USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

MacFarlane and his men went overland from Fort Good Hope to the Carnwath (Lockhart) River, thence down the Anderson. However, he was halted by hostile Eskimos just as he reached the Anderson River Delta. The Hare Indians with his party fled when they saw that the Eskimos had the guns of some of their missing tribesmen. MacFarlane and his Iroquois assistants, being outnumbered, turned back by an overland route (MacFarlane [1891]). MacFarlane's feelings about the Eskimos probably resulted in his selecting the site for Fort Anderson near the boundary of Eskimo-Indian territories (Petitot in Hohn 1981:12).

In 1859 Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, ordered that Fort Anderson be built. From May to August 1861 MacFarlane with 20 to 30 men moved supplies over the 355-km (220-mi.) route from Fort Good Hope to the site of Fort Anderson, 183 km (114 mi.) upstream from its delta on Liverpool Bay on the Arctic Ocean (Fig 9; Stager 1967; MacFarlane 1862-1867).

Figure 9. Clearing on the east bank of the Anderson River where Fort Anderson stood, 1861-1866. Sam Barry.

At the same time, Robert Kennicott, a naturalist sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, visited various Hudson's Bay Company posts. Kennicott, in his mid-twenties, knew his craft well and had carte blanche from George Simpson for accommodations and for shipping specimens over the fur routes to the southeast. After being exposed for three years to Kennicott's training and enthusiasm, Roderick MacFarlane became the most ardent collector for the Smithsonian in the Arctic (Thomas 1985). He also had the Bay's logistical support and a trading base at Fort Anderson with 12 to 30 seasonal assistants (Stager 1967).

MacFarlane went on one organized collecting trip-with eggs as a major objective -each year from 1862 through 1865, usually starting at the peak of the nesting (and mosquito) season about 10 June and returning about mid-July. Because of the unpredictable behavior of the Eskimos, his 150-km (95-mi.) route traversed Indian country until it reached the Smoking Hills above Franklin Bay, where few Eskimos were expected. In some, if not all, of the four years, the trip was divided into "lowland" and "highland" parties to broaden the number of species collected. The lowland route followed Pelly Lake eastward through an old valley with eight or more lakes to near Klata Lake and thence north to meet the other party at Lac Rendez-vous; hence the lake's name (Map 2 , Fig. 10). Canoes were undoubtedly used on this route. (Pelly Lake is unnamed on current maps; it is also called "Pete's Lake" by the Inuit and white trappers of the past 50 years.)

Figure 10. Lac Redndez-vous, where "lowland" route from south met "upland" route. Trail east to Franklin Bay started at point on left of photo. Sam Barry.

From Lac Rendez-vous one or more canoes were portaged for use in crossing the Horton River and in Franklin Bay, where numerous eider eggs were collected from the islands (Fig. 11). On the return trip canoes were cached at Lac Rendez-vous and Pelly Lake for the next year. (In the past 10 years, Barry has found the remains of three birch-bark canoes stored in the traditional manner-right side up-at the two lakes.)

Figure 11. Franklin Bay (left) and Langton Bay (right), looking northeast from the Smoking Hills. Sam Barry.

This route crossed a variety of habitats from the spruce forests of the Anderson River valley across the spruce-lichen "highlands" to Pelly Lake. It then continued through intermittent spruce and dwarf birch tundra around Lac Rendez-vous, across birch or willow tundra (MacFarlane's "Barrens") to the wooded valley of the Horton River near the mouth of the West River (Fig. 12). After crossing the Horton, the route followed "Swan River" (Coal Creek on today's 1:250 000 National Topographic System maps) through grass, sedge and dryas tundra (Barrens) to the ridge of the Smoking Hills (Fig. 13). Here the eroded cliffs drop steeply 300 m (1000 feet) to the sea.

Figure 12. Horton River at junction of West River. Sam Barry.

MacFarlane's party consisted of at least 21 Indian packers, hunters, collectors and canoe carriers, as well as pack dogs. Often there were advance families of Indians camping and collecting at Lac Rendez-vous.

Figure 13. Eskimo Curlew habitat on grass, sedge and dryas "barrens" between Swan River and the Smoking Hills. Sam Barry.

By candlelight MacFarlane spent the long winters at Fort Anderson packing and writing notes for each of his numbered items. In late winter or the following spring the collections were shipped out through Fort Good Hope to catch the fur shipments up the Mackenzie River system to Methye Portage and then to the Red River and the railhead at St. Paul for forwarding to Spencer Baird at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

As a fur trading post, Fort Anderson made a profit in 1861,1862 and 1863. However, in 1864 many sled dogs died of distemper (Stager 1967). In 1865 scarlet fever literally wiped out the Indian hunters at the fort and measles was equally devastating to the Eskimos (Petitot in Hohn 1981). MacFarlane was transferred to Fort Simpson in July 1866. His staff traded for further specimens at Fort Anderson until it was closed on 15 July 1866-the result of no profits for two years and the deaths of most trappers (Stager 1967).

