THE
UNEXPLOITED WEST
A COMPILATION
of all of the authentic information available
at the present time as to the
NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE UNEXPLOITED REGIONS
of
NORTHERN CANADA
By
Major ERNEST J. CHAMBERS, Corps of Guides
Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod
Published under the direction of
F. C. C. LYNCH
Superintendent of the Railway Lands Branch
Department of the Interior
Hon. W. J. ROCHE, Minister
OTTAWA
Printed by J. de L. TACHE, Printer to the King’s Most
Excellent Majesty
1914
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Ottawa, September 19, 1913.
HONOURABLE W. J. ROCHE,
Minister of the Interior,
Ottawa.
SIR,—I have the honour to transmit herewith the manuscript of a
compilation of all available information on the Unexploited West
by Major Ernest J. Chambers, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod.
This work, which was undertaken by Major Chambers under
instructions from this Department, is drawn from all known
sources. The information contained herein covers the whole of
the unexploited portions of Canada, west of Hudson bay, and it
is intended to fill a growing demand for complete information
regarding this territory.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
F. C. C. LYNCH,
_Superintendent of Railway Lands_.
PREFACE.
The stream of immigration steadily flowing westward in ever-increasing
volume is rapidly exhausting the reserves of vacant land in that part of
the Canadian west which used to be known, to the detriment of the
territory farther to the north, as “The Fertile Belt.”
Already settlement has overflowed the northern frontier of the “belt of
supposed limited fertility” and many thousands of acres of agricultural
land have been surveyed by the Dominion Government immediately north of
the North Saskatchewan and in the Peace river valley, and the surveys
are being rapidly extended to keep up with the pressure of advancing
settlement. While the trend of immigration is turning northward, the
eyes of the capitalist are attracted in the same direction. Information
concerning the resources of the country once ignored is now sought for.
Facts about the climate, the soil, the timber, the rivers, the lakes,
the minerals, the fish, the game obtained at the risk of life and limb
by fur trader, explorer, missionary, geologist and sportsman, even those
facts regarded not so long ago as merely interesting, have now a
practical value.
The once prevalent notion that the whole of the immense territory north
of the North Saskatchewan was a sterile, frost-bound waste destined for
all time to remain a wilderness, is now largely a thing of the past, and
the opportunities which the latent resources of the silent places of the
unexploited northwest afford to the enterprising and adventurous at the
present moment challenge the attention of the world.
With interest powerfully attracted to the more easterly sections of the
country under review by the recent extensions northward of the limits of
the prosperous provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, and with easy means of
communication with the larger divisions farther west assured, thanks to
the progress of the construction of railways northward to Port Nelson on
Hudson bay and to McMurray in the Athabaska country, it certainly looks
as though the long neglected Northland were coming to its own at last.
By connecting with the three thousand miles of almost uninterrupted
steamboat communication on Athabaska, Peace, Slave and Mackenzie rivers,
and Athabaska and Great Slave lakes, the railway being pushed into the
Athabaska country will place the whole of Mackenzie basin within easy
reach of the prospector, the explorer, the sportsman and the tourist.
The line being constructed to Hudson bay, as soon as steamboat
connection is established therewith, will lay the very heart of that
alluring El Dorado which we call the Barren Lands, with its herds of
musk-oxen and caribou and its mineral wealth, open to the prospector and
the sportsman, for, via Chesterfield inlet, Baker lake and the Thelon,
there is a splendid, uninterrupted waterway from Hudson bay for a
distance of five hundred and fifty miles into the interior.
The exceptional attractions which the Northland holds out to the
sportsman are certain to contribute largely towards the discovery and
development of the natural resources of the country. A couple of years
ago Mr. W. T. Robson, General Advertising Agent of the Canadian Pacific
Railway, submitted to a convention of railway men a thoughtful paper on
the value of the tourist sportsman as a means of publicity for
undeveloped country, in which he pointed out that the cultured business
men who find their greatest pleasure, relaxation and physical benefit
from trips into the wilds, are quick to discern the commercial value of
water powers, timber and minerals, and he related a number of instances
where hunting trips had resulted either in the discovery of unexpected
natural resources or in large investments in the country visited.
The object of the present publication is to present, with some degree of
systematic arrangement, all of the authentic information available at
the moment as to the natural resources of the less-known and unexploited
portions of northern Canada lying west of Hudson bay and James bay and
east of the main range of Rocky mountains.
This general definition of area brings within the scope of this volume
the whole of that portion of the old provisional district of Keewatin
recently divided by act of parliament between the provinces of Ontario
and Manitoba, those portions of the provinces of Saskatchewan and
Alberta north of the unsettled and unsurveyed territory, the basin of
Mackenzie river, and that immense country north of the new provincial
lines extending from Mackenzie basin to Hudson bay, which has
apparently, undeservedly, come to be known as “Barren Lands” or “Barren
Grounds.”
In these immense regions there are wide areas of which we in this year
of grace 1912 know as little as was known of Bow river valley in 1812,
and that was nothing. On the other hand considerable is known in a
general way about certain portions of every one of the great districts
which form this vast territory, or, to be quite exact, considerable has
been written about them. The subject matter has been so widely
distributed that no one could be expected to be familiar with it all.
Practically the first authoritative data as to the natural resources of
Canada’s unexploited northland was contained in the published evidence
of a British parliamentary committee which sat in 1749 to enquire into
the resources of the country administered by the Hudson’s Bay Company.
With this as a nucleus, a considerable amount of information on the
subject has gradually accumulated. The journals of officials of the big
fur-trading companies have contributed to this fund of information and
so have the writings of missionaries, the reports of British, Canadian
and United States official government explorers, the narratives of
sportsmen and adventurous travellers, and the patrol records of that
inimitable and ubiquitous body the Royal Northwest Mounted Police. A
very wide range of information regarding the various sections of these
territories, too, has been placed on record as a result of several
Canadian parliamentary investigations.
Some idea of the large amount of literature relating to the great
northland which has accumulated, can be obtained from the fact that in
the preparation of the present book nearly three hundred publications
have been consulted, necessitating an amount of reading which was not
anticipated when the task was undertaken. Much of this reading was
absolutely unproductive, a considerable portion of the books written by
men who have lived in or travelled through the country being merely
narratives of travel and adventure, containing no direct information of
any value as to natural resources.
For various obvious reasons many books written by scientific and
observant men who have visited the still new west are of little value in
throwing light upon the questions of the natural resources of the
country. One of these reasons is referred to by Sir Alexander Mackenzie,
who states in the introduction to his narrative:—“I could not stop to
dig into the earth, over whose surface I was compelled to pass with
rapid steps; nor could I turn aside to collect the plants which nature
might have scattered in the way, when my thoughts were anxiously
employed in making provision for the day that was passing over me.” The
distances to be travelled in the far Northland are generally so great
that the slender stores of supplies carried by the explorer and
traveller do not permit of time being devoted to thorough investigation
by the way. Again, much of the travelling in the unsettled north has
been done in winter, when the surface of the ground was covered with
snow, making an examination of the soil and rocks impossible.
Nevertheless, the literature relating to the new Canadian northwest is
so voluminous that it contains, scattered throughout it, an aggregate
amount of practical information regarding the resources of even the more
remote sections of the country that, as assembled within the two covers
of a single volume, will probably astonish most readers.
The present volume, according to the instructions the undersigned
received from the Department of the Interior, is purely and simply a
compilation. Care has been taken to avoid the temptation to try and
produce a work of original literary merit, and in the following pages it
will be found that the compiler has introduced only as much original
writing as is necessary to introduce intelligibly the various
quotations, or to establish the connections between them, his aim being
to present all the data available in the original text, or as near to it
as the exigencies of compilation and space would permit.
With the object of properly introducing some of the chief authorities
quoted and of placing the reader, from the beginning, au fait with the
circumstances under which the principal information regarding the
resources of the country was obtained, the presentation of the data has
been prefaced by a brief historical chapter.
At the end of the book a list of the written authorities from which
quotations are made will be found.
It will be observed that, to avoid confusion, the vast region under
review has been divided into five distinct territorial units, and that
the matter relating to each unit is in turn divided into four sections,
relating respectively to the resources in the way of arable land,
timber, minerals, and fish and game. The compiler found that this system
of classification was satisfactory in his two previous volumes of a
somewhat similar type, “Canada’s Fertile Northland,” and “The Great
Mackenzie Basin,” and a continuation of the system will facilitate
reference between the present volume and those which were its
forerunners and its inspiration.
Perhaps I might be permitted here a word of personal explanation. I have
had only a slight acquaintance with any part of this great waiting
Northland, having campaigned a little over its southern margin between
North Saskatchewan and Beaver rivers, in Fort Pitt district, during the
operations against Big Bear’s Indians in 1885; but what I saw of the
country then, with its park-like groves of fine trees, its valleys
covered with luxuriant grasses, its sylvan lakes teeming with fish, and
every prospect a gem of nature’s own perfect landscape gardening, made
such an impression on my mind that I have ever since felt a personal
interest not only in that particular section but in the vast regions
beyond which have not the charm of the soft and lovely scenery of Loon
lake and Beaver river. Having this feeling towards the country I have
followed as a hobby the literature relating to it, and it has been
naturally a pleasure to contribute my mite in helping it along towards
its ultimate destiny.
The idea of the present volume was not mine but that of the late Mr.
Robert E. Young, D.L.S., Superintendent of Railway Lands and Chief
Geographer, the most enthusiastic believer in the Northland who ever
lived, probably, and whose untimely death was a grievous loss to the
country. If this book possesses any merits it is due altogether to his
original suggestion, to his wide knowledge and to his enthusiastic and
kindly co-operation.
ERNEST J. CHAMBERS.
The Senate, Ottawa.
May 11, 1912.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL.
“The Fertile Belt.”—Influence of a Catchy Expression.—Northern
Canada Still a Terra Incognita.—The Hudson’s Bay Company.—Early
Explorations.—Kelsey, Hearne, Mackenzie, Franklin, Back,
Simpson and Dease.—The More Recent Explorers, Official and
Unofficial.—Parliamentary Investigations. 1
CHAPTER II.
THE KEEWATIN AREA.—Agriculture and Arable Land.
Early Agricultural Experiments and Their Success.—Evidence Before
the Parliamentary Committee of 1749.—Testimony of Official
Explorers and Residents.—Many Areas Fit for Agriculture
Described.—Wild Fruits Grow in Profusion.—Successful
Gardens.—Much Country Capable of Improvement by
Drainage.—Climate Inland Warmer Than Farther East.—Natural Hay
Meadows.—The Clay Belt. 30
CHAPTER III.
THE KEEWATIN AREA.—Tree Growth and Timber Resources.
Considerable Areas of Good Timber.—The Range of the More
Important Trees.—The Banskian Pine.—Forests of Trees in Many
Places that Would Make Good Logs, and Much Pulp
Wood.—Occasional Beautiful Forests of Aspen Poplar.—Magnificent
Coniferous Forest Northwest of Lake Winnipeg.—Water Power on
the Nelson.—Destruction Wrought by Forest Fires.—Ample Supply
of Timber For Fuel. 64
CHAPTER IV.
THE KEEWATIN AREA.—Economic Minerals.
The Rocks in Many Cases Highly Magnetic.—Norite Rock Similar to
That at Sudbury About Trout Lake.—Peat in the District North of
Lake Winnipeg.—A Large District Underlain By Keewatin and
Huronian Rocks “Has Large Possibilities.”—Gypsum.—Building
Granites.—Quartz Veins on Grassy River Below Reed Lake.—A
Possibility of Nickel Occurring. 81
CHAPTER V.
THE KEEWATIN AREA.—Game, Fur-bearing Animals and Fish.
Flocks of Wild Fowl That Obscure the Sky.—Six Species of Seal in
Hudson Bay.—Stocked with Animals of Various Kinds.—White Fish
Abound in Most of the Lakes and Streams.—Saw Eleven Moose in
One Day.—The Commercial Value of the Sturgeon Fisheries.—Future
Summer Playgrounds.—Barren Lands Caribou at Churchill. 88
CHAPTER VI.
NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN.—Agriculture and Arable Land.
An Early Scientific Explorer’s Enthusiastic Description of Part
of the Country.—“Capable of Any Extent of Cultivation.”—An Old
Hudson’s Bay Company Official Who Considered it “A Splendid
Country to Settle in.”—Mr. Crean Reports That “It is No
Experiment” to Raise Wheat in North Saskatchewan.—Missionary
Farmers and Their Accomplishments.—Capable of Supporting “A
Dense, Thriving Population.”—“A Splendid Ranching
Country.”—Heaviest Rains Just When They Are Needed. 95
CHAPTER VII.
NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN.—Tree Growth and Timber Resources.
A Rare Bit of Sylvan Beauty.—Ash-Leaved Maples Successfully Grown
From Seed.—Notes By the Way on Available Water Powers.—Much
Country Covered with Small Timber Not Generally of Commercial
Value.—Some Areas of Good Timber Which Will be Invaluable To
the Settlers. 117
CHAPTER VIII.
NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN.—Economic Minerals.
Large Amount of Iron Ore In the Northeastern Corner of The
Region, On The North Eastern Side of Lake
Athabaska.—Indications Favourable For the Discovery of
Coal.—Nickel and Traces of Cobalt on Reindeer Lake.—Medicinal
Waters.—Bituminous Springs and Pit Coal on Cree River.—Tar
Sands Near Buffalo Lake. 124
CHAPTER IX.
NORTHERN SASKATCHEWAN.—Game, Fur-bearing Animals and Fish.
“So Fine a Country For The Chase That It May Be Regarded As An
Extensive Preserve.”—The Wood Buffalo Used To Roam Over It, But
Do Not Now.—Moose and Caribou Plentiful.—The Indians Kill The
Moose For Their Hides.—Fish of Various Kinds in
Abundance.—Sturgeon That Weigh A Hundred Pounds.—One Indian
Killed Eighteen Moose During One Season. 127
CHAPTER X.
NORTHERN ALBERTA.—Agriculture and Arable Land in the Eastern Section
of “Athabaska Country.”
A Section of The West Where Officials of the Hudson’s Bay Company
Were Directed to Cultivate Gardens.—Some Points Where Wheat has
been Grown, Including the Sample Which Took First Prize at the
Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.—Crude Indian Gardens at
Cowpar Lake.—Livestock Grazing Out in December and January. 131
CHAPTER XI.
NORTHERN ALBERTA.—Agriculture and Arable Land in the Western Section
or “Peace River Region.”
Where Wheat Has Been Grown with Remarkable Success for Many
Years.—Scientific Explorers Early Recognized This as a Wheat
Growing Country.—A Head of Cabbage Fifty-three and a Half
Inches in Circumference.—Livestock Live Out of Doors in
Winter.—According to a Church of England Missionary, Peace
River Enjoys the Finest Climate in the World. 143
CHAPTER XII.
NORTHERN ALBERTA.—Tree Growth and Timber Resources.
An Abundance of Timber in the Vicinity of Chipewyan.—Much of the
Country Has Been Swept By Fires.—Most of the Timber is Along
the Rivers.—Millions of Cords of Pulp Wood.—Spruce and Black
Bark Poplar the Principal Varieties.—The Water Power
Possibilities Described as Tremendous. 175
CHAPTER XIII.
NORTHERN ALBERTA.—Economic Minerals.
Travellers, Explorers and Prospectors Describe the Country as a
Veritable Store House of Mineral Wealth.—Gold Found in the Bars
in Peace River.—Indications of Plentiful Supply of
Iron.—Lignite Found in Abundance.—Historic Deposits of
Salt.—The Famous Athabaska Tar Sands.—Their Commercial
Value.—Indications of Petroleum.—Boring Experiments.—Natural
Gas Under a Wide Area.—Travellers Use Natural Gas Jets to Boil
their Camp Kettles. 180
CHAPTER XIV.
NORTHERN ALBERTA.—Game, Fur-bearing Animals and Fish.
The Land of the Wood Buffalo.—Where the Last Remnants of American
Bison Living in a Wild State Roam.—A Splendid Moose
Country.—The Home of Numerous Fur-bearing Animals.—The Prolific
Fisheries of Lake Athabaska and Other Waters. 195
CHAPTER XV.
MACKENZIE RIVER REGION.—Topography, Agriculture and Arable Land.
Mackenzie River a King of Northern Waters.—Over Three Thousand
Miles of Water Way.—Domestic Cattle Have Succeeded.—Barley
Always Ripens at Fort Simpson.—Potatoes and Other Vegetables
have for Many Years Been Grown at Fort Good Hope, a few Miles
from the Arctic Circle.—Wheat and Barley Grown at Liard for
Many Years.—Interesting Comparison With the Russian Province of
Tobolsk.—A Large Town as Far North as Fort Wrigley.—Why Better
Results in Grain Growing May Be Expected in the Future. 208
CHAPTER XVI.
MACKENZIE RIVER REGION.—Tree Growth and Timber Resources.
Forests About Great Slave Lake and Slave River.—Remarkable
Extension of Forest Growth Northward Down the Mackenzie.—Wide
Distribution of the Economically Important Canoe
Birch.—Magnificent Forests of Spruce and Big Cottonwood Trees
in Liard Valley.—Useful Birch and Large Spruce Grow Within the
Arctic Circle.—Trees that are Centuries Old.—Northern Tree
Growth May Be Hastened by Drainage. 261
CHAPTER XVII.
MACKENZIE RIVER REGION.—Economic Minerals.
The Territory Has Never Been Thoroughly Examined for
Minerals.—Tar Springs on the North Shore of Great Slave
Lake.—The Devonian Rocks Throughout Mackenzie Valley are Nearly
Everywhere More or Less Petroliferous.—Lignite Discovered in
Many Places, Also Gypsum.—Large Deposits of Excellent
Salt.—Indications of Gold and Copper.—Indians Report Finding
Mica. 281
CHAPTER XVIII.
MACKENZIE RIVER REGION.—Game, Fur-bearing Animals and Fish.
Over Forty Moose Killed in One Season Near Fort Simpson.—Caribou
of Both Woodland and Barren Lands Varieties Plentiful.—Pass
Great Slave lake in Countless Numbers.—Mountain Sheep Plentiful
in the Mountainous Districts.—Incredible Numbers of Geese, Swan
and Ducks in Season.—Inexhaustible Supplies of Fish.—The
Speckled Trout, Lake Trout, Grayling, Herring, Inconnu, etc. 288
CHAPTER XIX.
BARREN LANDS OR “ARCTIC PRAIRIE.”—Topography, Soil, Climate and
Flora.
Explorers Declare The Term Barren Lands a Misnomer.—Some Notes
about the Chief Rivers and Known Lakes.—An Inland Waterway for
Steamers Via Chesterfield Inlet a Distance of Five Hundred and
Fifty Miles Into the Interior.—The Progression of The
Seasons.—The Country Similar to the Tundra of Siberia.—A
Limited Amount of Agriculture May Be Possible in
Places.—Natural Prairies in the Valley of the Thelon. 303
CHAPTER XX.
BARREN LANDS OR “ARCTIC PRAIRIE.”—Tree Growth and Timber Resources.
Phenomenal Extensions of Tree Growth Within Barren Lands Along
the Valley of Thelon River.—Black Spruce, Larch, White Spruce,
Banksian Pine and Birch.—Valuable Timber Along the Thelon,
About the East End of Great Slave Lake and Between Great Bear
Lake and Coppermine River. 317
CHAPTER XXI.
BARREN LANDS OR “ARCTIC PRAIRIE.”—Economic Minerals.
Deposits of Native Copper in the Far North.—Several Areas West of
Hudson Bay Contain Rocks Similar to Those at Sudbury.—Belts of
Huronian Rocks that are Expected by Geologists to be Eventually
of Great Economic Importance.—Vast Probable Mineral Bearing
Country in the Interior Which Can Now be Reached Via
Chesterfield Inlet.—Iron, Gold and Silver in Small Quantities
North of Lake Athabaska.—Free Gold in Melville
Peninsula.—Lignite and Soft Coal Along the Arctic Coast. 324
CHAPTER XXII.
BARREN LANDS OR “ARCTIC PRAIRIE.”—Game, Fur-bearing Animals and Fish.
Where Millions of Caribou Roam at Large.—Actual Value of These
Immense Herds Very Great.—Can They Become Domesticated or
Replaced by the Lapland Reindeer?—The Home of the Musk-Ox and
Many Fur-bearing Animals.—The Polar Bear.—Where the Wild Geese
Nest.—Lakes, Rivers and Sea Coasts Teeming With Fish.—The
Arctic Salmon, Trout, White Fish and Grayling. 342
BIBLIOGRAPHY 362
INDEX 370
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
“Wheat field at Stanley, Churchill river”
“Oat field at Ile à la Crosse”
“Winter travel—Dinner time”
“Portage near Long Spruce rapids, Nelson river”
“Farm at Mount Nebo on Green lake trail, 65 miles from Prince Albert”
“Prairie Land on lower Nelson river”
“Portaging canoe at Long Spruce rapids, Nelson river”
“Portage on Moose river”
“Typical country on Hudson Bay Railway Survey”
“Log jam on Limestone river”
“Moose crossing Limestone river”
“Haying near Green lake”
“Flowers at Ile à la Crosse”
“Potatoes at Anglican Mission, Lac la Ronge”
“Oat field at Anglican Mission, Lac la Ronge”
“Oat field at La Plonge”
“Potatoes at Buffalo river”
“Green lake settlement”
“Oat field at Meadow lake”
“Prairie along Clearwater river”
“Landscape in Clearwater valley”
“S. S. Grahame at McMurray”
“Indian camp near Fort Smith”
“Indian Family arriving at McMurray for Treaty”
“Flour Mill at Fort Vermilion”
“View on Halfway river”
“Sheridan Lawrence’s Farm at Fort Vermilion”
“Vegetable Garden 15 miles west of Fort St. John”
“View of Pouce Coupé prairie”
“Saw Mill near Fort Smith”
“The 23rd Base Line between Townships 88 and 89, Range 14, West of the 6th
Meridian”
“Oil Well at McKay, Athabaska river”
“Royal Northwest Mounted Police Barracks at Smith Landing”
“Looking Across Slave river from Fort Smith”
“Roman Catholic Mission at Chipewyan”
“A Typical ‘Husky’ dog”
“An Eskimo Boy at Arctic Red river”
“Oat field at Fort Simpson”
“Potatoes at Fort Simpson”
“Mission Garden at Fort Providence”
“View on Peel river”
“Eskimos in Kyaks on Arctic Red river”
“Staff and Pupils, Church of England Mission, Hay river”
“Slave river near Fort Smith”
“Spruce Timber on Peel river inside the Arctic Circle”
“Anglican Church, School and Rectory at Fort Simpson”
“Roman Catholic Mission at Fort Resolution”
“A Fur Shipment of One Season from Mackenzie basin, estimated value over
two million, five hundred thousand dollars”
“The ‘Conny’ or ‘Inconnu’”
“The Midnight Sun”
“Some of the Difficulties of Northern Transportation:—Crossing a Swamp”
“A Survivor of Sir John Richardson’s Arctic Expedition wearing the Arctic
Medal given him for that Expedition”
“An Indian Dance Lodge”
[Illustration: DOMINION OF CANADA]
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL.
“The Fertile Belt.”—Influence of a Catchy Expression.—Northern
Canada still a Terra Incognita.—The Hudson’s Bay Company.—
Early Explorations.—Kelsey, Hearne, Mackenzie, Franklin, Back,
Simpson and Dease.—The More Recent Explorers, Official and
Unofficial.—Parliamentary Investigations.
