A Bear Garden: James Melville Macoun and the 1904 Peace River Controversy

W.A. WAISER A B ear Garden: James MelvilleMacounandthe ß9o4 Peace RiverControversy ONE OF THEREGULARLY CRITICIZED governmentdepartments of thelate nineteenthcenturywasthe Geological Surveyof Canada.Although initiallycreatedin •842 to facilitatethe exploitationof Canada's mineralresources, the Surveyhad from the beginningengagedin broadscientific inquirywhichtranscended the boundsof traditional geology.Despitebeing continuallyplaguedby limited funds and personnel, it had gaineda creditablereputationin the international scientific community bythe •88os. • Thisconcern withacquiring exact scientificknowledgeof the country'snatural resourceswas not generallyappreciatedby Canada'sfederal politicians. The national development policies of the MacdonaldandlaterLaurier administrationswerepredicated on the widelyheld principlethat Canadawas endowed with unlimited natural resources and that if these resources weremade'useful,'her future asa great nationwouldbe assured. Parliamentarians of bothpoliticalstripes consequently expected the Geological Surveytogatherpractical scientific informationthatcould beusedbyprivateinterests. They didnotbelieve in science for itsown sakeand, whenever the issuearose in the House of Commons, were forevercriticizingthe governmentagencyfor not doingenoughto promotethe materialinterestsof the country. 2 This sentimentwas The authorwishes tothankJ.R.Miller, MichaelHayden, JanicePotterMacKinnon, DaleMiquelon,andDavidSmithfor theirhelpfulcomments onearlierversions of thispaper. • M. Zaslow, Reading the Rocks: TheStory oftheGeological Survey ofCanada •84•-•97• (Toronto 1975)34, 143-4 e See,for example,Macdonald's comments in Canada,Houseof Commons, Debates, 19May 1888,16o5-6. For a discussion of thisissue seeV. deVecchi,'Science andGovernment in theNineteenthCentury'(PI-I I• thesis, University of Toronto, 1978). Canadian HistoricalReview, LXVII,1, •986 ooo8-3755/86/o3oo-oo4e $o1.e 5/o¸ University ofTorontoPress MACOUN AND THE PEACE RIVER CONTROVERSY 43 sharedby the Canadianbusiness community,in particularby the miningindustry. 'Theyhavetoomuchtodowithscience,' charged one criticin aJanuary•888 letterto PrimeMinisterJohnA. Macdonald, 'andtoolittletodowiththepractical knowledge whichisgoingtogive pecuniary advancement to anysection.'"Thomas Macfarlane,mining engineerand discoverer of the SilverIslet mine on Lake Superior, wentevenfurther in hiscriticismof the Survey:'wereit to beat once abolished neithergovernmentnor peoplewouldfeelitsloss. '4 Thisintensepressure on theGeological Surveyto providetechnical dataledtoacertaindegreeof frictionwiththevarious survey directors whowereequallyconcerned with upholdingthe department's scientificresearch . Theywisely realized, however, thatthegeneral desire for practical resultswouldnot simplygo away.To placatetheir political masters, then,theytried to ensurethat the Survey's fieldoperations reflected asmuchaspossible thegovernment's concern withdevelopingtheresources of thecountry,whileat thesametimetryingnotto losesightof the purelyscientific aspects. 'Carehasbeentakento give prominence toanydiscoveries whichmayhaveaneconomic bearing,' wroteactingsurveydirectorRobertBell at thebeginningof his •9o• summary report.'This isdonein response to the generaldesirefor earlyinformationonallpointswhichmaybeof immediatevaluetothe public,although scientific discoveries mayultimatelyproveof greater practical importance. '5 The resultof thisstrategy wasahealthytension betweentheSurvey and successive administrations in the •88os and •89os. Ministersin chargeof the Surveyregularly spokeof the need to reform the government department,but changes wererarelyforthcomingand, whenimplemented, did notsignificantly affecttheSurvey's activities. In •9o3, however,thisemphasis on practicalfield work backfiredon actingdirectorBell and, to a lesserextent,the Laurier government, whenassistant naturalist JamesMacounwasdispatched to assess the Upper PeaceRiver district.His soberappraisalof the agricultural worthoftheregioninfuriatedFrankOliver,thebackbench LiberalM? for Edmonton,and led to a bitter, personalcontroversy. Macounwas denounced byOliverbeforethe Houseof CommonsSelectStanding Committee onAgricultureand Colonization, threatenedin the Commons ,and accused of incompetence and dishonesty in the Edmonton DailyBulletin. He wasevencensured for usingscientific methodsthat 3 PublicArchives of Canada[PAC], MG26A,JohnA. Macdonald Papers, vol.452, f 225o79,N.C.JonestoJ.A. Macdonald,2Jan. •888 4 Ibid.,vol.253,f • •4639, T. MacfarlanetoJ.A. Mousseau, 28Jan. x879 5 Canada, House of Commons, Sessional Papers, •9o2,vol.36,no.9,'Summary Report oftheGeological Survey of Canada for •9o•,' • 44 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW werethehallmarkoftheheraldedworkofhisfather,thebotanist John Macoun.The Liberal administration,meanwhile,wasplacedin an extremelyawkward position,torn betweendefending a respected government scientist on theonehandanditstranscontinental railway planson the other. In the end, the affair waswidelydismissed asan errorinjudgment,withtheGeological Survey's responsibilities being redefined,Macoun retaining his position,but Bell being removed eventually from thedirectorship. JamesMelvilleMacounspentthebetterpart of hislife helpingto further his father's career. The eldest of five children, he wasborn in Belleville, Canada West,in •86• andeducated atAlbertCollege, where Professor Macoun heldthechairofnaturalhistory. Duringthese years, between •87• and•88•, hisfatherrapidlyrosetonationalprominence by usinghisformidableskillsasa plant geographerto suggest that westernlandswere ideal for large-scale settlement.Where earlier investigators hadwarnedaboutsummerfrostsand insufficient moisture ,hespoke of thenorthwardsweep of summerisotherms andrain following theplough.Wheretheyfoundan irreclaimable desert,he discovered a gardenof unlimitedpotential.Wheretheysawa forlorn, emptywilderness, heevokedimages of'a landwithuntoldwealthinits soil' where 'lifemeans anunending pleasure. ,6Hisenthusiasm knew no limits exceptthe boundariesof the region itself.Jim, as he was commonly known,tookgreatpride in hisfather'saccomplishments andgrowingreputationduringhisadolescence andcametoberelied uponat homeduring the elder Macoun'sprolongedabsences in the field or in Ottawa. Under his father's instruction, he also became an avidnaturalist in hisownright and attendedto the more mundane herbariumchores. Yet apartfrom sharinga keenfascination...