Agricultural Report of 1881 Sucked For Homesteaders in Muskoka

NOW HEADING TO 21,000 HITS - NOT EXACTLY BIG BUT NOT TOO SHABBY

     AT TIMES IN MY WRITING CAREER, I'VE HAD A CIRCULATION OF WELL OVER 120,000 POTENTIAL READERS, EACH WEEK, WORKING FOR THE VARIOUS REGIONAL AND PROVINCIAL PUBLICATIONS I'VE CONTRIBUTED COLUMNS. EVEN ON A WEEKLY BASIS, I COULD GET UP TO THIRTY OR FORTY THOUSAND WITH THE MUSKOKA SUN, AND THE MUSKOKAN, PLUS MY COLUMNS AND FEATURES PUBLISHED IN THE HOME-DELIVERED "MUSKOKA ADVANCE." IT DOESN'T MEAN EVERYBODY WHO PICKED UP A COPY OF THOSE PUBLICATIONS READ MY WORK, BUT THERE WERE VERY FEW WEEKS WHEN OUR DELIVERY PEOPLE BROUGHT BACK SIGNIFICANT RETURNS. IT MEANT TO OUR ADVERTISERS, THAT READERS LIKED WHAT WE PRODUCED....GIVING THEIR ADS MORE SHELF LIFE, AS COPIES OF THE SUMMER PAPERS IN PARTICULAR, WERE PASSED COTTAGE TO COTTAGE.
     IN THE MUSKOKA SUN, BACK IN THE LATE 1980'S WHEN I WAS ASSISTANT EDITOR, I WOULD HAVE TWENTY OR MORE EDITORIAL PIECES IN ONE ISSUE, AND I EVEN ASKED THE MANAGING EDITOR, ROBERT BOYER, TO CUT MY BYLINES OFF SOME OF THE PIECES, BECAUSE IT WAS LOOKING LIKE WE HAD A STAFF OF TWO. I USED TO WRITE ALL WINTER, TO HAVE COPY FOR THE SUN, FROM THE FIRST OF MAY UNTIL THE THANKSGIVING EDITION. BOB LIKED IT THAT WAY. UNFORTUNATELY, WHEN WE HAD A BIGGER PAPER, HE USED TO PASTE IN A LOT MORE COPY THAN I HAD BUDGETED FOR, THAT WEEK OR MONTH. BOB WOULD PHONE UP, AND ASK IF I COULD PLEASE COME UP WITH SOME MORE MATERIAL, AS WE WERE GETTING SHORT. THIS WAS OKAY IN SEPTEMBER, BUT NOT BY THE MIDDLE OF JUNE. THAT'S WHEN OUR ANTIQUE BUSINESS WAS BOOMING. BOB GAVE ME LOTS OF EXPOSURE BUT HE WAS KILLING ME AT THE SAME TIME.
     OCCASIONALLY A READER WILL ASK IF ALL I DO IS EAT AND WRITE; TODAY I JUST ANSWER, "YUP, I'VE GOT ENOUGH TIME TO WRITE." IN FACT, EVEN IN MY HEYDAY, I NEVER WROTE AS MUCH AS TODAY. BOB BOYER, GOD REST HIS SOUL, WOULD BE IMPRESSED THAT I'M PRODUCING WITHOUT BEING HOUNDED. WHILE I ONLY WRITE FOR TWO MAIN PUBLICATIONS, "CURIOUS; THE TOURIST GUIDE," AND "THE GREAT NORTH ARROW," BOTH OF WHICH I ADORE AS WRITING OUTLETS, THE BLOGS HAVE CHANGED A LOT OF MY WRITING INTERESTS AND HABITS......FOR THE BETTER, I THINK. "CURIOUS; THE TOURIST GUIDE," IS ONLINE, AND IT GETS A LOT OF ACTION, SO I'M PRETTY SURE MY READERSHIP POTENTIAL HAS ALSO INCREASED. MY SPECIAL RESEARCH PROJECTS, SUCH AS THE BIOGRAPHY OF MUSKOKA ARTIST RICHARD KARON, PUBLISHED ON-LINE BACK IN THE SPRING, IS GETTING A LOT OF ATTENTION, AND WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF A FEATURE ARTICLE IN THE MUSKOKAN THIS WEEK, I BELIEVE. WE HAVE JUST COMPLETED A SEPARATE BLOGSITE FOR RICHARD KARON; WHICH WILL HOPEFULL PROVIDE EASY ACCESS BY PAINTING OWNERS AND ART RESEARCHERS.
