60 MIDDLE PATH ROAD |
Newfoundland Tourism Region : Labrador
LANDSAT ISLAND:
Landsat Island is a small, uninhabited island located at approximately 60°10′37′′N 64°02'30"W, 20 kilometres (12 mi) off the northeast coast of Labrador (part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador). It was discovered in 1976 during the analysis of imagery from the Landsat 1 satellite....
In 1976, a Canadian coastal survey was carried out using data from the Landsat 1 satellite. Analysis of the data revealed several previously uncharted features; this includes Landsat Island, which was subsequently named after the satellite.
Verification of the island's existence fell to Dr. Frank Hall of the Canadian Hydrographic Service:
Dr. Hall) was strapped into a harness and lowered from a helicopter down to the island.
This was quite a frozen island and it was completely covered with ice. As he was lowered out of the helicopter, a polar bear took a swat at him.
The bear was
on the highest point on the island and it was hard for him to see because it was white.
Hall yanked at the cable and got himself hauled up. He said he very nearly became the first person to end his life on Landsat Island.
From Scott Reid's account of Dr. Hall's I andsat Island expedition given to the Canadian Parliament on October 30, 2001
Following Dr. Hall's encounter with the polar bear, it was suggested that the island be named "Polar Island," but the present name was retained.
Landsat Island marks the easternmost point of the Canadian land mass along this section of the Labrador coast. As such, its discovery increased Canada's maritime territory by 68 square kilometres (26 sq mi).
SAGLEK (Saeglek) BAY:
According to Wikipedia contributors, Saglek Bay is a long narrow inlet that leads into the Saglek Fiord.
According to Tuck (1975), in his text the Prehistory of Saglek Bay, Labrador. Archaic and Palaeo-Eskimo Occupations, the following is an accurate description of the Bay:
Saglek Bay is centered at about 58°28' North latitude and 60°10' West longitude about 200 miles north of Nain, the most northerly permanent settlement in Labrador today.
The straight-line length of the bay is about 36 miles. The mouth of the bay is about 13 miles wide but narrows to about two and one-half miles midway to the head of the bay. At this point it actually becomes a series of branching fjords, for the most part steep-sided and inhospitable.
The bay is not mentioned in the Rankin Report, except to note that the Chuckluck tribe was located there in 1774. According to information presented in Wikipedia, now a days it is the site of the Canadian Forces Station Saglek.
The base is a Canadian Forces Air Command radar base in the former Pinetree Line and currently part of the North Warning System.
The bay is also considered to be the gateway to Tomgat Mountains National Park, as most people visiting the park start their journey from the Torngat Mountains Base Camp and Research Station located in the area.
There are several islands in the bay, the largest named, appropriately, Big Island. Other islands, in "diminishing size" include Jens Haven Island, Rose Island, Upemavic and Branagin Island.
Rose Island has been of interest to archeologists since the 1960s. The Newfoundland Archaeology website has a number of very interesting photographs of some of the artifacts found there.
The archeologists found two important Inuit habitation sites, which were named Ikkusik and Tuglavinam as well as a stratified site, known as site Q and the first traces in northern Labrador of a Pre-Inuit culture later known as Groswater Pre-Inuit.
The lead researcher, Dr. Jim Tuck found charcoal dated 4530+/-105 radiocarbon years B.P. in 1975.
According to Wikipedia contributors "The term Before Present (BP) is established for reporting dates derived from radiocarbon analysis, where "present" is 1950".
Saglek was the site of a horrific airplane crash in 1942. one can read, in
detail, the story of how the survivors attempted to survive, at the Military Communications and Electronics Museum's website.
One only has to look at a map of the Labrador coast to see that there are a number of promontories that would "qualify" as a cape.
It is likely because of the ruggedness of the land that there are many that do not have a name, but there are a few that are well recognized and will be included in this section.
Starting from the north of the Labrador peninsula, the first is Cape Chidley.
Cape Chidley: From the ENL, comes this description of the cape:
The cape forms the south entrance to the Hudson Strait. It is the most northerly point of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, more than 1600 km (1,000 mi) from the southern most point of the Avalon Peninsula.
Cape Chidley was the northwestern boundary point between the Dominion of Canada and the Dominion of Newfoundland and, after 1949, the northwestern boundary point between the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland.
Cape Chidley was named by John Davys on his third exploratory voyage, in 1587, when he completed his charts of the coast of Greenland, Baffin Island and Labrador.
He reputedly named the Cape after his neighbour, "The Worship- full Mr. John Chidley in the countie of Devon" near Exeter and the Cape has been variously spelled Chidley, Chudleigh and Chidleis.
The closest community to Cape Chidley was Port Burwell, Nunavut, until it was evacuated in 1978. The following description points out why the community would have been relocated:
This ecoregion [Cape Chidley] is located on the northern tip of Labrador. A flat coastal plain dominates the area near Ungava Bay, while the southern portion contains low, steep-sided hills.
It has the driest climate in Labrador and a growing season of less than sixty days. The dominant vegetation is tundra (alpine barren, dominated by rock and open ground with patches of mosses and lichens).
Coastal headlands and ledges often support moss (Rhacomitrium) barren, while sporadic snowbed communities (sedge meadows) occur in late melting ice areas.
There are no tall shrubs or trees, and no true peatlands exist; however, marshes can occur along river valleys.
NORTH STAR ISLAND:
North Star Island is [on] the northern tip of Labrador.... This island, measuring only 186m by 57 meters, is the most northerly island in the province. It lies approximately 1.5 kilometers off the coast of Killiniq Island south of Cape Chidley.
Mount Caubvick: From Wikipedia, the history behind this mountain's name is outlined:
The alp was named Mont D'Iberville by the Quebec government in 1971. It remained nameless on the Labrador side for several years; it became known unofficially as L1, L for Labrador and 1 for highest.
In 1981, at the suggestion of Dr. Peter Neary, the provincial government named the mountain after Caubvick, one of the five Inuit who accompanied George Cartwright to England in 1772.
She survived the smallpox outbreak that occurred within the group.
Torngarsoak Mountain: According to information in Wikipedia, "in the Inuit religion, Torngarsuk (or Torngasak) is a very powerful sky god, one of the more important deities in the Inuit pantheon.
He is said to be the leader of the Tornat, a group of protective gods". In the Dictionnaire Infernal Torngarsuk (aka Torngarsoak) "is a mischievous demon/spirit worshiped by offering in Greenland and the northeastern regions of Canada".
Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill
Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/HebronNL