REPORT 
 
 ON 
 
 THE LINE OF ROUTE 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 LAKE SUPEEIOR AND THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENT 
 
 Kxtracta aV iteport of l«Oft*. 
 
 In reporting as to the best means of opening a line of communication bet- 
 ween Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement, I beg to be permitted, hi 
 the first place, to refer briefly to the operations of the Red River Expedition, 
 carried on for several years under my direction, as it will, I doubt not, be satis- 
 factory to the Government to know that the suggestions which I have the 
 honor to submit are not the expression of mere theoretical views, but the 
 result of long-continued investigation, under official instructions from the Ca- 
 nadian Government. 
 
 The earlier Reports of the Expedition were printed by order of the Legisla- 
 ture, but those sent in during the last year of its operations have never been 
 published. The present Report will contain all that is believed t© be of imme- 
 diate importance in these documents ; that is, ;n regard to the subject under 
 consideration. 
 
 The following Maps are annexed for convenience of reference : — 
 
 1. A plan, on a scale of two miles to one inch, showing the country bet- 
 ween Thunder Bay and Lac des Mille Lacs, Dog Lake, line of road, position of 
 dam, itc. 
 
 2. A Plan of the Lake Region, on a scale of four miles to one inch, showing 
 the country between the Height of Land and Fort Frances. 
 
 3. A plan on a scale of ten miles to one inch, showing the country between 
 Fort Frances and Fort Garry, 
 
 4. A Map, in profile, showing the relative altitude of the Routes by Pigeon 
 River and the Kaministiquia. 
 
 Plan No. 3 might be lithographed at small cost, and I think it would be 
 advisable to have it published, as it is the only correct one of the section which 
 it exhibits. 
 
 The Red River Expedition consisted at its outset of three distinct parties, 
 receiving their instructions from three different Departments of Government. 
 One of these was under my direction, one under Mr. Napier's, while Mr. 
 Gladman, a retired officer of the Hudson's Bay Company, who had the guidance 
 of the Expedition on the journey te Red River, had a separate party of his own. 
 
 Tho parties thus organised set out in July, 1857, and proceeding by the usual 
 canoe route from Fort William, made numerous explorations, determined th« 
 
 11 
 
1G2 
 
 levels as they went, and eventually arrived at the Red River Settlement in th« 
 fall of the same year. 
 
 Mr. Gladman, after a short stay, returned by the way he had come to Toronto, 
 where his connection with the Expedition soon aftervrards ceased, while Pro- 
 fessor Hind, who, I should have mentioned, had been attached to the party as 
 geologist, proceeded by way of the Red River over the prairies to St. Paul. 
 
 My assistants at this time were Mr. Lindsay A. Russell, Mr. J. F. Gaudet, 
 Mr. Alex. W. Wells and Col. C. de Salaberry. The threa first-named gentlemen 
 were surveyors, all of whom are of high standing in their profession, while Col. 
 de Salaberry acted chiefly as Commissary — an important office in a region where 
 provisions were not always very abundant. 
 
 The Winter of 1857-58 was chiefly occupied in exploring the country between 
 the Lake of the Woods and lied River, a region at that time but little known, 
 and reported to be impassable in summer, on account of swamps which wcr« 
 said to cover the greater portion of its area. At the same time, an instrumental 
 survey was made, so as to connect Fort Garry with the survey made many years 
 previously by the Boundary Commissioners, under the treaty of Ghent. This 
 enabled us to establish with accuracy the longitude of l-ort (i.irry, which, on 
 the maps then in use, was set down as much as twenty-one minutes too far to 
 the west. 
 
 The party were also able, before the opening of navigation, to explore the 
 Rosseau River and make an instrumental survey of the Red Kivi rand Lake Win- 
 nipeg, between Fort Alexander, at the mouth of the Winnipeg River, and the 
 Boundary Line at Pembina. 
 
 Immediately after the opening of the navigation, having organized a party of 
 half-breed Indians and procured canoes, we proceeded by way of the Manitoba 
 and Winnepegoos Lakes to the great Saskatchewan River, and examined the 
 rapids and impediments to the navigation between Lac Bourbon and Lake 
 Winnipeg. The levels were determined with care, and the " Track Survey '' which 
 we had made of the Lake Coasts, as we proceeded, was corrected as often as 
 possible by observations for latitude and longitude. 
 
 Separating our party at the Mossy Portage, the name by which the path bet- 
 ween Lake SVinnipegoos and Lac Bourbon is called, I sect Mr. Wells to explore 
 Lac Dauphin and survey the route by way of the Little Saskatchewan and Lake 
 Winnipeg to the mouth of the Red River, appointing the 1st of July following 
 to meet him at the settlement. 
 
 Taking with me my assistants, Mr. Gaudet, and Mr de Salaberry, and a few 
 Indians, I ascended Swan River, crossed from thence to Fort Pelly, and descended 
 by the Assiniboine to Fort Garry, having on this excurnion obtained much in- 
 formation as to the soil and climate of a very extensive district, and made such 
 observations as enabled us to delineate its geography with tolerable accuracy. 
 
 Throughout the entire period during whidi our head quarters were at the 
 Red River Settlement, a Meteorological Register was kept, regularly, under the 
 supervi.sion of Mr. Russell, and it has since been of considerable value, as, taken 
 in connection with some reliable observations made by others, it has served not 
 a little to dispel the absurd ideas which at one time prevailed in regard, to the 
 severity of the climate and the duration of the winters. 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1858, our party was once more assembled at the Rt^d 
 River Settlement, anu having with some difficulty procured supplies, we set 
 out, with all possil)le dispatch, for a more thorough exploration of the country 
 between Rainy Lake and Lake Superior. Among the intitructions received from 
 the Government at this time were the following : — 
 
 , ni=i / • - . , . it " Secbetaby's OrncE, ' '^ ' 
 
 ,. .i> - . . " Toronto, 16th April, 1858. ' 
 
 " SiB, — Adverting to the last paragraph in my letter to you this day, I have 
 the honor to inform you, that it is not thought necessary to make any alteratiunii 
 
163 
 
 in the instructions for your future operations, contained in the Order in Council 
 of 29th January last, 
 
 " You will therefore consider these instructions, 80 far as your explorationii 
 are concerned, still in force, 
 
 "I am to add, however, that if time allows it, your will endeavor ,o survey 
 the road between Gun Flint Lake and Pointe de Meuron, and when returuinj? 
 from the North-West Corner ot the Lake of the Woods and passing through 
 Rainy Lake, make occasional traverses when practicable, with a view to ascer- 
 tain the extent of arable land in that locality. 
 
 " I am further to state that His Excellency, having every confidence in your 
 judgment, does not think it right to trammel your movements by detailed 
 instructions, and that you are therefore at liberty to make any other explora- 
 tions in addition to those particularly mentioned in the instructions already 
 conveyed to you, should you, upon the information obtained in the locality, 
 <leem it desirable you should do so. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, Sir, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 (Signed,) " T, J J. Lokanqbr, 
 
 " Secretary." 
 
 ^' S. J. Dawson, Esq., 
 
 '• Civil Engineer in command, 
 
 " of the Ivcd Rivt r Expedition.' 
 
 From that time forward, for the remainder of the season, and during the winter 
 of 1858-53, our explorations wore confined chiefly, I may sav exclusively, to 
 the country between Eaiuy Lake and Lake Superior. Two well appointed par- 
 ties were kept constantly at work, and semetimes three. Instrumental surveys 
 were carried from Lake Superior, westward, through Dog Lake, Dog River, Lac 
 des Mille Lacs and the Seine, to within a short distance of Rainy Lake. The 
 levels were taken from Jourdain's Rapid to Dog Lake, and from that Lake across, 
 by the line laid out as a road, to Lake Superior. 
 
 In the spring of 1859, having learned that a party fitted out by the people of 
 Red River, who at that time took a great deal of interest in promoting the de- 
 velopment of the country, had been baffled in an attempt to take horses through 
 to the Lake of the Woods, had in fact got bewildered in swamps, from which 
 they had experienced much difficulty in extricating themselves, and as the im- 
 pressions as to that section ot the country being impracticable for roads was 
 thus gaining confirmation, I hastened to the Lake of the Woods, with the most 
 active of my assistants, and proceeding to its western extremity had the good 
 fortune to secure the services of an Indian Chief, who undertook to show utt 
 ground on which the country could be crossed. 
 
 Leaving my assistants to find their way across with the Chief, I proceeded by 
 way of the Winnipeg to Red River Settlement, where I had not long to wait for 
 their arrival. They reported that the Chief had led them to a gravelly ridge 
 which extended, with but few breaks, for a long distance across the most 
 twampy parts of the country, and that the remains of Indian encampmentg 
 showed that it had been much used as a pathway, in timed long past. 
 
 A number of men were immediately engaged in the Settlement, and jent to 
 open the line which had been traced, in each a way as to render it passable for 
 horses ; and over tiiis line our party rode clear through to the Lake of the Woods, 
 ■on horseback. 
 
 The line thus opened was used afterwards as a Post road for the conveyance 
 of Mails on horseback, and it requires but slight knowledge of engineering to 
 understand that ground, over which horses can be ridden, is not so swampy as 
 to be impracticable for roads. 
 
 Returning again to Rainy Lake, we made a more thorough examination of the 
 Lakes, by the old canoe route, than we had previously had an opportunity of 
 doing, and the result led me to the couclusioa that, considering the long reachec 
 
164 
 
 o( navigable water on that route, 11 could be rendered arailable, in the first in- 
 ■tance, to greater advantiige and at less outlay than the line by the Seine, 
 which had been examined and reported on the previous year. 
 
 Arriving at Lake Superior, I was joined by my aHsistant, Mr. Wells, who had 
 ipent the whole summer in examining the country about the Height of Land 
 and Lac des Mille Lacs. The fall being now far advanced, the parties were 
 gradually withdrawn, such of them as we had left at the Lake of the Woods 
 returning only in the beginning of November. 
 
 To sum up, the explorations and surveys were thus continued, uninterrupt- 
 edly, for three summers and two winters. There were generally three well- 
 appointed parties simultaneously at work, in different sections, and, whether at 
 Lake Superior or the Lake of the Woods — the one a swampy and the other a 
 hilly region — they always availed themselves of the aid of the natives, whose 
 occupation of hunting, pursued from youth to age, within particular areas, 
 rendered their local knowledge of the greatest value. 
 
 A considerable period of time has now elapsed since the operations of the Red 
 River expedition were brought to a close, and since that time there has been 
 no further exploration whatever in the country between Lake Superior and the 
 Red Kiver Settlement, so that such of our preliminary Reports as have been 
 published are the only sources of information generally available. 
 
 Having thus briefly alluded to the surveys and explorations made by me, or 
 under my direction, I proceed to describe the different sections of the country 
 in detail, pointing out, as concisely as possible, the works and improvements 
 required, and the reasons for adopting particular lines of route or starting 
 points. 
 
 For the sake of convenience, in description, the country between Lake Su- 
 perior and the Red River Settlement may properly be regarded as forming four 
 divisions. 
 
 The first, embracing the region to the east of the water-shed, or Height of 
 Land, will be referred to as the " Lake Superior Section." 
 
 The next, extending from the Height of Land to Fort Frances, I propose to 
 designate as the " Lake Region." 
 
 The navigable reach, extending from Fort Frances to the north-west angle 
 of the Lake of the Woods, will be called the " Lake of the Woods Divi- 
 sion. 
 
 While that between the north-west angle and the Red River Settlement may 
 not inappropriately be known as the '• Fort Garry Section." 
 
 LAKE SUPERIOR SECTION. 
 
 The country between the Boundary Line, at Pigeon River, and the head or 
 eastern end of Thunder Bay, was carefully examined with the view of finding a 
 practical route from Lake Superior to some one of the water systems leading 
 from the Height of Land, westward, to Rainy Lake. 
 
 On all the routes, proposed or suggested, I had at various times during th« 
 progress of the expedition, reported to the Government, so that, here, I need 
 only state the leading advantages or objections which attach, respectively, 
 to each. 
 
 THl PIGBOK RIVBB BOCTB. 
 
 The nature of this route, and the objections to it, will be found pretty fully 
 •tated in my preliminary reporta, printed by order of the Legislature— PagM 7 
 and 27. 
 
^ 165 
 
 The gUrting point is entirely within the United States territory, and, for a 
 distance of one hundred and fifty miles, the canoe route forms the Boundary Line. 
 But this is far from being the only objection. The ascent from Lake Superior 
 is yery rapid and steep, and at the Height of Land, and far to the westward 
 thereof, the route leads over a very high and broken region. The lakes at the 
 summit of the water-shed are 1,058 feet above the level of Lake Superior, and, 
 even at that elevation, are embosomed in rocky hills which rise to the height 
 of several hundreds of feet around them. Moreover, the supply of water is so 
 inadequate as to forbid the idea of improving the navigation, and there is no 
 source from whence a supply can be obtained. The route itself is at the summit 
 of supply, and touches in its course on the head waters of no less than four 
 different rivers. 
 
 Between Pigeon River and the Kaministiquia, there are several good harbours 
 on the coast, but from these access to the interior would be exceedingly difficult, 
 and could only be provided at enormous outlay. 
 
 It was at one time suggested that a practical line might be found by which 
 to cross the country from Pointe de Meuron, so as to join the Pigeon River 
 Route, to the westward of the Height of Land. This point I was instructed to 
 investigate, and accordingly despatched Mr. L. A. Russell, with a well-appointed 
 party, to explore in the direction which had been indicated. He ran a line from 
 Pointe de Meuron to Gun Flint Lake, a distance of some fifty-four miles, and exa- 
 mined the ground on either side thereof, but his report and field notes show 
 that the country which he traversed was too rough and impracticable to admit 
 of an available line of communication. 
 
 In concluding my notice of this route, I may say that, for a distance of one 
 hundred and thirty miles from Lake Superior, westward, it cannot be made 
 in any way available as a line of water communication, except for small canoes ; 
 that the country being for a great part of the distance rugged, mountainous and 
 cut up with lakes, it is next to impracticable for roads, and, finally, that there 
 being a much better route to the eastward, entirely within British territory, 
 there would be no object in attempting to open this line, or spending further 
 sums in its exploration. 
 
 KAMINISTIQUIA BOCTB. 
 
