The Unexploited West / A Compilation of all of the authentic information available at the present time as to the Natural Resources of the Unexploited Regions of Northern Canada

by Ernest J. Chambers

“From the entrance of the small channel of Peel river to the head of the upper island in the Mackenzie is nine miles. From the west shore to the southerly point of this island is a mile and a quarter; from the island to the east shore the distance is nearly as great, showing the river to be more than two miles wide at this point. However, it gradually narrows, and five miles above this is a little over a mile wide, which it averages up to the narrows, about sixty miles from Fort McPherson, or twenty-eight from where we entered it.

“A north wind raises quite a swell here and the salty odour of the sea air is quite perceptible above the delta.”

Agricultural Possibilities.

Alexander Mackenzie and the explorers who immediately followed him down the great river of the north, being fur traders, devoted no space in their published journals to a discussion of the agricultural possibilities of the country, and as their time was necessarily restricted they took no time on their journeys to examine any part of the territory, contenting themselves with noting the main features affecting the navigation of the main stream, the mouths, the tributaries, the occurrence of game, Indian camps, etc.

Following close upon the establishment of permanent trading posts and missions, came the pioneer attempts at agriculture in Mackenzie valley, and we find members of the first exploring parties sent to the country for scientific research commenting upon the crude experiments of the pioneer agriculturalists.

Doctor John Richardson, who accompanied Franklin’s expedition in 1826 (See p. 13), in his volume “The Polar Regions”, in a general description of the resources of the country at that date, wrote:—“Wheat has not been raised within the Arctic circle in America, nor indeed within six degrees of latitude of it. It requires a summer heat of one hundred and twenty days, but it is said to be cultivated up to the 62nd or 64th parallel on the west side of Scandinavian peninsula. Barley ripens well at Fort Norman on the 65th parallel, in the valley of the Mackenzie, after the lapse of ninety-two days from the time of its being sown. All attempts to cultivate it at old Fort Good Hope, two degrees farther north, have failed. Sixty-six degrees of latitude may therefore be considered as the extreme limit of the barley in Norway. Oats do not succeed so far north as barley here.

“At Fort Good Hope, on the Mackenzie (the new fort), in latitude 66¼ degrees north, a few turnips and radishes, and some other culinary vegetables, are raised in a sheltered corner, which receives the reflection of the sun’s rays from the walls of the house, but none of the cerealia will grow, and potatoes do not repay the labour.”

Domestic Cattle Introduced.

Doctor Richardson again referred to the same subject, after his return from his trip with Doctor Rae in 1848 in search of Sir John Franklin’s missing party, and we find in his book published after his return to England, “The Arctic Searching Expedition” (Vol. 1., p. 153), the following:—“We reached Fort Resolution at 10 a.m. and having received some supplies of fish, and two or three deals for repairing the boats, we resumed our voyage, after a halt at the Fort for an hour. Domestic cattle have been introduced at this place, and at the posts generally throughout the country, even up to Peel river and Fort Good Hope and within the Arctic circle. At this season the moschetoes (mosquitos) prevent them from feeding, except when urged by extreme hunger, and fires are made for their accommodation near the forts, to which they crowd, and lying to leeward amidst the smoke, ruminate at their ease.”

At page 165, regarding Fort Simpson (61° 51′ 25′′ north 121° 51′ 15′′ west) Richardson in the same book writes:—“Barley is usually sown here from May 20 to 25, and is expected to be ripe on August 20—ninety-two days. In some seasons it has ripened on August 15. Oats do not thrive quite so well, and wheat does not come to maturity. Potatoes yield well and no disease has yet affected them, though early frost sometimes hurts the crop. Barley in favorable seasons gives a good return at Fort Norman, which is farther down the river; and potatoes and various garden vegetables grow there. The 60th parallel of latitude may, therefore, be considered as about the northern limit of cerealia in this meridian; for though in good seasons and in warm sheltered spots a little barley might possibly be reared at Fort Good Hope, the attempts hitherto made there have failed.