Gravenhurst, Muskoka; Dinner At Raymond Hall

Pot Luck Dinners in Muskoka – A Big Part of the pre-Christmas Season

 

Small Community Pot Luck Dinners still play an important part of the pre-Christmas Season in Muskoka and on almost every Saturday night prior to the Christmas Season in Muskoka, you’ll find a small rural community hall filled to capacity with the neighbourhood folks enjoying a delicious Pot Luck Supper.    Most of the Christmas themed dinners have a fundraising element where funds are collected for the local food banks or Salvation Army Churches.    This pot luck dinner took place at the Raymond Hall just outside of Utterson, Muskoka on Saturday, November 23rd.   It’s like stepping back in time to a Christmas past with all the friendly folks from the community. Fred Schulz Photo

COMMUNITY GET-TOGETHERS TO CELEBRATE THE CHRISTMAS SEASON - THE REAL MUSKOKA YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN

LEAVE YOUR POLITICS AT THE DOOR

     FROM A PURELY FOLK-HISTORY PERSPECTIVE, I STILL VERY MUCH, LOOK TO THE RURAL VILLAGES, HAMLETS AND CROSSROAD'S SETTLEMENTS, ESTABLISHED AS FAR BACK AS THE 1860'S, TO ANSWER MY OWN QUESTION, ABOUT THE TRADITIONAL CHARACTER OF THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. I'M SORRY TO SAY THIS, BUT I AM FINDING THE URBAN AREAS THESE DAYS, FAR TOO POLITICAL AND URBAN-ARROGANT, FOR THEIR OWN GOOD. I'M NOT SURE THEY KNOW HOW THEY COME ACROSS, BUT WHEN POLITICIANS ATTEND TOWN GALAS, AS REPRESENTATIVES, NOT AS COMMONERS, THERE'S A CORRESPONDING AIR OF "I'M MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU." I DETEST THAT. YOU WON'T FIND ME AT THE "MAYOR'S BALL," AND  I WAS ABLE TO DOGE EVERY ONE OF THEM, WHEN I WAS A REPORTER. I LIKED TO WORK THE "HINTERLAND BEAT" INSTEAD.

     I WRITE THIS, AS MY OPINION ONLY. I FIND FEW PARALLELS IN ATTITUDE, EXCEPT WITH THE CONSTITUENTS THEMSELVES, AS COMPARED TO WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IN BRACEBRIDGE. I CAN ONLY GO BACK TO THE LATE 1980'S, TO COMPARE GRAVENHURST, AND I FIND IT HAS EXPERIENCED THE MOST SEVERE CHANGE IN ATTITUDE.  I THINK IT IS THE MOST POLITICAL OF THE THREE TOWNS, AND THERE'S AN ADVERSARIAL EDGE TO SO MUCH THESE DAYS, THAT I FIND IT TOTALLY UNCHARACTERISTIC, FROM ITS HERITAGE CHRONICLE. WHAT IS STILL A SMALL TOWN, IS BIG TOWN POLITICS, AND IT'S HARD TO ESCAPE THE FEELING, YOU'RE BEING SIZED-UP AS A POLITICAL OPPORTUNITY, TO BE CULTIVATED, AND HARVESTED INTO A FUTURE VOTE. MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT DOESN'T NEED TO BE IN OUR FACES ALL OF THE TIME. ESPECIALLY, AT A FESTIVE, SEASONAL CELEBRATION OF THE GOOD LIFE HERE IN MUSKOKA.

