LOGGING INDUSTRY CREATED MUCH MUSKOKA LORE

THE LOGGING INDUSTRY CREATED ITS OWN LEGENDS - MUCH OF IT BUILT UPON AN UNFORTUNATE RATE OF MISADVENTURE

     IT REALLY COMES DOWN TO WHETHER A RESEARCHER IS PREPARED TO EXERCISE DUE DILIGENCE OR NOT. I'VE READ SOME REALLY SLOPPY EDITORIAL COPY IN THE PAST DECADE, AND STORIES ABOUT OUR REGION THAT WERE FULL OF INACCURACIES, AND GENERALLY WEAK OVERALL. FEATURE ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN THE LOCAL MEDIA, WHEN DEALING WITH HERITAGE MATTERS, MOST OFTEN LEAVE ME FUMING, BECAUSE THEY COULD HAVE DONE BETTER……IF THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY, BY THE PUBLISHER, OF SPENDING ADDITIONAL TIME ON A PROJECT, IN ORDER TO GET IT RIGHT. THE RECENT REPORTING ON WOODCHESTER VILLA AND MUSEUM WAS WEAK AND THE EDITORIAL FULL OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HISTORIC OCTAGONAL HOUSE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ANSWERED BY NUMEROUS FOLKS WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THE ORIGINAL RENOVATION. YUP, CONTRARY TO  BELIEF, WE'RE STILL HANGING ON. AN ARTICLE IN THE WEEKENDER, A WEEK LATER, BY REGULAR COLUMNIST KEN BLACK, WAS BANG ON, AND REITERATED MUCH OF WHAT I HAD WRITTEN ABOUT RECENTLY. HE SHOULD KNOW. HE WAS THERE DURING THE FIRST RENOVATION, AND THE CREATION OF BRACEBRIDGE'S FIRST MUSEUM. SO WHY WAS THERE ANY NEED TO ASK QUESTIONS OF MAGAZINE READERS, WHEN THEY COULD HAVE HAD ANSWERS ATTACHED…..WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE, FOR READERSHIP APPROVAL, EVEN WITH A BUDGET OF EDITORIAL SPACE. POINT IS, FINANCIAL PROTOCOLS ARE, I SUPPOSE, LIMITING A REPORTER'S TIME TO FREE WHEEL ON AN ASSIGNMENT. WHAT HAPPENS OF COURSE, IS THAT PROJECTS THAT WARRANT GREATER INTERVENTION, AND SURGICAL PROCEDURE TO GET AT THE POINT OF THE ISSUE, ARE NOW SURFACE DUSTED AND CALLED A RESPONSIBLE NEWS OR FEATURE STORY. I MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO THAT WITH SOME HISTORICAL FEATURES, BUT I'D HIT THE MOST IMPORTANT POINTS BECAUSE I LIVE THIS STUFF EVERY DAY. SO WHEN YOU GET WRITERS WHO WANT TO REPRESENT ASPECTS OF THE HISTORY OF MUSKOKA, AND THEY DECIDED TO DO IT ON A TIGHT TIME AND FINANCIAL BUDGET……WELL, YOU GET WHAT YOU GET. IN THE REALM OF THE FOLK HISTORY OF MUSKOKA, INCLUDING LEGENDS, LORE, AND THE PARANORMAL, SORRY FOLKS, THERE IS NO RESPONSIBLE SHORT CUT TO MEET A PUBLICATION DEADLINE. I'VE TAKEN MORE THAN THREE DECADES, INCLUDING APPRENTICESHIPS, TO BE ABLE TO TAKE A FEW LIBERTIES IN THIS AREA…..BUT ONLY A FEW. THAT'S WHY I KEEP A MUSKOKA LIBRARY CLOSE BY, AND IN REGULAR USE. AND I NEVER STOP TALKING TO SOURCE PEOPLE WHO KNOW MORE THAN I DO! THAT ADDS UP TO MANY, MANY HUNDREDS…..YET, IT'S WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO FULLY UNDERSTAND A HISTORY THAT IS FAR MORE COMPLEX AND INTRICATE THAN MOST BELIEVE…..AS THEY BRUSH BY, WITHOUT TOUCHING THE SIDES, AND THEN CALL THEMSELVES LOCAL HISTORIANS. THAT BUGS ME MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE. DID I MENTION "CULTURAL MAPPING." MY TOWN THINKS THAT'S A GOOD IDEA. CASE IN POINT. WE'LL FEATHER-DUST SOMETHING THAT WILL DEFINE US. BALONEY. NONSENSE. A DOCUMENT THAT WILL HAVE A SHELF LIFE OF TEN MINUTES BEFORE IT IS REDUNDANT BECAUSE OF ITS SHORTFALLS.

