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| 1851 Map of Railroad Progress From Boston to Monteal |
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| Notice in 1851 the proposed rail line from Toronto northwest to Georgian Bay which according to a statement on the map would save 600 miles of travel by water. Notice there is no Lake Couchiching on this map. |
A REGIONALLY DISCOVERED BOOK YIELDS A BONANZA OF HISTORY, WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT
WHEN I WOULD TALK TO DAVE BROWN'S FRIENDS AND TEACHING ASSOCIATES, ABOUT HIS BOOK COLLECTING OBSESSION, ALMOST A HUNDRED PERCENT WOULD ARGUE, THAT OF ALL THE AMAZING ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS HE POSSESSED, HE HAD READ ONLY A TINY PORTION OF WHAT OVER-FILLED HIS HAMILTON, ONTARIO BUNGALOW. IT'S NOT THAT THEY WERE WRONG, BECAUSE EVEN BY DAVE'S OWN ADMISSION, HE READ THESE BOOKS AS WOULD AN HISTORIAN, LOOKING FOR SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FOR SOME RESEARCH PROJECT ON THE GO! WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT THIS ACTUALLY, WHEN HE'D COME UP TO GRAVENHURST FOR A WEEKEND VISIT. "THEY LOVE TO ASK ME, WHEN I TELL THEM I GOT SOME OLD BOOKS AT A SALE, HOW MANY OF THEM WOULD I ACTUALLY READ, COVER TO COVER." HE'D SAY TO ME. "I DON'T ANSWER THEM, BECAUSE THEY WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND ANYWAY." HE KNEW THAT TALKING TO ME, AS SOMEONE WHO HAS SCANNED THROUGH A MOUNTAIN OF BOOKS, THAT IT ISN'T NECESSARY, TO READ SOME BOOKS COVER TO COVER, TO APPRECIATE HAVING THEM. FOR EXAMPLE, I HAVE A NUMBER OF HISTORY TEXTS, THAT WOULD PROVIDE VERY POOR READING, BECAUSE THEY ARE DOMINATED BY A CHRONOLOGY OF FACTS, BUT VERY LITTLE STORY TO GRASP ONTO, FROM THE FIRST PAGE TO THE CONCLUSION. YET, FOR WORK PURPOSES, I KNOW THAT SAME BOOK BETTER, THAN IF I HAD READ IT COVER TO COVER. THERE ARE TOO MANY FACTS, AND A LOT I'M NOT INTERESTED IN, AND THIS IS THE SAME FOCUS DAVE BROWN HAD, WHEN HE ATTACKED HIS READING MATERIAL. HE KNEW WHAT WAS IN THE ANTIQUARIAN AND RARE BOOKS HE PURCHASED AT CONSIDERABLE COST, SUCH AS THE HISTORY OF THE WHALING INDUSTRY, A PARTICULAR PASSION. HE HAD THE SAME INTEREST IN THE LOGGING INDUSTRY IN NORTH AMERICA, AND THESE WOULD HAVE BEEN BOOKS HE REGULARLY CONSULTED, BECAUSE HE COMPOSED MANY BOARD OF EDUCATION EXHIBITS FOR STUDENTS, BASED ON THE CANADIAN FOREST, AND LOGGING.
