A TRUE MEASURE OF THANKSGIVING IN 1860'S MIUSKOKA - AND THE SAVING GRACE OF THAT FRESH BAKED BREAD

The Community of Raymond – Like a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting the beautiful homestead in the Community of Raymond North of Bracebridge and East of Huntsville provides a picturesque rural scene on a Canadian Thanksgiving weekend in Muskoka. (Photo By Fred Schulz)

THE HARVEST.....AND THE FOLK TALE OF A MUSKOKA THANKSGIVING LONG, LONG AGO

A DANGEROUS AND HISTORIC CANOE TRAVERSE FROM UFFORD TO GRAVENHURST

    WE HAVE AN OLD ORANGE AND WHITE TOM CAT, NAMED "BUDDY," THAT WE RESCUED ELEVEN YEARS AGO, AFTER HAVING BEEN DUMPED AS A KITTEN, IN THE BOG. IT'S NOT UNCOMMON FOR THESE NIMRODS, TO TOSS THE KITTENS OUT OF A MOVING VEHICLE, BECAUSE THEY'RE WORRIED ABOUT BEING CAUGHT. THIS MAKES THE THIRD CAT WE'VE RECOVERED IN THIS FASHION, AND IT SURE MAKES US MAD. WE'D LOVE TO CATCH THESE PEOPLE BUT THEY SPEED-OFF PRETTY QUICKLY. WE'RE JUST GLAD THE KITTENS WEREN'T SERIOUSLY INJURED.
     PRESUMABLY THOSE WHO ABANDONED HIM, FELT HE COULD SURVIVE ON THE MICE AND CHIPMUNKS, HE'D FIND DOWN IN THE BOG. WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED, PROBABLY LATER THE SAME DAY, IS THAT A HAWK WOULD HAVE FOUND HIM, OR A FOX ON THE LATE NIGHT TROT-BY BIRCH HOLLOW. WE HAVE A LOT OF CRITTERS AMBLE BY WHEN THINGS QUIET-DOWN IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD. BUDDY HAD A CHUNK OF HER TAIL MISSING, AS A KITTEN, AND HAS PERIODIC MUSCLE SPASMS THAT CAN BE DANGEROUS, IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE HOLDING HIM AT THE TIME. SO WE HAVE TO KEEP HIM AWAY FROM OUR OTHER CATS, FOR FEAR HE MIGHT HAVE SUCH A SPASM AND SERIOUSLY INJURE THEM. SO WE WALK BUDDY FREQUENTLY, ON A LEASH, AND IT'S BEEN KIND OF NEAT ACTUALLY, AS HE'S AS WELL BEHAVED AS A TRAINED DOG, AND LET'S US KNOW WHEN HE WANTS TO GO BACK HOME FOR HIS FISH DINNER. TONIGHT, SUZANNE AND I SAT OUT AND HAD OUR DINNER, OF SALMON SANDWICHES AND SOUP, AND BUDDY SHARED IN THE BOUNTY. HE LIKES MAYO. WE SAT ON THE VERANDAH LIKE THREE FAT CATS, ENJOYING A TRULY SPECTACULAR AUTUMN EVENING, LOOKING OVER BIRCH HOLLOW AND THE BOG....THINKING RESPECTFULLY, AND I THINK THE SAME GOES FOR BUDDY TOO, THAT THIS IS A PRETTY NICE WAY TO LIVE. HOW COULD YOU NOT BE THANKFUL ABOUT SUCH A NICE PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK. THE GREAT PART.....WE ONLY HAD TO DRIVE FIVE BLOCKS FROM WORK TO HOME. NEWS OF HUGE LINE-UPS ON HIGHWAY ELEVEN, MAKES US CRINGE. WE'VE NEVER MET ONE TRAFFIC JAM YET, EXCEPT FOR THE TIME I HAD TO STOP TO LET THE FOUR DEER CROSS THE ROAD.