      WELL, THIS IS ALL PRETTY SELF-SERVING, BUT THEN IT'S KIND OF IMPORTANT, WHEN I TELL YOU, HUMBLY, BUT WITH EXCITEMENT, THAT I HAVE NOW SURPASSED 20,000 HITS ON THIS GRAVENHURST BLOG, WHICH HAS BEEN HUGE SINCE NOVEMBER OF LAST YEAR, WHEN I BEGAN WRITING DAILY FOR THIS ONLINE SITE. EVEN THOUGH I HAD BEEN WRITING FOR ABOUT THREE YEARS ON THE SITE, I HAD MUSTERED ONLY A MODEST NUMBER OF HITS, AND WAS ACTUALLY THINKING ABOUT ABANDONING IT, AND CONCENTRATING ON MY BRACEBRIDGE BLOG, AND GHOSTS OF MUSKOKA, WHICH WERE BOTH DOING MUCH BETTER.
     SO THANKS TO YOU KIND FOLKS, I'VE HIT MY GOAL MONTHS AHEAD OF TIME, AND HOPE THAT BY THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, OF DAILY PUBLISHING, I WILL HIT 25,000 OR MORE. WELL, IT'S TRUE! I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU.
     I AM NOW DOING A MAJORITY OF MY WRITING WORK, HERE IN THE OLD MUSKOKA THEATRE BUILDING, ON MUSKOKA ROAD, ACROSS FROM THE OPERA HOUSE, IN UPTOWN GRAVENHURST.....AND LOVING EVERY MOMENT OF IT. I HAVE BEEN EXPERIMENTING FOR ABOUT THREE WEEKS, BECAUSE I'M PERSNICKETY ABOUT MY WRITING NOOKS, BUT BY GOLLY, THIS SEEMS TO BE WORKING FINE. SO IN THE FALL, WHEN SUZANNE GOES BACK TO HER TEACHING JOB, AND I TAKE OVER BEHIND THE COUNTER, AT ANDREW CURRIE'S MUSIC AND COLLECTIBLES.....AND THE NEWLY EXPANDED ANTIQUE WING, WELL SIR, I WILL BE WRITING AND HELPING TO SELL STUFF.......AS I DID A LOT OF YEARS AGO, WHEN WE HAD A MAIN STREET ANTIQUE SHOP ON MANITOBA STREET, IN BRACEBRIDGE......WHICH WAS CALLED BIRCH HOLLOW. WE STILL USE THAT NAME FOR OUR HOMESTEAD HERE IN GRAVENHURST.
     HAVING 20,000 HITS IN LESS THAN A YEAR, IS PRETTY SMALL, IN COMPARISON TO CELEBRITY BLOGGERS, WHO WOULD CONSIDER THIS A "POCKET CHANGE AUDIENCE." WELL AS YOU KNOW, I DON'T WRITE ABOUT CELEBRITIES TO GET AN AUDIENCE. I WRITE BIOGRAPHIES OF THE DEAD.....TELL STORIES OF SPIRITS AND THEIR TRAVELS, ABOUT HISTORY AND LOCAL POLITICS, AND SOME TIMES FOLKS WITH A POLITICAL PERSUASION MIGHT FIND MY COMMENTS INFLAMMATORY AND CONTROVERSIAL. THAT'S BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW ME. REALLY, IT'S JUST THE WAY I AM. I DON'T WAX CONTROVERSIAL TO WIN AN AUDIENCE. I JUST LET FOLKS KNOW THAT A FIGHT IS BREWING, AND THAT IT WOULD BE GREAT IF WE COULD FIND AN AMICABLE ARRANGEMENT, TO SATISY THE COMMUNITY INTERESTS. OCCASIONALLY I FLUSTER A NEWSPAPER EDITOR, WHO'S NERVOUS OF RUNNING MY EDITORIALS IN PRINT, AND ANGER A LOCAL POLITICIAN, WHO HAD AN IDEA CHALLENGED, ON THE PREMISE IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA IN THE FIRST PLACE. I LIKE TO CHALLENGE THOSE WHO DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD BE FORCED TO ACCCOUNT FOR THEIR ACTIONS. FROM THE EMAILS I RECEIVE, A LOT OF READERS FEEL THE SAME.