IF I WAS LOOKING FOR PARTICULAR INFORMATION, HE COULD FIND THE BOOK IN SHORT ORDER, AND PROVIDE ME WITH THE PRECISE HISTORY OR REFERENCE I NEEDED. SO HE DID KNOW HIS BOOKS WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO SAY, AS SOME THOUGHT HE SHOULD, THAT HE HAD READ EVERY BOOK HE OWNED. SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT'S WHY YOU HAVE BOOKS IN THE FIRST PLACE. I CAN UNDERSTAND THE MISCONCEPTION, BUT LIKE DAVE BROWN, I BUY OLD BOOKS FOR TWO REASONS. WILL I BE ABLE TO RE-SELL THEM IN A SMALL TOWN MARKETPLACE, AND CAN I USE THEM ACTIVELY FOR RESEARCH IN PERPETUITY. I'M FUSSY, BUT DAVE DID BUY BOOKS IN BULK. THOSE IN SURPLUS HE WOULD GIVE OR TRADE ME, SO I COULD OFFER THEM TO OUR BRACEBRIDGE AND AREA CUSTOMERS. I DON'T BUY THIS WAY ANY LONGER, AND EVERY BOOK I PURCHASE, IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT, IN THE CONDITION I PREFER. THIS GOES FOR THE BOOK SHOP AS WELL. BUT IT CAN STILL BE SAID, I HAVEN'T READ EVERY BOOK I OWN. YET I KNOW WHAT I'M SELLING, BY SCANNING EVERY BOOK, AND OTHERWISE, I KNOW EACH BECAUSE OF THE CONTENT I ABSOLUTELY REQUIRE. THE BOOK I MENTIONED IN YESTERDAY'S BLOG, IS A PRIME EXAMPLE. WHAT WASN'T PARTICULARLY VALUED BY THE VENDOR, IN THIS CASE, WAS THE HISTORICAL CONTENT. IT'S AN IMPORTANT BOOK IN SO MANY WAYS, AS RELATES TO THE OPENING SPARK OF RAILWAY BUILDING, BETWEEN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES, AND THE IMPETUS, FOR THE GOVERNMENTS OF BRITAIN AND CANADA TO COMMENCE A SETTLEMENT PLAN, FOR THE UNOCCUPIED LANDS OF WHAT IS NOW WESTERN CANADA. SO FOR ME, IT IS THE GRASS ROOTS OF THE SETTLEMENT, FOR THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA, WHICH ADMITTEDLY, WAS A TRIAL BALLOON SO TO SPEAK. IF THE SETTLERS COULD ESTABLISH WORKING, PROSPEROUS HOMESTEADS, IN THIS HEAVILY FORESTED, LAKE, RIVER AND BOGGY REGION, THEN IT BODE WELL FOR PLANS FURTHER NORTH AND WEST, WHERE THERE WAS MUCH MORE ADVERSITY WITH THE TOPOGRAPHY. THE 1851 MAP SHOWING THE PROPOSED RAIL LINE NORTH FROM TORONTO, TO THE SOUTH END OF LAKE SIMCOE, AND THEN TO GEORGIAN BAY, IS FOOTNOTED BY THE INFORMATION, THAT THIS WOULD SAVE 600 MILES OF STEAM NAVIGATION, BY CONNECTING THE LAKES VIA RAIL, AS A CROSS COUNTRY BYPASS. THE FIRST SETTLERS TO SOUTH MUSKOKA, ARRIVED IN 1859, EIGHT YEARS AFTER THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE BOSTON TO MONTREAL RAIL LINE. IT'S QUITE A FEELING, HANDLING THIS BOOK, AND THE MAP, AND THINKING ABOUT THE FACT IT WAS A PRESENTATION COPY, TO A "MR. HIGGINSON," ONE YEAR LATER, IN 1852. WHILE THE CONTENTS OF THE ENTIRE BOOK ARE ENTHRALLING, THE VALUE FOR ME, IS TO BE ABLE TO READ THE CANADIAN CONTENT, AND TO GET A BETTER SENSE, OF THE URGENCY CANADA WAS EXPERIENCING, TRYING TO PLAN AND FINANCE THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY. YES, THIS IS A BOOK DAVE WOULD HAVE WRESTLED ME FOR AT THE SAME BOOK SHOP.
