[24]The Geographic Board of Canada has adopted “Dubawnt” as the standard spelling of this lake and the river of the same name. The name is a corruption of the Indian name “Tobatna”, meaning “water shore”. (E. J. C.)
[24]
The Geographic Board of Canada has adopted “Dubawnt” as the standard spelling of this lake and the river of the same name. The name is a corruption of the Indian name “Tobatna”, meaning “water shore”. (E. J. C.)
[25]So named by Captain George Back in 1833, out of respect to the Royal Artillery, to which distinguished corps some of his crew who joined him in Montreal belonged, “and from a grateful remembrance of the deep interest manifested by its officers for the success of the expedition, and of their friendly courtesies” to himself.
[25]
So named by Captain George Back in 1833, out of respect to the Royal Artillery, to which distinguished corps some of his crew who joined him in Montreal belonged, “and from a grateful remembrance of the deep interest manifested by its officers for the success of the expedition, and of their friendly courtesies” to himself.
CHAPTER XX.
Phenomenal Extensions of Tree Growth Within the Barren Lands Along the Valley of Thelon river.—Black Spruce, Larch, White Spruce, Banskian Pine and Birch.—Valuable Timber Along the Thelon, About the East End of Great Slave lake and Between Great Bear lake and Coppermine river.
In his valuable report, Mr. E. A. Preble, of the United States Biological Survey, states that Coppermine, Thelon, and many of the smaller rivers of the Barren Lands are wooded to some extent on their upper portions, but by far the greater part of the area drained by them is treeless.
Mr. Preble traces the northern boundary of the great transcontinental forest from the western shore of Hudson bay to the mouth of the Mackenzie as follows:—“Starting from the mouth of Churchill river, Hudson bay, the tree-line follows the shore closely for a few miles and then curves gently inland. Thence it extends northwesterly crossing Nueltin, or Island lake, Ennadai lake on Kazan river and Boyd lake on the Dubawnt. Just north of 63 degrees on Artillery lake is the next point where we have a definite dividing line. Between the Dubawnt and Artillery lake is the valley of the upper Thelon or Ark-i-linik, along whose banks the forest extends in a narrow line far into the general treeless area. From Artillery lake the line extends northwestward to Point lake, curving toward the southwest in the interval and crossing Lake Mackay, south of latitude 64 degrees. From Point lake, whose shores are practically devoid of trees, nearly to latitude 67 degrees the banks of the Coppermine are so thinly wooded that the river may be taken as the approximate boundary of the woods. Spruces occur on the Coppermine as far north as the mouth of Kendall river, but are absent from the summit of the divide between there and Great Bear lake and reappear on lower Dease river. Between Dease river and the lower Anderson the boundary of the woods is not well known.”
It will be remembered by those familiar with the subject, that, in defining the eastern end of the forest line, Mr. Preble has closely followed the definition laid down by Mr. J. B. Tyrrell in the official report of his exploration of the country south and east of Dubawnt lakes and Chesterfield inlet. Mr. Tyrrell states in his report:—
“The region may be divided into Forests, and Treeless Plains or ‘Barren Lands’, by a line which curves around the bottom of Button bay, and then continues within sight of the shore as far as Hubbart point, beyond which it strikes northwestward almost at right angles to the magnetic meridian, crossing Kazanriver at the southern narrows of Ennadai lake, and Telzoa river about the middle of Boyd lake.”
Black and White Spruce and Larch.
“The forested country is chiefly wooded with small black spruce (Picea nigra) and larch (Larix Americana) while the lowlands are almost everywhere covered with deep mossy swamps. Proceeding northwards, the woods become confined to the lowlands and the tops of the hills remain treeless. Such are the conditions of the surface around Kasba and Daly lakes. Farther northward the wooded plains give place more or less suddenly to level or rolling grassy plains, which constitute the Barren Lands. As the forest disappears, much of the surface is covered by deep frozen mossy bogs or tundras, but these occur only along the edge of the forest, and do not form part of the Barren Lands proper.
“Besides the two species of trees above mentioned, the white spruce (Picea alba) grows to quite a large size on some of the dry estuaries, and on the stony, well-drained banks of Telzoa river. It extends northward almost to Dubawnt lake, forming a larger tree than either of the others. At Churchill, near the shore of Hudson bay, small white spruce were found to have entirely replaced black spruce in the swamps. A few miles farther inland, black spruce again takes its normal place in similar swamps, and white spruce almost disappears.
“Banksian Pine (Pinus Banksiana) grows on the sandy plains along Stone river, and northward, on dry sandy ridges, as far as Selwyn and Theitaga lakes, but it does not extend as far north as either spruce or larch. Canoe Birch (Betula papyrifera) grows to a fairly large size at the head of Thlewiaza river but as a rule it is a small tree in this region. It gradually decreases in size and disappears at the edge of the Barren Lands. Some small aspen trees (Populus tremuloides) were seen as far north as Daly lake on Telzoa river, latitude 60°, on the headwaters of Thlewiaza river, and at the mouth of Churchill river on Hudson bay.
Mr. Tyrrell’s expedition of 1893 did not find much timber along Dubawnt river. Mr. J. W. Tyrrell (“Through the Sub-Arctics of Canada”) mentions that the party found a little clump of white spruce trees on the north shore of Carey lake on the Dubawnt in latitude 62° 15′ north. Two feet above the ground the trunk of the largest tree measured eight feet in circumference.
Mr. Tyrrell also states that the southern affluent of Dubawnt lake “has scattered groves of white spruce on its banks.”
Timber Along the Thelon.
There is considerable timber along the Thelon and the main tributary of its upper reach, the Hanbury, so named from the original explorer of both streams. Mr. Hanbury, describing his exploratory trip, writes:—“The peculiarity of the Ark-i-linik (the Indian name then applied to the Thelon and its tributary the Hanbury) is that, though so far north, it is wooded on either bank, and in places one might even say heavily timbered, spruce trees, with butts measuring one and one-half to two feet across, being by no means uncommon. It is a long way north of the limit of trees marked on the maps, and there is a large extent of countryto the south of it destitute of trees. I can find no explanation of this peculiarity from the geological formation, for the same red and white sandstone which prevails nearly the whole length of the river occurs at places which are without trees.
