Читать книгу Paddling the Boreal Forest - Stone James Madison - Страница 13

4 A.P. Low: An Overview of His

WE KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE professional career of Albert Peter Low. We know about his geological accomplishments, his travels and his experiences. But after all our research, we still have to admit that we can't truly say we know much about the man himself. The private picture of A.P. Low is faded and elusive.

We found few keyholes through which to peer into his personal life. Any of his personal diaries and private letters that he may have kept have disappeared. His sole surviving child, his daughter Estelle, had no children of her own. He was a modest person who did not attract much attention. In the writings of his professional colleagues, we have found only a few scattered references to Low, and there are no people left today who knew him personally. Only a few newspaper pieces, a treasure trove of his archival photographs and his field notebooks provide some clues to his personality. Despite these limitations, when we put all our findings together and make some informed guesses, a picture of the man begins to emerge.

Albert Peter Low was born on May 24, 1861, in Saint-Henri, Quebec, at the time an independent town just west of the old town of Montreal. His parents¹ were United Empire Loyalists, those British subjects who emigrated to Canada from the United States (often under forced circumstances following the establishment of that new country). His father, John William Low, was a descendant of Peter Ludwig Lau, a Presbyterian minister from Hanover (Germany) who accompanied the Hessian soldiers² hired by the British in New France during the Seven Years War (1756–1763). The Lau family settled in New England and became British subjects. After the American Revolution (1775–1783), Lau uprooted his family from the Mohawk Valley and move north to settle in Upper Canada, in the area of Stormont County in today's eastern Ontario. The family's Germanic roots survived until A.P.'s time as his surname was pronounced as “Lau,” although spelled Low, until the 1860s.³ A.P. Low also spoke some German, likely learned from his father.

Low's mother, Tryphene Winchester, was descended from Aaron Winchester, a British military surgeon who came to North America in 1758 with the troops of Major General Jeffrey Amherst. When Amherst went to lay seige to Montreal in 1760, he left the construction of the fort at Crown Point (New York) under the command of Surgeon General Winchester. Winchester married one of the ladies-in-waiting of Lady Amherst. His descendents settled in Massachusetts until the end of the American Revolution and then moved to Dunham, as part of the wave of United Empire Loyalists who settled in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

Albert Peter was the youngest of five sons in the family (we don't know if there were any daughters). He grew up in the New York Temperance Hotel⁴ his father owned, on Boulevard Saint-Henri. Given the name of the hotel, his parents were likely abstainers, with a strong Protestant work ethic. Nothing is known of his four brothers, not even their names.

In the 1870s, the Saint-Henri area was a distinctly lower-class neighbourhood with a highly transient population of about 2,500, speaking both French and English.⁵ As the industrial barons and the wealthy of Montreal lived elsewhere, the Low family certainly did not rub shoulders with them. With his father's German background, and his childhood in Saint-Henri, Albert Peter grew up speaking English, along with some proficiency in both French and German.⁶ Growing up in a hotel located in a working-class area of dressmakers, furniture dealers and leather goods makers, he would have met many interesting characters passing through what must have been a working-man's hotel. Montreal at that time was tough, and Albert Peter probably had a rough-and-tumble childhood. He was six years old when Canada became a country in 1867. Low attended the Montreal High School in the 1870s, the city's main English-language Presbyterian school. Given his later career, it is likely that Albert Peter was in the upper-school scientific division.⁷ Nothing is known of his school days and any school records pertaining to him were lost when the school burnt down in the 1890s.

The Montreal High School as it was when Low was a student there. The building burned down in the 1890s. Sketch taken from The Canadian Illustrated News, September 11, 1875. Courtesy of LAC photo collection, C-062862.

The course calendar for the Applied Science class at McGill in 1881 identifies five students. This 1878 photograph show six young men. A.P. Low is believed to be the individual on the right. The students are holding various surveying instruments. Courtesy of the McCord Museum, Notman photo 11–48018.

Albert Peter Low entered McGill College in 1878. Coming from such a modest background, he must have done well academically in high school to gain entry to McGill. There he also excelled at his courses, and graduated in 1882 with a First Class degree in Applied Science, making him an engineer. In his Applied Science class, there were only five students.⁸ The course work entailed some geological teachings, and he was instructed by the Principal, Sir William Dawson, who at that time was one of the foremost geologists in Canada. He was also the father of George Mercer Dawson,⁹ the geologist who became the director of the Geological Survey in the 1890s and for whom the city in the Yukon is named, as well as a number of other Canadian landmarks. At that time, the Geological Survey was headquartered in Montreal and Low made some social and professional connections there through his geological studies. Many of the scientists employed at the Geological Survey of Canada were graduates of McGill.

This 1881 Notman photograph of the McGill University team is the first ever taken of a hockey team in uniform. The photo is labelled “Hockey Match, Crystal Palace Skating Rink.” A.P. Low is on the left. Note the variation in uniforms and hockey sticks. Courtesy of McCord Museum, Notman Collection, MP-0000.175.