"THE CELEBRATION COMMEMORATION OF THE COMPLETION OF THE GREAT LINES OF RAILWAY, CONNECTING OUR CITY (BOSTON) WITH THE CANADAS, AND THE WEST, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT BY SOME OF OUR CITIZENS, OF A LINE OF OCEAN STEAMSHIPS, TO FACILITATE AND ENLARGE OUR COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH THE OLD WORLD, WAS AN EVENT WHICH WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED, AND THE HISTORY OF WHICH MUST FORM A PROMINENT CHAPTER IN THE SOCIAL AND COMMERCIAL ANNALS OF BOSTON."
THE PASSAGE ABOVE COMES FROM THE 1851 CITY OF BOSTON POST-MORTEM, ON "THE RAILROAD JUBILEE - AN ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION COMMEMORATIVE OF THE OPENING OF RAILROAD COMMUNICATIONS, BETWEEN BOSTON AND CANADA, SEPTEMBER 17TH, 18TH, AND 19TH, 1851,' PUBLISHED IN 1852 BY J.H. EASTBURN, CITY PRINTER, BOSTON."
"IT WAS A CELEBRATION WORTHY OF THE OCCASION AND OF THE CHARACTER OF THE CITY BY WHICH IT WAS INSTITUTED; A JUBILEE IN COMMEMORATION OF THE PEACEFUL AND BENEFICIENT TRIUMPHS OF SCIENCE AND SKILL, APPOINTED BY A CITY DISTINGUISHED FOR THE INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISE AND RESOLUTE PERSERVERENCE OF ITS INHABITANTS, AND FOR ITS FAITHFUL MAINTENANCE AND PROMOTION OF ALL THOSE GREAT INTERESTS, CIVIL, RELIGIOUS, LITERARY AND INDUSTRIAL, UPON WHICH THE WELL BEING AND PROGRESS OF A COMMUNITY DEPENDS ON.
"HOWEVER EXTENSIVE AND BRILLIANT MAY HAVE BEEN THE PUBLIC PAGEANTS ON OTHER OCCASIONS, NO ON, IT IS BELIEVED, HAS, ON THIS CONTINENT, SURPASSED, IF ANY HAVE EQUALLED, THAT OF THE 17TH, 18TH, AND 19TH OF SEPTEMBER, AND THE MAGNITUDE OF THE ENTERPRISE WHICH THE VARIED CEREMONIES OF THOSE DAYS WERE DESIGNED TO CELEBRATE, WELL ENTITLED THEM TO BE THUS DISTINGUISHED, WHEN THEY ARE CONSIDERED IN ALL THEIR PRESENT AND PROBABLY FUTURE BEARINGS UPON THE INTERESTS, NOT OF THIS CITY AND STATE ALONE, BUT OF ALL NEW ENGLAND, THE GREAT WEST AND THE CANADAS."
THE TEXT RECORDS, "ANIMATED BY OUR EXAMPLE, ENCOURAGED BY OUR SUCCESS, AND AT TIMES AIDED BY OUR MEANS, THE PEOPLE OF THE NEIGHBORING STATES HAVE UNITED THEIR EFFORTS WITH OURS, AND EVERY OBSTACLE TO THE EASIEST INTERCOMMUNICATION HAS BEEN OVERCOME. OUR BORDERS HAVE BEEN CROSSED BY RAILROADS ON EVERY SIDE THAT IS NOT WASHED BY THE OCEAN, GREAT LEVEL HIGHWAYS HAVE BEEN EXTENDED THROUGH EVERY STATE IN NEW ENGLAND, AND WE ARE CONNECTED BY IRON BANDS WITH THE CANADAS ON THE NORTH, AND THE GREAT LAKES AND THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI ON THE WEST. WHEN WE REFLECT THAT HARDLY TWENTY YEARS HAVE ELAPSED SINCE THE FIRST SHOVELFUL OF EARTH WAS MOVED ON EITHER OF THE PUBLIC RAILROADS NOW IN OPERATION IN OUR STATE; THAT ONLY SO FAR BACK AS THE YEAR 1834, A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE WAS FOR THE FIRST TIME INTRODUCED INTO NEW ENGLAND; AND THAT THE EARLIEST COMPLETED ROADS WERE NOT OPENED FOR TRAVEL THROUGH THEIR WHOLE LENGTH TILL THE YEAR 1835, (THE BOSTON AND PROVIDENCE IN JUNE, AND THE BOSTON AND WORCESTER IN JULY), AND THEN SPREAD OUT BEFORE US A RAILWAY MAP OF THE NEW ENGLAND