Homestead Grants, Bring Us Your Poor

THE PROPANGANDA OF 1871 - THE HOMESTEADER TRAP - DISHONESTY? OR TWISTING THE TRUTH?

SO WHAT GOT THE BALL ROLLING IN OUR DISTRICT? SPECULATION AND THE POOR!

THOMAS MCMURRAY WAS A DECENT SORT. NOT A GREAT BUSINESSMAN, BUT A HUSTLER. A GREAT OPTIMIST. THE KIND OF "IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME," KIND OF ENTREPRENEUR. SEEMED TO BE IN A HURRY TO BUILD A "TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE" BEFORE THE HAMLET WAS EVEN INCHING TOWARD VILLAGE STATUS. HIS SETTLERS' GUIDE BOOK, PUBLISHED IN 1871, ENTITLED "MUSKOKA AND PARRY SOUND," IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DISTRICT BOOKS WE POSSESS AS A REGION. I WAS GIVEN A COPY BY MY MOTHER-IN-LAW, HARRIET STRIPP (NEE SHEA), WHO HAD BEEN GIVEN HER FATHER'S BOOK, WHEN HE PASSED AWAY. HE WAS JOHN SHEA, OF UFFORD, AND HE HAD ONCE BEEN A CLERK AT WATT TOWNSHIP, IN MUSKOKA LAKES. I AM PLEASED TO OWN IT, BECAUSE IT PUTS ME CLOSER, YOU SEE, TO THE GUY WHO HELPED MISLEAD A LOT OF UNSUSPECTING SETTLERS TO THEIR HOMESTEAD DISASTERS. DON'T GET ME WRONG. THOMAS MCMURRAY WAS AN IMPORTANT BUSINESSMAN IN BRACEBRIDGE. BUT HE HAD CONFLICTS, PARTICULARLY WHEN HE AUTHORED THIS PARTICULAR BOOK, THAT WAS AIMED AT POTENTIAL AND INCOMING HOMESTEADERS…..AND WAS HEAVILY BIASED, BUT HE DIDN'T WANT READERS TO THINK SO. HE FOOLED A LOT OF HISTORIANS OVER THE YEARS BUT NOT ME. THE MORE FOLKS HE ATTRACTED TO BRACEBRIDGE AND MUSKOKA, THE BETTER HIS BUSINESS MIGHT FARE. NOW I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY COPIES OF THIS BOOK WERE PRODUCED AS A FIRST EDITION. I DON'T SUSPECT THERE WERE THOUSANDS PRINTED, BUT I CAN'T SAY THIS FOR SURE. NONE THE LESS, HE STILL CONTRADICTS HIMSELF WITH THE PARAGRAPH THAT READS:

AS I HAVE NO DESIRE TO EXTOL THE DISTRICT, AND AM ANXIOUS TO GIVE A FAIR AND IMPARTIAL ACCOUNT OF THE SETTLEMENT, I SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING CONTROVERSY, SO THAT MY READERS MAY HAVE BOTH SIDES AND DRAW THEIR OWN CONCLUSIONS THERE ON." AS EXTOLLING THE VIRTUES OF THE DISTRICT, HE WAS A CHAMPION. HIS BOOK IS FILLED WITH ROMANTIC POETIC SELECTIONS, THAT CERTAINLY MAKE MUSKOKA SEEM PRETTY CLOSE TO HEAVEN-ON-EARTH. NOW I LIKE HIS WORK, AND THERE ARE ASPECTS OF HIS REPRESENTATION OF THE REGION, THAT DO APPEAL TO THOSE OF US WHO DO FIND MUSKOKA A MORE NORTHERLY WALDEN POND. IT WAS THE DAMAGE HIS BOOK, AND OTHERS SIMILARLY COMPOSED, DID…. WHEN MAKING IT APPEAR A MUCH EASIER TASK, TO ARRIVE HERE AS "THE DOWNTRODDEN," AND IMMEDIATELY START PULLING VEGETABLES OUT OF THE GROUND……THE LOG SHANTIES ALMOST BUILDING THEMSELVES. THE ONLY REASON HIS BOOK DIDN'T INFLUENCE EVEN MORE HOMESTEADERS, IS THAT THEY COULDN'T READ ABOUT WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO SELL.

