William Shea and The Bear

HISTORY IS WHAT IT IS! A COLLECTION OF FACTS AND STORIES THAT REMIND US WHO WE ARE - WHERE WE CAME FROM!

AND THEN THERE'S A LITTLE COLOR, FOR THOSE WHO CAN HANDLE A LITTLE MORE THAN THE TRUTH!

     DID YOU KNOW THERE WERE HOUSES OF ILL REPUTE, OPERATING IN BRACEBRIDGE, BACK IN THE LATE 1800'S. IT SEEMS THE LOGGERS, WOODWORKERS, TANNING INDUSTRY LABORERS, ETC., WERE KNOWN TO VISIT SEVERAL PROSTITUTES, WHO HAD SET UP THEIR ENTERPRISE, IN A COMFORTABLE ABODE IN "THE HOLLOW," IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THEIR CLIENTS' RESPECTIVE PLACES OF INDUSTRY. THE TOWN CONSTABLES, ACTING ON COMPLAINTS, MOVED IN ON THE LADIES, AND DID MANAGE TO CLOSE ONE HOUSE, AND THEN THE OTHER, TO THE CHAGRIN OF SOME WHO LIKED THEIR COMPANY. NOT ONES TO GIVE UP EASILY, THEY WERE SAID TO HAVE SET-UP FREE RANGE NATURE RETREATS, FOR THOSE STRAY SOULS PINING FOR LOVE, SITUATED CLOSE TO TOWN; SOMEWHERE ON THE BANK OF THE MUSKOKA RIVER. THE THIRD VERSE, SAME AS THE FIRST, AND SECOND. THE CONSTABLES HAD TO KEEP STOMPING ON THESE BREAK-OUT FIRES, THAT WERE GIVING THE WIVES AND MOTHERS OF THE TOWN SOME HEARTACHE. 

     OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS, I'VE BEEN ATTEMPTING TO SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE FOLK HISTORY OF MUSKOKA.  THE BAND OF HISTORIANS, SERVING THIS REGION, SINCE THE LATE 1860'S, HAS GIVEN US MODERNISTS, A PRETTY GOOD FOUNDATION OF RECORDED, FACTUAL HISTORY. IT'S THE SKELETON WE NEED, TO UNDERSTAND THE WAY WE HAVE DEVELOPED, FROM THOSE FIRST FEW HAMLETS AND LOG SHANTIES, TO THE PRESENT. THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF BOOKS WRITTEN ABOUT MUSKOKA'S HISTORY, AND OVERALL, I'D SAY WE'VE BEEN PRETTY WELL SERVED BY OUR RECORD KEEPERS. I DO FEEL, HOWEVER, THAT WE STILL HAVE A SHORTAGE OF FOLK STORIES, TO APPLY TO THAT SKELETON, TO GIVE THE MUSKOKA STORY A MORE HUMAN COMPOSITION. THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE IT TO THE BLACK PRINT, IN OUR HISTORY TEXTS, HAD PERSONALITIES, AND CURIOUS HUMAN ATTRIBUTES, WHICH WERE PART AND PARCEL OF THE HISTORY THEY IMPRINTED. UNFORTUNATELY, A LOT OF THE BARE BONES HISTORY, WILL NEVER HAVE ANY MORE FLESH ATOP THEM, BECAUSE HISTORIANS OFTEN DIDN'T FEEL IT NECESSARY; TO THINK OF THIS HUMANITY-THING, AS BEING IMPORTANT TO THE OUTCOME OF THE STORY. WHAT I HAVE PRESENTED OVER THE PAST MONTH, HAS BEEN DIRECTED SPECIFICALLY, AT PUTTING SOME ACTUALITY AND EMOTION BACK INTO THE WAY WE INTERPRET OUR HISTORICAL PAST. ANECDOTE IS PART OF OUR DAILY LIVES. WHAT WOULD A STORY ABOUT A DAY SPENT AT SCHOOL OR WORK, BE, OR REPRESENT IN POSTERITY, WITHOUT THE COMPANION ANECDOTE, ABOUT SOMEONE'S FOLLY ON THE JOB….OR IN THE CLASSROOM. IT'S WHAT MAKES HISTORY MEMORABLE. NOT JUST THE BARE FACTS. THE COLOR AND EMOTION OF THE NEWS MAKER, IS WHAT COMPELS US TO REMEMBER THE FACTS OF SOME EVENT OR OTHER.

