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PREFACE
PREFACE
The following narrative is based on a report which I made to the Government of Canada, dated November 16, in the year 1906, shortly after my return to Ottawa from the far North. In writing this report I had to resist the temptation to give many details which were present in my mind at the time but which would be scarcely warranted in an official document. In the following pages I have allowed myself more latitude and have also included several illustrations, the greater number of them being phot
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PUBLISHER’S NOTE
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
Mr. Elihu Stewart’s opening words are strangely significant. “Perhaps no portion of America has received greater attention from the explorer during the last three centuries than the sub-arctic regions of Canada, and yet they remain practically unknown to the present day.” The author relates his experiences in traversing what was practically virgin soil. That he should have carried out his immense programme without fear or accident is no mean feat, and this narrative should be found intensely int
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
Historical : Early History of the Sub-Arctic Regions of Canada : Formation of the Hudson Bay Company : Rise of the North-West Company. Perhaps no portion of America has received greater attention from the explorer during the last three centuries than the Sub-Arctic regions of Canada, and yet they remain practically unknown to the present day. As early as 1577, Martin Frobisher spent some time on the border of the Arctic. The name Frobisher in English history carries us back to the defeat of the
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
Plan of the Journey: Early Stages : At Edmonton : A Peculiarity of Northern Rivers. The area drained by the Mackenzie River is of vast extent, covering something over 450,000 square miles. Its principal tributaries flow from the west; they consist of the Athabaska, the Peace, the Liard and the Nahanni with many others of smaller size. To illustrate by comparison the size of the Mackenzie basin with that of some other streams, it is only necessary to say that the area of the St. Lawrence basin ab
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
From Athabaska Landing to Great Rapids : The Midnight Sun and its Voyage. At Athabaska Landing we found the H.B.C Steamer, Midnight Sun loading with supplies, all going to the Northern posts. She also towed six small scows, each carrying from eight to ten tons. These scows are built from spruce lumber cut at a small saw mill here. They each cost about one hundred dollars and are seldom brought back up stream, but are broken up when unloaded and the lumber used for building purposes. On the after
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
A Burial in the Wilderness : From Grand Rapids to Fort McMurray : Tar Sands. On Wednesday, June 20, about 9.30 P.M. , as we were sitting around a smouldering fire on the bank close to where the steamer lay, and watching the day darkening into night, a gun shot was heard at the Rapids, which meant the return from Fort McMurray of some of the river men, and we were soon possessed of the very welcome news that the steamer Grahame , which plied between McMurray and Smith’s Landing on the Slave River
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CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V
Fort McMurray to Smith’s Landing on the Slave River : The Grahame : Beauty of Northern Twilights : Fort Chippewyan : The Slave River : The Peace River Basin. We found the Grahame a much larger and more comfortable boat than the Midnight Sun , though constructed on the same lines, both being flat-bottomed craft and propelled by stern wheels. It was late in the afternoon of another very hot day, July 2, when we resumed our journey, and sitting on the deck, I watched a panorama of rare beauty unro
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A Change of Scenery
A Change of Scenery
After remaining about twenty-four hours at Simpson, we resumed our journey at five o’clock in the morning, and at nine caught the first sight of the Rocky Mountains (Nahanni Range) with their snow-capped peaks, which attain a height of 5000 ft. above sea level. This change of scenery was welcomed after six weeks of travel through a vast wilderness of comparatively level land. The weather had continued quite hot, with only an exception of a day or two, from our start, but whether from the effect
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A Sad Case
A Sad Case
Some time in April before leaving home I received a letter from an old friend named Slean. It had been written on Christmas Day from Arctic Red River Post, some 300 miles beyond Fort Good Hope. The writer, who had gone north the previous summer from Edmonton was engaged with an independent fur trading company, and being a young man of good education was desirous of having some diversion from the everlasting talk of “Furs and Supplies,” to beguile his lonely life and requested me to endeavour to
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CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII
Ice Conditions of the Summer of 1905. The report by the whalers of the ice conditions of the summer of 1905 is of interest to Arctic navigators. They say that the ice that drove into Behring’s sea from the north-east and prevented their exit left that part of the ocean almost free of ice, a very unusual thing; and one of the captains is reported to have said that he was strongly tempted to set sail for the pole, as in his experience of twenty or twenty-five years he had never seen what seemed so
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Game and Fish
Game and Fish
