THE 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.
The splendid forests along the banks of Slave and Mackenzie rivers have
been remarked by all who have ever travelled along the truly magnificent
waterway of the far northwest, and the fact has been abundantly
established that the growth of timber extends, along the rivers at
least, far beyond the Arctic circle, and well down the delta of the
Mackenzie. It is true that there are large muskeg and rocky areas in the
basin of the Mackenzie which support no tree growth, but the aggregate
forest wealth of the country is immense.
Mr. Elihu Stewart, formerly Superintendent of Forestry, testified before
the Senate committee of 1907 that the principal tree between Rocky
mountains and the plains is the spruce, mostly the white spruce, and
from its position near the prairie there is no doubt that it will be
more sought after to meet the increasing demands from that quarter. The
country along the upper waters north of Saskatchewan, Athabaska and
Peace rivers, is partly prairie and partly wood. The varieties of timber
are principally aspen and balsam poplar, the former predominating, and
white spruce. The poplars, as we go north, seem to increase in size and
height. Below the junction of the Smoky they grow very clean and
straight, not over a foot or fourteen inches in diameter, but reaching a
height of seventeen or eighteen feet, making excellent building timber,
as well as fencing and fuel. In some parts there are stretches of good
spruce well adapted for lumbering purposes. There has so far been but
little destruction from fire in this quarter. The land is mostly level,
soil excellent, and if the summer frosts do not prevent it, the country
will begin soon to settle up and there will be an ample supply of timber
for local uses, if not for export to the adjoining prairie regions. Mr.
Stewart said he never saw as fine poplar as he saw there. A considerable
number of poplars were over a foot, but a foot would be a fair average.
He had seen poplar in all parts of the prairie country, but never saw
anything growing up as straight.
LIMIT OF TREE GROWTH FAR NORTH.
Mr. Stewart explained that spruce suitable for commercial purposes grows
to Arctic sea. He was astonished to find that the limit of tree growth
extended as far north as it does. He thought it extended probably ten
degrees farther north in this district than in Labrador. The different
kinds of trees that grow in Mackenzie basin include white spruce, black
spruce, the larch or tamarack, which is found as far north as the
spruce, the jackpine and the balsam. Mr. Stewart did not see any balsam
in the Arctic circle; aspen, white poplar, balm of Gilead and birch are
all found down as far as Fort McPherson. The natives make their canoes
out of birch bark at Fort McPherson. The size of the timber becomes less
towards the north. There is timber probably fourteen inches in diameter
growing near the junctions of Peace and Slave rivers. Below Fort Good
Hope the timber is smaller. Some of it has been made into flooring, and
lumber is made from the timber there. There is a large supply of spruce
suitable for pulp as far north as that.
Mr. Stewart, replying to a question, said he thought it possible to use
this poplar wood for commercial purposes. It is very good poplar. It
will make pulp, and where it is large enough it can be sawed. It makes
excellent flooring. The white poplar in the north is of a better quality
than the poplar in Ottawa district. In Saskatchewan district and in the
far west it is different. In a colder climate it grows more slowly.
As to the extent of the forests, Mr. Stewart remarked that wherever
there was a stream there would be a belt of timber.
Along Athabaska river there is a very big waterpower. There are Grand
rapids and various other points eighty miles north. On Slave river there
are about sixteen miles of rapids, which constitute the interruption to
navigation, and it would make excellent waterpower. There is no
waterpower on the Mackenzie below Fort Smith, on the main stream. From
Smith Landing to Fort Smith the timber is jackpine, some of which is
quite large enough for railway ties. The timber on the heavier soil
consists of black and white poplar, spruce, birch and willow of small
size and of little value.
TIMBER ALONG SLAVE RIVER.
Mr. McConnell states (Geol. Survey Report, 1887-8) that on both sides of
Slave river below Salt river are level plains, which extend without any
evident elevation as far as the eye can reach, and support extensive
forests of white spruce and Banksian pine mingled with larch and rough
and smooth barked poplar. The spruce frequently attains a diameter of
eighteen inches and makes excellent timber. In the vicinity of Slave
river rapids the country is mostly level, and is covered with white
spruce, Banksian pine, the rough and smooth barked poplars and various
species of willow and alder. The Mackenzie river steamer “Wrigley” was
built here in the winter of 1887, and the timber used in construction
was all obtained from the surrounding forest.
Mr. Wm. Ogilvie says in his report:—
“The level country surrounding the lower half of Great Slave river is
all well timbered with fine large spruce, equalling in this lower
Athabaska and Peace rivers, and I think, when the time comes, that here
will be found this district’s principal supply lumber. On the high,
light soil round Fort Smith, the trees are small and generally of no
value except for fuel. Along the river, between the rapids and Lake
Athabaska, there are many small areas of flat, swampy ground which would
supply some very fair timber.
“The varieties of trees along the lower part of the river are few,
spruce, with a few small tamarack, some small birch, and a few poplar
constituting the bulk of the forest. The spruce far outnumber all the
rest. On some of the islands there is much shrubbery, willows, and
alders growing in profusion in the swampy places; but, in general, the
undergrowth is stunted and thin, especially on the uplands.”
Mr. E. A. Preble of the United States Biological Survey, describing
Slave river in his report writes:—“Here the willows and poplars which
border the stream alternate with stretches of fine white spruce (_Picea
canadensis_), some of which attain a diameter of three feet and rear
their summits to a height of one hundred and fifty feet.”
The aspen poplar (_Populus tremuloides_), according to Mr. Preble,
occurs nearly throughout the wooded region. In favourable places along
the Athabaska and Slave it attains a large size, and this is the case
also about Fort Simpson.
[Illustration: Slave river near Fort Smith.]
THE WHITE SPRUCE.