     AS I'VE MENTIONED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS, I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF A CLOSE APPRENTICESHIP WITH NUMEROUS HISTORIANS, LOCAL, PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL, AND I'VE SPENT QUITE A BIT OF RESEARCH TIME, WORKING ON BIOGRAPHIES; PARTICULARLY HUGELY INTERESTING BIOGRAPHIES OF MUSKOKA ARTISTS, SUCH AS RICHARD KARON, ROBERT EVERETT, AND PIONEER PAINTER, ADA FLORENCE KINTON. I KNOW QUITE A BIT ABOUT OTHER LOCAL ARTISTS, SUCH AS THE LATE BILL ANDERSON, THE BRACEBRIDGE BARBERSHOP ARTIST, AND ROSS SMITH, THE UPTOWN GAS STATION ATTENDANT-ARTIST, ALSO FROM BRACEBRIDGE. I WENT TO SCHOOL WITH ROSS, AND WATCHED HIM MATURE AS A PAINTER OVER MANY YEARS. WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, IN BRACEBRIDGE, YOU COULD BUY A PAINTING OFF ROSS, FROM THE UPTOWN ESSO THAT HIS FATHER OWNED, (HE WORKED AT HIS PAINTINGS BETWEEN CUSTOMERS), AND BILL ANDERSON WOULD SELL YOU ONE OF HIS LANDSCAPES, WHICH HE ALSO WORKED-ON BETWEEN CUTTING GIGS, AT HIS BARBERSHOP, ON THE SOUTH CORNER OF THE FORMER PATTERSON HOTEL, ON MANITOBA STREET. BOB EVERETT, ONE OF MUSKOKA'S BEST KNOWN PAINTERS, USED TO SKETCH AND PAINT IN THE BACK OF EVERETT'S DRUG STORE, AT THE SOUTH END OF MANITOBA STREET, ON CIGAR BOX LIDS…..AND SHOULD YOU EVER FIND ONE, IT'S WORTH A "PRETTY PENNY" AS THEY SAY. HERE IN GRAVENHURST I'VE GOT A PRETTY FAIR FILE GOING, ON FRANK JOHNSTON, THE MAN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WONDERFUL WATERCOLORS OF MUSKOKA STEAMSHIPS, THAT USED TO HANG ON THE WALLS OF THE FORMER SLOAN'S RESTAURANT, ON MUSKOKA ROAD. ALL FASCINATING STUDIES, OF THE CHARACTERS WHO FOUND INSPIRATION IN OUR REGION OF ONTARIO. BUT WHAT WERE THEY LIKE, AS INDIVIDUALS. THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO KNOW. IN FACT, I'D LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ALL OUR HISTORY MAKERS, BECAUSE THERE WAS SO MUCH MORE HERE, THAN JUST BARE BONES HISTORY, BEING NOTCHED HOUR AFTER HOUR, DAY AFTER DAY. BY THE WAY, WILLIAM ANDERSON WAS A WELL KNOWN LOGGER IN MUSKOKA, AND KNEW A LOT ABOUT THE LORE OF THE WOODLANDS. HE PUT THIS SENSORY PERCEPTION INTO HIS LANDSCAPES, SUCH THAT THEY OFTEN APPEARED, AT LEAST TO ME (WHO SAT IN HIS CHAIR TWO SATURDAYS A MONTH)  AS IF YOU COULD WALK FROM THE BARBER'S CHAIR, RIGHT INTO THE RAINY HAZE OF A MUSKOKA FOREST….IN ITS AUTUMN FINERY.

