By Canoe and Dog Train Among The Cree and Salteaux Indians

An unexpected letter in 1868 asks Egerton Ryerson Young to leave his church in Hamilton for missionary work at Norway House and north of Lake Winnipeg. He and his newly married wife weigh the invitation through prayer and conversations with colleagues before deciding to go. The opening follows their farewell services in Toronto and the preparations for travel, including horses and canvas wagons to carry them beyond the railway and steamboat routes.

Young writes about Canadian mission life through personal decisions, practical difficulties and religious convictions. A crowded steamer and rough weather on Lake Michigan make the departure physically demanding. A later passage recalls the missionary James Evans and explains the Cree syllabic writing system, using the Lord's Prayer to show how its characters work. For readers interested in the history of missions and travel in Canada's northwest, the account connects family experience with transport, teaching and the written representation of language.