Mr. E. A. Preble states that the white spruce (_Picea canadensis_)
reaches its perfection in the alluvial bottoms of Slave river
valley:—“In favourable places along Slave river it attains a diameter
of three feet, and a height of nearly one hundred and fifty. This
species, usually called ‘pine’ in the north, is the commonest timber
tree of the region, and occurs north to the limit of the forest. Along
certain rivers which enter the Barren Grounds from the southward, the
range of this species is extended far beyond its general limits, and
sometimes the isolated colonies are of large extent. Most of the lumber
used in building and general constructive work throughout the region is
furnished by this species. Its wood is soft and easily worked, and
though admirably adapted for some purposes, is used for others only from
necessity. Its slender fibrous roots, split into long strips are used by
the natives to sew together the pieces of birch bark in the constrution
of canoes and various utensils. Its bark, stripped from the trunks in
early spring, forms the usual roofing material, taking the place of
shingles throughout the region, except at a few favoured posts.”
Mr. Preble states that the Banksian pine (pinus divaricata) is the only
species of pine north of the Athabaska. He reports that along Slave
river it appears only occasionally, usually where high gravelly banks
approach the river. It is common, however, on the rocky hills about
Chipewyan and Smith Landing, and is the predominating tree on the
rolling sandy plains on Smith portage and about Fort Smith.
A COMPREHENSIVE SUMMARY.
A very comprehensive summary of the evidence available as to the timber
resources of the Mackenzie was prepared by R. E. Young, D.L.S., and
submitted by him to the House of Commons committee on Agriculture and
Colonization in 1908. In this document, Mr. Young had his information
classified according to valleys, a very convenient arrangement
considering that the best of the timber growth is in the valleys, and
that the rivers are the only routes of exploration as yet generally
available. Some additional data have since been obtained which will be
incorporated with Mr. Young’s statement, or substituted for portions of
it, this being according to a suggestion made by Mr. Young himself
shortly before his most regrettable death. The succeeding pages of this
chapter consist largely of Mr. Young’s own statement (see report of
committee, pages 159 to 188).
Of the excellence of the forests from Salt river down there can be no
doubt. As long ago as 1772 Samuel Hearne, the first white man to reach
Great Slave lake on his return journey from the mouth of the Coppermine,
entered the mouth of Slave river and went up it some distance before
starting inland on his journey back to Hudson bay. It is very
interesting to note what Hearne at that distant date said: “The woods
around this river, particularly the pines and poplars, are the tallest
and stoutest that I have seen in any part of North America. The birch
also grows to a considerable size and some species of the willow are
likewise tall, but none of them have any trunk like those in England.”
On the island of the lake near the mouth of the river, Hearne saw great
quantities of driftwood. He says: “some of this wood is large enough to
make masts for the largest ships that are built. The woods through which
we were to pass were in many places so thick that it was necessary to
cut a path before the women could pass with their sledges, and in other
places so much of the woods had formerly been set on fire and burnt that
we were frequently obliged to walk farther than we otherwise should have
done, before we could find green brush enough to floor our tents.”
Bishop Clut, O.M.I., before the Senate committee of 1888, stated that
from Fort Smith to Fort Resolution there is a great quantity of
beautiful forest, white spruce or ordinary larch. Spruce from two to
three feet in diameter is found. The birch of the country is very hard
and would make good furniture. It is from birch that they make traineau,
buggies, chairs and snowshoes. In the country lying to the south and
west of Great Slave lake there is a good deal of forest of beautiful
coppice wood, ordinary spruce, and black or red spruce.
THE TIMBER ABOUT GREAT SLAVE LAKE.
Hay river flows into the southwest part of Great Slave lake. Of the
country around, Mr. McConnell says: “Grassy and partly wooded plains
extend northwards from Peace river and skirt its southern shores. It is
the northern limit of the prairie region. Near its mouth the country on
both sides is thickly forested with Banksian pine and white spruce to
Alexandra falls.”
The country from here east to Slave river is known to be well wooded,
but strange as it may seem, the country from Slave river east has never
been explored since Samuel Hearne passed through it in 1772, one hundred
and thirty-six years ago. Somewhere southeast of the lake, Hearne spoke
of a long narrow lake “entirely surrounded with high land which produces
a vast quantity of fir trees, but none of them grow to a great height in
those parts. Their branches, however, spread wider than those of firs
three times their height and thickness do in Europe, so that they
resemble an apple tree in shape. They seem rich in tar as the wood of
them will burn like a candle and emit as strong a smell and as much
black smoke as the staves of an old tar barrel. The under woods were so
thick in these parts as to render travelling through them very
difficult.” Of the part of Great Slave lake where Hearne crossed it, he
says: “The point where we crossed it is said to be the narrowest. It is
full of islands most of which are clothed with fine, tall poplars, birch
and pines, etc.”
Mr. E. A. Preble, in his report, has this to say of Great Slave
lake:—“Great Slave lake lies wholly within the forested region, though
some of its eastern affluents drain large areas of treeless country. Its
southwestern shores, being watered by rivers coming from the south and
southwest, are well wooded, while the northern shores, exposed for most
of the year to cold winds from the north and watered by colder streams,
are poorly wooded. The soil conditions, also, being more favourable on
the southern side of the lake, exert a marked influence on the
foresting. The eastern arm of the lake, however, is largely removed from
these modifying influences, and the conditions on its northern and
southern borders are more nearly uniform.”
FORESTS NORTH OF THE LAKE.
The country to the north of Great Slave lake has been much more
thoroughly examined.
R. G. McConnell (Geol. Rep., 1887-88) wintered at Fort Providence on the
Mackenzie and made a winter journey northeast to Fort Rae, on the long
arm of the lake that reaches out to the north. From Fort Providence to
Birch lake, half the distance across, he crossed the Grand Brulé, the
scene of a former destructive fire, wherein he says there were three
wide prairies with the intervening timber belts. From here on he crossed
first a well wooded country where some excellent spruce was seen, then a
more scantily clad country with groves of spruce, poplar, birch and
alder, and thence to Fort Rae a thick spruce forest.
J. M. Bell (Geol. Rep., 1904) describes the country along Martin river
and chain of lakes emptying into the long northern arm of the lake as
thickly wooded with aspen, balsam poplar, canoe-birch, white spruce and
Banksian pine.