“The woods as a whole amount only to a rather deep fringe, the trees for the most part being scattered and not continuous. Here and there along the banks are spots and short stretches quite bare of timber. After a short walk away from the river on either side one reaches the outer edge of the woodland fringe beyond which the land is typical prairie. Along the creeks and effluents, however, the growth extends to a considerable distance, in places as far as the eye can reach the trees diminishing in size until the spruce is mere scrub.”
Ascending the main branch of the Thelon, Mr. Hanbury describes the timber as beginning about fifty miles above the mouth of the river at Beverly lake. That far northeast he states “spruce of fair-size growth is to be found, and the woods then increase in size of timber and in extent until the river divides, the larger branch coming in from the south, the smaller—which we followed up—joining from the west.”
Of Great Value to Canada.
Mr. J. W. Tyrrell, in the official report of his exploration along Hanbury and Thelon rivers for the Dominion government in 1900, remarks:—“The timber supply of the Thelon should be of great value to Canada.”
Mr. Tyrrell mentions a grove of spruce on the Thelon, two miles below the junction of Hanbury river, and relates that eight miles farther down stream “well grown spruce trees were plentiful on both banks. Here, and for many miles below, the Thelon is a really fine and beautiful river, having grassy banks—well wooded in places by spruce trees—some of which measured some fifteen inches in diameter.
“The wooded or partially wooded banks of the Thelon extend altogether for a distance of about one hundred and seventy miles below the forks of the Hanbury. This distance is not to be understood as a continuous stretch of timber, but over that distance many fine spruce groves, as well as more or less continuous thinly scattered trees are found. The largest trees measured from twelve to fifteen inches in diameter, but would average about six inches.”
In his book “Through the Sub-Arctics of Canada” Mr. Tyrrell again refers to the timber along the Hanbury and the Thelon, writing:—“In the valleys of the Thelon and some other rivers there are valuable belts of spruce and tamarack timber for local supply when required.”
In the official report of his long patrol in 1908 Inspector Pelletier writes:—“A good amount of wood for fuel is available on Hanbury river. In places timber is of fair dimension. In one or two ravines near Dickson canyon I would judge the timber to be of sufficient size to erect a comfortable log camp.
A Sixty Mile Stretch of Spruce Timber.
“The banks of the Thelon are very well stocked with timber. Of course there are fairly long stretches on which wood is very scarce, principally at the lower end, but still fuel is found everywhere, either drift or standing. The best stretches ofsolid timber are from about twenty miles below the Hanbury and extend for sixty miles. The stretch is nearly without interruption. There is another stretch of about ten miles, fifteen miles below Lookout point, and at numerous other points good timber, but in small quantity, is seen. This timber does not extend very far inland. It varies from a few yards deep to two or three miles. In some parts, the timber extends still farther inland. Lumber of fair size from six to ten inches in diameter is abundant. All the timber is spruce.”
Inspector Pelletier speaks of a ten mile stretch on the Thelon, where there “was continuous forest on both banks, and as thick as on any river in the timbered belt.”
Inspector Pelletier also reports:—“On Beverly lake (Thelon river) any amount of driftwood is to be found, on Aberdeen lake very little, and below none at all.”
The Thelon Spruce Groves Phenomenal.
Mr. E. A. Preble, of the United States Biological Survey, in his report has this to say as to the growth of timber along the Thelon:—“The northern extension of the coniferous forest along the banks of northward-flowing rivers has already been referred to. The most remarkable example of this phenomenon is found on the Thelon or Ark-i-linik, a stream tributary to Hudson bay. It was first explored by Hanbury in 1899, and by J. W. Tyrrell during the following season. From a point near latitude sixty-two and one-half degrees, which is as far south as the river has been explored, and which is within the main area of the Barren Grounds, a more or less continuous belt of spruce borders the river as far north as latitude sixty-four and one-half degrees, a distance of over two hundred miles by the river. A few species of woodland-breeding birds follow these extensions of the forest to their limits.”
Eastern Part of Great Slave Lake.
Inspector Pelletier also gives us some information as to the timber resources of the eastern part of Great Slave lake and along the canoe and portage route to Hanbury river. He writes:—“On the south shore of Great Slave lake much good timber was met. On the north shore timber diminishes very perceptibly in size, and the farther one proceeds the more it gets stunted and scattered; only in some favoured spots is timber of any size, but no large area. It consists chiefly of spruce, birch, poplar and jackpine. At the upper end of the first portage from Great Slave lake timber gets very scarce, at French lake a large open spot and at Acres lake we are practically at the beginning of the Barrens, although there is a good lot of wood close to the shore and in sheltered spots. At north end of Burr lake is a nice grove of good sized trees. The country gets rocky and barren, grass growing only in favoured spots.
“At the southern end of Artillery lake, along the small ravines on the east bank, is a fair amount of wood good for fuel and building dog sleighs, but as soon as one crosses Lockhart river where the lake gets wider, wood is seen here and there only in small bluffs. It is small, bent and dwarfed by the wind storms and snow.There is very little substance in the soil, and vegetation must be very slow. Trees grow mostly in the shelter of a bank, whether stone or sand. At about half way up the lake on the east side the last woods are met; on the edges they are low, bent and creepy, as if in readiness to grasp the soil for support to resist the force of the elements. Nothing further grows but some grasses in favoured spots, and at the rapids, where there is a lot of dampness, willows grow between the crevices of upturned boulders. Above Kasba lake on the route followed even willows do not grow. In the eddies at the foot of the rapids on Kasba river I have seen sticks, some of which had been cut with an axe or other tool. Those pieces of wood were small but of a size which leads me to believe that somewhere on Clinton-Colden or farther west on Aylmer lake, timber of some kind is to be found. These sticks or pieces of wood were very old as if they had been tossed up and washed by water for a long period. Moss grows in places and for fuel purposes a few experiments with the different kinds will demonstrate which is the best. We found the black thick sort, which grows on the stones, is very light and dry and burns the best. One makes a tunnel with stones and places the door towards the wind, the more wind and draught the better.”