STATES, AND SEE WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED; THAT WITHIN THE LIMITS OF OUR OWN SMALL STATE UPWARDS OF A THOUSAND MILES OF ROAD HAVE BEEN OPENED FOR TRAVEL, AND BEYOND OUR LIMITS, A THOUSAND MORE IN CLOSE CONNECTION WITH THEM, AND TENDING TO THE SAME COMMON CENTRE, AN OUTLAY (FOR THE WHOLE) OF NEARLY A HUNDRED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, WE CAN FORM SOME ADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF THE MIGHTY WORK THAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. THE RAILROAD JUBILEE WAS DESIGNED, THEN, NOT ONLY TO EXPRESS OUR JOY AT THE FINAL TRIUMPH, OF OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH ENTERPRISES OF GREAT MOMENT, BUT TO MARK WITH DISTINCTNESS, WHAT, IT IS BELIEVED, WILL EVER BE CONSIDERED A PROMINENT ERA IN THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL ANNALS OF NEW ENGLAND."
PRINTED BELOW IS AN INTERESTING REFERENCE, EVEN DURING THIS TIME OF CELEBRATION, ABOUT THE PAST DIFFERENCES OF OUR COUNTRIES, AND THIS BY THE WAY, APPEARS NUMEROUS TIMES THROUGH THE TEXT, INCLUDING REFERENCES TO THE AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR OF THE BRITISH IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, AND THE WAR OF 1812. BUT APPARENTLY THE RAILWAY CONNECTION LINKED US IN MORE WAYS THAN ECONOMIC AND PASSENGER TRADE. IF YOU WERE TO READ BETWEEN THE LINES, YOU WOULD FIND SUBTLE REFERENCES TO THE GREAT VALUE OF THE WESTERN LANDS, AND THOSE MAKING THESE COMMENTS, ARE REFERRING TO THE WESTERN LANDS OF WHAT IS NOW MODERN DAY CANADA. WHAT THIS RAILWAY CREATED, AND ALL THE WORK TO PROGRESS THE NUMBER OF MILES OF RIBBON RAILS WEST, BEGAN TO BOTHER THE CANADIANS AND BRITISH COUNTERPOINTS, ANTICIPATING THAT IF THEY DIDN'T BEGIN SETTLING THE OPEN TERRITORY TO THE WEST, SOON, AMERICAN INTERESTS MIGHT PUSH QUICKLY AND IRREVERSIBLY IN THIS DIRECTION. IN A SMALL WAY, MUSKOKA WAS PART OF THIS SETTLEMENT PLAN, AND THE RAILWAY WAS TO COME SHORTLY THEREAFTER, THROUGH OUR REGION OF THE PROVINCE. THE AMERICANS WERE GOOD HOSTS, AND IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMUNICATION LINKS OF THE PERIOD, WITH A CANADIAN / BRITISH DELEGATION THAT WAS QUITE NUMEROUS, IN FULL AGREEMENT ABOUT THE ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES COMING DOWN THE PIKE AS A DIRECT RESULT. NO ONE WAS WRONG ABOUT THIS. BUT THERE WAS AN UNDERCURRENT ABOUT EXPANSION, THAT HAD OUR UNPOPULATED WESTERN PROVINCES IN CLEAR VIEW. IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW URGENCY TO BUILD A NATION SEA TO SEA, AND IT WAS SEEDED IN THE BOSTON JUBILEE EVENT. THERE ARE NUMEROUS NOTATIONS IN THE BOOK ABOUT THE GREAT WEALTH TO THE NORTH AND WEST. THIS CLEARLY POINTED OUT, IN MANY SPEECHES, THAT THE REAL MISSION HERE, WAS TO BUILD MORE INTERCONNECTING RAIL AND SHIP LINES, BUT THERE WAS NO VEILING THE INTEREST TO BECOME CLOSER FRIENDS; DISTANT FROM THE DAYS WHEN WE USED TO BURN DOWN EACH OTHERS CAPITAL BUILDINGS, FOSTER INVASIONS, AND SET ABOUT WAR SHIP BATTLES ON THE GREAT LAKES, SUCH AS DURING THE YEARS OF THE WAR OF 1812.