When in 1867 the four principal British provinces in the eastern portion
of North America were confederated under the British North America Act
and became the original Dominion of Canada, the vast regions of the west
vaguely known under several designations such as the “Hudson’s Bay
Territory,” the “Northwest Territory” and “Rupert’s Land,” and extending
from the United States boundary to Arctic sea, and from the western
frontier of Ontario, James bay and Hudson bay to Rocky mountains,
remained under the rule of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
The Fathers of Confederation had in view, however, a union of all the
British possessions on the continent, and one of the measures passed at
the first session of the first parliament of the new Dominion provided
for the opening of negotiations for the union of the Hudson bay
territory with the confederated provinces. Thanks largely to the
diplomatic offices of the British government, the rights of the Hudson’s
Bay Company were eventually bought out by Canada, and this vast
territory, estimated at upwards of two million three hundred thousand
square miles, was transferred to the Dominion of Canada in the year
1867.
The cash consideration obtained by the company from the Dominion for the
relinquishment of its rights and titles was the sum of three hundred
thousand pounds sterling; but there was also a provision for the
retention by the Company of blocks of land adjoining each of its
stations; and the right was allowed the company for fifty years, from
1870, to “claim in any township or district within the fertile belt in
which land is set out for settlement, grants of land not exceeding
one-twentieth part of the land so set out.”
For the purpose of the agreement the “Fertile Belt” was described
therein as being bounded as follows:—“On the south by the United States
boundary; on the west by Rocky mountains; on the north by the northern
branch of the Saskatchewan; on the east by Lake Winnipeg, Lake of the
Woods, and the waters connecting them.”
THE TERM “FERTILE BELT.”
There is some uncertainty as to the origin of the term “Fertile Belt”,
thus arbitrarily defined in the historical agreement with the Hudson’s
Bay Company; but this much is certain:—the term came into general use
after the publication of the reports of the official exploratory
expeditions of Captain John Palliser of the British Army, of S. J.
Dawson, C.E., and Professor Henry Y. Hind of Trinity College, Toronto.
Captain Palliser was commissioned by the British government to explore
“that portion of British North America which lies between the northern
watershed and the frontier of the United States, and between Red river
and Rocky mountains and to endeavour to find a practicable route through
them.” The Dawson-Hind expeditions (there were two) were under the
auspices of the government of United Canada (Upper and Lower Canada) and
were for the purpose of inquiring into the resources of Red river colony
and the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan countries. The British expedition
extended over parts of four years—1857, 1858, 1859 and 1860, while the
Canadian ones covered two years—1857 and 1858.
In the preface to his report, published in 1860, Professor Hind
wrote:—“The establishment of a new colony in the basin of Lake
Winnipeg, and the discovery of a FERTILE BELT of country extending from
the Lake of the Woods to Rocky mountains, give to this part of British
America a more than passing interest.” In another place Professor Hind
wrote:—“North of the great American desert there is a broad slip of
FERTILE COUNTRY, rich in water, wood, and pasturage, drained by the
North Saskatchewan, and a continuation of the fertile prairies of Red
and Assiniboine rivers. It is a physical reality of the highest
importance to the interests of British North America that this
continuous BELT can be settled and cultivated from a few miles west of
Lake of the Woods to the passes of Rocky mountains, and any line of
communication, whether by waggon road or railroad, passing through it,
will eventually enjoy the great advantage of being fed by an
agricultural population from one extremity to the other.”
[Illustration: Wheat field at Stanley, Churchill river.]
The terms “Fertile Belt,” “Fertile Strip” and “Fertile Land” appear many
times in Captain Palliser’s report, published in 1863, the first of
these expressions being used no less than three times in one paragraph
of the report.
The influence of a “catchy expression” in attracting the world’s
attention is wonderful. Whatever the origin of the term “Fertile Belt”
in this connection, its emphatic application by these independent
official reports to the particular strip of territory between the United
States boundary line and Saskatchewan river had immediate and lasting
effects.
It arrested public attention in England and in Canada. That which had
often been asserted by independent travellers, and more often stoutly
denied by those whose sole interests were centred in the fur trade[1],
had been found by scientific explorers of unquestioned veracity to be an
actual fact. As Captain Palliser put it in his report:—“The whole of
the region of country would be valuable not only for agriculturists but
also for mixed purposes. I have seen not only excellent wheat, but also
Indian corn (which will not succeed in England or Ireland) ripening on
Mr. Pratt’s farm at the Qu’Appelle lakes in 1857.” Professor Hind, in
his report, quoted interviews with enthusiastic settlers, who, on their
prairie farms in Assiniboine valley, had for years been successfully
raising prime wheat at a yield of thirty to forty bushels to the acre,
“corn, barley, oats, flax, hemp, hops, turnips, tobacco and anything you
wish.” He showed that similar conditions of soil and climate extended
far to the westward, and, quite naturally, he wrote of this area as the
“FERTILE BELT.”
THE OLDER INFLUENCES.
The Right Honourable Edward Ellice, one of the oldest governors of
Hudson’s Bay Company, asked, when being examined before the British
Parliamentary Committee of 1857, what probability there was of a
settlement being made within the southern territories of the company,
replied:—“None, in the lifetime of the youngest man now alive.” (“The
Great Company”, p. 480).
Sir George Simpson, who was for forty years governor of the Hudson Bay
territories and had visited every portion of them, was examined before
the select committee of the British House of Commons appointed in 1857
at the instance of Mr. Labouchere, on the eve of the expiration of the
license for exclusive Indian trade issued to the Hudson’s Bay Company in
1838, to investigate the state of the British possessions administered
by the Company. Sir George, being asked his opinion as to the general
fitness of Rupert’s Land for colonization, replied:—“I do not think
that any part of the Hudson Bay territories is well adapted for
settlement; the crops are very uncertain.”
By officially establishing the existence of this rich, arable area in
the southern part of the territories governed by the Hudson’s Bay
Company, and by associating it with such an apt designation, the
Palliser and Hind expeditions brought strong popular support to those
who in Britain and Canada were at that particular period actively
working to secure the introduction of Canadian jurisdiction over the
whole of the western part of British North America, and materially
contributed to the success of the protracted negotiations which resulted
in the ultimate surrender of its rights of government, etc., by the
Hudson’s Bay Company. If any other proof was required to establish in
the popular mind the attractiveness of the “Fertile Belt” as a desirable
section for settlement, it was furnished by the written agreement under
which the country was handed over to the Dominion of Canada, the term
“Fertile Belt” therein receiving the stamp of the highest official
recognition, and by the Hudson’s Bay Company, famous as a shrewdly
managed corporation, stipulating that the grants of land to be made them
were to be located within the area so designated.
SETTLEMENT OF “THE FERTILE BELT.”
The term “Fertile Area” proved a very loadstone to the settler and the
capitalist. Ever since the settlement of the troubles which accompanied
the transfer of the great northwest to the Dominion of Canada there has
been a stream of immigration flowing into the country, and up to the
past few years the Fertile Belt has been the settler’s Mecca and El
Dorado.
In the summer of 1874 the region west of the original province of
Manitoba was ‘opened up’ by the Northwest Mounted Police as far as
Macleod in the south, and Edmonton in the north. In 1885 the completion
of the Canadian Pacific Railway main line gave western Canada direct
communication with the eastern provinces, and a fair chance to develop
her natural resources, particularly in the Fertile Belt, through which
the line was constructed.
In 1870 the population of the whole region east of Rocky mountains over
which the Great Company had so recently relinquished its rule as Lord
Proprietor amounted to but a few hundred; at the present time (census of
1911) it amounts to no less than one million, three hundred and
forty-eight thousand, one hundred and seventy two. And with the
exception of the partially settled areas in Beaver, Athabaska and Peace
districts, and a few small, isolated posts on Hudson bay and along
Mackenzie river, the whole of this population is located within the
“Fertile Belt” as defined in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s agreement of
1869. This is not to be wondered at considering the undoubted natural
attractiveness of the zone, its rapidly developed advantages in the way
of railway communication, and the benefit it derived from being
originally introduced to the world as a future paradise of agricultural
enterprise under such an apt and alluring designation as “The Fertile
Belt.”
But while the united energies of the capitalist, the railroad builder
and the agriculturist have been devoted to the exploration of the
Fertile Belt, the much larger area of virgin country extending from the
northern limits of the strip in question to Arctic sea and lying between
Hudson bay and Rocky mountains has been neglected.
This (not including the Yukon), the most northern section of the vast
western region formerly ruled by the big fur-trading company, comprises
no less than one and one-half million square miles of country, or
considerably more than the combined territory (on March 1, 1912) of the
provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward
Island and Manitoba. Its very vastness, coupled with its remoteness from
the great centres of population, has tended to keep it, as far as the
world at large is concerned, comparatively
A TERRA INCOGNITA.
The word “comparatively” is used advisedly, for while it is true that
the greater part of the unexploited northland is unexplored and unknown,
we have in one way or another obtained considerable useful information
about it. Now and again word has come from some missionary station or
trading post somewhere up in the far north, hundreds of miles beyond the
northern limits of the “Fertile Belt,” of root crops, barley, oats, and
even wheat being raised during a long succession of years with
phenomenal success. Explorers returned from the great north have related
how they were regaled upon potatoes and other vegetables grown a few
miles from Arctic Circle. A sample of wheat grown at Fort Vermilion in
north latitude 58·4°, three hundred and fifty miles north of Edmonton,
was awarded First Prize at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia, in
1876, in competition with the whole world. Geological explorers have
reported vast deposits of coal and other minerals underlying immense
areas in the far north. Adventurous travellers, back from the least
promising regions of Canada’s great northland have disclosed the
existence of timber areas and of game and fish preserves of fabulous
richness.
And this great northern country long ago had its champions who
challenged the attention of the world by predicting for sections of it,
at least, an agricultural and industrial future. Mr. Malcolm McLeod,
formerly of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and, as a son of the North,
jealous of its reputation, stirred up the thought that in the glamour
attached to the original exploitation of the “Fertile Belt” the natural
resources of the vaster country to the north would be overlooked, and in
the preface of his book, published in 1872, on Sir George Simpson’s
canoe voyage from Hudson bay to the Pacific in 1828, wrote:—“The object
of the present brochure, at this juncture, is to direct attention—by an
account of a canoe voyage through the region—to the fact that
=beyond that belt of supposed limited fertility=, which is
implied in the term “Fertile Belt,” there is, in our north west, an
area, continuous in every direction and easily accessible to its utmost
limits, containing over three hundred millions of acres of wheat and
pasture lands, with forests of finest timber, and the largest known coal
and bitumen, and also probably the richest gold areas in the world—a
land teeming with animal and vegetable life, extending to the very
Arctic Circle, and owing its wealth in that respect to exceptional
causes. I refer to that area—comprised entirely of Silurian and
Devonian systems—watered by the great Athabaska, Peace and Mackenzie
rivers, with their countless affluents.”
The very year of Confederation the attention of the reading public of
the world was forcibly drawn to the latent natural wealth of the
northland. The writer of an article published in the Westminster Review
of July, 1876, (“The Last Monopoly”) pointed out that “nature marching
from east to west, showered her bounties on the land of the United
States until she reached the Mississippi, but there she turned aside to
favour British territory. To the north the good land of the western
states is prolonged beyond the forty-ninth parallel, where it enters
British territory as the Fertile Zone. The fertile zone curves towards
the north as it proceeds westward, so that the western extremity of the
belt is several degrees of latitude higher than the eastern, the curves
apparently corresponding pretty closely with certain isothermal lines.
The forest zone extends to latitude 61° on Hudson bay. Coal crops out at
intervals in seams of ten or twelve feet thick from the Mackenzie in the
far north to the Saskatchewan. Ironstone has been discovered in the
Athabaska. Sulphur abounds on Peace and Smoky rivers. Salt is plentiful
near Great Slave lake; plumbago and mineral pitch on Lake Athabaska;
copper, native and in the form of malachite, on Coppermine river.”
THE NORTHLAND’S FIRST CHAMPIONS.
To find the first champions of the great Northland as a prospective
theatre of enterprise and development, and to trace the history of the
exploration of the region from the beginning, it is necessary to go back
many years, to a date, in fact, only two years more recent than the
founding of Quebec by Samuel de Champlain.
