>N No/^r 
 
 TRANSACTION No If. ' " ' FEBRUARY 23rd, 1897. 
 
 The Historical and Scientific Society 
 
 of Manitoba 
 
 *Ci>'Q>'v> 
 
 The Lake of the Woods 
 
 ITS HISTORY, GEOLOGY, MINING AND MANUFACTURING 
 
 George Bryce, LL.D. 
 
 A Life riember of the Society 
 
 WINNIPEG: 
 
 THE MANITOBA FREE PRESS COMPANY. 
 
 1897 
 
 J 
 
MAP OF THE LAKE OF THE \ 
 
WOODS DISTRICT 
 
The Lake of the Woods 
 
 Its History, Qeology, Mining and Manufacturing. 
 
 Tho annual iiiecting of the Historical and Scientitit* 
 Society of Manitoba, Feb. '2'An], afforded an excellent oppoi- 
 tunity for liringing before the citizens of Winnipef^ the resources 
 of the Lake of the \Vo(jds region. This falls within the scope of 
 the Society's work, as "north and west of Lake Superioi."' and 
 the general interest of the people in mineral deposits of the 
 Lake was sufficient reason for the lecturer of the evening. 
 Dr. Bryce, undertaking it. The doctor stated that tli«' wa}^ 
 in whi'-h to meet over speculation was to give definite and 
 accurate information as to mininj; and its conditions. I<fno- 
 ranee, as he remarked, is not only the mother of supeistition, 
 but txlso the nourisher of feverish speculation and impracti- 
 cable schemes. Undoubtedly our mineral resources on Lake 
 of the Woods are of givat value, and will give g^od returns if 
 carefully and judiciously developed. The lecturer was assist- 
 ed by Dr. Laird, president of the Society, in showing speci- 
 mens of the rocks of the Lake of the Woods, and also gangue 
 from several of the gold producing mines. The lecture /as 
 well illustrated with maps and diagrams. The attendance in 
 the city council chamber was large and influential and the 
 interest well maintained. Dr. Bryce said : 
 
 " The Lake of the Woods has now for more than a cen- 
 tury and a half been know to voyageurs who came by way of 
 Lake Superior to the Northwest. Connecting as it does by 
 water courses to within a few miles of Lake Superior and 
 communicating with all the inland waters of Rupert's Land, 
 it is not surprising that it became famous as an objective 
 point in northwestern exploration. In late years the Lake of 
 the Woods has become well known as a great lumbering 
 centre, supplying as its tributaries do large quantities of pine 
 for this industry. It has also an enormous water power in 
 its fall into Darlington Bay, which has been utilized to some 
 
extent in supplyiiij^ pnwer for mills. For a nunilxi- of years 
 the lake re<i;ioii has Iteen coming steadily into notice as a 
 mining «ii.strict. All these n-asons justify us in considering 
 it to-night at the annual neeting of oar Historical an<l Scien- 
 tific Society. 
 
 NAME. 
 
 The earliest name we find the lake known by is tiiat 
 given by Verandrye in his journey in I7'il. He says it was 
 called Lake Minitie (Cree Ministik) or l)es Bois. (I) The 
 foimer of these names, Minitie, stems to be Ojibway, and to 
 mean Lake of the Islands, prol»abIy referring to the large 
 number of islands found in the northern half of the lake. 
 The other name (2) Lac des Bois, or Lake of the Woods, seems 
 to have been a mis-translation of the Indian name (Ojibway) 
 by which the lake was known. This name (3) was " Pikwe- 
 dina Sagaigan," meaning the " inland lake of tlie sand hills," 
 leferring to the skirting range of sand hills running for some 
 thirteen miles along the .southern shore of the la-ke, to the 
 east of the mouth of the Rainy river, its chief tributary. 
 
