All the expeditions which have been thus briefly passed in review made additions to the knowledge we possess of the natural resources of the great unsettled Northwest, but it will be observed that the acquisition of geographical knowledge only was the object for which most of these expeditions were equipped and sent forward. The trained explorers of the Geological Survey of Canada have given us a fair idea of the geological features and natural resources generally along the more accessible lines of travel, particularly in the southern and western parts of this vast unsettled and unsurveyed region, but it is only within the last few years that systematic surveys have been undertaken there to determine the adaptability of certain areas to agricultural development and settlement. In 1908, Frank J. P. Crean, C.E., of the Railway Lands Branch of the Department of the Interior, was commissioned to explore and procure all the information possible about that tract of country lying to the east of Beaver river and Green lake, [Illustration: Farm at Mount Nebo on Green lake trail, sixty-five miles from Prince Albert.] SOUTH OF CHURCHILL RIVER, and extending east to the old canoe route from Cumberland House via Frog portage to Stanley Mission. Mr. Crean was instructed by Mr. R. E. Young, Superintendent of the Railway Lands Branch, to pay particular attention to obtaining information about the character of the country away from the travelled routes, and to ascertain the value of the district to be traversed for farming, lumbering and mining purposes.