 This is the old canoe route of the North- West and Hudson's Bay Companies. 
 On this line the supply of water is ample, and the elevation of the country at 
 the summit of the water-shed less, by some two hundred teet, than on the Pigeon 
 River Route, while it is at the same time, that is, at the turn of the water-shed, 
 comparatively level and practicable for roads. Dog Lake, a large sheet of water 
 on the Kaministiquia, twenty-four miles inland from Lake Superior, extends for 
 a distance of some twenty miles in a direction nearly parallel to the western 
 coast of Thunder Bay, To the westward of this lake, the principal stream 
 which supplies it with wattr— Dog River— can be made navigable nearly to the 
 Height of Land (and it will be so when a dam now in progress of construction 
 is completed), so that, between river and lake, an available reach of some thirty- 
 five miles could be commanded. It became, then-fore, a matter of importance 
 to find access to this navigable reach^ and with this end in view, the levels ot 
 the Kaministiquia were determined, and the country between Dog Lake and 
 Lake Superior explored. 
 
 Dog Lake was found to be at an elevation of 7 1 8 feet above the level of Lake 
 Superior, and the intervening country proved to be extremely mountainous 
 and rough, while the difficulties by water were of a still more formidable 
 character. 
 
 The Kaministiquia, after leaving Dog Lake, runs nearly south to its con- 
 fluence with Fish River, then eastwardly to Pointe de Meuron, and thence 
 north-east to its discharge, making a sweep of sixty miles before it reaches Lake 
 
166 
 
 Snperior ; and as it has in that distance to get down a declivity of 718 feet, it* 
 character, in regard to its capacity for navigation, may be easily imagined. It 
 aifords, however, an available, although a diffictilt route for canoes ; but, for 
 large craft, it could only be made navigable at an outlay which no circum8tance» 
 likely to arise would warrant. 
 
 A land road to Dog Lake, therefore, became indispensable, and, after much 
 careful investigation and exploration, an available pass was found and a line 
 laid out, and on this line during the past summer a fair commencement was 
 made, and six miles of road, reckoning from Thunder Bay, completed. 
 
 The starting point is at a place called the Depot, on Thunder Bay, about 
 three miles to the eastward of the mouth of the Kaministiquia, and at this point 
 there is, in my opinion, every facility for constructing wharves and forming a 
 perfectly safe harbour. 
 
 The Kaministiquia, itself, has been strongly recommended as a harbour, but,^ 
 in its present state, it is inaccessible to vessels drawing more than five and a 
 half feet of water, on account of a bar or shoal of great extent at its mouth. Its 
 adoption would involve the dredging of a channel, and the construction of ex- 
 tensive piers or walls of heavy crib work, on either side thereof, to prevent it 
 from being filled up by the action of the ice which, at certain seasons, ploughs over 
 the bar. Another consideration, which should not be lost sight of, is that the 
 causes which produced the shoal are still in operation. Quantities of sediment 
 are brought down with every freshet, more especially in the spring, and the 
 dredging would have to be repeated at intervals to keep the channel, once 
 formed, open. 
 
 Everything considered, therefore, I would not for the present recommend the 
 Government to undertake the dredging of the Kaministiquia, and the construc- 
 tion of extensive works to keep the channel so formed from filling up. The 
 first great object is to open the communication with Fort Garry ; and, when that 
 is accomplished, there will be no lack of means, from private sources, or of en- 
 terprise, to render the Kaministiquia an accessible harbour. In the meantime, 
 it might seriously affect the enterprise if large sums were to be expended at its 
 very outset on merely local works. 
 
 Fort William is, however, even at present, accessible to the smaller class oi 
 schooners or fishing vessels which navigate Lake Superior, It is, besides, a 
 place ot importance as being the centre of such trade as is carried on, and it 
 will gradually become of increased consequence, as the mines in the vicinity 
 are developed, and the fertile portion of the valley of the Kaministiquia fills 
 up with settlement. For these reasons, it is expedient to connect it by a branch 
 line with the Dog Lake Road, as shown on the accompanying plan, and for this 
 purpose I have included a sum of seven thousand dollars ($7,000) in the esti- 
 mate, which I have now the honor to submit. 
 
 Before concluding this subject, I would call attention to the fact that many 
 persons who take a deep interest in that part of the country are under the im- 
 pression that by going up the Kaministiquia to Pointe de Meuron, or as far as 
 the navigable water extends — a distance of some ten or twelve miles — the 
 length of land road, which would then be required to reach Dog Lake, would be 
 by so much shortened. But this is a mistake. Pointe de Meuron is, in an air 
 line, somewhat further than either Fort William or the Depot from Dog Lake, 
 and there would, consequently, be no object in taking cargoes up a narrow 
 channel to a point which brought them no nearer to their destination. The 
 branch line should, therefore, start from Fort William and not from Pointe da 
 Meuron. From the former place the Dog Lake Road can be reached in six or 
 •even miles, while, from the latter, ten at least would be required, with corres- 
 ponding increase in the outlay. A glance at the map will show clearly what I 
 have endeavored to explain. 
 
 It has been objected to the Depot as a starting point, that it is shelterless, and 
 that the ice will tear away any wharves that can be built. 
 
167 
 
 Now, on reference to the map, it will be seen that Thumder Bay isitgelf a har- 
 bour, although of somewhat large dimensions, completely land-locked and shel- 
 tered from every wind ; any swell therefore, which can be felt must arise within 
 the Bay itself. The huge surges of Lake Superior do rot roll into it at all, and 
 it may be regarded for all practical purposes, in relation to the subject under 
 consideration, as an inland lake. Looking upon it in this light, the starting 
 point at the Depot is in a Bay of moderate depth, completely sheltered from the 
 prevailing winds, which are westerly. A glance at the map will show that it ig 
 safe from winds blowing from the west, south-west, north and north-west ; and 
 I may add that a wind blowing from a direction fifteen or twenty points to the 
 east of north, would not afi"ect it. East, or south-easterly winds, alone, would 
 blow in upon the harbour, but the extent of their sweep would be limited to the 
 width of Thunder Bay, and the surge which could arise in that distance may 
 easily be guarded against. That the swell has no great eflfect in Thunder Bay, 
 at any time, is demonstrated by the fact, that the trees grow clear down almost 
 to the level of the water, indeed, in some places, dipping their branches into 
 it ; whereas, in exposed parts of Lake Superior, the wave-lashed shores are de- 
 stitute of vegetation. 
 
 It has been said, moreover, that the ice would carry wharves away, and, as 
 convincing proof of this, a boulder was pointed out to me which had been 
 shoved ashore by the ice; I m^^rely notice this to show the sort of arguments 
 which have been advanced to disparage Thunder Bay and promote the Kami- 
 nistiquia. If wharves cannot stand in the tranquil waters of a land-locked bay 
 they can stand nowhere, and those who object to them in Thunder Bay, on the 
 score of ice, can have had but little experience of such a river as the St. Law- 
 rence, where wharves are built to resist ice rushing against them in immense 
 fields, with the full force of the spring floods, as is the case at Three Rivera 
 when Lake St. Peter is breaking up. 
 
 Among the advantages which the Depot at Thunder Bay possess, may be men- 
 tioned the facility of approach or departure to sailing vessels, as they would 
 have ample sea-room to beat in or out, which they could not have in a narrow 
 river like the Kaministiquia, with a shoal at its mouth extending a full mile 
 from the coast ; and a very important point to be considered is that Thunder 
 Bay, as compared to the Kaministiquia, opens earlier in the spring and remains 
 open later in the fall. As an instance of this, it may be remarked that, in the 
 fall of 1866, when the steamer Algoma made her last trip, the Kaministiquia is 
 said to have been frozen over, and that so strongly that the people of Fort Wil- 
 liam werj skating on the ice. 
 
 From the Depot, eastward along the shore of Thunder Bay, the ground for a 
 distance of several miles is practicable for a road, and there are facilities for the 
 construction of wharves, in various places, more especially at a point a little to 
 the eastward of Current River, where there is a small natural harbour, which, by 
 means of piers, might be sufficiently extended. 
 
 It was at one time believed that the upper or eastern end of Thunder Bay, 
 afi"ording as it does an excellent natural harbor, would have been a favorable 
 point from which to run a line of road to Dog Lake, but a careful examination 
 showed such a line to be impracticable, within any reasonable limit of expen- 
 diture, on account of the nigged nature of the country over which it would 
 have had to pass. Moreover, to have adopted the head of the bay would have 
 increased the distance to be navigated by some forty miles, that is, including 
 the addition both in Dog Lake and the bay. 
 
 Referring again to the locality which has been chosen as the starting point at 
 Thunder Bay, it is admirably adopted for the construction of wharves. The 
 water deepens uniformly and gradually from the shore, iintil, at a distance of 
 five hundred feet, it has a depth of three fathoms and a half. Timber suit- 
 able for the work is very abundant on the Kaministiquia, whence it could be 
 easily floaded down, and on various parts of the shores there is abundance of 
 
168 
 
 loose stone for filling the piers, and the fixed rock, close at hand, is of a natnre 
 to be easily blasted. 
 
 At present, it is proposed merely to sink an isolated pier or breakwater, at 
 which vessels can discharge their loads, doing in fact no more than is necessary 
 to facilitate the landing of material and supplies for the works, leaving it to a 
 future consideration whether the wharves shall be extended at the public cost, 
 or left to private enterprise 
 
 {See Mr. Dawson s Report of 1st of May, 1869, pa^e 171, de- 
 scribing the route as finally adopted and opened by Lake Sheband- 
 owan.) 
 
 THE INDIAN ELEMENT, 
 
 In opening the communication to Red River, the country will be brought, to 
 some extent, into contact with the Indians, who have their hunting grounds on 
 the line of route. 
 
 Hitherto, Canada has been fortunate in dealing with the Indian element ; 
 and, in the present case, I see no reason for anticipating greater difficulty than 
 has arisen in the past. 
 
 The only localities where the Indians are at all numerous, are at the Lake of 
 the Woods and Rainy River, but the entire population does not greatly exceed 
 three thousand. They can, however, collect in summer in larger numbers than 
 Indians usually do, from the fact that they have abundance of food. This is 
 afforded by the wild rice of the country which they collect, and by the fish 
 which literally swarm in the lakes and rivers ; some industry practised on their 
 own part, too, in raising Indian corn, serves to supply them to a small extent. 
 I have seen as many as five or six hundred of them collected at one time, at the 
 rapids on Rainy River, engaged in catching sturgeon, the flesh of which they 
 preserve by dryiig it like Pemican and then pounding it up and putting it, with 
 a due mixture of oil, into bags made of sturgeon's skin. 
 
 They have a rude sort of Government, and the regulations made by their 
 Chiefs are observed, it is said, better than laws usually are where there are no 
 great means of enforcing them. 
 
 They are very intelligent, and are extremely jealous as to their right of soil and 
 authority over the country which they occupy. 
 
 When the Red River Expedition first came in contact with them, the/ mani- 
 fested some displeasure, and were not slow to express it, at parties being sent 
 through *^heir country, to explore and examine it, without their consent being 
 first asked and obtained. On becoming better acquainted with them, we found 
 it to our advantage to keep up a little friendly intercourse with the Chiefs, cal- 
 ling upon them as we passed, and interchanging a few presents of no great 
 value. When we had adopted this course, all difficulties vanished, and, ere the 
 explorations were brought to a close, they manifested and expressed an earnest 
 wish to see the communication opened. 
 
 The chief danger which could arise of coming into unfriendly relations with 
 the Indians, would be from having large parties of workmen in the vicinity of 
 their encampments. Now, this is a contingency not likely to arise, from the 
 fact that where the Indians are numerous the navigation is unimpeded and but 
 little work required ; but, as a rule, extreme prudence will always have to be 
 observed by the officers in charge of men to keep them from coming in contact 
 with the Indians. 
 
 These Indians are all heathens, and never seem to have been in the slightest 
 degree impressed by the Missionaries who have attempted their conversion. 
 They are, however, very pious in their own way, and much of their time seems 
 
169 
 
 to be occnpied In religious obHenranccB, which hare their manifestations in long 
 fasts and niphts of watching, when they pretend to hold familiar intercourse with 
 Spirits, whose presence, in the secret recesses of their lodges, is indicated by 
 drum-beating, chanting, incantations and many unearthly noises besides. At 
 stated intervals, the greatest and most solemn ceremony of the tribe, the Mys- 
 tical Feast of the White Dog, is held at Fort Frances, and, at such times, the 
 gravity and terrible earnestness of their demeanor would do no discredit to 
 more civilized congregations. 
 
 In appearance these Indians arc tall and well formed, and in bearing 
 independent ; sometimes, even a little saucy, but in their intercourse with 
 ■trangers they are hospitable an»l kind. Their morality is said to be of a high 
 order, as compared to that of the Indians of the Plains. 
 
 They are, in general, keen traders, and seem to know the value of what they 
 get and give, as well as any people in the world. Some of those who assemble 
 at Rainy River for the sturgeon fishing, in summer, come from Red Lake, in the 
 neighboring State of Minnesota, where they possess hunting grounds ; and, 
 among these latter, are some who have being parties to treaties with the United 
 States for relinquishing certain tracts for settlement, for which they are now in 
 receipt of annual payments. The experience they have tuus gained has rendered 
 them expert diplomatists, as compared to Indians who have never had such 
 advantages, and they have not failed to impress on their kindred and tribe, 
 on Rainy River, the value of the lands which they hold on the line of route 
 to Red River. 
 
 Any one who, in negociating with these Indians, should suppose he had mere 
 children to deal with, would find himself mistaken. In their manner of expres- 
 sing themselves, indeed, they make use of a great deal of allegory, and their 
 illustrations may at time appear :;hildish enough, but, in their actual dealings, 
 they are shrewd and sufliciently awake to their own interests, and, if the matter 
 should be one of importance, affecting the general interests of the tribe, they 
 neither reply to a proposition, nor make one themselves, until it is fully 
 discussed and deliberated upon in Council of all the Chiefs. 
 
 The Chiefs are fond of asking any travellers whom they believe to be of im" 
 portance, to attend si Grand Council, as it afiordg them an opportunity of making 
 speeches, which are meant quite as much to swell their importance in the eyes 
 of their own people as to impress the stranger ; and with their people these 
 meetings are popular, as it affor^^s them an excuse for making a holiday, and 
 coming out in all the varieties of colour which paint, unsparingly applied, can 
 produce. 
 