Albert Peter was an enthusiastic participant in team sports at McGill. Physically, he was short, stocky and very rugged.¹⁰ He is found in the first photograph¹¹ of a hockey team in uniform,¹² taken in 1881. His name as goalie and those of his teammates are inscribed on the hockey trophy¹³ memorializing the team's victory in the 1882 Quebec winter carnival game. Hockey in those days was in its early days as an organized sport. The McGill hockey rules had just been written in 1878 so that teams could play each other using common rules. Neither goalies nor other players wore padding; play was rough and injuries common. On the off season, Albert Peter also played football for McGill, and can be identified in an 1883 photo of the team.¹⁴ No record has been found indicating that he participated in other popular sports clubs of the day, such as snowshoeing — he would get more than enough later in his life — or in cultural clubs. There is no way around it — Albert Peter Low was a “jock.”

The silver hockey trophy won by the McGill University team at the 1882 Quebec winter carnival game. A.P. Low's name is inscribed on the cup. Courtesy of McCord Museum, Notman Collection, M976.188.1.

We wonder what his friends called him. Was it Albert or Peter or some variation? In the McGill hockey team photo, he is identified as Albert Low. Nevertheless, all further references are to “A.P.,” including his signature on official Geological Survey correspondence, his field notebooks and news articles. As a confirmation of Mrs. Wynn Turner's family information, oral history records at the Geological Survey always refers to Albert as “A.P.”

JOINING THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

In the summer of 1881, while still at McGill, Low joined a Geological Survey field party as the summer-student assistant to R.W. Ells, to survey the geology of the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec.¹⁵ For this job he was paid $30 per month plus board. As an assistant, he did basic mapping which involved pacing distances along roads where they existed, or measuring with optical surveying instruments. Labourers were hired to establish camps, transport supplies and do the camp chores. Low learned to respect their abilities in the bush and on the trail. In the summer of 1882, he again assisted R.W. Ells in continuing the survey of the same area, but this time as a permanent employee of the Geological Survey, starting on July 1,1882, with the salary of $700 per year.

A.P. Low as a young man around the time he joined the Geological Survey of Canada. Courtesy of LAC photo collection, PA-214274, William James Topley.

Low had to move to Ottawa to take up his position at the Geological Survey, which had just completed its relocation from Montreal in 1881. In keeping with his salary and bachelor status, as well as with the general housing shortage in Ottawa at the time, he took rooms in various boarding houses. In 1884, he lodged in Mrs. Buchanan's boarding house on Rideau Street, (still one of Ottawa's main streets) near the Geological Survey headquarters, which was then occupying the Clarendon Hotel on the corner of Sussex Avenue and George Street in the Byward Market. The building still stands but is now home to an exclusive fashion shop and a premium coffee house. Mrs. Buchanan's boarding house could have had the title “Geologist Central” as it also was home to other geologists employed at the Geological Survey, including Joseph Tyrrell (and his brother James who later wrote the classic Across the Sub-Arctics of Canada), Robert G. McConnell (a future Director of the Geological Survey), William Mclnnis and Frank Dawson Adams.¹⁶

The Geological Survey of Canada was founded in 1842 by Sir William Logan,¹⁷ one of the world's leading scientists and thinkers of his time, and in whose honour Mt. Logan, the highest mountain in Canada, is named. Its mission was to prepare a survey of the geology of the united colony of the Province of Canada. In those pre-confederation times, the Province of Canada (Canada East and Canada West) occupied a narrow strip of land between the U.S. border to the south and the height of land separating the watersheds of rivers flowing north to James and Hudson bays, and rivers flowing south to the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes. In 1867, the Confederation of Canada added New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In 1870, the inclusion of Manitoba (at the time a fraction of its current size) and the purchase of the lands from the Hudson's Bay Company added millions of square miles. In 1871, British Columbia and, in 1873, Prince Edward Island became part of Canada. The job of the Geological Survey had become continental in size.

The Geological Survey building for the period 1882 to 1912, on the corner of George and Sussex streets in Ottawa, housed all staff and the museum. The building is still largely unchanged. Courtesy of LAC photo collection, PA-052671, photographer unknown.

When Low joined the Geological Survey in 1882, it had about 50 employees, a number which was more or less constant for the next 20 years. About half were permanent, and the rest part-time. As shown, all of its employees could fit into one photo. The organization operated as a separate unit under the Department of the Interior. Its ability to survey and report on the overall geology of Canada was complicated by the continuous demands by politicians and mining interests to devote more of its resources to work that would have a much more immediate pay-off, such as detailed surveys of promising outcrops for the development of mines. In addition to geology, the Survey also had the mandate to collect and publish observations on forests, Aboriginals, flora and fauna, and accordingly, was called the “Geological and Natural History Survey” until the mid-1880s. In the 1870s and 1880s, it was the main public scientific institution of Canada. When the Royal Society of Canada was established in 1882 to promote scientific exchanges and debates among the small scientific community in Canada, about half the members came from the Geological Survey.

