Cape d'Or is a headland located near

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

, on the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is the hi ...

coast of the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. The cape marks the north point of the entrance to the

Minas Basin , image = Lookout On Way to Cape Split - 25006718579.jpg , alt = , caption = Looking east across the Southern Bight of Minas Basin from The Lookoff , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , ca ...

. Cape d'Or is a continuation of the North Mountain

tholeiitic basalt The tholeiitic magma series is one of two main magma series in subalkaline igneous rocks, the other being the calc-alkaline series. A magma series is a chemically distinct range of magma compositions that describes the evolution of a mafic magma i ...

formation, and is marked by dramatic cliffs on its western side and cliffs on its southern side overlooking treacherous tidal currents in the Minas Channel. A basalt reef extends from the Cape into the Bay of Fundy where it intersects the violent waters of the Dory Rips, a rip tide created by the collision of three strong tidal currents.

History

Cape d'Or was called L'mu'juiktuk by the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...

, the native people of Nova Scotia. The cape was a centre of tool production and trade for the Mi'kmaq because of veins of hard dense rock such as

chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...

which could be shaped to form sharp edges for tools and weapons. The Mi'kmaq also obtained

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

from deposits in the basalt. An archaeological excavation near the lighthouses in 1980 found extensive native artifacts dated to about 2000 years ago."Cape d'Or", ' 'Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society' '
/ref> The Cape was named by French explorers (Cape of Gold) because bright native copper deposits appeared golden.

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...

explored the copper deposits at Cape d'Or in 1607 and bestowed the name Port of Mines on nearby Advocate Harbour to reflect the seams of copper ore at Cape d'Or. The French did not establish a mine at Cape d'Or as the massive cliffs and tides made the copper seams difficult to access but the name "Les Mines" became associated with the upper Bay of Fundy beyond Cape d'Or which became known as the "Baie des Mines", later

, and the Acadian communities around the southern shore of the Minas Basin which became known as

Les Mines Les Mines was the name generally applied the Acadian settlements in the western Minas Basin in Nova Scotia. They included the villages of Grand-Pré, New Minas, Rivière-aux-Canards but usually excluded the villages at Pisiguit, Cobequid, and ...

. Mineral rights at Cape d'Or were later granted to the

Duke of Chandos The Dukedom of Chandos is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. First created as a barony by Edward III in 1337, its second creation in 1554 was due to the Brydges family's service to Mary I during Wyatt's rebellion, wh ...

but he was unable to establish a mine. However, in 1897 the Colonial Copper Company began a mine at Cape d'Or. Based out of New York and headed by J. A. Hanway, the company invested several million dollars in developing the site which went into operation in 1900. Three shafts were sunk along the cliff line and an ore processor was built. The shafts were connected to the processor and a shipping terminal at nearby Horseshoe Cove by a short narrow-gauge railway. A small company town was built with worker and manager houses. However, by 1905 the mine stopped excavation when the copper veins proved disappointing yields as they were excavated. The site was abandoned in 1907. The houses were shipped by sea to communities around the Bay of Fundy. Horseshoe_Cove_Cape_d'Or.jpg, View of Horseshoe Cove circa 1905. The concentrating plant is at upper right. Miners_at_Cape_dOr.jpg, Miners for the Colonial Copper Company posing on the narrow gauge railway.

Cape d'Or Lighthouse

A steam-powered

foghorn A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...

was established at Cape d'Or in 1875. A square wooden

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

was added in 1922, re-using a lighthouse tower originally located at Apple River. Two new bungalows were built for the lightkeeper and the assistant lightkeeper in 1958 and a new concrete lighthouse was built in 1965. The last keeper was Ernie Morris who served until the light was de-staffed in 1989. The Advocate District Development Association obtained a lease through the County of Cumberland to preserve the site and its structures in 1995. The lightkeeper's houses were repaired. Today, one serves as the Lightkeeper's Kitchen restaurant and the other as a Guesthouse. Cape D’Or Lighthouse (4).jpg, The lighthouse from the cliffs. Cape D’Or Lighthouse.jpg, Lighthouse, foghorn and keeper's dwellings.

Scenery

Most of the Cape is heavily forested, but the areas beside and above the lighthouse are cleared and grassy providing excellent long-distance views of the cliffs, sea stacks and tidal rips in good weather. The Cape's dramatic rocky landscapes have attracted many photographers including fashion photographers from

Vogue Magazine ''Vogue'' is an American monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers many topics, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Based at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, ''Vogue ...

who used Cape d'Or for a fashion shoot in 2015 featuring

Karlie Kloss Karlie Elizabeth Kloss (born August 3, 1992) is an American fashion model. ''Vogue Paris'' declared her one of the "top 30 models of the 2000s" when she was 17. Kloss was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 2013 until 2015; she resigned to study at ...

and Dylan Brosnan.

Natural History

The basalt rock that comprises Cape d'Or contains many minerals including copper,

cuprite Cuprite is an oxide mineral composed of copper(I) oxide Cu2O, and is a minor ore of copper. Its dark crystals with red internal reflections are in the isometric system hexoctahedral class, appearing as cubic, octahedral, or dodecahedral forms, ...

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

apophyllite The name apophyllite refers to a specific group of phyllosilicates, a class of minerals. Originally, the group name referred to a specific mineral, but was redefined in 1978 to stand for a class of minerals of similar chemical makeup that compris ...

and many

zeolite Zeolites are microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate materials commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the general formula ･y where is either a metal ion or H+. These pos ...

minerals including

stilbite Stilbite is the name of a series of tectosilicate minerals of the zeolite group. Prior to 1997, stilbite was recognized as a mineral species, but a reclassification in 1997 by the International Mineralogical Association changed it to a series nam ...

analcime Analcime (; ) or analcite is a white, gray, or colorless tectosilicate mineral. Analcime consists of hydrated sodium aluminium silicate in cubic crystalline form. Its chemical formula is Na Al Si2 O6· H2O. Minor amounts of potassium and calci ...

chabazite Chabazite ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) - p. 300 "chabazite /'kabəzʌɪt/ noun "A colourless, pink or yellow zeolite mineral, typically occurring as rhombohedral crystals.". is a tectosilicate mineral of the zeolite group, clos ...

mesolite Mesolite is a tectosilicate mineral with formula Na2 Ca2( Al2 Si3 O10)3·8 H2O. It is a member of the zeolite group and is closely related to natrolite which it also resembles in appearance. Mesolite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and t ...

thomsonite Thomsonite is the name of a series of tecto-silicate minerals of the zeolite group. Prior to 1997, thomsonite was recognized as a mineral species, but a reclassification in 1997 by the International Mineralogical Association changed it to a ser ...

, and others.Sabina, A.P. (2015) "Rocks and minerals for the collector: Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; South Shore, Nova Scotia", Geological Survey of Canada, Popular Geoscience 97: 456 pages, doi:10.4095/293933 The minerals form in isolated

vug A vug, vugh, or vugg ( ) is a small- to medium-sized cavity inside rock. It may be formed through a variety of processes. Most commonly, cracks and fissures opened by tectonic activity (folding and faulting) are partially filled by quartz, ...

veins Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated b ...

, and

breccias Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of d ...

and are often beautifully crystallized. The forest is mixed hardwood and softwood with many plants that favor the coastal environment. File:Native Copper from Cape D'Or.jpg, Native copper crystals on basalt, from Cape d'Or. File:White banesberry fruit.jpg, Fruit of the white baneberry plant, Cape d'Or.

References

External links