The distance travelled in 1893 was three thousand two hundred miles, one thousand six hundred and fifty of which had not been previously surveyed or reported on in any way. The whole distance of six hundred miles from Churchill to Lake Winnipeg was covered on snowshoes. During the trip of the following year Mr. Tyrrell travelled two thousand nine hundred miles, one thousand seven hundred and fifty by canoe and seven hundred and twenty-five on snowshoes, most of this distance being through unexplored country.
Jas. W. Tyrrell, C.E., D.L.S., who formed part of this expedition, subsequently published a popular account of the trip of three thousand two hundred miles in a book entitled “Across the Sub-Arctics of Canada.”
During the summer of 1896 Mr. Tyrrell, travelling by canoe, made a survey of the northeastern portion of the old district of Saskatchewan and the adjacent parts of the then district of Keewatin, since annexed to Manitoba, the territory covered comprising an area of rather more than twenty-five thousand square miles, lying between north latitude 50° 40′ and 56°, and west longitude 97° 20′ and 122° 30′.
James Macintosh Bell, F.R.G.S., of the Geological Survey of Canada, made a geological reconnaissance of the north arm of Great Slave lake in 1899, wintered at Fort Resolution, and in 1900, accompanied by Mr. Charles Camsell, travelled to Great Bear lake, made a geological exploration of its northern shores, and returned by a chain of lakes to the north arm of Great Slave lake, proceeding to Edmonton the same winter.
In the summer of 1899, Mr. D. B. Dowling of the Geological Survey explored the upper part of Burntwood river from Three Point lake to its head near Reed lake, Kississing river, from the north end of Athapapuskow lake to its mouth on Churchill river, and the Churchill from above Sisipuk lake to the end of the long arm running from Nelson lake. During the summer of 1893 Mr. Dowling conducted an exploration in that part of southern Keewatin just to the east of the then eastern boundary of Manitoba, and north of the then northern boundary of Ontario. The area covered, now forming part of the province of Ontario, extends from English river and Lac Seul northwards to Berens river, the eastern branch of which forms approximately the northern limit of the area. To the east the exploration included the heads of streams flowing eastward to Cat lake, and on the west White river, a southern branch of Berens river, with the western end of Red lake, confines its extent in that direction.
In 1900, J. W. Tyrrell, C.E., D.L.S., who had been assistant to his brother in 1893, conducted an important exploration of the country between Great Slave lake and Chesterfield inlet on Hudson bay. In all, one thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine miles of survey were accomplished, and in the performance of this four thousand six hundred miles were travelled
With Sleds and Canoes.
Mr. Tyrrell proceeded via Resolution, Great Slave lake, old Fort Reliance, Lockhart river, Pike’s portage, Artillery lake, Clinton-Colden lake, Smart lake, Sifton lake, Hanbury river and Thelon river to a point near the confluence of Dubawnt river. Hence a portion of the party under the direction of C. C. Fairchild, C.E., was despatched to survey Aberdeen, Schultz and Baker lakes, while Mr. Tyrrell returned up the Thelon to devote his attention to the upper part of the river and the divide between the upper Thelon and Artillery lake, traversing, unattended, the one hundred and sixty miles between a small branch of the Thelon and Artillery lake. The party was reunited at Artillery lake, and returned to civilization via Resolution, Chipewyan and Edmonton.
In 1898, Mr. David T. Hanbury tried to reach the unexplored tract between Chesterfield inlet and Great Slave lake via the Norway-House—York-Factory—Churchill route. Finding that he arrived too late at the latter place, he decided to spend the summer on the Hudson bay coast and make preparations for an early start the following year. In 1899, he made an interesting trip from Churchill to Great Slave lake via Chesterfield inlet, Thelon and Ark-i-linik rivers, Clinton-Colden and Artillery lakes, and Lockhart river. As he was the first white man to explore Ark-i-linik or Thelon river, its most western affluent has since been called Hanbury river. In 1901, Mr. Hanbury travelled from Edmonton to Depot island in the northern part of Hudson bay, via Fort Resolution, Great Slave lake, Artillery lake, Hanbury, Thelon and Dubawnt rivers, Baker lake, Chesterfield inlet and Marble island. He spent most of the winter in an Esquimaux camp near Baker lake, and in February started on an adventurous trip back to civilization via Aberdeen lake and Thelon river, thence overland to Buchanan river, down that stream to Backs river, thence to the coast, westward along the coast to the mouth of the Coppermine, up the Coppermine to Kendall river, via Dismal lake, Dease river, Great Bear lake and Great Bear river to Fort Norman. Mr. Hanbury gives an interesting account of these trips in his book “Sport and Travel in the Northland of Canada.”
The United States Biological Survey, in the early spring of 1901, determined to send Mr. Edward A. Preble, Assistant of the Survey and one of its trained field naturalists, to obtain representative collections of the mammals, birds and plants of the great interior region west of Hudson bay drained mainly by the Mackenzie and described in the reports of the Survey as the most neglected large area in North America. As it was evident that only part of the region could be examined satisfactorily in a single season, it was determined to make first a reconnaissance of the region about Athabaska and Great Slave lakes. The route followed by Mr. Preble’s party was via Great Slave lake, including the north arm, to Fort Rae; the chain of lakes and rivers by way of Lake St. Croix to MacTavish bay; Great Bear lake and Great Bear river to the Mackenzie. It had been the intention of Mr. Preble, who was accompanied by his brother and Mr. James MacKinley, formerly of the Hudson’s Bay Company, to cross by one of the Indian routes to the upper Coppermine and to descend that stream, but various circumstances rendered this impossible and he was obliged to take the shorter and more westerly route.