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This fonds consists of correspondence, receipts, and statements of account predominantly concerning D'Arcy Arden's prospecting and staking activities at Hottah Lake.

This fonds consists of 142 photograps of people in Yellowknife and prospectors in the area. Included among the photographs are images of: Bertha Watts, who ran a ferry service across the Snye to Latham Island; Peter Lauder, trapper, prospector and bare knuckle boxer; caribou hunting in the winter; prospecting camps; as well as scenes of people and places in Yellowknife, such as the Wildcat Cafe.

This fonds consists of 0.1 cm of textual records, 859 photographs (242 black and white negatives, 300 black and white prints - original masters; 766 black and white digital files (TIFF), 15 colour digital files (TIFF) - archival masters; 55 black and white negatives, 23 black and white prints - original and archival masters), 15 8mm film reels (original masters), four 16mm film reels (original masters), 19 Betacam SP videocassettes (archival masters), and one 8mm film reel (original and archival master).

The textual records consist of a membership certificate. The majority of the photographs document Sam’s life prospecting, mining, and trapping between 1930 and 1950, while a smaller selection document Sam’s nuclear family life beginning in 1952. There are five main series of photographs: work in the Great Bear Lake region with the Northern Transportation Company and uranium mines in the early to mid-1930s; gold mining, camping, and prospecting in the Great Slave Lake area in the mid-1930s through the 1940s; work on the Canol project in 1942-1943; trapping on the barren lands (tundra) of the Keewatin region near Clinton-Colden Lake and the Back River area in the late 1930s to 1950; and Sam’s nuclear family life from 1952 onwards. Communities documented in this fonds include early images of Yellowknife’s Old Town and Latham Island, Fort Franklin (Deline), Cameron Bay camps, Norman Wells, Fort Resolution, and Fort Smith. The moving images document being on the land, prospecting, and hunting between 1930 and 1960, and town and family life between 1950 and 1970.

The digital files (TIFF) are scans of the original black and white negatives, black and white prints, and colour negatives, while the videocassettes are transfers from the original 8mm and 16mm film reels, all created by Sam Otto and loaned by his son Sheldon in 2000. The majority of the originally loaned items were returned by Sam Otto's daughter Lorraine in 2015, in addition to some newly offered materials.

This fonds consists of 630 photographs, 68 maps and 5.5 cm of textual records produced or accumulated by the federal Department of the Interior, between 1882 and 1937. The photographs include 170 reproductions of federal government issues, originally from a collection of over 2,000 lantern slides reproduced from various federal departmental sources. The majority of the images were not related to the Northwest Territories and were forwarded to the National Archives of Canada in 1990. These colour images document the scenery, town sites and local people, including Dene and Inuit of the Northwest Territories and includes many images of the Harry Snyder Canadian Expedition (1937). An album entitled "Office of District Agent, N.W.T. & Y. Branch, Fort Smith" contains 368 black and white photographs, dating predominantly from the 1920's, depicting a variety of subjects such as missions, transportation along the Mackenzie River and treaty payment. Another 91 photographs are from an incomplete copy of L.T. Burwash's report entitled, "The Eskimo, Their Country and Its Resources: Economic Survey of the East Coasts of Hudson Bay and James Bay from Richmond Gulf to Rupert House, Including the Belcher and Other Adjacent Islands", Ottawa, Department of the Interior, 1927. (Typewritten.) The report contains a diary of the trip taken by Burwash, descriptions of Inuit life, food supplies, clothing, health, the influence of trading posts, housing conditions, and mineral and animal resources in the region. Much of the report focuses on the Inuit in the regions around Little Whale River and the Belcher Islands. The photographs depict communities along eastern coasts of Hudson Bay and James Bay. The mounting of the photographs in this report suggests that this copy was a draft produced before its final publication. The photographs have been removed from the report and stored separately for preservation reasons. In addition, this report also contains 8 maps. The remaining 50 maps in this fonds date from 1882 to 1933; they were produced by the Department of the Interior. Map areas include: Great Bear Lake, Great Slave lake, Dismal Lakes, Coppermine River, Mackenzie River, Thelon River, Backs River (Back River), Camsell River, Slave River, Cameron Bay, Keewatin, and Ungava, navigational maps of Slave River, Great Slave Lake, the Mackenzie River, Artillery Lake, Lac Du Bois, Casba Lake, Campbell Lake, Sifton Lake, Thelon River, Hanbury River, Beverly Lake, Aberdeen Lake, Schultz Lake, and Baker Lake. Two items depict leased areas for petroleum and natural gas exploration in the south Great Slave Lake region. The remaining textual material dated 1921, includes one file of correspondence of O.S. Finnie, Acting Secretary for the Department of the Interior, and three files regard applications for surveying and exploration permits in the Great Slave Lake and Pine Point areas.

This fonds consists of 7 photographs and 3.5 cm of textual material. The textual material is made up of 3 prospecting field books containing dating from 1926, 1927 and 1953, as well as a small number of Canadian Wildlife Service Bird Band cards dated 1955-1959. In addition there is one five page written report by W.L. McDonald in 1958 on the Mar Mineral Claims at Marian Lake, a number of hand drawn maps that relate to the mining of lithium in the Yellowknife area and a diary found at Jolliffe Island containing weather observations and bird watching notes from 1940-1948. Also included are five pages of handwritten notes on northern birds, found in his cabin on Jolliffe Island. The images include portraits of William McDonald and companions, as well as pictures of eagles. Mr. McDonald collected these images circa 1969 and negatives were copied from the original photographs in 1990.

