asking me to report to him at least once a fortnight and before work is commenced to submit all plans and profiles for the impr approval of the Govt. The Govt. being Mr. Schreiber- The first part is literally impossible and useless. The second implies that I am not to be trusted in designing the work- I shall take no notice of either excepting a simple acknowledgement of his telegram..”

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