Scattered Timber East of Great Slave Lake.
In the report of his trip in 1900, Mr. J. W. Tyrrell also gives us some glimpses of the timber about the east end of Great Slave lake and the lakes and river to the east and northeast of that locality. According to Mr. Tyrrell, “Fairchild point (near old Fort Reliance), which is about ten miles in length, is well wooded with white spruce from six to twelve inches in diameter and is notable as being the source of timber in that locality.
“The shores of Carlton harbour are sparingly wooded with small spruce and a few Banksian pines. It might be noted here that on Fairchild point a few black poplars were observed, the last seen on our outward journey.
“At Fort Reliance, here and there, are to be seen the charred remains of large stumps, indicating the apparent recent destruction of the original forest.
“The largest young trees, which showed thirty-four to thirty-five years’ growth, were from four to six inches in diameter two feet from the ground, and were not of stunted appearance.
“At the north end of Burr lake there is situated a nice grove of white spruce timber, containing trees of ten to twelve inches diameter. It proved to be the last timber of any consequence met with before entering the barren lands, excepting some on the west shore of Artillery lake near Timber bay.
“On the western side of Artillery lake, about ten miles from the south end, the shore is quite well timbered with small spruce and they continue northerly, although thinly scattered, for a distance of twenty miles, eight miles farther north than the last grove on the east shore. There the woods cease entirely.”
It is interesting to recall that Back pointed out that “the pines are said to disappear along Artillery lake.”
Mr. Warburton Pike thus describes the same country at the time he passed through it:—
“Scattering timber, spruce and birch, clothed the sloping banks to the sandy shores of the lakes; berries of many kinds grew in profusion; the portages were short and down hill; and caribou were walking the ridges and swimming the lakes in every direction. A perfect northern fairyland it was, and it seemed hard to believe that winter and want could ever penetrate here.”
Timber of the Far North.
The first reference to the timber of the northern part of the Barren Lands we find in the report of Samuel Hearne, who in 1771, speaking of his discovery of Coppermine river, writes:—“Before I proceed farther on my return, it may not be improper to give some account of the river, and the country adjacent; its productions, and the animals which constantly inhabit those dreary regions, as well as those that only migrate thither in summer, in order to breed and rear their young, unmolested by man. That I may do this to better purpose, it will be necessary to go back to the place where I first came to the river, which was about forty miles from its mouth. Near the water’s edge there is some wood, but not one tree grows on or near the top of the hills between which the river runs. There appears to have been formerly much greater quantity than there is at present, but the trees seem to have been set on fire some years ago and, in consequence, there are at present ten sticks lying on the ground for one green one which is growing beside them. The whole timber appears to have been even in its greatest prosperity of so crooked and dwarfed a growth as to render it of little use for any purpose but firewood.
“Besides the stunted pines already mentioned, there are some tufts of dwarf willows; plenty of Wishacumpuckey (as the Indians call it, and which they use as tea); some jackatheypuck, which the natives use as tobacco; and a few cranberry and heathberry bushes; but not the least appearance of any fruit.
“The weeds grow gradually thinner and smaller as you approach the sea, and the last little tuft of pines that I saw is about thirty miles from the mouth of the river, so that we meet with nothing between that spot and the sea-side but barren hills and marshes.”
Sir John Franklin on his first journey, in 1819-22, reached the upper part of Coppermine river at Point lake just east of the southern arm of Great Bear lake. He found the “valleys on its border intersected with clusters of spruce trees. On the borders of such of these lakes as communicate with Coppermine river, there are a few groves of spruce trees, generally growing on accumulations of sand.”
Coppermine Valley.
Sir John refers as follows to the timber growths on the small lakes or expansions of the Coppermine as observed during the descent of his party:—
“Red Rock lake is in general narrow, its shelving banks are well clothed with wood, and even the hills, which attain an elevation of four hundred or five hundred feet, are ornamented half way up with stunted pines.”
“At Rock-Nest lake (just north of Red Rock lake) the only wood is the pine, which is twenty or thirty feet high, and about one foot in diameter.
“At Fairy lake the river flows between banks of sand thinly wooded, and as we advanced the barren hills approached the water’s edge.”
West of that part of Coppermine river which is nearest to Great Bear lake, Sir John Richardson in 1826 said that they met with wooded valleys and saw much wood in the valleys far to the west. From the height of land between Coppermine river and Great Bear lake they had an extensive view of a lower and well wooded country.
Of the country above Bloody falls, on the Coppermine, Sir John Franklin writes:—“In the existence of many scattered stumps of decayed spruce fir trees, and the total absence of young plants, one might be led to infer that of late years the climate has deteriorated and that the country was no longer capable of supporting trees so near the sea coast as it had formerly done. The largest tree in the clump in which we bivouacked had a circumference of thirty-seven inches at the height of four feet from the ground. Its annual layers were very numerous and fine and indicated centuries of growth, but I was unable to reckon them.”
Fine Spruce Northeast of Great Bear Lake.
In 1848, writing of the area between Dease bay (the extreme northeastern arm of Great Bear lake) and Coppermine river, Sir John Franklin states:—“At two we came to another branch of the Kendall, which runs through a ravine of red and spotted sandstone, under whose shelter there grew a remarkably fine grove of white spruces. The best grown tree measured sixty-three inches in circumference and did not taper perceptibly for twenty feet from its root. Its total height was from forty to fifty feet. Other trees of equal girth tapered more, and one decayed trunk, which lay on the ground, looked to be considerably thicker.”
Hanbury mentions that along the north shore of Barry island in Bathurst inlet he “picked up some drift sticks which evidently must have come from Hood river” which flows into Arctic waters some distance east of Coppermine river.