MacFarlane relates the consequences of the epidemics on his collections as follows: "For the reasons mentioned in my letters (1866) to Professor Baird, but a small portion of the 'Anderson Collection' 1865, was forwarded by the boats of 1866. Several cases and parcels were carried overland to Fort Good Hope during the Summer, while the remainder thereof, together with the whole of the Small Collection of 1866, and certain notes and memoranda connected with Collections '65 and preceding years, was secured near 'Lockhart' [Carnwath] river. Before these could, however, be sent from Good Hope, Wolverines and other animals broke into the cache, and destroyed all the bird skins, besides the rarest and finest eggs-in fact, everything that had been left there was destroyed irreparably, except one box containing a lot of Geese, Duck & other Eggs which shall (D.V.) be forwarded to Washington in 1869. The last of the cases of 1865 were sent off by the Boats of 1867, and have doubtless ere this reached their destination" (Letters).

One must look beyond the Eskimo Curlew to appreciate MacFarlane's accomplishments as a scientific collector. Considering only the magnitude of his collection, we have this summary which he wrote on 15 July 1866, after the loss of his cached specimens and as Fort Anderson was being abandoned: "It was impossible to devote much attention to collecting for the reasons mentioned on the first-page hereof. Most of the Indians and Esquimaux also who had been accustomed to collect specimens for us, were carried off by the fatal epidemic of 1865. I regret, however, that so many of the few things secured were afterwards lost. The total amount of the 'Anderson Collection' is as follows, viz: Collection 1862 consisted of 550 specimen Nos. which were packed up in boxes sent to the [Smithsonian] Institution viz-10 Cases

Collection 1863 consisted of 1000 specimens and  14 [cases]

     "     1864      do.     1500    do.    do.  20    "

     "     1865      do.     1750    do.    do.  31    "

     "     1866      do.      200    do.    do.   1    "

"Making a total for the 5 years of 5,000 specimens packed up and forwarded in 76 Cases and Cassettes." (Furthermore, it must be noted that a single specimen number often included more than one specimen, e.g., #1735; two eggs and two adult Eskimo Curlews.)

And so the last Eskimo Curlew nest was found in June 1866. A century later the Canadian Wildlife Service initiated a project to look for nesting curlews in MacFarlane's old hunting grounds. Periodically, starting in 1958 and annually since 1972, Barry has travelled the Fort Anderson-Lac Rendez-vous-Langton Bay area at first on foot and then by helicopter, accompanied by Mr. Billy Jacobson, an Inuk from Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, who has trapped and travailed the Anderson River tributaries and along the tree line for more than 35 years. Although the Dene Indians have not used the area since MacFarlane's time, there are still remains of "teepee poles" and caribou drift fences (used for hunting) as far east as the Horton River. The old trail from Pelly Lake to Lac Rendez-vous is still fairly easy for sled dogs to follow. Mr. Jacobson has winter trapping cabins on both lakes.

Barry has summarized his recent work and observations in the following pages.

For four years (1981-1984) we used a Bell 206-B helicopter (supplied by the Polar Continental Shelf Project of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources) to follow MacFarlane's route and land at some of his collecting sites. Had we located nesting curlews, the Canadian Wildlife Service was prepared to send additional personnel to expand the investigations.

Habitat has probably changed little in the last 120 years. Spruce scattered beyond the tree line were more than 150 years old, based on tree ring samples (V. Hawley and R. Revel, personal communication). There was no indication of extensive forest or tundra fires in the Lac Rendez-vous region. We are reasonably confident that we were within a few hundred meters of some of MacFarlane's collection sites. These were his "grassy meadow" sites with plants such as Arctagrostis latifolia, Poa arctica, Poa glauca, Carex sp., Eriophorum sp., Dryas sp., Betula glandulosa and Salix sp. In the relatively late season of 1982, snow persisted over much of the uplands until after mid-June.

We considered all sites to be "uplands," i.e., from 180 m (600 feet) at Lac Rendezvous to 335 m (1100 feet) above sea level at the Smoking Hills. The entire area where MacFarlane collected and northward on Bathurst Peninsula to Baillie Island was unglaciated during the Wisconsin ice age and served as a refugium for some species, probably including Eskimo Curlews (Map 1 ; Prest 1969; Ball 1966; Mackay 1958).

