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K Troop by treeline
18 May 2003
Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta

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Arriving at Victoria on Oct. 19, the small force readied themselves for the last leg of the journey to Edmonton. The cows, calves and weak oxen were left there for the winter under the care of a settler, and what remained of the force heading out into the growing cold.

"Our progress from here to Edmonton and slow and the going very difficult," Steele wrote. "Our loose horses very often fell, and one fine animal being lifted bodily by Carr, the shoeingsmith, and myself at least a dozen times by means of a pole. The other horses had to be helped along in the same manner."

On Oct. 26 they reached the Sturgeon Creek, just across the North Saskatchewan River from where they will later build Fort Saskatchewan. With Edmonton almost in sight Jarvis urged the men to hurry. But it was not to be. "The trail was worse than any we had encountered," Steele wrote. "It was knee-deep in black mud, sloughs crossing it every few hundred yards, and the waggons had to be unloaded and dragged through them by hand."

Exhausted, the group stops at 5 a.m. near Rat Creek, just four miles from their goal. Three hours later they move on and on Oct. 27 they finally reach Fort Edmonton.

In his report of the march, Jarvis praises the "perfect conduct of the men," and singles out Constable Labell and Sergeant-Major Steele. "S. M. Steele has been undeviating in his efforts to assist me, and he has also done the manual labor of at least two men."