Part Two - Icelandic Community in Muskoka

PART TWO - THE ICELANDIC COMMUNITY IN HEKKLA, MUSKOKA

FROM STEERAGE TO HOMESTEAD

     VERY FEW OF US KNOW THAT THERE IS A COMMUNITY NAMED HEKKLA, IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. FEWER KNOW THAT IT WAS NAMED BY ITS ICELANDIC SETTLERS, AFTER A VOLCANO IN THEIR HOMELAND. IT WAS IN THE 1870'S, THAT CANADIAN GOVERNMENT LAND AGENTS, BESTOWED RIGOROUS AND UNRELENTING PROMOTION TO THE POOR AND DESTITUTE IN MANY EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, ABOUT GENEROUS HOMESTEAD LAND GRANTS AVAILABLE IN ONTARIO, (SPECIFICALLY MUSKOKA). THE CAMPAIGN FOR SETTLERS, CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF THE ICELANDERS. MANY WHO LOOKED AT THE NEW LAND AS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO ESCAPE THE LIMITATIONS OF THEIR OWN NATIONAL AND PERSONAL ECONOMIES. THE HOMESTEAD OPPORTUNITIES WERE LESS THAN ACCURATE, AS THE ICELANDERS WOULD FIND OUT TOO LATE ON THEIR JOURNEY TO PARADISE. IT SHOULD BE NOTED AS WELL, THAT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, KNEW CERTAIN CULTURES WOULD OPT TO SETTLE TOGETHER, AS IS EVIDENCED ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND THE ICELANDERS FELL INTO THIS GROUPING. THEY DID STAY TOGETHER, AND BUILD THEIR COMMUNITIES, AS WAS THE CASE, FOR EXAMPLE, IN GIMLI, MANITOBA, A WELL KNOWN AND HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL ICELANDIC-CANADIAN COMMUNITY.