     ONE OF THE FIRST BOOKS THAT GOT ME THINKING ABOUT THE LACKING COLOR OF MUSKOKA HISTORY, WAS WHEN I CAME UPON A BOOK WRITTEN BY REDMOND THOMAS, Q.C., ENTITLED "RECOLLECTIONS." REDMOND WAS THE SON OF G.H.O. THOMAS, ONE OF THE TOWN'S GREAT MOVERS AND SHAKERS, WHO BECAME KNOWN IN THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER GAME, WITH THE BRACEBRIDGE GAZETTE. REDMOND, WHO HAD WRITTEN A NEWSPAPER COLUMN FOR MANY YEARS, PUT SOME OF HIS FAVORITE STORIES INTO A SMALL STAPLE-BOUND TEXT, THAT CONTAINED THE KIND OF STORIES A FLEDGLING HISTORIAN LIKE ME, WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT. MY FAVORITE IS THE STORY HE SPUN, ABOUT A HUGE STEAM-POWERED MERRY-GO-ROUND, THAT WAS OWNED BY SOMEONE IN THE GRAVENHURST AREA, AND RENTED OUT TO FALL FAIRS AND COMMUNITY CELEBRATIONS. IN HIS DESCRIPTION, HE TELLS HOW THE BEAUTIFUL CARNIVAL PIECE, WAS SHIPPED IN PIECES, ABOARD A TRAIN, COMING NORTH FROM GRAVENHURST, AND LOCATED IN AN AREA OF THE MAIN STREET, BUT SEEING AS I DON'T PRESENTLY OWN THE BOOK, I'LL JUST HAVE TO GUESS THAT IT WAS WHERE THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY WAS BUILT, ON UPPER MANITOBA STREET…OR IN THE VICINITY, BUT NOT MEMORIAL PARK.

     REDMOND DESCRIBES THE SCENE BEAUTIFULLY, OF THE GAS ILLUMINATION FROM THE TORCHES, MOUNTED ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE MERRY-GO-ROUND; THE SOUND OF THE STEAM ENGINE PUMPING AWAY, AND THE SONG BEING PLAYED, "MEET ME IN ST.LOUIS," IN RECOGNITION OF THE ST. LOUIS WORLD'S FAIR. THE WAY HE DESCRIBES THE NIGHT, THE SIGHT OF THE TORCH LIT MERRY-GO-ROUND SPINNING, THE CROWD HUDDLED AROUND, AND THE PASSENGERS THOROUGHLY ENJOYING THEMSELVES, YOU FELT AS IF YOU WERE STANDING THERE AS WELL, THE SMELL OF FOOD AND CANDY PERMEATING THE COOL AIR…..AND THAT'S WHAT I CONSIDER THE MASTERY OF A GOOD STORY TELLER.

