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CIHM/ICMH 
 
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 1980 
 
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L. 
 
 This 
 
itfl 
 
 REPORT 
 
 ON- 
 
 <l\t ^lortest f Bule for a lailtoaB 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 LAKfi] SUPERIOR AND FORT GARRY. 
 
 — BY — 
 
 S. J. DAWSON, Civil Eng 
 
 ineer. 
 
 This Report was moved for hy Me. E. B. BAaaoN, M. P for Alanmn nf J, • 
 
 , x«. I ., jor Aigoma, at whose instance 
 
 it is mw printed for general information. 
 
 
 PRINTED BY MacLEAN, BOGKR & CO., "TIMES" OFFICE. 
 
 1874. 
 
 I 
 

 LAI' 
 
 This Rc/K 
 
REPORT 
 
 ON- 
 
 (Llje §|ortest foiite for a gailtoag 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 LAKE SUPERIOR AND FORT GARRY. 
 
 — BY — 
 
 S. J. DAWSON, Civil Engineer. 
 
 This R,-port ,ra, mar, J /or /,,/ Mr. K. B. BAimrm, M. T, yo. .l/^o.n.. at whose instance 
 
 if it /tow printed for general informatiov. 
 
 PKTNTKl) BY MaoLEAN, EOGER .t (^0., " TIMES ' OFFICE. 
 
 187-1. 
 
flj 
 
 ''i 
 
Iifjjort 0n tlje ^|i)i'tc5t goute for a |iiiilli)!m 
 
 K ..^.,. .« 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 LAKE SUPERIOR AND FORT GARRY 
 
 By S. J. DAWSON, Civil Engineer. 
 
 Ottawa, 22nd December, 1873. 
 Sir,— 
 
 In a communication addressed to your predecessor, I took occasion to 
 draw attention to the fact that, in prosecuting surveys from time to time, 
 on the line of the Red Iliver route, ranch information had been obtained, 
 as to the practicablility of running raih'oads in sections where the ground 
 was previously believed to be too rough and broken to admit of their con- 
 struction, and expressed the opinion, founded on the result of these sur- 
 veys, that a line of railway could be run from Thunder Bay to Fort Garry, 
 in a line nearly direct. I now beg leave to lay before you a brief state- 
 ment of the more obvious advantages, which this line — should it be found 
 to be practicable, as I believe it will be, — would have over any other that 
 could be adopted between those places and, among these, I may at once 
 notice the following : — 
 
 1st. It would be the shortest which could be adopted between Lake 
 Superior and Fort Garry. 
 
 2nd. It would be further South, on a lower level and, consequentlv, 
 in a better climate, than any other lino which could be projected, within 
 British territory, between the same points. 
 
 3rd. It would lead to the development of a country rich in timber, 
 having valuable minerals and, in some parts, presenting fine agricultural 
 land, and thus create a local tralfic, which it would be needless to look for 
 in lines further to the north. 
 
4th. At some points, it would touch on and for a great part of the way 
 be contiguous to navigahlo waters which would render a wide extent of 
 country tributary to its traffic. 
 
 6th. It would be oasy of construction, inasmuch as the present line of 
 communication would allord the moans of carrying men, supplies and 
 material to various points, thus admitting of work being carried on simul- 
 taneously, at moderate intervals of distance, throughout its whole extent. 
 
 6th. Every link of it would become available and yield a return, as 
 made. Thus, v, hi n Shebandowan was reached, on the one side, and the 
 Lake of the Woods on the other, the expense at present involved in main- 
 taining teams of horses, for transportation, wovdd be done away with. 
 Fort Garry would at once l)ocora(' easy ol' access, and the tralhc would 
 rapidly increase as the road was extended. 
 
 7th. It might be made \o Icnu :i ])ortion of the Great Pacific road, by 
 being extended to Nipigon l);iy and the eastward, and, even between 
 Nipigon Bay and Fort Garry it would still, 1 am warranted in ])elieving, 
 be the shortest practicable route. 
 
 There would, indeed, be a detour in passing from Nipigon Bay to the 
 valley of the Kaministaquia, but lines without serious deviations from a 
 given course, are not to bo thought of in a district so broken. Besides, 
 grades have to be considered as well as distance and, in this latter respect, 
 at least, there would be advantage. I believe, in bringing the line of the 
 Pacific road from Nipigon Bay, by way of Black Bay and Thunder Bay, to 
 the valley ot the Kaministaquia, rather than to run it up through the 
 broken ground, intervening between Nipigon Bay and the high plateau of 
 the water-shed. 
 