     I WANT TO THANK THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE JOINED THIS WRITING ADVENTURE, IN AN OLD AUTHOR'S LIFE, AND I HOPE YOU WILL STICK AROUND FOR SOME MORE INTERESTING LOCAL TALES, AND MY SPECIAL ESSAY AND MUSIC VIDEO ON THE NAMING OF GRAVENHURST, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AGO. IT WILL BE READY TO GO, ON THE EVENING OF AUGUST FIRST, AND WILL HOPEFULLY SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE CHAP WE HAVE NEVER REALLY KNOWN.......WILLIAM HENRY SMITH, AUTHOR OF THE BOOK, "GRAVENHURST; OR THOUGHTS ON GOOD AND EVIL." IT WAS IN THE YEAR 1862 THAT WE WERE HONORED WITH THE NAME. AND IT CAN BE SAID WITH SOME ACCURACY, THAT IN 150 YEARS, THE PROVENANCE OF THE NAME, AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO US, AS A COMMUNITY, HAS BEEN LARGELY IGNORED.....WHICH HAS DENIED OUR TOWN A WONDERFUL CONNECTION WITH LITERATURE AND OLD ENGLAND......AND THE THOUGHFUL BUT MEDDLING HISTORIAN, WILLIAM DAWSON LESUEUR......WHO MEANT WELL WHEN HE AFFORDED US THE NAME "GRAVENHURST." HE JUST DIDN'T EXPLAIN WHY HE CHOSE THE NAME FOR THE HAMLET'S POST OFFICE. LET'S SEE IF WE CAN RIGHT SOME WRONGS OF THE PAST.
     HOPE YOU CAN JOIN ME FOR THIS MULTI-PART SERIES.

THE MUSKOKA EXPERIMENT CIRCA 1861 - THE COMMISSION REPORT

     I have frequently referenced the Ontario Agricultural Commission report of 1881, when I write about the homesteaders and the free land grants; most recently in the stories about Granny Bowers journal, and then the Icelandic settlement, in Hekkla, in North Cardwell, in the District of Muskoka. The report confirms in my opinion, that the fact a majority of settlers survived on the frontier, and created moderately successful homesteads, and commenced somewhat prosperous businesses, meant that the government's hunch had been correct. The poorly outfitted settlers would take just about any land, and at least clear the timber and roads, helping the cause of settlement down the road. What it also meant for them, was that there was more boglands, rocks and densely forested areas further north, and if the Muskoka grant program worked, so would a similar free land offer, in even more adverse northern districts. The settlers, however, didn't know they were part of a government strategy, to settle the country sea to sea. They (government land agents) knew some would perish trying to homestead, and there is no evidence they were particularly concerned about this negative side of the story.
      "Coupled with the suggestion that the attention of the Government should be directed to this matter, with the view of affording facilities for the class of settlers, or occupiers of the land, indicated the Commissioners desire at the same time respectfully, to urge the preservation of the more valuable hardwood timber of our still remaining Crown lands, should be the subject of special and particular attention. In the District of Muskoka and Parry Sound large quantities of such timber exist, and every day brings nearer the time when, either from its possession or destruction, its real value will be recognized.
     "The water communication existing, supplemented by colonization roads already constructed, and still more by the projected railway through the length and very heart of the district, will afford means for marketing its products or shipping them to market at many convenient points, and of rendering the hardwood accessible with little difficulty. Nor can the Commissioners overlook the fact, that, if the lands of the Muskoka and Parry Sound District can be made available for the purpose already as above proposed, a key may be found to the solution of the question, what is to be done with regions still more remote and to all appearance unfitted for settlement in the ordinary sense, but still within the boundaries of Ontario. The subject is too large to be touched upon further here, but it is one well worthy of the attention of all who have the future of this Province most dearly at heart."
     There is more concern about the welfare of the valuable hardwood stand, than interest in the settlers' living standard and welfare generally. The settlers they habitually abused with misinformation, when government land agents attempted, with great fanfare and promotion, to attract immigrants to the free land grants. They, without shame, suggest that crappy land is abundant in Northern Ontario, at least in the interest of farming, but because of the Muskoka and Parry Sound improvements, obviously there were more brave and desparate souls to occupy the environs, to help make the province prosperous, and the mission to settle the north and west......a resounding success, despite the casualties. To meet the government's objective, lives would have to be sacrificed.....and lives were most definitely lost due to the hardships these largely ill-prepared immigrants faced. As I've asked before, what was the "acceptable loss," to get the unsettled lands "occupied." Was it okay to lose a hundred souls each year? A thousand? Did they care, accept for the reason of statistics and economics, if 5,000 had perished? The deal was, how did the province fare in all this? Seeing as the general public wasn't going to get a copy of this commission's report, they could allude to anything they wanted.......and apparently, hardwood was more important than human life. As an historian, it makes me cringe to think how much suffering was directly proportional to government deceit, and overall misrepresentation of homestead possibilities in the Muskoka wilds. Who was held to account for the falsehoods....the fraud? The final line of the summation, is the one that knocks me over, and reminds me of so many other government interests......"The subject is too large to be touched upon further here, but it is one well worthy of the attention of all who have the future of this Province most nearly at heart." Geez, I'd enjoy the retrospective of meeting with the folks who were at this commission meeting.