Mr. Preble made the trip from the north of Great Slave lake to Great
Bear lake via the lake, and portage route. August 25, a few days after
passing the height of land, he reports:—“The portage track led over
rocky ground on the left bank. Favourable spots at the rapid supported a
good growth of spruce, with a luxuriant undergrowth of _Viburnum
pauciflorum_, _Rosa acicularis_, _Rubus strigosus_, and _Vaccinium
uliginosum_. Since leaving Lake Hardisty I had observed an increased
luxuriance in the forest growth, evidently the result of a more
favourable soil and the slightly decreased altitude.”
Mr. Preble states that the Banksian pine “occurs commonly about the
northern arm of Great Slave lake. On my route to the northward of Fort
Rae it was seen in many places on Grandin river, reaching a diameter of
eighteen inches, but not growing very tall. North of the height of land
it was rare, but I saw many trees on a portage a few miles north of the
outlet of Lake Hardisty.”
Mr. Preble states that on the canoe route between the north arm of Great
Slave lake and Great Bear lake the white spruce is common, varying in
luxuriance according to the local conditions.
THE CANOE BIRCH.
The canoe birch (_betula papyrifera_), according to Mr. Preble, is a
common tree throughout the wooded region. It reaches its perfection in
the southern part of the country and northward gradually decreases in
size. On the canoe route north of Fort Rae, it was found to be common,
reaching a diameter of nearly one foot as far north as Lake St. Croix. A
tree five inches in diameter, examined near that lake, had sixty-five
annual rings. Another specimen one and three-quarter inches in diameter,
on the shores of Lake Hardisty, had been growing twenty-five years, and
one three-fourths of an inch thick was fifteen years old. This tree is
of great economic importance to the natives of the region. Its wood,
though soft when green, is rather hard when seasoned, and takes a high
polish. The frames of snowshoes, the runners of sleds and toboggans, and
the handles of axes and other tools are usually made of it. In addition
to furnishing the covering for canoes, its bark is used in the
construction of baskets, and various household utensils, and to some
extent for constructing shelters.
The natives gather up the sap in spring and boil it down into syrup. An
incision is made with the axe on the side of the tree, and the sap
gathers and drops from a projecting point of bark. At Fort Simpson in
1904, the sap was running freely from April 20 to May 1.
Yellowknife river flows into the eastern side of the north arm of Great
Slave lake coming from a northern direction. Sir John Franklin, who
ascended and descended this river in his journeys of 1819-22, says that
this river flows between high rocky banks on which there is sufficient
soil to support pines, birch and poplars, but in the upper stretches the
country has a very barren aspect. From here to Fort Enterprise the
country is much the same. Mr. Back (afterwards Sir George Back), one of
his party on his winter journey back from Fort Enterprise, wrote that
after passing Reindeer lake “the scenery consisted of barren rocks and
high hills, covered with lofty pine, birch and larch trees. There was a
visible increase of wood, consisting of birch and larch, as we inclined
to the southward.”
FORT ENTERPRISE.[23]
In his journal of August 19, 1820, Sir John Franklin, speaking of his
winter quarters known as Fort Enterprise, says: “The trees were numerous
and of a far greater size than we had supposed them to be yesterday,
some of the pines being thirty or forty feet high and two feet in
diameter at the root.” Near by was the Winter river, whose banks, he
says, were well clothed with pines. On the same day they unfortunately
set fire to the woods. “A fire was made on the south side of the river
to inform the chief of our arrival, which, spreading before a strong
wind, caught the whole wood, and we were completely enveloped in a cloud
of smoke for the three following days.” Their winter quarters were made
from wood cut in the vicinity, though of the size of the logs no mention
is made. From here to Coppermine river the only trees were scattered
dwarf pines.
Mr. Wm. Ogilvie states that on the flats between Great Slave lake and
Fort Simpson, as well as those adjoining the lake, “there is much forest
that would yield a large amount of good sized spruce and poplar.”
Mr. Elihu Stewart says that the land at the entrance to Mackenzie river
is low and covered with spruce and tamarack of small size. Islands
covered with green timber are numerous and the appearance is suggestive
of the lower St. Lawrence. The timber along the Mackenzie to Fort
Simpson is smaller than that found along Slave river, but nevertheless
it is of sufficient size in some cases for lumber.
Sir John Franklin (Journey, 1819-22) says that around Fort Providence
the surface of the hills is generally naked, but in the valleys between
them a few spruce, aspen and birch grow.
Sir Alexander MacKenzie (1789) also speaks of the country north of the
Mackenzie after leaving Slave lake as follows: “He (an Indian) at the
same time informed us that a river falls in from the north, which takes
its rise in Horn mountain, now in sight, which is the country of the
Beaver Indians, and that he and his relatives frequently meet on that
river. He also added that there were very extensive plains on both sides
of it, which abound in buffaloes and moose deer.”
Mr. R. G. McConnell (Geol. Survey Rep. 1887-88) says that from Fort
Providence southwest along Beaver river to Lake Bis-tcho is a desolate
looking plain scantily covered with spruce and tamarack. Lake Bis-tcho
is surrounded by a flat country, wooded with spruce, birch and tamarack
of fair size.
ABOUT FORT SIMPSON.
James Anderson of Winnipeg left Fort Simpson in 1852 when eleven years
old (Senate Report 1888). He says: “Round Fort Simpson itself, I
remember the timber was very large. It was fir, poplar and birch.” He
calls the fir hemlock but no doubt means the spruce. Poplar and birch he
says were the other varieties. He says that the fir was a very large
kind. The men used to square the timber to about one foot square, for
building their houses, and the fort itself was built of squared timber.
He says the way he remembers the birch was that it was used so much in
the making of snowshoes and other things.
Mr. Stewart (1906) says there is a small-sized sawmill at Fort Simpson,
not now running, in which lumber twelve inches in width was cut and used
in buildings at this post. “One cannot but be struck,” he says, “with
the vast quantity of spruce along the route traversed (from Fort
Providence to Fort Simpson), which is a little under size for lumber but
would make excellent pulpwood.”
Mr. R. G. McConnell, in his evidence before the Senate committee of
1907, stated that the timber about Fort Simpson is confined to large
spruce. White spruce is the main tree all through that country. Spruce
from a few inches up to two feet through occurs all the way along the
Mackenzie, on the flats, and on nearly all the tributary streams.