Staff of the Geological Survey of Canada — 1888, photographed by Notman in the Museum, at 546 Sussex, Ottawa.18 For purpose of this book, the following are identified: 1. Sir William Logan; 6. Dr. Alfred R.C Selwyn; 7. George Mercer Dawson; 8. Richard G.McConnell; 9. Dr. J.B Tyrrell; 10. Prof.John Macoun; 15. Dr. Robert Bell; 17. Albert Peter; 18. Dr. Frank Dawson Adams; 19. Dr. R.W. Ells; 34. James M. McEvoy; Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada GSC, photo 97342, Notman Studio.

During Low's career and prior to his directorship, the Geological Survey had three directors with whom Low had a day-to-day relationship. The first was Alfred Selwyn,¹⁹ (director from 1869 to 1895). Selwyn oversaw the expansion of the Geological Survey following the death of William Logan, including the hiring of a number of young geologists, such as Low and Tyrrell. When Low had a leadership dispute during Mistassini Expedition of 1884–85, it was Selwyn who backed him up and placed him in charge of the entire expedition. Between 1895 and 1901, the third director of the Geological Survey was George Dawson,²⁰ son of the eminent geologist Sir William Dawson. In spite of a major spinal deformity, George Dawson participated in many expeditions, particularly in the west. His tenure as director was marked by a frozen budget and increasing demands from the mining industry to devote more attention to their interests. It is possible that in 1896 Dawson recommended Low for the Gill Memorial Award from the UK Royal Geographic Society. Following Dawson's sudden death in 1901, Robert Bell²¹ was made acting director, but never appointed as full director. In 1857, Bell had started part-time for the Geological Survey when he was 15, four years before Low was born. Bell was an influential scientist, and a charter member of the Royal Society of Canada. In spite of their large age difference, he and Low seemed to be on friendly terms — until Low was appointed as director over Bell in 1906.

Between 1882 and 1905, A.P. Low was one of the Geological Survey's foremost travellers, away on a mission every summer for the 24 years during that time. His life as a field geologist followed a seasonal cycle. In the spring, he would receive a written letter of instruction from the director of the Geological Survey, defining the area to be surveyed, the amount budgeted and outlining the objectives and expectations. He would prepare for the coming field season, leaving Ottawa in May or June. At least several weeks at the beginning and the end of each field season was spent simply travelling to and from distant survey areas by train, canoe or sailboat. Following his return in September or October (except for the four winters he spent in the field for the Geological Survey) he would plot his maps and refine his field notes into a report on the summer explorations and an interpretation, in readiness for the minute editing by the director for publication in the Geological Survey's annual report. The work of the winter and early spring would sometimes be relieved by travel to geological conferences in various parts of Canada or the United States, and once, in 1906,²² to Mexico.

Working conditions in the Geological Survey building reflected those of the times. The writing of the report and the many revisions were done by hand until typewriters were introduced in the 1890s. Several geologists shared a cramped office lit only by coal oil lamps. Telephones were introduced in the late 1890s and then only in the director's office. Civil servants normally worked on Saturday mornings in addition to long weekdays — normal working conditions for the time. The office air also reflected the presence of men who smoked pipes, and who washed just once a week as running water was not common in houses. Such crowded offices forced everyone to know each other well, but the atmosphere was slightly poisoned by the competition for promotion and salary increases. Many of the geologists knew politicians, and were not afraid to work connections behind the scenes.

A recurrent complaint about the Geological Survey at this time (and up to the present day) was the low pay in comparison to the private sector. Low started his career in 1882 at an annual salary of $700 (no income tax, but a deduction was made for payment into the superannuation fund). By 1892 his pay had risen to $1350 and, by 1901, to $1850 annually. There are no reliable statistics to describe inflation during that time, but it did exist. In the years before 1900, the Survey lost a number of experienced geologists, including Joseph Tyrrell, to the higher pay and brighter possibilities of the private sector. For example, while employed by the Geological Survey in the 1890s, Tyrrell tried to live on nine cents a day for food in order to make ends meet on his limited salary — this was largely a diet of wheat and beans and chickens he kept in the backyard.²³ For Low, the costs of supporting his family on such a salary meant that he could never afford to own a house. In 1901, he quit the Survey and joined a private mining firm for $10,000 per year (more than five times his government salary), which he enjoyed for two years before the company ceased operations. He then rejoined the Geological Survey. Upon his appointment as director in 1906, his pay increased to $3,500 and then to $5000 when he was appointed as deputy minister of the Department of Mines the following year — still much lower than the private sector.

