NORTH CHANNEL—A little hatchet salvaged near Stony Point off LaCloche Island from a depth of about 10 feet by Mike Caesar and Lisa MacDonald on Tuesday, August 2 is likely a fur trade-era axe.
The couple was fishing for bass but this treasure hooked them by surprise. Bill Caesar, Mike’s father, told The Expositor that he has determined that it is a Hudson Bay ‘voyageur/trapper’ axe made by the Walters Axe Co. of Hull, Quebec, probably manufactured between 1860 and 1900.
“It was likely a standard ‘trade’ article in the dying days of the fur trade,” Mr. Caesar explained. “How it ended up on the bottom of the lake would probably be a fascinating story!”
Mr. Caesar noted the ‘notch’ on the axe blade which helped him to determine it as a Walters axe. “It was a signature piece of the Walters axes and was designed to assist the trapper in ‘hooking’ the wire under the ice which secured his beaver or muskrat traps to a surface anchor point,” he explained. “Without the tether, the animal could drag the trap off to Lord knows where.”
