Anglican Church, School and Rectory at Fort Simpson.
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 localdemand 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.”
[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.
[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.
CHAPTER XVII.
The Territory Has Never Been Thoroughly Examined for Minerals.—Tar Springs on the North Shore of Great Slave lake.—The Devonian Rocks Throughout Mackenzie valley are Nearly Everywhere More or Less Petroliferous.—Lignite Discovered in Many Places, Also Gypsum.—Large Deposits of Excellent Salt.—Indications of Gold and Copper.—Indians Report Finding Mica.
Ever since Sir Alexander Mackenzie first passed down the river which now bears his name on his famous voyage of discovery in 1789, and described the burning beds of coal and the salt springs along its banks, the district now under review in these pages has excited the interest of the geologist and the prospector, but on account of the remoteness of the country from civilized settlement and the difficulties of transport, very little, comparatively, is known of the actual extent of mineral wealth of this immense area of country. True, expert explorers like Sir John Franklin, Sir John Richardson, Mr. R. G. McConnell, Mr. William Ogilvie, and Doctor J. M. Bell have conducted scientific surveys along the chief waterways and over some routes overland, and their reports have been splendid and valuable, but from scantiness of their equipment and the omnipresent necessity to economize time, these surveys, from a geological point of view, can be considered only as reconnaissances.
Comparatively brief summaries of what some of these explorers and some others have written and said as to the mineralogy of Mackenzie valley below the 60th parallel of latitude, will suffice to give an idea of what we really know on the subject.
During his explorations about Great Slave lake in 1887, Mr. R. G. McConnell, of the Geological Survey, inspected the tar springs on the north shore. The springs are situated a couple of hundred yards from the shore, at the base of a low limestone cliff, which runs inland from the lake, and are three in number, each of them being surrounded with a small basin, three to four feet in diameter, filled with inspissated bitumen, while the soil and moss for some distance away is impregnated with the same material. A small quantity of pitch is annually taken from these springs and used for boat building purposes, while a much larger supply could be obtained if needed. A sulphur spring resembling those at Sulphur point on the south shore of the lake, but much more copious, issues from the foot of the cliff in close proximity to the bituminous springs, and feeds a considerable stream. The rock through which the petroleum ascends here is a heavily bedded greyish, rather coarsely crystalline cavernous dolomite, and is entirely unlike the bituminous beds south of the lake and down the Mackenzie, which in most casesconsist of calcareous shales. The dolomite is everywhere permeated with bituminous matter, which collects in the numerous cavities, and oozing up through cracks, often forms small pools on the surface of the rock.
It was also reported to Mr. McConnell that sulphur and tar springs occur at a point half way between the springs he visited and Fort Rae. On the south shore bituminous shales and limestones outcrop at several points, and it would thus appear, according to Mr. McConnell, that the oil-bearing beds underlie the whole western part of the lake.
Promising Indications of Oil.
The Devonian rocks throughout Mackenzie valley, Mr. McConnell reports, are nearly everywhere more or less petroliferous, and over large areas afford promising indications of the presence of oil in workable quantities. He states that he noticed, in descending the Mackenzie, that bituminous limestones outcropped at the “Rock by the River Side”, at Bear Rock, at the Ramparts, and at numerous other places. Near Fort Good Hope several tar springs exist, and it is from these that the Hudson’s Bay Company now obtain their principal supply of pitch. The springs are situated at some distance from the river and were not examined. Still farther down, in the vicinity of the site of old Fort Good Hope, the river is bordered for several miles by evenly bedded dark shales of Devonian age which are completely saturated with oil. The possible oil country along Mackenzie valley, he concludes, is almost co-extensive with that of the valley itself. On the Mackenzie, the Tertiary beds at the mouth of Bear river hold several seams of lignite, ranging in thickness from two to four feet, and one seam which was concealed at the time of Mr. McConnell’s visit is reported by Richardson to be nine feet thick. The lignite there is of inferior quality, and has been burnt in many places for some distance from the surface by fires which have been in existence since the river was first discovered. Gypsum occurs in large quantities in the Devonian rocks of Bear mountain at the mouth of Bear river.