 Moreover, it should not be lost sight of that, in bringing the main 
 Pacific line by the route indicated, the expense of a branch would be 
 altogether avoided. 
 
 Sth. In the Summer season, the shortest line between Fort Garry and 
 Lake Superior, other circumstances being equal, would command the 
 traffic of the West. Now, a line from Thunder Bay to Fort Garry, by the 
 route suggested, would be 375 miles in length, or to make full allowance 
 for deviations, say 390 miles. This would on the one hand be shorter, by 
 about. 50 miles, than a line from Nipigon Bay, and on the other nearly, if 
 not quite, a hundred miles shorter than the route by the Northern Pacific 
 
and projoctecl Pembina line. In fact, as regards Fort Garry, the Thunder 
 Bay lino woiikl have an advantage of HOO miles over the route by Duluth. 
 That is, taking Thunder IJay as the starting point, to go by water to Duluth 
 200 miles, and thence by rail to Fort Garry 500 miles, would be 700 miles 
 as against 390 miles by the route under consideration. 
 
 But other circumstancc^s would not be equal, for there is a tract of 
 navigable waters on the Thunder Bay route which, when heavy and bulky 
 articles of agricultural produce come to be carried, cannot be left out of 
 consideration, and I do not hesitate to say that, if a railroad is run from 
 Lake Superior to the North AVest Territories, at a distance from and 
 in a way to ignore- those navigable waters, the day will come when the 
 error will be seen and felt. 
 
 Apart from the comparative advantages arising from a saving in dis- 
 tance, probable easier grades, a lower general level, a better climate and a 
 region in which are mines, forests of valuable timber and areas of agricul- 
 tural land to be developed, there are others of scarcely less importance and 
 among these, I would call attention to the excellence of Thunder Hay as a 
 har':;Our. Well sheltered on all sides, it is at the same time easy of access 
 to sailing vessels, as well as steamers. It opens early in Spring, ns com- 
 pared to most of the other ports on Lake Superior, and, in the Fall, never 
 freezes to an extent to impede navigation, till the middle of December. 
 
 Last Spring was unusually late, but Thunder Bay was open on the 
 9th May, while Duluth was blocked with ice for a fortnight longer and 
 Nipigon Bay did not open till the 23rd of May. 
 
 I have traced roughly on the accompanying map, the general direction 
 which the line proposed would follow, namely : — from Thunder Bay by 
 the valley of the Kaminista 'ia and its tributary, the Matawin, to Sheban- 
 do wan Lake. T'lence, weslv. .y by the north side of that Lake to Kashabov^^ie 
 Portage, thence, westerly, by the valley of a brook falling in at the head of 
 that Portage to the Height of Land, where there is an Indian trail through 
 Mil (\tsy i)ass, thence curving down by the valley of a brook running to 
 Windegnostigon Lake, then along the south side of the Lake last named, 
 to the valley of its discharge, the little Fronch River ; thence to the head 
 of Kacgassikok Lake, and thence, in as direct a line as can be obtained, to 
 Sturgeon Falls on the River Seine, (a most important point which will bo 
 
6 
 
 further referred to). From Sturgeon Falls, the line, in its course to the 
 narrows of the Lake of the Woods, would touch on two other long indeu - 
 tures or arms of Rainy Lake, then skirting the northern coast of the upper 
 part of the Lake of the Woods, it would cross at the narrows to the point 
 forming the north eastern promontoiy of the Northwest Angle Bay, and 
 from theiice would run over a level country, in a lino nearly direct, to 
 Fort Garry. 
 
 This route is now tolerably well known, except the section intervening 
 between Sturgeon Falls and the narrows of the Lake of the Woods, and 
 that portion would be easy of exploration for it borders on navigable 
 waters. Nothing could be easier than the western section, of a hundred 
 miles from the narrows to Fort Q-arry, for it is level or but gently sloping 
 throughout. 
 
 From Thunder Bay to Sturgeon P'alls, the distance is, in round num- 
 bers, llJO miles, and in some parts of this Section, the ground is, no doubt, 
 rather broken, but from the reports of the surveying parties attached, from 
 time to time, to the Red River Route, I am warranted in s.iying thai it is 
 quite practicable, and, indeed, I have been myselC over a great part of it. 
 The grand point, in any line stjvting from Lake Superior, is to iind an 
 easy grade in a given course to the plateau of the water-shed, and in no 
 part of the coast that I am aware of, is there a river valley, cutting in a 
 Westerly course, directly across the hilly region, except that of the 
 Matawin. All the other river valleys run more or less with the strike of 
 the mountain ranges, and this valley is at right angles to that strike. 
 