     HE WROTE ANOTHER ONE, THAT FASCINATED ME, ABOUT, I BELIEVE, MR. BROWNING'S FUNERAL PROCESSION, THAT HAS ALWAYS STUCK IN MY MIND. FIRST BECAUSE WE USED TO HAVE OUR SECOND ANTIQUE SHOP, BIRCH HOLLOW, IN THE BASEMENT OF THE FORMER FUNERAL DIRECTOR'S HOME, W.W. KINSEY, ON NORTH MANITOBA STREET. REDMOND TELLS THE STORY, (ALTHOUGH SOME DETAILS NOW ARE A LITTLE FUZZY), THAT MR. BROWNING, ONE OF THE TOWN'S PROMINENT CITIZENS OF THE LATE 1800'S, (BROWNING HALL, CONNECTED TO ST. THOMAS ANGLICAN CHURCH),  WAS IN HIS COFFIN, PLACED IN THE BACK OF KINSEY'S HORSE DRAWN HEARSE, PARKED, AWAITING THE BEGINNING OF THE FUNERAL PROCESSION NORTH ON THE MAIN STREET. APPARENTLY, SOMETHING SPOOKED THE HORSES, AND UPON REARING UP IN FRIGHT, SENT THE HEARSE UP AT THE FRONT, AND THE OCCUPANT SMASHING OUT THE GLASS DOORS OF THE BACK END, ONTO THE GROUND, IN AN UNCEREMONIOUS CRASH AND ROLL. ONE OF THE ATTENDANTS, AT THE TIME, WAS HEARD TO YELL OUT, "NO, NO, MR. BROWNING…..WE'RE NOT THERE YET," MEANING THE CEMETERY. AS FAR AS THE NORMAL COURSE OF HISTORICAL RECORD, THIS WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN MENTIONED OTHERWISE. IT WAS CONSIDERED IRRELEVANT AND UNNECESSARY, AND MORE LIKE, VERY UNFLATTERING TO MR. KINSEY, AND TO THE BROWNING FAMILY. BUT IT HAPPENED. WITNESSES SAW THE FLYING COFFIN HIT THE ROAD. AND BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF THE TOWN'S MOST BENEVOLENT CITIZENS, OF COURSE IT WAS NEWS. IT SHOWED THAT WE MUSKOKANS WEREN'T SO SERIOUS, TO HAVE LET A MOMENT LIKE THIS OCCUR, WITHOUT A LITTLE ACCOMPANYING ANECDOTE. IT WASN'T DISRESPECTFUL TO MR. BROWNING, OR A SIGN OF BAD BUSINESS BY KINSEY, JUST ANOTHER UNPREDICTABLE MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND GOING ABOUT HIS OR HER BUSINESS. THINGS HAPPEN. MR. BROWNING WAS GIVEN A FITTING SEND-OFF NONE THE LESS, BUT I THINK HE MIGHT HAVE GOT A CHUCKLE ABOUT IT HIMSELF, AS HE WAS SAID TO HAVE HAD A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR IN LIFE.

     NOW THIS STORY HAS BEEN AROUND FOR LONG AND LONG, BUT I CAN'T ATTRIBUTE IT TO ANOTHER HISTORIAN; BUT RATHER TO A PUBLISHED NEWSPAPER ACCOUNT. IT IS THE SHORT NEWS STORY ABOUT A BRACEBRIDGE DOCTOR, WHO I WILL LEAVE UNNAMED, FROM THE EARLY YEARS OF TOWN HISTORY, WHO DECIDED TO AVOID THE NUISANCE OF HAVING SOME OTHER DOCTOR, REMOVE HIS TONSILS, NECESSITATING A HOSPITAL STAY. YES, YOU ARE RIGHT, IF YOU WERE THINKING HE DECIDED TO REMOVE THEM HIMSELF. UNFORTUNATELY FOR THE GOOD DOCTOR, A RESPECTED PRACTITIONER, HE WAS UNABLE TO HALT THE BLEEDING FROM HIS FIRST INCISION, AND BLED TO DEATH AS A RESULT. A LITTLE HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT IT HAPPENED.

     ANOTHER FASCINATING STORY TOLD BY REDMOND THOMAS, CHRONICLED A MAJOR TOWN EXPLOSION, THAT OCCURRED WHEN SOME TEENAGERS GAINED ENTRY INTO A STORAGE AREA, ON THE ROCKS ADJACENT TO BRACEBRIDGE FALLS. IT WAS A HOT DAY, AND THE FOREMAN OF A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT NEAR BY, HAD GONE FOR LUNCH, FAILING TO LOCK-UP THE DYNAMITE STORED WITHIN. SOMEHOW THE LADS WERE ABLE IGNITE A FUSE, ON PURPOSE, AND WHEN THE STOCKPILE EXPLODED, THE MASSIVE VIBRATION FOLLOWED THE ROCK LEDGE, IN AN "L" PATTERN, BENEATH ALL THE BUILDINGS ON ONE SIDE OF MANITOBA STREET, HEADING NORTH, AND ALL THE WINDOWS THAT WERE SHUT, BLEW OUT; THE ONES THAT WERE OPENED, WERE SPARED, AS THE VIBRATION WAS THUSLY INTERRUPTED. IT WAS FORTUNATE THE STOCK PILE WAS A LITTLE LESS THAN IT HAD BEEN PREVIOUS IN THE WEEK, SUCH THAT THE ENTIRE STREET MIGHT HAVE BEEN LEVELED, BY THE LARK OF YOUTH PLAYING A PRANK. NO ONE WAS HURT ACCEPT THE FEELINGS OF THE CHAP RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING THE EXPLOSIVES UNDER LOCK AND KEY…..WHO HAD A LENGTHY AND LOUD REPRIMAND FOR HIS LACK OF DUE DILIGENCE.