     FOR THIS THANKSGIVING WEEKEND, IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE CELEBRATING IT, IN THE BOSUM OF OUR BEAUTIFUL, VIVIDLY COLORED DISTRICT, (OR IF YOU ARE SOMEWHERE ELSE, AND WISH TO BE HERE), I FOUND ANOTHER PRECIOUS FOLK TALE, DOCUMENTED BY FAMILY HISTORIAN, BERT SHEA, IN HIS BOOK, "HISTORY OF THE SHEAS; BIRTH OF A TOWNSHIP." IT'S A DANDY, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, AND NOT JUST BECAUSE BERT WAS SUZANNE'S UNCLE. THE MAN WAS A FABULOUS STORY-TELLER AND HISTORIAN, BUT HE WAS MOST DEFINITELY UNDER-RECOGNIZED FOR HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THESE STORIES WOULD HAVE BEEN LOST WITHOUT HIS DUE DILIGENCE. THINK ABOUT WHAT HAS BEEN LOST IN YOUR OWN FAMILY TREE, OF THOSE STORIES YOU WOULD WANT TO KNOW TODAY....IF YOU HAD THE MAGIC OF INSTANT REPLAY.
     I WANTED TO SHARE THIS LITTLE KNOWN STORY, BECAUSE I FIND IT, AS A LONG TIME REGIONAL HISTORIAN MYSELF, TO BE A MUCH CLEARER REFLECTION OF THOSE PRECARIOUS DAYS LIVING ON MODEST FARMLAND, CARVED OUT OF THE BUSH, WITH LITTLE MONEY, FEW RESOURCES, AND HAVING TO RELY ON KEEN, UNFALTERING SURVIVAL SKILLS, EVERY DAY OF HOMESTEAD EXISTENCE. UNLESS YOU VISIT OUR LOCAL LIBRARIES, AND HAVE THE TIME TO SIT IN THE READING AREA, WITH ONE OF TWO BOOKS WRITTEN BY BERT SHEA, (BECAUSE YOU CAN'T CHECK THEM OUT), I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO READ ABOUT A PIONEER HARVEST MANY AUTUMNS AGO; AND THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY TIMES, AROUND THE HARVEST TABLE, TO HEAL THE PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL WOUNDS, OF ENDURING SUCH CEASELESS HARDSHIPS.
     THE SECTION, OF WHICH I AM REFERRING, IS ENTITLED SIMPLY, "THE HARVEST." AS FOR ITS ACCURACY, THIS IS HARD TO DETERMINE. BUT AS FOLK TALES GO, THE REAL IMPORTANCE IS THAT IT SPINS A POIGNANT STORY, ABOUT A TIME WHEN EVERYTHING IN THIS DISTRICT, WAS IN EITHER A PRIMAL STATE, AS WITH THE NATURAL SURROUNDINGS, OR WITHIN ITS HUMAN POPULATION; THE ARRIVAL OF SETTLERS, GREEN IN THE PURSUIT OF SURVIVAL-AGRICULTURE, WHO HAD THE UNENVIABLE TASK OF TRYING TO EKE OUT SUSTENANCE ON A WEE PATCH OF CLEARED GROUND, IN CONSTANT FEAR OF A POTENTIAL SHORTAGE FOR THE VERY NEXT WINTER. FEAR SEEMED TO MAKE THIS CLASS OF SETTLER EVEN STRONGER. AS FOR THE SHEA AND VEITCH FAMILIES, OF WHICH THERE WERE MARRIAGES BETWEEN THE FAMILIES, THE EVIDENCE OF THEIR WILL TO PREVAIL OVER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, IS STILL IN EVIDENCE, AS OUR REGION AND BEYOND HAVE MANY FAMILY MEMBERS, WHO CAN RIGHTFULLY CLAIM THAT THEIR ROOTS ARE DEEP IN THAT UFFORD, THREE MILE LAKE AREA, OF THE PRESENT TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES.
