The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-09-19

of Great Britain, and under his direc-
ton, the Hudson Bay company was
formed Most of the subsequent ex-
ploration was the result of this COM
pany's successful efforts to build up
the fur trade.
History of Exploration.
Capt. James Young, under the aus
pieces of the Hudson Bay company,
established a post at Churchill in 1859,
but it burned down shortly afterward.
In the following two decades, Hudson
Bay developments suffered from the
wars between England and France, but
in 1717 another post was built at
Churchill. Over a period of years fol-
lowing, the stronghold, Fort Prince of
Wales was constructed, and the ruins
of the fort are still Churchill land
mark.
An Irishman, Sir Arthur Dobbs,
sailed from Churchill in 1875 in an
other of the many efforts to find the
Northwest Passage which are linked
with the poets history, but after sew
eral attempts he. too, was disappointed.
On the rock near the port may still be
seen the names of his two ships,
Furnace and Discovery, carved there
by the sailors. Another name hewn
from Churchill rock is that of Samuel
Hearne who, operating from Churchill
as a base in the years from 1863 to
1772, uncovered much of the vast min
of ~ HnHSnn country
Further development of the terri
tory under the leadership of Mathew
Cooking and Lord Selkirk followed, but
the next really important historical
character in Churchill annals was an
other seeker for the elusive Northwest
who spent the better part of three
decades exploring the Arctic and Hud-
son Bay. On his third expedition which
left Churchill in the ships Erebus
and Terror in 1915, he found ito his
sorrow. The log of the Terror re-
vealed that Northwest Passage had
been found to exist at last, but Frank
lin and all of his crew persisted in the
Arctic cold.
With the growth of population in
Western Canada and the increasing i'm
portance of the territorys agriculture,
need began to be felt for larger mar
kets. The best market, of course, was
Europe, but it was hard of access be-
cause of the lack Of railroads connect
ing the western farm lands with a
port.
In 1908 the department of railways
and canals began surveying the right
of way for the railway, deciding to ex-
tend it from LIE Pas to Port Nelson,
rather than to Churchill, because
the cost of a line to Port Nelson
was estimated at $4,000,00O less than
one to Churchill. While the line was
started from the south end, activity
was begun to complete port facilities
at Port Nelson, but during the World
war the project was abandoned
Port Nelson Is Abandoned.
1t was not taken. up again until
1926. During tine eight years Of mac
tivity the line had deteriorated beyond
USE 1t was decided that before be-
ginning again, another survey should
be made of the relative merits of the
Churchill and Port Nelson terminals,
this time by an impartial engineer.
The Churchill terminus won out.
1t had been thought earlier, on
incomplete data available, that the line
to Churchill was virtually impossible
of construction IF would hoya RI no
longer than the line to Port Nelson,
and 75 miles of it would be through
the frozen muskegs, which it was be-
lieved would thaw out during the sum-
mer, thus damaging the roadbed be-
yond repair. But in 1927 it was discov-
cred that gravel fill over the muskeg
would act as heat insulator and pre-
vent it from thawing.