 At these gatherings it is necessary to observe extreme caution in what is said, 
 as, although they have no means of writing, there are always those present who 
 are charged to keep every word in mind. As an instance of the manner in which 
 records are in this way kept, without writing, I may mention, on one occasion, 
 at Fort Frances, the principal Chief of the tribe commenced an oration by re- 
 peating, almost verbatim, what I had said to him two years previously. 
 
 All this goes to show a certain stability of character, and a degree of impor- 
 tance attached to what they say, on such occasions, themselves, as well as to 
 what they hear from others. The word of the Chiefs once passed, too, seems to 
 be quite reliable, and this augurs well for the observance of any treaty that may 
 be made with them. 
 
 For my own part, I should have the fullest reliance as to these Indians ob- 
 serving a treaty and adhering most strictly to all its provisions, if, in the first 
 place, it where concluded after full discussion, and after all its provisions were 
 thoroughly understood ly the Indians, and if, in the next, it were never infringed 
 upon by the whites, who are generally the firht to break through Indian 
 treat.es. 
 
17U 
 
 TUB TREATT. * 
 
 Prom what I have iaid, I trust it will be seen that some sort of a treaty 
 •hould be arrived at with the Indians. They are, as I have stated, desirous of 
 seeing the communication opened, believing that it will conduce to their advan- 
 tage, and I think a treaty with them should, in the first instance, be confined to 
 this one point, namely, right of way. This they expressed their willingness 
 to accord many years ago, but the question of relinquishing land for settlement 
 was always taken by them en delibiri. In this latter respect, what they are 
 afraid of is, that settlers would interfere with the fisheries, from which they de- 
 rive their chief means of subsistence, and I think it would, in the first instance, 
 be imprudent to introduce settlement in the particular section which they oc- 
 cupy. The first great point is to get communication opened, and the first 
 treaty should be confined, as I have said, simply to right of way. By combining 
 it with the land question, surveys of townships for settlement, reserves for the 
 Indians, and so forth, complications might arise which would prove embar- 
 rassing. 
 
 There is but one point more, in relation to this subject, to which I would in- 
 vite attention ; it is the necessity of adopting the most rigorous and strict mea- 
 sures to prevent the conveyance of ardent liquors to the Indian country. This 
 the oflScer in charge of the works can easily see to, if he is armed with the 
 proper authority. There is no likelihood of any of the employes of the works 
 taking spirits, in any quantity, with them, unless contractors are employed ; but 
 there are private traders who would follow in their wake, and would not be slow 
 to bring liquor, if through it they could drive a trade for furs ; and such persons 
 should, if they made the attempt, be at once arrested. 
 
 Tne Indians at Rainy River and the Lake of the Woods are, as a general rule, 
 in happy ignorance of what ardent liquor is. On the American side, the pe- 
 nalties against its introduction are so severe that it rarely makes its appear- 
 ance, while on the British side its use is prohibited by the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany. 
 
 To these fortunate circumstances, I believe, are due the well-being and 
 orderly demeanor of the Indians, and the rapid increase in the population 
 which, in this section, is, in contrast to the general rule, said to be taking 
 place. 
 
 The precautions which I have recommended will appear not to be unneces- 
 sary, when it is considered that these Indians, notwithstanding their many good 
 qualities, are still but savages ; that they, in common with all the untutored 
 tribes of their race, are keen to resent an injury, real or supposed ; that a quarrel 
 with one prominent individual would be a quarrel with the tribe, and that the 
 sole arbiters of a dispute with them are the scalping knife and tomahawk, to the 
 use of which they ar« well practised in their unceasing wars with the Sioux ; 
 and when, along with all this, it is considered that they can muster five hun- 
 dred fighting men, accustomed to the woods, the rivers, ar/l very defile in the 
 country, the expediency as well as the justice of keeping from them that first 
 prolific source of Indian quarrels and Indm demoralization, " Fire Water," will 
 be apparent. 
 
 I have only further to say, that, with ordinary prudence, there need be no 
 risk of getting into di25')ulty with the Indians. They will extend a warm wel- 
 come, in the first instance, to the parties sent in by the Government, and it 
 will be for the latter to see that nothing occurs to interrupt a continuance of 
 friendly intercourse. 
 
 (Soe Notices of Indians, in my printed Report, pages 14 et 26.) 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 S. J. Dawson. 
 
r^' 
 
 if.-- ■ \"--^:' 
 
 1 f 
 
 > -.2- 
 
 REPORT 
 
 or 1st May, ISOO. 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LINE OF ROUTE BETWEEN LAKE SUPERIOR 
 
 AND 
 
 THE RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 
 
 i. .-^rA 
 
 .*, «■ 
 
 EXPLORATION OF 1869. 
 
 My report of last year contained a brief description of the country between 
 Lake Superior and the Red Kiver Settlement, with an estimate of the cost of 
 opening the communication in such a manner as I believed would involve the 
 least possible outlay, while it would, at the same time, have the effect of attracting 
 the trade of the North- West Territories to Canada, and serve as a preliminary 
 step to works of a more comprehensive chaiacter in the future. 
 
 1 have now the honor to report on the operations of last summer, undertaken 
 and carried on under the direction of the Department of Public Works, with the 
 view of ascertaining whether an improvement might not be made in the Eastern 
 section of the route, by deviating from the projected Dog Lake road and adopt- 
 ing the West instead of the North branch of the Kaministiquia, as the basis of 
 a line which should embrace all the navigable water which could be rendered 
 available. 
 
 It was known, from the reports of the Red River Expedition, that a series of 
 large lakes existed at the source of this branch and it appeared probable that the 
 navigable water which they afforded might admit of being utilised as a link in 
 the line of communication ; and as their value in this respect depended, in the 
 first place, on their level relative to each other and to the lakes on the opposite 
 side of the water-shed, and, in the next, on the practicability of rendering them 
 accessible from Lake Superior, the first step taken was to determine the levels 
 and the next to look for ground practicable for a road through the broken and 
 mountainous region which lies between them and Thunder Bay. 
 
 In describing the result of these operations, J would invite notice to the maps 
 which are hereunto annexed for convenience of reference. These are : 
 
 1 . A plan on a scale of two miles to one inch, exhibiting the position of the 
 lakes at the summit of the water-shed and the deviation from the Dog Lake 
 road. 
 
 2. A map on a scale of ten miles to one inch, shewing the entire route be- 
 tween Thunder Bay and the Red River Settlement. 
 
 3. A map on a scale of twelve miles to one inch, shewing the relative position 
 
in / 
 
 and length of the Canadian and United States rontes to the Red Rirer Settle- 
 ment. 
 
 4. A plan, in profile, shewing the relative altitude of the lakes between Lake 
 Superior and Fort Frances on the line of route. 
 
 5. A plan, in profile, shewing the routes by Pigeon River and RiviAre la 
 Seine. 
 
 On reference to plan No. 1, it will be seen that at the head of the Matawin, 
 or West branch of the Eaministiquia, there are two large lakes named, respect- 
 ively, Shebandowan and Kashaboiwe. These are on the Eastern slope, and im- 
 mediately opposite to them, on the "West side, is the large basin of Lac des 
 Mille Lacs, which sends its waters to Rainy Lake. 
 
 The distance between Kashaboiwe Lac and Lake des Mille Lacs is one mile 
 and sixty chains, including an intervening lakelet or pond. This pond is distant 
 from Lac des Mille Lacs 50 chains and on a higher level by 14 13-100 feet. Be- 
 tween the two runs a gully, the highest point in which is 25 feet over the level 
 of Lac des Mille Lacs and 10 87-100 feet higher than the pond. This is the 
 lowest pass existing between the waters flowing Westward to Rainy Lake and 
 those running Eastward to Lake Superior. That is, between the boundary line 
 and Nipigon Bay. 
 
 The pond just referred to is the source of the Matawin, and it sends its 
 waters by a small rivulet, making a descent of 4 99-100 feet in a distance of 9 
 chains to Kashaboiwe Lake, which latter is 9 14-100 feet above the level of Lac 
 des Mille Lacs. The stream by which Kashaboiwe Lake discharges its waters 
 is of considerable volume, and descends 29 33-100 feet in its course of 70 chains 
 to Shebandowan Lake, making the latter 20 19-100 feet below the level of Lac 
 des Mille Lacs. 
 
 Forty miles Westward of the pass above referred to, that is, by way of the 
 Baril and Windegoostegon Lakes, the water level at the head of the French Por- 
 tage is 55 feet below that of Lac des Mille Lacs. 
 
 Such differences of level are not very formidable, and might in this case be 
 easily overcome, as will be explained further on. In the meantime, I may 
 remark, that these Lakes differ so little in level as to afford the means of ob- 
 taining, at a moderate outlay, seventy miles of unbroken navigation, through 
 the high region which separates the two great river systems of the Winnipeg 
 and St, Lawrence, and that not by narrow and tortuous channels, but through 
 Lakes affording ample room for navigation. 
 
 This navigable section might be extended and rendered continuous to the 
 Westward, by means of lock and dam. Its Eastern extremity would be within 
 forty miles of the Depot at Thunder Bay, with which point it can be connected 
 by a land road for the present and a Rail Road in the future. The pass, as stated, 
 is the lowest which can exist on th« British side, as determined by the explora- 
 tions, and yet these waters are at an elevation of 839 feet over the level of Lake 
 Superior, or 1,479 feet higher than the surface of the sea. 
 
 It is a matter of no small importance to have such an extent of navigation 
 in the highest part of the route to Red River, and in a region very difficult for 
 roads. 
 
 In regard to the country intervening between thes*^ waters and Thunder Bay, 
 it is rough and mountainous ; but, with the aid of the Ind'- ns, who have their 
 hunting grounds in that region, after a good deal of exploration, a line prac- 
 ticable for a road was discovered. 
 
 The different routes examined may be briefly noticed as follows : — 
 
 On the recommendation of the Indians, a line was first run from *he 18th 
 mile of the Dog Lake Road quite through to the Shebandowan Lake. This 
 line crosses the North branch of the Kaministiquia, about two miles and a 
 half above the mouth of the Matawin, and from thence winds to the West- 
 ward among the high table lands and mountains to the North of the latter 
 stream. The Indians professed to have followed the best ground, and no doubt 
 
' 173 
 
 did so, bat the route, although not absolutelj impracticable, was found to be 
 Tcry rough. 
 
 Another line was then laid out, from the eighth mile of the Dog Lake Roar* 
 to the mouth of the Matawin, and the valley of that river itself adopted from 
 thence to the Shebandowan Lake. It was found to be a great improvement on 
 the first, but the route by the Kaministiquia had been recommended, and before 
 coming to any conclusion it also was examined. 
 
 Taking as a starting point, lot. 18, in the first concession of Kee-bing, a line 
 was run to Island Portage on the Kaministiquia, with the view of continuing it 
 on a North- West course to the valley of the Matawin. It came, however^ upon 
 very rugged and mountainous ground on the borders of the Kaministiquia, and 
 had to be abandoned, notwithstanding that no serious difiiculty war encountered 
 in the first ten miles of its course. 
 
 In view, therefore, of all the circumstances, the line which has been adopted 
 as tue best is that already re \^rred to as leaving the Dog Lake line at the eighth 
 mile, striking from thence to the mouth of the Matawin and following the valley 
 of that river to the Shebar»dowan Lake, or rather to the first chute below it, 
 where it is proposed to construct a dam. 
 
 In further reference to the waters of the summit region, Shebandowan Lake 
 on the Eastern side of the water-shed and Lac des Mille Lacs on the West, are 
 both fed by the drainage of areas sufficiently extensive to afford a supply 
 of water for a canal, but Kashaboiwe Lake, which intervenes between then, 
 is on a higher level, being 9 14-100 feet over Lac des Milles Lacs and 29 33-100, 
 above Shebandowan Lake, and it is doubtful if it could afiord a supply for a 
 canal both ways. 
 
 It is quite practicable, however, to bring either Lac des Mille Lacs or She- 
 bandowan Lake, or both of them, to the level of Kashaboiwe Lake, but there 
 would be an evident advantage in raising Shebandowan Lake and making it the 
 summit level and source of supply, as a considerable amount of lockage would 
 thereby be saved and the road from Lake Superior would at once strike the 
 highest water level on the whole route. If, on the other hand, Lac des Mille 
 Lacs were raised to the level of Kashaboiwe Lake and made the source of supply, 
 there would be an ascent of 30 feet from Shebandowan Lake, which would have 
 to be overcome by locks. It is possible, as stated, to raise both Shebandowan 
 Lake aad Lac des Mille Lacs to the level of Kashaboiwe Lake, and if tbiR were 
 done and a cut made through the dividing ridge, there would be a canal without 
 locks extending across the summit of the water-shed. 
 
 The raising of Lac des Mille Lacs, however, would not eventually save lock- 
 age, and although the level is in its favor, as compared to Shebandowan Lake, 
 it is doubtful if it could be more economically brought to the necessary height. 
 On some parts of its Western coast the country is low and the height and na- 
 ture of the dividing ground between its waters and the streams running oflF from 
 its borders, on that side, would require to be ascertained before attempting to 
 raise it beyond the extent of three or four feet, which, in any case, will be ne- 
 cessary, in order to give a sufficiency of water in the direction of Baril Lake and 
 the French Portage, and so small a difference would be unattended with any 
 risk of sending the water in other directions. 
 
 As regards Shebandowan Lake, the country around it is moderately hig"&, and 
 it receives the drainage of a considerable area on either side, so that, in all pro- 
 bability, its surface could be raised to the necessary level by damming its pre- 
 sent outlet only. 
 
 It will occur, however, that Kashaboiwe Lake, which is already on the high- 
 est level, might be so arranged as to afford a supply of water for a canal both 
 ways. It has a surface area of about eight square miles and it receives the 
 drainage of a considerable tract on both sides, besides which there are lakes on 
 its tributary streams, which could be converted into reservoirs to afford a supply 
 Ib periods of extreme drought. But, even if the supply were so ample as to 
 
174 
 
 preclude all doubt as to its sufficiency, there would bo nothing gained by adopt- 
 ing Kashaboiwe Lake, for both Lacs dcs Mille Lacs and Shebandowan can be 
 raised to its level at less outlay than would be involved in connecting the latcer 
 with it by means of locks. 
 
 A dam which should raise the surface level of Shebandowan Lake to the extent 
 of 30 feet over what it is at present, would bo equivalent to 30 feet of lockage 
 and would be far less costly. 
 
 In respect to the Summit Pond, it may be I'egarded, to all practical purposes, 
 ■as a part of Kashaboiwe Lake, for it can, at small outlay, be reduced to the same 
 level and still have a sufficient depth of water. 
 