     WHEN I'M LOOKING TO FIND TRADITIONAL ACTIVITIES, ESPECIALLY AT THIS TIME OF YEAR, IT'S THE RURAL AREA OF OUR REGION, THAT HAS MAINTAINED MOST OF WHAT I CHERISH AS "MUSKOKAN," AND ENJOYABLY SO!  SUZANNE WHO GREW UP IN THE LAKE ROSSEAU COMMUNITY, OF WINDERMERE, REMEMBERS THE FUN OF HELPING OUT AT THE COMMUNITY SUPPERS, AT THE UNITED CHURCH, AT THANKSGIVING, AND AT THE WOMEN'S INSTITUTE, OR UNITED CHURCH WOMEN'S "CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON TEA" SOCIALS; AND THEN THERE WAS THE CHRISTMAS CONCERT AT THE UNITED CHURCH TO WELCOME THE FESTIVE SEASON. SHE REMEMBERS THAT, "IT WAS ALWAYS A LOT OF FUN GET TOGETHER FOR THESE EVENTS, AND THE FOOD WAS AMAZING. THERE WERE SO MANY FABULOUS COOKS IN THOSE VOLUNTEER BRIGADES. IT WAS A TIGHT-KNIT COMMUNITY, AND WHEN THERE WAS A NEED, THERE WAS ALWAYS A WILLING GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS TO CHIP-IN. WHEN I THINK BACK TO THOSE DAYS, IT JUST SEEMS LIKE ANCIENT HISTORY NOW. I MISS THEM VERY MUCH. IT WAS HARD WORK MAKING IT ALL COME TOGETHER, BUT IT WAS A POWERFUL SENSE OF COMMUNITY; I REALIZE THAT MORE NOW, THAN I DID THEN, BECAUSE IT'S BEEN MANY YEARS SINCE I'VE LIVED THERE….AND MY REFLECTIONS ACTUALLY ARE GROING STRONGER….MUCH AS IF I COULD WALK RIGHT BACK INTO THAT KITCHEN, AND START SERVING DINNERS LIKE I DID SO MANY TIMES…..TO FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS.  I LIKE LIVING IN A LARGER TOWN, BUT I WILL NEVER FORGET THE NEIGHBORLINESS THAT WAS PRETTY MUCH A LIFESTYLE, GROWING UP IN A SMALL COMMUNITY. WE SHARED A LOT. AND THEY SHARED BACK. TODAY, NO ONE EVER SHOWS UP AT OUR DOOR, ASKING TO BORROW A CUP OF SUGAR, OR FLOUR. IN THE OLD DAYS, FRIENDS SEEMED TO BE ABLE TO SMELL STILL-HOT BUTTER TARTS AND PRIDE OF ARABIA COFFEE BEING BREWED, FROM A MILE AWAY, AND NEXT THING YOU KNEW, SOMEONE WAS AT YOUR DOOR, TO TRY SOME. IT WAS JUST A CASE OF BEING SOCIABLE. NOTHING FANCY. COME US AS YOU ARE. SIT WHERE YOU CAN. TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF, AND THE HAT GOES ON THE HOOK. WHAT'S HAPPENED TO US IN THIS MODERN ERA ANYWAY. WE SEEMED TO HAVE LOST A LOT OF NEIGHBORLINESS, AT LEAST FROM WHEN I WAS GROWING UP. DID HE (TED) TELL YOU ALREADY, THAT I ATTENDED A ONE ROOM SCHOOL HOUSE IN WINDERMERE. HE TELLS THAT TO ALL OUR FRIENDS, WHO THEN FIGURE I'M ABOUT EIGHTY YEARS OLD. BUT IT'S TRUE. I WAS ONE OF THE LAST TO ATTEND. NOW ITS THE VILLAGE COMMUNITY CENTRE."

