The Pas wasn't what I expected. Not one bit. No tepees, no Mounties, not an outpost in any sense. Looked pretty much like small town America except for the flags. That and a lot of black haired people with good tans. Uncle Emil said most of them were Cree Indians whose ancestors came over from Asia even before he was born.
"They used to know this country like the back of their hands. My guess is most of them out in the backwoods still live off the land, fishing, hunting, trapping and gathering plants. But I've got a feeling it isn't like it used to be before the trading posts turned into towns. And paddles turned into outboard motors."
"The long and short of it is that they're people just like us. They see or learn a more efficient way to do something and that's what they'll do. Probably won't be too long and this whole area will turn into what northern Minnesota's turned into. Of course there'll always be pockets of what passes for wilderness. But money talks. Where there's a Canadian buck to be made you can be sure there'll be a way to turn it."
"But I don't quite see what's up here that'll be worth much. At least to the money grubbers. But so long as there's still fish in the water and trees on the shore, it'll be worth a lot to me.
"As to making money there's the trees of course. Clear cut 'em and make two by fours by the millions. And maybe some minerals. Flin Flon up the road has gold mines. Take a look at what happened to California back in the gold rush. On second thought, don't. It's not worth your time. Shoot, in a couple of years they'll have paved every square foot of the 'Golden' state. Freeways twenty lanes wide so filled with cars not a one will move . Those stalled cars will turn into the houses of the future. The entire state will have to be re-plumbed. New power lines built. All the abandoned houses bulldozed into the sea to make room for new amusement parks. All that ruckus will trigger the Big One that's been overdue since June 16, 1841. The ground'll open up and swallow every one of them and all their little lap dogs too. About the time the whole shebang grinds its way up to Alaska in about a hundred million years, the state will be discovered by some alien race from outer space and opened up as a tourist attraction kind've like the LaBrea Tar Pits. Only the dinosaurs those Martians find will smell of thirty weight oil and have tail fins. Tell you the truth, I'd pay admission to see that, particularly if I knew the cars had come all the way from California via some form of underground subcontinental railroad. Makes me feel good just thinking about it."
"Sorry. Guess I got side tracked. Anyhow, here we are in The Pas, or La Pas, if you'll pardon my French. That's another joke. Laugh if you feel the need."
"We're here with four things in mind: full tank, full belly, empty bladder and maybe a little information. So let's get to gettin'."
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