THE MACKENZIE RIVER.
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,
Swans and Ducks in Season.—Inexhaustible Supplies of Fish.—The
Speckled Trout, Lake Trout, Grayling, Herring, Inconnu, etc.
Everyone who has visited Mackenzie river region seems to have been much
impressed with the variety and the quantity of the fish and the game
there, all the books written by the explorers, traders, missionaries and
sportsmen who have visited the country, containing numerous references
to its wonderful resources in this respect. As a matter of fact the fish
and the game of the country have hitherto been and still are the support
of the slender resident population, and will play a very important part
in the ultimate development of the region. Without discussing the
commercial value of the apparently inexhaustible inland and coastwise
fisheries, it might be pointed out that once settlement begins to flow
into the country the fine waters and immense game ranges of this huge
country will contribute most usefully towards the support of the pioneer
settlers during the critical period when the local agricultural,
lumbering and mining industries are in their early experimental stages.
Undoubtedly, too, the game and fisheries will contribute, as they have
done elsewhere, to the ultimate development of the country by attracting
to more remote sections sportsmen who by reason of their natural
intelligence, world experience, education and influential connections,
are sure to discover and to attract attention to natural resources at
present unthought of.
[Illustration: A Fur Shipment of One Season from Mackenzie basin,
estimated value over two million, five hundred thousand dollars.]
Frequent references have been made in the preceding chapters to the work
accomplished by Mr. E. A. Preble, of the United States Biological
Survey, in the Mackenzie country in 1901 and 1903, and to his report
“North American Fauna, No. 27,” published by the Biological Survey at
Washington in 1908. In no respect is this altogether admirable report
more instructive than in its complete references to the game and the
fisheries. Mr. Preble naturally devotes much attention to that monarch
among northern game animals, the moose.
THE MAJESTIC MOOSE.
Mr. Preble points out that “Hearne was the first to record moose from
the Mackenzie region, finding them ‘very plentiful,’ on the south side
of Great Slave lake, east of the mouth of Slave river, during the winter
of 1771-72, while on his way back to Churchill during his famous journey
of exploration.” Harmon noted their occurrence on the plains of Peace
river in 1808. “During Franklin’s first northern journey a moose was
killed near Fort Enterprise in the spring of 1821.” During his second
expedition moose were killed on Ellice island, near the mouth of the
Mackenzie, in the summer of 1825, and near Fort Franklin in September of
the same year, and in February, 1826. During the spring of 1834, while
Back’s expedition was wintering at Fort Reliance, a moose was killed on
“Fish river” (in all probability the Thelon, or Ark-i-linik) several
days’ travel east of Great Slave lake. Simpson reports that tracks of
moose were seen on MacTavish bay, Great Bear lake, during the winter of
1837-38. Ross recorded specimens taken at Fort Good Hope and Fort
Simpson. Lockhart, writing in 1865 on the habits of moose, states that
they were rarely killed in the vicinity of Fort Rae, though they were
quite numerous at Big island and along the south shore of Great Slave
lake, and that the moose of Peel river and the Yukon are much larger
than those in Great Slave lake region. While exploring in a country
between Athabaska lake and Churchill river in the summer of 1892, J. B.
Tyrrell found that the moose occurred throughout the more thickly wooded
parts of the country as far north as Stone river, near the eastern end
of Athabaska lake. Russell states that a moose was killed near the mouth
of Yellowknife river, Great Slave lake, in August 1903. A. J. Stone
records the moose from several points in lower Mackenzie valley, giving
evidence as to the large size of the animals found there, and from the
headwaters of Nahanni river, where they abound.
“During the early autumn of 1895 a moose was killed by a member of
Loring’s party near the headwaters of McLeod river. In the autumn of
1896, fresh tracks were seen almost daily along the trail between Smoky
river and Jasper House.
FOUND TO BE RATHER COMMON.
“In the spring of 1903, while descending Athabaska and Slave rivers to
Great Slave lake, we saw tracks of moose occasionally, but observed none
of the animals. During their return trip in the fall, however, my
brother and Cary saw a young one on the Athabaska above Athabaska. In
the lake country between Fort Rae and Great Bear lake, during my
northward trip in the same autumn, the moose was found to be rather
common, and became more abundant as we approached Great Bear lake, owing
to the country being better suited to its needs. Tracks were often seen
on the portages, and a large bull was observed on an inlet of MacTavish
bay on August 25. Along the southern shore of Great Bear lake we found
it a common and in some places an abundant species. Even in the exposed
and semibarren country in the region of Leith point a few are found, and
a female was killed there by my Indian canoeman on September 1. Owing to
the rocky nature of its haunts, the hoofs of this animal were much worn
and blunted. West of McVicar bay, especially along the base of Grizzly
Bear mountain, the species was found to be abundant and numerous fresh
tracks were seen wherever we landed. Its abundance here is partially
explained by the fact that there are immense areas abounding with its
proper food. A party of natives seen near Manito islands had repeatedly
started moose without killing one, while my Dogrib (Indian) canoeman, in
a far more difficult country, had secured the only animal he hunted.