Sir George Back describes the banks of Backs river as being rocky and treeless (“without a single tree on the whole line of its banks”).
CHAPTER XXI.
Deposits of Native Copper in the Far North.—Several Areas West of Hudson bay Contain Rocks Similar to Those at Sudbury.—Belts of Huronian Rocks that are Expected by Geologists to be Eventually of Great Economic Importance.—Vast Probable Mineral Bearing Country in the Interior Which Can Now be Reached Via Chesterfield Inlet.—Iron, Gold and Silver in Small Quantities North of Lake Athabaska.—Free Gold in Melville Peninsula.—Lignite and Soft Coal Along the Arctic Coast.
From time immemorial tradition has ascribed to the great northern wilderness which we have come to know as the Barren Lands or Barren Grounds, untold mineral wealth, and what tradition has so long asserted is substantiated by the testimony of scientific experts.
The original exploratory expedition despatched into the country, that under Samuel Hearne in 1771, was inspired by the desire of the Hudson’s Bay Company to locate the copper mines in the far north of which the natives spoke to the pioneer traders.
Many of the principal witnesses examined before the British parliamentary committee of 1749 referred to the prospective mineral wealth of the country northwest of Hudson bay. Mr. Joseph Robson, at whose instance largely the investigation was held, testified that he had seen copper worn by the Indians about their necks and arms. He had also seen about a pound and a half of copper ore, which he understood from the Indians they had brought from a great distance.
Another witness, Alexander Browne, who had been six years in the company’s service at Hudson bay as surgeon, informed the Committee that he had seen both copper and copper ore at Prince of Wales’ Fort on Churchill river, which the northern Indians informed him they brought from an isthmus of land which lies by a lake at the farthest extent of their country. It was hard to ascertain the distance from the accounts of the Indians, but he judged it to be about three or four hundred miles. He never heard the Indians say whether there was a passage to this place from Hudson bay by water, but they informed him their river ran by it. They brought down the copper for ornaments, and the ore at the request of Governor Norton. Witness had seen about four or five pounds of it, both before it was smelted, and after, and he
Took it to be A Rich Ore,
but did not understand metals. He had heard of lead ore at Hudson bay, but never saw any. He never saw the Indians smelt the copper, but they informed him that the earth was washed from the ore by showers, and that they smeltedit on a fire until it ran, and then beat it, it being very malleable. Witness never heard of a copper mine on the large arm of the sea, but the ore was brought down by canoes to the open sea, and the rivulet which washed the said copper is not known to have any communication with Hudson bay, the mine being about fifteen miles from the open sea, by the accounts of the Indians. He believed that the Indians came a little to the northward of Whale cove, “which bears a point or two to the west of the north from Churchill.” If the Indians were encouraged they would bring great quantities of ore, as well as smelted copper to Whale cove, but if persons were sent up to the mine they would labour under a difficulty for want of fuel, the country producing no wood, and what the Indians smelt, they do in small quantities with moss.
Doctor Thompson, another of the company’s surgeons, testified that he had heard the natives talk of a sea to the westward, which, by their accounts, is not far distant, and of a copper mine, which lay on the side of a “Streight”, which takes them five days in crossing. They described the water of this “Streight” to be very deep, and they could not reach the bottom with two deerskins cut into thongs. If a sloop could be brought alongside this copper mine, they say they could fill it, in a little time, and by their account, this “Streight” has a communication both with the bay and the south sea.
Doctor Thompson further informed the Committee, “that he went with Captain Middleton on the discovery of the North-West-Passage, and likewise with the last adventurers.”
Christopher Bannister, who had been armourer and gunsmith to the Hudson’s Bay Company, and had resided in the bay about twenty-two years, informed the Committee that he had seen lead ore at Moose river, which came from the northward, but he could not say whence. He had seen a good quantity of it, and some of it was tried by Mr. Longdon’s apprentice, and it seemed extraordinary good lead, the boy
Making A Pair of Buckles of It.
The witness could not say what proportion the lead bore to the ore. The boy put in a piece of ore as big as a man’s fist, and got lead enough to make a pair of large buckles. The witness was sure nothing was put in but the ore, none being present but himself, and the boy who brought it down. That was about three years previous to the investigation and witness never saw any lead ore at any other time. He had seen copper frequently brought down by the northern Indians, a piece of which he produced before the committee. He said he had seen great quantities of it there, and was informed by a young man, who is now at Hudson bay that the Indians told him that it was brought from a mine, in search of which the young man would gladly have gone.”
Hearne at the Copper Deposits.
In the record of his famous trip (pages 173 to 176) Hearne makes the following references to his investigation into the subject of the traditional copper mines of the Indians on Coppermine river:—“After a sleep of five or six hours weonce more set out, and walked eighteen or nineteen miles to the south-southeast when we arrived at one of the copper mines, which lies, from the river’s mouth about south-southeast, distant about twenty-nine or thirty miles. This mine, if it deserve that appellation, is no more than an entire jumble of rocks and gravel, which has been rent so many ways by an earthquake. Through these ruins there runs a small river, but no parts of it, at the time I was there, was more than knee-deep. The Indians who were the occasion of my undertaking this journey represented this mine to be so rich and valuable, that if a factory were built at the river, a ship might be ballasted with the ore, instead of stone, and that with the same ease and despatch as is done with stones at Churchill river. By their account the hills were entirely composed of that metal, all in handy lumps, like a heap of pebbles. But their account differed so much from the truth, that I and almost all of my companions expended near four hours in search of some of this metal, with such poor success, that among us all, only one piece of any size could be found. This, however, was remarkably good, and weighed above four pounds. I believe the copper has formerly been in much greater plenty, for in many places, both on the surface and in the cavities and crevices of the rocks, the stones are much tinged with verdigrise.