     BACK IN MY "PRESS'" DAYS, I GOT TO ATTEND HUNDREDS OF COMMUNITY SUPPERS. I WAS BROKE MOST OF THE TIME, AND THESE KIND SOULS, WHO RAN THE VILLAGE EVENTS, MOST AS FUNDRAISERS, WOULD SLIP ME A PLATE AFTER MY PHOTO-SHOOT, AND WELCOME ME TO SIT WITH THE PAYING CUSTOMERS. YOU KNOW, OF ALL THE REALLY NEAT AND NOSTALGIC COMMUNITY EVENTS I ATTENDED, AS A MEMBER OF THE MUSKOKA MEDIA, I NEVER ONCE MINDED ANY ASSIGNMENT, THROUGHOUT THE REGION, THAT INVOLVED A CHURCH GROUP, FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION, OR OTHER VILLAGE COMMITTEE, PUTTING OUT A SPREAD ON THE OLD GROANING TABLE; AND NOT JUST BECAUSE I'D GET A PORTION. MORE SO, BECAUSE AS A FLEDGLING HISTORIAN, IN THOSE DAYS, I GOT A RARE CHANCE TO SEE UP CLOSE, THE REAL PIONEER CHARACTER OF OUR MUSKOKA DISTRICT. I COULD READ ABOUT IT IN THE LOCAL HISTORY TEXTS, BUT I PREFERRED SEEING THIS LIVING HISTORY IN PERSON. THEY WEREN'T HISTORIC RE-ENACTMENTS EITHER. THE REAL MCCOY. PIES SO WILDLY DELICIOUS, I'D START CRYING WHEN IT ARRIVED, STILL STEAMING, ON MY OUTSTRETCHED PLATE. THERE'S SOMETHING SO COMFORTING, AND QUILTING IN THE CULTURAL MOSAIC, AS THESE SEASONAL COMMUNITY GET-TOGETHERS, WHERE EVERY ONE IS WELCOME. I USED TO ENJOY TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS THROUGH THE EVENING, AND IN THE AFTERNOON AT BAKE SALES, AND AT TEA SOCIABLES; AND THEY WERE ALL DELIGHTFULLY CHARACTER-FILLED,  CAPTURING THE RAW RURAL WELCOME, THE JOVIAL, GENTLENESS OF GOOD NEIGHBORS AND KIN-FOLK. IF THERE WAS POLITICAL TALK, AT THESE EVENTS, I NEVER HEARD ANY. I NEVER SAW A POMPOUS MAYORAL CANDIDATE ONCE, BEGGING FOR VOTES, WHILE GETTING A SCOOP OF DRESSING, OR A SPOON-FULL OF CRANBERRY. I NEVER HEARD ELECTED OFFICIALS EXPLAINING THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WHILE EATING PICKLES, OR GNAWING DOWN A TURKEY LEG TO THE BONE. I DIDN'T HEAR COMPLAINTS ABOUT HIGH TAXES, OR SENSE ANY POLITICAL ILL WILL, BETWEEN THE PARTY FAITHFUL. AT THESE EVENTS, THE POLITICAL ZEALOTS HAD THE MANNERS TO LEAVE THEIR STRIPES AT HOME. THESE EVENTS WERE NOT FOR STUMPING. A FEW PROBABLY HAD TO BE REMINDED OF THEIR EXCESSES, OR TOLD TO "CORK IT," BUT IN MY EXPERIENCE, COMMUNITY HARMONY CAME SHINING THROUGH, WITHOUT ANY NEED FOR SPECULATION ON THE VERY NEXT RULING PARTY. WHAT I ALWAYS SAW, WAS A GROUP OF CITIZENS WITHOUT "A BONE TO PICK," OR AN "AXE TO GRIND," AT LEAST WHEN DINNER WAS BEING SERVED, AND ENJOYED. MAYBE AFTER THE EVENT, ON THE WAY TO THEIR PARKED AUTOMOBILES, A FEW EXCHANGES BROKE OUT, ABOUT POT-HOLES, ASSESSMENT UNFAIRNESS, FENCES THAT WE TOO HIGH, WELLS TOO SHALLOW, AND EITHER TOO MUCH SAND ON THE ROAD, OR NOT ENOUGH. BUT THIS IS ONLY SPECULATION, BECAUSE ALL I SAW, AS GOD IS MY TRUSTED WITNESS, WAS GOOD HUMOR AND EXPRESSED KINDNESSES FROM GUEST TO GUEST, ALL EVENING LONG. WHAT COULD BE FINER, AND MORE HEALING, THAN A COMMUNITY SUPPER?