     I WAS THINKING ABOUT THAT POWDER KEG EXPLOSION, NOT LONG AGO, WHEN WORK CREWS WERE INSTALLING NEW SEWER CONNECTIONS, AND UNDERGROUND SERVICES, AT THE SAME INTERSECTION, ABOVE THE FALLS, ENTRANCE DRIVE, QUEBEC STREET, AND MANITOBA. THE ROCK SHELF IS STILL THERE, AND I TALKED TO LOCAL BUSINESS OWNERS, WHO FELT THE DEEP VIBRATION BENEATH THEIR BUILDINGS, EACH TIME A CHARGE WAS DETONATED. BUT THESE WORKERS USED THE RIGHT AMOUNT, AND RUBBER BLANKETS TO STOP DEBRIS FROM FLYING ABOUT.

    THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF NEAT STORIES LIKE THIS, THAT WERE NEWS, FIRST OF ALL, BUT THERE WAS ALWAYS A SIDEBAR FOLK STORY ATTACHED….THAT ADDED THE COLOR TO THE BLACK AND WHITE NEWS ACCOUNT. I GREW UP HEARING ABOUT THESE TALES, LIKE THE TIME THERE WAS A TRAIN DERAILMENT RIGHT INTO THE BRACEBRIDGE STATION…..DESTROYING THE ENGINE, CARS, AND MUCH OF THE BUILDING. WAS IT ON TIME? THEN THERE WAS THE TALE ABOUT THE MISSING TRAIN BELL, STOLEN FROM A WRECK THAT HAPPENED ONCE IN THE HAMLET OF FALKENBURG, NORTH OF BRACEBRIDGE. I HAVE HEARD THREE DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE STORY, AND WHO WAS SUSPECTED OF GRABBING THE BRASS BELL, THAT HAD BEEN RIPPED FREE OF THE STEAM ENGINE. I ONCE HAD THREE NAMES, OF THOSE FAMILIES SUSPECTED OF HARBORING THE STOLEN BELL, AND I KNEW ALL OF THEM. EACH WOULD CAST DOUBT ON THE OTHER CLAN, BUT LEGEND HAS IT, THE BELL IS STILL GLEAMING AND ON DISPLAY, SOMEWHERE IN THE BRACEBRIDGE AREA.

     AND THEN, THERE'S THE FOLK STORY TOLD BY UFFORD / FAMILY HISTORIAN BERT SHEA, ENTITLED "WILLIAM SHEA AND THE BEAR":    "BEAR, AS PEOPLE, SEEM TO TAKE NOTIONS TO DO STRANGE THINGS OR DEVELOP DIFFERENT HABITS OR TASTES FOR FOOD. THIS ONE IN PARTICULAR, DEVELOPED A TASTE FOR OATS IN THE RIPENING STAGE. WHILE STANDING IN THE STRAW, HE WAS CREATING CONSIDERABLE DESTRUCTION BY BREAKING THE STRAW DOWN IN LARGE PATCHES IN THE SETTLERS' OAT FIELDS. MR. WINFIELD, SQUATTER, OWNER OF LOTS 12, CON. 4, CUT HIS SMALL ACREAGE OF VERY FINE OATS WITH THE CRADLE BOUND, THEN INTO SHEAVES BY HAND, AND STOOKED THEM IN ROUND STOOKS WITH A CAP TO CURE, TILL STACKING TIME, A MATTER OF A FEW DAYS.'

