69. ‘A Far and Furry North’

69 - far and furry north on white

1925

Historic Dunvegan Provincial Park

The Reverend A.C. Garrioch, a minister fluent in the Beaver language, was posted to the Anglican mission at Dunvegan known as St. Saviours. He had previously been posted at other missions along the Peace River. In posting him there, the Bishop was hopeful that he would be able to draw the Aboriginals back to the community. Garrioch and his bride arrived in the summer of 1886, facing the task of making the abandoned post livable. They ran the mission as best they could, operating a soup kitchen for the natives during years of poor hunting and crops. By 1891, there were only a few Aboriginal families living around Dunvegan, and the Garriochs, who had suffered their own personal loss in the death of their daughter, abandoned the post in the fall and moved to Manitoba. He later wrote about his missionary work in the Peace Country in ‘A Far and Furry North’ and signed this 1925 copy.