EURO-CANADIAN EXPLORATION AND RESEARCH PROJECTS

i) Early Exploration for Fossils in the Old Crow Basin

In 1873 the Anglican missionary Reverend Robert McDonald presented a collection of "fossil remains" (Ice Age mammal bones) to the British Museum. He also gave some to Cambridge and Oxford Universities (Journal 28 March 1873 p. 17 of 1873 transcript). The British Museum collection data indicates that they had been collected "along the Porcupine River", but since the precise date and place of collection is not provided, palaeontologists have speculated that the Old Crow River might be the source of these fossils (Maddren 1907, Harington 1971).

However, a preliminary review of McDonald's journals (McDonald 1863) indicates that McDonald collected many fossils in Alaska in 1863 at the site known as Kootlo, on the Kootlonjik River. The list of specimens collected at Kootlo is similar to those donated to the museum. His journal only mentions collecting one mastodon tooth at Old Wives' River (near Rampart House), and one other along the Porcupine River. McDonald seems to refer to the Old Crow River as the "North River" and none of the many references to the North River in his journals indicate that he ever travelled up the river or received any fossils from that area. So it seems that the British Museum specimens are more likely those from Kootlo, Alaska, rather than the Old Crow River (see also Palaeontology).

Early studies of the geology of the northern Yukon began with the basic Canadian Government surveys of R.G. McConnell (1890, 1891). Most of his observations were along the Porcupine River and did not include studies on the Old Crow River. Geological work continued with the surveys of Camsell (1906), but again no surveys were conducted on the Old Crow River.

The earliest scientific exploration for fossils along the Old Crow River was the American Smithsonian (Institution) Museum expedition of A. G. Maddren (Maddren 1907). He was dispatched to Alaska in 1904 to collect a mammoth skeleton for display in the museum. In Circle City, Maddren enquired about the location of "Kotlo" a locality where mammoth remains were said to occur in abundance. He chose instead, however, to travel to the Old Crow River "because of assurances that the abundance of fossil mammals remains on the Old Crow River far exceed those of any other locality known to the Indians of this region" (Maddren 1907:9). He and his "boatman" travelled from the Ramparts of the Porcupine River by canoe, passing the abandoned Rampart House, and reaching the Old Crow River in mid July 1904. After ascending many miles up the Old Crow River and collecting many fossils, they turned back on 23 July when their inventory showed only "six pounds of flour, a couple of handfuls of tea with some partly dried deer meat not in too savoury a state of preservation" (Maddren 1907:16) There is no mention of local people or camps in the scientific account of the journey.

In 1912, as part of a U.S. Smithsonian Institution expedition, Copley Amory Jr. collected fossils along the Old Crow River (Harington 1986). Amory's collections from the Old Crow River included fossil bones of mammoth, mastodon, horse, bison, and a unique specimen, the foot bone of a camel (Harington 1971). Amory also collected specimens of recent (living) mammals along the Firth River, Joe Creek, and the Old Crow River for the Smithsonian Institution. His survey and collecting work was supported in part by the International Boundary Survey party.

ii) Exploring for Gold

In the early 1900s miners searched for gold on several rivers of the northern Yukon. Exploration for gold on the Old Crow River in the early 1900s was the first attempt to locate and extract economically valuable minerals from the Old Crow Basin (RNWMP 1908). Reports from the RNWMP detachments at Herschel Island and Fort McPherson indicate that although the Firth River was the main locality of interest, there were also ten parties on the Old Crow and Bell Rivers exploring for gold in 1908 ( RNWMP 1908). According to Fitzgerald's report of December 1908; "None of them have struck anything." The Fort McPherson RNWMP report of 30 June 1909 mentions that "Gold is reported to have been located by these miners on the Driftwood River," but there was no verification (RNWMP 1909).

Cadzow (1913:36) reported in a letter from Rampart House in 1909; "We are now hauling grub out to the Arctic Divide where we are going to do some work this spring and summer. Fred Smith will have two Huskies with him this summer to hunt and help him put down the holes and it will not be long before we know what is there," and "We had a time here New Years as all the Indians were in and five white men who are here prospecting. They were down for ten days."

