Who was Mattie Mitchell?

Mattie Mitchell is an almost legendary figure in Newfoundland history. A hereditary Mi'kmaq chieftain who could hunt in any territory he chose. The discoverer of Buchan's mine. The man who guided the laplanders and their caribou herd on a perilous journery of 400 miles in a bitter Newfoundland winter. Hunter, prospector, sportsman and guide extraordinaire. He was described by one client as "without exception the greatest and most resourceful guide and woodsman I have ever known."

The Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador by J.R. Smallwood 1991 refers to him as follows.

Mitchell, Matthew (c. 1850 - 1921) Woodsman; prospector. born Halls Bay or Norris Point, son of "King Mitchell", an early Micmac Indian chief of Bonne Bay. Married Mary Anne Webb. Mattie Mitchell is best remembered for his 1905 discovery (along with Will Canning) of the ore body that was eventualy worked as Buchans Mine.

Mitchell's ancestors likely came to Newfoundland from Cape Breton sometime around the mid - 1700's and settled in St. George's Bay. Family tradition maintains that the family had a presence in St. George's Bay during the early days of the French migratory fishery and that Mitchell's great-grandfather was given a sloop by the king of France in order "to facilitate the movement of the Micmac on the water in the interests of France."

As a young man Mattie Mitchell settled near Norris Point. A hunter, trapper and lumberjack, he became a well-known guide to foreign sportsmen. credited not only with the Buchans fine (while working for the Anglo-Newfoundland development Company), he also made several discoveries of base metal deposits on the Baie Verte peninsula. Such was Mitchell's reputation as a woodsman that he was hired by the AND Co. in 1908 to guide a party that herded 53 Lapp reindeer qv from St. Anthony to Millertown. One of his sons, also called Mattie Mitchell, became a well-known guide and prospector in his own right.

Following his wife's death, Mitchell lived in Corner Brook. It was there that he died in the fall of 1921, his final request fulfilled when "his son Jack got a small dory and rowed to Curling and brought the priest to his father's bedside just before he passed away." Dorothy Anger (1988), Arthur Johnson(1967), W. Martin(1983), DNLB(1990) Archives (Roman Catholic Burials, Curling).BWC