Mount McKay is a

mafic A mafic mineral or rock is a silicate mineral or igneous rock rich in magnesium and iron. Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite. Common mafic rocks include ...

sill located south of

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

, Ontario, Canada, on the

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...

of the

Fort William First Nation Fort William First Nation () is an Ojibwa First Nation reserve in Ontario, Canada. The administrative headquarters for this band government is south of Thunder Bay. , the First Nation had a registered population of 1,798 people, of which thei ...

. It is the highest, most northern and best known of the Nor'Wester Mountains. It formed during a period of

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...

tic activity associated with the large Midcontinent Rift System about 1,100 million years ago.

History

Mount McKay- Indian Reserve of the Fort William First Nation-Thunder Bay-Ontario

McKay is traditionally known as the "Thunder Mountain" (''Animikii-wajiw'' in the

Ojibwe language Ojibwe ( ), also known as Ojibwa ( ), Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an Indigenous languages of the Americas, indigenous la ...

and locally written as "Anemki-waucheu"). The mountain is used by the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

for sacred ceremonies. Only with the construction of the road did non-First Nations people get access to this land. The English name "Mount McKay", evolved from "Mackay's Mountain" and later, "McKay's Mountain", after William Mackay, a Scottish free trader who resided in the Fort William area sometime between 1821 and 1857.

Geology

Mount McKay is above

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

and above sea level. It is a flat-topped hill flanked by steep cliffs on three sides. Mount McKay is composed of shale and greywackes – the Rove Formation – which is covered by the hard, protective thick diabase cap. The Rove Formation is part of the Animikie Group. The Rove sedimentary layers in the Nor'Wester Mountains are overlain by a cap of

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-gra ...

; this Logan diabase is million years old. This diabase cap is the erosional remnant of a sill that once extended over the entire area. Most of it is covered by a thick layer of mineral soil. The north face of Mount McKay shows evidence that below this cap is another thick sill of very hard diabase. This sill is also an erosional remnant and is below the first cap and below the top of the hill – or above sea level.

Features

A lookout exists on the lower eastern plateau at an elevation of , providing a view of Thunder Bay and the city's harbour. A small memorial commemorates Aboriginal people that fought in wars. There is a path on the eastern face of the mountain that can be used for hiking. Plants on the mountain include

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

and

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

and

poison ivy Poison ivy is a type of allergenic plant in the genus '' Toxicodendron'' native to Asia and North America. Formerly considered a single species, '' Toxicodendron radicans'', poison ivies are now generally treated as a complex of three separate s ...

(''animikiibag''—"thunder-leaf" in the Ojibwe language). The top of the mountain has

glacial erratic A glacial erratic is a glacially deposited rock (geology), rock differing from the type of country rock (geology), rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by gla ...

s and

jack pine Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana''), also known as grey pine or scrub pine, is a North American pine. Distribution and habitat Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories t ...

s. A small grove of

yellow birch ''Betula alleghaniensis'', the yellow birch, golden birch, or swamp birch, is a large tree and an important lumber species of birch native to northeastern North America. Its vernacular names refer to the golden color of the tree's bark. In the p ...

grows just south of the entrance gate. A small, unmaintained trail can be used to reach the top from the lookout via the north face, with a heavy gauge steel cable that can be used for support. However, due to the grade and geology (mostly shale) of the face, this unsanctioned hike is considered dangerous, and is not recommended for novice hikers. There is also somewhat of a trail on the west side of the mountain. Shale is predominant in this area, making the western climb considerably less dangerous than the north face. There is a notice posted on a billboard at the lookout requesting that visitors "do not climb mountain." Animikii-wajiw is considered sacred ground by the members of the Fort William First Nation, on whose traditional territory the mountain stands.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=https://archive.org/stream/papers1921thunuoft#page/86/mode/2up/search/mountain , title = Twelfth Annual Report: Papers of 1921 , page = 86 , publisher = The Thunder Bay Historical Society , access-date = 2018-11-04 Landforms of Thunder Bay Mountains of Ontario Sills (geology) Igneous petrology of Ontario Mountains of Canada under 1000 metres

History

Geology

Features

See also

References