 The difference is explained by the Geological structure of the country, 
 to which it is unnecessary here to refer, further than to say that Shoban- 
 dowan Lake and the valley of its outlet, the Matawin, are in a band of soft 
 slaty rocks of Iluronian age, with gneissoid ranges of the harder Lauren- 
 tian series abutting on either side. 
 
 Through these soft schists the Matawin has cut its valley, forming a 
 highw^ay through the rugged country, to the more level regions of the 
 interior. 
 
 It is partly to take advantage of this natural highway, lying, as it does, 
 directly in the route to Fort Garry, in an otherwise ditiicult section, that I 
 urge so strongly the expediency of having this route thoroughly explored, 
 before concluding to adopt any other. 
 
Aloiif^ the north fide of Shebaiidowan Lake, I can say, from my own 
 oxporience, that the ground is practicable for a railway and from Kasha- 
 bow ie Portage, there is a line valley running, in the course indicated on 
 the map, to the Height of Land. 
 
 Westward ol" the water-shed, I believe that, with careful survey, a 
 very good line can be found, for the country is far less broken and hilly 
 than on the Lake Sui^erior slope. 
 
 It has bee.i said that ihe Lakes are so numerous, large and deep, as to 
 form a serious obstacle, but, on the route marked out, the large Lal'.es are 
 avoided, and although there are small ones, occurring at intervals, they 
 can be passed. 
 
 It will doubtless suggest itself, that the feasibility of this scheme 
 hinges, in a measure, on the practicability of crossing at the narrows of the 
 Lake of the Woods at a reasonable outlay. This is, of course, a matter 
 requiring thorough investigation. The surveys so far made and soundings 
 taken show that at the narrows, a cluster of Islands extends completely 
 across the Lake, that, in fact, the Lake ends and presents numerous chan- 
 nels, shallow and of moderate width, among low islands mostly well 
 wooded. 
 
 The channels are so land-locked and sheltered that there can be no 
 danger of ice shoves in winter, or of a surge arising in summer. 
 
 Material is abundant for crib-work on which to support bridges, and 
 I believe that no tserious difficulty would be encountered. Indeed, the cost 
 would be much less than would be involved in making a detour, which 
 would of necessity add greatly to the distance, by Rat Portage. 
 
 Some misapprehension arises in regard to the '* Lake of the Woods," 
 from the circumstance of the whole water area, between the mouth of 
 Kainy River and Rat Portage, being called by that name, for the Indians 
 make a distinction calling the area south of the narrows by the name of 
 " The Lake of 'the Sand Hills " and that north of the narrows " The Lake 
 of the Woods," the tract of water called the Lake of the Woods on the 
 maps forms in reality two Lakes, and I mention this to let it be understood 
 that I do not so much propose to run a bridge across a Lake as over a 
 series of channels connecting two Lakes. 
 
 In a report published some years ago, in commenting on the then 
 mooted scheme of a railroad from Thunder Bay to Rainy Lake, I took 
 
rj^>»K':^A 
 
 occasion to remark that the Lake of the "Woods would prove a serious 
 obstacle to its being made, at a future period, a portion of a line which 
 should cross the continent, but if the Lake of the "Woo.ls can be crossed at 
 the narrows, as I now believe and am convinced it can, this objection, of 
 course, vanishes. 
 
 In conclusion, I would draw attention to the point marked " Sturgeon 
 Falls " on the accompanying map. 
 
 This place is at the head of na\ igation, on the north easterly arm of 
 Rainy Lake, and once the railroad had reached it, from Lake Superior, 
 there would from thence, (that is, from Sturgeon Falls,) be navigation, 
 broken only by the Fall at Fort Frances— which twenty eight ieet of Lock- 
 age would overcome, all the way to the North West Angle, and it should 
 not be lost sight of that there are already two fine Steamers on these waters, 
 besides Steam Launches and barges. 
 
 For the reasons I have stated, I would respectfully recommend that 
 this route should be thoroughly explored. 
 
 It has not, as yet been at all examined, professedly, with a view to a 
 Railroad, and in expressing the belief that it is practicable, I speak from 
 the experience of some years in the country to be passed through. 
 
 Respectfully submiting this important matter to your notice. 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 S.J.DAWSON. 
 
 I 1 
 
 Hon. Alexander McKexzte, 
 
 Minister of Public AVorks, 
 
 &c., Sec, tSrr., 
 Ottawa. 
 
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