LIFE IN OTTAWA

Life in Ottawa in the last twenty years of the 19th century was not easy by today's standards. Ottawa in the 1880s still contained very strong remnants of its origins as a lumber town; large, squared log rafts were still being driven down the river as late as 1901. In 1887, a full twenty years after Confederation, the city had grown only to 40,000 residents.²⁴ The population was comprised of Irish and Scottish immigrants, a large French-speaking group, a small contingent of people from England and the personnel of the newly formed federal government, including the members of Parliament who were present only when the House of Commons was in session. Although the market area where the Geological Survey was headquartered was best known for its many saloons and brothels, it was on the main street connecting the Parliament buildings and the residence of the governor general.

Many of the current downtown landmarks of the city, such as the War Memorial, the Château Laurier Hotel and Ottawa Union Railway Station, had not yet been built. Roads were dirt and, even as late as 1900, there was only one paved street in the city. “Sparks Street [now one of the main shopping streets in downtown Ottawa], the principal mudpath, looks like a canal of pea soup…It is covered from one end to another with about three inches of liquid mud. One enterprising shop has rigged up a canoe…with ‘for hire’ painted in large letters,' wrote James Seton Cockburn, a young immigrant draftsman, in 1884.”²⁵ The first cars did not appear until the early 1900s. Houses were generally built of wood, and there was an acute housing shortage. Plumbing and water mains were first introduced in the late 1880s, but until the network was expanded, most people obtained water from backyard wells (often located close to outdoor privies), or by buying it from water deliverers. Wood fires provided heating and cooking; coal oil lamps provided light. The daily menu was simple, and varied with the seasons. Meat was pork and beef. Oranges were a luxury, bananas non-existent. In winter, root crops, stored apples and grains were staples. In summer — with the heat, cooking smoke, outdoor privies, horse manure and the lack of drains — the smell must have been more than just pungent.

Socially, life in Ottawa was, to use a geological term, stratified in a pyramid shape. At the pinnacle was the inner circle associated with the governor general. While the federal government in Ottawa had less than 1,000 bureaucrats in 1887,²⁶ only the top bureaucrats were wealthy enough to buy the appropriate clothes and live a lifestyle in which they could mix with the Queen's representative. Low was not part of this circle. As a civil servant on a modest salary with a young family, and living in rented accommodations, he was much lower on the social scale.

Low, however, led an active life in Ottawa. Organized sports were a significant social focus at the time and provided Low and others with an outlet for energy, and a place to make valuable contacts. Having helped introduce organized hockey to the town, he was a member of the Ottawa Hockey Club. He played in a key game at the Montreal Winter Carnival in 1884²⁷ when Ottawa succumbed to sudden death in overtime in the final game, in a series with five teams playing. Whether or not Low scored in those games is not recorded, but he played a leadership role in the field of sports. In 1889, he was a founding member of the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Club.²⁸ The newspaper announcement of his wedding in 1886 describes him as “well-known in athletic circles.”²⁹ His sports participation continued into the 1890s when he was elected president of the Ottawa Football Club for the seasons 1892–95. A photograph of the team from those years shows him in the centre, looking vigorous, fit and somewhat dashing. He was so well thought of that he continued as president during the 1893 season, even though he was absent for the entire season in Quebec-Labrador, canoeing on the Eastmain and Caniapiscau rivers.

A.P. Low played football for Ottawa in the late 1880s and early 1890s. Although not named in this Novermber 1890 photograph of the club, he is in the centre, holding the football. Courtesy of LAC photo collection, PA-027219, William James Topley.

For the 1897–98, season, Low was elected vice-president of the Ottawa Amateur Athletic Club. He was also active in the Rideau Curling Club, and served as secretary in 1895–96³⁰ and vice-president in 1905.³¹ There he would have met François Gourdeau who, later, as deputy minister of Fisheries, appointed Low as the commander of the Neptune expedition in 1903. Low was also a member of the Ottawa Country Club.³² His participation in sports was clearly central to his life. He played in regular games and held executive positions, and made a major commitment of energy and time even though he was often absent from the Ottawa scene for long stretches of time.

In addition to sports, Low also joined scientific clubs. In 1887, he was a founding member of the Geological Survey's still active Logan Club,³³and until the mid-1890s was an active member of the Ottawa Field Naturalists Club³⁴ where he presented several papers on his explorations in Quebec-Labrador. He was also elected fellow of the U.S. Geological Society and, in 1905, elected fellow of the UK-based Royal Geographical Society. In 1908, he was awarded an honourary doctorate from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

As if the long trips and long hours in the Geological Survey building were not sufficient to occupy his time, Low volunteered for the militia in 1896, receiving an appointment on June 13 as a provisional second lieutenant in E Company of the Ottawa-based 43rd Regiment of Rifles “Ottawa and Carleton.”³⁵ This was an infantry regiment, part of Canada's part-time military units which, in 1897, had 36,000 men and 3000 horses.³⁶ It was not a glamorous regiment and did not have the prestige or the splendid uniforms of the Governor General's Footguards which attracted Low's flashier colleague, Joseph Tyrrell. Low's uniform, shown in an 1896 photo of the regiment's officers, was plain dark blue with minimal trim.³⁷ While the regiment would train on weekends throughout the year in the armoury drill hall on Cartier Square in downtown Ottawa, Low's long summer field trips would have precluded participation in the annual summer field exercise.