 Another name found in a map prepared by the Hudson's 
 Bay Company in 1748 is (4) Lake Nimigon, probably mean- 
 ing " the expanse," referiing to the open sheet of water now 
 often called " la traverse." Two other names, (5) Clearwater 
 Lake and (6) Whitefish Lake, are clearly the exten.sion of the 
 Clearwater Bay, a northwestern part of the lake, and White- 
 fish Bay, still given by the Indians to tlie channel to the east 
 of Grande Presqu'ile. 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 The Lake of the Woods, though sometimes referred to 
 by French Canadian authorities at an earlier date, was first 
 reached by Verandrye in 1732. The earliest references were 
 no doubt obtained from stoiies of Indians heard on Lake 
 Superior. Verandrye's notable voyage has been often des- 
 cribed. In 1731 Verandrye's party, as late as the month of 
 August, was ready to leave Lake Superior to find their way 
 inland. The journey promised to be severe, and a part of the 
 
8 
 
 company rnutinie<l. Venindrye himself spent the winter at 
 the Kamiiiistiquia, on the shores of Lake Surerior, but his 
 nephew, La J(Mneraye, pushed tlirou^h and built a fort at the 
 liea:l of Rainy River, which runs into the Lake of the Woods. 
 This fort was called St. Pierre, and traces of it were found a 
 few years ago by the writer at Coutchecheng, three miles 
 southeast of the village of Fort Francis. 
 
 In June, 17."i2, the party urged on their explorations, and 
 descending Rainy River, reached Lake of the Woods. They 
 directed tlieir way now to the southwest shore of the lake, 
 where they built Fort St. Charles. Passing on to the interior 
 from the Lake of the Woods, they explored with great energy 
 the water courses of the west. The Lake of the Woods was 
 the scene of a great tragedy so far as the Verandryes were 
 concerned. The Sioux, or Dakotas, of the west were in the 
 habit of cominLf at times to the west side of the Lake of the 
 Woods, stealthily they lay in wait for a part of the ex})edi- 
 tion that was returning from the interior in 1730. This 
 ]>arty was led by Sieur de la Verandrye, eldest son of the 
 veteran Verandrye. A little island, still pointed out between 
 Hay Island and Cornfield Island, is said to be the scene of the 
 ('isaster. Attempts have been made lately by interested 
 parties to place Massacre Island near Rat Portage. For this 
 there is no evidence. 
 
 The Verandrye party consisted of the Sieur, a Jesuit 
 priest, Father Anneau, and twenty men. According to the 
 report of a voyageur named Eourassa, the bodies were dis- 
 covered on Massacre Island five days after the murder. "The 
 heads of the dead Frenchmen were placed upon beaver skins, 
 the greater numlber of them scalped. The missionary had 
 one knee oti the ground, an arrow in his head, his breast cut 
 open, his left hand upni the earth, and his right uplifted. 
 The Sieur de la Verandrye lay face downward, his back hacked 
 with a knife, a hoe buried in his loins, and his headless body 
 ornamented with porcupine garters and bracelets." The Crees 
 and Assiniboines, allies of Verandrye, offered to enter upon a 
 war with the Sioux, their heriditary enemies, to avenge the 
 
4 
 
 massacre, but Verandrye feared the consequences of such a 
 movement and declined the offer. 
 
 Charles Lindsey in his " Report on the Boundaries of 
 Ontario" says : " The Lake of the Woods is memorable in 
 geographical and diplomatic history. It has been the starting 
 point in every treaty of the boundary line between the 
 Dominion of Great Britain and the territories of the United 
 States. 
 
 No doubt in this statement Lindsev had reference to the 
 settlement of the boundary by the treat}' of 1783. At that 
 time the British commissioners in Paris had few maps, and 
 these very imperfect, of the country west of Toronto. The 
 American commissioners had at their elbow a fur trader, Peter 
 Pond, an American by birth, who had been in the employ of 
 the Montreal fur merchants, and had charge of a post in the 
 far distant Athabasca. It is said that Pond " desigrsated a 
 boundary line through the middle of the upper St. Lawrence 
 and the lakes and through the interior countries to the north- 
 west corner of the Lake of the Woods, and thence west to the 
 Mis.sissippi." The northwest angle of the Lake of the Woods 
 has consequently ever since been a notable point. 
 