Moose are seldom found about Fort Franklin, owing doubtless to the place
having been a favourite resort of natives since time immemorial, but
they are said to be common along Bear river. While ascending the
Mackenzie in October we frequently saw fresh tracks.
OVER FORTY MOOSE KILLED.
“During the winter of 1903-4 upwards of forty moose were killed within
twenty-five miles of Fort Simpson, and moose meat comprised an important
item of our food. During a trip down the river in January I saw the
tracks of a band of four or five about thirty miles below Fort Simpson.
An area of considerable size on the sloping side of the valley, grown up
to willows, had afforded a fine feeding ground, and was well trampled.
The animals had wandered out on the snowy surface of the river also, and
had trotted about apparently with no particular aim, perhaps in play.”
Mr. Keele, in the report of his reconnaissance across Mackenzie
mountains, and down the valley of Gravel river to the Mackenzie, in 1907
and 1908, says:—“There are a few moose scattered along the valley of
Gravel river, but it is not a good moose country, as there are no small
lakes, and on account of the narrow valleys, and low timber line, the
area over which they can feed is restricted.”
Mr. Preble observed numerous tracks of both moose and bear along the
left fork of Lockhart river, a tributary of the Anderson.
THE CARIBOU OR CARIBOO.
Mr. Preble also devotes considerable space in his report to information
about the caribou (often spelled “cariboo”), another of the notable
larger game animals of this region. He writes:—“Mr. Brabant, of Fort
Smith, informed me that caribou were unusually common in that vicinity
during the winter of 1902-3. Captain Mills, of the steamer Wrigley, told
me that he saw one on Slave river, near McConnell island, on July 5,
1903. The Dogribs say that a few are found in the country between Fort
Rae and Great Bear lake. Along the lower Liard the animals are
occasionally detected in small bands and are often killed. Caribou meat
was several times brought in to Fort Simpson during my residence there,
but all my efforts to secure a specimen failed. The natives about there
distinguish between the wood caribou of the lowlands and those of the
mountains, and say that the former is smaller and lighter in colour than
the mountain animal. Woodland caribou still occur along the Saskatchewan
near Edmonton, and E. E. Whitley, who lives on Sandy creek, twenty miles
south of Athabaska, Alberta, stated that he had seen a few in that
vicinity.
THE WOODLAND CARIBOU.
“The presence of the woodland caribou in this region was first noted by
Hearne, who refers to the species as ‘Indian Deer.’ During his journey
southward from Coppermine river he saw many in the sparsely wooded
country north of the eastern part of Great Slave lake in December, 1771.
While crossing the lake on the ice he found the wooded islands ‘well
stocked’ with the same species. Deer (caribou) are enumerated by
Richardson among the animals said to inhabit Birch mountain west of
lower Athabaska river. While exploring in the region between Athabaska
lake and Churchill river in the summer of 1892, J. B. Tyrrell
ascertained that the woodland caribou was reported ‘to occur in the more
southern portion of the district, near Churchill river, but none were
seen.’
“R. MacFarlane, in a letter to the United States Biological Survey,
written in January, 1902, states that the woodland caribou inhabits the
country between Lake Winnipeg and Athabaska lake, and though nowhere in
large numbers is more abundant on the southern than on the northern
shores of this lake. Between Athabaska and Great Slave lakes he states
that “the animal is chiefly met with on the west side of Slave river,
and through all the country lying between Peace river and Great Slave
lake.
THE MIGRATORY HERDS.
“Along the southern shore of Great Bear lake, especially at the point
where we reached it on MacTavish bay, numerous well-worn trails testify
to the great numbers of caribou that pass back and forth in spring and
fall. They arrive from the Barren Grounds about the time of the first
deep snows, usually by the middle of October, and sometimes extend their
migration west to the outlet of the lake, though they are not common in
that vicinity. In the spring the greater number return, though a few
remain through the summer on the semibarren areas near Leith point, and
westward to the vicinity of McVicar bay. We saw fresh tracks of a number
near our camp east of Leith point during the early days of September.
“The Hare Indians living about the southern and western shores of Great
Bear lake, repair to its eastern end about the end of July, usually
coasting the southern shore, and spend a month or two among the caribou
on the treeless country between the eastern end of the lake and the
lower Coppermine, returning to their winter hunting grounds early in
October.