AS FAR AS FAIR, THE LETTER HE PUBLISHED FROM A NEWSPAPER CALLED THE ST. MARY'S VIDETTE, PRESUMABLY FROM ST. MARY'S, ONTARIO, ISN'T REALLY USED AS A COUNTER POINT, TO THE CLAIMS MCMURRAY MAKES ABOUT THE GOOD LIFE IN MUSKOKA….BUT RATHER, WAS USED AS A PLATFORM, FROM WHICH TO MOUNT AN EDITORIAL MASSACRE, OF THE LETTER WRITER AND THE NEWSPAPER FOR THEIR INACCURACIES. IN THE BOOK, THE REPRINTED LETTER IS ENTITLED "A BLACK PICTURE," AND OFFERS SOME SUBSTANTIAL REASONS WHY AND HOW LAND AGENTS AND SPECULATORS, HAD GROSSLY MISREPRESENTED THE ADVANTAGES OF FARMSTEADING IN THE MUSKOKA REGION. THIS IS IMPORTANT, BUT USUALLY NEGLECTED, BUT IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN HOW IT ALL BEGAN HERE…..AND POVERTY WAS SEEDED IN THIS PERIOD, THIS IS WHERE WE HAVE TO BEGIN. IN MY MANY YEARS DELVING INTO, AND WRITING ABOUT MUSKOKA HISTORY, THIS LETTER IS BANG-ON, BUT MCMURRAY WASN'T GOING TO LET IT GO UNCHALLENGED. HE TURNS THE ARGUMENT AROUND AND USES IT TO BOLSTER HIS OWN HUGELY BIASED POSITION.

JUST A NOTE OF EXPLANATION. IT IS WIDELY KNOWN THAT FREE LAND GRANTS WERE MISREPRESENTED, AND ARABLE LAND WAS PROMOTED WHERE THERE WAS ONLY A THIN SOIL ON ROCK. THEN THERE WAS THE CASE OF THE FORESTS OF MUSKOKA. THE WETLANDS. THOUSANDS OF ACRES OF WETLAND. NOT GREAT FOR FARMING. ROCKS AND DIFFICULT TERRAIN, WHERE IT WAS BARELY MENTIONED IN GOVERNMENT ADVERTISEMENTS. THE POOREST OF THE POOR WERE BEING SOLICITED FROM EUROPE, AND PROMISED MUCH BETTER ENVIRONMENTAL, AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS THAN WAS THE REALITY ONCE HERE. SO THESE POORLY PREPARED SOULS, WITH YOUNG FAMILIES, WERE SUCKED INTO THE CROSS ATLANTIC TRAVERSE, TRANSPORTED BY RAIL, BACK TO STEAMSHIP, THEN TO HORSE DRAWN WAGONS OVER THE MOST TREACHEROUS ROADS ANYWHERE ON EARTH, AND THEN GIVEN A ROUGH MAP, A SLAP ON THE BACK, (AFTER MERCHANTS SOLD THEM OVER-PRICED PROVISIONS), AND WERE SENT WALKING TO THEIR VERY, VERY RURAL HOMESTEAD ACREAGES. HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS REFUSED TO CHOP ONE TREE, OR ROLL AWAY ONE BOULDER, BEFORE TURNING AROUND AND SEEKING ANOTHER REGION TO SETTLE. WHAT THEY FOUND WAS NOT IN THE HAND-BOOKS. A MAJORITY OF THESE SETTLERS WERE WITHOUT MEANS, AND LOW ON PROVISIONS, AND MANY DID PERISH DUE TO BEING POORLY OUTFITTED TO SURVIVE THE LONG HARSH WINTERS. A COLLECTIVE OF STORY SPINNERS, SOME WORKING ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT, THE STEAMSHIP LINES, AND ASSORTED BUSINESS INTERESTS, MADE THEIR HANDSOME PROFITS, CONVINCING THIS CITY POOR, LOOKING FOR BETTER LIVES, THAT MUSKOKA WAS "GOD'S COUNTRY," AND YOU WOULDN'T STARVE UNDER GOD'S WATCH? WOULD YOU? THOSE WHO PITCHED THE VIRTUES OF MUSKOKA, WERE TELLING PORKIES. BUT WHEN YOU'RE AS DOWNTRODDEN, AND VOID OF HOPE AS THESE POTENTIAL SETTLERS WERE, IT SOUNDED LIKE A WONDERFUL WAY TO START OVER, IN A HEALTHY ENVIRONS, WITH A 100 ACRES OF PARADISE! MCMURRAY WAS PART OF THE PROBLEM. WHAT WAS WRITTEN BELOW IS PRETTY ACCURATE TO WHAT ONE CAN RESEARCH EASILY, ABOUT THE FIRST ROUND OF TRIAL AND ERROR SETTLEMENTS.