Reporting upon the Banksian pine Mr. Preble states:—“On the Mackenzie
it is common north to about latitude 64 degrees. About Fort Simpson, in
suitable localities, it forms groves of well-grown trees reaching a
diameter of eighteen inches. A tree eleven inches in diameter near the
base, examined at Fort Simpson, had one hundred and two annual rings. On
the north slope of the Nahanni mountains, seventy-five miles below Fort
Simpson, the species ascends to about one thousand feet and then becomes
a dwarfed shrub and disappears. On the southern slopes of the same
mountains it occurs as a fairly well-grown tree about two thousand feet
near the summit.”
As to the balsam poplar (_Populus balsamifera_) Mr. Preble
reports:—“The balsam poplar inhabits the entire length of Athabaska,
Slave, and Mackenzie rivers, reaching its greatest perfection of habit
on Athabaska, Slave, Peace, and Liard rivers. On the Mackenzie, at Fort
Simpson, it is a stately tree, but below that point it rapidly decreases
in size, and on the lower Mackenzie and Peel rivers occurs only as a
small tree. Its wood is put to very little use except for fuel, and even
for this purpose it is not well adapted.”
THE TAMARACK AND ITS USES.
Mr. Preble reports the Koch tamarack (_Larix Laricina_) “is common at
Fort Simpson and reaches a good size. On June 1, 1904, the leaves were
just beginning to appear, tinging the swamps with their beautiful shade
of green. As I descended the river the progress of vegetation kept pace
in a general way with my rate of travel. At Fort Norman, on June 11, the
leaves and cones of the tamaracks were just appearing and at Fort Good
Hope, ten days later, they were about half grown.
“The tamarack is found throughout the region north to the limit of the
forest, occurring mainly in muskegs where it is sometimes the
predominating tree. Since its wood is tougher than any other native to
the region, it is used to a considerable extent to form the keels and
gunwales of boats, and for other purposes where extra strength is
required.”
According to the evidence of Mr. R. G. McConnell before the Senate
committee of 1907:—“Along the Liard there are good bunches of timber,
and it is the same with all these tributary streams. Once away from the
flats the timber is sparse and the trees are small. Small black spruce
grow on the muskegs. The timber is simply on the flats and extends back
two or three miles from the river. That is not solidly timbered on
either side of the river. The poplar does not grow to a large tree as it
does down here. It runs about three to six inches through. The rough
bark poplar grows up to a foot or more.”
MAGNIFICENT FORESTS OF SPRUCE.
Bishop Clut, before the Senate committee of 1888, stated that on Liard
river, the south branch of which he had ascended often, and on Peace
river also, there were magnificent forests of spruce. The trees were
from eighty to one hundred feet high on the islands.
The branch of the Liard which extends south is called the Nelson.
William Ogilvie explored this whole region across to the Peace, coming
out at Fort St. John. Across the height of land the timber is very poor.
On the Nelson above the forks where the Sikanni Chief branch flows in,
it is heavily timbered. Mr. Ogilvie passed many extensive flats covered
with beautiful spruce trees. The valley is quite wide and clothed with
fine timber for a distance above the forks of about thirty miles.
Farther down, above Fort Nelson, there are many extensive areas of open
woods which almost might be classed as prairie, no doubt the result of
forest fires.
Of Fort Nelson, Mr. Ogilvie says it is surrounded by dense, high forest,
and as the clearing around it is only a few acres in extent, much of the
sun’s warmth is lost during the day. The surface is all heavily wooded
and there are many very large trees, both spruce and balsam poplar. He
selected the average sized balsam poplar at Fort Nelson, cut it down and
made the following measurements of it:—Diameter at stump, exclusive of
bark, twenty-nine inches; at first limb, exclusive of bark, seventeen
and one-half inches; stump to first limb, ninety feet; number of growing
rings, one hundred and forty-five. The bark would add at least four
inches to the diameter.
LARGE TREES OF LIARD VALLEY.
Entering the valley of the Liard, from the Mackenzie, Mr. Elihu Stewart
says, there is a good deal of fine large spruce, which would make better
lumber than most of the spruce used in the settled part of the
territories, but as it is on the Arctic water system it is practically
out of reach. The balsam poplar, or as it is called here, cottonwood, is
very plentiful and very large, trees nearly four feet in diameter being
often seen, though between two or three feet is the average diameter of
the trees. These two trees constitute the great mass of the forest. A
few small white birches are occasionally seen and more frequently the
aspen or poplar. There are also, sometimes, a few balsam pines on the
top of sandy knolls.
A man who had explored the Liard told Mr. Stewart that he had never seen
finer saw-log timber anywhere. He also said that good birch, which is
highly prized by the Indians for bark for their canoes, was found there.
Mr. R. G. McConnell, in his report of his explorations in 1887, stated
that along the lower Liard the trees observed consisted of white spruce,
aspen and tall, straight cottonwood, with some Banksian pine and canoe
birch, and an undergrowth of willows and alders.
According to Mr. Ogilvie the country about Wrigley is wooded. He noticed
a spruce log near the post that was twenty inches in diameter. Mr.
Ogilvie states in his report: “It may, in short, be said, that away from
the immediate vicinity of the river, there is no timber of value in the
sense in which the term is used in the east. Below Fort Wrigley, and
even above that point, in some places the banks are low, flat and
swampy, with trees much larger than those on the higher lands, many of
them being fit to make fairly good lumber.”
Mr. Joseph Keele reported in 1908:—“The timber resources of Gravel
river (which flows into the Mackenzie from the westward above Fort
Norman) are very moderate, the white and black spruce trees of any
importance being confined to the alluvial flats, which on this river are
very limited in extent, and the best white groves average about ten
inches in diameter. Generally very few trees grow higher than about one
thousand feet above the river, owing to the steep slopes of rock and
talus of the valley walls.”
FORT NORMAN REGION.