Henry Hudson, the great English sea captain, was engaged in the search
for a northwest passage, when on August 3, 1610, he rounded the
northwestern shoulder of Labrador and entered the bay which he thus
discovered and which now bears his name. The exploration of this great
inland sea was begun, not for the sake of gaining a knowledge of the
country surrounding it, nor for the development of its resources, but in
the delusive hope of finding a passage through it to the western ocean.
In 1612, Captain (afterwards Sir) Thomas Button, commissioned to search
for Hudson and to look for a northern passage, entered the bay with two
ships, and, holding on his westward course, encountered land at about
60° 40′ north latitude. Being a Welshman, he called the land “New
Wales,” a name which afterwards gave place to “New North Wales” for the
northern part, and “New South Wales” for the southern; but all three
designations, as applied to the Hudson bay coast, are now only of
historic interest. Button wintered at Port Nelson, which he so named in
memory of a shipmaster who, with many of the sailors, died there. When
the ice broke up he went northwards past Cape Churchill and landed at a
place about 60° north which he called “Hubbart’s Hope.”
The southern coast of Hudson bay, east from Port Nelson (York Factory),
was visited and explored by Captains Luke Foxe of London and Thomas
James of Bristol in 1631, and again visited by James in 1632. These two
navigators met off the coast near the mouth of Winisk river on August
29-30, 1631. Each had given a name to the country to the southwest. Foxe
called it “New Yorkshire” and James “The South Principality of Wales,”
probably on account of the previous name “New Wales” given by Button in
1612 to the land southwest of Port Nelson. These two navigators sailed
together to the eastward, to the entrance to James bay, and there
separated, Foxe to go north and James to the southward, to winter. Foxe
called the bay he had left “Wolstenholme’s Ultimum Vale.” James, after
rounding the cape, determined its latitude (55° 5′) and called it
“Henrietta Maria Cape,” after the Queen, and also after his own ship.
[Illustration: Oat field at Ile à La Crosse.]
In 1668 Captain Gillam entered Hudson bay with a pioneer fur-trading
expedition under the patronage of some influential Londoners, at the
head of whom was Prince Rupert, Duke of Cumberland, Count Palatine of
the Rhine and cousin of Charles II, King of England. Thus was
inaugurated the regime of the Hudson’s Bay Company, but the Royal
charter to Prince Rupert and his associates, constituting them “The
Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson’s
Bay”, was not granted until 1670.[2]
“THE HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY.”
The company was organized to prosecute the fur trade, and not for
colonizing purposes. The few explorations into and from the company’s
first posts on the bay were made solely in the interests of the fur
trade. When in 1683 Governor Sargeant was urged to send men to penetrate
into the country, the object was distinctly stated to be “to draw down
the Indians by fair and gentle means to trade with us.” This was the
burden of many letters of instruction sent out to Hudson bay in those
days, but the response was not very promising. The company’s servants
were not easily induced to imperil their lives, particularly as they
complained of lack of encouragement. In 1688 Governor George Geyer, who
himself, in 1773, had volunteered to do some exploring, was instructed
to send the boy Henry Kelsey to Churchill river for an exploring trip
“because we are informed he is a very active lad, delighting much in the
Indians’ company and being never better pleased than when he is
travelling amongst them.” Thus began the adventurous career of one who
may be regarded as the pioneer explorer of the region under review.[3]
In 1690 Kelsey “cheerfully undertook a journey up into the country of
the Assiniboine Poets, with the Captain of that Nation.” The following
year he accompanied the Indians on a journey he computed at four hundred
or five hundred miles, penetrating as far as the buffalo and grizzly
bear countries. A diary of this trip was published, but it contained no
references to the natural resources of the country. There followed a
period of some activity in the matter of exploration by sea, the
discovery of a northwest passage being aimed at. Between 1719 and 1737
the Hudson’s Bay Company alone fitted out nine vessels to participate in
this discovery, but these voyages added nothing to the scanty knowledge
then available as to the resources of the territory ruled over by the
company.
Soon after the Hudson’s Bay Company obtained its monopolistic charter,
antagonism to it arose in England, and this hostility steadily
developed, the legality of the charter being flatly challenged. One of
the bitterest opponents of the company was Mr. Arthur Dobbs, a gentleman
of means and scientific attainment, intensely interested in the subject
of the northwest passage, who became embittered because he considered
the Hudson’s Bay Company had not furthered the exploration projects as
he thought they should have done. In 1744 he published a volume on the
countries adjoining Hudson bay, in which he arraigned the company for
keeping the country back. He declared that the company would not allow
their servants to make any improvements at the posts except it be to
plant turnip gardens. He proceeded:—“There might be comfortable
settlements made in most places, and very tolerable, even in the worst
and coldest parts of that continent, which are the northeast and
northwest sides of the bay; but in the southern and western sides of the
bay, there might be made as comfortable settlements as any in Sweden,
Livonia or the south side of the Baltic, and farther into the country,
southwest, the climate is as good as the southern part of Poland and
north part of Germany and Holland.”
AN EARLY PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY.
In 1748, ten years before the capitulation of Montreal to General
Amherst, a motion was passed in the House of Commons “to enquire into
the state and condition of the countries adjoining Hudson bay and the
trade carried on there, and to consider how those countries may be
settled and improved, and the trade and fisheries there extended and
increased, and also to enquire into the rights the Company of
Adventurers trading into Hudson’s bay pretend to have by charter to the
property of lands and exclusive trade to those countries.” The result
was an investigation, which produced a considerable amount of evidence
throwing the first official light upon the natural resources of Canada’s
great northland.
Up to this time the territory about Hudson bay had been commonly
supposed “to be a mere waste and howling wilderness, wherein
half-famished beasts of prey wage eternal war with a sparse population
of half-starved savages; where the drought is more than Saharan, the
cold more than Arctic, and that woe would betide the mad and unfortunate
individual who might be so far diverted from the path of prudence as to
endeavour to settle in those parts.”[4]
Evidence heard before the committee revealed the fact that intelligent
men who have lived in the country several years considered that it
possessed decided attractions as a field of settlement, and held that
nothing but the policy of the fur-trading company kept settlement
back.[5]
Some of the evidence as to the resources of the country and as to the
conditions of the very slim white population is still edifying. The
attack upon the legality of the company’s charter, however, came to
nothing, and the revelations made as to the suitability of the country
for settlement had no practical result, which is scarcely to be wondered
at considering the conditions prevailing in both Europe and
America—conditions which in the course of a few years were to result in
momentous changes in the map of this continent.
No additional data as to the resources and geography of the great
northland were produced until the years 1770 and 1771 when
HEARNE MADE HIS HISTORICAL TRIP
of discovery. Many of the witnesses examined during the enquiry of
1748-49 had spoken of the statements of Indians regarding the rich
copper mines existing on a great river many miles to the northwest of
Churchill. The Indians who visited that post in 1768 so impressed the
governor, Mr. Moses Norton, with their version of the richness of the
copper deposits along the river they called the Neetha-San-San-Dazey
(the “far-off metal river”), that being in London the following season
he induced the Company to send out an exploratory expedition. The man
selected for the command was Samuel Hearne,[6] a capable and experienced
mariner, then serving as mate on the Company’s brig “Charlotte.”
Hitherto all of the exploratory expeditions from Hudson bay towards the
northwest had been in search of the northwest passage, and by sea, but
now it was decided to undertake exploration by land.[7] Hearne really
made three trips, two of which were unsuccessful. The first failed
because of the lack of provisions, and the second because Hearne was
plundered by his Indian companions and broke his sextant. On these trips
he attempted to penetrate to the northwestward through the so-called
Barren Grounds or Barren Lands, but on the third venture, leaving in
December, 1770, he kept more to the westward and, being in the wooded
country, was able to provide himself with provisions and to travel with
much less discomfort. As he was accompanied by a number of Indian
families as bearers and hunters, his progress was necessarily slow and
indirect, on account of the difficulty of crossing lakes and large
rivers, and of providing food for so large a party. His general line of
travel was at first a little north of west to Clowey lake, which was
reached May 3, 1771, and thence a little west of north to the eastward
of Great Slave lake, probably passing Artillery lake (his Catt lake?)
and Clinton-Colden and Aylmer lakes (his Thoy-noy-kyed lake?) to the
stream since called Coppermine river, which was reached probably near
Sandstone rapid.[8]
During the eighteen years or so following Hearne’s discovery of
Coppermine river, considerable knowledge was acquired as to the
resources of the more southern portions of the still unexploited north
country by the activities of the Canadian fur traders, including the
Northwest Company, in North Saskatchewan, Clearwater, Athabaska and
Peace river regions,[9] and the resultant extension southward of the
trading operations of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
MACKENZIE’S TRIPS OF EXPLORATION
including the discovery of the great river of the north which still
bears his name, were notable events in the history of the north country;
momentous events, in fact, in view of the knowledge first obtained
through them of the vast natural resources of the great Mackenzie basin.
[Illustration: Winter travel—Dinner time.]
Mackenzie set out on his first voyage from Chipewyan, at the head of
Lake Athabaska (a Northwest Company’s post), June 3, 1789, and proceeded
in canoes via Slave river, Great Slave lake, and Mackenzie river as far
as Whale island in the estuary of that stream. On July 16, he started on
the return trip by the same route, and reached Chipewyan on September
12. On his second trip, in 1792, Mackenzie proceeded from Chipewyan to
the summit of the Rockies via Lake Athabaska, Peace river, and its
affluents, making his way to the Pacific through the passes of the
mountains, and down the streams on the western slope as best he could.
David Thomson, an energetic but little known traveller, made a track
survey in 1799 of Lesser Slave river, and of the Athabaska from the
mouth of the Pembina to Clearwater forks. In 1803 he filled in the gaps
between the forks and Athabaska lake, and in 1810 ascended the river and
crossed the Rockies by Athabaska pass.
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
With the first journey of Lieutenant (afterwards Captain Sir) John
Franklin, R.N., in 1820, began a series of explorations which extended
over a period of about thirty years, in connection with which the study
of the natural history and geography of the far north country was
carried on more systematically than had hitherto been possible. Franklin
was fully equipped by the British Government for scientific work, and
was accompanied by Doctor John Richardson, Lieutenant George Back and
Lieutenant Robt. Hood—men of acknowledged skill and ability. The
expedition left York Factory on September 9, 1819, and, travelling by
way of Oxford House and Norway House, arrived on October 22 at
Cumberland House where they went into winter quarters. In order to
arrange in advance for the further progress of the expedition, Franklin,
accompanied by Back, left Cumberland House on January 18, 1820, and,
travelling by way of Carleton House, Ile à la Crosse and Methye portage,
arrived at Chipewyan on March 26. Finally the party again set out on
August 2, 1820, from old Fort Providence, on the north side of Great
Slave lake, to ascend Yellowknife river, and on August 20 he reached
Winter lake, near which he established his winter quarters. Here wooden
houses, dignified with the name of Fort Enterprise, were erected. In
June the following year the party descended Coppermine river, covering a
distance of three hundred and thirty miles to the sea, and paddled along
the coast eastwards, exploring the coast as far eastward as longitude
109° 25′ west and latitude 68° 19′ north, thus exploring Bathurst inlet
and Coronation gulf. The story of the dreadful hardships endured by the
party on the return trip, one-half of the whole number, including
Lieutenant Hood, dying of starvation and exposure, forms one of the most
ghastly chapters in the history of Canadian exploration, and its
publication did much to deepen the popular impression that the whole of
the great northland was a hopelessly inhospitable region. As a matter of
fact the disasters which overtook this expedition were due to its
commissariat being inadequately outfitted. The Admiralty, who planned
the expedition, knew practically nothing about the conditions of travel
in the regions that they proposed having explored, and depended for aid
upon the Hudson’s Bay Company. That corporation did its best, but was
unable to extend to Franklin any official aid after he left Great Slave
lake or to supply him with proper provisions. The bitter fight between
the two big fur-trading companies had reached a climax; every officer of
the Hudson’s Bay Company was needed in the Company’s service, and
supplies at the frontier posts were at the lowest ebb. So the expedition
plunged into the unexplored wilderness without enough food and
inadequately supplied with ammunition.