 The impossibility of a line westward from the northwest 
 angle of the Lake of the Woods to the Mississippi led to the 
 agreement in Jay's Treaty of Amity and Commerce of 1794? 
 " to survey the upper Mississippi in order to fix the boundary 
 in that region." In 1816, at the Treaty of Ghent, promise 
 was made for a commission to settle the boundary to the Lake 
 of the Woods, east and west. At the convention of London, 
 in 1818, the commissioners appointed under the terms of the 
 Treaty of Ghent succeeded in closing the matter. It was 
 agreed to draw a line north and south from the northwest 
 angle of the Lake of the Woods until it met the 49th parallel. 
 An unexpected and amusing result of this mode of settlement 
 is that a small peninsula of Canadian territory has a portion 
 of the extremity cut off by this line, and this small section is 
 American territory, being surrounded by American waters. 
 
 The Lake of the Woods became the highway for almost all 
 
the expeditions and journeyings of voyageurs from the Lake 
 Superior district to the interior of the Northwest. The usual 
 course wps to cross from the mouth of the Rainy river to the 
 head of the Winnipeg river, and, descending it, to reach the 
 interior. In the winter of the year 1817, Lord Selkirk's band 
 of De Meurons, in order to outflank the Nor- Westers, left 
 Lake of the Woods, probablyabout Buffalo Bay, on the south- 
 west side of the lake, crossing somewhere along the boundary 
 line of 49 N. and reached Pembina, from which place they 
 came down the Red River and surprised and captured Fort 
 Douglas. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Comj^any, in course of time, found it 
 advantageous to have a post at the exit of the Lake of the 
 Woods. They accordingly built a post on the narrow neck 
 of land, probably not far from the present town of Keewatin, 
 at a spot where was the original and true Rat Portage, but 
 the company is still represented in the town of Rat Portage 
 by its place or business. 
 
 The circuitous and difficult route by which the prairies 
 were reached down River Winnipeg and by the stormy sheet 
 of Lake Winnipeg led to the use of the natural entrance on 
 the west side of the lake known as the northwest angle some 
 thirty or forty years ago. The expedition conducted by 
 Dawson and Hind, in 1857 and succeeding years, led to the 
 desire to open this more direct connection between Lake 
 Superior and Red River. In 1867 the Canadian government 
 built six miles of a wagon road from Thunder Bay to Dog 
 Lake. In 1868 the Red River end was begun with the pur- 
 pose not only of opening up communication, but also of giving 
 relief to the people of Red River, who were suffering from the 
 ravages of grasshoppers. Mr. John A. Snow was the con- 
 tractor in charge. He undertook to build the portion from 
 Red River to Pointe de Uhene — the prairie section — over a 
 distance of about 30 miles. The continuation of this road 
 was made to the northwest angle of the Lake of the Woods, 
 and the road, some 110 miles in length, was known as the 
 " Dawson Road." This road was afterwards a part of the 
 
famous" water stretches" route by which Mr. Mackenzie for 
 several years brought settlers to Lake Superior through Lake 
 of the Woods to Red River. The Wolseley expedition, in 
 1870, followed the Winnipeg River, instead of the Dawson 
 route. Thus has Lake of the Woods, from its position, again 
 and again become an important factor in the geogiaphy and 
 history of the Northwest. 
 
 GEOLOGY. 
 
 The Lake of the Woods, which has an area of 36,000 
 miles, is divided naturally into two parts, the southern, which 
 is largely an open sheet of water and somewhat shallow, the 
 northern tilled with a multitude of rocky island.?. This 
 division arises from the geological features of the basin in 
 which the lake lies. 
 
 The southern portion rests on the Laurentian strata, 
 which are the oldest stratified rock.s with which we are ac- 
 quainted. The Laurentian rocks consist chiefly of gneiss 
 rocks changed by metamorphic action, and these are lined 
 along the lake shore with beds of sand, which in the neigh- 
 borhood of the mouth of Rainy River, the chief tributary of 
 the lake, rise up as dunes and are seen for a considerable 
 distance. 
 
 The northern division of the lake is made of rocks which 
 are much softer and are cut up into innumerable islands. 
 They belong to the geological period known as Huronian, al- 
 though Mr Lawson, of the geological survey, to whom we are 
 indebted for many of our facts, states that they are not quite 
 identical with the Huronian of the shore of Georgian Bay. 
 He proposes to call our western formation the Keewatin. 
 The general inclination seems to prevail, however, to hold to 
 the name Huronian, and we may follow it. 
 