However, Low did not miss much military training in the summer, as little was provided. The militia's purpose was not so much to defend the country against invasion but to be on hand to quell internal insurrections, viewed as a potentially serious mission given the example of the Northwest Rebellion of 1885. But mostly the militia was called out for other, less serious reasons, none of which tested its military muscle. Just before Low volunteered, the 43rd enforced the collection of taxes in the Township of Low (the name is purely coincidental) about 50 kilometres north of Ottawa in the Gatineau River valley.³⁸ While good at cowing local farmers, the Canadian militia was recognized as “useless for military purposes” by its commander.³⁹ A.P. Low was promoted to the rank of full lieutenant on April 6, 1897,⁴⁰ but resigned on February 28, 1901.⁴¹ One wonders why Low would have joined in the first place? However, the militia at the time was important for social and political reasons, and becoming a officer was a sure route to social acceptability. Men of lower social origins could be received by the governor general (the pinnacle of the social pyramid), provided they were in uniform. But any pay received was handed over to the regimental fund to purchase prizes for competitions and, with the expense of uniforms,⁴² it is not likely that Low actually made any money from joining. Maybe he signed up for fun, and maybe he wanted social advancement. As a lieutenant, he may even have met the governor general while in uniform; Low did name a large lake in Ungava after the Earl of Minto (Governor General 1898–1904) in early 1899. Low's resignation from the militia almost coincides with his resignation from the Geological Survey to take employment with the Dominion Development Company.

Officers of the 43rd Militia Regiment on training in Pembroke, Ontario, 1896. Provisional Second Lieutenant Low is in the middle row, extreme left, in a crouching position. Photo from Captain Ernest Chambers, A Regimental History of the Forty Third Regiment, Active Militia of Canada, (Ottawa: E.L. Ruddy, 1903) 48.

LOW THE FAMILY MAN

Low was also a family man. On January 6,1886, he married Miss Isabella Cunningham,⁴³ the daughter of C.R. Cunningham,⁴⁴ a Scottish businessman and Ottawa alderman who later became chair of the City Improvement Commission. Low was 25 years of age and Isabella was 26. How or when he met her is not known. They must have met before he left on the Mistassini expedition in the summer of 1884, as he makes a passing reference to her in one of his poems⁴⁵ at the back of his 1885 field notebook. This verse from a longer poem is indicative of the quality of his poetry and seems to have been written to Andrew Cunningham, his future brother-in-law:

now if you would learn more

of the poor lonesome lad

just read the letters written to your sister

also the one to your dad

Perhaps they first became acquainted during a social function at the Knox Presbyterian Church where Low and the Cunnigham family were members.

Dating in Ottawa in the 1880s was a chaperoned affair, and, unlike today, going to restaurants was not an option. Not only were such places expensive and the food mediocre at best, but they were also considered somewhat disreputable since they were frequented by out-of-town politicians and their questionable female companions. Worse still, they sold liquor. There would have been visits by Low to the Cunningham's house for discussions in the parlour and Sunday dinners after a long Presbyterian service. The romance survived his absence in the Mistassini region during 1884–85, when he was away for 16 months, except for the brief time in March 1885 when he returned to Ottawa by snowshoe to get authority over the Mistassini Expedition. Perhaps seeing Isabella was another motive for the long and arduous trip. While work, and not romance, appears to have been Low's primary motivation, it seems more reasonable to us to walk that far for love rather than for bureaucracy.

Isabella had grown up in Ottawa in a family involved in both the local dry goods and the banking business. She would have gone to high school, but not university. It is known that she had two brothers and a sister, but no other information about her has survived. A.P. and Isabella were married on January 6,1886, at the home of the bride's father, in keeping with the custom of the time. As the house was not large, only close friends and family were invited. Low's sporting chums and friends from the Geological Survey must have added a raucous touch to the party. On that early winter evening, a sumptuous dinner was served — likely roast beef and pork, with potatoes and turnips, and apple pie for dessert. We imagine the piano being played until late at night, with everyone singing the latest ditties. Perhaps the men slipped out on to the porch in the cold January night for a cigar and a furtive drink. Following the wedding, the Lows lived in a boarding house until their first child, was born in December 1886,⁴⁶ after which they moved into a house on Wellington Street owned by his father-in-law.⁴⁷

For Isabella, being married to A.P. Low must have been like her peripatetic husband's expeditions; it was no cakewalk. Money, as for others in the Geological Survey, was always in short supply. Low was absent every summer during their marriage and away one winter as well. Based on the dates of his expeditions from the Geological Survey reports, Low was in the field almost 1600 days, the equivalent of more than four years, during their marriage — a third of their married lives.

