Red Indian Lake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Red Indian Lake is located in the western interior of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The downstream end of the lake drains out into the Exploits River that winds its way through the interior of the island eventually exiting into the Atlantic Ocean through the Bay of Exploits.
[edit] History
The Beothuk also know as Red Indians inhabitated several campsites on the lakeshore. The expedition into the interior by John Cartwright and brother George Cartwright in search of the Beothuk found only abandoned campsites. At the time of their discovery of the lake they named it Lieutenant's Lake and they had assumed that the lake was part of the same system as Lake Mickmack, known today as Grand Lake.
In January 1811 an expedition led by David Buchan travelled up the Exploits River in an attempt to establish friendly relations with the Beothuk, he had found them but the encounter ended in mistrust and resulted in the deaths of two marines. John Peyton led another expedition to the lake in 1819 and this also ended in tradegdy, as this time it ended in the death of Nonosbawsut and the capture of Demasduwit.
[edit] Economy and resources
As the interior of the island was opened up when the Newfoundland Railway was complete the forest surrounding the lake attracted attention. The lake was surveyed in 1899 by Alex McCombie and by 1901 Lewis Miller had set up a logging operation on the shore near the site of Demasduwit's capture. Today a park is established there called Mary March Park. A branch line for the railway was established to the town of Millertown and in 1905 the Anglo-Newfoundland Development (AND) Company acquired a 99 year lease on timber and mineral rights surrounding the lake.
Prospectors for the AND Company also discivered a substantial deposit of base metals on the north shore of the lake and in 1926 the town of Buchans was established and mining operations began the next year.
[edit] Hydro
When the Pulp and Paper mill was constructed at Grand Falls further downstream of the Exploits River the mouth of Red Indian Lake was damed off and Red Indian Lake became a vast storage reservoir for the power plant locted at the paper mill at Grand Falls. The main source of water into Red Indian Lake is Lloyd's River, plus there are many other rivers flowing into it such as Victoria River and Star River. At Star Lake another powerhouse has been built to server the energy needs of the province.