“During the winter of 1903-4, caribou reached the Northern Arm and the
eastern part of Great Slave lake in great numbers and some were killed
within a short distance of the buildings at Fort Rae for the first time
in several years.
WEST OF THE MACKENZIE.
“Mr. John Firth, of the Hudson’s Bay Company, for many years stationed
at Fort McPherson and on Porcupine river, informed me that the herds of
caribou west of the Mackenzie have a semi-annual movement to and from
the sea-coast. In their journeys they head toward the prevailing winds,
and consequently occasionally pass to the eastward of the mountains,
though usually to the westward. The southward movement commences in
August, and extends only about four hundred miles. They start to return
in March. Though the bulk of the animals then proceed to the coast, a
few remain throughout the summer in the elevated and semibarren country
between the Peel and the Porcupine. The Indians from La Pierre House,
who arrived at Fort McPherson during my stay there early in July, 1904,
having crossed the mountains on foot, had killed a few of these animals
on the way.
THE BARREN GROUND CARIBOU.
“During Franklin’s first northern journey, the Barren Ground species was
first met with on the upper part of Yellowknife river, about the middle
of August, 1820; toward the end of September it had become common about
Fort Enterprise; on October 10 an estimated number of two thousand were
seen during a short walk in the vicinity; by October 26, they had
departed southward, but about the middle of November, on account of
warmer weather, they returned to the neighbourhood. During the following
summer, while the party was exploring the Arctic coast to the eastward
of Coppermine river, caribou were found to be rather common at the mouth
of Hood river, and were noted also on Parry bay and at Point Turnagain.
During Franklin’s second journey, reindeer were killed near Fort
Franklin, Great Bear lake. J. C. Ross states that great numbers were
seen about the Isthmus of Boothia.
“During Richardson’s journey along the Arctic coast east of the
Mackenzie, in the summer of 1848, he observed the species near Liverpool
bay in August, and on Darnley bay later in the same month, and saw many
at Bloody fall, on the lower Coppermine, on September 5.
“West of the Mackenzie they are still abundant along the barren coast
and in the mountains south of it. They migrate southward in autumn, but
how far is not known. Rampart House was a ‘deer post,’ being situated in
a pass traversed semi-annually by the caribou.
“The whalers reported that the caribou were abundant among the islands
between the mouth of the Mackenzie and Cape Bathurst in July, 1894.”
GAME AT FORT CONFIDENCE.
Ex-Judge Malcolm Macleod, in his evidence before the Senate committee in
1888, referred to a very interesting letter his father had received from
Mr. Thomas Simpson, the Arctic explorer, dated from Fort Confidence at
the northeast end of Great Bear lake. Fort Confidence was, at the time
this evidence was given, the most northerly habitation on this continent
that was inhabited by white men. It was within the Arctic circle (67
degrees 53 minutes and 36 seconds). Simpson spoke of the food resources
of Fort Confidence as being abundant. The distances between posts were
so great that even Dease and Simpson’s, which was a Hudson bay
expedition thoroughly equipped, could carry food barely sufficient for
use on the way. They were there three winters (those of 1836-37, ’37-38
and ’38-39), nearly three years, and never failed a single day to have
an abundant supply of food. Franklin suffered more, because his party
was not so well equipped at times, but it is a striking fact that,
notwithstanding the severity of the climate, especially in 1838, when
the letter was written—an exceptionally severe season—they never ran
short of food. They had abundance of fish, deer (caribou), musk ox, and
meat of other kinds at all times.
Fort Rae, on the northern branch of Great Slave lake, according to Mr.
R. G. McConnell, who visited it in 1888, is surrounded by a deer
country, and is looked on rather as a provision post than as a fur post,
although it also ranks high in the latter respect. In the winter,
thousands of the “Barren Lands” caribou, which have been driven south by
the severity of the climate, are slaughtered in its vicinity, and their
flesh is converted into dry meat for use in the district.
Mr. Keele says in his report:—“Caribou were observed only at one
locality on Gravel river, near the edge of the first timber, about
twenty miles from the divide.”
IN COUNTLESS NUMBERS.