In a report on a RNWMP patrol from Dawson to Fort Macpherson and return in June and July 1910, Sergeant Acland reported meeting two miners at the mouth of the Old Crow River "who reported fine gold on its upper branches" (RNWMP 1910 [RG 18 vol. 1643]). William Keopp, prospector, was interviewed at Rampart House by the RNWMP in 1911 during the investigation into the smallpox epidemic.

RCMP Corporal A.B. Thornthwaite reported in 1931 that David Lord, A.H. Anthony, W.H. McCauley, J. and F. Jackson were working a "prospect" for gold about 50 km north of Salmon Cache (close to the Driftwood River) and had sunk four holes, one over 8 m deep. They were confident of striking gold based on their success in gold panning (RCMP 1931).

Ederer (1954:105) quotes Old Crow trapper David Lord on his assessment of the economic geology of the area in 1939: "There's plenty of gold in a day's travel from Old Crow. I could mine an ounce a day. There's also a hill of free coal not far from here, and farther north there are large deposits of free copper."

iii) Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913-1918

In March 1914 J. J. O'Neil, geologist with the Canadian Arctic Expedition (CAE) of 1913 to 1918, travelling by dog team, conducted a geological survey for some 50 miles up the Firth River from a temporary base at Herschel Island (O'Neil 1924). The following month CAE geographers Cox and Chipman journeyed up the Firth River from the coast to near the Alaska boundary as part of the expedition's geographical survey and mapping of the arctic coast (Chipman and Cox 1924). Although they did not actually reach the divide between the Firth River and Old Crow River systems and thus did not enter the Old Crow Basin, they did identify features of interest to both Ivvavik and Vuntut National Parks. They referred to the "upstanding limestone bluff named Ikthout" (more recently called "Castle Rock"), which is located at the Vuntut Gwitchin heritage site fishing hole on the Firth River. Cox and Chipman also referred to the creek leading east to the portage to the Babbage River, and the "easy toboggan portage (one day without wood) to a branch of the Old Crow River, which has a fairly large lake at its head"(Chipman and Cox 1924:18). On the sketch map of this area (Chipman and Cox 1924), a lake, "Fish Lake", is indicated at the headwaters of Thomas Creek, but probably refers to the first of the large lakes of the Flats.

Later, at the end of the CAE in 1918, the leader of the Northern Party, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, who was severely ill, was taken by dog team from Herschel Island to Fort Yukon, following the traditional route up the Babbage River and across the Old Crow Flats to Rampart House (Stefansson 1922). Stefansson had tried to persuade three Indians from the vicinity of Rampart House who were at Herschel Island for trading to take him to Fort Yukon. The RNWMP officer and others initially convinced him to stay and the Indians only took a message to the doctor at the Fort for Stefansson (Stefansson 1922). Eventually Stefansson left Herschel Island in April 1918 accompanied by Constable Brockie, the Missionary Fry, Sharyoak, Naipaktuna (as guide), and a Gwitchin boy from the Delta. The route was from Stoke's Point, up the Babbage and Old Crow Rivers (Stuck 1920), to the mouth of the Old Crow River at the trading post of Mr. and Mrs. Schultz and Johnson. They continued down the Porcupine with a local team and driver to visit Dan Cadzow at Rampart House. Hudson Stuck and Walter Harper caught up with Stefansson on April 24 between Old Rampart and Fort Yukon. They had taken a different route south from Herschel Island via the Firth and Coleen Rivers. Stefansson recovered and continued south, but he never went to the arctic again.

iv) Searching for Ice Age Mammals and Humans

The local Vuntut Gwitchin knowledge of the deposits of fossils in the Old Crow Basin led to the early palaeontological work of Maddren (1907), and Amory in 1912. In spite of those early explorations and the knowledge of the resource, there was no further palaeontological work in the area of the Old Crow River until the 1920s. As Bostock (1961:118) noted, "The explorers in the northern Yukon from the early days have remarked on the tusks seen there, and the Indians are reported as saying that the course of the Old Crow River was the best locality in Alaska and the Yukon to find them." However it wasn't until 1926 that any more collecting was done and the first scientific research didn't happen until the 1950s.

