In the spring there was no resource but to trudge over the rocky ledges and forbidding desolation of more than a hundred miles between the Fort Churchill and York Factory.

Only the stronger men and women were selected for the journey.

On the 6th of April, 1814, a party of twenty-one males and twenty females started on this now celebrated tramp.

At first the party began to march in single file, but finding this inconvenient changed to six abreast.

Unaccustomed to snowshoes and sleds the Colonists found the snowy walk very distressing.