Mr. A. H. Harrison, writing of his first visit to Great Slave lake in
1902 and 1903 (“In Search of a Polar Continent”), makes the following
statement:—“The first winter that I spent on this lake I went out after
caribou and when we got among them, after six days’ hard travelling,
they were in countless numbers. This is no exaggeration. They were on a
lake ten miles in length and five in width, and it was packed so closely
with deer that you could not catch a glimpse of the ice-flooring
anywhere. We started from Fort Resolution on that occasion with thirty
sledges, but only five of these arrived. The mode of hunting employed
was curious. Clad in deerskin, the hairy side of which was outermost,
one Indian walked right through the deer to the other end of the lake,
without any of them taking much notice of him. This surprised me very
much, nor was the cause for surprise at an end. Two more Indians, clad
in the same way, followed at a distance of about two miles behind the
first, one on each side of the lake, and each of these was similarly
followed by yet another, whilst I myself remained where I was at the
lower end of the lake. When the foremost Indian had reached the other
end, he began to shout, and the deer, not knowing which way to go,
started running round and round the lake. I killed half a dozen myself,
and my companions each brought home a load. Had I cared to do so, I
could have killed many more.
“At the north end of Great Slave lake lies Christie bay and thirty miles
northeast of this bay is a second bay, of considerable size, enclosing
an island, on which, upon another occasion, I had pitched my camp. I was
just cooking my midday meal, when a herd of deer passed within a few
yards of the camp fire, and I killed five of them in as many minutes. In
this locality I stayed for a whole month, with one Indian, and after
catering for ourselves and for our dogs, I made a cache of fifty deer,
some of which I gave to the mission, and some to Mr. Gaudet, in charge
of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s post here. The end of November and the
whole of December is the best time of year for going from Fort
Resolution after caribou.”
Mr. Harrison also mentions that his party, while camping or travelling
about the country around the delta of the Mackenzie in 1905 and 1906,
often shot caribou.
OTHER BIG GAME—THE MOUNTAIN SHEEP.
In a previous chapter lengthy reference has been made to the wood
buffalo, the most northern port of whose range lies in the southern part
of the country immediately under consideration. Besides the moose,
caribou, and buffalo, the game animals of the Mackenzie include the red
deer, bears of several kinds, the lynx, the hare, the wolverine, the
mountain sheep, etc., etc. Mr. Keele, in his report of his
reconnaissance across the Mackenzie mountains in 1907 and 1908, states
that mountain sheep are plentiful on parts of Gravel river, particularly
on the low mountains between the Sayunei and the Tigonankweine ranges.
Among the hundreds of sheep seen by the writer in this locality none but
those with pure white wool were observed. The sheep are highly prized
for their heads, and on account of their flesh, which is the best of all
the wild meat; consequently they are hunted to extermination in any of
the accessible localities.
As to the smaller fur-bearing animals, the beaver, mink, otter, marten,
ermine, fox, etc., they exist in great numbers and sustain the only
present industry in the country, the fur trade.
FEATHERED GAME.
As to the feathered game there are grouse and ptarmigan, and in season
ducks of all kinds, geese, etc. In his evidence before the Senate
committee of 1888, Bishop Clut stated that Mackenzie river, where it
leaves Great Slave lake, and the mouths of Athabaska, Peace, Salt and
Great Slave Lake rivers, were places where the imperial birds
(outardes), the grey goose, the white goose, large and small, and the
swan prefer to stop to fatten themselves. They were there in such
numbers sometimes in the spring and the autumn that one could hardly
sleep when camping near them. These fowl remained there nearly six weeks
each spring and as long in the autumn. The ducks passed all summer
there. The outardes, the grey goose, white goose (large and small),
swans, ducks of numerous species and varieties are of great value, and
constitute the greater part of the people’s food in the spring and the
autumn. These fowl are very numerous. The number of them is
incalculable.
INEXHAUSTIBLE SUPPLIES OF FISH.
The wealth of the Mackenzie country in fresh water fish may be said to
be a tradition.
One of the most interesting sections to sportsmen, of that part of Mr.
Preble’s report referring to the fish of the Mackenzie basin, is that
under the heading “Speckled Trout,” in which he says:—“Under this
general heading I include a few notes collected from various sources
regarding the occurrence of speckled or brook trout, probably of several
species, in a number of widely separated localities in the Mackenzie
basin. Mr. John Firth, of Fort McPherson, assured me that speckled trout
are found in West Rat river, a tributary of the Porcupine west of Fort
McPherson. It is probable that these are either _Salmo mykiss_ or
_Salvelinus malma_, both of which are known to occur in Alaskan streams.
In East Rat river, also, which is connected with the westward flowing
stream (and therefore may contain trout of the same species), but which
flows eastward into the Peel, he said that speckled trout are common.
Mr. Firth also informed me that a form of speckled trout is found in the
stream which enters the sea a short distance west of the mouth of the
Mackenzie. Mr. MacFarlane states that speckled trout have been taken in
lower Anderson river. As anadromous trout of the _Salvelinus alpinus_
type are known to occur in the Coppermine, these records may refer to
the same species. I also learned from several independent sources that
speckled trout occur in Tawattinaw and in one or two other tributaries
of the Athabaska, but I was never able to procure specimens.”