In spite of the disasters attending the return of this expedition, the
British Government, determined upon completing the exploration of the
Arctic coast line of the continent, satisfied itself that the route
overland was the best for the explorers to follow, and Franklin, having
been successful on this first trip in surveying a long stretch of coast
to the east of Coppermine river, was appointed to the command of the
second expedition to explore the coast to the west of that river. The
exploring party spent the winter of 1825-26
AT FORT FRANKLIN
at the west end of Great Bear lake, and on June 22, 1826, set out in
boats along Bear river and Mackenzie river for the coast. The principal
members were Captain John Franklin, Lieutenant George Back (second in
command); Doctor John Richardson, surgeon and naturalist; Thomas
Drummond, assistant naturalist; E. N. Kendall and P. W. Dease, a chief
trader of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who was afterwards associated with
Thomas Simpson in explorations west of the Mackenzie and east of the
Coppermine. At the delta of the Mackenzie the party separated, one
detachment under Doctor Richardson turning to the east and completing a
survey of the coast as far as the mouth of the Coppermine. In the
meantime Franklin and Back explored the Arctic coast to the westward of
the Mackenzie for three hundred and seventy-four miles, passing beyond
the northernmost spur of Rocky mountains and returned to Fort Franklin,
reaching there September 21. Franklin remained there until February,
1827, when, leaving Back to follow him in the spring, he left for
Cumberland House, where he joined Richardson on June 18, 1827.[10]
Some time before this expedition set forth, the crisis which had
developed in the rivalry between the Hudson’s Bay Company and the
Northwest Company[11] had resulted in the union of the two companies
under the name of the former and the reorganized company, when called
upon by the Admiralty for assistance, was in a better position than the
original one had ever been to assist in the work of exploration.
Consequently Franklin’s second expedition was properly provisioned and
attended by experienced and reliable men. As a result it was
unaccompanied by any of the tragic occurrences which marked the former
trip.
Meanwhile explorations were being prosecuted by sea among the Arctic
islands and channels to the far north, and some of the expeditions were
indirectly to contribute to the world’s knowledge of the northern part
of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s continental territory. Captain John Ross
left England in the “Victory” in 1829 and with his ship’s company was
compelled to abandon the vessel in the ice in Regent inlet. They spent
altogether four winters within the Arctic circle and were finally picked
up in their boats in Lancaster sound by a whaler. The prolonged absence
of this party caused great anxiety in England, and in 1833 a search
expedition was organized at the cost of the Hudson’s Bay Company and
Captain Ross’s friends with government assistance. At the head of the
searching party was Captain (afterwards Sir) George Back, R.N., who had
instructions to descend Thlew-ece-cho-dezeth or Great Fish river to the
coast, exploring the river and adjacent country, as far as possible, as
he proceeded. Some months after he had started, Back was notified of the
return of the Ross expedition, but was ordered to proceed with his trip
for exploratory purposes. Captain Back built as his winter quarters
OLD FORT RELIANCE
on a beautiful spot at the north east extremity of Great Slave lake. His
explorations extended over parts of Great Slave, Artillery,
Clinton-Colden and Aylmer lakes as well as the whole of Great Fish
river, and from the Indians Back obtained some interesting information
regarding the adjacent country.
Captain Back, in 1834, descended Great Fish river, since called Backs
river, to its mouth. He also surveyed the coasts of its estuary as far
as Cape Britannia on the one side and Point Richardson on the other,
leaving but a small space of coast line unexamined between his northern
extreme and the limits of earlier explorations. The return journey began
on August 16. Back reached the mouth of Great Fish river August 21, the
head of it on September 17, and Fort Reliance on September 27.
The next journey of exploration in this region was that of Thomas
Simpson and Peter Warren Dease,[12] officers of the Hudson’s Bay
Company. While the object of their expedition was to complete the survey
of the Arctic coast so nearly completed by Franklin, Richardson and
Back, they made some notes on the natural resources of the far northern
country. Simpson left Fort Garry, the site of the present city of
Winnipeg, on December 1, 1836, and, travelling on snowshoes, arrived at
Chipewyan on June 1, and, descending Slave and Mackenzie rivers,
explored the Arctic coast westward to Point Barrow. They then returned
to the Mackenzie, ascended it and Great Bear river, and, crossing Great
Bear lake, built a post near the mouth of Dease river, naming it Fort
Confidence, and there spent the winter of 1837-38. They left here June
6, 1838, and, after ascending Dease river as far as was practicable,
portaged to the Coppermine. They then descended that river to the sea
and explored the coast to the eastward as far as Point Turnagain, the
farthest point reached by Franklin in 1821. Being unable to proceed
farther, they returned to Fort Confidence, where they arrived on
September 14, and again wintered there.
An expedition which was to mark the beginning of a most notable epoch in
the explorations of the Arctic regions sailed from England, in 1845. Sir
John Franklin, with two ships, the Erebus and the Terror, with crews
numbering one hundred and twenty-nine persons, left England on May 26,
to complete the survey of the north coast of America and to accomplish
the northwest passage. The Erebus and the Terror were last seen by a
whaling captain July 26, 1845, moored to an iceberg, waiting for an
opening in the ice to cross to Lancaster sound.
As time passed without any word of the missing expedition being
received, the interest and sympathy of the world were powerfully
aroused, and not only England, but France and the United States also
despatched
SEARCH EXPEDITIONS
to the Arctic. From northwest Canada some historical expeditions made
their way overland. In all thirty-five ships and five overland
expeditions were engaged in this search. The entire northern coast line
of America and the shores of the Arctic[13] were explored with minute
care, and much scientific knowledge of value relating to magnetism,
meteorology, the tides, geology, botany and zoology was accumulated.
Several of the sea expeditions and all of the overland expeditions
contributed to our store of knowledge as to the resources of far
northern Canada.
For the purposes of this volume the most important of these expeditions,
because the most productive of data regarding the natural resources of
the region under review, was that dispatched overland from Athabaska
district via Mackenzie river in 1848 and 1849. From the rapids of Slave
river, Doctor John Richardson and Doctor Rae (both subsequently
knighted) pushed on with all possible speed, leaving the heavier boats
to follow with the winter supplies, and skirted the Arctic coast
eastward to the mouth of the Coppermine river. Thence they travelled
overland to the mouth of the Dease river on Great Bear lake. Near this
point, on the site of Fort Confidence, established by Dease and Simpson,
Rae, whose detachment had ascended Great Bear river and crossed Great
Bear lake for this purpose, had erected houses, and here the entire
party passed the winter of 1848-49. As early in the spring of 1849 as
the season allowed, the party divided on Arctic sea, and Richardson
returned to England, while Rae made an attempt to reach Wollaston land.
Failing in this, he returned to Fort Confidence, and ascended the
Mackenzie to Fort Simpson. In the summer of 1854, under the auspices of
the Hudson’s Bay Company, Rae made a journey of exploration along the
southern coasts of Wollaston and Victoria lands, still searching for the
Franklin expedition. In 1853, when no trace of Franklin could be found
elsewhere, Rae again turned his steps in the direction of Gulf of
Boothia. First he sought a short cut to the south of Backs river by
Chesterfield inlet and Quoich river, which he ascended in a boat for two
and a half degrees of latitude (up to 66° north), but finding the river
full of rapids and impracticable for his purpose, he returned and
hastened north to Repulse bay.
The reports of these expeditions contain several references to the
natural resources of the country, but they are not so valuable as would
have been the case had time been less a consideration, or had the
investigation of mineral deposits and other natural wealth of the
country been the chief objective.
Some information as to the resources of the north country was obtained
by the British Parliamentary Committee of 1857 already referred to (See
p. 3), but most of the evidence had reference to the southern part of
Hudson’s Bay Company’s territory now comprised within the settled parts
of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
CANADIAN PARLIAMENTARY INVESTIGATIONS.
April 12, 1870, the Senate of Canada appointed a select committee on the
subject of Rupert’s land, Red river and the Northwest territory, with a
view to collecting information respecting the condition, climate, soil,
population, resources and natural products of the country, its trade,
institutions, and capabilities and the means of access thereto, with
power to send for persons and papers. The committee reported on April
25, 1870. This report with the report of the evidence was printed, in
extenso, as an appendix to the Journals of the Senate (33 Victoria).
None of the witnesses examined before the committee had ever been in the
district north of the North Saskatchewan. One, Joseph Monkman, explained
that he had been up the South Saskatchewan as far as Moose lake, and up
the north branch of the same river as far as Carlton. He testified that
although the country along the Saskatchewan looked promising from an
agricultural standpoint, there were “no farms along the river.” Most of
the witnesses were asked if they had any information as to the “far
northwest,” and all who had heard anything definite regarding that
region testified that their information was favourable.
Since the transfer of the northwest from the Hudson’s Bay Company to the
Dominion Government, a vast amount of reliable information regarding the
great northland has been obtained by Canadian Government explorers,
generally engineers reconnoitring in advance of railway construction,
members of the staff of the Geological Survey of Canada, or expeditions
despatched to various defined areas by the Department of the Interior
for the express purpose of investigating their natural resources and
determining their suitability for agricultural or industrial
developments. More or less extensive trips through sections of the great
northland by adventurous sportsmen and naturalists have also contributed
considerably to our knowledge of the country.
A very brief account of some of the more productive of these
expeditions, with special reference to the routes followed, is necessary
to enable the reader to appreciate intelligently the references to the
information obtained to be made in the succeeding chapters.
SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF THE COUNTRY.
In 1872, Professor John Macoun was sent from Edmonton by Mr. (now Sir)
Sandford Fleming, who was then exploring for the Canadian Pacific
Railway, to explore Peace river and see if there were a pass there.
Professor Macoun’s report attracted much attention to this district.
Professor Macoun had then already spent ten years study, theoretical and
practical, of botany, natural history and physical geography. In the
year 1875 he was appointed botanist to the expedition which, under the
leadership of the Director of the Geological Survey, explored Peace
river and Rocky mountains. Two years later he was asked by the Dominion
Government to write a report on the Northwest territories and availed
himself of all reliable information regarding the country. The summers
of 1879-80-81 were spent by Professor Macoun in traversing the least
known parts and investigating the fauna, flora, meteorology and physical
phenomena of the country.
During the years 1878-79 Doctor G. M. Dawson, of the Geological Survey,
in conjunction with a Canadian Pacific Railway survey party, made an
examination of the region between the mouth of Skeena river on the
Pacific coast and Edmonton, including Pine river pass and its
approaches, Smoky river and the fertile country north and south of Peace
river. The vast extent of country covered left but little time for
details, and caused the expedition to assume the character of a rapid
reconnaissance survey.
In 1873, Charles Horetzky, C.E., was commissioned by Mr. Sandford
Fleming to make a reconnaissance survey through Peace river country and
Peace river pass to assist the government in reaching a decision as to
the route of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Mr. Horetzky, who was
accompanied by Doctor Macoun, botanist, proceeded via Edmonton, Lesser
Slave lake, the confluence of Smoky and Peace rivers, Dunvegan, McLeod’s
lake, etc. Besides his official report, Mr. Horetzky wrote a popular
account of this trip under the title “Canada on the Pacific,” which
contained much interesting information as to Peace river district.
In 1875, Doctor Selwyn, Director of the Geological Survey, mapped and
reported upon the upper part of Peace river, as far down as the mouth of
Smoky river, and in the same year Professor John Macoun, who accompanied
him in the capacity of botanist, proceeded down the river to Lake
Athabaska, and returned east by the Athabaska-Clearwater route, while
Doctor Selwyn reascended Peace river, and returned by British Columbia.