 The dividing ridge is, as stated, 50 chains in width and 25 feet over Lac des 
 Mille Lacs at its highest part ; through the ridge runs a gully which, apparently, 
 is filled with boulders and fragments of rock, and it could be easily excavated 
 to a sufficient depth. 
 
 Such, in a brief view, is the route by the Matawin or West branch of the 
 Kamiuistiquia. As compared to the Dog Lake route its principal advantages 
 are, first, that the navigable waters of the summit plateau can be reached in 
 an unbroken line of road from Lake Superior ; whereas, by the Dog Lake line, 
 the land carriag; would be in two sections, one of twenty-five miles from Lake 
 Superior to Dog Lake, and another of ten or twelve miles across the Height of 
 Land. 
 
 In the next place, the navigation of the upper waters of Dog River and the 
 Savanne would be tedious, on account of the narrowness and tortuosity of the 
 channels, whereas, by the Western route, once the Lakes were attained, there 
 would be ample room for navigation ; and, lastly, by adopting the Shebandowan 
 line, a saving in distance of about twenty miles will be effected, as will at once 
 appear on reference to the plan. 
 
 Both routes are practicable, and the Dog Lake line would be attended with 
 the least outlay in the first instance, but would be more expensive to keep in 
 operation, on account of the difficulties of the navigation, the additional trans- 
 shipment, and the long land carriage, in such an isolated situation as the height 
 of land on that route. 
 
 By adopting the West, instead of the North branch of the Kamiuistiquia, 
 there will be no change in the starting point, and as the divergence occurs 
 beyond the point to which the work on the Dog Lake road has, as yet, reached, 
 the outlay so far made, on that line, will not be lost, and some timber prepared 
 for a dam at Dog Lake can be lloated down and used in the construction of a 
 bridge over the Kaministiquia. 
 
 Apart from the deviation proposed in the Eastern section, as above set forth, 
 I believe the scheme suggested in my report of last year embodies the principle 
 which should be adopted in opening the communication, as a firt>t step towards 
 works of a more extensive character, in the future. I would remark, however, 
 that the information which has been obtained since that report was written, a» 
 to the Traffic likely to arise, would seem to warrant additional expenditure over 
 what was then proposed, so as to diminish the number of transhipments, and 
 this can be done without greatly increasing the outlay. Before proceeding to 
 details, however, I would invite attention, for a moment, to the more striking 
 features of the country which has to be traversed. 
 
 THE COUNTRY BETWEEN LAKE SUPERIOR AND THE RED RIVER 
 SETTLEMENT. " " • 
 
 Between Lake Superior and Rainy Lake, the face of the country, as a gen- 
 ■«Tal rule, is rugged and cut up with Lakes. The summit of the water-shed or 
 
175 
 
 dividing ridge, is quite near Lake Superior, being forty-five miles distant at- 
 Pigeon River, and, measuring in a direct North-East course to the sourc: of the 
 Kaministiquia, about seventy at the bottom of Thunder Bay, The passes in 
 the dividing region vary in height from 840 feet to 1,100 feet above the level 
 of Lake Superior — that is bv following the water courses, but the general 
 elevation of the country is considerably higher. As may be supposed, the 
 streams running down from such a height, in so short a distance, have a very 
 rapid course, and, as a consequence, could only be rendered navigable at an ex- 
 penditure which, whatever the future may require, is quite out of the question 
 for the present. 
 
 Proceeding from the head of the water-shed to the Westward, the descent 
 is much more gradual, the difference of level between Lac des Mille Lacs, which 
 is close to ths summit, and the Western extremity of the Lake of the Woods, 
 being only 450 feet in a distance of 300 miles. Between the height of land and 
 Rainy Lake, the lake, are so numerous and so large, that it would be difficult to 
 say whether land or water predominates. The lakes, however, afford the means 
 of making a very good water communication, at a moderate outlay. 
 
 From Fort Frances, at the foot of Rainy Lake, to the North- West angle of 
 the Lake of the Woods, the navigation is uninterrupted save by two little 
 rapids, easily overcome. From the Lake of the Woods Westwards to Fort Garry, 
 the country is low and level, but although swampy, quite practicable for a road 
 by a line whiih has been explored and on which a good deal of work has been 
 already done in the Western section. 
 
 There is thus, between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement, a coun- 
 try presenting very different characteristics in different sections. First, a 
 rugged and broken region, extending from Lake Superior to the summit of the 
 watershed, in which the rivers are not navigable and the ground is difficult for 
 roads. 
 
 Next, a country extending Westward from the water-shed, still very rough 
 and broken, but intersected in every direction by deep lakes, which occupy 
 a very considerable portion of its area, and which, on one of the lines ex- 
 plored, can easily be connected so as to render the navigation through it 
 uninterrupted. 
 
 This section ends at Fort Frances, where there is a complete and sudden 
 change in the character of the country, and from this point the navigation be- 
 comes continuous to the North-West angl3 of the Lake of the Woods. 
 
 From the latter point to Fort Garry the distance is 90 miles over ground 
 which the explorations have proved to be practicable for a road. 
 
 The entire distance between Fort William and Fort Garry, by the route 
 which it is proposed to open, is 441 miles, as follows : 
 
 From Lake Superior to the navigable waters of the Summit region. . 40 miles. 
 From the terminus of the Lake Superior Road to the North-West 
 
 angle of the Lake of the Woods 311 milei. 
 
 North-West angle to Fort Garry 90 milea. 
 
 441 miles. 
 
 OPENING OF THE COMMUNICATION. 
 
 The scheme proposed has for its ultimate object, a railroad from Lake Su- 
 perior to the navigable waters of the Summit region, navigation rendered con- 
 tinuous, by means of lock and dam, from the terminus of the same to the North- 
 West angle of the Lake of the Woods, and a railroad from the latter point to the 
 Red River Settlement. 
 
176 
 
 The railroad at Lake Superior woald be forty miles in length, succeeding 
 which would be navigation of three hundred and eleven miles, which latter 
 would be connected by a railroad of ninety miles with Fort Garry. 
 
 These are works which, to carry them out comph^tely, would occupy some 
 years, and in the meantime, as a preliminary step, it h proposed to make a good 
 waggon road from Lake Superior to the waters of the dividing plateau, improve 
 the navigation from thence Westward in as far as it can be rapidly done, in the 
 tirst instance, and make a good waggon road from the Lake of the Woods to 
 Fort Garry. This I conceive to be an absolutely necessary and essential step 
 towards making the country accessible, whatever scale of improvement may be 
 adopted in the future, and it would have the immediate effect of opening a 
 channel by which immigration could reach the country, while it would, at the 
 same time, draw the trade of the North- West Territories to Canada. 
 
 Before specifying in detail the various works necessikry to give effect to this 
 plan, I may notice the scheme of — 
 
 A CUNTINLUUS KAlLitOAD FKOM LAKE Sl'PKRlOK TU THE RED 
 
 HIVEK SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Such a work will, doubtless, become necessary as the regions of the North- 
 West fill up with settlement, and it should be placed in such position as to be 
 available as a link in the railway system which will, no doubt, at some fu- 
 ture day span the continent from the Atlantic to Pacific, within British ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 On refertnce to the map it w^ill be seen that a railroad, to be continuous, 
 must pass to the North of the Lake of the Woods, and it will also be observed 
 that a line from Canada, after passing over the high plateau which is said to 
 exist to the North of Lakes Huron and Superior, would first come upon Lake 
 Superior at Nipigon Bay, and that its direct course from thence to Fort Garry 
 would be by Lac Seul and the North end of the Lake of the Woods. These are 
 facts which should always be kept in view in considering the project of a con- 
 tinuous railroad from Lake Superior to the lied Kiver S(?ttlement. 
 
 A railroad made on the line indicated would be the niiost direct possible, and 
 it would, at some future period, serve as a link in the extension of Canadian 
 Railways to the prairies of the Saskatchewan. 
 
 Now, a railway starting from any point West of Nipigon Bay would not 
 meet these conditions ; and all that is claimed for i:he comparatively short 
 line of 40 miles which I have recommended, at Fort William, is that it will 
 serve as a connecting link between Lake Superior and the navigable waters of 
 the interior. 
 
 In regard to the practicability of a line of railroad between Nipigon Bay 
 and the North end of the Lake of the Woods, no decided opinion can be offered 
 until the country is explored. It is probable that, by keeping up the Valley of 
 the Nipigon for some distance, so as to get clear of the rugged country on the 
 immediate borders of Lake Superior, and then striking North- West to the 
 vicinity of Lac Seul, a practicable line might be found. From Lac Seul to tht 
 North end of the Lake of the Woods, I apprehend there would be little diffi- 
 culty if, as is reported, the flat Silurian strata of Hudson's Bay send a spur in 
 that direction. It might, however, be better to keep down the valley of the 
 English River to its junction with the Winnipeg and strike direct from thencs 
 to the Red River. 
 
 In view of the importance which must soon attach to the project of a con- 
 iinnouB railroad from Lake Superior to the Red River Settlement, I would ing- 
 
177 
 
 gest the expediency of sending an exploring party to examine the route above 
 indicated, during the ensuing summer. 
 
 It would, also, be advisable to have a thorough examination made of the 
 country to the North of Lakes Huron and Superior. A line was at one time run 
 conforming to the line of coast, about twenty miles back, from Lake Superior, 
 but the country over which it passed, as shewn by the very interesting report 
 written by Mr. Herrick, who conducted the survey, is rough and broken. The 
 line was entirely too near the coast, and I am of opinion that the. best ground 
 will be found in the high region where the waters running to Hudson's Bay and 
 the tributaries of the St Lawrence have their common source. 
 
 Mr, A. J. Russell, of Ottawa, in a work which will soon make its appearance, 
 gives an epitome of all the information which has been obtained of the high 
 plateau at the sources of the streams flowing to Lake Huron, but the country 
 North of Lake Superior and East of Lake Nipigon is unknown, except from the 
 reports of voyage urs, beyond the extent of Mr. Herrick's survey, which, as 
 stated, was confined to a limit of about twenty miles from the coast. 
 
 ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC. 
 
 It must, in course of time, become a matter of great importance to open a 
 line of communication completely across the continent within British ter- 
 ritory, but whether this should be effected solely by railroads, or partly by rail 
 and partly by taking advantage of the navigable water which is so plentifully 
 distributed, at least to the East of the Rocky Mountains, is a question for th<* 
 future. 
 
 JJi/ Railroads. 
 
 The country is well adapted for railroads between the Red lliver Settlement 
 and the sources of the Saskatchewan and Athabasca Rivers. Practicable passes 
 liave been found, too, in the Rocky Mountains, and in these the ascent is ge- 
 nerally easy from the East, It is only when the summit has been crossed that 
 serious difficulties present themselves. Between the Eraser River and the forty- 
 ninth parallel, British Columbia is one sea of mountains, but through these 
 the persevering efforts of explorers have led to the discovery of lines said to be 
 practicable for railroads. In regard to the passes in the Rocky Mountains, 
 Captain Palliser, who was sent out by the Imperial Government, speaks favorably 
 of the British Kootanie Pass, near the boundary line, where explorers from 
 Montana are now said to be mining for silver and gold. Dr, Hector, a gentle- 
 man whose researches are of great practical value, was favorably impressed 
 with the Kicking Horse Pass, somewhat further to the North, but probably the 
 best of all would be the Athabasca Pass, which has been the longest used and is 
 tlie best known, Mr, Waddington gives the latitude of this Pass as 52 ^ 54' 
 North and its height at 3,7GO feet above the sea level, and describes several 
 routes by which it may be reached from the Pacific. * He says, also, the upper 
 Eraser is navigable for 280 miles of itte course. 
 
 The same authority maintains that by adopting the Athabasca and Tetf 
 Jaime, or, as it is sometimes called, the Leather Head Pass, a railroad from Ed- 
 monton House, on the Saskatchewan, to Bute Inlet on the Pacific, would only 
 be 654 miles in length. 
 
 * The elevation of the best known passes at the sources of the Saskatchewan is as follows:— 
 British Kootanie Pass, 5,960 feet ; Kananski Pass, 4,(500 feet ; Vermillion Pass, 4,944 feet : 
 Kicking Uorse Pass, 5,420 feet : and Howse Pass, 6,347 feet above the lerel of the aea. 
 
 12 
 
Until the country becomes better known, all that can be done is to indicate 
 the probable position of an inter-oceanic railroad, and, if one should even be 
 built, as it doubtless will, in British territory, the following will likely be its 
 general course. 
 
 The valley of the Ottawa, and its tributary the Montreal lliver, might be 
 followed to the meridian of 82 © West longitude, from thence the direction 
 would be North-West to the outlet of Lake Nipigon, where it would join the 
 line above suggested, for a railroad from Lake Superior to the Red River Settle- 
 ment, passing by Lac Soul and the North end of the Lake of the Woods. From 
 the Red River Settlement the ground would be very favourable to Edmonton 
 House, on the Saskatchewan, and from thence the route indicated by Mr. Wad- 
 dington might be followed to the Pacific. 
 
 By this route the distance from Montreal to the Pacific, as comf)utod by Mr. 
 Russell, would be as follows : 
 
 Montreal to Fort tJarry 1,367 
 
 Fort Garry to Edmonton House, over the prairies 825 
 
 Edmonton House to Bute Inlet 6r>4 
 
 Total 2,846 
 
 If this line — the practicability of which has yet to be ascertained — were car- 
 ried out, it might be tapped by an extension of the projected Toronto and Nipis- 
 sing railroad, and it would thus be in connection with the Railway system 
 of the Dominion at its most important points. 
 
 There is no doubt a great deal that Is grand and imposing in the idea of a 
 railroad which should span the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and 
 grasp in its embrace the united Colonies of British America — which should 
 become an avenue for the trade of the Indies, China and Japan, and a higliway 
 for the nations of the world. 
 
 But, in considering schemes so vast, it is well, at the same time, to calculate 
 their cost, and in drawing attention to this unavoidable phase of such pro- 
 jects, I cannot do better than avail myself of a calculation made by Mr. Fleming, 
 the eminent engineer, under whose able direction the Intercolonial Railroad is 
 now being built. 
 