“Before Churchill river was settled by the Hudson’s Bay Company, which was not more than fifty years previous to this journey being undertaken, the Northern Indians had no other metal but copper among them, except a small quantity of iron work, which a party of them who visited York Fort about the year one thousand seven hundred and thirteen, or one thousand seven hundred and fourteen, purchased, and a few pieces of old iron found at Churchill river, which had undoubtedly been left there by Captain Monk. This being the case, numbers of them from all quarters used every summer to resort to these hills in search of copper; of which they made hatchets, ice-chisels, bayonets (sic), knives, awls, arrow-heads, etc. The many
Paths That Had Been Beaten
by the Indians on these occasions and which are yet, in many places, very perfect, especially on the dry ridges and hills, is surprising; in the valleys and marshy grounds, however, they are mostly grown over with herbage, so as not to be discerned.
“The Copper Indians set a great value on their native metal even to this day, and prefer it to iron, for almost every use except that of a hatchet, a knife, and an awl; for these three necessary implements, copper makes but a very poor substitute.
“There is a strange tradition among these people, that the first person who discovered these mines was a woman, and that she conducted them to the place for several years, but as she was the only woman in the company, some of the men took such liberties with her as made her vow revenge on them, and she is said to have been a great conjurer. Accordingly when the men had loaded themselves with copper, and were going to return, she refused to accompany them, and said she would sit on the mine till she sunk into the ground, and that the copper shouldsink with her. The next year, when the men went for more copper, they found her sunk up to the waist, though still alive and the quantity of copper much decreased, and on their repeating their visit the following year, she had quite disappeared, and all the principal part of the mine with her, so that after that period nothing remained on the surface but a few small pieces, and those were scattered at a considerable distance from each other. Before that period they say the copper lay on the surface in such large heaps, that the Indians had nothing to do but turn it over, and pick up such pieces as would best suit the different uses for which they intended it.”
Sir Alexander Mackenzie is authority for the statement that there was a tradition among the Chipewyan Indians that their ancestors first reached the continent of America at Coppermine river. “Where they first made land, the ground was covered with copper, over which a body of earth had since been collected to the depth of a man’s height.” The tradition is interesting as indicating the fact that the Indians knew of the famous copper deposits for many generations.
Some of the Difficulties of Northern Transportation:—Crossing a Swamp.
Some of the Difficulties of Northern Transportation:—Crossing a Swamp.
Sir John Franklin’s Visit.
When Sir John Franklin’s party in 1821 visited Copper mountains they found only a few small pieces of native copper. Franklin says in his narrative (p. 340) “The annual visits which the Copper Indians were accustomed to make to these mountains when most of their weapons and utensils were made of copper, have been discontinued since they have been enabled to obtain a supply of ice chisels and other instruments of iron by the establishment of trading posts near their hunting grounds. That none of those who accompanied us had visitedthem for many years was evident from their ignorance of the spots most abundant in metal.”
Doctor G. M. Dawson, director of the Geological Survey of Canada, examined before the Senate committee of 1888, stated that as to the Barren Lands, it was a fact that an immense district—nearly half a million square miles of country—was at that date, except along its watercourses, as utterly unknown as the interior of Africa. Coppermine river runs through the Barren Lands and so does Back’s Great Fish river, on which there are mineral indications. There was every reason to believe that there is a repetition along Coppermine river, and in its vicinity of those rocks which contain copper, on Lake Superior and which have proved so rich there. At the time Doctor Dawson gave his evidence, he stated, it seemed to be beyond the reach of the prospector. The Hudson’s Bay Company sent Hearne up there in the latter part of the preceding century to discover where the copper found in the hands of the natives came from, but he could do nothing but report that he found copper there. The sea to the north was ice-bound, so he did not see his way to utilizing it. Hearne travelled the barren grounds more than any one else, but he was not a scientific explorer. He travelled with the Indians in winter under circumstances of great hardship, and Doctor Dawson said he believed we had not yet got sufficient information up to that date about these “Barren Grounds.” What mineral discoveries might be made there it was impossible to say.
Bishop Clut informed the same committee that copper was found on Coppermine river in great pieces. Witness had seen little crosses made of it by the savages themselves when they were not able to have other metal.
Similar to Lake Superior Deposits.
Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, in his paper read before the British Association for the Advancement of Science at its Toronto meeting in 1879, mentioned that the descriptions of Doctor Richardson, who visited the locality of Coppermine river in 1821 and again in 1826, show that some of the rocks which occur on the banks of the Coppermine are precisely similar to those on Dubawnt and Baker lakes, though they also indicate the occurrence of the underlying Animikie series, and they also show that the conditions under which the copper there occurs are very like those under which it occurs on the south side of Lake Superior.
The Keewenawan rocks (so called from the district so named on the shore of Lake Superior) would appear, according to Mr. Tyrrell, to have been first seen by Doctor Richardson on Red Rock lake, a short distance below Point lake, on Coppermine river, and thence they occupy the banks of the river through most of the distance down to its mouth.
Continuing to discuss Doctor Richardson’s report, Mr. Tyrrell proceeds in his paper to say:—“At ‘Rocky Defile,’ ‘the walls of the rapid’ are said to ‘consist of a very dark purplish red, compact felspar rock, alternating with a rock which is composed of a light reddish and greyish felspar and quartz, the former indistinctly crystallized,’ evidently referring to different varieties of quartz-porphyry or porphyrite. ‘This rock is everywhere exposed in the bed of the river for ten or twelve miles below the rapid.’
“In the beds of the torrents flowing into the main river he (Richardson) found many rock fragments, most of which were probably derived from rock in places in the vicinity, and the list might readily be duplicated from the copper-bearing rocks of Lake Superior; he mentions ‘fragments of reddish grey, granular, foliated limestone, of deep red sandstone, of gray sandstone, of red syenite. There also occur fragments of pale red sandstone, composed principally of quartz and a little felspar, with imbedded circular concretions of quartz, and of reddish quartzite sandstone. Fragments were also found of dark-greenish felpathose trap, of greenstone, of dark flesh-red felspar in granular concretions, with imbedded patches of hornblende, of red felspar partly coloured with hornblende, and containing amygdaloidal portions of prehnite.’