Doctor Robert Bell, F.G.S., F.R.S.C., etc., in a period of active
service in the Geological Survey extending over more than forty years,
contributed very largely to our knowledge of Northern Canada. He was
medical officer, naturalist and geologist on the “Neptune,” the “Alert”
and the “Diana” expeditions to Hudson bay, and his reports of those
voyages, as well as of his overland trips, are very valuable. Three of
his exploratory trips, two in the eastern division, the other in the
western part of the country under review, are especially interesting. In
1878 he made a track-survey and a geological examination of the
boat-route from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson bay by way of Oxford and Knee
lakes, and the rivers thence to York Factory. He also made topographical
and geological surveys of the lower part of Nelson river, and of the
upper part of the same stream, from Lake Winnipeg nearly to Split lake,
leaving unfinished the central part. Between 1878 and 1891 he explored
Nelson river, the lower part of Grass river, and parts of Churchill and
Little Churchill rivers. In 1879, Doctor Bell, assisted by Mr. Cochrane,
completed his survey of Nelson river and Churchill river basins; the
country covered in that region included altogether Gull lake, Grass
river, Sipiwesk lake, Jackfish river, Knee lake, God’s lake, Island
lake, Split lake and the coast of Hudson bay for a few miles on either
side of Churchill. These explorations practically re-opened a section of
country which must have been familiar to those engaged in transportation
via the old route between Hudson bay, Red river and Saskatchewan river
districts. Before reaching Norway House, although diligent enquiry was
made by Doctor Bell, no reliable information could be obtained of the
Churchill, or the central part of the Nelson, or the country lying
between these two streams. And even at Norway House very little was
known on the subject. This arose from the fact that both these rivers
had long before been abandoned as “voyaging” routes by the Hudson’s Bay
Company, and also that no Indians lived at or near the parts to be
examined.
In 1882, a track survey and geological examination of Athabaska river
below the mouth of Lac La Biche river, was made by Doctor Bell.
In 1886, Doctor Bell conducted an exploration of portions of
Attawapiskat and Albany rivers, and of the country between Lonely lake
(Lac Seul) and James bay. Doctor Bell reached the Albany from Wabigoon
via Lake Minnietakie, and crossed the watershed to the Attawapiskat from
the highest of the chain of lakes on the Eabamet, which flows into the
Albany about ninety miles in a straight line below the outlet of Lake
St. Joseph. The Attawapiskat was followed to James bay.
A micrometer survey of the lower part of both Peace and Athabaska rivers
was made by William Ogilvie, D.L.S., in 1884, and in 1888, Mr. Ogilvie,
having completed some surveys in the Yukon, arrived at Fort McPherson
via Peel river to make
AN EXPLORATION OF MACKENZIE RIVER,
Great Slave lake and river, and Lake Athabaska. Mr. Ogilvie ascended
this great waterway and prepared a report which is still much consulted.
In 1891 Mr. Ogilvie, under the direction of the Surveyor-General, again
made an exploratory survey in the same region. Mr. Ogilvie’s
instructions were to make a thorough exploration of the region drained
by Peace river and its tributaries, between the boundary of British
Columbia and Rocky mountains and to collect any information that might
be of value relating to that region. As it was desirable that he should,
if practicable, connect the end of his micrometer survey of Mackenzie
river made in 1888 with that made on Great Slave river in the same year,
which he was then unable to accomplish on account of high water, Mr.
Ogilvie took with him the necessary instruments, but he found it
impossible to complete this work. This time, he descended the great
northwestern waterway from Athabaska to Fort Simpson, and, ascending the
Liard and “East Branch” or Nelson river, as it has since been officially
called, reached Port Nelson on September 15, ascending Nelson and
Sikanni Chief rivers and portaging through the woods to St. John on
Peace river. Another interesting report was the result of this really
hazardous trip.
In 1886, Mr. A. P. Low of the Geological Survey, accompanied by Mr. J.
M. Macoun, crossed Lake Winnipeg from Red river to Berens river and
ascended the latter to a portage to the head waters of Severn river,
making an exploration of the country from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson bay.
In 1887, Mr. R. G. McConnell, B.A., of the Geological Survey, descended
to Mackenzie river from the Yukon via Liard river, and during that year
and the following one explored a considerable part of Mackenzie basin
including Slave river, Salt river, Hay river, part of the western end of
Great Slave lake, etc. The result was embodied in a most interesting
official report (Part D. Annual Report, Vol. IV., 1888-89, Geological
Survey of Canada.) The country between Peace and Athabaska rivers north
of Lesser Slave lake, comprising an area of about forty-four thousand
square miles, remained entirely unknown until Mr. McConnell’s
exploration was undertaken.
In the years 1888, 1889, 1890 and 1891, Mr. McConnell effected a most
important exploration of the unexplored country between Peace river and
Athabaska river and in the basin of the Athabaska. He investigated as
thoroughly as he could the phenomena of the so-called tar-sand deposits
and the
OIL SPRINGS OF ATHABASKA REGION,
about which the few hunters, traders and travellers who had hitherto
penetrated so far had brought back such astonishing tales. His report,
printed in the annual report of the Geological Survey of Canada for
1890-91 (New Series, Vol. V, Part I), excited much interest at the time
throughout the scientific world, and is still regarded as the standard
authority on the subject.
In the summer of 1889, a well-known English sportsman set out upon a
trip to Great Slave lake district with the object of making some
explorations. This was Mr. Warburton Pike, and his book “The Barren
Ground of Northern Canada”, describing his trip, gives a great deal of
interesting information about that part of the “Barren Lands” just north
of Great Slave lake and the region about the headwaters of Backs river.
Mr. Pike, who combined the qualities of a good writer, a trained
explorer and a keen sportsman, proceeded during the summer of 1889 via
Great Slave lake and the canoe-portage route by Francois, de Mort, Nez
Croche, du Rocher, Camsell, Mackay and de Gras lakes to the headwaters
of Coppermine river. He spent the winter in camp just south of Mackay
lake and at Fort Resolution, and the following summer proceeded via
Great Slave lake, and a chain of lakes to the east of those he had
traversed on his canoe-portage route the previous season, to Aylmer
lake. Thence he proceeded down Backs river to Beechey lake, south of
Bathurst inlet. He came out via Clinton-Colden and Artillery lakes, and
from Athabaska district made a trip up Peace river.
Mr. J. Burr Tyrrell, of the Geological Survey, explored the country
bordering on the east shore of Lake Winnipeg in 1890 and 1891.
In 1892, Mr. Tyrrell, assisted by Mr. D. B. Dowling, made an exploration
of the country between Athabaska and Churchill rivers and north of the
latter waterway. The routes covered included a course from Prince Albert
northward through Cree lake and down Beaver river to Churchill river,
and north across the country by Cree lake to Black river, thence through
Wollaston lake and up through Geikie and Foster rivers to the Churchill.
In 1893 and 1894 Mr. Tyrrell conducted two important exploration
parties. In 1893 the route taken was via Chipewyan, Lake Athabaska, Fond
du Lac, Black lake, Chipman lake, Selwyn lake, Daly lake, Dubawnt river
and lake, Aberdeen, Schultz and Baker lakes, Chesterfield inlet,
Churchill, York Factory, Norway House and West Selkirk. In 1894 the
route followed was via Cumberland House, Sturgeon-weir river, Churchill
river, Reindeer river and lake, Cochrane river, Kasba lake, Kasba river,
Ennadai lake, Kazan river, Kathkyed lake, Kazan river again, Ferguson
lake and river to Hudson bay. Mr. Tyrrell and party came out via Split
lake, Norway House and Selkirk.
THE VAST WILDERNESS,
through which the lines of exploration upon these occasions passed, lies
for the most part north of latitude 59°, and extends from the coast to
Hudson bay, westward to Lake Athabaska, comprising an area of not less
than two hundred thousand square miles. The work of the party embraced a
survey of the north shore of Lake Athabaska, Chipman, Cochrane, Telzoa
or Dubawnt, Thlewiaza, Kazan and Ferguson rivers, in whole or in part,
Chesterfield inlet, and the shore of Hudson bay from Chesterfield inlet
to Churchill, as well as a line overland in winter, from Churchill to
York Factory, and another from Churchill to Split lake.
[Illustration: Portage near Long Spruce rapids, Nelson river.]
The distance travelled in 1893 was three thousand two hundred miles, one
thousand six hundred and fifty of which had not been previously surveyed
or reported on in any way. The whole distance of six hundred miles from
Churchill to Lake Winnipeg was covered on snowshoes. During the trip of
the following year Mr. Tyrrell travelled two thousand nine hundred
miles, one thousand seven hundred and fifty by canoe and seven hundred
and twenty-five on snowshoes, most of this distance being through
unexplored country.
Jas. W. Tyrrell, C.E., D.L.S., who formed part of this expedition,
subsequently published a popular account of the trip of three thousand
two hundred miles in a book entitled “Across the Sub-Arctics of Canada.”
During the summer of 1896 Mr. Tyrrell, travelling by canoe, made a
survey of the northeastern portion of the old district of Saskatchewan
and the adjacent parts of the then district of Keewatin, since annexed
to Manitoba, the territory covered comprising an area of rather more
than twenty-five thousand square miles, lying between north latitude 50°
40′ and 56°, and west longitude 97° 20′ and 122° 30′.
James Macintosh Bell, F.R.G.S., of the Geological Survey of Canada, made
a geological reconnaissance of the north arm of Great Slave lake in
1899, wintered at Fort Resolution, and in 1900, accompanied by Mr.
Charles Camsell, travelled to Great Bear lake, made a geological
exploration of its northern shores, and returned by a chain of lakes to
the north arm of Great Slave lake, proceeding to Edmonton the same
winter.
In the summer of 1899, Mr. D. B. Dowling of the Geological Survey
explored the upper part of Burntwood river from Three Point lake to its
head near Reed lake, Kississing river, from the north end of
Athapapuskow lake to its mouth on Churchill river, and the Churchill
from above Sisipuk lake to the end of the long arm running from Nelson
lake. During the summer of 1893 Mr. Dowling conducted an exploration in
that part of southern Keewatin just to the east of the then eastern
boundary of Manitoba, and north of the then northern boundary of
Ontario. The area covered, now forming part of the province of Ontario,
extends from English river and Lac Seul northwards to Berens river, the
eastern branch of which forms approximately the northern limit of the
area. To the east the exploration included the heads of streams flowing
eastward to Cat lake, and on the west White river, a southern branch of
Berens river, with the western end of Red lake, confines its extent in
that direction.
In 1900, J. W. Tyrrell, C.E., D.L.S., who had been assistant to his
brother in 1893, conducted an important exploration of the country
between Great Slave lake and Chesterfield inlet on Hudson bay. In all,
one thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine miles of survey were
accomplished, and in the performance of this four thousand six hundred
miles were travelled
WITH SLEDS AND CANOES.
Mr. Tyrrell proceeded via Resolution, Great Slave lake, old Fort
Reliance, Lockhart river, Pike’s portage, Artillery lake, Clinton-Colden
lake, Smart lake, Sifton lake, Hanbury river and Thelon river to a point
near the confluence of Dubawnt river. Hence a portion of the party under
the direction of C. C. Fairchild, C.E., was despatched to survey
Aberdeen, Schultz and Baker lakes, while Mr. Tyrrell returned up the
Thelon to devote his attention to the upper part of the river and the
divide between the upper Thelon and Artillery lake, traversing,
unattended, the one hundred and sixty miles between a small branch of
the Thelon and Artillery lake. The party was reunited at Artillery lake,
and returned to civilization via Resolution, Chipewyan and Edmonton.
In 1898, Mr. David T. Hanbury tried to reach the unexplored tract
between Chesterfield inlet and Great Slave lake via the
Norway-House—York-Factory—Churchill route. Finding that he arrived too
late at the latter place, he decided to spend the summer on the Hudson
bay coast and make preparations for an early start the following year.
In 1899, he made an interesting trip from Churchill to Great Slave lake
via Chesterfield inlet, Thelon and Ark-i-linik rivers, Clinton-Colden
and Artillery lakes, and Lockhart river. As he was the first white man
to explore Ark-i-linik or Thelon river, its most western affluent has
since been called Hanbury river. In 1901, Mr. Hanbury travelled from
Edmonton to Depot island in the northern part of Hudson bay, via Fort
Resolution, Great Slave lake, Artillery lake, Hanbury, Thelon and
Dubawnt rivers, Baker lake, Chesterfield inlet and Marble island. He
spent most of the winter in an Esquimaux camp near Baker lake, and in
February started on an adventurous trip back to civilization via
Aberdeen lake and Thelon river, thence overland to Buchanan river, down
that stream to Backs river, thence to the coast, westward along the
coast to the mouth of the Coppermine, up the Coppermine to Kendall
river, via Dismal lake, Dease river, Great Bear lake and Great Bear
river to Fort Norman. Mr. Hanbury gives an interesting account of these
trips in his book “Sport and Travel in the Northland of Canada.”