 In a very interesting pamphlet, written by him some years ago on the 
 North-West Territories and the best means of their development, speaking of 
 a railway of 2,000 miles in length and its accompanying telegraph line, he 
 remarks : 
 
 " That a just conception may be formed of the real magnitude of the project 
 " under discussion and the means necessary to its attainment, attention va.y for 
 " a moment be drawn to a few leading details. The construction of 2,000 miles 
 <' of railway, measured by the average standard of similar works existing in this 
 " country, implies the performance of laborers' work suflicient to give employ- 
 " ment to 10,000 men for five or six years. It involves the delivery of 5,000,000 
 " cross ties or sleepers and over 200,000 tons of iron rails for the permanent way. 
 " It comprises the erection of 60,000 poles hung with 1,000 tons of wire for the 
 " telegraph. It necessitates the creation of motive power equivalent to over 
 " 50,000 horses, which power would be concentrated in 400 locomotives. It in- 
 « volves the production of from 5,000 to 6,000 cars of all kinds, which, coupled 
 « with the locomotives, would make a single train over 30 miles in length. And 
 " lastly, it implies gross expenditure on construction aud equipment of not less 
 « than $100,000,000. 
 
 « It will likewise serve as a salutary check on hasty conclusions to weigh, be- 
 " forehand, the cost of operating a truly gigantic establishment of the kind after 
 «' its perfect completion ; a few figures derived from actual results will shew that 
 " the first construction of u railway through British North America is even a 
 " less formidable undertaking than that of keeping it afterwards open in the pre- 
 « sent condition of the country. For operating the line successfully, the fuel 
 
• ' 179 
 
 ^' alone required in each year and estimated as wood, would consideruoly exceed 
 " 200,000 cords. For keeping the road in repair, a regiment of 2,000 trackmen 
 " would constantly be employed in smail gangs throughout its entire length ; 
 » for tlie same purpose there would, on an average, be annually required 600,000 
 " new cross ties, as well as nearly 30,000 tons of new or re-rolled iron rails. The 
 "annual repairs of rolling stock would not co^t less than one million of dollars. 
 " Over 5,000 employees of all kinds would constantly be under pay, and as these 
 "men would usually represent each a family, there would not be far short of 
 " 20,000 souls subsisting by the operation of the road. The aggregate amount 
 "of wages in each year, after the road was in operation, would swell out to 
 " nearly $2,000,000, while the gross expenditure for operating and maintaining 
 " works would annually exceed $8,000,000. 
 
 " Again, if to the last sum he added the interest on first cost, it becomes evi- 
 " dent that until the gross earnings of the railway in each year come up to 
 " the enormous sum of $14,000,000, it could not pay interest on the capital in- 
 " vested." 
 
 Kailicinj and Water Communication Combined. 
 
 Thunder Bay, Lake Superior, is already accessible to any class of vessels 
 which can navigate the great lakes. From thence westward to Rf^d Kiver, the 
 route is, as already described, forty miles of land road, succeeded by three hun- 
 dred and eleven miles of navigation now broken, but susceptible of being 
 rendered continuous, and w hich, again, is followed by ninety miles of land roaei: 
 ending at Fort Garry. 
 
 Commencing at Fort Garry, the navigation might be rendered continuous, at 
 small outlay, by way of Lake Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan to Edmonton 
 House, a distance of 1,060 miles. Edmonton House is within 500 miles of the 
 Pacific Ocean, and the distance might be surrounded, according to the best 
 information which can be obtained, by a railroad of 654 miles, or by taking 
 advantage of the navigable waters of the upper Eraser and following a more 
 tortuous route, the distance would be 841 miles, of which 309 would be by 
 water and 532 by rail. So small an amount of navigation would not compen- 
 sate for such an increase in distance, and in this instance the continuous railway 
 would be the best. 
 
 By this route the total distance from Thunder Bay to the Pacific would be 
 as follows : 
 
 'MILES. 
 Land. Water. 
 
 Thunder Bay to the inland water at Shebandowan Lake 40 
 
 From terminus Lake Superior road to North- West angle 
 
 Lake of the Woods 311 
 
 North- West angle to Fort Garry 90 
 
 Fort Garry to Edmonton House 1060 
 
 Edmonton House to Gulf of Georgia 654 
 
 784 1371 
 784 
 
 2155 
 It is quite practicable to make the navigation continuous from a point within 
 40 miles of Lake Superior to Lake Winnipeg ; and, if this were done and the 
 few impediments in the Saskatchewan removed, there would be continuous 
 navigation from the base of the Rocky Mountains to the ocean, with one break of 
 only 40 miles at Lake Superior, and this break might in time be overcome by 
 lockage. 
 
 So great an extent of navigable water, or water susceptible of being made 
 
180 
 
 navigable, running tlirougli Uritisli America, traversing the vast prairies ol 
 the West and ending at the Bcaports of the Atlantic, is a feature in connection 
 with the Western Territories the importance of which it w^ould be difficult to 
 overrate. 
 
 It 18 well known that raiIroa<ls cannot compete with water in the transport of 
 bulky and lieavy freight, and if ever a line of commimication should be estab- 
 lished across the continent in British territory, and, providing it combined with 
 the necessary amount of railway, all the navigable water which could be rend- 
 ered available, I believe that no other trans-continental line which can be put 
 in operation, north of the Clulf of Mexico, would be in a position to compete 
 with it. 
 
 Everything in this regard, however, must be the merest conjecture until the 
 country is opened up and becomes better known. The first grand step is to open 
 the communication between Lake Superior and the Hed lUver Settlement in the 
 manner in which it can be most rapidly done, to be at the same time effective ; 
 and if the barrier is thus broken through, even in a moderate way at first, many 
 additional influences will be brought into play and improvement urged on until 
 a first class line of communication has been obtained. Before concluding this 
 subject, I may state what is known of the Saskatchewan in regard to its capa- 
 city for navigation 
 
 The Saskatchewan. 
 
 is not a river of such great volume as might be supposed from the immense area 
 which it drains. It gathers its waters from a country larger than Canada, and 
 yet it is not equal in size to the St. Lawrence. The precipitation is less in the 
 prairies of the West than in Canada — less snow in winter and less rain in 
 summer, but yet enough of both to make the Saskatchewan a very large 
 
 river. 
 
 There is a fine harbour on Lake AVinnipeg, just at the mouth of the Saskatch- 
 ewan. Ascending from thence for a mile or so, the first and greatest impedi- 
 ment presents itself. This is called the " Grand Rapids," and here the river 
 makes a descent of about 43 feet, rushing with great impetuosity over flat ledges 
 of limestone rock. Between the Grand Kapid and Lac Bourbon there are several 
 little rapids, having an aggregate fall of about 20 feet. 
 
 Lac Bourbon is distant from Lake Winnipeg about twenty miles, and from 
 thence Westward to the Bocky Mountains, 'or at least to a distance of 
 eighty miles beyond Edmonton House, tlie navigation is rei>orted to be uninter- 
 rupted except at two points, where there are impediments, it is said, easily 
 overcome. 
 
 The first is at a rapid called Tobern's Falls, about 140 miles above Lac Bour- 
 bon, where, from ail that can be learned, a lock of moderate lift might be 
 required The next is at Coles' llapids, on the North Branch, just above its 
 junction with the South Branch. Here a series of swift runs and little rapids, 
 extending over a distance of eighteen miles, would require in some places to 
 be cleared of boulders, and probably a few glance dams might be necessary. 
 
 These impediments cannot be considered serious in a navigation of eight hun- 
 dred miles, otherwise uninterrupted. 
 
 ESTIMATE OF THE COST OF PRELIMIXAUV LINE OF 
 
 COMMUNICATION. 
 
 In estimating the cost of work in a distant region, where labour is not to be 
 obtained, regard must be had to the expense of taking men to and from the 
 ground, and the time lost on the way, for which there is no return in labour. 
 
181 
 
 In the Lake Superior Section, it would be a safe estimate to allow al>out 
 twenty days for the journeys to and from the localities in Canada where labour 
 is cheapest and workmen of the class required can be engaged. For passage, 
 jfoing and coming and time on the way, each man would cost, at an average, 
 $40, which, allowing that 250 men were employed during summer, would reach 
 the serious item of Ten Thousand Dollars. 
 
 In the Lake Region, west of the height of land, a still larger allowance would 
 have to be made, 
 
 I draw attention to these circumstances, inasmuch as my estimates for roads, 
 more especially, may appear to bo high ; whereas, when the expenses above 
 referred to, as well as the cost of transport for supplies are taken into account, 
 they will be found to be as low it would be safe to make them. Moreover, the 
 experience of the section of road already partially made, although it passes 
 over comparatively easy ground, affords a criterion as to what the cost will 
 be in mon; ditticuit sections, and with this in view the estimate has been 
 framed. 
 
 Iioad.t Lake Superior Section. 
 
 The main road which it is proposed to open through this section, as shewn on 
 the accompanying plan. No, 1, has its starting point at the depot on Thunder 
 Hay, from whence it strikes in a tolerably direct course to the mouth of the 
 Matawin, following from thence the valley of that river to the first chute below 
 Shebandowan Lake, where it is proposed to construct a dam. The extent of road 
 remaining to be opened is 36 miles, and a specification marked No, 1, shewing 
 the manner in which it is to be constructed, is hereunto annexed. Its probable 
 average cost is set down in the accompanying estimate at $1,800 per mile. 
 Some further expenditure will be required, too, on the section of road already 
 partially made, more especially at a hill near Thunder Bay, where a detour has 
 to be made, and for this purpose I have set down $2,000, 
 
 In my report of last year, for reasons therein stated, it was proposed to run a 
 branch line of road from Fort William, to connect that very important pot 
 with the main road, and xor this purpose a sum of $7,000 was included in the 
 estimate then submittjd. During the past summer this branch line was very 
 carefully surveyed. The country through which it runs is somewhat low and 
 ewampy, and two e-mail rivers have to be bridged, but a very good line, made in 
 conformity v.ith Specification No. 2, can be obtained at an outlay, as above 
 stated, of $7,000. The length of this line would be 7 miles. 
 
 Pier at Thunder Bay. 
 
 In last year's report, it was proposed to sink an isolated pier in front of the 
 depot at Thunder Bay, at which vessels could discharge their loads. It would 
 be placed in a depth of 16 feet of water. Its dimensions would be 150 feet in 
 length by 20 feet in breadth at top, and its cost $2,500.00. This work may be 
 said to be indispensable, for at present there is great difliculty, not to speak of 
 expense, in getting articles landed at that place. 
 
 Bridge over the Kaministaqiia. 
 
 This would be a rough but substantial structure, supported by piers of crib 
 work, filled solidly with stone, of which there is great abundance in close 
 proximity. The stream is 300 feet in width, shallow, and running on a bottom 
 paved with boulders. "Wood is scarce in the vicinity, the country having been 
 swept by fire, but the timber got out for a dam at Dog Lake, can be taken down 
 and used in the work. Its cost would be about $4,500.00 
 
182 
 
 In the Lake Superior Section the total proposed outlay would thus stand as 
 follows : 
 
 36 miles main road $1,800 GO $04,800 00 
 
 7 miles Fort William Branch Road 1,000 00 7,000 00 
 
 Grading Hills, Lake Superior, and completing 
 
 road partially made 2,000 00 
 
 Pier at Thunder Ray 2,500 00 
 
 Bridge over Kaministaquia 4,500 00 
 
 $80,000 00 
 A specification for the road and estimate of material are hereunto annexed. 
 
 Jjahe Pegion. 
 
 la former reports the designation " Lake Region " was applied to the section 
 between the summit of the water-shed and Fort Frances, but Shebandowan and 
 Kashaboiwe Lakes, immediately to tlie east of the water-shed, as they are on the 
 line now proposed to he followed, may properly come under the same liead. 
 
 In the estimate submitted last year will be found a statement of the suras 
 required for each work then proposed as follows : — 
 
 Dani at French Portage ,. Sl,600 00 
 
 Dam across Sturgeon River at Island Portage 18,000 00 
 
 Dam at Nequaquon 4,000 00 
 
 Dam at Two Falls Portage on River Seine 20,000 00 
 
 6] miles road and Tramway, on portages between Jjac des 
 
 " Mille Lacs and Rainy L-ike 1 0,400 00 
 
 $54,000 00 
 
 Since the estimate on which the above is founded was made, the circumstan- 
 ces have so far altered, that companies are already being organised for the pur- 
 pose of providing the means of transport, and have it in contemplation to place 
 steamers on such of the navigable reaches as may be of sufficient extent to 
 render their employment profitable. Jt will, therefore, be a matter of im- 
 portance, even at the outset of opjning the communication, to lengthen the 
 navigable reaches where practicable, and lessen the number of transshipments, 
 and with this end in view it will be advisable to extend the works in certain 
 sections. 
 
 Shebandowan La\e. 
 
 At the first chute on tno Matawin, two miles and a lialf from Shebandowan 
 Lake, and 16 feet under its lev^l, there is a favourable situation for a dam, and 
 one of small dimensions would extend the navigation of the Lake to that point, 
 and save the cost of three miles of roadway, which would otherwise have to be 
 made over very rough and broken ground. It is, however, proposed to raise 
 the level of Shebandowan Lake to the extent of 30 feet, so as to give uninter- 
 rupted navigation to the height of land, and it would be better, at once, to put 
 up a dam of dimensions sufficient to produce this result. Before a precise es- 
 timate of the cost can be given it will be necessary to examine the ground about 
 the Lake in order to ascertain whether on raising its surface level the water 
 might not find outlets besides the present one. The country is so high that I 
 believe it would not, and if this should prove to be the case $12,000 would pro- 
 vide for the dam. Material for the work is in unlimited abundance. Timber 
 can be cut on the shore of tlie Like, and floated off without any expense in 
 hauling, and stone can be easily obtained cither in the bed of the river, or by 
 blasting from the high rock on the banks. 
 
183 
 
 . • ' The Summit Pond. 
 
 This little lake has to be reduced in level to the extent of five feet, and the 
 channel between it and Kashaboiwe Lake deepened so as to admit of vessels 
 passing from one to the other. The rivulet which connects the two is 600 feet 
 in length, and the fall in that distance 4.99 feet. The bed of the stream is of 
 loose stone, earth and decaying timber, without any apparent solid rock. To 
 form a channel for such vessels as would be used, in the first instance, say 30 
 feet in width, the excavation would amount to 5,000 cubic yards, and the cost, 
 always supposing no solid rock to be met with, about $3,000 00. 
 
 The Dividing Ridge. 
 