 This formation is notable as being found superimposed 
 in long bands, or stretches, upon the Laurentian. The Huron- 
 ian is generally regarded as a shore line formation. It is 
 besides very much contorted and disturbed, and it is gener- 
 ally supposed that it has been thus affected by the intrusion 
 
of masses of granite rock, and by the natural ctuinpling or 
 folding of tli(i earth's surface, which is still going on, and 
 which in former times assumed very great proportions. 
 
 The rocks of the Huronian are the mineral-hearing rocks, 
 or at least contain veins of various kinds, having gold and 
 other minerals of value. It has been the custom to connect 
 these veins in some way with the chanijes resulting from the 
 intrusion of the granite near by. 
 
 A study of" the rocks of the Huronian on the Lake of the 
 Woods shows that the belt of rock has been crumpled up into 
 five ridges, which the geologists call antidinals, and that these 
 run either northeast (»r southeast across the upper portion. of 
 the lake. 
 
 1. The most southern of these antidinals is shown in a 
 series of Laurentian islands, such as Bigsby, Big, Massacre 
 and Cornfield islands, and leading over to Driftwood point on 
 the west shore. 
 
 2. The second great ridge, enormous indeed in propor- 
 tions, includes the great dividing peninsula of the lake, 
 known as the "Grande Presqu'ile," which, leading through 
 Falcon Islaiui, passes to the opening made by the northwest 
 angle. 
 
 3. The next anticlinal was that formed by the eastern 
 peninsula, pointing northwestward, and connecting by islands 
 with the western peninsula at Crow Rock channel. 
 
 4. The fourth anticlinal, or i-idge, was that traced along 
 Pipestone Point and three islands, viz: Hay, Middle and 
 Scotty Islands, and it may V)e mentioned in passing that this 
 is an important neighbttrhood. This line of direction leads to 
 Point Aylmer, on the outer extremitv of the northern 
 peninsula. 
 
 5. The fifth and most northerly of the original ridges is 
 a short distance fr(tm the town of Rat Portage, starting from 
 the well-known Devil's Gap, and leading by islands across to 
 Dispute Point. 
 
 These four most northerly ridges diminish in size from 
 south to north., and each time become smaller in width until 
 
at the north the end of the lake is I'eached by the farthest 
 north extent in this district of the Huronian strata. This 
 forms a narrow rocky neck, havinjjf the waters o^ the Lake of 
 the Woods on the southern side and on tho noi tli the begin- 
 ning of the Winnipeg River, known as Dailington Bay. This 
 is at a level considerably lower than that of the lake. 
 
 Between the westein and northern j)eninsnlas a long, nar- 
 row strait runs through the Huronian stiata. It is calle«l 
 Ptarmigan Bay ; this again leads by passing Ash Rapids and 
 through the narrow Shoal Lake channel to Shoal Lake, a 
 body of water somewhat higher than Lake of the Woods. 
 Shoal Lake is triangular in shape with a greatest north and 
 south measurement of thirteen and a half miles, and a greatest 
 breadth of seventeen miles. This har. as we shall see become 
 famous as having mineral deposits of value. An eastern ex- 
 tension of the lake, named Whitefish Bay, shut in by the base 
 of the Grande Presqu'ile, liesaltuost entirely in the Laurentian 
 basin, though its northern and eastern shores are Huronian 
 And contain mineral deposits. 
 
 ROCKS. 
 
 1. The rocks of the Lauientian Ibrniation of the .south 
 end of the lake are, as has been said, hard gneissoid rocks. 
 
 2. The softer schist rocks of the north end of the lake 
 are much more varied in species. Like the Laurentian they 
 are all stratified rocks, which have gone through the process 
 of metamorphism by heat. If there ever were any fossils in 
 them all traces of these have Vjeen removed. Near Rat Port- 
 age these rocks are slaty (juartzites and siliceous schists. 
 The greenish rock known as chloritic rock of hornblende and 
 feldspar is found at different points. Talcoid schists and 
 siliceous diorites are come upon, but in general the rocks of 
 the whole series are made up of coarse laminated schists. The 
 arrangement of the rocks made by Lawson is : 1. Mica schist 
 on the surface ; 2. Agglomerate schist below this ; and, 
 3. Hornblende schist lowest down, resting on the Laurentian 
 gneiss. The thickness of these beds varies much ; but an 
 
estimate is made by Lawson that the average thickness of the 
 whole Huronian formation mav be set down at 23,750 feet, or 
 four and a half miles. 
 