     HOW TRULY HEAVEN-SENT IT WAS, MY FRIENDS, TO BE STARVING, (ON A REPORTER'S WAGES), AND TO WALK INTO THOSE BEAUTIFULLY APPOINTED, COLORFUL AND CROWDED HALLS, IN THOSE HISTORIC BUILDINGS, CHURCHES AND GRAND HALLS (ON A SMALL SCALE) AND SMELL THE ROAST TURKEYS, STEAMING, RIGHT OUT OF THE OVEN, AND THEN, CEREMONIOUSLY, AND GLORIOUSLY, CARVED FOR EAGER GUESTS; NOISY WITH SINCERITY AND LAUGHTER, IN CASUAL CONVERSATION ABOUT NOTHING IN PARTICULAR. I OFTEN FELT LIKE WASHINGTON IRVING'S CHARACTER, ICHABOD CRANE, THE ALWAYS RAVENOUS TEACHER, FROM "THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW." HE WAS A MAN WHO ENJOYED THE PLEASANT, MOUTH WATERING SIGHT, OF THE FULL TO OVERFLOWING GROANING BOARD, AS SET OUT BY HIS DUTCH HOSTS AT SLEEPY HOLLOW. I WANTED TO DROP MY CAMERA GEAR, AND DIVE TO THE HEAD OF THE LINE, I'D BE SO SMITTEN BY THE SENSORY WONDERS OF FOOD, SEEMINGLY, AND DELICIOUSLY, COMING OUT OF EVERY PORTAL IN THE BUILDING….AS IF IT WAS A STRUCTURE OF KITCHENS LINKED TO KITCHENS. SO WHEN A KIND WOMAN, WOULD SEE ME WITH CAMERA IN HAND, SHE WOULD ASK HER STAFF OF DUTIFUL SERVERS, CARVERS , MIXERS, BAKERS AND SCOOPERS, TO PREPARE A SPECIAL (I FANCIED THIS WAS THE CASE) PLATE, BE MADE UP FOR THE HERALD-GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER. I LIKE TO THINK THEY DOUBLED THE PORTIONS BECAUSE THEY LIKED OUR PAPER SO MUCH. IT WAS JUST A REALLY NICE GESTURE, AND EACH EVENT WAS MEMORABLE IN ITS OWN WAY…..BUT ALWAYS REFLECTIVE OF THE HERITAGE OF EACH HAMLET OR VILLAGE I WAS ATTENDING. IT WAS LIVING HISTORY. I DRANK IT ALL IN, AND IT'S GOOD I DID; BECAUSE THESE EVENTS ARE MUCH FEWER NOW THAN BACK THEN.

     MY OLD FRIEND, PHOTOGRAPHER FRED SCHULZ, WHO HAS PROBABLY ATTENDED THREE TO FOUR TIMES AS MANY COMMUNITY SUPPERS, AS IF HAVE, IN HIS COVERAGE FOR THE LOCAL PRESS, HAS CAPTURED SOME OF THE HISTORY OF THE FESTIVE, COMMUNITY SUPPER; THIS ONE BEING AT THE RAYMOND COMMUNITY HALL, IN THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES. NOW THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT…..GOOD FOOD, GOOD FRIENDS, IN A GOOD PLACE.

EMIGRATION TO THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO - IN THE 1860'S

THE POOR LOOKING FOR THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY - GOT TREES, ROCK AND SWAMP

     "TO INTENDING EMIGRANTS: OUR BRITISH AND OLD COUNTRY READERS, NO DOUBT, ARE AWARE THAT THERE IS SUCH A COUNTRY AS CANADA, ALTHOUGH WHERE IT IS, AND WHAT IT IS LIKE, MANY OF THEM DO NOT KNOW, EXCEPT BY LOOKING AT A MAP OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT. TO ALL SUCH WHO MAY DESIRE TO MEND THEIR PRESENT POSITION, TO BECOME FREEHOLDERS, INSTEAD OF LEASEHOLDERS OR ANNUAL TENANTS, TO OWN A FARM OF THEIR OWN, INSTEAD OF SITTING UNDER THE SHADOW AND WILL OF A LANDLORD, TO THOSE WHO CANNOT GET LEASES WHATEVER, THEIR IMPROVEMENTS MAY BE, AND WHO, IN SHORT, FEEL TOO INDEPENDENT FOR THEIR PRESENT POSITION, WE MAY SAY UNHESITATINGLY, 'COME TO CANADA.' TAKE SHIPPING TO QUEBEC OR MONTREAL, THEN TAKE THE GRAND TRUNK RAILROAD FOR TORONTO, AND FROM TORONTO SET OUT ON THE IMMEDIATE EXPLORATION FOR A NEW HOME."  READS LIKE SOMEONE IS GIVING AWAY SOMETHING FOR FREE! BUT AS THEY SAY, NOTHING IS FREE.