 This ridge is 50 chains in width, and the gully, already referred to as running 
 through it, affords an easy means of making a cut so as to connect the waters 
 of the western with those of the eastern side. Eventually, when the communi- 
 cation comes to be opened on a large scale, a lock of 7 feet will be required. 
 At present it is proposed to jilace in the gully a wooden tramway at a cost of 
 about $2,500, 
 
 Lac des Mille Lacs to French Portage. 
 
 In this section last year it was proposed to raise the water of Lac des Mille 
 Lacs, by means of a dam at tlie Two Falls Portage, and to deepen the water in 
 the Windegoostegon Lakes by means of a dam at French Portage. It is, how- 
 ever, a matter of such paramount importance to avoid transshipments, in the 
 conveyance of freight, that I believe it will be better to incur a little additional 
 expenditure, and do away at once with the Baril and Brule Portages. This can 
 be effected by a dam at the outlet ol" Lac des Mille Lacs, which will raise the 
 level of that lake to the extent of say 4 feet, a cut between Lac des Mille Lacs 
 and Banl Lake and a dam, of 55 feet in height, at French Portage. 
 
 It was proposed (see report of last year) to raise the level of Lac des Mille 
 Lacs by a dam at the Two YaXU — sometimes called the Little Falls — Portage, a 
 point on the Seine, about ten miles below its outlet, where there is an excellent 
 natural position for a work of the kind. The situation at tlie immediate outlet 
 is not very favorable ; nevertheless, as explained in my report of last year, I 
 believe a dam could be constructed there to raise the waier to the extent con- 
 templated (only four feet over its present level), at less cost than at the Two 
 Falls ; and this would leave a portion of the estimate for that work to be applied 
 to making the navigation continuous to French Portage, where it is now pro- 
 posed to construct a dam, of height suflicient, to raise the water to the level of 
 Baril Lake. In regard to the excavation necessary between Lac des Mille Lacs 
 and Baril Lake, only an approximative estimate can be made, as the ground has 
 not been measured with sufficient minuteness to admit of a statement in detail ; 
 but for this section, and having in view the doing away with no less than two 
 transshipments, I would propose increasing the estimate of last year, which 
 wat $21,600, by $9,400, making the total $30,000. 
 
 Other Works, Lake Region. 
 
 For the other works required in the Lake Region, I would respectfully refer 
 to my report of last year. They may be brieffy stated as follows : 
 
 At the French and Deux Rivieres Portages, it is proposed to make erood wag- 
 gon roads or place tramways. They are each about two miles in length, and, in- 
 tervening between them is Kaogassikok Lake, 15 miles in lengtli. 
 
 Succeeding Deux Rivieres is the Sturgeon Lake Section, which can be ren- 
 dered navigable, in one unbroken reach of 27 miles, by means of a dam at Island 
 
Potftage. This dam, measured by the immediate effect it would produce, is the 
 most important work in the whole region of the lakes. 
 
 Following Island Portage is a navigable reach of 17 miles, through Nequa- 
 quon Lake, ending at Nequaquon Portage, which le.ads to Nameukan Lake. 
 This Portage is two miles in length, and until locks can be constructed to 
 connect the navigation of the two lakes, it must be used and a tramway placed 
 upon it. 
 
 Besides the Portage, there are two other ways of reaching Nameukan Lake. 
 One by the high water channel, which passes off on tlie 8outh side, and the 
 other by the main channel, known as the Riviere Malitpie, breaking off about 
 the middle of the lake, on the North side. In these two channels there is an 
 admirable natural arrangement for commanding the water, when locks come to 
 be constructed in either one or the other. 
 
 From the Nequaquon Portage to Fort Frances the distance is 56 miles, and 
 the navigation uninterrupted, except by a fall of 8.o5 fee', at the head of Rainy 
 Lake, and at this point a lock should be made as soon as possible. 
 
 At Fort Frances there is another carrying place, but it is the last and its 
 length only ten chains. 
 
 Lakf of the Woods Division. 
 
 In regard to this section, I would also refer to my report of last year. The 
 navigation is uninterrupted except by two little rapids, easily stemmed by a 
 steamer of moderate power, between Fort Frances and the North- West angle of 
 the Lake of the Woods, a distance of 120 miles. 
 
 Lockage to the extent of only 35 feet lift, would add to this section the navi- 
 gable waters of llainy and Nameukan Lakes, giving 56 miles additional ; but, to 
 carry the scheme out a little farther, lockage amounting in all to 151 feet lift, 
 would render the navigation uninterrupted between Deux Rivieres Portage 
 and the North-west angle, a distance of 222 miles. This would be half the en- 
 tire distance between Lake Superior and the lied River Settlement. 
 
 Mr. Russell in his work, from wliich I have already quoted, suggests the ex- 
 pediency of perfecting the navigation at once to the head of Sturgeon Lake 
 (Deux Rivieres), and connecting it by a railroad of 122 miles with Lake Supe- 
 rior. He did not, however, know at that time that the navigation could be so 
 easily rendered continuous, as determined by the explorations of last summer, to 
 within 40 miles of Lake Superior ; and the difference in cost of a railroad of 40 
 miles and one of 122 miles would be several times greater than that of the 
 lockage, necessary to overcome the difference in distance. 
 
 If the navigation were rendered continuous between the Deux Rivieres Por- 
 tage (head of Sturgeon Lake) and the North-west angle of the Lake of the 
 Woods, and a lock made at the Summit Pass, the following would be the distances 
 by land and water respectively : 
 
 MILES. 
 
 Land Wafer. 
 
 Thunder Bay to navigable water of Summit Section 40 
 
 Terminus of Road to the French Portage 70 
 
 French Portage 2 
 
 Kaogassikok Lake 15 
 
 Deux Rivieres Portage 2 
 
 Deux Rivieres Portage to North-west angle of Lake of 
 
 Woods 222 
 
 North-west angle to Fort Garry 90 
 
 134 SOT 
 134 
 
 Total 441 
 
185 
 
 There would thus be two transshipments only, between the terminus of the 
 Thunder Bay Road and the North-west angle of the Lake of the Woods, in a 
 distance of 311 miles, and between these two there would be an interval of 15 
 miles of navigable water, afforded by the Kaogassikok Lake. 
 
 Improvements to this extent might very rapidly be carried out, and there 
 would then remain the French and the Deux Rivieres Portages, where the 
 works would be extensive, requiring a little further time to carry them to 
 completion. 
 
 The total amoimt of lock.age — as will be explained further on, required to 
 render the whole distance bttwoen the north-west angle of the Lake of the 
 Woods and the Thunder Bay roa<l navigable, without a break, amounts only to 
 dbont 430 feet in a distance of 311 miles, or about 1.35 feet to the mile, 
 whereas the Rideau has 457 feet of lockage, in a distance of 126 miles, equal to 
 about 3.G3 feet per mile, so that, as compared to the distance, the section under 
 consideration requires but a little over one third part of the lockage of the 
 Rideau canal. 
 
 Fort Garnf Seel ion. 
 
 This embraces the country between the noith-west angle of the Lake of the 
 Woods and Fort (Jarry. Much fruitless exploration had been made in this section, 
 both by the Red River Settlers and parties sent out by the government, without 
 finding a line practicable for a road through the swamps, which cover a great 
 portion of its area. Towards the close of the explorations, a rapid reconnois- 
 sance made by the Red River Expedition party resulted in estrblishing a line 
 on which the country could be crossed, and on this line, during the past winter, 
 a good deal of work has been performed as reported on by Mr. Snow. The sum 
 get down in the estimate of last year should be ample for a road, as regards the 
 wooded section, but it is likely that to make a good road on the prairie an in- 
 crease would be necessary, when it comes to be greatly travelled. AH that can 
 be done for a prairie road, withont going to very great expense, is to drain it 
 thoroughly and fascine it in the wet parts. Specification No. 1, hereunto an- 
 nexed, should be adhered to as closely as possible in making the road through 
 the wooded section. 
 
 To sum up the amount required for the preliminary works, now proposed, 
 would be as follows : 
 
 Luke Superior Section. 
 
 Thirty-six miles main road, at $1,800 per 
 
 mile $64,800 00 
 
 Seven miles, Fort William, at $1,000 per mile. 7,000 00 
 
 Grading hill. Lake Superior 2,000 00 
 
 Pier at Thunder Bay 2,500 00 
 
 Bridge over Kaministaquia 4,500 00 
 
 $80,800 00 
 
 Lake Region. 
 
 Dam at first chute below Shebandowan Lake.. 12,000 00 
 Excavation at Summit Pond, to reduce it t<j 
 level of Kashaboiwe Lake, and for channel 
 
 for vessels 3,000 00 
 
 Dividing Ridge tramway 2,500 00 
 
 Lac des Mille Lacs works, and thence to 
 
 French Portage 30,000 00 
 
186 
 
 Dam at Island Portage, per egtimate of last 
 
 year 18,000 00 
 
 Dams at Neqnaqiion 4,000 00 
 
 Six and a-half miles road and tramway over 
 portages between Lac des Mille Lacs and 
 Rainy Lake 10,400 00 
 
 79,900 00 
 
 Fort Garry Section. 
 
 Twenty-five miles Eastern portion, at $1,600 
 
 per mile 40,000 00 
 
 Thirty-five miles Middle section, at $1,000 per 
 
 mile 35,000 00 
 
 Thirty miles Western section, over low prairie, 
 
 at $400 per mile 1 2,000 00 
 
 87,000 00 
 
 $247,700 00 
 
 The sum required for the preliminary communication, which it is proposed 
 to open, would thus stand at S247,200.00, or say, in round numbers, $250,000.00. 
 
 This may, at first sight, appear to be a small sum witli which to undertake 
 the opening of the territories of the North-West, amounting as it does to little 
 more than the cost of eight or ten miles of railway. 
 
 These preliminary works will, nevertheless, be of a permanent and substan. 
 tial character, and will form a step in the general plan. Improvements in new 
 regions should be progressive, and in the present case, works of great extent can 
 not be advantageously imdcrtaken, until the country shall have been so far 
 opened as to admit of the introduction of material and supplies for large parties 
 of workmen. 
 
 The region between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement is as yet 
 but a wilderness, utterly uninhabited except by the red men of the forest. It 
 produces nothing to sustain human life, except game, fish, berries and wild rice, 
 and the birchen skiff of the natives, stitched with fibres of roots, affords the only 
 means of locomotion. 
 
 In the heart of this wide region, is a tract of navigable water, which will 
 greatly facilitate operations, but it is cut ofl from Lake Superior on one side by 
 a formidable barrier of mountain and rock, and from the Red River Settlement, 
 on the other, by a region of quagmire and swamp. 
 
 The first step taken, must be to render these waters accessible from either 
 «'nd, and, when this is accomplished, the communication will be in a measure 
 open, and any number of workmen cjin be employed to carry further works to 
 completion, with all the speed which the means of the country may render 
 advisable. 
 
 PROBABLE ULTIMATE COST, COMBINED RAILROADS AND CANAL 
 BETWEEN LAKE SUPERIOR AND FORT GARRY. 
 
 During the progress of the preliminary works, set forth in the foregoing, 
 measurements can be taken on which to base detailed estimates, both for the 
 railroads at either end of the route, and the locks necessar^v to connect the inter- 
 mediate navigable sections. Until this is done any estimate, founded on the 
 
187 
 
 general measureraents already made, must be taken with considerable latitude^ 
 and the safest criterion to go by, making due allowance for the difference in 
 circumstances, will be the known cost of similar works now in operation in 
 North America. 
 
 In respect to railroads, it is easy in this way to arrive at an approximative es- 
 timate ; tut, as regards a canal, much will depend upon the scale of navigation 
 to be provided for. Locks of very limited dimensions would be equal to one 
 line of railroad ; and a canal of the size of the Rideau, for example, would be 
 equal in its capacity for the conveyance of freight to many railroads. 
 
 In the present undeveloped of the North-West Territories, it would perhaps 
 be better to commence on a moderate scale, adopting wooden locks, for which 
 substantial structures of stone might be gradually substituted, Mr. Stevenson, 
 in his very valuable work on American Canals, says : 
 
 " One of the most important advantages of constructing the locks of canals^ 
 " in new countries, such as America, of wood, unquestionably is that in propor- 
 " tion as improvement advances and greater dimensions or other changes are 
 » required, they can be introduced at little cost, and without the mortification 
 " of destroying expensive and substantial works of masonry. Some of the works 
 " on the great Erie Canal are formed of stone, but had they all been of wood it 
 » would, in all probability, have been converted into a Ship Canal, long ago," 
 
 He says further, that 
 
 " At the time when canals were introduced in America, the trade of the coun- 
 " try was small and did not warrant the expenditure of large sums of money in 
 » their construction, the chief object being to form a communication with as 
 " little loss of time or outlay of capital as might be consistent with a due re?jard 
 " to the stability and safety of the work," 
 
 These remarks are quite applicable to the present condition of the North- 
 AVest Territories. 
 
 Canal. 
 
 The navigation wliich it is proposed to open would be of that description, 
 which is called in the T'nited States " Slack Water Navigation." There would 
 be but very little canal, properly so called, for the cutting would not amount to 
 a mile in the entire distance of 311 miles. 
 
 The accompanying map, on a scale of two miles to one inch, and the plan 
 in profile, shew the position and relative altitude of the lakes on the line of 
 route, 
 
 Shebandowan Lake, for reasons already explained, would be adopted, as the 
 summit level, and it is, of itself, fed by drainage of an area sufficiently exten- 
 sive to ensure an ample supply of water. Between it and Lac des Mille Lacs, 
 however, there would only be a lock of seven feet lift, and the latter lake re- 
 eceives the waters of an area of no less than seven hundred square miles, so 
 that from thence westward, with Shebandowan Lake, Lac des Mille Lacs and 
 the areas which pour their drainage into them, combined, there would be water 
 at command, at the very source of supply, more than sufficient for a canal of 
 any dimensions, and any traffic that tan arise. 
 
 By means of dams and sluices at Lac des Mille Lacs, the supply of water 
 could very easily be regulated along the route proposed to be followed as far as 
 Sturgeon Lake, which receives a large river from the South. Throughout the 
 entire distance from Lac des Mille Lacs to Rainy Lake, the river channels are 
 everywhere of rock, and the water tumbles step by step from the higher levels 
 to the lower, so that the natural facilities for producing slack water navigation 
 — or rather for connecting the slack water sections which already exist — are all 
 that could be desired, and the question in the first instance to be decided would 
 be whether the locks should be of stone or wood. 
 