     BERT SHEA WRITES, " BY THE LIGHT OF THE FULL HARVEST MOON, FROM THE DEPTH OF THE ANCIENT WOOD, BRUIN CONTINUED HIS HAVOC WITH THE STOOKS, TEARING THEM APART, DESTROYING THE GRAIN, EATING SOME. SO THIS FINE NIGHT THAT PROMISED TO BE MOONLIGHT IN THE EVENING, WILLIAM SHEA VOLUNTEERED TO PLAY A SURPRISE ON BRUIN, AND MAKE HIM PAY FOR HIS DAMAGE BY HIS HIDE. ARMED WITH A MUZZLE LOADER, HE PICKED HIS STAND IN THE SMALL CLEARING, ARRANGED THE SHEAVES AROUND, IN THE FORM OF A LARGE STOOK AND CRAWLED INSIDE, GUN HAND PEEKING THROUGH THE HOLES BETWEEN THE SHEAVES; HE COULD SEE ALL PARTS OF THE FIELD. THE NIGHT WAS BEAUTIFUL; THE FULL MOON ROSE OVER THE FOREST IN ALL ITS SPLENDOR, CASTING DEEP, DARK SHADOWS ABOUT THE CLEARING EDGE. THE CRICKETS CHIRPED IN THE STUBBLE, A SLIGHT MIST AROSE FROM THE SWALE, A WARBLER PERCHED IN A THICKET SANG A SHORT SONG, AS IF IMPRESSED IN HIS SLEEP BY THE MAJESTY OF IT ALL. WILLIAM SHEA'S KEEN EYE NEVER CEASED TO SURVEY EVERY PART OF THE CLEARING FOR A MOVEMENT OF THE BLACK VISITOR. BY MIDNIGHT, THE OCCASIONAL CLOUD PASSED ACROSS THE FACE OF THE MOON, SHROUDING ITS LIGHT. BY ABOUT 2:30 A.M., BENEATH ONE OF THESE SHADOWS, WILLIAM COULD HEAR SOUNDS CAUSED BY MOVEMENTS ABOUT HIM, AND IN THE MIDST OF IT ALL, SOMETHING WAS WALKING DIRECTLY TOWARD HIS HIDING PLACE, BUT LOOK AS HE COULD, DARKNESS HID HIS VIEW.

     "HE THOUGHT IT WAS THE BEAR, BUT IT COULD BE A SETTLER'S COW; TO SHOOT COULD BE FATAL, PERHAPS KILL A COW THAT A SETTLER DEPENDED ON TO FEED HIS FAMILY MILK AND BUTTER, WOULD BE DISASTROUS. AND THEN TO SHOOT THE ONLY ROUND FROM A MUZZLE LOADER, DIRECTED BY CHANCE IN THE DARK, AND PERHAPS WAS A BEAR, COULD BE DEATH (TO THE SHOOTER) BY WOUNDED BEAR. HE WISHED FOR LIGHT AND FELT HIS CHANCES TO SHOOT THE BEAR WAS NOW AND IN CLOSE QUARTERS IF HE COULD ONLY SEE. ALL OF A SUDDEN, A SHEAF WAS TORN FROM HIS HIDING STOCK AND IN A MATTER OF FEET AWAY, HE COULD HEAR THE BEAR'S TEETH CHEWING ON THE OATS' HEADS. SECOND WERE AS MINUTES; WOULD THE LIGHT COME? WOULD THE CLOUDS PART? WILLIAM SHEA WAS A MAN EXCEPTIONALLY SWIFT TO ACTION, BUT NEVER IN CHANCE. SUDDENLY BRUIN SENSED THE PRESENCE OF A HUMAN BEING TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT, AND FLED, LEAVING ONLY THE SOUND OF THE CRACKLING OF THE BRUSH,  AS HE BOUNDED OVER THE BRUSH FENCE THAT SURROUNDED THE LITTLE CLEARING. BEFORE THE EARLY DAWN, WILLIAM SHEA WALKED QUIETLY HOME, SLIGHTLY DISAPPOINTED, YET WITH A THRILL OF A RARE EXPERIENCE, AND A REALIZATION OF THE PERFECTION OF THE PLANT OF THE MAKER FOR THE PRESERVATION OF ALL HIS CREATURES."