     "ONTARIO HAS ALL SOILS, AND ALL SORTS OF SITUATIONS AVAILABLE. TO THE POOR LABOURING MAN THE FREE GRANTS ARE OPEN, AND ALTHOUGH THE FOREST IS HARD TO CLEAR, YET WHEN THE SETTLER FEELS THAT EVERY STROKE OF HIS AXE IS A BLOW TOWARD INDEPENDENCE, THE LABOUR BECOMES LIGHT AND PLEASANT. IF THE FREE GRANTS DO NOT PLEASE, THERE IS PLENTY OF WILD LAND TO BE HAD ON THE EASIEST OF TERMS; THE PRICE WILL VARY FROM TWO DOLLARS TO TEN DOLLARS PER ACRE, ACCORDING TO SOIL AND SITUATION; AND THE TERMS OF PAYMENT ARE MADE ACCORDING TO THE REQUIREMENT OF THE SELLER WHOSE OBJECT IT ALWAYS IS TO SELL. THE POOR MAN CAN, HOWEVER, ALWAYS GET LAND ON SUCH TERMS THAT HE CAN LIVE ON IT, AND PAY FOR IT FROM OFF THE LAND ITSELF; HE IS ALWAYS SURE OF EMPLOYMENT WHEN HE WANTS IT AT THREE QUARTERS OF A DOLLAR TO A DOLLAR AND A QUARTER A DAY, ACCORDING TO THE KIND OF LABOUR HE IS FIT FOR, AND HE CAN CHOOSE HIS OWN EMPLOYER AT THESE PRICES, AND NEVER NEED BE OUT OF WORK. NO ONE WHO IS INDUSTRIOUS NEED STARVE OR BE AT A LOSS FOR SOMETHING TO DO, WHEN ONCE HE HAS SET FOOT IN OUR HIGHLY FAVORED DOMINION."

SO FROM THE BEGINNING, THE LIES

     This is what became the worse case scenario for thousands upon thousands of poor homesteaders, arriving in Canada, Ontario, and the free land grant territory of the Districts of Muskoka and Parry Sound. Settlement was encouraged based on mistruths, conflicts of interest, shady deals, pay-offs, commissions, and general lies, based on someone or other getting paid for doing the job well. If you read the passages above, in the context of the previous two blogs, over the past few days……and you archive back to the summer, when I wrote about the Diary of Granny Bowers, and the Icelandic settlement in Hekkla, in North Muskoka, you'd certainly recognize that our region got its boost based on deception, and the capital gains of those perpetuating the tall, tall tales, about prosperity to be found as a freehold homesteader. The shady property speculators fared much better, flipping partly cleared acreages, even in the 1860's.

     Today there are historical plaques, books, films, and occasional newspaper features, that tell us the importance of maintaining our high regard, for our respective community's heritage. Yet when it comes around to what might be described as dialogue on history, as it relates to modern day politics, there is little appetite for this kind of enlightenment. If one thing bothers me more, about modern day municipal councils, in particular, it's this outright refusal, to delve into the past to appreciate how history continues to influence the present. There's the delusion, that somehow, you can bypass heritage matters, by approving a plaque for a central location, or agreeing to name a street or lane, in the memory of a respected community builder. The closest touch to living history, is when, on November 11th, some members of council will attending the Remembrance Day ceremonies at the town cenotaph. This is important. It is a poignant reminder, that all that matters isn't present tense.

     When discussing the matter of poverty and unemployment in Muskoka, there is no way of understanding its underlying causes, without going back to the way it all began. Not twenty years ago, or fifty. Much further back. Those horrendous conditions and circumstances set the precedent, and even though an answer like this, will not make much sense to someone suffering these conditions today, it is a fact of existence here…..that we are still a seasonal economy with all the pitfalls that precarious reliance creates.

     "It is, however, to the farmer of moderate means that Canada holds out the greatest inducements, and of all the Canadian Provinces, Ontario certainly holds out those most advantageous. All through the earlier settled portions of the Province, in the neighborhood of all the principle towns, and in the spaces between the Great Lakes, of Ontario, Erie, and Huron, there are hundreds of thousands of good cleared farms that can be purchased at from twenty to fifty dollars per acre. These farms are generally of 100 acres each, and they will have from forty to eighty acres cleared. They have all buildings of some kind or other on them, and the good or bad quality of the buildings usually governs the price." The guidebook reveals that, "The soil of the Province of Ontario is, as a whole, not to be surpassed in fertility by any part of the world; indeed, it is its very fertility that has been its worst enemy, inducing neglect of good and scientific farming to which is to be attributed the exodus, which is always taking place throughout America from front to back settlements."