 In either case material is abundant. The hard Laiirentian gneiss of the 
 
188 
 
 country, although somewhat difficult to work, wouM answer well for the rougher 
 portions of the stone structures, and limestone, which could be made available 
 for the portions requiring to be highly dressed, is abundant on Rainy River and 
 at the Lake of the Woods. Timber, such as Red Pine, White Pire and Tamarac, 
 is in imlimited quantity all along the route, and iilm and a species of Oak can 
 be h«ad on Rainy River. 
 
 Wooden Locks, in the first instance, would cost greatly less than stone struc- 
 tures, however small the dimensions of the latter might be, and even by adopt- 
 ing wood for the locks, the greater part of the work in forming a canal would b<; 
 of a permanent character, and necessary for stone locks afterwards, as, for ex- 
 ample, the dams and the excavation. 
 
 As regards dimensions, the locks, to accommodate the largest class of vessels 
 adapted to the navigation, should be about 130 feet in length by, say, 30 in 
 breadth, with five feet of water on the sills. In the Lake Region, vessels of a 
 large class might be employed, but Rainy River is not adapted to a greater 
 draught than five feet. 
 
 The locks on the Rideau Canal are thirty-three feet in width by one lumdred 
 and thirty-three feet in length, with five feet of water on the sills. The Ilideau 
 has been a very expensive work on account of the excavation which, in length 
 of cutting, exceeds sixteen miles, and the enormous stone dams of Jones' Falls, 
 Hartwell's, Long Island, &c. Apart from these, and the land claims, which also 
 added considerably to the expenditure, the cost per foot lift of the lockage has 
 been about $4,300, The magnificent locks at the entrance to the Canal at 
 Ottawa, eight in number, and overcoming a fall of eighty-two feet, cost $4,296 
 per foot lift. 
 
 Work of such a costly description would, of course, be unnecessary on Inland 
 navigation, which, in the first instance, would only be used to the extent of the 
 capacity of the railroads at either end. 
 
 I find in looking over the statistics of some of the cheaper canals in the 
 United States, the following approximate cost per toot lift of lockage, including 
 dams and all expenses connected with the original construction : 
 
 New Hampshire and Merrimac $1,173 
 
 Delaware and Hudson 1,827 
 
 Morrig Canal (New Jersey) 1,930 
 
 Cincinnati and Dayton 2,485 
 
 Philadelphia and Reading 4,098 
 
 On the Morris Canal the rise and fall amounts to 1,557 feet, of which 223 
 feet are overcome by locks, and 1,334 feet by inclined planes, over which ves- 
 sels are moved from one level to another by means of machinery driven by water 
 wheels. 
 
 The Erie Canal, the work on which consists in great part of excavation and 
 embankment, aff^ords no criterion by which to judge of the cost of lockage on 
 «uch a route as that under considaration. 
 
 I have adduced the above instances to show what the cost of some of the 
 best known canals of moderate dimensions has been. Ship canals would, of 
 course, be vastly more expensive, and need not be considered in connection with 
 an inland navigation west of Lake Superior. 
 
 Locks of the dimensions I have suggested, would accommodate vessels of a 
 class sufficiently capacious to meet the wants of the country for a long period, 
 and they would be more than equal to the capacity of a single railroad for the 
 conveyance of freight. 
 
 From the east end of Shfibandowan Lake to the north-west angle of the 
 Lake of the Woods, the distance is 311 miles, and the total fall about 450 feet, 
 of which 430 feet has to be provided for by lockage, the balance being accounted 
 for in the current of Rainy River and other parts. 
 
 Supposing the locks to be of wood, I make very ample allowance in setting 
 
189 
 
 the cost at $2,500.00 per foot lift, which should cover the excavation necessarj 
 lor the lock beds, crib work approaches, dams, &c. 
 
 This would give the entire cost of the lockage at $1,290,000 • 
 
 The excavation, other tlian that included in the above, 
 will not exceed 120,000 cubic yards, and reckon- 
 ing the whole of this as rock, at $1.75 per cubic 
 yard, we have 210,000 
 
 Making the total cobt $1,500,000 
 
 Or, reckoning by distance, about $4,823.15 per mile, equal to about one sixth 
 part of the average cost of the clieapest railways. * 
 
 Jicilroadi). 
 
 Of these there will be two, one of about 40 miles between Lake Superior and 
 Shebandowan Lake, and one of 90 miles between the north-west angle of the 
 Lake of the Woods and Fort Garry. The former will be over very rough ground, 
 Avith difficult grades, and its least, average cost may be set at that of the 
 general cost of railroads in this country, say $40,000 per mile, making its entire 
 probable cost $1,600,000.00. In regard to the line between the Lake of the 
 Woods and Fort Garry, it will pass over level ground, and its cost may be safely 
 set at $30,000.00 per mile, equal to $2,700,000.00 for the entire distance of 
 ninety miles. The two Railways at either end of the navigation would thus in- 
 volve an outlay of $4,300,000.00. 
 
 Total cost. 
 
 40 miles Railroad, Lake Superior to navigable waters of 
 
 interior $1,600,000.00 
 
 311 miles of continuous navigation, improved by locks 
 
 and dams 1,500,000,00 
 
 90 miles Railroad, North-west angle Lake of the Woods 
 
 to Fort Garry 2,700,000.00 
 
 fl 
 
 'ir 
 
 Total $5,800,000.00 
 
 Cost of Transport. 
 
 Supposing a scheme of railroad and canal, as above indicated, to be carried 
 out between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement, the transport of heavy 
 freight, according to Mc Alpine's scale, which is generally adopted, would be 
 nearly as follows, from Toronto to Fort Garry. 
 
 94 miles railroad, Toronto to Collingwood, at 12^ mills a 
 
 ton per mile $1.18 
 
 534 miles by lakes, from Collingwood to Fort William, at 2 
 
 mills per ton a mile 1.07 
 
 40 miles by rail, from Fort William to navigable waters of 
 
 interior section, at 17 mills per ton a mile . . f 0.68 
 
 311 miles lake and river navigation, from terminus of Lake 
 Superior R ilroad to North-west angle Lake of the 
 Woods, at -. mills per ton a mile 1.25 
 
 4 
 
 * The above is given merely to convey a general idea of the probable ultimate cost of ren- 
 dering the navigation continuous between Shebandowan Lake and the North-weet angle of 
 the Lake of the Woods, The measureiuentii tu be taken during the present •usuner wiM 
 supply material for estimates in detail. 
 
190 
 
 90 miles rail, North-west angle to Fort Garry, at 15 mills 
 
 per ton a mile 1 . 35 
 
 1069 miles. Total cost $5.35 
 
 The distance from Toronto to Fort Garry, by way of Detroit, Chicago and St. 
 Paul, is 1572 miles, and supposing the railway communication to be complete, 
 the cost per ton, reckoned at 12i mills per mile, would be 319-65. Nothing 
 could show more clearly the vabt suueriority of the Canadian line in point of 
 
 natural advantages. 
 
 KESEKVES OF LAND. 
 
 Wherever Public Works are likely to be required it will be necessary to re- 
 serve a certain quantity of land, not very extensive, but enough to cover the 
 works and the approaclies thereto, as, for example, at all localities where locks 
 or dams have to be constructed. 
 
 It would be well, also, to reserve an ample area at every point where villages 
 or cities were likely to arise, so as prevent the land from falling into the hands 
 of individuals, who are always ready to purchase in such situations for purposes 
 of speculation. 
 
 Between Lake Superior and Red River Settlement, the localities which strike 
 me as being the most likely to become the sites of villages are Fort Frances, on 
 Rainy River, the North-west angle of the Lake of the Woods, and Oak Point 
 SSettlement. 
 
 Fort Frances. 
 
 This point is at the outlet of a spacious lake, into which several rivers of 
 great volume discharge themselves, after draining an area in which timber fi t 
 for commercial purposes is very abundant. 
 
 The Falls just in front of the Fort present unlimited water power, which is 
 all the more valuable from the fact that there is none to compete with it within 
 a distance of 150 miles, on the course of the river to the westward. Fort Fran- 
 ces is, moreover, at the commencement o^ a fine tract of land, which extends 
 along the winding course of the llainy River to the Lake of the Woods, 
 and which, being on the high road to the West, will rapidly fill up with 
 settlement. ♦ 
 
 It is likely also to become the centre of a mining district. Schists of Silu- 
 rian age, traversed by lodes of quartz, are plentifully distributed at Rainy Lake 
 and gold has been already reported. 
 
 Already, too. Gold mines are being worked at Vermillion Lake, which is on 
 the United States side, but sends its waters to Rainy Lake. 
 
 With a vast district covered with groves of pine timber to the east, a large 
 tract of the finest conceivable land to the west, and a region likely to prove rich 
 in minerals in close proximity. Fort Frances must soon become a place of im- 
 portance. Land should in consequence be reserved, not only for the public 
 works necessary to surmount the Falls, but also for the site of a town. 
 
 * This is the country of which Sir George Simpson wrote as follows ;— " nor are the banks 
 *'les8 favourable to agriculture than the waters themselves to navigation, resembling in 
 " some measure those of the Thames near Richmond. Sec, and proceeds. " Is it too much 
 "for the eye of philanthropy to discern through the vista of futurity, this noble stream con- 
 "nectingas it docs the fertile shores of two spaoioua lakes with crowded steamboats ou 
 ^'its bosom and populous towns on its borders. 
 
101 
 
 - North- West Anjle of the Lake of the Woods. 
 
 This point has nothing very attractive about it, further than that, being at 
 the terminus of the navigation, and the commencement of the land roads, it 
 must become a place of considerable reisort and, therefore, a town plot should 
 be laid off, and the lots sold or granted free, under condition of building and 
 permanent residence. 
 
 Oak Point Settlement. 
 
 It would seem as if people sometimes gathered by instinct, to points which 
 were destined to become of importance from causes of which they could 
 hav-e had no conception, and Oak Point settlement is one of these. The first 
 settlers could have had no idea that a line from the dreary swamps which lay 
 between them and the Lake of the Woods, and of which they knew nothing, 
 would emerge at that point. A few explorers attached to the Red River Expe- 
 dition, following the best ground from the North-west Angle, came upon the 
 settlement, and, as the track they laid out is to be a highway, there is every 
 indication that it will become a place of importance. Forty families have already 
 established themselves and a cl.urch has sprung up in their midbt. 
 
 The land is of unsurpassed fertility, and being where the prairies and forest 
 meet, it has the advantages of a wooded and cleared country combined. Wood 
 for fuel, building and fencing, on one side, and fields, for hay and pasture, 
 bounded only by the dim horizon, on the other. A Town Plot should be laid 
 oft, and not a lot granted except to an actual settler. 
 
 Fort Garry J 
 
 Situated, as it is, on navigable waters, which have their sweep across half a 
 continent, and with land of unequalled fertility surrounding it in every direction, 
 must become a very important place. It is a point at which water lines, rail- 
 roads, and telegraphs will converge. Hundreds of miles away to the South, the 
 valley in which it stands blends imperceptibly with that of the Mississippi, 
 affording easy means of communication. In the opposite direction are vast 
 tracts of navigable water, which afford ready access to the McKenzie River and 
 the fur-producing regions of the North. To the West, the broad Saskatchewan 
 gives a route to the Rocky Mountjiins, with the gold fields of British Co- 
 lumbia just beyond, and to the East lies the projected road to Canada, 
 which will yet bring its stream of traffic and immigration to the Prairies of 
 the West. 
 
 Nearly sixty years have passed since Lord Selkirk planted his little colony 
 of Scotch Highlanders atFort Garry, and even then he must have seen the 
 advantages of the situation in which he placed his countrymen, and the future 
 which awaited their descendants, who are now among the lords of the soil, and 
 must continue to grow in wealth as the country increases in prosperity. 
 
 The lands at Fort Garry are in private hands, so that no reserves can be made ; 
 but, as a general rule. Town Plots should be laid off and reserves wherever 
 there is any likelihood of villages arising, and in such situations lots should 
 be sold^ or granted Jree^ only to actual settlers. 
 
 THE INDIANS ON THE LINE ROUTE. 
 
 In my report of last year, printed by order of the House of Commons, I re- 
 ferred to the Indians inhabiting the Country about Rainy River and the Lake of 
 
the Woods, as being the only tribe with which the couutiy would tome in con- 
 tract, in opening the communication between Lake Superior and the Red River 
 Settlement. 
 
 These Indians occupy a peculiar and Homewhat exceptional position. They 
 are a community by themselves, and are essentially woml Indians, although 
 going on hunting or lighting expeditions to the prairies. They are of the same 
 tribe as the Indians at Red 1(1 ver, speak the same language, and regard them 
 as their kindred ; but they seldom see them, and have but little intercourse 
 with them. 
 
 Although the principal line ol traffic at one time passed through their terri- 
 tory, they have tor halt a century had but little intercourse with the white m:m, 
 Missionaries have made no impressions upon them and, in many respects, they 
 have shewn themselves to be less amenable to the influences of civilization, 
 than Indians usually arc. They, in fact, take pride in maintaining their 
 distinctive Indian character, are deeply imbued with traditions of what they 
 believe to be an honorable past history, and would look with disdain on any of 
 the community becoming christian. 
 
 They have a sort of government, consider themselves great braves, and occa- 
 sionally send war parties to tight the Sioux on the ])lains. The International 
 )>oundary line passes througli their territory, and some of them live on the 
 United States side and some on the British. The permanent residents, how- 
 ever^ are almost entirely on the British side, those from the United States 
 making their appearance in considerable numbers only in summer, during 
 the fishing season. The country on either side is in a state of nature, wild and 
 unsettled. 
 
 They are sufliciently organized, numerous and warlike, to be dangerous if 
 disposed to hostility ; and, standing as they do in the gateway to the territories 
 of the North- West, it is oi" the highest importance to cultivate amicable relations 
 with them. 
 
 One of the first necessary steps to be taken, will be to arrive at a distinct 
 understanding as to riglit of way, and have the same embodied in a formal 
 treaty. This treaty, if confined solely to that one point — right of way — as 
 it should be, without reference to lands for settlement, and other questions, 
 which could be arranged after the communication was opened, would occasion 
 no further outlay than would be involved in a few presents of blankets and such 
 articles as they require, which an officer sent for the purpose might judiciously 
 distribute, with the aid of the Agents of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 
 On the opening of the communication, last yenr, the chiefs of the tribe sent 
 one of their number, attended hv a party of his followers, to Fort William, to 
 ascertain what was being done, and to karn the intentions of the Government 
 in regard to opening the communication. No information, on the subject of 
 his enquiries, could at that time be given to him, but the fact of the tribe 
 having sent such a messenger, and for such a i>urpose, shews the deep interest 
 which they take in the present movement. They would be keenly alive to 
 any imagined slight in opening a highway, w^ithout regard to them, through a 
 territory of which they believe themselves to be sole lords and masters, and to 
 which, if a lengthened period of occupation can give a claim, they have un- 
 questionably some title. 
 
