52

been developed to handle the products of both these industries; but, with the
rapidly growing population and the large area of country capzble of settlement
that is still unoccupied, there is reason to believe that there will have to be soon
a considerable increase in the transportation facilities of the region to meet
its requirements. :

In the southern part of the basin the agricultural industry offers probably
the greatest possibilities, and though the value of the land for mixed farming,
in the basins of Peace and Athabaska rivers, is becoming generally known, there
is a large area of country north of this region, as far as latitude 61 degrees
north, in which agriculture on a considerable scale could be carried on by hardy
northern people. This northern portion is more difficult of settlement and the
variety of crops that can be grown more limited, so that it will only be after
ithe more southern lands are fully taken up that the northern portion will be
occupied by settlers. There is, however, in this whole area of about 200,000
square miles, room for a large population which ought to be able to support itself
mainly or wholly by farming, ranching, or a mixture of both.

The fur trade has been carried on continuously within the Mackenzie basin
since the latter part of the eighteenth century, and is still a large factor in the
industry of the region. Trading posts are scattered here and there throughout
the southern half of the basin, even among the agricultural communities, but in
the northern half of the basin practically the entire population is actively
interested in that industry and exists by reason of its continuance.’ The history
of the region is intimately bound up with the operations of the fur traders, and
the few scattered settlements situated at intervals of 100 to 200 miles along the
main streams were originally established and are still maintained for the
purpose of trading furs with the natives. Three principal companies, the
Hudson’s Bay Company, Lampson and Hubbard Company, and the Northern
Trading Company, divide among them the trade in the northern half of the
basin, and in the southern half there are a number of smaller firms’ and
individual traders. Most of the high-grade furs, such as fox, beaver, marten,
mink, lynx, ermine, and otter, are obtained within the region and it is considered.
to be the best fur-producing portion of Canada. Of the $5,000,000 worth of furs
exported annually by Canada, the basin of Mackenzie river is said to supply
nearly $2,000,000 worth. The fur-trading field, however, is now pretty well
covered by the companies represented, though there are good opportunities for
the individual trapper to make a living.

_- In the mineral industry very little has been done except in the recovery of
placer gold in those western portions of the basin which lie outside the scope
of this report, namely in the gold fields of Cassiar and Omineca, and in the
prospecting for oil. Some drilling has been done on Athabaska and Peace
rivers, but the drilling that has met with most promising results is that on the .
Mackenzie 45 miles below Norman. Here a flow of oil was struck in 1920. The
strength of the flow is encouraging and a remarkable interest is being shown in
the possibilities of the district. The Devonian formation in which the oil
occurs is very widely distributed through the Mackenzie basin and the discovery
of oil will probably lead to much prospecting and further boring operations.
Prospecting for metallic minerals has been carried on to a very limited extent
in the southeastern portion of the basin, and in the southwestern portion, good
ae have been obtained in the case of coal, and some coal fields have been
ocated. P