     There are so many things wrong with the above editorial materials, it would take me hours to break it down, as to how these stunningly error-filled assessments, created misery for those who were gullible enough to believe the claims. To the writer, who had probably never grown a flower, let alone a farmstead garden, promoting the advantages of free grant lands, such as were to be found in Muskoka and Parry Sound, was not the same whatsoever, as the discussion of lands in the southern area of the province……that the word "arable" was a responsible claim. Our regions had thin soil on underlying rock shield, billions of trees, huge rock outcroppings, bogs, swamps, waterways, and a very short growing season. When the Icelanders fell for the same solicitations, in their country, they arrived in Muskoka to find that at least half the promises made by land agents had been incorrect. They weren't really informed about just how "treed" we were in this part of the country. You may not know this, but Iceland isn't known for its large stands of forest. So here these future farmers, find a mountain of timber, without having a lot of background in cutting them down…..hauling out the massive roots, to find that little slice of fertile ground to plant crops for sustenance. This same situation was experienced by many new land owners, who brought with them many trades, that didn't help them become good farmers.

     So based on lies and deception, Muskoka got its base population. The homesteaders couldn't survive without supplementing their incomes, and were forced into the logging industry, and had to leave their families over the off-season, to participate in the winter cut at lumber camps. I have always wanted to know the statistics on these lumber camps and the spring drive, down the rivers and across the lakes of Muskoka, and from those employed, how many perished by any number of horrible accidents, in one of the most brutally dangerous industries from the period of the 1860's onward. So imagine the homestead family, who finds out their loved one has succumbed to injuries at one of these winter camps? Fathers and sons who weren't killed by logging, could have been physically disabled on the job without any compensation to the surviving family. This happened a lot. Now tack on the incredibly difficult task of surviving on an isolated homestead, and the rigors of clearing the land, and tending the gardens…..keeping the cabin stove engaged, and money coming in, and is it any wonder that so many frustrated and beaten-down emigrants returned to their country of origin, or moved well beyond Muskoka and Parry Sound to seek better opportunities.

     The fact that thousands of homesteaders survived in this region of the province, attests to their fortitude and resilience against what most found as insurmountable odds, to find prosperity amidst such horrific challenges. These settlers learned how to diversify, and work at other enterprises beyond the small farm acreages. Early on in our history, in Muskoka, the relationship with tourism showed its potential, and it became an even stronger union, when the logging industry began its decline, and other economic pursuits, in our fledgling hamlets, from tanning to the woolen mill industry, started to falter from their historic peaks. While tourism has always had its fluctuations, based on the national and international stresses of the time, such as during the periods of World War, and the Great Depression….amongst other recessions etc., it has been our most enduring economic engine, still employing a large number of permanent residents in a wide ranging number of disciplines. What developed out of necessity in the 1870's, was based on the sporting, recreational advantages of the picturesque lakeland…..which soon began to draw those with the financial means to purchase lakefront property, to build their hinterland retreats. Canadian Department Store magnate, Timothy Eaton, began his visits to Muskoka as a sportsman, and found accommodation in the humble abode of Thomas Aitken of Windermere, on the shore of Lake Rosseau. It has been said, that Eaton was so smitten by the area, and by the Aitken family's hospitality and kindness, that he suggested Thomas consider building a larger house to offer rental rooms to the increasing number of city visitors to the outback. Eaton would later make a deal with the Forge family, to by a large tract of land where he would then build the famous cottage compound, he named "Ravenscrag," a short distance from where Aitken would eventually build Windermere House. The rest, as they say, is history.

     When I'm confronted by the issue of modern day poverty, and unemployment issues, in Muskoka today, I am sensitive to the plight of my friends and neighbors who find themselves in these unfortunate situations. I've been there myself. My wife's family, who were original pioneers in this region, experienced the same, and at times, probably thought about abandoning the farmsteads, and heading to more profitable areas for agriculture. There have been those who moved-on, because of a shortage of opportunities. This happened from the beginning of the homesteading period. It has never ceased to be a condition of life and survival amidst a seasonal economy. For those who believe that job creation is the answer to the problem, here in this beautiful region of our country, it is exactly what the settlement guidebooks of the 1860's were promoting, and misrepresenting, just to achieve their objective of settling the unoccupied lands of our country. When government gets into job creation projects, they are short termed, and give the illusion of being permanent and resistant to political change and the prevailing economy. There have been many short-term solutions, that ended just as they had begun…..with disappointment and a list of failings that survive in memory when the money runs out.