PARTNERS IN NORTH AMERICA - GOOD FOR ONE AND ALL!
The record book, of the great Boston Jubilee, recognizing the international significance of the railway connection with Canada, notes the following, in retrospective of the three day festival:
"Nor was it forgotten by the members of government, in their consideration of the subject, that the proposed celebration would afford to the city a favorable opportunity to testify to the neighboring Provinces (Canada), and so too, the whole of the British Empire, its respectful and friendly consideration. It seemed not improper that, that Boston, whose citizens played so prominent a part, for reasons satisfactory to themselves, in the Revolution, which separated the two nations, should now, for reasons equally satisfactory, to no less prompt, hearty and energetic, in the work of their reconciliation. It seemed to them, that to improve this opportunity could not fail to be agreeable to the heart, and attractive to the imagination of every one in the community. The City, too, is the metropolis of that Massachusetts whose citizens, as armed provincial or continental soldiers, had fought and lost, and won many a fierce battle against the inhabitants of those Provinces (Canada), but whose recollections of this border intercourse are associated with nothing worse than hard blows, cordially given and gallantly returned - not with instances of malignity; nor with any circumstances tending to impair their respect for the personal qualities of their former antagonists.
"As representing that community, (British Empire) therefore, it behoved Boston, to avail herself of the chance so offered her, to express to the people of the British Provinces, her thorough appreciation of their character, and her desire to consider their present friendship as equally sincere, and manly with their competitors at those old Olympic Games, with more affection than resentment; yet she is willing to propose to them that their mutual competition shall, in future, be of a different sort; instead of testing each other's power of destruction, and in earnest efforts to advance the welfare and happiness of man."
"That Jubilee must, however for a long time," notes the 1852 report, "be regarded as an interesting occurrence in the history of Boston. The magnitude of the enterprises whose accomplishments it was designed to celebrate, the number of distinguished persons from distant parts of our own country, and from the neighboring Provinces of Great Britain, who honored it with their presence; the vast multitudes who gathered from all quarters, to witness and share its festivities, the extent and variety of the preparations made to ensure its success, and the generous and hearty zeal for its promotion, manifested by every class of our citizens, all served to invest the occasion with more than ordinary interest. As a not unimportant event, in our history, therefore, it is worthy of a permanent description; and, as furnishing a striking picture of the times, or expressing the sentiment and embodying some of the most important characteristics of the age, it will have a high value in the eyes of the future historian; and will be looked back upon by succeeding generations with the same interest, and let us hope, with something of the same pride and satisfaction, with which we now dwell upon, the sets of these who have preceded us. But not for the future, only should an account of this event be written. The interest in the occasion has not yet so died out in our own hearts, that we may not derive some satisfaction from a review of its pleasing features; and by the many sons of New England scattered all over our land and the world, it must be welcomed with some pleasure, if only as a voice from home, while to those both at home and abroad, who are not familiar with our history, resources and institutions, it may serve to give more correct views of us as a community."