     NOW IN THE WORDS OF BERT SHEA, A BELATED THANKSGIVING MESSAGE....AND MAYBE A LITTLE ADVICE FROM THE PAST, ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE TRUE "MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE," AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING....IN ITS PUREST INTERPRETATION:
     "EVERY MEMBER OF THE SHEA FAMILY REALIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF PASSING TIME; SO MANY THINGS TO DO WHILE THE WARM SEASON LASTED. THE SUMMER WAS NOT AN IDLE ONE. JOHN LILY SHEA AND WILLIAM SHEA, HAD MADE A CANOE EACH. SUSANAH HAD MADE SEVERAL TRIPS TO SOUTH FALLS FOR THE MAIL AND TO POST LETTERS. (A LONG TRAVERSE BY THE WAY) THE GARDEN SEEDS THAT HAD BEEN SOWN IN NEW LAND BY SHOWERS AND SUN, HAD GROWN IN ABUNDANCE. BY MID-AUGUST, THE CORN STOOD TALL AND LOADED WITH GOLDEN EARS RIPENING IN THE HOT AUGUST SUN. THE BUCKWHEAT WAS COMING IN, THE WHEAT HAD FOUND THE HIGH FALLOW LAND AN IDEAL PLACE TO ROOT AND THE OPENING IN THE BUSH FOR THE SUMMER SUN TO POUR IN, AND THE REFRESHING SHOWERS; THERE WAS NO QUESTION AS TO QUANTITY AND QUALITY WHEN IN AUGUST STILL AIRS, THE RANK GOLDEN HEADS STOOD HARDENING IN THE SUN.
     "AND ALL ABOUT THE PLOT, THE CHIRP OF THE CHIPMUNKS WAS HEARD AS HE STROVE TO HARVEST AS MUCH OF THE NEW GROWN FOOD; THOUGH STRANGE TO HIM, HE KNEW IT WOULD BE GRAND FOR HIS WINTER STORE. THE RACCOON WOULD TAKE A SHARE OF THE GOLDEN CORN, WHOSE DRY LEAVES RUSTLED IN THE HARVEST MOONLIGHT, AS HE TORE OPEN THE HUSKS AND HELPED HIMSELF TO THE GOLDEN GRAIN, BUT PLUNDERING THE PRECIOUS CROP COULD NOT BE TOLERATED. NEEDLESS TO SAY, JOHN LILY'S BIG HOUND PLAYED HAVOC WITH THE DESTRUCTIVE RACCOONS. BUT BETTER STILL, GRANDADDY PICKED THE CORN, STRIPPED BACK THE HUSKS, BRADED THE EARS TOGETHER IN LONG STRINGS, AND HUNG THEM ON OAK PINS DRIVEN INTO THE SHANTY WALL TO DRY AND HARDEN THE GOLDEN GRAIN. THE WHEAT AND BUCKWHEAT HE CUT WITH HIS NEW SICKLE BOUND INTO SHEAVES, STOOKED AND CAPPED TO CURE IN THE HARVEST SUN, AMONG THE STUMPS AND CHARRED LOGS. THE DAYS PASSED AND WHEN THE PLUMP KERNELS HAD DRIED AND WOULD SEPARATE FROM THE SHUCK, TWAS TIME TO THRESH.
