The mining frontier of Northeastern Ontario, 1880-1920.
The map shows the two main transportation avenues used in the development of Northeastern Ontario during this period. The first followed the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway which led to the discovery of nickel in Sudbury in the 1880's. The second was the result of the building of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway north from North Bay which led to the finding of silver at Cobalt in 1907. From Cobalt, prospectors fanned out, striking silver in a short-lived rush to Elk City and Gowganda in 1908 and gold in the Porcupine region in 1909. The two lines of settlement resulting from the railways both fell within Toronto's metropolitan sphere of influence.