THE GREAT POTENTIALS FOR TWO GOOD FRIENDS; COUNTRIES HELPING EACH OTHER
During the speeches, this one given by Ex-Governor Paine, of Vermont, Canada had become a source of great and renewed interest, as both a resource and new era ally. Long gone are the days of cross border invasions, and lake battles to the death.
"Sir, it is impossible to live as long as I have done in America, without entering very keenly into the feelings of pride and gratification, with which Americans and Canadians too, talk of their country. It is wonderfully progressing, and has wonderful resources. But when I hear these blessings referred to in language with is somewhat disparaging, as respects other countries less advantageously situated, I am reminded of an eloquent passage in the writings of an eloquent friend of mine, now no more; the late Dr. Chalmers, in which he refers to the simultaneous discovery of the telescope, and the microscope, and, in his gorgeous and emphatic language, dilates upon the light, shed by each in its respective sphere upon the beneficence, the wisdom, and the power of the Almighty. I am tempted, I say, to address a speaker who indulges in the language, I have described in some such terms, as these -
"Sir, when you have satisfied your gaze by contemplating the magnificent scene spread out before you; when, with the aid of the telescope, you have scanned those mighty prairies which the ploughshare has not yet broken; when you have cast your eye over those boundless forests which the axe has not yet touched; when you have surveyed those extensive territories underlain by valuable mineral fields, which the cupidity of man has not yet rifled; when you have down all this to your heart's content, just lay your telescope aside, and take this little microscope from me. I will show you a little Island, far hidden behind that easter wave; an island so diminutive that you might take it up bodily, and toss it into the lakes, which lie between the Canadas and the United States, without filling them up; but which, nevertheless, as my friend, the Mayor, has pointed out, was the source from whence came forth the valor and the might which laid on the continent, the foundations of Empire, from whence came also wisdom and moderation, the happy combination of a love of liberty with a respect for order and law; in the absences of which, permit me to say it, you can no sufficient security that Empire will prove enduring."
A guest speaker, Mr. Everest responded, in part, saying to an enthusiastic audience, "And then to Canada, Sir, once a remote, inaccessible region, but now brought to our very door. If a journey had been contemplated in that direction in Dr. Franklin's time, it would have been with such feelings as a man would have now-a-days, who was going to start from the mouth of Copper Mine River, and the shores of the Arctic Sea. But no Sir; such a thing was never thought of, never dreamed of. A horrible wilderness, rivers, lakes unspanned by human art, pathless swamps, dismal forests that it made the flesh creep to enter, threaded by nothing more practicable than the Indian's trail; echoing with no sound more inviting than the yell of the wolf, and the warwhoop of the savage; these it was that filled the space between us and Canada. The inhabitants of the British Colonies never entered Canada in those days, but as Provincial troops or Indian captives; and lucky he, that got back with his scalp-on (laughter). This state of things existed less than one hundred years ago; there are men living in Massachusetts who were born before the last party of hostile Indians made an incursion to the banks of the Connecticut River.
"As lately as when I had the honor to be the Governor of the Commonwealth, I signed the pension warrant of a man who lost his arm in the year 1757, in a conflict with the Indians and French, in one of the border wars, in those dreary Canadian forests. His Honor the Mayor (Boston), will recollect it, for he countersigned the warrant as Secretary of State. Now, Sir, by the magic power of these magic works of art (trains), the forest is thrown open, the rivers and the lakes bridged - the valleys rise, the mountains bow their everlasting heads; and the Governor-General of Canada, takes his breakfast in Montreal, and his dinner in Boston; reading a newspaper leisurely by the way, which was printed a fortnight ago in London (England)."
Join me tomorrow, for a continuing look at the first railway link between Canada and the United States; the impetus it created to settle the vacant lands of Upper Canada, through to the Pacific Coast. The settlement of Muskoka, which commenced in 1859, plays into this railway advancement, which started on the eastern seaboard of the United States, but was being prepared, for extensions westward. It's an interesting tale about our early relationship with America, after settling the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. Please join me.
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