Records include photographs of ice road trucking and prospecting, mainly of the North Slave region. The photos span the eight and a half years Adolf worked for Curry Construction as an ice road trucker. Afterwards, he worked for trucking companies inside of Yellowknife. He bought his Agfa superslide camera in Germany before he moved to Canada in 1953.

Records are comprised of one field book attributed to Robert Lees. The book includes a prospectors supply list including food list, some prospecting notations and a few poems.

This accession consists of W.D. Addison's collection of material related to the Nahanni area, including his own photographs, trip journals, and maps, the annotated bibliography and literature review he compiled, oral-history interviews he conducted, transcripts and catalogues he compiled and edited, photographs, documents, and maps he gathered from various sources, and correspondence he conducted with Nahanni old-timers and others.

This fonds consists of records collected or created by Ernest Milton “Milt” Johnston during his prospecting career. The records are a mix of personal and professional, including personal correspondence with his wife Dorothy, as well as records relating to his prospecting work with CM&S, and his professsional memberships.

This fonds consists of 2.5 cm of textual material. The material is comprised of a photocopy of a journal compiled by Kenneth McIntyre Dewar. The journal contains photographs, magazine articles, maps and entries from a journal. The document records the expedition of Kenneth Dewar, Harold Wilson, J.B. Muirhead and J. Thomson. The expedition was a prospecting journey from Great Slave Lake to Chesterfield Inlet via the Hanbury and Thelon Rivers. It includes Mr. Dewar's account of finding the remains of John Hornby, Edgar Christian and Harold Adlard.

This fonds consists of 189 b/w photographs and one folder of textual material dating from 1926 to 1929. Contained in a photo album, the images represent Harold Wilson and party's 1928 'Prospecting Expedition to the Northwest Coast of Hudson Bay via Great Slave Lake, Hanbury and Thelon rivers, and Return via Fort Churchill'. The textual material includes a 1929 newspaper article from the Winnipeg Free Press describing the discovery of the Hornby party by Wilson and his party the summer previous, a photocopy of a photograph of John Hornby, and an original note written by John Hornby nine months before his death. The canoe journey of the Nipissing Mining Co. Ltd. employees includes photographs taken at Waterways, Fort Chipewyan, Fort Fitzgerald, Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Fort Reliance, Chesterfield Inlet, and Churchill showing their camps, overland and coastal travel, and their fishing exploits.

This accession consists of the renewal surface lease #27, issued on 9 January 1940 to Alexander Ernest Sutherland, concerning a claim at Port Radium Lot 13, Block 15.

Records are comprised of a handwritten account of two prospecting trips taken in the 1940s by Lorne Bishop. It also includes a hand drawn map of the area from Great Slave Lake to Great Bear Lake.

The report, titled "Reconnaissance of Yellowknife River and Adjacent Lakes, Great Slave Lake, N.W.T., July 1 - Sept. 7, 1928", carries the name Henry L. Smyth, Jnr. on the cover. The map is of "Yellowknife River and adjacent lakes from Yellowknife Village north to the third portage," is also dated July 1-September 7, 1928, and was drawn by Mr. Smyth. Scale 1" to 4,000 feet. The present day site of Detah is indicated on the map as being Yellowknife Village. Mineral deposits in the area have been annotated onto the map.

This accession consists of three field books kept by G.E. Midgley. The books contain incomplete diary entries and hand drawn maps of his prospecting activities.

This accession consists of one VHS videocassette entitled Lord of the Nahanni - Memorial to Poole Field. Field Poole (1880-1948) was a former Royal Northwest Mounted Police officer who lived for many years in the Ross River and Nahanni River area and worked as a trader and prospector. The video was produced by the Albert Faille Wilderness League and was written and directed by Dr. Norman Kagan of Minnesota.

The original audio cassette was copied to DAT circa 1988. The recording consists of an interview with K. Vaydik, a freelancer under contract with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Yellowknife. The discussion covered McDonald's early life, his activities as a geologist and prospector, travel to Yellowknife during the 1930s, a meeting with Jack Hornby, McDonald's opinion on developing a wilderness park at the east end of Great Slave Lake, trading posts, and his naturalist activities.

This fonds consists of 43 black and white photographic prints taken in and around Yellowknife. The images show people including James Ayrhart, his wife Doris McGill, Geddes Webster and Cam Wallbridge, as well as places in Yellowknife such as the Liquor Store, Mining Recorders Office and Yellowknife Hotel. There are also images of prospecting camps and various views of Mr. Ayrhart's DC3, the Yellowknife Express. Also included in the accession are two autobiographical accounts of some of Mr. Ayrhart's experiences in the Northwest Territories. One contains identifications for some of the photographs; the other concerns the purchase and sale of the Yellowknife Express.

This fonds consists of 134 photographs depicting images of Fort Resolution, Great Bear Lake, Fort Rae, Yellowknife and the Negus Mine site. In addition there are photocopies of a standard employee's contract at Yellowknife Gold Mines, Ltd., dated 1934; a list of supplies required to sustain 2 men for 2 months; 2 plane tickets from Edmonton to Yellowknife dated 1936 and from Yellowknife to Edmonton dated 1937; and a 19-page diary written by Mr. Hagen during his trip to Bear Lake. There is also a copy of a release form in which Mr. Hagen released Admiral Yellowknife Mines, Ltd. Bear Exploration and Radium Ltd, Burwash Yellowknife Mines, Ltd. and Atlas Yellowknife Mines Ltd from his stakers interest in the group of claims in the Yellowknife area.

This fonds consists of a copy of a typed version of the diary of Otto Lahser. The diary describes the journey taken in 1898 and 1899 down the Athabasca and Slave Rivers to Great Slave Lake and then down the Mackenzie River to the Peel River aboard the boat "Enterprise." The diary includes details on weather, people they encountered and their attempts to locate gold.