GENERAL CHARACTER OF DISTRICT.
In 1908 the most used route to the Montreal River district started from Latchford, a station on the Timiskaming and Northern Ontario railway, 93 miles north of North Bay. From this village, situated on the Montreal river, a line of small steamers made daily trips up the river for 56 miles to Elk lake. This up-river terminus was then a rapidly growing village. In the spring of 1907 it consisted of a single shack and a cluster of prospectors’ tents; when seen in October, 1908, it had a population of over 200 people and all the conveniences of a village of that size, including a post office with regular mail service, a mining recorder’s office, lately removed from Latchford, general stores, hotels, etc.
From this point, which forms the headquarters and point of departure for Montreal River prospecting parties, a variety of routes lead westward. The Montreal river may be ascended to the Forks, where its two branches unite, but the stream is rapid, and, especially in high water, difficult of ascent, besides offering a very indirect route to the most frequented districts. The Bloom Lake route, a map of which accompanies the Report of the Bureau of Mines, Ontario, 1907, was, during 1908, very commonly used. This route, 9 miles in length and consisting of a chain of small lakes and portages, leads, from a point on the main river 11 miles above Elk Lake, directly west to the East branch. From the East branch a multiplicity of courses are open. Both East and West branches are easily navigable, being for the most part lake-like and sluggish, broken by occasional swift river-like stretches in which rapids occur. Good portages exist at all these places so that travel either up or down stream presents no difficulty. Numerous good canoe routes connect the two branches and Duncan and Pigeon lakes, and allow of easy access to the country in the west.
But since the writer left the field the great influx of prospectors has caused marked improvements in the connexion of the area, especially the Gowganda district, with outside railway points. A sleigh road has been opened from Charlton on the Timiskaming and Northern Ontario railway to Elk Lake, and thence about 32 miles south-westward to the east shore of Gowganda lake. It is understoodthat heavy grades make travel somewhat arduous, but the trip from Elk Lake is made easily in a day.
On February 4, a sleigh road about 65 miles long was completed between Gowganda and Sellwood, the present terminus of the northern extension from Sudbury of the Canadian Northern railway. A regular stage route now connects Sellwood, Phoenix, Burwash lake, Elkhorn lake, and Gowganda. However, neither the road to Elk Lake nor that to Sellwood are yet suitable for summer use, so that with the coming of spring, canoe travel must be again resorted to. It is also reported that preliminary surveys for the extension of the railway to Gowganda are in progress. Meanwhile a business centre is springing up on the east side of Gowganda lake. A sawmill was put in operation on February 3, but has since been stopped owing to its location within a government timber reservation. A town plot has been laid out at the foot of the lake and lots are now purchasable from the Ontario Department of Lands, Forests and Mines. Buildings are being erected as rapidly as the supply of material permits. A branch of the Royal Bank of Canada has been opened, and the Canadian Bank of Commerce and others propose to be on the ground within a short time. Postal connexions have been established via Sellwood, and as soon as possible a mining recorder’s office is to be opened. So swiftly are events transpiring that before the present report takes printed form, this paragraph will be in need of revision. However, only the developments of a permanent nature and of essential interest to prospective visitors to that region have been given. For the 1909 field season Gowganda will probably be the headquarters for prospecting parties in the neighbourhood of the East and West branches and Wapus creek.
Attention is given here rather to the details than the general aspect of the country. It exhibits the usual monotonous succession of low rocky hills and lake-containing depressions, the even horizon seen from the summit of any large hill, being only rarely notched by a prominence of unusual height. In the spring of 1908 virtually the whole area was forested, but during September the extreme dryness of the country and the unusually large number of camping parties combined to cause bush fires over much of the country between the East and West branches. The vegetable loam has beenremoved from extensive tracts leaving the rock formations exposed, but the charred tree trunks have fallen so as to cover the burnt districts with a ‘slash,’ which greatly impedes cross-country travel, so that what has been gained in one respect is more than counterbalanced in another. Especially is this the case in the country west of Gowganda and Obushkong lakes, and near the Forks.
The general surface may be characterized as of comparatively low-relief, the hills not often rising over 200 feet, but here and there over the country are conspicuous elevations, visible at long distances, which form useful landmarks and from whose summits comprehensive birds-eye impressions of the surrounding country are possible. Structurally they appear to be, in a few cases, resistant knobs of Keewatin, which project well above the general peneplain level, but more commonly they are tilted ridges of Huronian. A characteristic representative of the latter type forms a long ridge beginning a mile and a quarter north-east of Duncan lake and extending thence for several miles in a north-easterly direction. The south-east side of this ridge slopes gently at an angle corresponding with the dip of the beds, but the north-west face is an abrupt cliff dropping almost perpendicularly for about 400 feet to a flat sandy plain which extends westward and northward for several miles, beyond which are other monadnock-like knobs. The accompanying diagram is intended to represent the structure in vertical cross-section.
Fig. 2.—Vertical section across Huron Ridge, North of Duncan Lake.
Fig. 2.—Vertical section across Huron Ridge, North of Duncan Lake.
Fig. 2.—Vertical section across Huron Ridge, North of Duncan Lake.
Another ridge of similar character, standing 550 feet above the level of Duncan lake, is visible from the ridge just described and from points on Duncan and Otto lakes, and adjoining country. Its position as indicated on the map is about four miles north of the large island in the middle of Duncan lake, a view of it from thispoint being shown infig. 4. In this case the east face is perpendicular. A prominent hill of the same kind is visible from Obushkong lake, lying a short distance to the north-west of that body. Just west of Mosher lake as represented infig. 5, two round hills of about equal size rise 300 feet above the water level. The more southerly of the two is of Keewatin, while that to the north is composed wholly of diabase, Huronian lying around the base of each. Bold, but less individualized elevations are common in the neighbourhood of Kenisheong lake, and other localities. All these hills are markedly rocky and free from soil.