 3. The presence at various points in the Huronian of 
 intrusive granitic rocks is very noticeable and significant. 
 This rock is found at ten main centres through the area of 
 the Lake of the Woods district, such as Rossland station, 
 Yellow Girl Point,, the Northwest Angle, Portage Bay, etc. 
 
 The occurrence of granitic intrusive rocks is of prime 
 importance in considering the bedding of the Huronian for- 
 mation, in finding the direction of metalliferous veins and in 
 dealing with the question of metamorphism. 
 
 SURFACE ACTION. 
 
 The rocks of the Lake of the Woods region would seem 
 to have been always somewhat level in their general outline. 
 There were no precipitous cliffs and great valleys such as are 
 found in mountainous regions. No doubt the soft rocks of 
 the northern section would be much worn away by the de- 
 nuding agencies occurring during the long periods of time 
 which have elapsed since their formation and elevation above 
 the sea. The glacial action is, however, very clearly followed 
 on the surface of the existing rocks. Law.son says : " The 
 Lake of the Woods and surrounding country may be consider- 
 ed essentially as a partially flooded area of ' roches mouton- 
 nees,' " i.e., rounded hummocks and even large islands. The 
 whole country is scraped bare, polished and grooved. The 
 rocks everywhere bear evidence of this general action. Striae 
 showing the direction have been found in upwards of 200 
 locations on the islands and rocky shores of the lakes, and 
 these have a general southwest direction, 
 
 A curious question has arisen as to the origin of certain 
 limestone boulders found along the shores of the Lake of the 
 Woods. No rock of this kind is known east or north of this 
 region, at least on the southern slope. These limestone 
 boulders are a peculiar feature of the south end of the lake. 
 Three different theories have been used to account for this. 
 
10 
 
 1. It has been suggested that thei'e may he a limestone 
 floor for this part of the lake. 
 
 'i. The limestone mijjht have been derived from the 
 Hudson Bay slope, where such rocks occur. 
 
 3. The limestones are erratics from the Red River 
 Valley. 
 
 As to these view?^ there is no evidence of a limestone floor 
 for Lake of the Woods ; in fact, there is every probability against 
 it. In regard to No. 2, it would seem impossible to imagine 
 any agency by which the great region of rocky country be- 
 tween this region and Hudson Bay could have been overcome. 
 The third supposition is plainly most reasonable. In the 
 glacial period we know that a great glacial lake covered the 
 Red River Valley and extended to the east shore of the Lake 
 of the Woods. The glacial action in the Red River Valley 
 was very great, and no doul t fragments of the limestone were 
 carried southeastward from it to the basin of the Lake of the 
 Woods. 
 
 MINING. 
 
 The contorted strata of the Huronian rocks, thrown 
 about as they have been by granitic intrusions, naturally had 
 many crevices, faults, fissures, broken seams, cracks and open- 
 ings in their structure. The intrusive rocks would liherate in 
 their upheaval great bodie^ of lava, steam and boiling water 
 from the vast depths below. These would have the metals in 
 a state of solution. The crevices and faults of the Huronian 
 would be filled and gorged with the gaseous, or liquid, heated 
 matters 
 
 From the wide-spread rhaiaeter of the mineral substances, 
 such as sodium, potassium, man;;anese, iron, copper, and even 
 gold and silver in sea water, and in many sea animals and 
 plants, it may be learned what the waters thrown up from the 
 great depths would contain. The cooling down of the mate- 
 rials thus carried in by water and steam makes the veins. 
 The kind and character of the vein depends on the shape of 
 the crevice or opening when the intrusive solid matter is de- 
 posited and solidified. 
 
11 
 
 Four chief varieties of veins have been named depending 
 on these conditions : 
 
 1. Rake or fissure veins. These are perpendicular, or 
 nearly so, in direction, and vary little in width as they de- 
 scend. 
 
