The above images are from the collection of Dr. William Francis Ganong,noted New Brunswick explorer,surveyor,naturalist,fisherman and photographer These images are copyrighted property of the New Brunswick Museum,Saint John N.B,and used by their permission.The webmaster thanks them for their cooperation.
(accession#'s S224 F446 7,-1987.17.1222.87,-1987.17.1218.131-1987.17.1218.104 )
Moving your cursor over the images to the right and clicking will expand the images-
top left-"Camp Comfort"-located near the outlet of Island Lake circa 1900-used by woodland caribou/moose hunters.
top right- View from canoe August 1901-
bottom left-hand drawn map of Island Lake area,1901 -note the Maliseet name for the Lake on the upper left "Milnagek"-
bottom right- "Oglivy's camp site" -1907-located about 3 to 400 yards from current camp location-used by Caribou hunters as this area was one of the last known havens for New Brunswick's woodland Caribou.
First appearance on a map- probably circa 1686 by French cartographers who did not in fact explore this area of New Brunswick -rather relied on accounts from natives-hence -possibly due to a language barrier,the lakes had no names and were misplaced ;the only discernable image on the map was Trousers Lake(due to its distinctive shape).It's believed that no White man laid eyes on Island lake until the 1830's when a surveyor listed in historical accounts as "Deputy Garden" surveyed the area however, his results were not incorporated into a map until 1859,some data was either lost or missing.Even past this point and into the 1880's accurate maps of the area did not exist as cartographers relied on descriptions from hunting guides,and many of the same places were referred to by different names,depending on who you asked-hence there was duplication and misplacement and non-existent streams connecting lakes.It was not until 1886 that the Canadian Geological Survey sent a cartographer/surveyor named William McInnes.He was the first person to explore the area near Island Lake with reliable equipment,including a barometer to measure elevation and created the most accurate maps(at 1 mile to the Inch scale).
Fish species present: native Brook Trout,small native baitfish Maximum depth-42 feet
Lake size- (water surface)388 acres/157 Ha Shoreline distance: 40,689 feet(7.7 miles)
Mean Depth: 11.2 feet Bottom: primarily rock/gravel
Ice out date: generally between May 10 and 14 Feeder sources:2 small streams,primarily spring-fed