    BERT SHEA WRITES THAT, "AND HERE TO SERVE THE PURPOSE, THE INDIANS (PEOPLE OF THE FIRST NATIONS), HAD USED ON SUCH OCCASIONS, TANNED MOOSE OR DEER HIDES SEWN TOGETHER. BUT TO SERVE HIS PURPOSE GRANDADDY SHEA BROUGHT OUT OF THE SHANTY A GOOD WOOL BLANKET AND STRETCHED IT OUT ON THE LEVEL GROUND, AND PLACED THE FIRST SHEAF OF WHEAT ON IT, AND WITH A GOOD STIFF HARDWOOD STICK, ABOUT TWO FEET LONG, HE BEGAN THE OPERATION OF THRASHING, POUNDING TILL THE HEADS WERE BROKEN UP AND THE GRAIN HAD BEEN SHELLED; THEN ANOTHER AND ANOTHER SHEAF TILL THE GOLDEN GRAIN LEFT THE STRAW AND SUFFICIENT WHEAT WAS IN THE BLANKET TO WARRANT ITS EMPTYING. WITH THE HELP OF GRANNY SHEA, THEY TOOK THE BLANKET BY THE FOUR CORNERS, AND WITH CARE, POURED THE WHEAT FROM ONE END INTO A CONTAINER, WHILE IN THE PROCESS OF POURING, THE WIND BLEW AWAY THE CHAFF. THIS PROCESS AND OPERATION CONTINUED FOR HOURS. THE THRESHED WHEAT GREW FROM QUARTS TO BUSHELS AND TO BAGS TILL THE THRESHING WAS OVER AND THE STEADY THUMP, THUMP OF THE OPERATION DIED AWAY AND THE BAGS WERE TIED UP WITH BUCK SKIN STRINGS, OR STRINGS FROM THE BACK OF THE MOOSE WOOD, SET INSIDE THE SHANTY, READY TO BE TAKEN TO THE MILL. AT THAT DATE, THIS OPERATION COULD BE PAID FOR BY FLOUR TAKEN FROM THE GRIST AND WAS CALLED TOLL, IF ACCORDING TO YOUR WISHES, OR YOUR CIRCUMSTANCE, YOU DESIRED TO PAY THAT WAY. NEEDLESS TO SAY, IN A NEW COUNTRY, MORE PAID WITH TOLL THAN WITH CASH MONEY, WHEN THESE STOCKS COULD BE REPLENISHED. FLOUR RECEIVED AS TOLL BY THE MILLER, FOR HIS WORK, COULD BE RESOLD BY THE GOOD MILLER TO THOSE WHO HAD NO WHEAT OR MONEY TO BUY.
     "THERE WAS A READY MARKET FOR FLOUR IN A NEW COUNTRY. IT WAS ABOUT THE FIRST OF OCTOBER WHEN THE BAGS OF WHEAT WERE READY TO BE TAKEN TO THE GRIST MILL. IT WAS WITH PRIDE GRANNY AND GRANDDADDY SHEA LOOKED ON THESE TWO ABLE BODIED SONS, JOHN LILY AND WILLIAM, WITH ADMIRATION, AS THEY SHOULDERED THE HEAVY BAGS OF WHEAT, AND MADE THEIR WAY TO THE BEACH ON LOT 16, CON. 6, THE CANOE LANDING. THEY EVEN PACKED IF NECESSITY CALLED, BUT TO THEM PACKING WOULD BE PART OF THE WORK; THEY HAD NO INTENTION OF CARRYING A PACK OF WHEAT FROM WATT TO GRAVENHURST, OR AT THAT DATE, TO WASHAGO AND TO CARRY IT BACK. TO GO BY WATER THERE WOULD BE TWO PORTAGES OUT OF THREE MILE LAKE, OVER THE INDIAN TRAIL INTO LAKE ROSSEAU AT PORTAGE BAY, AND ANOTHER PORTAGE AT THE INDIAN RIVER RAPIDS AT PORT CARLING; BUT FOR THE MILES OF WATER THEY HAD PROVIDED TWO NEW CANOES, AND PADDLES MADE FROM SECOND GROWTH MAPLE, SPLIT THIN AS KNIFE BLADES AND STRONG. WITH THE TRIP BEFORE THEM, THE TWO BROTHERS MADE THEIR WAY TO THE LAKE, LOADED THEIR WHEAT INTO THE CANOES AND PUSHED OFF THE BEACH AND FROM THE SHORE OF LOT 16, CON.6. THE FIRST WHEAT FROM THE TOWNSHIP OF WATT WAS ON ITS WAY TO GRAVENHURST BY CANOE AND PADDLE, TO BE MADE INTO FLOUR BORNE OVER THE WATERS OF MUSKOKA LAKES BY THE YOUNG SHEAS, JOHN LILY, AND WILLIAM, LEANING SLIGHTLY FORWARD TO THE PADDLE WITH LONG STEADY STROKES.