The pattern of his annual departures was likely quite consistent. After Low left for his survey expedition by train, Isabella would receive a final letter mailed from the last post office he encountered or, as he sometimes noted in his field notebook, brought by a returning canoeman. She would not know of her husband's fate until he reached “the wire” months later, telegraphing her to announce his return to Ottawa a few days later. As well, his departure timings often provided for awkward family timing. He was absent for much of the pregnancy of his first child. He missed the birth of his second child, in 1889, and left on a trip within a few days of his death the next year. In 1895, he departed two weeks after the birth of their third child.

When in Ottawa Low was extremely busy in his work, sports and militia, and one wonders when and if he found the time for his family. Even when he was at home during the late fall, winter and early spring, free time on weekends was devoted to playing football or hockey. Several evenings a week were dedicated to fulfilling his positions as an executive officer in sporting clubs. Between 1896 and 1901, he had the added obligations as a part-time soldier in the militia.

Nevertheless, the couple found time to have children. Their first child, Estelle, was born on December 6,1886. Their second, Andrew, was born on August 29, 1889⁴⁸and died the following May of unknown causes. By then the family had moved to a house owned by his father-in-law on Wellington Street, near the then plentiful sawmills and lumber piles close to the current Chaudière Bridge.⁴⁹ It was not in a prestigious part of the city, being surrounded by piles of drying lumber and close to the area where the mill hands lived. In fact, the piles of lumber caught fire in April 1900 and burnt a large section of Ottawa, including this house. Fortunately, the Lows had moved out two years before. In June 1895, their third child, Albert Reginald, was born.⁵⁰

It seems incredible that Low was able to devote so much time to sports, and to the militia and scientific clubs, while at the same time raising three children, coping with a low salary, and enduring long office hours, along with extensive annual absences. The secret seems to have been that his family relied heavily on the extended family of in-laws with whom the Lows lived, and who would be of enormous help to Isabella and her children while her husband was away. In an age when political influence was very useful, having an influential father-in-law would likely have helped Low's later career. His connection with the Cunninghams would be lifelong.

Isabella and A.P. had been married for twelve years at the time of her death from consumption in April of 1898. She had been suffering for more than a year. Given her husband's busy working and sporting life, it is no surprise, to learn that, according to her obituary, in the last few years before she died in 1898, Isabella devoted her time to the Knox Presbyterian Church. After Isabella died,⁵¹ Low, his two surviving children and his widowed father-in-law shared a house with Isabella's unmarried sister Jessie Cunningham, at 154 McLaren Street in Ottawa. Jessie would likely have been a surrogate mother to Estelle and Reginald, until he died in 1918, before the Spanish flu epidemic of that year. Low and Jessie continued to live in the same house for 40 years until her death in 1938. After her death, Low then moved to a nearby rented apartment until his demise in 1942.

An 1890s view of the Confederation Bridge area of Ottawa. From 1887 to 1898, A.P. Low would have walked along this street twice a day while traversing between his office and home. Courtesy of LAC photo collection, PA-008344, Topley Studio.

Low's life and career was played out during an exciting and formative period for Canada. He was six years old at the time of Confederation. The Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1886. The Northwest Rebellion occurred in 1885. The Liberal government gained power in 1896, after nearly 30 years of near-continuous Conservative government under Sir John A. MacDonald. And in the 1890s, the immigration floodgates were opened and millions of people emigrated to Canada over the next decade. The Yukon gold rush of 1898 was the prime geological event absorbing the energies of a number of Low's colleagues at the Survey. In 1899, the Boer War broke out in South Africa, and Canadian militia volunteers were called to serve with British troops. Although Low was a militia member at the time, he did not sign up, but a number of his militia colleagues did. He did, however, play a part in the assertion of Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic, a process which took on greater importance after Canada lost the Alaska Boundary Arbitration in 1903.⁵² A.P. was appointed somewhat surprisingly, as director of the Geological Survey in April 1906. He fell seriously ill in December of that year, after devoting much time drafting legislation to create the new Department of Mines. Even with a recovery that was only partial, he was appointed as deputy minister of the new department in 1907, but, except for some business travel, his illness prevented him from playing any role in its management. Although he had a severe attack of “cerebral meningitis” in late 1908, the government kept him on. He officially retired in 1913, but lived another 29 years.

A.P. Low: THE NATURE OF THE MAN

What sort of personality did Low have and what was he like to talk to? We can say that he did not seem to be as gregarious as some of his colleagues, such as Robert Bell or Joseph Tyrrell. In his written reports, found in the annual reports of the Geological Survey, his language is to-the-point, with a great economy of words which make for accurate, if dry, reading. The prose is devoid of sentiment. While this might be expected from an official government publication on geology, Low's writing seems to specialize in this style, when compared to the written works of other geologists of the time, such as those of Tyrrell. Low's almost total lack of use of the pronoun “I” in his reports stands out in comparison with those of his geologist colleagues.