 2. Pipe veins are much like fissure veins in direction, 
 being often nearly perpendicular but they are irregular in 
 width, and are subject to great variations, being now very 
 wide and then very narrow in diameter. 
 
 3. Flat veins or stn aks. These are a variety of fissure 
 veins which change their direction and run along paiallel to 
 the beds. 
 
 4. Gash veins are those which resemble fissure veins, 
 but are wide at the top and gradually narrow to a point until 
 they disappear. 
 
 The vein is from its nature shut in by walls. These 
 walls, if cracked when the vein matter or gangue was deposit- 
 ed, were often penetrated by portions of the liquid intrusive 
 matter, and so the wall rock contains at times, many feet from 
 the vein, traces of the vein material. When strings of the 
 vein material thus penetrate the wall rock, the rock is spoken 
 of as " ridered," though miners wrongly call these strings 
 " feeders." Sometimes the same mineral as that of the vein 
 may be found in pockets or nests adjoining the vein. 
 
 In some veins the richer part of the vein is in the centre, 
 and there seems a regular arrangement of the different miner- 
 als according to the specific gravities of the minerals. 
 
 When veins cross one another it is found that the place 
 of junction is very rich in mineral deposit. This is really not 
 accounted for, but is said by some to depend on theimal or 
 even on electric conditions. Contents of veins are often found 
 to vary with their depth. The length of a vein is hardly 
 ever known. The richest veins are productive for a while, 
 but their fissures may be filled with other materials than 
 those desired, or may cease altogether. Some, however, are 
 known to extend for several miles. Veins vary greatly in 
 
MINERAL VEINS. 
 
13 
 
 width. One twenty feet wide wculd be considered quite re- 
 markable ; most veins are less than six feet in width. 
 
 " Gold is always native, always alloyed with silver, and 
 contains small quantities of copper and iron. Iron pyrites 
 almost always contains gold. Gold usually occurs in quarz 
 veins, which are sometimes in granite." — Phillij)^. 
 
 MINE CENTRES. 
 
 The geological conformation gives indications in many 
 cases where the mines are likely to be. The following points 
 are worthy of consideration : 
 
 1. Generally on or near the Huronian deposits the mines 
 are found. 
 
 2. Usually in the neighborhood of granitic intrusive 
 rock. 
 
 3. Almost exclusively in the Lake of the Woods region 
 in quartz rock. 
 
 4. According to Lavson, in many instances the granitic 
 cores of rock are overlaid on the shore of the lake by skirts 
 of Huronian rock. 
 
 5. (a) The localities seemingly most developed with 
 success are the districts a few miles southeast of Rat Portage 
 where the Sultana, Pine Portage and other mines are found. 
 
 (b) Rossland station, some eight miles east of Rat Port- 
 age, is the centre of a number of mines of which the Scramble, 
 Sweden, and others arc spoken of 
 
 (c) Big Stone Bay has in its neighborhood a number of 
 localities, and the Master Jack is beingworked. 
 
 (d) The neighborhood of Whitefish Bay, to the east of the 
 Grande Presqu'ile, has the Regina, La Mascotte and many other 
 locations. 
 
 (e) The Shoal Lake, on the west side of the Lake of the 
 Woods, where the Mikado, Gold Coin and many others occur, 
 has received attention. 
 
 The Wabigoon district lies on Huronian horizon, and is 
 being explored and examined. Though belonging to the 
 Rainy River, as being one of its tributaries, yet the Seine 
 
u 
 
 river, running alonir a stretch of Hiironian rocks, lie.s very 
 little soutli anil is within two (Jejjroes east of the south end of 
 the Lake of the Woods. 
 
 These are Imt very few of the many points taken up by 
 companies and prospectors. That some of them are well- 
 paying prt)perties does not say that they are the only rich 
 niines. The districts ([uoted are miles apart and are scattered 
 over no le.ss a region than of fifty miles squaiv. There .seems 
 no good ground for siying that all the good locations are 
 taken. 
 
 6. The possibilities of failure are : 
 
 (a). The circulating of false or misleading information 
 about localities. 
 