     WHEN I WRITE ABOUT FOLKLORE, AND HOW IT DEVELOPED HERE…..AND IF IT WAS MORE ROOTED AND UNIQUE IN MUSKOKA THAN IN OTHER PLACES IN CANADA, I HAVE A BUZZ OF THOUGHTS ABOUT THE DISTINCT QUALITIES OF LOCAL FOLK TALES AND LEGENDS…..AND STORIES THAT INVOLVE THE PARANORMAL IN SOME WAY. WHAT DID MAKE MUSKOKA SOMEWHAT MORE UNIQUE, IN FOLKLORE, IS THAT IT WAS VERY MUCH A DIVIDED REGION ALMOST FROM THE BEGINNING. THE SPORTSMEN AND ADVENTURE SEEKERS WERE TRAVELLING TO MUSKOKA FOR THE GLORY AND ABUNDANCE OF ITS HINTERLAND HABITAT. GENERALLY, IT WAS NOT A PLACE FOR THE POOR AND DESTITUTE TO VENTURE INTO, JUST FOR HUNTING PURPOSES. THIS DID COME LATER, DURING THE HOMESTEAD YEARS. BUT SETTLERS COULD NEVER LIVE ON HUNTING AND FISHING ALONE. SHORTLY AFTER THE SETTLERS BEGAN ARRIVING IN THE REGION, AS FAR BACK AS THE LATE 1850'S, IN SOUTH MUSKOKA, THE SPORTING CREW, INCLUDING TIMOTHY EATON, OF THE EATONS DEPARTMENT STORES, LOOKED TO THESE HOMESTEADERS FOR ACCOMMODATION, AND SUSTENANCE.  IN FACT, IT WAS EATON, STAYING THE FAMILY OF THOMAS AITKEN, IN WINDERMERE, WHO SUGGESTED THE HOMESTEADER EXPAND HIS LODGINGS, TO ACCOMMODATE HUNTERS AND ANGLERS FLOODING INTO THE REGION. THUS, THIS POWERFUL BUSINESSMAN SEEDED THE IDEA FOR WINDERMERE HOUSE, STILL A PREMIER RESORT ON LAKE ROSSEAU. THE RICH WERE PUSHING THE NOT SO RICH, TO HURRY UP WITH DEVELOPMENT, IN LARGE PART, TO FACILITATE THEIR RECREATION. IT HAPPENED. IT WAS THE FOUNDING TIMBERS OF THE PRESENT TOURISM BUSINESS. BUT IT DEPENDED ON A DIVISION IN THE CLASSES, ORIGINALLY, TO GET THIS INDUSTRY HUMMING. IT CAN BE SAID, WITH SOME ACCURACY, THAT THE "THEM AND US" RELATIONSHIP BEGAN IN THOSE YEARS. AND THE SETTLERS WERE GRATEFUL, BECAUSE THEY COULD GET WORK, HELPING TO BUILD THE LARGE RESORTS, AND OPERATE THEM, AS WELL AS SUPPLYING THEM WITH RESOURCES, FROM FIREWOOD, TO MILLED LUMBER.

     THE INDUSTRY THAT IS MOST NEGLECTED BY "BRUSH-OVER" HOBBY HISTORIANS, AND THOSE GENERALISTS WHO BELIEVE TOURISM HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE END-ALL OF OUR ECONOMIC HERITAGE, WAS THE LOGGING / LUMBERING YEARS. AS FAR AS FOLKLORE GOES, IT WAS THE BIGGEST PRODUCER OF ORAL AND WRITTEN STORIES, AND FOR GOOD REASON. I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO MAKE SOME ATTEMPT, TO CALCULATE JUST HOW MANY SETTLERS, WHO HAD TO BECOME LOGGERS IN ORDER TO SURVIVE, PERISHED IN THE BUSH BY INDUSTRY MISADVENTURE. KNOWN AS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS INDUSTRIES IN THE WORLD, EVEN BY TODAY'S STANDARDS, BACK THEN, THERE WAS NO SAFETY PROTOCOL TO SPEAK OF…….EXCEPT SAGE ADVICE EXCHANGED BETWEEN VETERAN AND NEWCOMER AT THE START OF EACH CAMP OR RIVER RUNS. THE PROBLEM OF COURSE, WAS THAT MANY OF THE PIONEERS TO OUR REGION, WERE FROM CITIES IN EUROPE, AND HAD NO EXPERIENCE FELLING THE GIANTS OF THE FOREST. MANY WERE MALNOURISHED TO BEGIN WITH, AND ALMOST ALWAYS UNDER-DRESSED, WITH DANGEROUSLY INADEQUATE FOOTGEAR, (BEING UNABLE TO AFFORD BETTER), AND WHILE UNDOUBTEDLY THEY COULD PURCHASE MATERIALS FROM THE COMPANY STORE, MOST COULD ILL AFFORD ANY EXTRAVAGANCE, EVEN IF IT IMPROVED THEIR CHANCES OF SURVIVAL.