According to Mr. Preble, the white spruce on the Mackenzie does not
attain the size reached farther south, but is still a stately tree. One
measured by Richardson on the Mackenzie above Fort Norman was one
hundred and twenty-two feet in height. On the alluvial banks and islands
of lower Mackenzie and Peel rivers it attains a diameter of eighteen
inches. On the northern slopes of the mountains near the mouth of the
Nahanni this tree ascends to timberline, but above an altitude of five
hundred feet seldom exceeds a height of twenty-five feet.
As has been already said, the general aspect of the forest does not
alter in the descent of the Mackenzie. The white spruce continues to be
the chief tree. In the Fort Norman quarter (speaking generally) it
attains a girth of four or five feet, and a height of about sixty in a
growth of from two to three hundred years, as shown by the annual layers
of wood. One tree, cut down in a sheltered valley near Clark’s hill,
south of Great Bear river which flows into the Mackenzie at Fort Norman,
measured the unusual length of one hundred and twenty-two feet, but was
comparatively slender. Most of the timber is twisted, particularly where
the trees grow in exposed situations. The Banksian pine was not traced
to the north of Great Bear river, but the black spruce, in a stunted
form, is found on the borders of swamps as far as the woods extend.
Great Bear river is described by J. M. Bell (Geological Survey Report
1904) as follows:—“The clear waters of Great Bear river join the
Mackenzie through a deep wooded valley. For the first forty miles the
banks are well wooded with white spruce, canoe birch, aspen and balsam
poplar. Mount Charles rises to a height of one thousand five hundred
feet on the left side of the river. In climbing the hill I was surprised
at the size of the trees around its lower slope. White spruce of about
twenty inches diameter were quite common as well as fine specimens of
canoe-birch, balsam, poplar and aspen. At the lake the country is quite
destitute of trees, as they have all been used for fuel by the Indians.”
Doctor Dawson stated before the Senate committee of 1888 that Richardson
had described the white spruce as attaining a girth of four or five
feet, and a height of sixty feet in Mackenzie valley as far north as
Bear lake river. One tree in that locality measured one hundred and
twenty-two feet in height. It appeared that the white spruce was the
most prevalent tree throughout Mackenzie valley, and its wood was fairly
good for all constructive purposes.
THE BLACK SPRUCE.
Mr. McConnell (Senate Committee Report, 1888) says that jackpine occurs
in places as far north as Fort Good Hope. Although not growing very
large some of the trees would be big enough for railway ties. He
explained that the country is not forest continually as it is here
(Ontario), but most of the country is open wood. Nearly all the muskegs
are covered with, or surrounded by, black spruce. Mr. McConnell agrees
with other travellers of this region in saying that very little change
in the character of the forest was observed in descending the Mackenzie,
and with the exception of the Banksian pine, which disappears south of
Bear river, the same species as previously noticed by Richardson are
found from Great Slave lake to the mouth of Peel river.
The Mackenzie has no rapids suitable for waterpower, but the streams
flowing into it must have.
Mr. Preble says of the black spruce (_Picea Mariana_):—“The black
spruce extends northward to the limit of the forest, but is confined
mainly to the muskegs, seldom growing on the alluvial bottom lands,
where the white spruce attains its perfection. It furnishes a poorer
quality of lumber than the white spruce, and is put to fewer uses. I
noted it in places all along the main route to the mouth of the
Mackenzie and on my canoe route to the eastward, nearly to Great Bear
lake.”
Mr. McConnell (Geol. Survey Report 1887-88) reports that along part of
the reach of the Mackenzie below Fort Good Hope the banks are low, and
the bordering plains are covered with a scattered growth of willow,
spruce and tamarack, with here and there patches of aspen on the drier
ridges. The spruce along part of this reach presents a remarkably
stunted and dwarfish appearance, but this is due more to the marshy
character of the ground than to climatic severity, as the same tree,
straight and well grown, was found much farther north.
BELOW FORT GOOD HOPE.
Mr. McConnell reports that the Mackenzie below the site of old Fort Good
Hope, where the stream takes a sharp turn to the west-south west, as far
as the mouth of Red river, is bordered by wooded plains. Groves of white
spruce were seen along this reach, containing trees measuring over
fifteen inches in diameter, but the average tree does not exceed six
inches. Mr. Stewart says that on an island near Fort Good Hope very good
spruce timber is cut into lumber by whipsaws. Below this the timber
seems to get poorer, although it improves again farther north. Mr.
Stewart says that below Fort Good Hope the timber is smaller although
some of it has been made into flooring and lumber is made from the
timber there. There is a large supply of spruce suitable for pulp.
Northeast of Fort Good Hope, through a chain of lakes to the headwaters
of Iroquois river, R. MacFarlane (Canadian Record of Science, vol. IV.)
says that the country appeared to be well timbered in every direction
with pines, juniper, several species of willow, and a few small groves
of poplar and birch.
On the Mackenzie itself the forest continues to within a comparatively
short distance from the Arctic ocean. The following extract is from Sir
John Richardson’s journal in 1848:—“The agency of man is working a
change in the aspect of the forest even in the thinly peopled north. The
woods are wasted by extensive fires, kindled accidentally or
intentionally, which spread with rapidity over a wide extent of country,
and continue to burn until they are extinguished by heavy rains. These
conflagrations consume even the soil of the drier tracts, and the bare
and whitened rocks testify for centuries to the havoc that has been
made. A new growth of timber, however, sooner or later springs up, and
the soil, when not wholly consumed, being saturated with alkali, gives
birth to a thicket of aspen instead of the aboriginal spruce.”
WITHIN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.
Mr. Elihu Stewart explained before the Senate committee of 1907 that
spruce suitable for commercial purposes grows to Arctic sea. He was
astonished to find that the limit of tree growth extended as far north
as it does. He thought it extended probably ten degrees, or nearly seven
hundred miles farther north in this district than in Labrador. The
different kinds of trees that we have in Mackenzie basin include white
spruce, black spruce, the larch or tamarack, which is found as far north
as the spruce, the jackpine and the balsam. Mr. Stewart did not see any
balsam in the Arctic circle, but aspen, white poplar, balm of Gilead and
birch are all found down as far as Fort McPherson near the delta of the
Mackenzie.