 (b) The substitution under the name of one mine of 
 assays from samples of ore taken from recognized rich mines. 
 
 (c) The returns made by incompetent analysts not to 
 speak of fraudulent agents. 
 
 (d) The running out of veins which may prove good for 
 a time. 
 
 (e) The lack of money to develop. 
 
 (f) The difficulty of guarding against dishonest em- 
 ployees, even when gold is secured. 
 
 Un ioubtedly there is room and much need for the govern- 
 ments of Ontario and Manitoba, which are interested in this 
 matter, having laws on mining, organizing competent scien- 
 tific departments, under wdiich precautions may be taken to 
 protect the public from deceit, and giving true assays of ore, 
 with certificates of the localities and the like. A government 
 certificate should be issued only under the strictest regulations 
 
 MANUFACTURING. 
 
 1. The s])lendid sheet of water found in Lake of the 
 Woods, with its im})ortant tributaries, has for years given 
 opportunit37^ for the important industry of lumbering. Excel- 
 lent timber is obtained from the Vianks of the streams leading 
 into Rainy River. Great numbers of logs are every season 
 brought down to where the Lake makes exit into Winnipeg 
 
liver and nuinufactured for the uses of the |irairi(' settlers. 
 The saw mills of Messrs. < 'aiiieron. Mather, and others are 
 dotted alon:' the edm* of the lake ior some three miles. 
 
 '2. The presence of large quantities of spruce, birch and 
 poplar upon the feeders of Lake of the Woods, alonj^ vitli the 
 splendid water power of the lake, has sugp>sted the making 
 <>fpul[)for the manufacture of paper. The tind)er can l)e 
 cheaply obtained and delivered, and the ])assage of the lailway 
 through the neighborhood of the water-power gives every 
 facility for advancing this important industry. It has also 
 been sui/gested that the nearness of the j)rairies might well be 
 utilized tt) grow flax for the manufacture of high grades of 
 f)aper. It is said that 1,281, :)o4 bushels of flax seed were pro- 
 duced in Manitoba in 1895. To be able to use the straw 
 would be an addition to the farmers' income 1'he Tnanufac- 
 ture of barrels and woodware is also a feasible industry. 
 
 3. The flrst advantage, other than in the v\ orking of 
 wood, has been taken of the water power in the manu- 
 facture of flour. This must ever be a chief industrv in the 
 Northwest. The Lake of the Woods Milling Con)pany, 
 which began operations about ten years ago, has since, along 
 with the Ogilvie Mdling Company, of Winnipeg, been doing 
 an enormous business. To those of us who remendjei- the 
 susjticion with which our Manitoba wheat was looked ui)on as 
 a flour producei" twenty -Ave years ago, it is a great gratifica- 
 tion to know the high place which Manitoba flour has taken 
 in the markets of the woild. The output of this mill last 
 } ear was very large. 
 
 4. As the basis of these manufactures, which mav render 
 the Rat Portage and Keewatin district worthy to be called a 
 great manufacturing centre, there is certainly to be mentioned 
 as important the service ren<^ered by the Keewatin Power 
 Company. In order that the full power might be utilized, it 
 has been found necessary to dam one of the outlets of the 
 lake at a considerable cost. We are fortunate through the 
 courtesy of the " Flag " newspaper, of Ottawa, in being able 
 to publish a cut of the dam of the Keewatin Power Company. 
 
IT 
 
 This will show the in»i(;nitn(le of the work alrondv under- 
 taken ami accomplished. As is well known this company 
 proposes to supply electric power not only for local purposes, 
 but also for places at as j^reat a clistance as Winnipci^^. 
 
 Looking at the resources of the Lake of the Woods dis- 
 trict, we may well wonder at the richness of our North- 
 western heritaw. While discouramnfj all Itooininsj; and iin- 
 natural develo{)iuent of our resources, it is hut ri^rht that we 
 shoaM encourajife legitimate work in making use of the 
 treasures of nature belonoino: to us. We shall he jjlad if Rat 
 Portajje and Keewatin irrow to deservf^ the nunio alreadv 
 given hy some, of the " Minneapttlis and Denver of the Cana- 
 dian Northwest."