     "GUN LAYING BEFORE HIM IN THE CANOE, THEY SET THEIR COURSE FOR PORTAGE BAY, LOT 20, CON. 6 AND VIA THE INDIAN TRAIL TO LAKE ROSSEAU. ACCORDING TO MY INFORMATION, THIS WAS A TRIP, WHEN HAULING TO GRAVENHURST, THAT TOOK THREE DAYS AND ACCORDING TO FIRST HAND INFORMATION, FEW WERE THEY OF THE PIONEERS, THOUGH COURAGEOUS, WERE THEY WHO EVER TOOK THE TRIP. (DROWNING MISHAPS WERE COMMON IN THOSE DAYS) I DO KNOW THAT SOME HAVE JOURNEYED WITH THEM, BUT NOT TO ANY EXTENT. A COURAGEOUS OLD PIONEER SAID IN HIS OLD AGE, WHILE REMINISCING ON THE PAST, SPEAKING OF THE TRIP HE MADE WITH JOHN AND WILLIAM, TO GRAVENHURST WITH WHEAT, SAID HE, 'ONE TRIP LIKE THAT WAS ENOUGH FOR ME. CONSCIENCE. I WASN'T AFRAID, BUT I WAS NO WHITE WATER MAN.' SO ON THIS PARTICULAR TRIP THEY PADDLED ON, AT DINNER, TO DINE ON DRIED VENISON. GRANNY'S SPECIAL CARRIED WITH THEM FOR EMERGENCIES, OR FROM THE GUN THAT WAS ALWAYS AT HAND TO BRING A PARTRIDGE FOR THEIR EVENING MEALS. AS THEY CAMPED FOR THE NIGHT ON THE SHELTERED SIDE OF SOME ISLAND, THE DAYS SPEED ON AND IN THE EVENING LIGHT ON THE GREAT WATERS OF GREEN BAY, TWO OBJECTS WERE TO BE SEEN STEADILY MOVING UP THE BAY, WITH A SURGE OF THANKFULNESS, JAMES SHEA SAW HIS TWO YOUNG SONS PADDLING THEIR PRECIOUS CARGO UP THE BAY TO THEIR LANDING. THEIR YOUNG EYES HAD CAUGHT SIGHT OF THEIR FATHER, AS HE STOOD TO SCAN THE WATERS OF THE BAY BY THE SETTING SUN; THEY TOO FELT THE JOY OF RETURNING HOME WITH FLOUR FOR BREAD, FOR THEIR FATHER TO FEED HIS FAMILY THROUGH THE LONG HARD WINTER WHICH WAS RAPIDLY APPROACHING. COULD THE RETURN OF FATHER JACOB'S SONS FROM EGYPT WITH CORN HAVE MEANT MORE TO HIM?"
