CHAPTER XII.
NORTHERN ALBERTA.
Tree Growth and Timber Resources.
An Abundance of Timber in the Vicinity of Chipewyan.—Much of the Country Has Been Swept by Fires.—Most of the Timber is Along the Rivers.—Millions of Cords of Pulp Wood.—Spruce and Black Bark Poplar the Principal Varieties.—The Water Power Possibilities Described as Tremendous.
The timber resources of northern Alberta, according to the evidence in hand, are very considerable, a matter of not a little importance in a new country. We will deal first with the eastern, or Athabaska division of this section.
In his evidence before the Senate committee of 1888, Professor John Macoun, Botanist to the Geological Survey, said:—“There is an abundance of timber in the vicinity of Chipewyan on Lake Athabaska. There are as fine spruce in the Athabaska delta as are to be found in any part of the northwest. I have measured trees on the Embarass river that were two feet and a half in diameter and were very tall. On Peace river, likewise, especially on islands, there are many large groves of spruce and poplar, which attain extraordinary dimensions.”
Mr. Alfred von Hamerstein informed the Senate committee in 1907 that from McMurray up in a westerly direction, for about twenty miles, there is very good timber. He had seen trees that would make one thousand feet of lumber. From Athabaska to House river there is timber standing yet. There had been some fires raging, but they had not burned it yet. The timber consists of some patches of spruce of a fairly good size, and the rest is poplar. From House river to McMurray there is no timber left. It is all burned out. There are patches here and there along the river, a couple of trees left standing, and there is some very fine timber in that. There is some timber which Mr. von Hamerstein used for his oil well boring work, and he had taken out strips sixty-four feet long, out of which he had cut his walking beams. There are only patches of this timber; the rest had been burned. A little further east there is some fine timber at Chipewyan. From the mouth of Peace river to about Fort Vermilion there is some good timber. Timber of the same quality ranges north for a considerable distance. There will be a range of timber four or five miles long, and then muskeg. From the Vermilion down there is no timber left; it is all burned up. There is no young timber growing up to speak of—at least Mr. von Hamerstein did not see any, except in a few places where a little young timber is starting to grow. Indeed it is mostly poplar, with patches here and there of spruce, but mostly poplar.
Saw Mill near Fort Smith.