THE ARCTIC GRAYLING.
Before the Senate committee of 1888, Doctor G. M. Dawson stated that in
all the waters tributary to the Mackenzie, the Arctic grayling, or
Back’s grayling, which is an excellent fish, was to be found. It is a
fish resembling the trout in appearance and size, but has a very large
back fin. It is a very game fish very much like the trout, takes the fly
and is excellent eating. That fish witness found in the headwaters of
the Mackenzie, as far up as the very source of Peace river, and also
that of Liard river. It also occurs in Nelson river to its headwaters.
It is a purely fresh water fish, and a two-pounder would be a fair sized
one.
Mr. Keele, speaking of his reconnaissance explorations in 1907 and 1908,
says that grayling, herring and a variety of brook trout were found in
Gravel river, there being an abundance of grayling, but herring and
trout were rarely taken.
Mr. E. A. Preble has the following to say in his report with reference
to this fine fish:—
“The Arctic grayling, usually called bluefish in the north, has a very
extensive range. It occurs throughout the region from Peace river and
Athabaska lake northward and northwestward to Arctic ocean. I can not
find that it has been detected in the Athabaska. As it prefers clear
streams it is somewhat local in distribution, occurring but seldom in
the main rivers, which are usually muddy, but being abundant in many of
the clear tributaries and the lakes which they drain. During my
explorations I met with the grayling in the lake country between Great
Slave and Great Bear lake and at a number of points on the Mackenzie. It
was especially abundant in the rapid stream which I descended to
MacTavish bay in August, 1903, and I caught many while fishing for trout
with a spoon hook. It was common also in Great Bear lake near Fort
Franklin a little later, where many were being taken in the whitefish
nets.
“The grayling is said to be scarce in the Liard below the mouth of the
Nelson, but to be common above that point. It is also found in most of
the tributaries of the Mackenzie, several of which have local names
referring to its occurrence.
“As an index to the distribution of this interesting fish I have
selected the following references: Back recorded it from the mouth of
Hoarfrost river, Great Slave lake; from the head of Backs river; and
from Lake Pelly on the same stream. Doctor G. M. Dawson reported its
capture in upper Peace river, and in the Finlayson, a tributary of the
upper Liard. MacFarlane has recorded it from Anderson river.
“I am not aware that the grayling has been recorded from any stream
tributary to Hudson bay, except in one instance. Doctor Bell mentions
that it was taken in tributaries of the lower Churchill, and that a
specimen was identified by Professor Gill as _Thymallus signifer_. A
possible explanation of the occurrence of this fish in the Churchill is
suggested by the fact that there is a direct water connection between
Churchill river and Athabaska lake. The grayling occurs in Black or
Stone river, which flows from Wollaston lake into Athabaska lake. The
waters of another outlet of Wollaston lake, Cochrane river, flow by way
of Reindeer lake into the Churchill, thus affording to a torrent-loving
species like the Arctic grayling a ready means of communication.”
GREAT SLAVE LAKE FISHERIES.
The marvellous productiveness of the fisheries of Great Slave lake and
many of the rivers in its vicinity have been time and time again
commented upon by travellers.
In the account of his journey in 1772, Samuel Hearne, writing (p. 249)
of the fish in Great Slave lake (his Athapapuskow), states:—“The fish
that are common in this lake, as well as in most of the other lakes in
this country, are pike, trout, perch, marble, tittameg, and methy. The
two last are names given by the natives to two species of fish which are
found only in this country. Besides these, we also caught another kind
of fish, which is said by the northern Indians to be peculiar to this
lake; at least none of the same kind have been met with in any other.
The body of this fish much resembles a pike in shape, but the scales,
which are very large and stiff, are of a beautifully bright silver
colour; the mouth is large, and situated like that of a pike, but when
open it much resembles that of a sturgeon, and though not provided with
any teeth, takes a bait as ravenously as a pike or a trout. The sizes we
caught were from two feet long to four feet. Their flesh, though
delicately white, is very soft and has so rank a taste, that many of the
Indians, unless they are in absolute want, will not eat it. The trout in
this lake are of the largest size I ever saw; some that were caught by
my companions, could not, I think, be less than thirty-five or forty
pounds weight. Pike are also of an incredible size in this extensive
water. Here they are seldom molested, and have multitudes of smaller
fish to prey upon. If I say that I have seen some of these fish that
were upwards of forty pounds weight, I am sure I do not exceed the
truth.”
MULTITUDES OF FISH.