Copper Mountains.
“Copper mountains consist principally of trap rocks. The great mass of the rock in the mountains seems to consist of felspar in various conditions; sometimes in the form of felspar-rock or claystone, sometimes coloured by hornblende and approaching to greenstone, but most generally in the form of dark reddish brown amygdaloid. The amygdaloidal masses contained in the amygdaloid are either entirely pistacite (epidote), or pistacite enclosing calc-spar. Scales of native copper are very generally disseminated through this rock, through a species of trap tuff which nearly resembles it, and also through a reddish sandstone on which it appears to rest. The rough, and in general rounded and more elevated parts of the mountain are composed of the amygdaloid but between the eminences there occur many narrow and deep valleys, which are bounded by perpendicular mural precipices of greenstone. It is in these valleys, among the loose soil that the Indians search for copper; masses of epidote containing native copper; of trap rock with associated native copper, green malachite, copper glance or variegated copper ore, of greenish gray prehnite in trap with disseminated native copper; the copper in some specimens was crystallized in rhomboidal dodecahedrons. We also found some large tabular fragments, evidently portions of a vein consisting of prehnite, associated with calcareous spar and native copper. The Indians dig wherever they observe the prehnite lying on the soil, experience having taught them that the largest pieces of copper are found associated with it. The Indians report that they have found copper in every part of this range, which they have examined for thirty or forty miles to the northwest. We afterwards found some ice-chisels in possession of the Esquimaux, twelve or fourteen inches long and half an inch in diameter, formed of pure copper.”
“The surrounding country is underlain by a light-brownish red sandstone and gray slate clay in horizontal strata, cut here and there by dykes of greenstone.
“It is hardly possible to imagine two more similar sets of conditions in such widely separated localities, as in Copper mountains and on Keewena point (Lake Superior), the native copper occurring in both places associated with prehnite and epidote, chiefly in an amygdaloid, cut by dykes of greenstone.
Long Range of Copper-Bearing Rocks.
“The copper-bearing rocks would seem to extend along the Arctic coast, both east and west of Coppermine river, for about five hundred miles in all, and probably many of the smaller islands off the coast are also of the same rocks and the total area covered by these rocks undoubtedly amounts to many thousands of square miles.
“Comparing the early account of the occurrence of native copper on Lake Superior with the accounts which we now possess of the copper on Coppermine river, and considering the enormous extent of the northern deposit, we have reasonable grounds for hope that before many years the Coppermine area will produce as much copper as is now mined in northern Michigan. The amount mined there in 1896 was one hundred and forty-four million pounds, valued at between fifteen and sixteen million dollars, or about a sixth of the total amount of copper mined in the world that year.”
A Recent Visit to the Copper Country.
In the spring of 1902, having spent the winter with the Eskimos, Mr. David T. Hanbury made an examination of some of the places along the Arctic coast where the natives obtain copper for their implements. He was first informed that the copper deposits were to be found on Dease strait, but later ascertained that the islands in Bathurst inlet are the source of supply, and proceeded thither. Mr. Hanbury from the natives on Fitzgerald islands obtained a good many copper articles, such as snow-dags, ice-chisels, etc. They appeared to be rich in copper implements. They stated that some of their copper had been obtained in Victoria Land, and some from the islands to the north.
Shortly after landing on Barry island in Bathurst inlet, two small fragments of copper were picked up by one of his Eskimos. Mr. Hanbury proceeds, in his book, “Sport and Travel in the Northland of Canada”:—“The next day we devoted to examining the rock formation and searching for copper. We were successful in finding the copper, which appears to be abundant and widely distributed. Whether it would ever be worth working is another matter, and one on which I am not competent to give an opinion.
“The underlying basalt dips west at an angle of about twenty-five degrees, and it is in this rock that the native copper occurs. The copper is plentiful, for the quantity we obtained was found after but a brief search, and on a neighbouring island, Kun-nu-yuk, a mass of copper had just been found, so large that a man could hardly lift it. There also copper is found in the tide-way. The whole of the lower levels on Barry island are covered with debris from the basalt, and where the rock has been disintegrated by weathering,
Copper Has Fallen Out,
so that flakes of the metal may be found along the seashore. In many places, too, green patches indicate that nuggets or flakes of copper have recently fallen out from their matrix.
“The copper-bearing rock also contains crystalline quartz some of which forms beautiful amethystine veins, of which some specimens were taken. There is here some further evidence of coastal elevation in the occurrence of saucer-shaped lines of water-worn debris at from twenty to forty feet above the present level of high tides.
“The question whether it would ever pay to work the native copper of these regions remains for the consideration of experts. I have always understood that native copper occurring in small flakes or nuggets and sparsely distributed, is of but little practical value, and that copper can only, as a rule, be successfully worked from ores that are rich and easy of access. Much depends doubtless on its abundance and regularity of distribution. This island, Barry island, or Iglor-yu-ullig, is several miles in length, and perhaps three or four miles across. The island to the south-southeast, Kun-nu-yuk, is still larger, besides which there is an island to the southwest which has given much copper, and there are copper-yielding islands to the north. The copper-bearing formation holds good everywhere except on the summit cappings of the islands.”
Later Mr. Hanbury examined a part of Lewis island also in Bathurst inlet. He relates in his book:—“At the northwest point of Lewis island, Bathurst inlet, we stopped to smoke. The formation of rock being similar to that on Barry island we commenced to search for copper, which proved to be plentiful. First of all only a few flakes could be found, but the longer we searched the more plentiful did the copper become. Finally
It Got Too Common
and we resumed our journey. The metal occurred in flakes and small chunks; the former were wedged in the rock always vertically. The rock was easily knocked to pieces by a light tap with the axe, the cleavage being both vertical and horizontal. Between two and three pounds of this native copper were picked up in the course of half or three-quarters of an hour, while we rested. The metal appeared to be very persistent in its occurrence in the partly decomposed basalt of which all the islands we passed that day consisted. The flakes of copper seemed to be always vertical when in their rock matrix. The rocks of this island, where they are not disintegrated, are well smoothed by glacial action, and the striæ are numerous and distinctly trend south and southeast.”