     So in today's monetary terms, what was the homesteaders' pain and suffering worth? How about a class-action lawsuit, on behalf of family members today, who possess records of just how much hardship was endured, based in large part, on the lies of those they trusted. Government representatives. Just to meet quota, they told the stories, these poor souls wanted to hear......of the promised land. Many didn't survive the voyage across the Atlantic, succumbing to illnesses, passed from contaminated passengers on the crossing. Steerage in many cases, was pretty much a hell on water. Then to arrive here, with next to nothing, and find out that there was even less to be pleased about, due to the shortage of provisions, the expense of life-sustaining materials, transportation, and temporary shelter. For the government to admit this was a trial, and some good came from it, well......what can an old historian say, than never trust the government to give you the straight goods, without crossed fingers........hoping you'll just take their word and disappear into the rank and file of citizenry.
     "While the older settled portions of the Province naturally demanded the largest share of attention from the Agricultural Commission, it was obviously proper that some of the newer and outlying sections should not be altogether overlooked.  Having regard to the circumstances generally under which the electoral district of Muskoka-Parry Sound had been settled, it was thought most expedient that some members of the Commission should make a personal visit to that district, and thus obtain, not only from oral testimony, but also by personal observation, a much larger amount of information than could be had by summoning a limited number of the settlers to give evidence at Toronto," notes the report.
     "The lumbering industry is carried on to a considerable extent, several townships having been placed under license from 1871 up to the present time. A large proportion of the settlers have been, as may be supposed, persons without means or with very little means indeed. The Commissioners remark upon this fact, and point out that the general effect of the Free Grant policy has necessarily been to people Muskoka to a very great extent in the way least likely, early, to show large results. The country is densely wooded; consequently, every foot of cultivable ground has had to be cleared with the axe; and, but for the lumbering industry, already referred to, not a few of the settlers would have found subsistence impossible. Having regard in fact, to the nature of the country, and the class to which the majority of the settlers belong, the progress made has been not only satisfactory but even, in some respects, surprising. The district is traversed by bands of Laurentian rock, and the cultivable area is thereby considerably broken up." Which means a thin soil on top of rock.
     The report was published in 1881. The homesteaders needed their help and guidance in the 1860's. It took decades to decide to investigate the situation in Muskoka and Parry Sound, and even then, it wasn't much more than cursory, like a barber giving a basic trim. By the 1880's, much of the carnage to the pioneers had already been experienced, and the graves long grown-over, by time there was any attention to their plight.
    Just so you know, I am the only historian in this region, to my knowledge, to place a huge weight on this report, to explain why homesteaders to this region, suffered so greatly. And our family was amongst those first settlers, in the Ufford, Three Mile Lake area of the present Township of Muskoka Lakes, who came to Canada, because of the free land grants' promotion of a better life in a new land. They survived and prospered, the result of back-breaking labor and fierce determination to succeed. Many of their neighbors didn't fare quite so well. A substantial number simply succumbed to a lifestyle they were not accustomed, and definitely not prepared.
     So what's my point. Well, as we all enjoy the exceptional and abundant recreations of Muskoka in this new century, and occasionally complain about taxes, inconveniences, things and options we don't have here.....like they have in the city......maybe a little reflection on the way it was......might be insightfully refreshing; and validate the hard work and sacrifice those folks made for us, so that we could enjoy the modern version of a wild frontier, they found so painfully discouraging in pioneer Canada. Should you be out for a countryside hike, and come upon, all of a sudden, a rectangular depression in the ground, the size of a coffin, well, offer a little thanks to the pioneer who gave up his life to make a better one for his or her family.......and ultimately the survivors of those rigors.....us!
     Thanks for joining today's blog. Please visit again soon. And thanks so much for helping me achieve this little goal of hitting 20,000 views. I've got some good stuff for you, coming up.