The nesting habitat of the Eskimo Curlew is similar to that of the Little Curlew of Russia, considered by some to be a subspecies with the Eskimo (Mayr and Short 1970). Labutin et al. (1982) describe the Siberian habitat as open areas where fire has set back the intrusion of larch (Larix dahurica) so that there is a reversion to a steppe type landscape where the Little Curlew nests in open grassland. They use the term "tundra-steppe" to describe the landscape and suggest that the Pleistocene distribution of this species corresponded with its present range, which the ice did not completely cover. Their conclusion that the Eskimo Curlew is a typical tundra species whereas the Little is found in the larchwood zone is probably based on MacFarlane's overemphasis on the "Barren Grounds" segment of the former's habitat.

Thus this is a relict habitat and "according to paleobotanical evidence, the area where the Little Curlew is found at present was, until only a few thousand years ago, devoid of large areas of woodland and the dominant landscape form was steppe with plant communities of the Daurian type, especially on drained slopes..." (Labutin et al. 1982:304-305).

On Bathurst Peninsula spruce occurs at tree line rather than larch as in Siberia. Other than this, the landscape appears to be similar, except that grassy tundra in Canada is less intruded by trees and shrubs. Ritchie and Hare (1971) gave evidence that the tree line or forest tundra has receded southward during the last 5000 years. It seems likely that Eskimo Curlew habitat in the unglaciated refugium of Bathurst Peninsula and, possibly, in a few areas of the northern Yukon and Alaska expanded on suitable soils as the ice retreated (Map 1 ).

In 1982 we used the helicopter to expand our search for likely Eskimo Curlew habitat north and south of MacFarlane's route across Bathurst Peninsula.

In 1983 Margaret Skeel obtained tape recordings of various calls of the Little Curlew from the British Library of Wildlife Sounds (see Skeel 1978; Labutin et al. 1982; Boswall and Veprintsev 1985). From these recordings an expanded tape of about 30 minutes was developed by repeated recording of each call to fill about five minutes and then joining one call to another. On 10-12 June 1983, we landed the helicopter in likely looking habitat along MacFarlane's route and elsewhere on Bathurst Peninsula and played all of the calls over a Uher recorder and amplifier at 18 sites.

In 1984 we repeated the procedure on 10-14 June along the upland east of Horton River and north of the Rae and Richardson rivers to near Cape Krusenstern on Coronation Gulf and south of the Melville Hills-generally the country east and west of Bluenose Lake.

From 1980 through 1984 we encountered only three species of large shorebirds. Whimbrel and Lesser Golden-Plover were equally common and we occasionally saw Stilt Sandpipers. The recordings elicited response only from Whimbrels. They approached to about 5 m of the tape recorder and either perched on a bush or hummock or flew back and forth calling. (We did not use a decoy.) The Whimbrel's curiosity or aggressiveness lasted three to five minutes; it then left the area. Our search was governed by the distribution of fuel caches and helicopter time. Nevertheless, it did take us through the heart of the Eskimo Curlew breeding habitat as MacFarlane knew it.

It would seem significant that, in MacFarlane's four years of collecting along the overland crossing on Bathurst Peninsula, he did not take a single Whimbrel, while we found them common from 1981-1984. We also found Whimbrels nesting in the same areas where MacFarlane reported Eskimo Curlew nests. Concerning the Siberian situation, Labutin et al. (1982) wrote: "It is interesting that the range of the Little Curlew overlaps to a considerable degree with that of the Whimbrel N phaeopus...but the distribution of the latter species is certainly linked with forest tundra and low-lying areas" (Labutin et al. 1982:305).

The Whimbrel specimens that MacFarlane did send to the Smithsonian were traded from the Eskimos and he noted that "the Whimbrel is said to be tolerably abundant on the lower Anderson near its outlet." And the Whimbrel is still abundant on the sedge meadows and grassy tussocks of the Anderson River Delta. Labutin et al. (1982) noted that habitat change permits Little Curlew and Whimbrel to overlap in relict micro-habitats. They also report that the Little Curlew nests in "colonies": "Each pair takes up a territory at a distance of 200-300 m from its neighbour." They are often associated with eyries of Golden Eagles, a relationship from which the curlews "gain because the raptor resents encroachment upon its territory either by avian or mammalian predators" (Labutin et al. 1982:306).

Why did Whimbrels move in? With the retreat of ice after the last glaciation, Whimbrels and Eskimo Curlews met as their nesting ranges expanded. However, when nesting densities were high, the smaller curlew, because of its numbers, was probably able to ward off encroachment of the larger species. As curlew densities diminished, the aggressive Whimbrel was able to expand its range. Territorial conflicts between the two may also have contributed to depressing the Eskimo's nesting success. It is interesting to note that in 1912 Forbush mentioned that the demise of the Eskimo Curlew might benefit the Whimbrel (Forbush 1916:331; 1st edition: 1912).