Mr. Ogilvie states in his report:—“On the lower Mackenzie, the timber
large enough for commercial or manufacturing purposes is all in the
river valley. On the plains above, the trees are small and unfit for
anything except for fuel or the few uses to which trees six to seven
inches in diameter can be applied. There is some fine material for
lumber on some of the islands in the river, but many are bare, with the
exception of a few willows.”
According to Mr. R. G. McConnell’s report:—“From the head of the delta
of the Mackenzie the coast is low and sandy, and is exposed to the full
rigour of the arctic storms, and the general vegetation of the bordering
plains is stunted and diminutive in appearance, but is relieved by the
presence of a few large spruce trees, which look like survivors from an
ancient and more luxuriant forest. Some of these trees have a girth of
over six feet, and are tall and well shaped, while the average spruce in
this latitude does not exceed six or seven inches in diameter.”
[Illustration: Spruce Timber on Peel river inside the Arctic Circle.]
TIMBER OF THE DELTA.
Sir John Richardson descended the delta to the ocean in 1848, and the
following is his account of the timber:—
“Most of the islands constituting the delta of the Mackenzie are
alluvial and many of the smaller ones are merely a ring of white spruce
trees and willows on a sand or mud bank. Twenty-two miles below Point
Separation the banks of the river and the numerous islands are well
wooded. The balsam poplars rise to the height of twenty feet and the
white spruce to forty or fifty feet. At the creek which bounds Harrison
island on the north, the valleys and borders of the river are well
wooded, but the summits of the eminence present only scattered spruce
firs, with stunted tips and widely spreading depressed lower branches.
The canoe-birch is frequent, and the trees we measured were about five
inches in diameter. The balsam poplar grows to the height of twenty
feet. In latitude 68° 55′ north, the trees disappeared so suddenly that
I could not but attribute their cessation to the influence of the
sea-air. Beyond this line a few stunted spruces only were seen
struggling for existence and some scrubby canoe-birches clinging to the
bases of the hills.”
According to Mr. Elihu Stewart’s official report “At Point Separation,
which lies between the junction of Mackenzie and Peel rivers, and where
Franklin and Richardson were camped, are two spruce trees, which were
marked as lob-sticks at the time of their separation and in
commemoration of that event. Both are still standing (1906), though one
of them is dead. Judging from their appearance at a distance, I would
say that they are about sixteen inches in diameter and seventy feet in
height, and this nearly one hundred miles _beyond_ the Arctic circle. I
have been very much interested in the tenacity of life shown in the
growth of trees under the adverse conditions prevailing in this north
country. Since crossing the Arctic circle we have seen no vegetation,
but trees such as the spruce, birch, tamarack and willow are seen all
the way.” Mr. Stewart adds that as his boat rounded Point Separation and
ascended Peel river he noticed that spruce lined the banks.
Mr. Alfred H. Harrison, in his book “In Search of a Polar Continent,”
describes a visit to these lob-sticks in September 1906:—“After leaving
Point Separation, we came to a very shallow place about half-way between
this point and what are called the Lob-Sticks. At the last-named spot
the river turns sharply to the east. These Lob-Sticks, which are
supposed to have been trimmed by Commander Pullen some sixty years ago,
are two pine trees. The branches have all been cut off, but the tops
remain. One of them is a very fine old tree, and the other, which is
much younger and smaller, stands directly in front of its nobler
brother.”
ARCTIC GROWN BIRCH.
Mr. Preble points out that along the Mackenzie the canoe birch occurs as
an economically important species even north of the delta.
According to Mr. Stewart, birch about the delta of the Mackenzie attains
a size of twelve to sixteen inches and is used at Fort McPherson not
only for their log buildings, but it is also whip-sawed into lumber for
general use, and the birch bark here is used by the Indians for their
canoes. For a distance of a few miles from the Peel the country is
partially wooded with spruce, birch, balsam-poplar and willow, but after
this the only timber is that found skirting the shores of the small
streams on the way. A fringe of timber, mostly small spruce, lines the
banks of the Bell, but apparently does not extend far back.
Mr. Malcolm Macleod, in his statement to the Senate committee of 1888,
said:—“As to the wood of that far north I would observe that it is
remarkably hard. I have a pair of snowshoes of peculiar shape, made
right and left, of birch for frame, like iron in texture, and though
perhaps about a hundred years old, perfectly sound.”
The frozen subsoil of the northern portions of the woodland country does
not prevent the timber from attaining a good size, for the roots of the
white spruce spread over the icy substratum as they would over smooth
rock. As may be expected, however, the growth of trees is slow in the
high latitudes. On the borders of Great Bear lake, four hundred years
(according to Sir John Richardson) are required to bring the stem of the
white spruce to the thickness of a man’s waist. When the tree is exposed
to high winds, the fibres of the wood are spirally twisted, but in
sheltered places, or in the midst of the forest, the grain is straight
and the wood splits freely.
GREAT BEAR LAKE COUNTRY.
As to the country about Great Bear lake and its tributaries, Sir John
Richardson, in 1826, reported that there were pine trees in clumps on
Dease river, and the valley to the north was well wooded.
Mr. Malcolm Macleod informed the Senate committee of 1888 that in a
letter of Thomas Simpson to his father he says that the wood at Fort
Confidence had been found suitable for house and boat building. Doctor
J. M. Bell says that the location of Fort Confidence was one of the few
well wooded spots in Great Bear lake and the trees are fine specimens
worthy of a more southern latitude.
Between Keith bay and Smith bay, Doctor J. M. Bell found a small lake
well wooded with white spruce, willows and alders, but none of them of
great size. Here he saw the most northern specimen of white birch. The
surrounding country was wooded in the valleys. It was, he says, a
pleasing change from the cheerless, gravelly, treeless shores, to reach
Limestone point thirty miles west of Fort Confidence, with its
pronounced shore-line and white spruce in the bay. West of Fort
Confidence along the coast of Dease bay for some distance the deep bays
are well wooded, but towards Cape McDonnell the land gets barren and
continues so till the coast turns east again where the trees improve.
“Some forty-five miles east of Cape McDonnell,” says Doctor Bell, “a
good sized river enters, probably the Takaatcho. Near its mouth,” he
says, “we found great quantities of driftwood among which were some
good-sized trunks. I was rather surprised to see these, but learned
afterwards that in the interior the valley of this river is well wooded.