Heretofore the principal talk all down the Mackenzie Valley has been of the bear, the moose and the caribou but once the Pacific waters are reached the salmon occupies the same place with the natives that the wheat crop does with the prairie settler. It forms the great staple of the country and stands between the inhabitants and starvation. Sir Alexander Mackenzie tells us of how he intimidated an Indian chief near the Pacific by informing him that Great Britain owned the ocean and that unless h
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An Indian Camp
An Indian Camp
Before reaching the village one of my men fired off his gun as a signal of our approach. This was quickly answered, and shortly after our three canoes landed and John Tizzard, his son Jacob, and old John Quatlot, my three companions, were welcomed by their friends. One old squaw, the wife of John Quatlot, instead of exhibiting joy at their return seemed overcome with grief and commenced a fearful tale of woe, which led me to think that some, if not all their family had died during her husband’s
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A Visit to Rampart House
A Visit to Rampart House
About ten o’clock in the morning we started. Our party now consisting of Jacob in a single canoe and old John and I in another, John Tizzard remaining with his people at the Old Crow encampment. There was no big canoe, however, and I took my place behind the old man in the same one that had carried me before, but as it was not quite so heavily loaded I felt more comfortable. The day continued fine throughout, the water was without a ripple, the current strong, and we glided down the tortuous cou
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CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X
From Rampart House to Fort Yukon : In Alaska : With Dan Cadzow’s Party. Having rested two days at Rampart House I hired a half breed with a row boat and started down stream at noon on August 4 and immediately crossed the 141st meridian and entered Alaska. We will now be under the flag of the United States for several hundred miles. It was a great relief to have a boat in which I could move about freely without any danger of upsetting it. Taking a seat in the stern I steered, and paddled also whe
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CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI
The Ramparts of the Porcupine : An Unoccupied House : A Girl’s Unhappiness : Awaiting an Up-going Steamer : From Fort Yukon to Dawson City. A further reference to the ramparts of the Porcupine may be permissible here. They are very picturesque, often rising to heights varying from fifty to two hundred feet. Frequently the river narrows to from five to eight hundred feet, in some cases much less; and with frequent abrupt changes in the direction of the stream, they often appear when looking ahead
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CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII
Dawson City: In Civilisation Once More: High Prices: To Whitehorse on the Dawson : Gamblers’ Tricks. Some one has defined enjoyment as the reflex of successful effort, and another has said that pleasure is largely a matter of comparison. That there is much truth in both remarks is unquestionable and the five days I remained at Dawson were the most serene and restful I had ever experienced. To be sure there were many stages where conditions had constantly improved since that anxious and wearisome
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CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIII
From Skagway to Vancouver : On the Princess May : Fort Simpson : Prince Rupert : End of the Journey. The ocean voyage between Skagway and Vancouver is so well known that I need only refer to it briefly. Nearly the whole course is so sheltered on the one side by the main land, and on the other by islands, almost innumerable, that it was easier to fancy that we were back on the Wrigley threading the islands of the Mackenzie rather than that we were on the waters of the great Pacific. The fine C.P
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FOREWORD
FOREWORD
It may be well for me to add to the foregoing narrative a few brief general observations on certain characteristics and productions of the country, such as the climate, the soil, the minerals, the timber; of the animals, the fish, the wild fowl, that migrate there and breed during the summer months; and, lastly, of the native inhabitants, as well as the traders and missionaries who have for the last century or more made their home in the country....
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SECTION I CLIMATE
SECTION I CLIMATE
I have already referred to the extreme heat which we experienced along the Athabaska River and at Fort Chippewyan, and that this hot wave extended beyond the Arctic Circle was testified to by Indians who suffered the loss of some of their dogs from this cause, on crossing the portage between the Bell River and Fort McPherson. Of course this was exceptional and lasted only a few days, but nevertheless, there is no question that for a couple of months in midsummer the aggregate amount of heat whic
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SECTION II SOIL
SECTION II SOIL
I have already made frequent reference to the soil conditions as observed on my line of travel. Of course I had little opportunity of forming more than a general idea. Before any accurate report can be given on this subject it will be necessary for the Government to have an exploration survey made by men competent to give an authoritative opinion. For many years I have been impressed with the idea that Canada has failed to realise what it is losing year after year from its lack of information of
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SECTION III MINERALS
SECTION III MINERALS
Reference has already been made to the tar sands along the Athabaska River which evidence the presence of bitumen in great abundance, to coal along the same river and also on the banks of the Mackenzie near Fort Norman; to salt at different points on the Slave and Mackenzie Rivers, and to copper on the Coppermine River near the Arctic Sea. But these are probably only a few out of many varieties that exist in that vast unknown region. The gold of the Yukon and of Alaska in America and the various