ONE MORE THING TO CONSIDER, IS THE FACT THAT IN THE 1880'S, AN AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION REPORT, CONFIRMED THAT SETTLEMENT INITIATIVES IN MUSKOKA, HAD BEEN A LARGELY SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM. WHAT IT POINTED OUT, IN ONLY A FEW PARAGRAPHS, WAS THAT CRAPPY LAND FOR FARMS, WAS ACCEPTED BY DESTITUTE SETTLERS….AS THERE WASN'T ANY OTHER OPTION. SOME DIDN'T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO MOVE AWAY, ONCE THEY ARRIVED HERE. WHAT THE COMMISSION DREW FROM THIS LITTLE EXPERIMENT WITH HUMANITY, WAS THAT IF THEY COULD FOB-OFF BOG-LANDS, HIGHLANDS AND THICK FORESTS, AND HAVE PIONEERS BUILD THE ROADS AND BRIDGES, THEN IT WOULD BE THE TEMPLATE FOR A LOT OF OTHER CRAPPY LAND TO THE NORTH…..THAT ALSO NEEDED SETTLERS TO BUILD THAT CANADIAN DREAM OF INHABITATION COAST TO COAST……..AS WELL AS THE POLITICAL SIDE, OF BEING ABLE TO JUSTIFY THE BUILDING OF THE GREAT LINKAGE OF RAIL LINES FROM THE EAST COAST TO THE WEST. SETTLEMENTS AND AN INCREASING POPULATION, WOULD CONVINCE THE AMERICANS, WE WERE SERIOUS ABOUT CARRYING-ON WHAT WE ESTABLISHED, BY WINNING THE WAR OF 1812. SO THE HOMESTEADERS IN MUSKOKA WERE JUST PART OF THE PLAN, TO SETTLE THE REST OF CANADA. THE RESILIENCE OF THE SETTLERS, TOLD GOVERNMENT CLEARLY, THAT THESE DESPERATE SOULS WOULD TAKE ANYTHING IF IT WAS FREE…..EVEN ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT LANDSCAPES TO FARM. SO WHEN YOU READ THE LETTER BELOW, AND THINK IT RATHER RUDE, OR IGNORANT, REGARDING THE ASSETS OF OUR REGION, REMEMBER THE FACT THAT GOVERNMENT, DIDN'T FEEL BAD WHATSOEVER, MISREPRESENTING THE OPPORTUNITIES OF EMIGRATING TO CANADA……AND CONTINUED TO LIE BECAUSE IT GOT RESULTS. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, DID THEY HAVE A FIGURE FOR "ACCEPTABLE LOSS," ESTIMATING IN ADVANCE HOW MANY SETTLERS COULD DIE, AS A RESULT OF THE PROGRAM, BEFORE THE ISSUE BECAME A STICKY WICKET. IF IT HAD BEEN ANNOUNCED THAT TWO HUNDRED IMMIGRANTS HAD PERISHED IN THE FIRST YEAR, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN BAD FOR BUSINESS. DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL. GOVERNMENT WAS AWARE WHAT THE RISK WAS, TO THESE UNFORTUNATES, BUT THEY HAD A BIGGER PLAN……AN AGENDA THAT WHEN FULFILLED, WOULD BE WORTH THE SACRIFICE.