 As stated in my report of last year, working parties must be kept aa much 
 as possible aloof from the Indians, and the oflicers in charge should always see 
 that they are treated with proper respect. They are very different from the 
 timid and cringing creatures who are now the sole representatives of the Indian 
 Race in the back settlements of Canada, and the bearing I have sometimes seen 
 adopted towards the latter would not be relished. 
 
 Never having come in contact with what they believe to be a superior race, 
 they are conscious of no inferiority ; but, while this is manifest in their bearing, 
 they are, at the same time, inoflensive and obliging. 
 
193 
 
 The maintenance of order and amical)le relations will be much facilitated l>y 
 the utter and complete exclusion of intoxicating liquors. The penalty for the 
 introduction of such on the American side is the States Prison. Pity that we 
 have not so salutary a law on the British side. 
 
 For further notice of the Indians, see last year's report, page 26. 
 
 MANNER OF PROGRESSING WITH THE WORK. 
 
 As explained in my report of last year, the preliminary works proposed are 
 of that nature which can be better performed by engaging good workmen and 
 competent overseers, than by contract. 
 
 As many men as could be advantageously employed, should be at once placed 
 on the land roads at either end of the route, so as to render the navigable waters 
 of the interior sections accessible as speedily as possible. 
 
 The Lake Superior road can easily be supplied with workmen and material 
 from Canada. 
 
 For the road between the north-west angle of the Lake of the Woods and 
 Fort Garry, workmen can readily be engaged in the Red River Settlement, but 
 the dearth now prevailing at that place, and which must continue to prevail 
 until harvest, would render it necessary, in the early part of the season, to pro- 
 cure supplies in the northern settlements of Minnesota. 
 
 In regard to the Lake Region, timber can be prepared for the dams and 
 floated, during summer, to the respective positions where it is required, and the 
 work of excavation and construction could, in several instances, go on imme- 
 diately and be continued during winter, when supplies can be sent in more 
 cheaply by sleighs, than with canoes in summer. 
 
 When the road between Thunder Bay and Shebandowan Lake is completed, 
 there will be no difficulty in conveying supplies to the works in the interior, 
 and this is one of the reasons why it should be pushed through as rapidly as 
 possible. Operations in such distant localities as Nameukan and Nequaquon, 
 would be expensive and cannot well be undertaken until this road is completed. 
 
 SCHEME OF A RAILROAD TO RAINY LAKE. 
 
 In one of my preliminary reports, printed soon after the explorations had 
 commenced in the North- West Territories, occurs the following passage :— 
 
 " When the circumstances of the country would admit of the outlay, a con- 
 "tinuous railroad — 195 miles in length — might be made between Lake Superior 
 " and Rainy Lake, and another of 91^ miles between Lac Plat and Fort Garry. 
 " If this were done, and two locks constructed at Fort Frances, the Red River 
 " Settlement would be within less than two days' journey of Lake Superior, &c." 
 (Journal Reports of 1860, N. W. Territories, page 29.) 
 
 Since the report containing the above was written, there has been much ad- 
 ditional exploration, and the result has been to show that a railroad of 40 miles, 
 between Thunder Bay and the navigable waters of the interior section, combined 
 with the lockage suggested, would be of greater advantage and vastly more eco- 
 nomical, both in construction, in the first instance, and in working it after- 
 wards, than a continuous line to Rainy Lake. The latter, although the distance, 
 in an air line, is only one hundred and seventy miles, allowing for neces- 
 sary curvature, in such a region, would run up to about two hundred miles, and 
 there are certain very important conditions which it would not meet. 
 
 13 
 
194 
 
 It could not be extended at a future period to the Red River Settlement, 
 except through United States Territory, on account of the Lake of the Woods, 
 which spreads its waters for a hundred miles directly across its course ; and it 
 could form no part of a line from Canada to Fort Garry, as it would be over 
 sixty miles distant from such a line at its starting point, on Lake Superior, and 
 about a hundred at its terminus on Rainy Lake. 
 
 It would only be a " Portage Railroad," available during the season of navi- 
 gation, for connectingonetractofnavigable waters with anotlier. In this respect 
 it would, no doubt, be highly useful, but the same object can be effected, in this 
 case, by the shorter line of 40 miles now suggested, combined, as it would be, 
 with the lockage necessary to render the navigation continuous, between its 
 termir -"3 vnd the North-west angle of the Lake of the Woods. 
 
 The ide i of a continuous line to Rainy Lake, was merely thrown out as a sug- 
 gestion in a preliminary report, in which were discussed the various ways of 
 reaching the Red River Settlement and their advantages, as compared to the 
 longer route through the United States. It has, however, had a great deal of 
 importance attached to it, and been adopted by many warm advocates of open- 
 ing communication with the North- West Territories, and I trust they will per- 
 ceive that I am not now arguing so much against their views as explaining why 
 a suggestion made by myself, before the explorations had proceeded far, might 
 now be improved upon, by extending the navigable section and adopting a 
 greatly shorter and less expensive railroad. The principle in both cases is the 
 same, — a railroad from Thunder Bay to the navigable waters of the interior — 
 only that, as now proposed, the navigation would be extended to within a 
 shorter distance of Lake Superior. 
 
 FURTHER SURVEYS AND EXPLORATIONS. 
 Between Nipigon Bay and Fort Garry. 
 
 As already explained, in projecting a line of railroad from Lake Superior to 
 the Red River Settlement, Nipigon Bay should be adopted as the starting point. 
 Running from thence in the most direct course possible, the line would come 
 upon Lac Seul — a large sheet of water tribufciry to the Winnipeg. From thence 
 it is likely that practicable ground would be found by keeping in a course nearly 
 direct to the north end of the Lake of the Woods. From the latter point to 
 Fort Garry, the country is better known, and no great difficulty need be appre- 
 hended, except in the vicinity of Rat Portage, where a considerable area is oc- 
 cupied by low rocky hills. Should the ground prove to be of a very difficult 
 character between Lac Seul and the North end of the Lake of the Woods, it is 
 probable that a better line might be found by following the valley of the 
 English River — the discharge of Lac Seul — to the Winnipeg, crossing the latter 
 above the confluence of the two, and continuing along its valley to the Seven 
 Portages, from which point a line could be carried to the Red River Settlement, 
 in a distance of about forty miles, over a level but somewhat swampy .country. 
 By adopting the valley of the English River the distance would not be 
 greatly lengthened, and according to the most reliable acco'unts a fair country 
 would be thrown open for settlement. Fine crops are raised at the Hudson's 
 Bay Company farm at Lac Seul, and, as limestone underlies a portion of 
 the country, it is reasonable to suppose that where it prevails, the soil, as is 
 generally the case, must be good, and the ground at the same time favourable 
 for railways. 
 
 The principal difficulties will doubtless be found in this case, as elsewhere 
 
195 
 
 with lines starting from Lake Superior, in getting to the waters of the western 
 slope. 
 
 A survey should be made of the entire route and, in carrying it out, the levels 
 along the water courses should be determined by actual measurement, with the 
 spirit level, and the elevation of the adjoining country ascertained, approxima- 
 tely, by the barometer. 
 
 The region is intersected by rivers and lakes, navigable to birch canoes, so 
 that no great time need be occupied in making a cursory survey, such as would 
 be necessary to ascertain the general character of the coimtry. 
 
 This survey might be combined with operations at Fort William, so that 
 no separate organisation would be required. 
 
 Between Thunder Bay and Rainy Lake. 
 
 Measurements require to be taken, on which to base estimates for the work 
 required to render the navigation continuous between Shebandowan Lake and 
 Fort Frances, and in view of the importance which must now attach to the 
 country on the line of route, cursory surveys nhould be made of all the lakes and 
 tributary streams for a considerable distance on either side thereof. These sur- 
 veys might, without greatly increasing the outlay, be carried on in connection 
 with the work on the projected r«>ads and dams already reported on. 
 
 Mr. RUSSELL'S WORK ON THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES. 
 
 In concluding this report I feel it incumbent upon me, in the interest of 
 public information, on the subject of the North- West Territories, to draw atten- 
 tion to a work by A. J. Russell, Esq., of this city, about to issue from the press 
 of Geo. E. Desbarats, Esq., an advance copy of which I have had the privilege 
 of perusing. A lack of proper knowledge of these immense regions, so widely 
 different in their climatic influences — though heretofore so generally referred to 
 under the somewhat chilly name of Hudson^ s Bay, to which vast territories, thus 
 classed, bear not the slightest affinity — and the utter want of any available 
 means of acquiring such knowledge, has heretofore precluded the possibility of 
 any general practical discussion of the results to be attained by the 
 development of the country. The information about to be laid before the 
 public in Mr. Russell's work, will, therefore, be of the very greatest importance, 
 drawing, as it does, from every source that patient investigation could render 
 available such stores of knowledge as have yet accumulated, and presenting the 
 whole, illustrated by maps shewing the fertile and the barren, the genial clime 
 which invites millions of settlers to till the virgin soil, and the hyperborean 
 regions where the hunter and the fur trader will still have unmolested sway, in 
 a manner that will enable every one to judge for himself of the future that 
 awaits the Dominion that now presents so vast a field for enterprise and pro- 
 gress. Mr. Russell's work is deserving of a more extended notice than comes 
 within the scope of this report. 
 
 THE GREAT NORTH-WEST. 
 
 Although it may seem to be stepping aside a little from the direct matter of 
 this report — properly confined to the subject of opening the communication- 
 yet, inasmuch as I have, heretofore, under the orders of the Government, visited 
 
196 
 
 • 
 
 the great region farther to tlie west, to which the opening of the first link is but 
 the unbarring of the gateway, I cannot close without congratulating the country 
 and the honorable gentlemen themselves, on the success achieved by the depu. 
 tation in settling a question that lays open to the enterprise of the Dominion a 
 region which forms no inconsiderable portion of the American Continent, and 
 which is probably unsurpassed, in the variety and extent of its natural resources, 
 by any other area of equal dimensions on the earth's surface. 
 
 To those who believe that the North- West country, including the Red River 
 and Saskatchewan valleys, were properly a part of Canada, v/hen they consider 
 the formidable array which stood in the way of establishing our rights, and the 
 vastness of the stake, the sum to be paid will appear insignificant ; and when, 
 in addition to all that could have been fairly claimed, we acquire an immense 
 territory, rich in the products of the chase, in fisheries and probably in mines, to 
 which the right of the Hudson's Bay Company was not even in dispute, and 
 extinguish thereby the last vestige of a sway which, however mildly exercised, 
 is not conformable to constitutional usage, over any part of British North 
 America, a result has been accomplished of which the country at large 
 and the delegates themselves may justly feel proud. 
 
 There is but one point in the transaction to which some seem disposed to 
 take exception, and that is the appropriation to the Company of a small propor- 
 tion of the land within the district known as the Fertile Belt, and which is not 
 the only fertile belt in the wide regions of the North-West. I would scarcely 
 feel justified in touching on this subject did I not believe, from long personal 
 intercourse with the resident members of the Company, that the arrangement 
 will work well and conduce to the general advantage. 
 
 No one will dispute the wisdom and ability with which the Hudson's Bay 
 Company have conducted their affairs, and if in the past they have sought to ex- 
 clude settlement, as opposed to their interests, is it not reasonable to believe 
 that the same ability will now be directed to its promotion, both because they 
 will have other dealings with Canada, which will make it their interest to act 
 in concert with her, and because their lands in the fertile belt will thereby in- 
 crease in value ? 
 
 Assuming this as the natural result, I can speak of the resident partners and 
 officers of the Company as having it in their power to render the most important 
 services, both in aid of settlement and in the control of the Indian element. 
 They are wedded to the soil ; they know every part of the country, and under 
 the new rigime they will feel that their interests are identical with its progress. 
 Moreover, the influence of the partners in England — many of whom are in posi- 
 tions which will render their aid of the greatest importance — in directing 
 emigration to the Prairies of the West, will probably be of more avail than any 
 other effort likely to be made in the same direction. 
 
 To conclude, there is a beautiful and fertile land of vast proportions, inviting 
 the husbandman to its virgin soil. If we, in turn, invite and interest all influ- 
 ences in the Dominion, the Hudson's Bay Company included, to unite in its 
 development and in directing emigration and settlement to it, the day is not 
 distant when a teeming population of millions will find there the means of 
 prosperity and plenty ; and it would be a fitting sequel to the work now being 
 accomplished if, within a few short years from this date — which is quite pos- 
 sible — the delegates of last winter, Sir George E. Cartier, Bart., and Hon. Wm. 
 McDougall, C. B., with the best appliances of modern travel, could visit the fer. 
 tile belt, and see its broad navigable rivers, cutting through great coal fields near 
 their sources, to wind for many hundreds of miles through grassy prairies of 
 unsurpassed fertility or, passing from this fertile belt, to view still another belt 
 as va.^t, — farther to the north, but farther also to the West, and under the cli- 
 matic influence of a lower level — where another navigable river, the great 
 Unjiga, taking its rise in the plains of British Columbia, cuts through the 
 Rocky Mountains, in its course of a thousand miles, and winds eastward 
 
197 
 
 through woodland and prairie, across ten degrees of longitude. This is the 
 region which so impressed Sir Alexander McKenzie, the first civilized man who 
 liad ever heheld it. Early in May he saw the country green with exuberant 
 verdure, its gently undulating hills and valleys covered, far as the eye could 
 reach, with vast herds of Buffalo and Elk, with their young frisking about 
 them. He speaks of its soft and beautiful scenery, its trees in full blossom, 
 and indeed, to judge from his account, as well as from the narratives of other 
 travellers, it would seem as if this remote country of the Unjiga, with its 
 winding streams, its clumps of trees, and beautiful green sward, and its herds 
 of untamed cattle, rivals, if it does not surpass, in many places, all the groves, 
 lawns and plantations with whitli genius and art seek to adorn the habitations 
 t)f civili/.ed life. 
 
 I'espcctfully submitted, 
 
 S. J. Dawson.