Writing of a more northerly point on Lewis island, also visited, Mr. Hanbury (p. 266) writes:—“Although we did not find so much copper here, the green marks on the rocks were more numerous, but we did not spend an hour altogether in the search. One of our Eskimos knew of a large mass of copper on the southwest shore of the island, which he stated to be as much as five feet in length and three inches thick. It protruded from the rocks under the water, it was said, but there was too much ice for us to find the copper. A piece of quartz with copper ore and native copper was picked up on the seashore. Another specimen of the copper-bearing rock here is a decomposed basalt, fine grained, and vesicular.”
Ascending Kendall river on his way to the headwaters of the Dease, whence he descended to Great Bear lake, Mr. Hanbury relates:—“We had thegood luck to meet the Eskimos from the Arctic coast, who resort to this river to obtain wood for their sleighs. These natives had never set eyes on a white man before, and had no articles of civilization whatever. They were all dressed in deerskins, and armed with long bows, arrows and spears,
Beaten Out of Native Copper.
The use of tobacco was quite unknown to them, and firearms they had only heard about. They gave me a good deal of information about their country and the copper deposits along the Arctic coast, and I obtained from them several copper implements, such as dags, spear and arrow-heads, needles, etc., all beaten out of native copper, giving them in exchange knives, files and needles, which last appeared to have by far the most value in their eyes,”
Mr. Wm. Beech of Churchill, in a communication to the press in 1911, stated that he had noticed that the Eskimos who visit Churchill yearly have nearly all their tools, such as snow-knives, ice-chisels, and fish-hooks, made out of native copper. They use copper tops over their pipes while smoking, and any break in their guns is usually mended by a strip of native copper.
So much for the deposits of native copper along the northern sea coast of the Barren Lands and on the islands off the coast, which were the means of originally attracting attention to the mineral wealth of this vast region.
Unquestionably the most comprehensive review of the geological features of the Barren Lands with respect to the prospective development of the country’s mineral resources was that made by Mr. J. Burr Tyrrell in his paper read before the British Association for the Advancement of Science at Toronto in 1897 on the resources of the Barren Lands. The review in question was so thorough that no excuse is needed for quoting it here at length. Mr. Tyrrell wrote:—“It is to the minerals of this region that we must look for any large contributions to the national wealth, and failing these it is difficult to see how the country can be any thing but a serious burden on those Canadians who live in the midst of more congenial surroundings. What are the prospects of finding minerals of sufficient value to induce people to open easy means of communication with that northern country, and to settle in it? Let us examine this question ground for hope in the future of
A Sub-Arctic Mining Province.
“The western arm of the Archaean horseshoe, around which the remainder of the American continent has been built up during successive geological ages, strikes the west coast of Hudson bay near Churchill, and thence extends northward, with an average breadth of from five hundred to six hundred miles to Arctic ocean. This Archaean belt is composed chiefly of Laurentian and Huronian rocks, but in the depressions are some large areas of rocks of a later age.
“As the only exact geological information at present available is that collected by the two expeditions sent out by the Canadian Geological Survey in 1893 and 1894 which I had the honour to lead, I shall describe the rocks as seen on those two expeditions and afterwards attempt to bring together such other informationas has been recorded by others, and assign to it such value as it would seem to possess.
“The Laurentian system, as here seen, consists almost exclusively of crystalline, massive, or altered crushed and contorted rocks of the ‘Basement Complex’, consisting of granites and diorites, and granite and diorite gneisses. As a rule, the massive and foliated rocks are very similar in composition being probably different phases of the same fluid or semi-fluid magma. These rocks are so similar to the Laurentian rocks of the northern Ontario, which are familiar to any one who has spent a summer in Muskoka or in Thousand islands, that it is unnecessary to describe them in greater detail here. They are not usually rich in valuable minerals except where they come in contact with the overlying Huronian rocks.
“On Dubawnt river they underlie the country northward from Daly lake, and thence continue northeastward along the west shore of Dubawnt lake and down Dubawnt river to Lady Marjorie lake, over which distance they were often seen in contact with overlying Huronian and Cambrian strata. North of Lady Marjorie lake they disappear under the Cambrian sandstones, and they were not again seen until the Cambrian belt was crossed and the north shore of Schultz lake was reached.
“On Kazan river they extend from Ennadai lake to beyond Yathkyed lake, with the exception of a small Huronian area near Angikuni lake.
“On the low flat shore of Hudson bay, between Seal river and Cape Eskimo, the few rock exposures seen were of granite and gneiss of typical Laurentian aspect. For forty miles north of Cape Eskimo no rock in place was seen, and thence northward to Baird bay some of the points were seen to consist of granite and gneiss, though the shore generally was underlain by Huronian rocks.
“On the upper portion of Ferguson river Laurentian rocks prevail and similar granites and gneisses occur along the north shore of Baker lake, and down both shores of Chesterfield inlet to its mouth, whence they extend southward along the shore of Hudson bay to a short distance north of Baker’s foreland. Any information which we possess about geology of Great Fish river and Coppermine river would seem to show that the Laurentian granites and gneisses outcrop with greater or less frequency along their banks, so that we may safely infer that the Barren Lands are largely underlain by these ancient igneous rocks, and consequently there are large areas which will not produce valuable minerals.
“But as farther south we find quartzite, greywackes, and highly altered eruptive rocks of Huronian age, folded in here and there with typical Laurentian rocks, so in the far north we may confidently expect to find the same set of conditions prevailing.