Deposits of Excellent Salt.
Mr. McConnell also explored part of Salt river in 1887. He reported:—“Several salt springs drain into Salt river, near Fort Smith, about twenty-five miles above its mouth. The springs are enclosed by small evaporating basins, the largest of which is about fifteen feet in diameter, and is crusted with a remarkably pure deposit of sodic chloride. The salt obtained here is of excellent quality, and has been used in Mackenzie river district for many years. Salt is also reported to occur on the headwaters of a small stream which enters the Mackenzie about fifteen miles above Fort Norman.”
Mr. McConnell in 1887 examined the Nahanni Butte at the junction of Nahanni river with the Liard, below Fort Liard, and he states that copper stains were noted in a number of places, but no specimens indicating deposits of economic value were obtained.
In his 1893 report regarding his investigation of the Athabaska tar-sand-petroleum deposits, Mr. McConnell mentioned, as indicating the presence ofpetroleum deposits over an immense area, that north of Athabaska district “tar occurs at intervals in the Devonian limestone exposed along the valleys of Slave river and the Mackenzie, all the way to Arctic ocean.”
Some Notes by Rev. Father Petitot.
Professor Robert Bell submitted to the Senate committee of 1888 a letter received from Rev. Father Petitot, O.M.I., of Fort Good Hope, dated August 16, 1873, in reply to a letter from Professor Bell, written May 30, the previous year.
The reverend gentleman explained in his letter that he had travelled extensively through this vast region, and proceeded to give a most interesting geological account of the country, although he undoubtedly disclaimed any merit as a geologist.
Points of practical interest to which attention was drawn in this communication were the following:—
“To the south and to the east of the banks of Great Slave lake are flats, composed of alluvium and gravel. On the islands off shore asphalt is found, the hardened debris of which is strewn on the beach.
“Six miles above Fort Norman, and for an extent of from eight to ten miles, the Mackenzie is bounded on its right bank by a precipice which reaches at first about one hundred and fifty feet in height, and gradually diminishes to a height of thirty feet. It is a vast Tertiary deposit composed of alternate stratifications of friable schist, lignite, pipe-clay and vegetable mould. The schists are in a state of combustion winter and summer, but the subterranean fire which shows itself on the surface through smoke holes, stinking of bitumen, is intermittent, and breaks out sometimes at one point, sometimes at another. It is not always visible at the surface, but at others is very active. The soil is very hot, damp and movable in the neighbourhood of these smoke holes.
Crude Forms of Lignite.
“The lignites are not fit for forging work. Sometimes even the trunks of the trees which form the beds of it have been transformed into clay; however, all this debris has evidently undergone the action of fire.
“Great Bear lake river, or Franklin river, presents alternations of granite, limestone, and coal-bearing sandstone.
“Traces of fire are visible in the mountain range at the mouth of the discharge of Great Bear lake. A little lower down, below the rock, the beaches of the Emir present unequivocal traces of other schistose holes which have been extinct for a long time, but which the writer of the letter found in combustion in 1869.
“The left bank of the Mackenzie, opposite Rocher Rouge, exudes ferruginous water, which stains all the water-borne shingle of the beach with oxide of iron. Three or four leagues below Fort Good Hope, iron pyrites is found on the beach, and the Peaux de Lièvre Indians formerly used it in striking fire.
“On the right bank opposite the site of the old Fort Good Hope, there are natural ramparts of limestone or schistose sandstone at the mouth of Thunderriver. One finds there hematite, or oxide of iron; sulphate of iron and sulphate of magnesia; alum, which exudes from the fissures in the stone; and red ochre. It was here that the Peaux de Lièvre Indians discovered in ancient times the hematite, which on account of its colour, resembling the dung of the black bear, they called Sa-ts-anne, that is to say, bears’ excrement.
Exude Alum and Saltpetre.