Richardson in his “Arctic Searching Expedition” (Vol. 1, p. 160),
speaking of Demarais’s fishery on Great Slave lake, writes:—“During the
whole summer, in the eddies between the islands of this part of the
lake, multitudes of fish may be taken with hooks, and by nets, such as
trout, white fish, pike, sucking carp, and inconnu. In spring and autumn
wild-fowl may be procured in abundance at several places in the
neighbourhood which are their accustomed passes, and the fishery on the
north side of Big island seems to be inexhaustible in the winter. With
good fishermen, and a proper supply of nets, a large body of men may be
wintered here in safety and plenty. In no other part of the Hudson’s Bay
Company’s territories, with which I am acquainted can so many people be
maintained, with so much certainty, on the resources of the country.”
THE ORDINARY FISHING SEASON.
Mr. R. G. McConnell reports that during the ordinary fishing season on
Great Slave lake, which usually lasts from September 20 to October 10,
the fish leave the deeper parts of the lake and migrate in vast numbers
to certain favored waters where almost any quantity desired can be
obtained. The Big island fishery supplied Fort Simpson and Fort
Providence in 1887 with about forty thousand fish, besides affording
constant support to a number of Indians. At the mouth of the Beaver
about twenty thousand were taken, and the fisheries at the mouth of Hay
river, in the bay in front of Fort Rae, and near Fort Resolution,
besides other places, yielded corresponding quantities. Mr. McConnell
estimated the total yield of the lake for the year 1887 at about half a
million pounds. The most abundant and valuable of the fishes of the lake
is the widely distributed whitefish (_Coregonus clupeiformis_). With the
whitefish are associated the lake trout (_Salvelinus namaycush_), which
often attains a weight of over fifty pounds, the inconnu (_Stenodus
Mackenzii_), the pike (_Esox lucius_), and the sucker (_Catostomus
longirostris_), besides others of less importance. A stray salmon was
captured about forty miles below the outlet of the lake, and was
described by Mr. Reid of the Hudson’s Bay Company as being identical
with the common Yukon salmon, probably _Oncorhynchus Chouicha_, but
visitors of this kind are very rare.
Mr. McConnell informed the Senate committee of 1907 that there are great
quantities of whitefish in nearly all the lakes. Mr. McConnell wintered
at Fort Providence, just below Great Slave lake, and in ten days there
were about one hundred and forty thousand fish caught. They come into
the shallow part of the lake about September 15. They are caught by the
Hudson’s Bay Company, the missions and some Indians, and are used to
feed the men and dogs. It is the staple food of the country, or was the
year witness was there. They catch the fish at all seasons, but late in
the fall is the particular time for catching them for the winter supply.
They get salmon trout there also. At the Fort he had had them weighing
fifteen to twenty pounds, and they told stories about catching them
forty pounds in weight. There was one king salmon caught at Fort
Providence—only one. They also get pike or jackfish. Mr. McConnell did
not know about pickerel.
The inconnu is a fine fish, and is caught all the way along the
Mackenzie and up Slave river as far as the rapids. It is a large fish
weighing from ten to twenty pounds.
A SPECIMEN HAUL.
Mr. A. H. Harrison says (“In Search of a Polar Continent.”):—
“Most of the small streams which run into Slave river come from large
lakes that abound with fish. To these lakes we often went up in a small
canoe, and set a net, which, as a rule, if left out all night, contained
a couple of dozen fish the next morning; or, to give the component
weights of a specimen “haul”, we had on one occasion two pounds of
whitefish, twenty-five pounds of inconnu, ten pounds of trout, and
twenty pounds of pike. We had always, in fact, to throw back a great
number keeping only two or three for immediate eating. In the spring of
1903 I had taken an Indian and his family with me on to this river to
shoot duck and geese, and before a fortnight was out we had killed
sixty-three geese and a great quantity of duck. I had trouble, however,
with this Indian, who was but a poor spirited fellow, and he left me by
myself at the mouth of a small river that ran down from a lake about
sixty miles from Fort Resolution. Here for a whole month I was encamped
alone, and had no difficulty in keeping myself—fish, wild-fowl, and
black bear being plentiful. I had a net in the water, thereby securing,
as I have already intimated, some two dozen fish a day, the bulk of
which I threw back. In Slave river itself, which is very muddy, I have
never caught many fish, but the lakes off the river swarm with them.
“Fort Resolution is a delightful place. I spent a winter there in
1902-03, making many excursions into the surrounding country. There are
three trading posts there, also a Roman Catholic mission, where Bishop
Breynart makes his headquarters, and a convent in which about forty
native children are educated. Everyone relies upon fish and reindeer for
subsistence. I heard a story of a trout weighing eighty-four pounds
having been taken in Great Slave lake, but though I saw many trout that
were caught during my stay there, I never set eyes upon any weighing
more than forty-five pounds. While passing through on my recent journey
I offered fifty dollars, or ten pounds, sterling, to anyone who should
bring me a trout that scaled fifty pounds, but when I came back Mr.