“Such is to be found the case in the country lately examined immediately west of Hudson bay, where several areas of Huronian rocks, precisely similar to
Those Found at Sudbury,
Lake of the Woods, and at many places around Lakes Huron and Superior, have been discovered. The largest of these areas extends more or less continuouslyfor one hundred and twenty miles along the west coast of Hudson bay, from near Baker’s foreland to a point forty-five miles north of Cape Eskimo, and from the bay shore for seventy miles inland on the course of Ferguson river. A smaller area crosses Dubawnt river between Schultz and Baker lakes, a third occurs on the Kazan river below Angikuni lake, a fourth was recognized in the basin of Ennadai lake.
“Two more areas are represented by outcrops of white clastic quartzite on the north shore of Dubawnt lake, and on the east shore of Wharton lake.
“The rocks constituting the system in this region have been divided into three more or less distinct groups, viz: Marble island quartzites; the greenish quartzites and greywackes; and the more or less highly altered and often schistose diabases and gabbros.
“The Marble island quartzites are composed of hard white quartzite, consisting of more or less rounded grains of quartz, of fairly regular size, cemented together by interstitial silica. They are distinctly stratified in thick and thin beds, and the surfaces of the beds are often covered with beautiful ripple-markings. The thicker beds also often show distinct false bedding. They are usually in a more or less inclined position, but they were nowhere seen to be very much crumpled or squeezed into minute folds. These quartzites on the north shore of Quartzite lake dip regularly northwestward, away from a hill of diabase which lies to the south, and the latter therefore probably underlies the quartzite, though it is not necessarily older than it. In other places very little evidence was obtained of the relative ages of the white quartzite and the other parts of the Huronian. However, it would seem probable that, in the region near the shore of Hudson bay, this quartzite is
The Oldest Part of the Huronian,
and that the diabases, and other basic eruptions which are associated with it, have been intruded beneath it, and have also flowed over it. That Marble island quartzites were once spread over a large portion of the region under consideration is shown, not so much by the few scattered outlines here mentioned, as by the fact that the overlying Cambrian conglomerates, which cover large areas between Dubawnt and Baker lakes, are composed chiefly of pebbles of this white quartzite.
“Dark green eruptive rocks, chiefly diabase, are largely developed in the Huronian, composing a considerable proportion of the rocks of the system. In many cases these rocks have been crushed and sheared, a slaty cleavage or schistose structure has been superinduced, and the original minerals have been broken and altered, both in their shape and composition. In other cases the rock remains massive, or there is developed in it a concretionary or bomblike structure, the bombs, often a foot or two in diameter, being usually separated by somewhat schistose bands, which differ slightly in colour from the rest of the rock.
“On the east side of Hudson bay this rock was found to have, disseminated through it, a large amount of both iron and copper pyrites, while these minerals were often found collected somewhat more closely together in the numerous veinsof quartz and calc-spar which almost everywhere traversed the rock. No large deposits of the sulphides were seen, but when they are so freely distributed through the mass of the rock it is not at all improbable that large masses may be found segregated out along the zones where these green schists are in contact with masses of eruptive granite or gneiss. Very little of the vein rock has been collected for assay, but some pieces of vein quartz, picked up by Doctor Rae near the south side of Corbett inlet, were found to
Carry a Small Amount of Gold.
“On Great Fish river, Mr. Pike speaks of the ironstone formation, of dark fissile slates or schists, probably belonging to the Huronian system extending down the river from Musk-Ox lake to Beechey lake, a distance of seventy-five miles.
“The shores of Point lake, one of the expansions of Coppermine river, have been described by Sir John Richardson, who passed through that country in company with Sir John Franklin in 1821, and from his descriptions there is no difficulty in recognising the Huronian rocks. The following is his description of the rocks, slightly condensed:—Greywacke passing into greywacke slate, greywacke with small imbedded crystals of hornblende, dark greenish or blackish grey clay slate. Several of the islands in the lake consist of greenstone. A rock standing apart from the neighboring hills on the border of the lake, having a rounded summit, but bounded on three sides by mural precipices about two hundred feet high, is composed of compact earthy greenstone, containing disseminated iron pyrites, covered with layers of greenstone slate. On the north side of the lake there is a high bluff hill with a precipitous side, which seems to consist principally of a conglomerate. The basis is earthy-clay slate. The embedded masses have an ellipsoidal form and smooth surface, are from one to two feet in diameter and appear to consist of the same material as the basis, but impregnated with much silica, and not showing evident slaty structure. When broken they present an even fine-grained fracture.
“ ‘During our first and second days’ journey down Point lake from the above mentioned encampment, being eleven and one-half miles on a west-northwest course, the rocks we had an opportunity of examining consisted of greenish grey clay-slate, generally having a curved structure, and splitting into slates of very unequal thickness.’
“From these few isolated and widely separated occurrences it may be seen that, as in the Archaean areas of northern and western Ontario, so on the Barren Lands, Huronian rocks occur at more or less frequent intervals, squeezed in between adjacent areas of Laurentian granite and gneiss.
“That these belts of Huronian rocks will eventually prove
Of Great Economic Importance,
there can be no doubt whatever. In Ontario the wonderful general richness of these rocks is just beginning to be recognized, but from them were taken in 1896 gold to the value of one hundred and twenty-one thousand dollars, nickel to thevalue of one million one hundred and eighty-nine thousand dollars and copper to the value of three hundred and twenty thousand dollars; while in the states adjoining Lake Superior the total production of iron ore in 1895 from these rocks was ten million two hundred and sixty-nine thousand long tons, valued at about twenty million dollars. This was 62·31 per cent. of the total amount of iron produced in the whole United States. The rapid progress with which these mines are being developed is shown by the fact that the Mesabi range was first opened up in 1892, and in 1895 the product of the mines in the range was two million eight hundred thousand tons. Thus you will see that in these rocks there is a prospect of discovering extensive deposits of valuable minerals.
The Lower Cambrian Rocks.
“But perhaps the most interesting rocks known in the Barren Lands are those which are regarded by the Canadian Geological Survey as being of Lower Cambrian age, and which are very similar in character to the Nipigon or Keewenawan rocks of Lake Superior.