In the summer of 1900, after returning from Florida, Moore packed up his fly rods and the camera he had recently purchase in Tallahassee, and headed for the Nipigon River in Ontario, Canada. He left Manhattan on the New York Central Railway and traveled to Watertown, NY were he took a spur to the summer resort town of Cape Vincent, NY. He remained here a few days before crossing the St. Lawrence River by ferry to the town of Kingston, Ontario. From Kingston he traveled by rail to the town of Nipigon.

Forest and Stream magazine had recently declared the Nipigon River to be the finest brook trout stream in the world. As such it attracted the wealthy as well as heads of state and at this time was the only river in Canada that required a fishing license. A two week license cost $15 which would be equivalent to $400 today. Once you arrived in Nipigon you would secure the services of one of three outfitters who would provide canoes for your party, 2 experienced guides for each canoe, and provisions for a 10 day trip. The first 3 days would be spent paddling up the river about 40 miles to its headwaters at Lake Nipigon. There would be no time for fishing or photography during this portion of the trip. You would then spend the next 7 days going down the river to Nipigon while resting overnight in prepared camp sites along the river.

Thanks to the help of two knowledgeable gentlemen from Nipigon, who have spent decades studying the river, both it's past and it's present, I have reordered the photos to show them in the approximate order they were taken as Moore traveled down the river.

Many of the pools and rapids that Ridgway photographed along the Nipigon are no longer visible today due to the construction of several dams in the last 125 years. The beautiful Virgin Falls are now under a foot of water from a low rise dam, while Pine Portage lies beneath more than 100 feet of water.