Mile after mile the road follows section lines and one is
rarely out of sight of the house of some "homesteader." It is through
this level farm land that the Red Deer River wends its way flowing
through a canyon far below the surface. Near Wagner's ranch the canyon
was prospected and so many bones found that it appeared most
desirable to do extended searching along the river.
Usually fossils are found in "bad lands," where extensive areas are
denuded of grass and the surface eroded into hills and ravines. A camp
is located near some spring or stream and collectors ride or walk over
miles of these exposures in each direction till the region is
thoroughly explored. Quite different are conditions on the Red Deer
River. Cutting through the prairie land the river had formed a canyon
two to five hundred feet deep and rarely more than a mile wide at the
top. In places the walls are nearly perpendicular and the river winds
in its narrow valley, touching one side then crossing to the other so
that it is impossible to follow up or down its course any great
distance even on horseback.
It was evident that the most feasible way to work these banks was from
a boat; consequently in the summer of 1910 our party proceeded to the
town of Red Deer, where the Calgary-Edmonton railroad crosses the
river. There a flatboat, twelve by thirty feet in dimension, was
constructed on lines similar to a western ferry boat, having a
carrying capacity of eight tons with a twenty-two foot oar at each end
to direct its course.
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