     SO SHORTLY INTO THE HOMESTEAD EXPERIENCE, THE MALES OLD ENOUGH TO WORK IN THE LUMBER CAMPS, DURING THE WINTER CUT, LEFT THE WOMEN IN CHARGE OF THE CABIN IN THE MODEST CLEARING, AND SPENT THEIR TIME HACKING AWAY AT THE WHITE PINE OF THE THICK MUSKOKA FORESTS. THOUSANDS WERE INJURED. THOUSANDS WERE KILLED. THOSE WHO SURVIVED THE EXPERIENCE, SOME OF MANY SEASONS, THE STRESSES ON THEIR BODIES MADE THEM LESS PRODUCTIVE ON THEIR FARMSTEADS. OUT IN THE BITTER COLD, WITH SAWS AND AXES, AND SLEIGH-LOADS THAT NOT ONLY KILLED THE HORSES EMPLOYED TO DRAW THE TIMBER ALONG THE ICED-OVER TRAILS, THE LIVES OF THE LOGGERS WERE ALSO SHORT ONES. THERE WERE THOSE WHO GOT RICH AS A RESULT OF THE FARMERS OFF-SEASON LABORS, BUT IT RARILY MADE IT BACK TO THE HOMESTEAD…..AS THE COMPANY STORE CALLED ITS LOANS; AND LIQUOR IN THE VILLAGES, TOOK THE REST. IT WAS THE FRAMEWORK OF INCREDIBLE STORIES OF HARDSHIP, HEROES, IMMORTALITY, AND MORTALITY. IT WAS THAT KIND OF BUSINESS. RIGHT DOWN TO THE RIVER RUN, WHERE THE LOGGERS HAD TO GET INTO THE THICK OF LOG JAMS, TO RESUME FREE FLOW; PUTTING THEIR BODIES AND PHYSICAL RESOURCES AT GREAT PERIL, JUST TO MAKE MONEY FOR THE COMPANY. THERE WERE STORIES OF GREAT LOSS. FATHERS AND SONS LOST IN THE BOILING RAPIDS OF MUSKOKA RIVERS. HOMESTEADS LOST THEIR FARM HANDS, IN THE RIGORS OF THE WINTER AND SPRING CAMPS, AFTER BEING CRUSHED BY THOUSANDS OF POUNDS OF MUSKOKA LOGS; HIT ON THE HEAD BY A FELLED TREE…..OR TUMBLING AND ROLLING DOWN INTO THE TURBULENT SPRING RIVERS.

     I HAVE FOUND MANY RIVER-SIDE GRAVES, IN MY EARLY DAYS, EXPLORING THE MUSKOKA WATERSHED. I FELL INTO ONE, ADJACENT TO THE MUSKOKA RIVER, NEAR THE MOUTH OF LAKE MUSKOKA, AND I WOUND UP LAYING, AS THE BODY WOULD HAVE, WHEN COMMITTED TO THE GROUND AFTER THE DROWNING. THE ROUGH BOX, IF THEY EVEN WENT TO THAT EXTENT, HAD GIVEN WAY, AS DID THE EARTH, AND A PERFECT GRAVE SITE DEPRESSION CAUGHT ME BY SURPRISE. IT WAS COVERED OVER BY VEGETATION, BUT THERE WAS NO DOUBT WHAT IT WAS…..AS I'VE SEEN NUMEROUS SITUATED ABOVE THE RIVERS. THERE ARE STORIES ABOUT LOGGERS KILLED ON THE RAPIDS, OR IN THE AREA OF WATERFALLS, AND HOW AND WHERE THEY WERE BURIED ACCORDING TO THE ATTENDING CREWS. FACT IS, THEY HAD TO ACT FAST, BECAUSE OF THE RIGORS OF THE LOGGING RUN, GIVING THEM ONLY A SHORT TIME AT ONE CAMP SITE…..AND MANY MILES BACK TO THE HOME VILLAGES. THE BODIES OF THE DECEASED WEREN'T ALWAYS HAULED HOME FOR PROPER IDENTIFICATION BY FAMILY, AND A CHURCH BURIAL. THE VICTIMS WERE HAULED OUT OF THE WATER, IF THEY COULD BE FOUND AT ALL, AND SET INTO A HASTILY DUG GRAVE NEAR WHERE THE MEN ATE AND SLEPT. THE REASON FOR THIS, OF COURSE, WAS THAT THE HEAVILY TREED BUSH, AFFORDED VERY LITTLE ROOT-FREE SPACE, IN ORDER TO DIG A GRAVE, IN AN EXPEDIENT MANNER. SO HAVING CLEARED A CAMP SITE OVER MANY YEARS, REMOVING THE TREES, IT WAS EASIER TO DIG DOWN IN THESE SMALL CLEARINGS. SO IT BECAME QUITE CONVENIENT TO DEPOSIT THE DEAD VERY NEAR WHERE THE CAMP LOGGERS WERE HAVING THEIR LUNCH OR DINNER. THIS IN ITSELF GAVE RISE TO MANY STORIES, AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE….ESPECIALLY AROUND THE CAMP FIRE, IN THE ILLUMINATION OF FLAME AND OIL LANTERN, ON THE WINDSWEPT LAKE AND RIVER BANKS OF OUR REGION.