Less conspicuous than these great masses are certain minor, but persistent features which are directly referable to geological conditions. Within Huronian areas there is a distinct tendency toward the development of a system of parallel ridges similar in structure and mode of origin to the hill at the north-east of Duncan lake. This feature is developed with special regularity in the southern part of the wedge between Duncan lake and the West branch, where a succession of north and south ridges alternate with strips of swampy ground. The western faces of the ridge are bare and cliff-like, while the eastern slopes are gentle, well soil-covered and forested.
The post-Huronian diabase is an equally potent topographical factor. Its surface is one of marked irregularity, but the peculiarly distinctive features occur at its contacts with the Huronian. These contacts appear to be zones of low erosive resistance, and are commonly coincident with ravines, walled on one side by diabase, on the other by Huronian. Small lakes may occur at intervals along them as, for example, between Firth lake and the West branch. This erosion feature is well shown by the configuration of Gowganda lake, where diabase bodies are unusually abundant; both of the long arms to the north-west lie in trough-like depressions marking the edges of the eastern diabase mass. The same tendency in an incipient condition is observable on the east side of the large peninsula where a series of three land-locked bays extend along the contact between the eastern diabase mass and the Huronian. Near the middle of Duncan lake, a diabase-Huronian contact which crosses the lake diagonally is marked by two deep bays, one extending to the north, the other southward. While this tendency is an evident one it is not to be understood as invariable; the large island in Duncan lake between the two above-mentioned bays is sufficient to indicate that contacts may liein high ground, yet even here there are minor features indicating the contact zone to be structurally weak.
Another less explicable topographic peculiarity becomes apparent only upon scrutiny of the drainage system. A brief consideration of the map shows that both East and West branches follow peculiar zig-zag courses running north for a short distance, then turning abruptly east, this feature recurring repeatedly. In some instances the east-west portion of both branches lies in the same line. In the case of Zigzag lake and adjacent portions of the West branch this feature is repeated with an almost conventional regularity, which precludes attributing it to chance causes. Many of the smaller lakes—Foot lake, for instance—exhibit the same character on a small scale. This abnormality has been commented upon by investigators in the country to the east, the courses there, however, being N.E.-S.W. and N.W.-S.E. Regional faulting is suggested in explanation. The canyon-like east and west walls of Zigzag lake suggest such conditions, but a discussion of the matter must be deferred until further data can be collected.
All the drainage water escapes by way of the Montreal river, whose two chief tributaries are the East and West branches, the latter being considerably the larger. The East branch is without feeders of important size, but the West branch receives a large creek, the Wapus, from the south, and a considerable volume of water enters through Duncan lake.
In common with most rivers traversing the pre-Cambrian region, this water system is marked by a volume of dormant water enormously greater than that being transported at any given moment. With few exceptions the many small tributary brooks rise in lakes or groups of lakes surprisingly large in size, compared with the volume of the out-flowing streams; Otto and Lehmann lakes are drained by a rather sluggish rivulet 8 feet wide and 6ʺ deep, although their combined area is about two square miles. The larger streams themselves are only successions of irregular lake expansions which empty from one to another by short, river-like portions containing rapids and falls. The descent is therefore accomplished by a succession of abrupt steps rather than an evenly graded slope. This juvenile condition is directly ascribable to the geological character of the country; soil deposits are insignificant in quantity, leaving exposed aresistant and uneven rock floor in which the streams are unable to carve channels for themselves. Failing to do so they select the readiest egress by filling up impervious rock basins and spilling over at the lowest points into lower ones. In consequence of the scantiness of soils and frequency of natural settling basins, the waters of the whole system are free from suspended matter, and hence lack of an effective graving instrument. Exceptions to this general character occur in the extensive sand plain to the north and west of Duncan lake, where the several small creeks that traverse it are of ordinary fluvial form and gradation, and the waters of which transport large quantities of sand to Duncan lake.
Where not recently burned the country is fairly well forested, the density and character of growth being dependent upon soil and drainage. The best timber is in low ground and near watercourses where conditions for growth are most favourable and the probability of fire least. Recent fires have done much damage around Nest, Obushkong and Gowganda lakes. Probably the best timber lies near Duncan lake. Trees do not grow very large as a rule and are not especially good for making lumber, but provide an abundant supply of materials for pulpwood, railway ties, fuel and for mine use.
White pine is the most valuable species, but although individuals attain thicknesses of 20ʺ to 40ʺ they are too scarce to render this timber worth the search. Good red pine is more abundant. Jack pine is a very common tree, especially in sandy districts,e.g., north-west of Duncan lake; but is small and worthless. The common and most widely distributed species are spruce, balsam, cedar, poplar, white and yellow birch. Tamarack is not abundant. Clumps of small red maples were seen to the south-west of Pigeon lake.
The East and West branches are not well suited for carrying logs as there are extensive lake expansions without current on each and the rapids are shallow. Excellent water-power is obtainable at the 40 foot fall on the West branch above Fort Matachewan.
Wild animals are not abundant, and will probably become less so as the country is occupied by prospecting and mining camps. Moose were plentiful in 1908 and some black bears were seen. As a source of food the abundance of pickerel and pike is of much greater importance. Brook trout do not occur in the Montreal River waters, but are caught farther to the west and north.