The United States Biological Survey, in the early spring of 1901,
determined to send Mr. Edward A. Preble, Assistant of the Survey and one
of its trained field naturalists, to obtain representative collections
of the mammals, birds and plants of the great interior region west of
Hudson bay drained mainly by the Mackenzie and described in the reports
of the Survey as the most neglected large area in North America. As it
was evident that only part of the region could be examined
satisfactorily in a single season, it was determined to make first a
reconnaissance of the region about Athabaska and Great Slave lakes. The
route followed by Mr. Preble’s party was via Great Slave lake, including
the north arm, to Fort Rae; the chain of lakes and rivers by way of Lake
St. Croix to MacTavish bay; Great Bear lake and Great Bear river to the
Mackenzie. It had been the intention of Mr. Preble, who was accompanied
by his brother and Mr. James MacKinley, formerly of the Hudson’s Bay
Company, to cross by one of the Indian routes to the upper Coppermine
and to descend that stream, but various circumstances rendered this
impossible and he was obliged to take the shorter and more westerly
route.
In the spring of 1903, the results of his work in 1901 having been
elaborated but not published, Mr. Preble was sent to complete his
investigations in the Mackenzie region. This was especially desirable,
since on the previous trip he had penetrated only as far as Great Slave
lake. Upon his second trip the survey was carried from Great Bear lake
to the Arctic coast line. The result of these trips was embodied in a
very complete and altogether admirable report—“North American Fauna,
No. 27.”—published by the United States Biological Survey in 1908.
In 1905, Mr. Alfred H. Harrison, one of that large class of adventurous
Englishmen who love to penetrate into the less known and totally unknown
portions of the world for the very love of sport and perilous adventure,
made a trip of exploration down Slave and Mackenzie rivers, and remained
for nearly two years in the country
ABOUT THE DELTA OF MACKENZIE RIVER
and Herschell island, and returned home in 1907 by the same route. Mr.
Harrison, before he made this trip, had considerable knowledge of the
Northland, for he had made a trip as far as Great Slave lake in 1902.
Mr. Harrison is, moreover, the son of a former officer of the Hudson’s
Bay Company, who in 1852 was stationed at the company’s post at Fort
Good Hope. Mr. Harrison, upon his return to England, wrote a book which
he entitled “In Search of a Polar Continent” which contains a large
amount of interesting information regarding the Mackenzie country.
During the seasons of 1903, 1904 and 1905, Mr. William McInnes of the
Geological Survey made explorations in that portion of the southeastern
section of this region drained by Winisk river and by the upper branches
of Attawapiskat river. These explorations extended from 51° 10′ to 55°
10′ North latitude and from 86° to 90° West longitude. The result was
embodied in a report printed in 1909 and numbered 1080.
Messrs. Wm. McInnes and Owen O’Sullivan of the Geological Survey were
employed during the summer of 1906 to explore the region along the
proposed route of the railway between the Saskatchewan and Churchill.
Mr. McInnes explored the country between the Pas and Split lake; Mr.
O’Sullivan, the country between Split lake and Churchill. Their reports
were published in the summary report of the Geological Survey for 1906.
Mr. McInnes’s route ran from Lake Winnipeg via Nelson river to Split
lake and thence along Burntwood river and File river and lake to Reed
lake, across Wekusko lake to a point between Grass and Burntwood rivers,
back to Reed lake and thence along the Nelson. Mr. O’Sullivan’s route
was from Split lake via Assean lake, Outawi river and lake, Waskaiowaka
lake, Little Churchill river, Recluse lake, Great Churchill river, Deer
lake and river, and Great Churchill river again. The return trip was
made via York Factory, Hayes river and Fox river.
In 1906 and 1907, W. Thibaudeau, C.E., acting under the instruction of
Doctor Deville, Surveyor-General, made some explorations in Churchill
district and along the route of the proposed Hudson Bay Railway from
Churchill to The Pas on the Saskatchewan. On his trip over the route of
the railway Mr. Thibaudeau proceeded from Churchill in a straight line
to near Deer river. Crossing the river he followed a route between it
and the Churchill, recrossing the Deer at a point a little more than a
hundred miles from Churchill. Thence he travelled in a straight line to
the Little Churchill, and followed the course of that river to
Waskaiowaka lake. Thence he crossed to a point near Assean lake and
continued his route via Split lake, Pipe lake, Grass river, Landing
lake, Sipiwesk lake, Grass river, and Cormorant and Atikomeg lakes.
Mr. Joseph Keele of the Geological Survey of Canada made a
reconnaissance across Mackenzie mountains on Pelly, Ross and Gravel
rivers, in the mountain region lying between the Pelly and the lower
reach of Mackenzie river in 1907 and 1908.
During the summer of 1908, Inspector E. A. Pelletier, of the Royal
Northwest Mounted Police, with a corporal and two constables, patrolled
the country between
GREAT SLAVE LAKE AND HUDSON BAY.
They left Fort Resolution on Great Slave lake on July 1 and travelled
via Pike portage, Artillery lake, Hanbury river and Thelon river, to
Hudson bay at Chesterfield inlet, where they arrived on August 31. No
natives or guides were employed from Great Slave lake to Hudson bay and
this portion of the journey was made without any mishap whatever.
Inspector Pelletier estimated the distances travelled on this patrol as
follows:—
Miles.
Fort Saskatchewan to Athabaska (teams) 90
Athabaska to McMurray (scow) 280
McMurray to Graham’s Landing (steamer) 290
Graham’s Landing to Fort Smith (teams) 12
Fort Smith to Fort Resolution (canoes) 180
Fort Resolution to Fort Reliance (canoes) 240
Pike portage route between Great Slave lake
and Artillery lake (portage and canoe) 25
Artillery lake to height of land (portage and canoe) 100
Height of land to Thelon river (portage and canoe) 170
Thelon river (canoe) 220
Beverly lake and river (canoe) 35
Aberdeen lake (canoe) 60
River between Aberdeen and Schultz lakes (canoe) 20
Schultz lake (canoe) 25
Schultz or Lower Thelon river (portage and canoe) 35
Baker lake (canoe) 60
River foot of Baker lake (canoe) 25
Chesterfield inlet, Hudson bay (canoe) 130
==
Total 1,997
Of the canoes used on this patrol, one was an eighteen foot length,
forty-two inch beam, the other eighteen and one-half foot length,
forty-three inch beam; both were eighteen inches deep, longitudinal
strip cedar, varnished, fitted with oars for hard pulling against strong
winds on the lakes. Inspector Pelletier had a good stock of paddles and
fifty-five foot lateen sails. Each canoe weighed one hundred and twenty
pounds portaging weight. The portage from Great Slave lake towards
Artillery lake was found to be about six miles from the site of Fort
Reliance, of which historic establishment a stone chimney alone remains
standing.
Some interesting topographical information regarding the region between
Hudson bay and The Pas was obtained through the surveys made under the
direction of John Armstrong, C.E., for the Department of Railways and
Canals in 1908 and 1909, for the purpose of determining a projected
location for a railway to Hudson bay from The Pas, the nearest point on
the Saskatchewan then having railway connection. From The Pas to a point
north of Pipestone lake a single route was laid down; thence two routes,
one to Port Nelson, the other to Churchill, were surveyed. Mr.
Armstrong, in his report (Sessional Paper No. 20 d.—1910), makes some
interesting references to the natural resources of the district covered
by the surveys.
All the expeditions which have been thus briefly passed in review made
additions to the knowledge we possess of the natural resources of the
great unsettled Northwest, but it will be observed that the acquisition
of geographical knowledge only was the object for which most of these
expeditions were equipped and sent forward. The trained explorers of the
Geological Survey of Canada have given us a fair idea of the geological
features and natural resources generally along the more accessible lines
of travel, particularly in the southern and western parts of this vast
unsettled and unsurveyed region, but it is only within the last few
years that systematic surveys have been undertaken there to determine
the adaptability of certain areas to agricultural development and
settlement.
In 1908, Frank J. P. Crean, C.E., of the Railway Lands Branch of the
Department of the Interior, was commissioned to explore and procure all
the information possible about that tract of country lying to the east
of Beaver river and Green lake,
[Illustration: Farm at Mount Nebo on Green lake trail, sixty-five miles
from Prince Albert.]
SOUTH OF CHURCHILL RIVER,
and extending east to the old canoe route from Cumberland House via Frog
portage to Stanley Mission. Mr. Crean was instructed by Mr. R. E. Young,
Superintendent of the Railway Lands Branch, to pay particular attention
to obtaining information about the character of the country away from
the travelled routes, and to ascertain the value of the district to be
traversed for farming, lumbering and mining purposes.
Mr. Crean left Prince Albert August 20, 1908, and returned there January
6, 1909. He proceeded by team to the south end of Green lake, and after
reaching that point travelled chiefly by canoe, making side trips
inland, where it seemed desirable to do so. After the ice formed he
procured dog trains to continue the exploration. On this trip Mr. Crean
explored the district bounded on the west by a line from Prince Albert
to Stanley mission; on the north by Churchill and Clearwater rivers; on
the west by Green lake, Beaver river, the western arm of Ile à la Crosse
lake, Buffalo lake, Methye river and Methye lake; and on the south by
the surveyed territory along the north bank of the Saskatchewan. Mr.
Crean gave the following statistics in his report:—“The gross area
explored, and about which some information has been collected, is
approximately sixteen million acres. The water covered area in this
tract (area of lakes and rivers) may be set down at approximately three
million acres—the remaining land area at thirteen million. I would
estimate that an area of fully three million five hundred thousand acres
is suitable for settlement as soon as surveyed and made accessible by
roads, and an area of about eight million acres of swamp or land
probably too wet at present for successful cultivation could be
reclaimed at a moderate expenditure. All swamp will, however, eventually
repay the cost of reclamation. The above figures are, of course, the
result of an exploration extending over only a few months, and must be
considered to be only approximate. The distance travelled was about
three thousand miles, of which one thousand two hundred was made running
behind dog trains.”
In 1909, Mr. Crean was again sent out to carry on his exploration of the
country north of the surveyed area in Saskatchewan and Alberta and
extending west from the territory covered the previous year. He was
instructed to cover as much of the country west to the Athabaska and
NORTH TO THE CLEARWATER
as time would permit. He left Prince Albert on June 17, 1909, completed
his season’s work at McMurray, and thence proceeded to Edmonton,
reaching there December 11, 1909. From Green lake, Mr. Crean travelled
principally by canoe, making numerous portages, some of considerable
length. On some occasions he hired horses and used them as a means of
transportation. The total area explored, or about which information was
thus obtained, is approximately twenty-one million acres. Mr. Crean
reports:—“Of this tract, not over two million acres is covered by
water—lakes and rivers. A conservative estimate of the land available
for settlement in its present state, when means of access are provided,
would be about ten million acres. The greater portion of the remaining
area, say nine million acres, could be drained, and, in my opinion,
would well repay the expenditure. Throughout the tract there is ample
fall which would allow of drainage being successfully carried out. A
portion of the tract lies on the head waters of Churchill river, and all
the streams contain numerous rapids and falls. On the west side of the
height of land sloping towards the Athabaska and the Clearwater there
are also excellent facilities for drainage. This tract is well supplied
with timber, some of which may be suitable for export.”
Mr. Crean, during this exploratory trip, visited the country between
Green lake and Meadow lake, Birch lake and Loon lake to the westward;
Waterhen lake and Island lake; Canoe lake and Burnt lake; White Fish
river and lake, and Watchush lake; Gipsy lake, Gordon lake and McMurray;
Gregoire lake. Pembina river. Cowpar lake, Winefred lake, Ipiatik lake,
Heart lake and Lac La Biche, all to the westward of the area
investigated in 1908.