     THE INTENSITY OF THE INDUSTRY, AND ITS HUGE PERILS, GAVE RISE TO THE MORE FAMILIAR LEGENDS WE KNOW IN CANADA….THE FOLKS SONGS, AND GHOST STORIES THAT WERE TOLD AROUND CAMP FIRES, ABOUT LOGGERS STILL RIDING THE TIMBER DOWN THE CHUTES…..NOT KNOWING THEY'RE NOW, OF THE DECEASED. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF REFERENCES, IN REGIONS WHERE LOGGING WAS A MAINSTAY INDUSTRY, OF HEROIC ACTS AND ACT-OF-GOD SURVIVAL STORIES, ALSO WRITTEN INTO LOCAL FOLKLORE. THERE ARE STORIES OF INCREDIBLE BRAVERY AND SUPER-HUMAN STRENGTH, AS I WILL RELATE IN UPCOMING BLOGS. LOGGERS WERE SAVED BY GOD'S GOOD GRACE, FROM BEING KILLED WHEN HIT BY FELLED TREES, THAT HAD GOT HUNG-UP IN OTHER PINES; RIVER DRIVERS WHO FELL INTO THE MASS OF TUMBLING LOGS, ONLY TO RESURFACE, UNSCATHED, FURTHER DOWN THE RIVER. THOSE WHO WERE CUT BY SAW AND AXE, WHO SHOULD HAVE DIED, BUT SURVIVED……WORKERS KICKED BY HORSES, BUT LIVED TO TELL THE TALE OF BEING AT HEAVEN'S GATE, BUT BEING TURNED BACK TO FULFILL THEIR MORTAL OBLIGATIONS. ONE BOOK, I USED TO OWN, WAS ENTITLED "FROM THE LUMBER CAMP TO THE MINISTRY," AND IT CONTAINED MANY POWERFUL STORIES, ABOUT THOSE WHO SURVIVED AGAINST ALL ODDS……AND CREDITED GOD FOR GIVING THEM ANOTHER CHANCE. THUS THEY HAD BEEN "SAVED" AT THE RIGHT TIME, TO APPRECIATE, AND CONFESS PUBLICLY THE SPIRITUAL GOOD GOD COULD BESTOW UPON HIS FLOCK.

     YOU CAN IMAGINE, I'M SURE, THE HORROR OF SEEING A GROUP OF LOGGERS, COMING UP THE LANE TO THE FARMSTEAD CABIN, PULLING A SLEIGH, WITH A WOOL BLANKET CONCEALING THE CARGO. A DROWNED OR FATALLY INJURED LOVED ONE WAS BEING BROUGHT HOME TO THE FAMILY…….FOR PROPER BURIAL. IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A GRAND-FATHER, FATHER, SON, UNCLE, COUSIN OR NEPHEW, AND IT ALWAYS MEANT, ON TOP OF GRIEF, THE REALITY THE FAMILY FARM WOULD SUFFER FROM THE LOSS OF MANPOWER THAT SPRING. THAT WAS THE HARD REALITY OF IMPOVERISHED SETTLERS IN MUSKOKA, DURING THE YEARS OF THE FREE GRANTS AND HOMESTEAD ACT. THERE WAS A LOT OF SUFFERING, AND IT WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR SAD SONGS, MEMORIAL POEMS, AND THE CREATION, OVER TIME, OF LOCAL FOLKLORE. FREQUENTLY THE STORIES DID INVOLVE SOME ELEMENT OF THE SUSPECTED PARANORMAL; AND LIKE THE STORIES TOLD BY WRITERS LIKE WASHINGTON IRVING, AND CHARLES DICKENS, THERE WERE MORALS THAT UNFOLDED IN THE FOLKTALES EVOKING THOUGHTS OF GOD AND THE DEVIL, GUARDIAN ANGELS AND FALSE PROPHETS, GOOD DEEDS AND BAD, HOBGOBLINS AND SPECTERS, SOMEHOW INVOLVING THOSE LOST IN THEIR LABOURS.

