A few wilderness paddlers know Albert Peter Low for his accurate descriptions of the extensive canoe routes he mapped through what is now northern Quebec and Labrador,4 and published in the annual reports of the Geological Survey of Canada during the closing years of the 19th century. These descriptions still guide intrepid canoeists intent on following obscure routes across the north of Quebec and Ungava. Portages are listed and rapids described with meticulous accuracy. Eastmain, Rupert, Caniapiscau, Leaf, Rivière aux Melézès, Mistassini, Nichicun, Clearwater, Hamilton (now called Churchill), Romaine5 — these are just some of the lakes and rivers Low mapped. Their names still ring out with adventure.
Albert Peter Low is best known for his tough canoe trips. Perhaps more than anyone else of his time, he perfected the skill of travelling by canoe over long distances and rough terrain, while at the same time making maps, recording observations and putting up with hardships that few today can envisage. Duke Watson6 of Seattle, who has a paddling resumé that few, if any, can match today, places A.P. Low at the top rank among the great Geological Survey of Canada explorers. He considers Low's 1893–94 trip through Quebec-Labrador — “more than 5,500 miles” — as one of the great canoe trips of all time!7 How's this for an itinerary — Chamouchouane River, Rupert River, Eastmain River, Lake Nichicun, Caniapiscau River, Koksoak River, Hamilton River, Lake Petitskapau, Lake Michikamau, Romaine River and St. John River to Mingan, just east of Sept-Îles on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. His pencilled field notebooks and hand-drawn maps are a source of inspiration for the small cadre of extreme canoeists who have retraced his routes, unencumbered by his duty to map the route and geology of the terrain, but blessed by accurate maps and waterproof materials.
His best-known exploit shows the strength of the man. After the first six months of a year-long (1884–85) federal/provincial expedition to map Lake Mistassini, for which he was second in command, he had had enough of the numerous delays in the trip which he blamed on the leader, John Bignell. In February 1885, he decided to return to Ottawa to obtain authorization to take over the expedition. This determination required snowshoeing 200 miles or 320 kilometres from Lake Mistassini to Lac Saint-Jean in frigid weather and deep snow with one partner, then sledding to Quebec City to catch the train to Ottawa. Once armed with a letter giving him the mandate to assume leadership, he returned via a similar route with a party of six. The approaching spring thaw during unseasonably mild above-freezing temperatures forced them to travel at night when the mushy snow had frozen to form a solid crust. He arrived after 87 days of absence.
Canadian geologists know of Albert Peter Low. His descriptions and analyses of his mineral findings cover an immense area. He was the first to describe the vast iron ore deposits of the Labrador Trough (called Ungava Trough by the Quebec government, which does not recognize the Quebec-Labrador border); these were eventually the source of ore for the mines at Schefferville, Labrador City and Fermont. He also described the surficial geology of much of the northern Quebec-Labrador region, and applied his interpretations to describe the role of glaciers in sculpting the land and redistributing its mineral treasures, using the relatively new theory of continental glaciation.8 He was one of the last of the golden era of generalist geologists, which included Robert Bell,9 Joseph Tyrrell10 and many others who worked for the Geological Survey of Canada before the 20th century. His work predated the concept of the term “shield”11 as applied to the extensive areas of exposed ancient igneous and metamorphic bedrock that cover vast reaches of northern Canada.
This Topley Studio (Ottawa) photograph of A.P. Low shows him in the prime of his at the age of 26 (May 1887). During this period he was an avid hockey and football player. Courtesy of LAC photo collection, PA-214276, William James Topley.
For the geographer, Low's descriptions of the geology, geography, forest, history, peoples and lifestyles in northern Quebec and Labrador in the waning years of the 19th century, all based on first-hand experience, were described by one admirer as “une Bible, le plus important texte jamais paru sur le Quebec-Labrador.”12 Though he did not discover new lands, he meticulously mapped long travel routes used by others in the area, and put precision into what had only been roughly described before, along with a wealth of details based on his observations. His reports published by the Geological Survey of Canada are a vivid benchmark of a vast area that is now in the throes of rapid and irrevocable change — a vivid portrayal of what was then as compared to what is now.
This is believed to be the McGill University football club of 1882. Though not named in the photograph, A.P. Low is seated in the centre of the second row. Courtesy of the McCord Museum, Notman Collection, photo 11–64364.
For the anthropologist and historian, Albert Peter Low is best known for his command of the Canadian government expedition in 1903–04, dispatched to reinforce Canada's sovereignty claim to much of the eastern Arctic. His book, The Cruise of the Neptune,13 records a glimpse of life in the eastern Arctic just after the turn of the century. It is replete with photos of Inuit and descriptions of their culture, meetings with American whalers, accounts of the marine wildlife and an evaluation of the navigational potential of Hudson Bay, as well as some new observations of geology of this vast area.
We unexpectedly discovered that his sporting exploits, as well as his geological and geographical accomplishments, also merit a place for him in Canadian history. While a student in engineering at McGill College and University in Montreal, during 1881 and 1882, Low played hockey for the newly established McGill team. Organized hockey was just coming into being, and the earliest known photograph of a hockey team in uniform shows Albert Peter Low. He took his experience with him when he moved to Ottawa in 1882, and was an early member of organized hockey in Ottawa before the founding of the Stanley Cup in 1892. A football player on the McGill team, he also took his football skills to Ottawa, where he was president of the Ottawa Football Club for several seasons in the 1890s. As he matured, he turned to more sedate sports and became an avid curler.
As a volunteer in the Active Militia in Ottawa between 1896 and 1901, he rose to the rank of lieutenant in the 43rd Regiment of Infantry. Militia service was not a career for him, but his experience was a common one, used at the time to build social contacts and bolster career advancement. As a citizen of Ottawa during the period from 1882 until his death in October 1942, he experienced the nation's capital during its transformation from a rough lumber town notorious for its taverns and drunken brawls to a large city, a political, social and cultural centre of Canada, with sedate civil servants carrying briefcases replacing the rowdy lumbermen. During his time he saw the introduction of sewers, telephones, electricity and automobiles. He and his wife, Isabella, the daughter of an influential alderman of Ottawa, C.R. Cunningham, had three children. But Low lost both sons and his wife long before he died. Only his eldest child, a daughter named Estelle who never married, outlived him.
As a lifetime employee in the Geological Survey, he was part of the federal government, and his career is a window beckoning us to look into its workings during that era. A trained scientist in the premier government scientific institution of its day, his career was one of slow progression in an institution that was often starved of funds. Like some of his colleagues, he complained about the low pay scales and finally left for better pay in the private sector. Unlike many of these colleagues, he, however, soon returned to the Geological Survey. In 1906, he was appointed director of the Geological Survey “over the heads” of some geologists who bitterly resented that he had fewer years of service than themselves. The following year, he was appointed deputy minister of the newly formed Department of Mines, but was struck with a debilitating disease that eventually ended his career. His illness was officially described as cerebral meningitis, but whispered to be syphilis by his enemies, even though there is no evidence for this. Low went on medical leave a few months after becoming deputy minister, and never returned to work again.
So why haven't we heard