FOREST AND STREAM 
1187 
fe • i i i . ‘_\ i 
The Extreme Border of Civilization—After This the Wilderness Claims 
Its Own. 
to traverse it. J. B. Tyrrell, while 
surveying the north shore of Atha¬ 
baska Lake in 1893, met a party of 
Indians near the mouth of Chariot 
River who had just come over the 
portages from Tazin Lake, and he 
states that it is possible to follow 
this route through to Great Slave 
Lake. Tyrrell’s statement induced 
us to enter the region by this route, 
for at the time the expedition was 
planned no other route was known 
to us. 
The Talston River drains prac¬ 
tically the whole of the country be¬ 
tween Athabaska and Great Slave 
Lakes, east of Slave River to the 
108th meridian. Its main tributary 
is the Tazin, which drains the region 
immediately north of Athabaska 
Lake, while the Taltson River itself 
carries the water from the region 
between the east end of Great Slave 
Lake and latitude 61 degrees, its 
headwaters interlocking with those 
of the Thelon River. 
Neither the Tazin nor the Taltson can be 
considered navigable for large boats, except in 
short stretches, and steamers could only ascend 
the Taltson River from Great Slave Lake for a 
distance of 23 miles, to the first falls. Falls 
and strong rapids occur at frequent intervals 
and in our descent of the two rivers it was 
necessary to make about forty portages, the 
longest one mile in length, and to run dozens 
of rapids. 
The country abounds in lakes, all of them 
remarkable for the clearness of their water and 
the beauty of their surroundings. The largest 
of these are: Tazin Lake, 29 miles long and 
8 miles wide; Hill Island Lake, about 24 miles 
long and 2 miles wide; Tsu Lake, 17 miles long; 
and Thekulthili Lake, a lake which we did not 
thoroughly explore, but which is at least 25 
miles long. They are all rock basins, with 
irregular shore-lines and few beaches. 
The lakes and streams abound in fish, includ¬ 
ing whitefish, pike, suckers and lake trout. 
Game, however, is scarce except in the winter 
season when caribou come into the region in 
great numbers from the Barren lands. Besides 
these, there are a few moose and black bears. 
All the fur-bearing animals common to the 
Mackenzie River region are found here. 
The country is inhabited by Indians known as 
Caribou Eaters, a branch of the Chipewyan 
stock, who trade at Fort Smith. A few other 
Indians, also, from Chipewyan, Resolution and 
Fond du Lac hunt over parts of it. 
The commercial possibilities of the region are 
small, and it is not likely to support any popula¬ 
tion except, possibly, such as might be engaged in 
mining pursuits. Agriculture is out of the ques¬ 
tion and unless economic minerals are found in it, 
it will always remain unsettled. So much of this 
block of territory remains to be explored that 
it is impossible to say, yet, what it may contain 
in the way of minerals. Quartz veins were 
noted • in the Tazin rocks in several places, 
notably at Hill Island Lake, a region which it 
might be worth while to prospect. These veins 
may possibly prove in places to be gold-bearing. 
All of these lakes are remarkable for the 
clearness of their water and the beauty of their 
surroundings. 
The maximum temperature recorded at noon 
was 86 degrees F. on July 25. Frost was not 
noted until September. 
The chief drawbacks to travel and residence 
in the region are the myriads of mosquitoes in 
the summer months. These pests are in such 
numbers in the months of June and July, and 
in the early part of August, that some protec¬ 
tion from them is absolutely necessary when 
traveling either through the woods or on the 
lakes and streams. 
Moose are not abundant except in the level 
country near the mouth of the Taltson River. 
Barren Ground caribou frequent the eastern 
part of the region in great numbers at certain 
seasons in the late autumn and winter, but art 
rarely found there in the summer months. Black 
One of the Thousand Pictures of Wild Tumbling 
Waters. 
bears are found throughout the whole 
region, but not in great numbers. 
When Samuel Hearne visited the 
region in 1772, great herds of wood 
bison roamed over the level country 
about the mouths of the Taltson and 
Slave Rivers, but their range appar¬ 
ently never extended eastward into 
the rocky country. They have long 
since disappeared from the country 
east of Slave River and only a 
remnant of their former numbers is 
now found on the west side of that 
stream. 
An occasional woodland caribou, 
it is said, is shot by the Indians in 
the western portion of the Taltson 
River basin; but, like the wood 
bison, the range of this animal does 
not extend far eastward into the 
rocky country. Wolves frequent the 
region at all times of the year and 
at certain seasons in considerable 
abundance especially during the 
annual migrations of the Barren 
Ground caribou. 
Nearly all the common fur-bearing animals 
are trapped in the region, but it cannot be said 
that any of them are abundant. They include 
the red, cross and black fox and the otter, 
beaver, lynx, wolverine, marten, mink, muskrat 
and ermine. 
The lakes and streams of the region abound 
in fish. Nearly all the larger lakes contain lake 
trout and whitefish. Pike, suckers and loche are 
found nearly everywhere in the rivers. The 
inconnu and grayling are caught in the lower 
part of the Taltson River below the last falls. 
The only inhabitants of the region are In¬ 
dians, whose numbers are not great. They 
belong to two tribes of the Athabaskan linguistic 
group, namely, the Chipewyans and the Dogribs. 
The latter occupy the region about the mouth 
of Taltson River and the shores of Great Slave 
Lake, and trade at Resolution; the former oc¬ 
cupy the central and upper portions of the Talt¬ 
son River basin and the shores of Athabaska 
Lake and trade at Fort Smith, Chipewyan and 
Fond du Lac. 
The Dogribs are said to number about 1,100 
in all; but only about 100 of these claim the 
Taltson River region as their hunting ground. 
This region was formerly occupied by the Yel¬ 
low Knives or Copper Indians, but they appear 
to have been either dispossessed or absorbed by 
the Dogribs within comparatively recent times. 
Evidences of the former occupation of the 
region by the Yellow Knives is preserved in the 
name of the river, Taltson. In Richard King’s 
map, published in 1835, the Taltson River is 
called the Copper Indian River, suggesting that 
it flowed through a region inhabited by the Cop¬ 
per Indians or Yellow Knives. The name “Talt¬ 
son” is a variation of “Tatsan” which means 
“scum of water” and is a figurative expression 
for “copper.” The Indian name of the Yellow 
Knife Indians is Tatsanottine. 
The Chipewyans who inhabit this region be¬ 
long mainly to the branch called Etheneldeli or 
Caribou Eaters whose total numbers are said 
to be about 450. 
Both the Chipewyans and the Dogribs live a 
roving life, moving from place to place through¬ 
out the year, according to the migrations of the 
game. They have no permanent dwellings and 
make no attempt to cultivate the soil. They 
obtain a precarious living by hunting and fishing, 
and supply themselves with clothing, guns, am 
munition and other necessaries by the sale of 
their furs. 