     This is an historic problem, with no clear and reliable remedy, that many multi-generational Muskokans would look at, as we always have……knowing full well, it will be personal resilience and adaptability that saves us from economic ruin. As it always has, for those who have committed their lives to live and work in this natural paradise. With national, provincial and regional economic stresses these days, and the cost of living as high as it is, like the most recent hurricane, "Sandy," there is a near-perfect storm brewing, and I'm not at all optimistic, about our mutual ability to weather its wrath.

A LITTLE COMPANION NOTE FROM 1874

     To conclude this blog on the conditions facing those emigrants taking advantage of the Free Land Grants, in Muskoka, there was a self-published pamphlet, written by a gentleman named Joseph Dale, titled, "Warning to English Immigrants." Dale circulated these pamphlets as a counter measure, to the extravagant lies being told by Canadian land agents, recruiting British subjects for this homestead project. He visited Muskoka and reported his findings, which were contrary to what the Settlers' Guidebooks were promoting. So in sharp contrast to the passages above, from the "friendly" version of the land grand propaganda, here is what I believe to be the correct, critical version of conditions in1874.

     "Having recently returned from Northern Canada where I remained some little time in what is at present, the Free Grant District of the Province of Ontario, it occurred to me that the few following pages might be of some assistance to those who are about to take such an important step to emigrate. I would beg the reader to understand that my observations are not addressed to those who are about to make the settled districts of Canada their future home, but that class of men, with families, and a little capital, who go out with the intention of making a home in the bush, and who, fully prepared, to undergo many hardships and severe toil, leave the country in the hope that their efforts and the expenditure of their hard earnings will give them such a reward, as they might reasonably expect, and which settlers years ago have worked for and realized."

     Mr. Dale continues his description of the conditions in Muskoka, that he witnessed in 1874: "The nearer we approach to Severn Bridge the more the impression comes upon us that we are entering upon as new and stony country, but when arrived there, we got a first view of the sort of land which emigrants from the old country are invited to settle on and cultivate. Hence, we take the mail carts to a place called Gravenhurst, through a most dismal, rocky and wild country. About three or four years ago a great bush fire passed over, and completely revealed its barren nature. No doubt this fire has done much to produce an unfavorable impression as to the desirability of a settlement in Muskoka, but on the other hand, it unmistakably shows the traveller what sort of country he is passing through, and is likely to meet for many miles.

     "On all sides are great masses of granite, containing veins of plutonic origin on which it is a wonder how anything, even a birch tree, can grow; here and there are to be seen a few poverty-stricken shanties and attempts at settlement, most of them deserted, the unfortunate settler having been compelled to leave such an ill-favored unremunerative spot, and seek to retrieve his lost time and labour, in the front of the settled country."

     In conclusion he notes, "As the food supply is one of the most important items to the emigrant, it would be as well, that he should understand that although the bush may abound with deer and other game, yet that hunting for it is a matter of food, is a most precarious thing, when even experienced trappers find a great difficulty in getting sufficient to live on; how much greater then, must be the difficulty of the emigrant. To hunt in the bush, as a matter of necessity requires the cunning of an Indian, and a life as nomadic. Any settler who attempts such a thing must neglect everything else. Nothing but an organized hunt by a number of settlers and dogs will accomplish anything worth the trouble, and such an organization is seldom or never made. The emigrant must not look therefore to the bush for a supply of animal food.

     "Our emigrant having been settled down on his land for eight to twelve months, will now, perhaps begin to reflect upon his position, which I venture to say is a most painful one. Where now is gone that little capital which he has so industriously saved and got together in England. Wasted upon a worthless block of rock. He has found out at a ruinous cost, that the accounts given in books on settlement in the bush in Canada, which were written some years ago, and spoke in glowing terms of settlements rapidly rising around the industrious settlers, and of lands which by labour and self-denial, have developed into an inheritance, do not apply to the Free Grant District of 1874."

     The relationship with imbedded poverty and the conditions of unemployment over more than a century, has a long and winding root, reaching back through history. Maybe it doesn't speak to the present circumstance, or offer any remedy, but it is, none the less, the legacy of our settlement in the District of Muskoka……that is at times, just as precarious and vulnerable as it was in the 1860's.