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Archival description
Otto Lahser fonds
125 · Fonds · 1898-1899

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.

Lahser, Otto
James Ayrhart fonds
168 · Fonds · [194-?-196-?]

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.

Ayrhart, James
Kenneth McIntyre Dewar fonds
186 · Fonds · 1928

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.

Dewar, Kenneth McIntyre
John Nicholson fonds
199 · Fonds · 1933-1934

This fonds consists of one diary beginning in June 1933 and concluding in August 1934. The diary provides a daily account of John Nicholson's prospecting activities and work transporting goods to and from prospecting camps in the Great Bear Lake region. He was most active in the southeast region of the lake, particularly in the Sawmill Bay area. Included in the middle of the diary is a cash account listing for the Camsell River Mineral Syndicate.

Nicholson, John
Robert A. Coutts fonds
205 · Fonds · 1932-1934

This fonds consists of 51 black and white nitrate negatives, 6 black and white original prints and 1 diary. The images relate to Robert A. Coutts work in the Great Bear Lake region between 1932 and 1934. Subjects include prospectors and prospecting, mining camps and methods of transportation. A number of images depict the first radium-silver veins that were exposed and worked near Radium City (later known as Port Radium). In addition, there is a diary written by Robert A. Coutts between July 22, 1932 and December 6, 1932. He made regular entries in the diary, usually daily or every second day. The diary contains detailed information on events that occurred and people that Coutts met, both on his trip to Great Bear Lake and while he worked in the region.

Coutts, Robert
William McDonald fonds
248 · Fonds · 1927, 1933, 1953-1959, [1969]

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.

McDonald, William
Parks Canada fonds
255 · Fonds · 1972-1982

This fonds consists of photographs documenting commemorative plaques at Port Radium and Fort McPherson, a visitors book from the Parks Canada cabin at Virginia Falls (Nahanni National Park), and photographs documenting the monument to Sir John and Sir James Ross at Taloyoak, Nunavut.

The fonds additionally includes materials relating to a Historical Resources Inventory of the Nahanni region. Parks Canada commissioned W. D. Addison and Associates in a series of four contracts to document Nahanni history. During the summers of 1974 to 1977, oral history interviews were conducted with 43 people associated with the Nahanni Park region. Several of the interviews were published in an internal Parks Canada document, "Manuscript Report Series No. 196: Nahanni National Park Historical Resources Inventory."

Parks Canada. Prairie Region
275 · Fonds · 1882-1937

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.

Canada. Department of the Interior
297 · Fonds · [193-], 1933-1937, 1985, 1993

This fonds contains records documenting prospecting and mining activities around Yellowknife, primarily in the 1930s. There are images of camps, floatplanes, boats, scenery, C. John Baker and Herb Dixon. The videocassette (VHS) contains 8 mm film footage that was taken by John Baker between 1935-1936. There are scenes of traveling, camping and prospecting in the Yellowknife area and mining activities at the Rich claim (Giant Mine).

The textual material consists of an 82-page transcript of an interview with John Baker that was conducted by Walter Humphries in 1994. There are also copies of Baker's correspondence and work-related papers concerning prospecting activities in the Yellowknife area and the Rich claim (Giant Mine), as well as extracts from newspapers dated 1934-1947, a report by A.W. Jolliffe on the Yellowknife River area, an article about John Baker from the CIM Reporter, resident hunting and trapping licenses and a summary report on the Rich Group of Claims. In addition, there are 4 bound journals dated from 1935-1936 containing correspondence and observations about development and drilling, ordering mining supplies and equipment, payroll and expense information at the Giant Mine. Two of the journals contain notes and correspondence written by C. John Baker and the other two journals consist of correspondence and notes written by Lockie Burwash.

Baker, Cyril John
298 · Fonds · [1948-2007]

This fonds consists of 2.7 metres of textual records, comprised of administrative and operational files from the NWT Chamber of Mines, two 16 mm film reels, one Betacam videocassette, one DVD, and one audio cassette.

Included in the textual records are documents and reports on the Baker Lake court case and land claims issues; mineral policies, speeches, documents from Mining Week and the annual Geoscience Forums; regulations, licenses, membership lists, public relations, correspondence, reports from committees, Mine Safety Act documents; meeting agendas and minutes from 1967-1993. Also included are minutes and reports from the Northern Mineral Advisory Committee, which advocated issues in northern mining to the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. Several NWT Chamber of Mines members and executive played a role in NMAC.