Harding of the Hudson’s Bay Company said that he had not in the meantime
seen any which weighed over forty-three pounds. Even this, of course, is
a large weight for lake trout. The whitefish, however, rather than the
trout, is the chief food. It weighs about two pounds, and is caught in
great quantities. The dogs never get anything to eat except fish, and
they thrive on the diet. Two pounds of fish apiece daily is barely
enough to keep them alive, but two fish weighing two pounds each are an
ample ration for a dog.
BISHOP CLUT’S TESTIMONY.
During his examination before the Senate committee of 1888, Bishop Glut
emphasized the fact that an important natural resource of the Mackenzie
basin lay in immense quantities of fish found in the great lakes, the
Athabaska, Great Slave and Great Bear. East of those lakes there were
many other great lakes which were full of fine fish.
The bishop had not been at Great Bear lake, but from reports of Fathers
Petitot, O.M.I., and Ducot, O.M.I., he knew that the lake was immense
and abounding in fish. There was an abundance of small fish, which he
believed to be herring.
To the eastward of Mackenzie river, separated from it by a chain of
mountains, running in the same direction as the great river, a
succession of beautiful and magnificent great lakes, full of fish, was
found. They had named them “Pius IX”, “Demazenod” and “Tache”. These
were the three largest lakes. The bishop had crossed them in winter from
Fort Good Hope to Fort Norman.
Lakes were innumerable in the basin of the Great Mackenzie, and nearly
all of them abounded in fish of different kinds. The regions east,
northeast, and north, above all, abounded in lakes of all sizes, and
were very rich in fish. Lake Athabaska furnished a very great quantity
of whitefish, of small and large salmon trout, of pike, of pickerel, of
carp, of large loches, etc. The whitefish weighed at least three pounds;
the small trout from four to ten; the large trout from ten to
thirty-five; the pike from four to twenty pounds; the carp the same. In
Clear lake pike were caught weighing from twenty-five to thirty-five
pounds. Whitefish, pike, pickerel, carp and trout were caught in nets in
which the meshes were four and a half inches in size.
Great Slave lake produced the same species of fish that Great Athabaska
lake did, and also in much greater quantity. They find there also the
inconnu, a species of salmon which came from Arctic ocean. It was
undeniable that it comes from the sea. It was found all the way up the
Mackenzie as far north as the river at Fort Smith. There the rapids and
the cascades prevented it ascending higher. It was a beautiful and fine
fish—the shape of the whitefish, but much larger. It weighed from eight
to thirty pounds.
HERRING AND THE INCONNU IN THE MACKENZIE.
W. F. Bredin, M.L.A., in his evidence before the Senate committee of
1907, stated that herring from Arctic ocean ascend the Mackenzie to
about Fort Wrigley. They are good fish. He said he had been told that
Great Bear lake just teems with that same herring.
In his report, William Ogilvie, D.L.S., gives the following information
about the chief fishes of Mackenzie river:—“Fish are numerous in the
Mackenzie, the principal species being that known as the ‘Inconnu.’
Those caught in the lower river are very good eating, much resembling
salmon in taste, being also firm and juicy. The flesh is a light pink in
color, but as they ascend the river and become poor, this turns white
and the flesh gets soft and unpalatable. They average ten or twelve
pounds in weight, but have often been caught weighing thirty or forty.
They ascend as far as the rapids, on Great Slave river, where they are
taken in the fall in great numbers for dog-feed, being then so thin that
they are considered unfit for human food, if anything else is
obtainable. This fish is not fed to working dogs, unless scarcity of
other fish compels it. There is a small fish known locally as ‘herring’
somewhat resembling the inconnu in appearance, and which does not grow
larger than a pound or two in weight. The staple fish of the district,
and for that matter, of the whole northwest, is the whitefish. They
abound in many parts of the river, but especially in all the lakes
discharging into it, and form the principal article of diet during the
greater part of the time, as very little food is brought into the
country. This fish is caught in large numbers everywhere.”
FISH IN GREAT BEAR LAKE.
Mr. Hanbury mentions that one August night his party’s nets in Great
Bear lake caught sixteen whitefish, “some of them very large, seven or
eight pounds; none of them under four pounds. This was the largest
average of whitefish of which I had heard. In Great Slave lake their
average weight is three pounds.”
Mr. E. A. Preble describes the lake trout so often referred to
(_Cristivomer naymacush_) as a beautiful fish inhabiting nearly every
body of water in the north, but abounding in the larger sheets of water,
including Great Bear lake, and as the water is there beautifully clear
the traveller frequently sees them pursuing their prey in the depths, or
lying motionless near the bottom.