THE SETTLERS' GUIDE BOOK

     On February 21st, 1871, two years before a group of Icelanders landed in the hinterland of Muskoka, author-historian Thomas McMurray, published an account of the rough-hewn and largely wild region. Entitled the "History of the Early Settlement of Muskoka," the author included the following information, aimed at both potential settlers and investors. The particular passage, most appropriate to the subject matter of this story, falls under the heading "A Home in the Wild Woods," and puts expectations and reality into clear but entirely biased perspective. Somewhat stark and frightening, Mr. McMurray does offer some encouragement to the pioneer but not without a word to the wise. In short, the going was to be tragically difficult; complicated by the harsh environment and the immediate survival requirements faced by each new arrival on the Ontario frontier. In the words of the 1871  historian and publisher, the year's potential in Muskoka is explored, analyzed, yet promoted as a substantially rewarding investment under the most embellished circumstances. There should have been dire warnings included, but as McMurray had a vested interest in both selling books, and as a businessman in Muskoka, the warnings, if there were any of note, were weak and mostly just casual advisories.......as what a parent might say to a child going on a first camping trip. Be careful out there. In the case of the  settlers, the advisories weren't enough, to discourage those who should have never attempted building a home in the wild woods.
     "Having made up your minds to take advantage of the Free Land Grants of land, (in Muskoka), lose not time but proceed without delay. We have known some who, on their arrival, frittered away their means and time in cities, and then, when their money was all gone, would make for the bush. (Instead, McMurray wanted the money spent in Muskoka instead) Shun such folly and do not delay a day; remember, time is money, and you will require every shilling you have to enable you to clear your farm and to keep you till you raise some crops, so do not waste a penny. On your arrival procure lists of the unoccupied lots and make a thorough examination of the land before locating; this is of great importance; your choice is for life and your success or otherwise depends to a great extent upon the choice you make. There is an abundance of good land to choose from. Some take almost the first lot they see, without proper examination, and after a time get discouraged. The plan is to take time, in the first instance, and make a wise selection, then begin and work with a will."
     He writes, "The class of settlers best adapted for the country are strong able men who will not be discouraged at every little incident they meet; men who have both vigour and courage to grapple with and overcome difficulties; men who are willing to live bare, work hard and put up with many inconveniences for a few years. At the same time it must be observed that these have not yet and humanely speaking, never will be, such hardships encountered in this settlement as they have been in many others. There is the good colonization road, the many mills and stores, and there is employment to be got at good wages. There are great advantages; still, there is the land to clear and fence, houses and barns to build, and roads to make, and any one coming here expecting to find all the conveniences of an old settlement will be disappointed." McMurray knows what the truth is, but fails to make it as clear as he could have, that those settlers without a background in agriculture, should stay away from the frontier lifestyle. As far as jobs? The author takes great liberties, and was wrong to have made this claim.
     He goes on to suggest, "Those on the other hand, who are willing to economize and work hard for a few years, may expect to see their labour crowned with success, and to obtain and enjoy all the comforts of life in houses of their own. Many have come here with only a few dollars and have got on wonderfully, but not without losing valuable time while working from home. A single man, or one with a very small family, might make a commencement with very little means. But to get oxen, a cow, feed, seed, and provisions, one would require to have something like five hundred dollars, with which properly managed he will have every prospect of success. Many however, have gone into the woods with only an axe and a will to use it and have been quite successful. In a new settlement there are always persons willing to sell out for the purpose of raising a little money to enable them to make a better start on another lot, and generally it will be best for those who have sufficient means and not much experience to buy some partly improved place. Lots with from 10 to 20 acres cleared may be got from three hundred to one thousand dollars according to quality of land and situation. In some localities lots with a few acres cleared can be obtained for less. Men thinking of coming into the bush should consider well before making a move. If they can do as well elsewhere they should not come here; similarly those who can benefit themselves by leaving should lose no time in doing so. There may be some here who should never have come; but there are many who are not here who should be here."
     Noted Muskoka History, Robert J. Boyer, in his book entitled, "A Good Town Grew Here," wrote the following statement to clear misconceptions about settlement and economic investment in the District:
     "There are those who seek to understand the economic background of Bracebridge and Muskoka and often they bring their study the thought that as elsewhere agriculture must be the mainstay of settlement and development. It is the fact that Muskoka was included with the southern parts of Ontario in messages sent in the 1860's and 1870's, to prospective immigrants from the British Isles, advising of opportunities in this part of the world. Authorities who co-operated in offering a better way of life for the impoverished or the adventurous across the Atlantic, did well to point out that farming could be very successful in this province, and legislative action was taken to make land available for new settlers by means of free or nearly free grants. Muskoka was included in this. The government desired to extend the frontier farther north. The response was greater in Muskoka, however, than circumstances warranted - there was a limited amount of tillable land. So it was that disappointed ones, and others who found it difficult to settle here, faced with intensive and often unrewarding effort, moved elsewhere."
     In a much later Agricultural Report, in the 1880's, it is clearly stated, that the settlement program for the Muskoka lakeland, had worked well in the 1860's and 1870's, and many of the pioneers had created successful homesteads, and were able to eke out comfortable livings, however meagre that survival had been for those trial decades. When I suggest "trial", this is exactly what the Commission's Report noted, that basically, the experiment in land settlement had worked. If settlers could be even modestly successful, building farmsteads on the rugged and bog-filled topography of Muskoka, with its lack of tillable land, then even lesser quality land in the north, could be settled in much the same fashion. Basically the co-operation of the governments, set this settlement project-up, to measure success and failure, and knowing that there were many thousands of acres of unsuitable land, they wanted developed in the future........in order to populate the country sea to sea. Which would one day soon, of course, warrant a transcontinental railway, and the claim of the all the land to the west coast, in case the Americans decided to take a run at the unclaimed lands to the north.
     How many deceased settlers, directly related to the bad gamble, of homesteading in a tough environs, was acceptable to the government.....which had, in the first place, embellished the quality of the land, and opportunities available to courageous settlers, wishing to take up free land grants. A lot did perish. Many fled, after a few years of struggle. Some engaged in the first round of property speculation, selling off their cleared land for a thin profit......and later, lakefront, once there were steamships operating on the Muskoka Lakes.
    The Icelanders found out about these shortfalls in promises, in the early 1870's, and it added considerable weight to the burden they were already forced to carry. Just consider, for a moment, the fact, that because of their northerly situation, and the fact they have volcanic eruptions (ongoing today) regularly, there is little comparison between the trees in their homeland, and what they found in the region of North Cardwell, where trees, rock and bogs made up most of the visual landscape. They weren't known as loggers, but they were forced to adapt to the prevailing conditions. In fact, to help themselves financially, they agreed to work with the provincial authority, to clear paths for new colonization roadways.
     Historian George Hutcheson, in his book, "Head and Tales," wrote a brief profile of those first years opening up the district:
     "Until about the middle of the 19th century, Muskoka might well be called a 'no man's land,' abounding in game and fur bearing animals; the hunting ground of roving Indians; a land of wild beauty awaiting the coming of the white man. Up to this time (1860's), the only white influence was the occasional trading posts, the most important of which was near the mouth of the Muskoka River at Lake Muskoka (about five miles below Bracebridge). What a glowing picture was painted by the government to entice prospective settlers to that part of Ontario. They were led to believe that here was rich farming land, covered with virgin forest, only waiting to be cleared and planted to yield a bountiful harvest. There was a virgin forest all right, but mostly it was covered by rocks and stones, and to clear, and plow even a small plot, entailed hours and hours of patient back-bearing labour. But they came by the hundreds, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, some for adventure, but the majority to make homes for themselves. Many of them would pick out a location on the map, only to find after almost insuperable hardships, on reaching the places, that it was nothing more than a rock pile. Many stone fences still attest to the hard work and bitter disappointment that must have been the lot of many of the settlers in trying to carve out a home in the wilderness."
     In tomorrow's blog, I will invite you back with me, to re-visit the arrival of the Icelandic settlers, in the hamlet of Rosseau, in the early 1870's, (fall of the year) in preparation for their trek back to settlement land in North Cardwell.......which they would eventually name after the volcano, Hekkla. I'm still not sure whether they intended this name to be complimentary, legendary, or because it reminded them of the barren, foreboding topography of the volcano in their homeland. Please join me. If you're interested in finding out, just how difficult it was, to be a homesteader in this beautiful district......(the one we enjoy today), during this free land grants period......don't miss chapter three. You can archive back for the previous chapter.