“The second ramparts of the Mackenzie, called the Detroit or Narrows, are composed of lias and limestone, which exude alum and saltpetre. Lower down are schistose sandstones of which the Esquimaux make the heads of their arrows.
“On the sea coast and the right bank the Esquimaux have told me that there are caves containing fossilized bones of large antediluvian animals, particularly of the mastodon, of which they have shown me pieces of tusks of the finest ivory which they callkillagvark, and which they know how to distinguish from the ivory of the walrus, orturark. They have also told me that there are, upon the sea shore to the eastward, Tertiary deposits in combustion, similar to those at Fort Norman.”
Writing in his report of the information he had obtained as to the deposits of economic minerals in Mackenzie valley, William Ogilvie, D.L.S., wrote as follows:—“On the Mackenzie, the first coal I heard of was a seam of which Mr. McDougall at Chipewyan told me, and which is situated in the base of the mountain just above Rapid Sans Sault, on the east side of the river. He could not give me any details concerning its extent, more than that he believed it to be about four or five feet thick, and that it was in the limestone rock of the mountain. If this is true, it indicates that this coal is older than the lignite coal of the country, and probably much harder and better. I did not know of its existence until I got to Chipewyan, or I would have tried to have had a specimen sent out after me.
“About three and a half miles above Fort Norman, on the east bank of the river, two extensive exposures of lignite crop out. The upper one is overlaid by about fifty feet of clay and a few feet of friable sandstone, and is about fifteen feet thick. The other seam is probably forty feet below this. When I was there it was nearly all under water. It is said to be as thick as, if not thicker than, the upper one.
On Fire For Over a Century.
“The upper seam has been on fire for over one hundred years, as it was burning when Sir Alexander Mackenzie passed in 1789. The place is locally known as le Boucan. The fire extends at present about two miles along the river, not continuously but at intervals. When I passed, it was burning in three or four places. After it has burned a certain distance into the seam the overlying mass of clay falls down and, to some extent, suppresses the fire. This clay is in time baked into a red colored rock, in which are found innumerable impressions of leaves of plants. Some specimens of these I brought home, and handed to Doctor Dawson. Traces of this red rock were noticed on the bank fourteen miles below Fort Norman, but no trace of lignite was seen near it, having probably been all burned.
“The burning seam appears to be of poor quality, containing much shale and sand, which is converted by the heat into scoriæ. It did not appear to me that it would be difficult to cut off all the burning places, and thus stop the further advance of the fire, which is destroying what yet may be of use. In order to find if the combustion could be checked I took a shovel at one place and soon had all the burning coal for a short distance cut off completely, so that the fire ceased for a time at that spot. It is a pity that at least an attempt to put out the fire is not made. Many persons in that district have an idea that it is subterraneous, and that the seat of it cannot be reached. This is a mistake, as at the point mentioned I cleaned off the fire from the face of the seam to its base and found underneath no trace of burning. The lower seam appears to be of better quality, there being no shale or sand mixed with it, so far as I could see. Heavy rain detained us here for two days, and we burned a good deal of lignite from the lower seam, as we could not reach the top of the bank to procure wood, and could find only a log or two of driftwood. The coal burned well in the open air, and threw out a much stronger heat than a wood fire. These seams are visible at frequent intervals along the bank for eight and a half miles, after which not a trace of them appears for seven miles, where there is another small exposure at the water’s edge. This seam appears, from the reports of many travellers, to extend up Great Bear river for a considerable distance. No other traces of coal were observed on the river.
“While at Fort Good Hope I noticed that many of the outbuildings and fences were painted with a dull red coloring matter, which, on inquiry, I found consisted of the ashes of wood that had lain in the river for some years. It was said poplar trees yielded the best paint and that logs that had been in the river long enough were known by the dull blue color of the wood. A sample of the ashes I brought home, and handed to Doctor Dawson. It may be that the color is due to the presence of oxide of iron; if so, this would indicate the existence in the water of iron in solution. But where the iron comes from is a mystery, as none of this peculiar wood was seen or heard of in the upper river. The inference is that the iron occurs far down in the river, but whether in the soil or in the beds on some of the tributary streams, or whether it is iron at all, has yet to be determined.
