" In an attempt to keep warm the men's winter dress was made up of garment that had layers of a variety of furs, some of the furs included were moose skin, beaver, or fox. On a few occasions the temperature was recorded at -36, -42, and -38, and the men's winter garments proved to be ineffective even indoors. You were unable to see a hundred yards in front of them and they could leave the gates because so much snow was in the way. On the contrary the men had summers that the temperatures could rise as high as 80 degrees. But with the warm weather brought plagues brought by mosquitoes and sand flies. At night there would be swarms of insects that would bite and the only way to keep them away was to hang a net of gauze over the bed but the men seldom did this because it looked very feminine. Another hardship that the men had to suffer was the lack of food. Although supply ships would arrive filled with beef, pork, cheese, flour, oatmeal, peas, vinegar, raisins, and butter these goods hardly every arrive intact. The beef and pork would arrive so spoiled that it would be filled with maggots, and therefore the men would give it to the Indians. The soil in the Hudson's Bay Company area was very poor. The only crop thaw a supported by the soil was the dandelion, which was used in salad. Even though it was too cold to grow grains many farmers grew potatoes the size of hens" eggs as well as limited numbers of radishes, turnips and lettuce. The main problem was keeping livestock, such as cattle and horses, alive during the winter. There was little to no hay in the winter months and without cattle the tradesmen had no source of milk. The most important source of food to the workers was the bird hunts. They hunted geese and ducks in the winter and in the spring. The tradesmen also fished salmon. But what they enjoyed the most and was also a delicacy was caribou and deer tongues.