During the summer of 1926, Olaus Murie banded birds in the Old Crow area and collected some mammal specimens on the Porcupine and Old Crow Rivers for the U. S. Biological Survey (Murie 1935). Murie also collected fossils along the Old Crow River between Timber Creek and Potato Creek. Included in his collection (at the University of Alaska) were a giant beaver tooth, horse teeth and bones, mammoth teeth and a tusk, and bones of some smaller mammals (Murie 1952, letter to Otto Geist, 25 June 1952, Archives, University of Alaska).

For a month in 1952 Otto Geist (University of Alaska palaeontologist), with Peter Lord and Charlie Linklater from Old Crow, explored the Old Crow River from its mouth to its headwaters at Ammerman Mountain in a river boat (Geist 1955, 1956?). Although their major purpose was to collect Pleistocene mammal fossils, Geist also made observations of wildlife and collected plants, rocks, soil, and artifacts along the river (Geist 1956?). They reached the last cut-bank along the Old Crow River on August 14 and climbed Mount Ammerman. On Ammerman Mountain they visited the large rock cairn which had been erected by the Boundary Survey party in 1911. They also erected a cairn of their own in which they placed the names of the three of them who had climbed the mountain, Otto Geist, Peter Lord, and Charles Linklater. On August 20, they "stopped at an old Boundary Survey cache and looked over the camp site which had been quite large. Many trees had been chopped down, and some logs for tent bases were still in place though now rotten" (Geist 1956?). Geist collected several tin cans and other objects from one of the IBS sites for the University of Alaska Museum (# 427 can, coffee, left by the 1911-1912 Boundary Survey party, # 428 can, # 429 can, # 430 fork, and # 431 face of instrument chromed). On August 21 they started back downstream from their camp near the boundary. On their last day on the river, 30 August, they passed a fish camp, and high on a rock cliff saw an eagle's nest.

They collected 363 Pleistocene mammal fossils, including mammoth, horse, moose, "superbison", muskox, beaver, giant beaver, and wolf. Few fossils were collected in place; most had been washed from the silt banks and were found at the base of the cliffs or on sand and gravel bars in the river. At some point in the trip they collected a golden eagle found dead (#398), and also collected four peregrine falcons, two were taken out alive, and two made into study skins (#s 425, 426). Geist noted the oriented lakes of the Old Crow Flats, and described the floor of the lowland as "perennially frozen Quaternary silt deposits 10 to more than 150 feet thick." Geist prepared a map showing locations of old International Boundary Commission camps and various trappers cabins.

The first geological reconnaissance of the Old Crow Flats area was conducted in 1962 by O.L. Hughes for the Geological Survey of Canada. A field assistant, V. Rampton, made a collection of Pleistocene mammal bones along the Old Crow River. Hughes continued research on the geology of the area up to the 1980s (Hughes 1972, Hughes et al. 1981).

C. Richard (Dick) Harington, palaeontologist with the Canadian Museum of Nature, began working along the Porcupine and Old Crow Rivers with Peter Lord and Charlie Thomas of Old Crow in 1966 (Figure 2.11). His work provides one of the most valuable sources for information on the vertebrate fossils of the Old Crow Basin (see Palaeontology). Archaeologist William Irving also began research in 1966, at first for the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and later with the University of Toronto.

The Northern Yukon Research Programme (NYRP) of 1975 to 1980 was established to study

"the historical biogeography of northeastern Beringia, with special reference to Man" (Irving 1977). It was intended to study the stratigraphy, paleoecology and archaeology of the northern Yukon, beginning with the Pleistocene and extending through the entire Holocene record. The research projects supervised by project leader William Irving (Irving and Beebe 1984) employed many people from Old Crow at various locations along the Porcupine River (Klo-kut, Cadzow Lake, Rat Indian Creek). Many of the projects under this program are reported on in Archaeology.