His writings for outside publications, such as for The Ottawa Naturalist,⁵³The Geographical Journal⁵⁴ and his chapter in Dr. Grenfell's book Labrador the Country and its People⁵⁵ are a bit more lively and provide further details of the hardships that he endured on his trips. In several sections in The Cruise of the Neptune, Low makes his feelings known when he decries the futility of polar expeditions that have as their goal the attainment of the North Pole without scientific research. In describing the marriage customs of some of the Inuit he met during this expedition, Low avoids a Victorian moralization of the exchange of spouses, noting that, “Judged by the standards of sexual mores of civilization, the Eskimo is a minus quality; but who is to say what is right in this respect among a people situated as they are.”⁵⁶

When speaking to groups, he never used prepared notes or flowery embellishments of oratory which were the hallmarks of presentations during this period. In January 1905, his talk to the Canadian Club in Toronto was described as “…a plain concise recital…He made no pretense to literary or oratorical style, but just talked in what may well be described as a quiet, homely way.”⁵⁷ In private, he seems to have had a brighter style, as Frank King, one of the Geological Survey personnel on the Neptune described him in 1905, “A.P. Low is fat and sassy as usual.”⁵⁸ Perhaps middle age and a reduction of activity in vigorous sports and expeditions had allowed him to gain weight. Low also possessed some leadership qualities, as shown by his executive roles in various sports clubs, his position as a lieutenant in the militia, his command of the Neptune, his directorship of the Geological Survey and, finally, his appointment as deputy minister.

There are not many accounts provided by others attesting to his personality. Dr. Lorris E. Borden, the medical officer on the Neptune, who shared the captain's table with Commander Low on a daily basis for 14 months, described him as “a likeable and companionable man, much respected and admired by his men.” But Dr. Borden also noted that in 18 months of working with Low, that the man never spoke about himself.⁵⁹ In his diary of the trip, Borden generally refers to Low in a rather distant manner generally as “ Mr. Low” or “the Commander.”⁶⁰ We wonder if Low had a warmer relationship with some of his canoemen and assistants, who, after all, often would sign up to work with him for several years in a row. The only hint we have is from Siméon Raphael, a canoeman from Lake St. John, who paddled and snowshoed with Low in 1893–94 on the expedition from Lake St. John to Fort Chimo and up the Hamilton River. Dr. Jacques Rousseau, the famous Quebec botanist and a long-time admirer of Low, engaged Siméon (then 79 years old) in the 1940s for a trip, and stated, “Pour Siméon, il n'y avait pas ‘de meuilleur garçon que monsieur Low.‘“⁶¹ Loosely translated, Siméon had said “there was no better guy than Mr. Low.”

Low got along well with most men, as his leading role in organized sports over several decades shows. In his field trips, several of his assistants (who would have shared a tent with him), as well as canoemen, went with him for several field seasons in a row. At least he did not drive them away — for even the closest of friendships can suffer from sharing a tent over a long period. He also inspired loyalty in the Geological Survey. Following his illness in 1907, which led to his early retirement, questions arose over whether he was eligible for a pension because his contributions had lapsed when he had left the government in 1901. His colleagues were loyal enough to approach the Prime Minister for a favourable consideration, and finally obtained a pension for him. His physical toughness is evident by his participation in football and hockey — no padding was worn in those days — and by his endurance, strength, and ability to put up with discomfort on long canoe and snowshoe expeditions.

Dr. Robert Bell (1841–1917) one of the great Canadian scientists, was acting director of the Geological Survey of Canada, 1901–06. Courtesy of Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, photo KGS2369BB.

Low was not only physically strong, he was also strong-willed. His willingness to challenge authority was shown by his objection to John Bignell's⁶² authority during the 1884–85 Mistassini Expedition. (Whether this objection was deserved is a separate question.) His dislike of pomposity and officialdom manifested itself in the difficult relationship he had with Major Moodie of the North-West Mounted Police whose duty it was to enforce Canadian law in Hudson Bay during the cruise of the Neptune in 1903–04. By the end of the voyage, the two were communicating by memoranda, even though they ate at the same table every day.

The relationship between Low and Dr. Robert Bell also shows this element of “will.” While Bell was senior to Low in the Geological Survey, they enjoyed a seemingly friendly relationship. In 1901, Bell, as acting director, lent Low the Geological Survey's yacht for a year in James Bay to allow him to undertake his work for the private firm, the Dominion Development Company, which had just lured him away with the offer of a much higher salary. After Bell had arranged for the Geological Survey's rehiring of Low in 1903, Low brought back birds' eggs from his Neptune expedition for Bell's son. However, in April of 1906, once Low was appointed director, making him the supervisor of Bell, their relationship changed quickly and drastically. Bell objected to being subordinate to Low, and strongly complained to the minister responsible for the Geological Survey that he (Bell) deserved the appointment, and provided a long list of reasons as to why Low was not qualified. The degree to which the relationship deteriorated is shown by a lengthy series of written memoranda between the two over the fulfillment of office procedures and missing files.