     WHILE WE DON'T DRAW ON THE LOGGING INDUSTRY MUCH THESE DAYS, TO BROADEN THE SCOPE OF OUR BOOKS OF LOCAL HISTORY, IT ONLY REFLECTS ON THE STORY TELLER HOWEVER…..NOT ON THE WEALTH OF INFORMATION CONTAINED TO THE CONTRARY. IT'S GENERALLY, THE LAST PLACE GHOST HUNTERS LOOK, OR RESEARCH, TO PULL OUT THEIR FEW PALTRY STORIES, THAT APPARENTLY OFFER SOME DEFINITION TO OUR REGION OF THE PROVINCE……ON A BUDGET OF TIME AND INK  OF COURSE. BUT WHEN THE STAUNCH AND STALWART HISTORIAN GETS A RARE CHANCE TO COMMENT, IN OUR MODERN MEDIA, WELL, IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE ANY RESPONSIBLE REPRESENTATION OF FOLKLORE, OR THE PARANORMAL IN THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA, WITH ONLY A PERIPHERY OVERVIEW; NOTHING SHORT OF A FULL EXAMINATION, OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND DEADLY INDUSTRIES WE HOSTED HERE, FROM THE EARLY 1860'S, WILL SUFFICE. YOU CAN'T DO IT ON A TIGHT BUDGET OF TIME, BECAUSE IT WOULD DENY A TRUTHFUL PRESENTATION OF THE LOGGING INDUSTRY, AT ITS MOST SUCCESSFUL AND MOST TRAGIC. MAKE NO MISTAKE; THE LUMBERING INDUSTRY WAS A HUGE ECONOMIC FORCE IN OUR REGION, AND IT MADE NAMES LIKE BOOTH AND DOLLAR THE STARS OF FLEDGLING NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT. AND THIS IS WHAT MOST OFTEN MAKES IT TO PRINT…..MORE SO THAN THE HUGE TRAGEDY OF WHICH IT WAS, I SUPPOSE, INCONVENIENTLY ASSOCIATED. MANY HOMESTEADS FAILED, BECAUSE MALE MEMBERS OF THE PIONEER FAMILIES WERE EITHER KILLED OR MAIMED BY THE VERY INDUSTRY THEY SOUGHT OUT, TO SAVE THEMSELVES FROM STARVATION……WHEN THE FARMS, AS THEY OFTEN DID IN THOSE DAYS, FAILED TO PRODUCE A QUALITY CROP. YES, IT WAS THE KIND OF DYNAMIC THAT PROVIDED THE FOLKISH RENDERINGS, TO BE SPUN INTO THESE TALES OF DEATH AND SURVIVAL. AS MUCH, THERE IS A PATINA OF THE LOCAL PAUL BUNYONS, THAT DESPITE THE SORROW THE LOGGING INDUSTRY CREATED, BECAME THE BRACING TIMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITIES……SOMETHING THAT IS FORGOTTEN TODAY, WHEN POPULAR HISTORIES ARE PENNED. IN SOME TOMES, IT'S AS IF THE BUSINESS AND POLITICAL CLASS BUILT THE COMMUNITIES THEMSELVES, WITH NARY A HOMESTEADER'S SHOULDER TO CARRY THE BURDEN…..NUFF SAID. WELL, I BEG TO DIFFER. AND I'VE GOT SOME FOLKTALES TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT.

     PLEASE VISIT AGAIN, AS WE DELVE A LITTLE FURTHER BACK IN MUSKOKA HISTORY, TO SEE WHERE THESE FOLK TALES, AND SUPERSTITIONS GOT THEIR COMMENCEMENT……AND HOW, BY NEGLECT AND INDIFFERENCE, HAVE BEEN LOST IN THE MODERN ERA OF HISTORICAL REVISION, FOR CONVENIENCE, BY HAPPENSTANCE FEATURE WRITERS.