     IN SEVERAL VERSES, FOLLOWING THIS SECTION OF THE TEXT, BERT SHEA OFFERS THE POEM, "ALONG THE WAY," ABOUT THESE MISSIONS THAT MEANT EVERYTHING TO SURVIVAL IN THE WILDS:
     "I SAW THE SUMMER WAINING LATE, I SAW THE SUNLIGHT GLISTEN ON THE LAKE, I SAW THE EVENING AFTER GLOW, THE SUN KISS DEEP THE WATERS OF THE LAKE. I FELT THE QUIET SETTLE IN OF NIGHT, THE TWILIGHT LAKE OR EVENING'S SPLENDOR GLOW, AND ERASE THE COLOURED RUGGED SHORE, WHOSE HEIGHTS STOOD DEEPLY MIRRORED IN THE LAKE. I FELT THE NIGHT SO SETTLE ALL AROUND, THE DARK OF AIR AND SKY AND GROUND, AND THEN THE JEWELS APPEARED ABOVE, AND THEN IN AWE, I THOUGHT OF HOME AND THEM I LOVED. AND AS MY FEET TROD O'R THE TURF, UNCERTAIN STEPS UNEVEN EARTH, I HEARD THE VOICES OF NIGHT AROUND, OF WILD BIRDS BY MY FOOTSTEPS PUT TO FLIGHT. AND THEN I SAW THE LIGHT FROM WINDOW CLEAR, MY HOME AND LOVED ONES THERE SO DEAR, AWAITING FROM MY BURDEN TO PARTAKE, OF FOOD OUR SUPPER FRESH TO BAKE. THE PERSPIRATION STOOD UPON MY BROW, MY BODY WEARY FROM THE HEAVY LOAD, BUT A VOICE OF WELCOME LOUD AND CLEAR, MY FAITHFUL DO ANNOUNCED MY COMING NEAR."
     FROM WATT, AND THREE MILE LAKE BY CANOE, OVER THOSE LONG AND EXHAUSTING PORTAGES, WITH A HEAVY BURDEN OF WHEAT TO CARRY ON THEIR BACKS, WOULD HAVE BEEN A BRUTAL AND DANGEROUS TASK TO LIFE AND LIMB. NOT TO MENTION THE PERILS OF WEATHER AND WIND, AND OF COURSE, WHITE WATER IN CERTAIN LOCATIONS. BUT IT IS WHAT HAD TO BE DONE, OVER MANY YEARS, IN THOSE EARLY DAYS OF SETTLEMENT (1860'S), IN ORDER TO REMAIN ON THESE ISOLATED H0MESTEADS. AH, THE MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE THEN......QUITE A BIT DIFFERENT THAN WHAT PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGNS ADVERTISE TODAY AS THE LUXURIOUS "MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE." MY WIFE CRINGES AND COMPLAINS, EVERY TIME SHE SEES SUCH A REFERENCE.
     THE IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHER FRED SCHULZ, HAS BEEN DUTIFULLY CAPTURING, ON HIS NUMEROUS DAY-TRIPS THROUGH THE REGION, THIS FALL, ARE HISTORIC AND NOSTALGIC REMINDERS OF OUR PIONEERING PAST.....POWERFUL IMAGES OF MISTY SHROUDED, ENCHANTED LANDSCAPES, PAINTED WITH SUCH AMAZING AUTUMN COLORS; THE HAUNTING RUINS OF OLD BARNS, FALLEN DRIVE SHEDS AND NEGLECTED COUNTRY HOMES, YET CLOSE BY, TUCKED INTO THE FORESTED LANDSCAPE, THE WARM GRACE AND HERITAGE PATINA, OF OUR OLDEST CHURCHES, STILL IN USE BY THEIR FAITHFUL CONGREGATIONS. IT'S A FITTING TRIBUTE TO THE WAY WE BEGAN IN THIS DISTRICT.....BEFORE THE FIRST STEAMSHIP PLIED LAKE MUSKOKA; BEFORE THE FIRST STEAM WHISTLE, AND KEROSENE LAMP, OF THE NORTHERN TRAIN, ILLUMINATED IN MECHANICAL THUNDER, THROUGH THE DARK PINE FORESTS.
     THANKS FOR VISITING TODAY'S BLOG. GOD BLESS AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING, TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.  LOTS MORE TO COME. WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND IT'S SHAPING UP TO BE IN MUSKOKA. IF YOU CAN'T BE HERE, WELL, YOU CAN LIVE VICARIOUSLY THROUGH THIS BLOG.....AND YOU MAY EVEN SENSE THE AROMA OF TURKEY, PUMPKIN PIE, A SNAPPING CEDAR FIRE, AND COAL OIL, AS THE BIRCH HOLLOW LAMPS ARE ILLUMINATED....AS IS OUR TRADITION. SEE YOU ALL AGAIN SOON.