A person's sense of humour (or lack of it) can tell something of their character. Following Low's return from his expedition in 1894, he was unpacking some barrels of rock samples when Alfred Selwyn, the director, walked in and started to harangue him. Apparently, Selwyn always started his day with a harangue. The verbal onslaught was returned and, as Selwyn was leaving the room, Low rolled a barrel after him; Selwyn jumped⁶³ to escape injury, and was satisfied that his verbal onslaught had elicited a response. A second anecdote relates to a fisherman who charged Low an exorbitant rate for his boat. “Never mind,” said Low, “we'll get it back before this trip is over.” And he did — at poker.⁶⁴

It seems that Low was a plain-spoken man, a little quiet, very private and modest about his achievements, but proud of his athletic abilities. Having published at least 37 articles and chapters, of which 23 were official government publications, Low was recognized as an expert in the geology and geography of the Quebec-Labrador peninsula. However, we conclude that he was not a brilliant scientist, in the sense that he conceived new geological theories, but rather a careful, methodical scientist whose observations are still quoted.

Because he spent so much time away, we can only conjecture that his relationship with Isabella was not one of burning passion. Nevertheless, he had a strong relationship with her family, as he lived with one or another of them for over 50 years. Did Low have a hidden artistic or literary side? If so, then his sensitive side was limited as the texts of the only two poems found, including the portion cited earlier in this chapter, are really doggerel at best.

All of our description of his personality is conjecture. The bridge of time and the absence of personal data do not permit a clear picture.

HIS DECLINE TO OBLIVION

The career of A.P. Low unexpectedly fizzled out, beginning in 1907 when he took extended sick leave at the age of 46; he officially retired in 1913. Nothing is known for certain about the nature of his illness. After his retirement, he survived another 29 years, and continued to live in McLaren Street with his unmarried sister-in-law, his daughter Estelle and his son Reginald.⁶⁵ As Estelle never married,⁶⁶ she appears to have spent over 30 years of her adult years caring for her ailing father. Two events occurred in close succession that would have affected Low greatly during his retirement. In April 1917, Low's friend, David Eaton, who had accompanied him on expeditions for over three years, was killed just before the Canadian attack on Vimy Ridge (France);⁶⁷ and on January 22, 1918, his son Reginald died of natural causes at the age of 22.⁶⁸

What was Low's mysterious illness, and just how debilitating was this illness? Dr. Morgan Gross, a retired Geological Survey geologist, states that Low was sometimes seen walking to movies in the neighbourhood during his retirement. While the oral history of the Geological Survey is that his ill health was rumoured to have been due to syphilis,⁶⁹ there is no evidence of this. During his retirement, Low also visited Montreal where he smoked cigarettes and recalled old times with fellow geologists.⁷⁰)

After Jessie Cunningham died on February 28, 1939,⁷¹ the house on MacLaren Avenue was sold. Low and Estelle moved to a modest rented apartment in a nearby house on Waverley Street.⁷²

A.P. Low died at age 81, on October 9,1942, after a “lengthy illness.”⁷³ There was no will.⁷⁴ He was buried in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, beside his wife and two sons.⁷⁵ His obituary lists a number of surviving friends who attended the service, including Geological Survey colleagues and several militia people. The two newspapers in Ottawa at the time contained surprisingly long obituaries for him, given the Second World War battles going on at that time and the casualty lists. The graves of A.P., Isabella, Andrew and Reginald are marked in the Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa by a single small and simple rough-hewn rock, with the names of himself, Isabella, Andrew and Reginald carved on its surface, in contrast to the polished granite obelisks that surround it.

What happened to Estelle who was 55 at the time of her father's death? According to the intestate documents, she inherited all of her father's private writings and mementoes which except for some stocks and insurance policies, were not itemized. She definitely inherited articles from his explorations since the year after her father's death, Estelle donated some Inuit ivory statuettes belonging to him to the National Museum.⁷⁶ These may have been the same ones he mentioned as having collected during the his expedition on the Neptune. According to the Ottawa city directories, Estelle left the apartment rented by her father and took lodgings at several different addresses in Ottawa⁷⁷ until 1947, after which all trace of her disappears. Even Wynn Turner, a distant relative, was not aware of her existence. No one even knows where she is buried. What happened to the rest of her father's belongings? No one knows.

Such was the life of Albert Peter Low. A private man, he rose from humble beginnings to the top of the government's premier scientific institution, and exhibited a physical toughness for almost three decades that few of his time or ours can match. But missing from this portrait are expressions of Low's personal views and values. The picture of him is still fuzzy, rendered only in black and white. Perhaps someone someday will find Low's personal diaries and letters in a forgotten trunk in an attic somewhere. Only then can colour and a sharper focus be added.