The moving images include two 16 mm film reels, consisting of home videos of unknown provenance. They appear to be home movies of a mine worker in Yellowknife, [1948-1949], given the title "Yellowknife Life." This fonds also includes two promotional videos produced by the Chamber: one on Betamax videocassette entitled "Mine Your Business" (a career video for youth) and one DVD entitled "Mining Now" (a northern mining promotional video).

The audiocassette consists of a recording of Cyril John Baker.

NWT Chamber of Mines
Harold Wilson fonds
353 · Fonds · [1923-1929]

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.

Wilson, Harold
Sam Otto fonds
382 · Fonds · 1927 - [197-?]

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.

Otto, Sam
George Magrum fonds
388 · Fonds · [190-]-1986

This fonds consists of 22 cm of text, 113 black and white and colour photographs, and 19 audiocassettes related to the life and activities of George Magrum, a noted barrenland trapper active in the Northwest Territories from the 1900s to the 1970s. The text includes diaries, correspondence, poetry, creative writing, and records related to trapping and prospecting. There are also 18 audiocassettes which appear to relate to Mr. Magrum's diaries. The photographs, which relate to trapping as well as his family, are both negatives and prints and do not appear to be copies of each other.

Magrum, George Frank
Spud Arsenault fonds
391 · Fonds · 1929-1946

This fonds consists of a loose leaf diary of his trip to the NWT in 1929 and thirteen prospecting journals (field books). The diary consists of 25 loose leaf pages detailing Spud Arsenault's journey in 1929 to northern Alberta and the NWT. It includes descriptions of his travel by plane with Punch Dickens to the NWT including Fort Resolution and Fort Rae. The diary also includes descriptions of camp life, hunting, fishing, prospecting and work with Herb Dixon. The field books detail travel and prospecting activities in the Yellowknife area, the Great Bear Lake area, Watson Lake Yukon, northern Alberta and northern Saskatchewan with various mining companies from 1929-1946.

Arsenault, Spud
Jake Woolgar fonds
414 · Fonds · 1933-1989

The fonds consists of 11.8 cm of text and 37 photographs (25 b&w prints, 8 col. prints, 2 b&w negatives and 2 col. slides) documenting the life of Jake Woolgar. The bulk of the text consists of correspondence, both personal and relating to Jake's work in the mining industry, his service in the Air Force, and his and Didi's facilitating a visit to the Arctic for Sherman Haight. Other documents in the accession include share certificates, legal paperwork, a log of Jake's prospecting activities in 1938, and samples of his poetry and prose writing. The photographs depict Jake at various stages of life as well as members of his family, prospecting activities, and signs and monuments beside Highway 1.

Woolgar, Jake (John Raymond)
422 · Fonds · 1945-1955

The fonds consists of records created by the Yellowknife Branch of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy during its early years of operation. The records include a cheque register, correspondence, membership lists, meeting agenda, minutes, Prospector’s Class enrollment, schedule, and course materials, a proposed itinerary and account of the Governor General's 1947 visit, and a photograph of CIMM visitors to Yellowknife. The fonds also includes a ca. 1955 report prepared by one of CIMM's committees on the revision of the NWT Quartz Mining Regulations.

Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Yellowknife Branch
Ernest Milton Johnston fonds
427 · Fonds · 1920-1968

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.

Johnston, Ernest Milton
J.I. Glick early life
429-S01 · Series · 1925-1947
Part of Glick family fonds

This series documents the first four decades of J.I. Glick's life, before he and Sadie Glick moved to Yellowknife. Records relate to his involvement in the mining and fur trade in Ontario, his trials and incarceration, correspondence, World War II service records, return to civilian life and preparation to move to Yellowknife.

Glick, Jacob Isaac
Frank Morrison fonds
50 · Fonds · 1931-1951

This fonds consists of personal and work related correspondence, staking agreements, certificates of work and mining licenses. Also included are records relating to business deals between Frank Morrison and Germaine Lafleur concerning mineral claims.

Morrison, Frank
D'Arcy Arden fonds
63 · Fonds · 1921-1936

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

Arden, D'Arcy