I was about to embark on a journey of discovery that would take me back in time, to lands unknown and new to me and, most importantly, to new understandings. I now know, thanks to Jim's magnificent obsession with things “Low and boreal,” a lot more about this amazing man, one of this country's greatest explorers. Jim and I retraced his routes through some of Canada's toughest (and, we need to point out, wettest, wildest, boggiest, most burnt, most isolated and most threatened) terrain.
Using archival field notes, maps, photographs and geological reports to guide us, we spent seven weeks travelling by canoe from near the geographical centre of present-day Quebec to James Bay, “following in the footsteps and paddle strokes of A.P. Low.” The expedition linked the watersheds of the rivers La Grande, Eastmain and Rupert, the last of these considered one of Canada's most endangered waterways because of imminent hydro-electric power development. We invite you to follow along with us through the heart of the boreal forest of Quebec, over 87 portages (one portage took nine hours!), past abandoned trading posts, Cree camps, and the vast area consumed by the forest fires of 2002. But this account is not simply the story of a good canoe trip through the heart of the boreal forest, but is also an intimate look into the life of an unheralded Canadian who somehow slipped through the cracks of history. Just reading about his epic canoe trips is exhausting! In the 1880s and 1890s he criss-crossed the Quebec-Labrador peninsula from James Bay to Ungava Bay, and to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, through some of the most rugged country on the continent, considered at that time to be one of the largest “unknown” areas in the world. For thousands of nights of travel by canoe and snowshoe, he slept under the stars or under canvas to the drumming of rain. To this day, no one is known who has travelled more on land and water in this part of the world, or given more knowledge of its geology, peoples, wildlife, geography and vegetation to the scientific community and the world at large(,) than A.P. Low.
Low's accomplishments also included daring sailing expeditions along the unfriendly coasts of Ungava Bay, Hudson Bay and James Bay and into the high Arctic in the 1890s and early 1900s. However, we apologize for not following his trail over salt water, but perhaps another time.
A.P. Low's story has never been fully told. While that was our self-appointed task, our research led us in unexpected directions. What began as an excursion into the past ended up providing a look into the future of the boreal forest, the largest intact ecosystem in the world, and one that is undergoing rapid change due to mining, logging and hydro-electric power projects. We set out to write the “complete” A.P. Low, to recount not just his life as an explorer and geologist, and not just his public life, but also his private life. We have attempted not only to get all the facts straight, but also to reflect upon his life in the historical context of the society in which he lived, worked and played. Although we are in awe of Low's accomplishments, we have to admit that we still really don't know as much about the man as we had hoped. Although the outline of his career is well-documented in archives and libraries, we have not found one personal letter, postcard, or even a diary. We have only inklings into his thoughts regarding the BIG questions: philosophy of life and living, religion, god, love, his place in the universe…. We don't really know if he was a compassionate man, a joker or a deadly serious person. In attempting to be as truthful as possible, we have prefaced any conjectural statements with phrases such as “it is likely that,” or “we imagine that….” If the ghost of A.P. is looking over our shoulders, we trust he is not saying, “You fellows got it all wrong.” Low seems to have been such a private man that we hope he approves of us bringing his life, and his accomplishments, into public view. We also hope that this account, as limited as the private side may be, gives Low the honour he merits. We did our best.
The book is structured around two themes. Half the chapters are intensively biographical, and mostly researched and written by Jim Stone. We wanted to provide you with the most complete account of what we (or anyone else) were able to discover about A.P. Low. Tracking down the man took us in many unexpected directions leading to many unforeseen places and people in our seemingly endless (and sometimes fruitless) search for information. The second theme of the book is the account of our personal experiences in retracing some of his routes through the boreal forest of what is now northern Quebec. These particular chapters are mostly written by Max Finkelstein and are presented in the first person to emphasize our direct experiences on the trip. These chapters are identified as “Interludes.” This book is a collaborative effort, bringing together our individual strengths, as well as our particular weaknesses or idiosyncrasies and eccentricities. But just like our canoe steered by two paddlers, the work has only one ultimate destination.
Both journeys — the biographical and the canoe trip — have been ones of discovery for us. Join us as we search for portages, many unused for almost a century, and for equally elusive documents, some well-buried, to uncover the life and times of this enigmatic Canadian, whom we now think of as our mysterious friend.
Throughout this work, both in the historical accounts and in the contemporary writings, there are multiple measurements being referenced. In A.P. Low's time, all these measurements were recorded using the Imperial system (miles, yards, pounds, etc.) while today's measurements are recorded in the Metric system (kilometres, metres, kilograms, etc.). It was determined that a consistent conversion (i.e. from Imperial to Metric) was far too intrusive. To keep the historical base intact, all measurements are shown in the Imperial system, however, distances over 100 miles are also shown in kilometres. All other measurements have been left intact.
| CBC | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |
| CPR | Canadian Pacific Railway |
| HBC | Hudson's Bay Company |
| GPS | Global Positioning System |
| GRAND | Great Recycling and Northern Development |
| GSC | Geological Survey of Canada |
| LAC | Library and Archives Canada |
| NWC | North West Company |
| NWMP | North-West Mounted Police |
PADDLING THE BOREAL FOREST — FROM LAKE NAOCOCANE TO JAMES BAY
IROLL THE CANOE OFF MY aching shoulders onto sphagnum-covered boulders, as Jim wades slowly uphill through waist-high wet Labrador tea, bent under the food pack we are carrying for our six-week trip. Halfway across Long Portage, we collapse, exhausted, at the point where the faint trail disappears; this time for good. Soaked by yet another drenching rain, with the muskeg sucking at our boots and the blackflies sucking at our blood, we are forcefully struck again by the incredible stamina and endurance of previous travellers and the Aboriginals who guided them over this now half-forgotten route. We had expected that this 1000-km route from Naococane Lake, near the Quebec border with the western-most border of Labrador, to the community of Waskaganish, formerly called Rupert House, where the Rupert River dumps its waters into James Bay would be tough. But not this tough.
I am reminded of a poem by Alfred DesRochers that describes just how we feel at the moment:
We are the dwindled sons of a race of supermen,
The violent, strong, adventurous, from this strain,
We take a northbound homesickness, which comes
With the Grey Days that autumn brings again.”1
One of these “supermen” was Albert Peter Low.
Albert Peter Low is a typical Canadian hero. He did much for Canada, but his accomplishments have been largely forgotten. Like many individuals who have helped to shape our view of the world, he has disappeared through the cracks of history. Low worked as a geologist for the Geological Survey