All the eastern shore of McTavish bay is wooded. In the valleys in the
interior and around the bays and sheltered channels this timber may be
of economic importance. White spruce is the prevailing forest tree,
although canoe-birch is found as far north as Eda Travers bay, and is
sufficiently large in Klarondesk bay to permit of its bark being used
for making canoes. Tamarack and both balsam poplar and aspen abound in
Klarondesk bay, although not of any great size.”
South of this, the eastern part of the lake, Doctor Bell describes
Camsell river and chain of lakes as all well wooded. At Lake Ray
Banksian pine was noticed.
TREES A HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS OLD.
Sir John Franklin, in his description of the country around Fort
Franklin on Great Bear lake (1825), wrote:—“The trees at some distance
from our fort consisted of black and white spruce, and larch, generally
small, though a few of the better grown measured from four to five feet
in girth, and were from fifty to fifty-five feet high. Doctor Richardson
ascertained, by counting the annual rings, that some of them, in a sound
state, were upwards of one hundred and thirty years old, while others
which were not much greater in size, had two hundred and fifty rings,
but these were decayed at the heart.”
Mr. E. A. Preble of the United States Biological Survey, the most recent
scientific explorer of Great Bear lake and its basin, in his report,
states:—
“The northern shores of Great Bear lake are mainly low and thinly
wooded, although the country at some distance inland is better wooded.
The tributaries of Great Bear lake are comparatively few in number.
Dease river, which discharges into the northeastern extremity of the
lake, is probably the best known of its feeders. It rises on the
treeless height of land between Dease bay and the lower Coppermine.
Several important streams enter the lake from the north. Several others
draining a very large extent of country to the southward enter MacTavish
and McVicar bays. The latter receives also the waters of a chain of
large lakes lying north of Marten lake, which discharges into Great
Slave lake. The country drained by the southern tributaries is very
rough and rocky, though fairly well wooded, and is traversed in various
directions by ranges of low mountains.
“The southern and western shores are well wooded, while its northern and
eastern borders are more thinly forested. The immediate shores are
mainly of sand or gravel and are usually devoid of trees, but are well
clothed with willows and various ericaceous shrubs and herbaceous
plants. In most places along the south shore this treeless stretch is
only a few hundred yards in width, and in the bays the forest extends to
the water’s edge. In the vicinity of Leith point, however, a treeless
area stretches from near MacTavish bay to McVicar bay, and extends
inland for several miles. On this area the faunal and floral conditions
are practically those of the Barren Grounds.”
THE SPRUCE OF GREAT BEAR LAKE.
According to Mr. Preble, along the southern shore of Great Bear lake,
the white spruce “forms the bulk of the forest. In exposed situations
near Leith point it is somewhat dwarfed, seldom exceeding a diameter of
one foot and a maximum height of forty feet. A few miles back from the
shore, in slightly more favourable locations, trees two feet in diameter
at the base were seen, but none of these exceeded thirty feet in height.
A tree twelve inches in diameter growing in an exposed situation near
the shore had two hundred and fifty-seven annual rings. In this specimen
the outer layers were exceedingly thin and could be counted only by the
aid of a fine-pointed needle. At this rate, the age of a tree of twice
this diameter can scarcely be estimated at less than one thousand years.
Farther west along the shore the species attains greater perfection of
habit, especially in some of the sheltered bays. At Fort Franklin it is
the commonest tree, but at present is represented by scarcely any
individuals of the original forest, which has been removed for building
purposes. Trees over eight or nine inches in diameter are rare. A
sapling four feet in height and one inch in diameter, on the site of
Fort Franklin, had been growing for thirteen years.”
THE SITE OF FORT FRANKLIN.
“The country about Fort Franklin (which Mr. Preble visited September 16,
1903) is slightly undulating, and except for certain semibarren points
near the shores of the lake, is well wooded with spruce, tamarack,
willow, and the usual sub-arctic vegetation. Much of the ground is
covered with lichens of the genus _Gyrophora_ and various mosses. At the
time of our visit the leaves of the tamaracks, willows, and other
deciduous trees were falling. The site of the post itself is the summit
of a rather steep bank elevated about fifty feet above the shores of the
lake. The buildings have long since been destroyed, and only the debris
of the stone chimneys and the faint outlines of the sills of the
principal houses now remain to mark the spot. The original clearing is
partially grown up to willows, but much of the ground supports only a
growth of grasses and herbaceous plants. The site overlooks, to the
southward, the broad expanse of Keith bay, at the extremity of which at
a distance of four or five miles, Bear river has its efflux.
“The banks at the head of Bear river are low, but rapidly increase in
height. The bordering country is mainly swampy and is well wooded. The
more gently sloping banks are grassy or wooded, and a dwarf willow
(_Salix reticulata_) is a conspicuous shrub for some distance below the
lake.”
Mr. Preble reports the Koch tamarack (_Larix Laricina_) as “rather
common along the southern shores of Great Bear lake, where the large
stone seen, near Leith point, was about twelve inches in thickness at
the base, but was not over thirty feet in height. While travelling along
this shore in the autumn of 1903, I first noted the leaves of the
species beginning to change colour on September 12, near McVicar bay.
Two days later its yellow foliage gave a decided impress on the scenery.
On September 18, at Fort Franklin, its leaves were dropping, and soon
afterwards the trees were bare.”
Mr. Preble states that along the southern shores of Great Bear lake the
canoe birch occurs only in a somewhat dwarfed state, but it reappears as
a fair sized tree on Bear river.
THE BASIN OF ANDERSON RIVER.
Mr. R. MacFarlane, chief factor Hudson’s Bay Company, was sent in 1857
by James Anderson to explore Anderson river. The report of his trip was
published in the Canadian Record of Science, vol. iv., and the following
notes therefrom give some idea of the timber along the rivers and lakes
draining the country north of Great Bear lake into Arctic ocean:—At
Canoe lake, the headwaters of Iroquois river, the main tributary of the
Lockhart, the country is tolerably wooded. The batiks of the Iroquois
seem to be all wooded, as Mr. MacFarlane found the navigation impeded by
immense quantities of driftwood, and he says the ridges on both sides
were well covered with pine and willow.
