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N-2022-003: 0738 · Object · 1941

Part of W. D. Addison Nahanni collection

35 C Hansen's horses near Fort Simpson water supply spring on mainland, ca.1937-40

N-2022-003: 0809 · Object · [between 1937 and 1940]

Part of W. D. Addison Nahanni collection

File Name:
Charlie's photo description: That's two of the horses that Fred [Sibbeston] brought down
[from Conroy Creek on the Sikanni Chief River]. Those are the two that survived [those first
hard winters]. To the left is Slim and the other one is Gander. Gander was a sort of funny one.
He'd been raised in somebody's back yard because he knew how to open doors and take the hook
off a door. You couldn't keep him out of anything. He'd go by some little Indian [Dene] boy on the road,
reach over with his mouth and lips and lift the hat off and give it a few shakes. I see him pick up
a whitefish by the tail and carry it up in his mouth one day when we hauled fish. One morning
early, my wife gives me a shove and she says, "What's in the tent?" I looked up and it was still
fairly dark outside but there was this black thing against the canvas. You could just kind of make
out things. Well, no bear. Here's this horse in the tent with us,just his rear end sticking out and
eating all the bacon grease in the frying pan. Yeah, he's a funny horse. The other one, he'd been
used as a cow pony 'cause he used to herd the Mission cows all in one pile and then run them
right out of town. As soon as you got on him he started looking for cows and other horses and
he'd herd them. But that's where the spring is. That's where they get water from now. The spring
is on the right side of the photograph. You can just see Simpson in the background. Then there's
this little creek runs down and goes into the Snye and then there's the island over there. You can
just see a horse to the left down there.
Caption Source: Charlie Hansen interview (continued on next page)
Photographer: unknown
WDA's Comments, 2014 Feb OS: When Charlie brought in his horses, the RC Mission already
had a team that they used to haul wood and work their farm, Tiny Gifford, so-called because he
was big and almost never referred to as John (his real name), had a team and had the hauling of
freight up the steep bank from the river into Fort Simpson sewed up tight. Both he and his horses
were getting old and about a year after Charlie got into the business, Gifford sold out to Charlie,
leaving Charlie with a near monopoly on hauling. With Gifford's horses, Charlie had two teams
but in reality only his own could do much work.
By 1939 the wood hauling distances were getting too long too achieve much given the small
loads the horses could pull. This led Charlie out to Edmonton to buy his used Caterpillar 1 S
tractor. Getting it from Edmonton to Fort Simpson really was an odessey that Charlie tells in a
most compelling way (see his interview).
Now with greater pulling power he got into the firewood business in a big way. He employed
people to cut the trees and trained them to drive his Cat IS to haul the wood to town. He sawed
the logs into firewood lengths using the pulley on the Cat to power the firewood saw. Ever the
entrpreneur he was soon hauling ice to stock government and business ice houses in town. He
hauled ice for individuals and placed it up on stands where dogs could not "yellow" it. People
would chip it off and melt it instead of having to go to the river for water or ice.
Charlie saw possibilities that others did not and he quickly made himself indispensible in Fort
Simpson.