Indians Report Mica.
“The Indians report very large deposits of mica on the south side of Great Slave lake, and have brought small samples of it to Fort Resolution. While there I tried to get a specimen, but none was available. It is described as being very abundant.
“No other minerals of economic value were seen or heard of, except bitumen. On the way up (from Fort Providence to Chipewyan) the first indication of this was seen on Great Slave lake, in the form of the bituminous limestone which has already been referred to. Tar springs, as they are called in the vicinity, exist on the lake. I do not know of any of them on Slave river, but they abound on the Athabaska from near the delta for over two hundred miles up, and one is reported only a few miles from Athabaska, less than one hundred miles from Edmonton.”
Mr. von Hamerstein, in his evidence before the select committee of the Senate in 1907, stated that up the rivers that flow into the Mackenzie there are large quantities of native salt thrown up. It is mostly underground, and there seems to be a crater. The salt appears to be close to the ground in large quantities.
Roman Catholic Mission at Fort Resolution.
Roman Catholic Mission at Fort Resolution.
Mr. Keele, in the report of his explorations in 1908, states:—“Drift lignite is found on the lower part of Gravel river, which is no doubt derived from the Tertiary coal-bearing areas of Mackenzie basin. Hematite occurs on Gravel river about ten miles below the mouth of Natla river. This iron ore is coarsely laminated with red siliceous slate, having a thickness of from fifty to one hundred feet, and is interbedded between conglomerate and dolomite. An assay of an average sample of this ore was made at the assay office of the Mines branch, and gave only twenty-five per cent. of iron.”
Two Hundred Square Miles of Coal.
Mr. Brock, Director of the Geological Survey, in his report for 1909, quoted an estimate made by Mr. D. B. Dowling that the known available coal area in Mackenzie district is two hundred square miles, representing five hundred million tons of lignite.
Tertiary coal is known to exist in large quantities along the Arctic coast east of the Mackenzie and in the Arctic islands. Doctor Armstrong found it on Banks Land and Doctor Richardson mentions that “the Garry islands, lying off the Mackenzie, contain beds of a Tertiary coal which takes fire spontaneously on exposure to the atmosphere. Higher up the Mackenzie, at the junction of Bear lake river, on the 65th parallel of latitude, there is a Tertiary coal depositof considerable extent, which yields hand specimens entirely similiar to Garry island ones.”
In his annual report for 1911, Superintendent Saunders, D.S.O., of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, commanding the force in the Athabaska, Peace and Mackenzie countries, wrote:—“Very little progress has been made over last year in the development of the mineral resources of the country. Three companies are boring for oil near McMurray but I cannot ascertain that they have met with much success. No work is being done in connection with the tar sands although very favourable reports have been made as to their value for asphalt and street paving, probably the lack of transportation facilities is the reason of the delay.
“From Mackenzie river sub-district I have reports of a few prospectors in different parts, but of no success. Mr. D. F. McRae, however, who went down the Mackenzie in 1910 and went out the same year, has returned again with a party and well equipped outfit, consisting of a powerful gasoline launch, three scows with provisions, two horses, etc. He and one of the other members have their wives with them, and are wintering near the mouth of Herschell river. The fact of his having gone back in this manner would indicate that he has made a discovery of some kind, the nature of which has not been disclosed, as the whole party are very reticent.”
CHAPTER XVIII.
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.
A Fur Shipment of One Season from Mackenzie basin, estimated value over two million, five hundred thousand dollars.
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 thewinter 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 ofthe 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 thenarrow 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 arrivefrom 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 employedwas 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, wereplaces 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 eitherSalmo mykissorSalvelinus 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 theSalvelinus alpinustype 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 asThymallus 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. Thebody 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, probablyOncorhynchus 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 ofthe 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 Augustand 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.”