A trout taken by Simpson’s party at Fort Confidence, Great Bear lake,
measured four and one-half feet in length and twenty-seven inches in
girth, and weighed forty-seven pounds.
Richardson states that Franklin’s party, during eighteen months’
residence at Fort Franklin in 1825-26, took three thousand five hundred
trout weighing from two to thirty pounds each.
THE LOWER MACKENZIE.
Writing of his visit to the small post at the mouth of Arctic Red river
on the lower Mackenzie in the autumn of 1905, Mr. Harrison (“In Search
of a Polar Continent”) remarks:—“Before starting we loaded up nine
sledges, at the mouth of Arctic Red river, with dried fish, which was
now to be obtained in abundance. On reaching this post, indeed, I had
calculated that there were about twenty thousand dried fish hanging up
there, which had all been caught in nets and smoked over the camp fires.
This industry of catching fish is busily and extensively carried on each
year upon Mackenzie river. The natives begin operations in August and
continue as long as the river is open; few fish are taken after the ice
has set fast. The chief kinds of fish which are caught are the inconnu
(or Mackenzie river salmon, though it would seem rather to be a sort of
herring), the white fish and the trout. The inconnu, which turns the
scale at anything between twenty and forty pounds, is excellent
provender alike for men and for dogs; when dried, it becomes, of course,
much lighter by shrinkage, and can conveniently be carried on sledges.
The whitefish, as I have previously stated, average about two pounds a
piece; the heaviest I saw here weighed eight pounds. The whitefish,
moreover, furnish a more toothsome repast than any other kind obtainable
in these waters. There are numerous trout in the surrounding lakes, but
I seldom procured any of them.”
[Illustration: The “Conny” or “Inconnu.”]
Mr. Harrison mentions that in 1906 in the country between Point
Separation on the Mackenzie delta and Liverpool bay on the Arctic coast,
at the mouth of a small river, his Esquimaux caught several huge pike,
one of which he weighed and found to scale forty-two pounds. They were
excellent eating, but they tore the nets to pieces. This stream, Mr.
Harrison says, is fifty yards wide, and is thickly timbered on both
banks.
THE WHALING INDUSTRY.
It is not proposed to discuss here the fisheries of Arctic ocean and of
the islands which lie therein, but having come down to the mouth of the
Mackenzie we might well devote a couple of paragraphs to a fishing
industry actively prosecuted in the immediate vicinity.
In his annual report dated Fort Macpherson February 16, 1910, Inspector
G. L. Jennings makes the following reference to the whaling industry in
northern waters: “In August, 1909, the steamer _Karluk_ arrived at
Herschel island. She is an independent whaler, the stock of the venture
amounting to thirty-two thousand dollars, being owned by the captain,
the officers, and some merchants of San Francisco. The _Karluk_ cruised
in the neighbourhood of Baillie island and Banks Land until the close of
navigation. She returned to Herschel island on September 23, having
killed eleven bowhead whales, eight of which I understand were taken in
Canadian waters, north and east of Cape Parry. The value of this cargo
of eleven head is, by an estimate at the present low price of bone,
eighty-five thousand dollars. The _Karluk_ is wintering at Herschel
island and will return to the eastward by first open water. As she will
have the field to herself for at least six weeks before any other ships
can arrive from the westward, the chances are that she will make another
large catch, and will no doubt leave in the fall of this year for San
Francisco with a cargo of bone valued from one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars upwards. The value of the trade of the _Karluk_ in
pelts will also be several thousand dollars. I think it is greatly to be
regretted that no Canadian whaling ships or traders from our Pacific
coast come into this territory, instead of leaving everything to the
Americans. With a good class of trade goods, no cheap trashy stuff, and
having no duty on these goods, selling or trading at a reasonable
profit, the whole trade of our Arctic coast could easily be secured. I
think it is but a matter of a very few years before American trading
concerns open stations at Herschel island, Kittigazuit and Baillie
island. If a Canadian firm was established first there would be no
opposition.”
In a later report the same year, Inspector Jennings states that the
_Karluk_ had killed nine whales during July, making twenty in all for
two seasons with an approximate value of one hundred and thirty thousand
dollars. He had also fur to the value of ten thousand dollars received
in trade. On leaving Baillie island on August 14, the _Karluk_ cruised
along the south and west coast of Banks Land, north of Cape Kellett, to
north latitude 72·31°. She left Herschel on August 26 and reached Nome,
Alaska, on September 3.
[Illustration: THE ARCTIC PRAIRIE]