The Yukon Refugium Project (YRP) of 1975 to 1979 was a coalition of researchers from different institutions who each provided their own support. The group included Richard Morlan from the National Museum of Man, Dick Harington from the National Museum of Natural Sciences, Owen Hughes and John Matthews from the Geological Survey of Canada, and paleoecologist Charles Schweger and geologist Nat Rutter from the University of Alberta. The project operated on a much smaller scale than did NYRP. Its crews consisted primarily of the various investigators, each with maximum one or two field assistants, and it operated primarily by boat using base camp facilities established along Old Crow River (Morlan 1980). The YRP field research was not restricted to the Old Crow part of Beringia; investigations were also undertaken in the Rat Pass and Bonnet Plume basin areas. Much of the research carried out as part of the YRP is discussed in Palaeontology and Archaeology.

v) The Dew Line and Exploring for Oil and Gas

When the governments of Canada and the United States were building the Distant Early Warning (DEW) radar sites on the arctic coast, some of the contractors working on the site planned to transport materials overland from Alaska through the northern Yukon. The impact of the overland transport of materials on the environment was significant. The trails made during this period have left long-lasting scars through Vuntut National Park and the Old Crow Flats Special Management Area.

The "Monster" on the Old Crow Flats

In early February 1956, RCMP Constable Robin and Special Constable Peter Benjamin travelled from Old Crow to Aklavik for administrative duties and to familiarize Benjamin with the patrol area. On 4 February 1956 they encountered the "Monster Sno-Freighter" (owned by the Alaska Freight Lines of Fairbanks and engaged on DEW Line operations), on the north bank of the Porcupine River, 11 km east of the mouth of the Driftwood River (RCMP 1956).

The Monster Sno-Freighter, made by Letourneau, consisted of a motor unit with two diesel-electric generators and a number of trailers, all mounted with large low-pressure tires about 8 feet in diameter. Each wheel of the power unit and trailers was driven by an individual electric motor (Green 1972).

On the return trip, on 13 March 1956, at Timber Hill ("south of Thomas Creek") they ran into "the tractor trail constructed by Alaska Freight Lines last year... and to date had not been utilized by the company." Apparently the machine had entered Canada near where the Old Crow River crosses the International boundary and travelled east across the Old Crow Basin north of the Flats.

The "winter road" indicated on the NTS maps is thought to be the cut mark of the trail cleared for this vehicle. The track shows on air photos after 1955-56.

One of the two Sno Monster machines was brought south from the arctic coast in 1955 to transport supplies from Eagle, Alaska, north to the Arctic coast for the construction of the DEW Line (Green 1972). At the start of the first trip north, fire destroyed the Monster's engine and it was abandoned in the valley of what became known as Monster River. The vehicle was salvaged by a crew using a smaller unit of similar design in 1961 and brought to Bear Creek, near Dawson where it remained until at least 1967. It was later dismantled and taken back to Alaska.

Other remnants from the Dew Line era are two tankers which are still located close to the Alaska/Yukon border on the U.S. side from the Porcupine Dew Line staging site (Rhonda Markel pers. comm. 1999).

Oil and Gas exploration

Surface exploration for oil and gas was conducted in the Old Crow Basin in the 1960s and early 1970s, but no wells were drilled (GSC 1981). A seismic program (a single refraction line) was conducted in 1969 by Velocity Surveys Limited for Northern Oil Explorers Limited. In 1971 another 122 km of seismic work (reflection shooting) for Northern Oil Explorers Limited (1971) and 40 km of reflection seismic for Westcoast Petroleum Ltd (1972) were completed. A gravity survey was conducted on the Old Crow Flats in 1973 by Overland Exploratory Services for Gulf Oil Canada Limited. The results of some of this work is given in Geology.

During the early and mid 1970s many studies were made along the southern or interior route of the proposed arctic gas pipeline which passed west to east between Old Crow and the Old Crow Flats. Stager's (1974) study of the village of Old Crow was a part of this overall program of research. During the period 1969-1974, archaeologist Jacques Cinq-Mars undertook surveys for sites in the Porcupine River valley, as part of pipeline impact assessment studies, and sites were located in the highlands around the Flats (Cinq-Mars 1973, 1974).