HERE IS THE PRE-1871 LETTER TO THE EDITOR, OF THE ST. MARY'S NEWSPAPER

"A few days ago, a party of eighteen or twenty farmers from this neighborhood, having read the glowing newspaper accounts of the free grant lands to the north, started on an expedition to Muskoka, to explore the region for themselves, and see whether it would be advisable for them to move thither. On arriving there, they split up into subsections, each detachment taking a particular field. These traversed the most promising townships, examining the soil, consulting the people, taking notes of the landscape, observing the crops, and obtaining all the information possible. After tedious and hopeless wanderings, they one and all returned indignant and disgusted at the imposition of paid agents and rascally speculators; and they declare, in blunt terms, that the idea of its being an agricultural country, is a barefaced piece of imposition, invented by tricky sharks, who are fairly coining money out of the necessities of newcomers. These statements have been corroborated in the main by Messrs. John Rouson, Biddulph Township, Thomas Hughes, George Oliver and Henry Morgan, Nissouri Township, who have just paid our sanctum a visit on their way home from Muskoka.

"Three of these gentlemen have themselves travelled through eleven townships, and affirm one and the same story. The soil is nearly all sand and rock, with an occasional spot of clay, while limestone was found in only one small place. The best land, a specimen of which was shown us, is a red sort of sand clay. The water is, for the most part, of the color of strong lye, embittered by balsam and pine roots. Throughout these eleven townships there were about half-a-dozen loads of wheat raised. People who have settled there for seven years past, grow nothing but potatoes - which are really splendid and come up in double the profusion we see them in Perth or Middlesex. The timber is good, and there is a prodigious lumbering business in the prospective. Pine and birch are very plentiful, but maple and beech are seldom observed. The residents are chiefly emigrants from English cities, who know nothing of farming, and are easily victimized by the Government agents and private adventurers. It is pitiable to see the shifts they are put to in some cases, broken-heartedness visible upon their features, and the utter wretchedness of their lives. In many cases the remnants of luxury add a kind of ghastly significance to the scene - silk dresses, faded and torn - the remnants of fine carpets, and other mementoes of an easy and comfortable existence among friends in the old country. In short, the narrative accords with the exclamation of one of these returned farmers; 'It is the most desperate country a white man ever set his foot on with a notion of settling.' Some of them say they wouldn't take the whole of Muskoka as a gift, if they had to pay the penalty of living out of its soil; and that starvation and rags will haunt the dwelling of settlers as long as they exist.

"Of course, we know nothing of these things from our own personal knowledge, but it strikes us that there has been a good deal of studied misrepresentation in favor of these lands from time to to time. Our informants may, in their present state of mind, look at the black side of the picture; but it may do good to people to learn that it has a black side. We desire to see every part of Canada turned to good account, but if a section is fitted only for timber and game, it is worse than useless to inveigle farmers into it, in the Quixotic efforts of making it an agricultural country."

"The above seems almost too ludicrous to answer," wrote Thomas McMurray in response. He wrote a considerable retort, but again from a position of conflict of interest…..as he was a businessman who stood to gain because of the growing prosperity and settlement of the region.

Authorities honestly, had little concern, just because some settlers perished in their humble little cabins. It didn't really matter much if they froze to death, starved to death, worked themselves to death, or died of frustration. One day, when development moves further into the hinterland, onto these old homesteads, the earth movers will uncover many of these gravesites. If work and the elements didn't kill them, a wide assortment of diseases would. When I see the romantic, sentimental interpretations, of the pioneer period in Muskoka, one recent video series in particular, I just can't watch or read these accounts, without a. gagging, and b. pondering why it is so difficult to cross reference as part of logical, scholarly research…..such that the observations above, might instill a writer or film maker to delve a little further. There's no whimsy about this period in our history. Yet almost every modern day attempt to capture this period, for the benefit of today's audience, is so ridiculously attached to the pretty picture, of what it must have been like, at hearthside, in those beautiful, rustic cabins. Right on! This is what I was referring to in a previous blog, about the history lesson William Dawson LeSueur thought he should give Stephen Leacock, when the revered author started penning the popular history of Canada. "The Peoples' History of Canada." The one with the rounded edges so no one got hurt by it. LeSueur, who believed in the critical approach to such important things as history, would rather have quit a project, because of editorial constraints, than leave a good history to seed. He looked at hundreds of sources of information before making an assessment. His was the "actual" perspective, not the "popular" version. I write this often folks, but I am so proud that we have an association with Dr. LeSueur, who named our post offices in Gravenhurst and Bracebridge, in 1862 and 1864 respectively. A smart dude, who didn't conceal the truth, or muddle reality, but insisted on clarity, with whatever he happened to be writing about. This former postal authority, civil servant in pioneer Canada, was a literary critic in high standing, his reviews of books revered by major publications in his time, and he became by accomplishment, one of Canada's most respected early historians. Yup, and he named our towns. But don't expect to much fanfare about this, although there was a mention in the most recent Gravenhurst history, composed by Cecil Porter….and released in the fall of 2011.