The country along Lockhart river below the Iroquois is better timbered.
On the banks of the Anderson below the Lockhart, there is timber of
medium size gradually disappearing towards the north.
On his return trip Mr. MacFarlane proceeded up the Anderson from the
Lockhart and found the banks well wooded. Further on, near a succession
of rapids, he found the banks tolerably wooded. He says:—“The country
along the Anderson was latterly very well wooded, and some goodly pines
were seen. The tract of country embraced by a line drawn west from the
borders of the woods on the Anderson to the Mackenzie, southward to Peau
de Lièvre river (Hare Indian river), at Good Hope, is very well
timbered.
He says the banks of Ross river are partially timbered. A chain of well
wooded hills, Mr. MacFarlane says, encircle Colville lake or more
probably the large lake west of the lake marked Colville. The banks of
Simpson lake are well timbered. From here southwest towards Hare Indian
river, Mr. MacFarlane found the country well wooded. He says “the timber
consists of pine, juniper, fir, willow, and a few groves of poplar and
birch. Some of the pines were of a large size. The belt of timber which
at Fort Anderson extends for over thirty miles to the eastward, rapidly
narrows and becomes a mere fringe along Anderson river, and disappears
to the northward of the 69th parallel of latitude.”
Running parallel with Anderson river is MacFarlane or Wilmot Horton
river. Mr. MacFarlane says that one or two intersecting affluents of
Wilmot Horton or MacFarlane river flow through valleys in which a few
stunted spruce, birch and willows appear at intervals. On the banks of
one of these, near its mouth, he observed a sheltered grove of spruce
and willows of larger growth. They met with no more spruce to the
eastward.
Mr. Preble passed up Lockhart river, and thus describes the stream and
its banks:—“Our route lay up the left fork. The shores here are low and
the channels winding, and much obstructed by fallen trees. Above here we
paddled through several small marshy ponds and portaged past a small
fall. We then passed through a rocky defile above which we made four
portages, and ascended several small riffles with paddles or with the
help of the line. On August 3 we avoided eight falls or rapids by making
portages and ascended several others with the line. At the last rapid,
where we encamped, the river rushes for a hundred yards through a rocky
gorge. The spruce woods about here have escaped the fires which have
devastated most of this section. Some of the small ponds and channels
passed through were bordered by banks of clay, clothed mainly with white
birch.”
Mr. Preble states that the belt of timber which at Fort Anderson extends
for over thirty miles to the eastward, rapidly narrows and becomes a
mere fringe along Anderson river, and disappears to the northward of the
68th parallel of latitude.
Mr. Hanbury reports that he found Dease river (east of Great Bear lake)
to be completely concealed by a heavy belt of spruce.
HOW TO INCREASE NORTHERN TREE GROWTH.
In a letter published in the _Ottawa Journal_ on February 19, 1910, Mr.
William Ogilvie, the well-known surveyor and explorer, and ex-governor
of the Yukon, wrote, in speaking of Athabaska and Mackenzie
regions:—“As time goes on much increase to the commercial timber area
might be made by draining the swamps, and drying the moss on the surface
which now keeps the ground beneath cool, indeed preserving the frost in
it during the whole summer. Once dried the moss would die, and instead
of keeping the ground cool would absorb heat and help to warm it. Anyone
who has travelled in the north cannot help noting the difference in the
size of the timber on mossy ground, as compared with that where there is
no moss. On mossy ground you will see trees from one hundred to two
hundred years old, according to the annual growth rings, only three,
four or five inches in diameter, while only a few yards away where there
is no moss or moisture, trees of seventy and eighty years’ growth will
be nearly a foot in diameter, and of a different quality of lumber.”
[Illustration: Anglican Church, School and Rectory at Fort Simpson.]
In the same communication Mr. Ogilvie wrote:—“Those who have never seen
a northwest forest, when told of it, naturally compare it with others
they have seen, but one from the eastern parts of Canada would find a
great difference between his native woods and those of the northwest.
The varieties of trees are fewer, and smaller in size, than those in the
east and south. Of varieties the principal are spruce and poplar; of the
poplar there are two kinds, one of which, the balsam poplar, in some
places grows to be a very large size. On the lower stretches of Liard
river I have seen them well over four feet in diameter, stump high, but
generally such large ones are unsound and full of cracks. The other kind
seldom grows more than a foot thick, and the trunk is seldom suitable
for turning out lumber.
THE SPRUCE BEARS THE PALM.
“When dry it makes good fuel but is not comparable as a heat producer
with the eastern hardwoods. As commercial lumber the spruce bears the
palm, metaphorically, as well as literally. It seldom grows to more than
fifteen to seventeen inches in diameter near the ground, and where it
stands thickly together grows to a good height with straight tapering
trunk, but where scattered it is not so long nor so graceful,
consequently less useful. It supplies all the lumber for local demand
all over the northwest, and north, and is found from the forty-ninth
parallel of latitude to Arctic ocean, and on the alluvial flats of
Mackenzie delta I have seen specimens about as large as any I have
noticed elsewhere in the territories. The other varieties of trees are
so few and far between that they are hardly worth mentioning except
white-birch which is found all over, but is seldom of sufficient size or
shape to be useful. I have seen a few tamaracks at odd spots, and on the
Athabaska I saw a small grove of Canada balsams, the only place I ever
saw them in the northwest. They seemed as vigorous as any I ever saw,
which proves that they would grow there if given the opportunity, and if
they, why not other specimens of our more southern trees. It has often
occurred to me that it would be well to try planting our white pines and
other commercial trees in those northern forests, to see if they would
naturalize, and if so, increase greatly the value of the northern
domain. It would cost very little to do it, and a fostering care of them
might by selection at last make a success of the experiment, if it did
not succeed from the start.”
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[23] Fort Enterprise is a little east of the eastern limit, of the tract
of country defined in a preceding chapter; but as it is in the Mackenzie
watershed, it may well be treated of in this chapter.