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SECTION IV PLACER GOLD
SECTION IV PLACER GOLD
Captain Janes also reports the discovery of placer gold. He says that he found gold quartz with gold in it on the bank of a river and regarding this he writes as follows: “I washed out the nuggets and small particles of gold which I brought back with me, from a dark sand mixed with fine pebbles, found on the edge of this river. Close to this I found specimens of block tin, copper and iron. In other districts I also discovered graphite in abundance. I also discovered a very peculiar and heavy sto
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SECTION V TIMBER
SECTION V TIMBER
As we go north the varieties of trees greatly decrease in number, and in the sub-Arctic forest belt they are reduced to eight species, namely, white spruce ( picea Canadensis ), black spruce ( picea Mariana ), larch or tamarac ( larix Americana ), jack or Banksian pine ( pinus banksiana ), Canada Balsam ( abies balsamea ), aspen or white poplar ( populus tremuloides ), balsam poplar or balm of Gilead ( populus balsamea ), and canoe birch ( betula Papyrifers ). The first five of these belong to t
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SECTION VI ANIMALS
SECTION VI ANIMALS
One of the resources to which I have not yet referred is the native wild animals that find a home in the wilderness. Among them are, the moose, the caribou, the bear, the wood buffalo, and the musk ox, and the experiments recently made in Alaska and on the Labrador Coast by the introduction of the Lapland reindeer indicate that the semi-barren lands may yet furnish meat for export. To these must be added the fur-bearing animals for which the country is already famous. The beaker, martin, fox and
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SECTION VII FISH
SECTION VII FISH
The fish found in those cool northern waters are, as might be expected, for the most part of excellent quality. They are found in abundance in all the northern lakes and rivers; the whitefish ( coregonus ) being the most widely distributed. The pike ( lucius ) is also common in most of the waters. The fresh-water linge ( lota ) and the Arctic trout, sometimes called Back’s trout, are found in many of the lakes and streams. The inconnu ( stenodus ) is peculiar to the Mackenzie River. It was named
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SECTION VIII WILD FOWL
SECTION VIII WILD FOWL
The forest of America in the far north is essentially a solitude. In winter the stillness is deathlike and profound. In summer a few birds may be seen in the woods bordering on the great wilderness, but like man, they do not penetrate beyond its outskirts. It is true that the loon seeks out unfrequented lakes and his doleful cry may be heard where it is the only thing to indicate the existence of animal life. The visitor from more southern latitudes will certainly miss the melodious bird songs w
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SECTION IX INHABITANTS
SECTION IX INHABITANTS
Interesting as are the natural characteristics of the country and its undeveloped resources, the inhabitants who make their home there should demand from us first consideration. The Indian, the Esquimaux, the half breed, the white trader and the missionary constitute the different classes of the very scattered population of that vast region between the borders of civilisation on the south and the Arctic sea on the north. In the region traversed between Edmonton and Fort Yukon we meet with severa
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SECTION X HALF BREEDS
SECTION X HALF BREEDS
The term “Half breed” is applied throughout Western Canada in a general and indifferent way to the individual in whose veins there is an admixture of Indian and European blood. In some cases the proportion may be very largely that of the native race and in others quite the reverse; but in each case the individual is quite content to be classed under the general name. In the early days the country along the Red River and the Assiniboine in the Province of Manitoba was divided into parishes, in so
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SECTION XI THE TRADERS
SECTION XI THE TRADERS
I have already referred to the two great trading companies which a century ago held undisputed sway over the whole north country of what is now known as Canada. After the union of these corporations under the name of the Hudson’s Bay Company many years elapsed before the merged enterprises had much opposition. During these years they established many posts some of which were enclosed by a wall or stockade and dignified by the name of fort. The officers at the more important posts were generally
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SECTION XII MISSIONARIES
SECTION XII MISSIONARIES
The different religious denominations have left to the Roman Catholic and the Anglican the vast field included in the Arctic slope drained by the Mackenzie and its tributaries, as well as that of the Porcupine country to the west and the shores of the Arctic Sea to the north. At several points here and there over this vast area these two bodies have established missions and schools. Both bodies have been represented by Bishops whose names will not be forgotten by this or the succeeding generatio
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CONCLUSION AN APPEAL
CONCLUSION AN APPEAL
I cannot close without calling public attention to a matter that impressed me very forcibly on my journey and which has ever since been before my mind, and that is the great need for the establishment of a hospital somewhere in that vast region of the Mackenzie watershed and its vicinity. Here is a country sparsely populated to be sure, but of vast extent compared with which most European countries are insignificant. Between Edmonton and the Arctic Sea we pass over sixteen degrees of latitude, w
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