You won't find much ink dedicated to this "Black Picture," as presented in McMurray's book. Well, if McMurray trashed the letter in his book, seems fitting that every other historian to use the book as reference, did pretty much the same. But as I've pointed out previously, it just doesn't matter whether it is taken seriously, or not, all these years later, because it was reality during those dreadful years. Trying to carve out farmsteads from thick Muskoka bush. Ignorance isn't going to change the realities of history. There were success stories. Survivors. There are citizens of this community today, who have roots in those precarious homestead farms, and have a right to speak about what they know of good times and adversity, as faced by their kin-folk.

It's abundantly clear, most historians in the past hundred years, couldn't spare a lot of time, calculating just how many pioneers died, as a direct result of the risky lifestyle, immersed in an inhospitable, harsh environment, with so many agricultural limitations. Why is that number not of significance to local museums and historical societies…..to local heritage video makers and authors, who time and again give us the sanitized version of events……without even the slightest sense of the humanity that suffered so greatly, trying to survive against horrific odds. Poverty, alcoholism, half-starvation, illness due to inadequate diets, and injury sustained on the homestead, and in the logging operations…..where they had to work in the winter months, in order to make enough money to buy seed for next year's harvest. When I read stories about economic disparity in our region, and find some new half-ass, under-researched over-view of Muskoka's history in this regard, I try my best not to over-react, and "smoke 'em" with a cruel letter to the editor. I can't tell you how many letters I would have to write in a year, to correct the misunderstandings and almost purposeful misrepresentations of social / economic history. I want to make them understand how poverty is our provenance in this region……and we didn't just get this way in a couple of years. The hangover from those pioneer days never really disappeared, and was extended through family generations….although some critics would find this hard to believe. It began as a rural tragedy and it has continued to be a recurring situation for many rural families, still finding it impossible to homestead in modern times.

Muskoka is a jewel. It is a wonderful place to live. But if you plan to live here year round, and you are still "a million dollars shy of being a millionaire," you may find this region, still, after all these years, a difficult place to live affordably and work profitably. Some circumstances don't change no matter what year is printed on the calendar.

There are still folks fudging the facts. Those of authority who feel it is best not to reveal too much, in case we might object or rebel……or toss their sorry behinds out of office. I'm a career writer, so I know how to pitch a slight mistruth to make something look better than it is. I remember a publisher asking me to write a nasty editorial about a councillor I happened to respect, and I outrightly refused to do his dirty work. Well he didn't like my insubordination, but there is no way I could have slanted an editorial, based on someone else's opinion, with nary a fibre of fact to corroborate the assertion. It happens lots out there, and I'm glad my editorial days are long over. But I still watch in my community here, for those who try to manipulate the press, to meet their agenda. There are quite a few Thomas McMurray's lurking about, and I react accordingly, as an historian must. I can live with fact. Researched material from reliable sources. Not hearsay. Not because it's the bent someone has, who feels compelled to shape history the way they see fit.

I don't expect you to believe what I have written because it seems factual-enough to make the grade. I don't ever mind being challenged to prove a point, or defend a position, as long as the challenger has taken the time to read and research counterpoint, before firing attack missiles at me. Point is, we need to know more about our community, from many more points of view, in order to understand what it all represents. You can't possibly understand the history of Gravenhurst or Muskoka, without knowledge of this "Black Picture," I have just presented…….simply because it's considered an inconvenient, messy, unfortunate, paradise-damaging-truth.

The way we began those pioneering years in Muskoka, isn't the direct link or cause to what some amongst us still suffer with today. But when we look at how we have coped, and survived as a permanent population, there is lingering evidence of that grass-roots, social / economic resourcefulness, that many revisionists wouldn't take five minutes to consider as part of our legacy…..before tossing it out as irrelevant. Well, I'm telling you, it is relevant. Toss me away if you think I deserve it!

Thank you so much for joining me for this little retrospective. Please join me again soon.