Mr. Crean’s report of his exploration in the season of 1908 was printed
for public information, but owing to the great demand for copies the
edition was soon exhausted and it was decided therefore, to issue the
two reports in one new publication. The gross area covered by the two
reports, and as to which some information was gathered, might be stated
at approximately forty million acres.
Inspired with the wish to see for himself the country for the
administration of which he was responsible, the Hon. Frank Oliver, then
Minister of the Interior, in 1910 made the trip from Edmonton via
Athabaska, Athabaska river, Lake Athabaska, Slave river, Great Slave
lake, and Mackenzie river, to Fort McPherson, thence passing over to the
Yukon by trail to Lapierre’s House. Mr. Oliver left Edmonton June 2 and
reached Fort Yukon on July 14. From Athabaska to Grand rapids (one
hundred and sixty miles) and from McMurray to Chipewyan (two hundred
miles) the Minister and his private secretary made the trip alone in a
Peterborough canoe. The result of the Minister’s observations, as
communicated to the press, aroused considerable interest in the newest
northwest throughout Canada.
The reports of explorers and travellers as to the character and
resources of the great northwest have been supplemented by a
considerable amount of information received from Hudson’s Bay Company
officials, and others engaged in the fur trade, missionaries,
prospectors and pioneer settlers. Certain
RECENT PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRIES
resulted in the placing upon record of some of the most instructive of
this class of information.
Much data of a most valuable character was obtained by two select
committees of the Senate which sat during the sessions of 1887 and 1888,
under the presidency of the late Honourable Senator Schultz, who was
mainly instrumental in having the said committees appointed. The reports
of these committees, with the evidence taken, were printed as appendices
to the Journals of the Senate (1st Session, 6th Parlt., 50 Victoria, and
2nd Session, 6th Parlt., 51 Victoria).
During the parliamentary session of 1906-7, the Hon. Senator T. O.
Davis, of Prince Albert, was instrumental in having a select committee
of the Senate appointed to enquire as to the value of that portion of
the Dominion lying north of the Saskatchewan watershed and east of Rocky
mountains, comprising the northern parts of the provinces of Alberta and
Saskatchewan and Mackenzie territory, and the extent of navigable
waters, rivers, lakes, and sea-coast contained therein; also similarly
to enquire and report from time to time as to the value of the portions
of the Dominion on both sides of Hudson bay, including the territories
of Keewatin and Ungava, and the extent of navigable waters, rivers,
lakes and sea-coast contained therein. The committee, in accordance with
the authority delegated to it, sent for persons, papers and records
bearing upon the subjects submitted for its consideration, and examined
a number of gentlemen possessing special knowledge, through personal
experience or otherwise, of the regions named as the special subject of
enquiry. The evidence thus obtained was, under instructions from the
Senate, edited, condensed and arranged by the compiler of the present
volume, and published, first in the journals of the Senate (3rd Session,
10th Parliament), and subsequently in the book published under the
direction of the Department of the Interior, entitled “Canada’s Fertile
Northland.” It aroused much interest in the subject, not only in Canada,
but throughout the civilized world.
Taking advantage of this, the Minister of the Interior gave instructions
for the preparation of a summary or digest of the Schultz committee
reports of 1887 and 1888, at that time out of print, the work being
entrusted to the same compiler, under the direction of the late Mr. R.
E. Young, Superintendent of Railway Lands and Chief Geographer. The
result was the volume “The Great Mackenzie Basin”, the first edition of
which was published in 1908.
Altogether, from one source or another, during the three centuries which
have elapsed since the British flag first appeared in Hudson bay, a vast
amount of reliable information, covering many widely-separated districts
of the territory under review, has been obtained; but hitherto much of
the practical value of this useful data scattered through the pages of
publications of various descriptions has been lost for
LACK OF SYSTEMATIC COMPILATION.
In bringing all this information together and compressing it within the
limits of one volume, a difficulty presents itself in the tremendous
extent of country concerned.
In arranging the matter of this volume, with a view to enabling the
reader to follow more readily, the whole area under review has been
divided into certain arbitrary geographical sub-divisions. In a region
so vast, the differences of climate, soil and general physical character
of the country in the various districts are very considerable, and
emphasize the necessity of treating certain geographical sub-divisions
separately.
A glance at the map is necessary to enable the reader to understand the
divisions of the country which it has been deemed advisable to make in
projecting this volume, to permit of the intelligent treatment of the
subject.
The region designated “The Keewatin Area” comprises that part of what
was formerly the provisional district of Keewatin which lies east of the
province of Saskatchewan, south of the 60th parallel of north latitude,
west of James bay and southwest and west of Hudson bay. Its southern
limits are defined by the former (up to 1912) northern boundary of
Manitoba and the former (up to the same date) northwesterly boundary of
Ontario.
During the first session of the 12th Parliament of Canada (1911-12) the
whole of this territory was annexed to the two provinces lying
immediately to the south of it, Ontario and Manitoba. The dividing line
between the portion of the former district of Keewatin annexed to the
province of Ontario, and that annexed to the province of Manitoba, is
described in the legislation extending the boundaries of the two
provinces as a line from the extreme north end of the eastern boundary
of the province of Manitoba as it existed at the time of the extension
of boundaries, “thence continuing due north along the same meridian to
the intersection thereof with the centre of the road allowance on the
twelfth base line of the system of Dominion Land Surveys; thence
northeasterly in a right line to the most eastern point of Island lake,
as shown in approximate latitude 53° 30′ and longitude 93° 40′ on the
railway map of the Dominion of Canada, published, on the scale of
thirty-five miles to one inch, in the year one thousand nine hundred and
eight, by the authority of the Minister of the Interior; thence
northeasterly in a right line to the point where the eighty-ninth
meridian of west longitude intersects the southern shore of Hudson bay;
thence easterly and southerly following the shore of the said bay to the
point where the northerly boundary of the province of Ontario as
established under the said Act intersects the shore of James bay.”
At the date of the final revision of these pages for the press, the
division of the territory was too recent to permit of effective separate
treatment of newest Ontario and newest Manitoba as separate territorial
units, and any attempt to effect such separate treatment, it was felt,
would only result in confusion.
The “Northern Saskatchewan Region” comprises the whole of the province
of Saskatchewan, north of the surveyed area.
The “Northern Alberta Region” comprises the whole of the province of
Alberta, north and east of the surveyed area.
The “Mackenzie River Region” includes all the territory in the great
Mackenzie basin, north of the province of Alberta, extending northward
to Beaufort sea, west to the boundary of Yukon territory, and eastward
to the basin of Coppermine river, that of Yellowknife river, a line in
prolongation of the latter stream across Great Slave lake and following
the right bank of Slave river to the northern boundary of Alberta.
The area comprised within the designation “The Barren Lands” includes
the immense territory extending eastwards from that last defined to
Hudson bay, and including the bare, treeless, but wrongly called “Barren
Lands.”
With this brief and general outline of the various districts before him,
the reader will more readily follow the attempt to present in a
systematic and intelligible form all the data of practical value
available regarding the varied natural resources of this vast territory.
-----
[1] At the Semple murder trials at York in October, 1818, Sherwood, the
Northwest Company’s counsel, ironically described Red river valley
(Manitoba) as the “land of milk and honey, where nothing, not even a
blade of corn, will ripen.”
[2] “The nations of Europe had adopted the principle that discovery gave
title to the government by whose subjects or by whose authority it was
made, against all other European governments, which title might be
consummated by possession.” (Chief Justice Marshall.)
[3] This was the same Henry Kelsey who showed conspicuous bravery at the
capture of Fort Nelson by the French under d’Iberville in 1690, and who
subsequently became a Deputy Governor in the Hudson’s Bay service.—(E.
J. C.).
[4] “The Last Great Monopoly.”
[5] Joseph Robson, who had been employed as a stone mason and engineer
in the construction of Fort Prince of Wales at Churchill between 1733
and 1748, and had been up Nelson river for a distance of forty or fifty
miles, was one of the chief witnesses. Being asked as to the number of
British subjects in the Company’s settlements, he said that the first
year he was at York Fort there were 36 persons there, and at Churchill
44 or 45; that he never saw any British subjects there, except the
Company’s servants, nor any other people desirous to “fix” there, or
that the Company had ever offered encouragement to British subjects to
“settle” there. He expressed the opinion that some of the country about
Hudson bay might be settled and inhabited, if people would go up the
rivers till they found a better climate, and there erect settlements. He
declared that he did not doubt that he himself could find three or four
hundred British subjects, who would willingly go there to live winter
and summer, and, he added, he would go for one. He added that speaking
from his own experience, the cold of the Hudson bay winter might be
endured without any inconvenience, their clothing being adapted to the
climate. He had suffered more from cold in England, than ever he did at
Hudson bay. It was true that flesh will freeze, but he never knew any
person to lose his fingers from frostbite at Churchill or York.
[6] In 1773 Hearne established Cumberland House as a southern outpost of
the Hudson’s Bay Company. It was Hearne, the hero of this daring trip of
exploration, who, as governor of Prince of Wales fort (Churchill), in
1782, ignominiously surrendered that stronghold to the French squadron
under La Pérouse, without firing a shot.
[7] Governor Morton’s instructions to Hearne set forth the object of the
expedition in detail. They included the following:—
“The Indians who are now appointed your guides, are to conduct you to
the border of the Athapapuscow (Great Slave lake) and Indians’ country,
where Captain Matonabbee (an Indian chief) is to meet you in the spring
of one thousand seven hundred and seventy, in order to conduct you to a
river represented by the Indians to abound with copper ore, animals of
the fur kind, etc., and which is said to be so far to the northward that
in the middle of the summer the sun does not set, and is supposed by the
Indians to empty itself into some ocean. This river, which is called by
the Northern Indians Neetha-San-San-Dazey, or Far Off Metal river, you
are, if possible, to trace to the mouth, and there determine the
latitude and longitude as near as you can; but more particularly so if
you find it navigable; and that a settlement can be made there with any
degree of safety, or benefit to the Company.”
“Be careful to observe what mines are near the river; what water there
is at the river’s mouth; how far the woods are from the sea-side; the
course of the river; the nature of the soil and the productions of it;
and make any other remarks that you may think will be either necessary
or satisfactory. And if the said river be likely to be of any utility,
take possession of it on behalf of the Hudson’s Bay Company, by cutting
your name on some of the rocks, as also the date of the year, month,
etc.”
[8] A synopsis of the account of Hearne’s journey was published in
pamphlet form in 1773 and re-published in 1778-80, the complete account
being published in book form in 1790. (Beckles Wilson.)
[9] The history of the Peace and Athabaska country commences in 1778,
when Peter Pond, subsequently a partner in the Northwest Company,
pushing northwestward in search of new fur districts, reached the
Athabaska by way of Methye portage and Clearwater river, and descending
it, founded a fort known as “The Old Establishment,” about thirty miles
above its mouth. In 1788 this post was abandoned, and a new one built on
the south side of Lake Athabaska, on what is now known as “Old Fort
Point.” Still later, this site was also deserted and a better one
selected on the north shore, near the outlet of the lake. A general map
of the Northwest was published by Peter Pond in 1785.
Peter Pond’s venture proved extremely remunerative, and he was followed
by other traders who gradually spread themselves over the then unknown
country to the north and west. (J. M. McConnell’s report.)
[10] In 1827 Franklin returned from the northwest via Lake Winnipeg, the
great lakes and Ottawa river. In passing Ottawa, in August, he laid the
cornerstone of the lowest tier of locks on Rideau canal.
[11] The English Government, in 1821, after the union of the Northwest
Company with the Hudson’s Bay Company, granted the reorganized company a
license of exclusive trade over the country to the west of the watershed
of Hudson bay, or Rupert’s Land. The license was renewed in 1838.
[12] Dease was one of the Company’s chief factors; Simpson, who was a
cousin of Sir George Simpson, was an accurate astronomical observer.
[13] In all, 21,500 miles of coast line of which 5,780 miles were
previously unknown, had been examined. (“Cruise of the ‘Neptune’.”)
[Illustration: THE KEEWATIN AREA]