Mr. R. G. McConnell, in his report of his explorations in 1887, stated that along the lower Liard the trees observed consisted of white spruce, aspen and tall, straight cottonwood, with some Banksian pine and canoe birch, and an undergrowth of willows and alders.
According to Mr. Ogilvie the country about Wrigley is wooded. He noticed a spruce log near the post that was twenty inches in diameter. Mr. Ogilvie states in his report: “It may, in short, be said, that away from the immediate vicinity of the river, there is no timber of value in the sense in which the term is used in the east. Below Fort Wrigley, and even above that point, in some places the banks are low, flat and swampy, with trees much larger than those on the higher lands, many of them being fit to make fairly good lumber.”
Mr. Joseph Keele reported in 1908:—“The timber resources of Gravel river (which flows into the Mackenzie from the westward above Fort Norman) are very moderate, the white and black spruce trees of any importance being confined to the alluvial flats, which on this river are very limited in extent, and the best white groves average about ten inches in diameter. Generally very few trees grow higher than about one thousand feet above the river, owing to the steep slopes of rock and talus of the valley walls.”
Fort Norman Region.
According to Mr. Preble, the white spruce on the Mackenzie does not attain the size reached farther south, but is still a stately tree. One measured by Richardson on the Mackenzie above Fort Norman was one hundred and twenty-two feet in height. On the alluvial banks and islands of lower Mackenzie and Peel rivers it attains a diameter of eighteen inches. On the northern slopes of the mountains near the mouth of the Nahanni this tree ascends to timberline, but above an altitude of five hundred feet seldom exceeds a height of twenty-five feet.
As has been already said, the general aspect of the forest does not alter in the descent of the Mackenzie. The white spruce continues to be the chief tree. In the Fort Norman quarter (speaking generally) it attains a girth of four or five feet, and a height of about sixty in a growth of from two to three hundred years, as shown by the annual layers of wood. One tree, cut down in a sheltered valley near Clark’s hill, south of Great Bear river which flows into the Mackenzie at Fort Norman, measured the unusual length of one hundred and twenty-two feet, but was comparatively slender. Most of the timber is twisted, particularly where the trees grow in exposed situations. The Banksian pine was not traced to the north of Great Bear river, but the black spruce, in a stunted form, is found on the borders of swamps as far as the woods extend.
Great Bear river is described by J. M. Bell (Geological Survey Report 1904) as follows:—“The clear waters of Great Bear river join the Mackenzie through a deep wooded valley. For the first forty miles the banks are well wooded with white spruce, canoe birch, aspen and balsam poplar. Mount Charles rises to a height of one thousand five hundred feet on the left side of the river. In climbing the hill I was surprised at the size of the trees around its lower slope. White spruce of about twenty inches diameter were quite common as well as fine specimens of canoe-birch, balsam, poplar and aspen. At the lake the country is quite destitute of trees, as they have all been used for fuel by the Indians.”
Doctor Dawson stated before the Senate committee of 1888 that Richardson had described the white spruce as attaining a girth of four or five feet, and a height of sixty feet in Mackenzie valley as far north as Bear lake river. One tree in that locality measured one hundred and twenty-two feet in height. It appeared that the white spruce was the most prevalent tree throughout Mackenzie valley, and its wood was fairly good for all constructive purposes.
The Black Spruce.
Mr. McConnell (Senate Committee Report, 1888) says that jackpine occurs in places as far north as Fort Good Hope. Although not growing very large some of the trees would be big enough for railway ties. He explained that the country is not forest continually as it is here (Ontario), but most of the country is open wood. Nearly all the muskegs are covered with, or surrounded by, black spruce. Mr. McConnell agrees with other travellers of this region in saying that very little change in the character of the forest was observed in descending the Mackenzie, and with the exception of the Banksian pine, which disappears south of Bear river, the same species as previously noticed by Richardson are found from Great Slave lake to the mouth of Peel river.