Birds Woollen Mill Photograph, The Barge, A Crowd Pleaser

A KNOWN BIRD'S WOOLLEN MILL PHOTOGRAPH - BUT NOW I OWN ONE

     AT THE MUSKOKA LAKES ANTIQUE SHOW, IN PORT CARLING, ON THE WEEKEND, SUZANNE AND I PURCHASED A 1925 PHOTOGRAPH OF THE STAFF OF THE FORMER BIRD'S WOOLLEN MILL, IN BRACEBRIDGE. I WORKED ON THE BOOK, ABOUT WOODCHESTER VILLA, AND THE WOOLLEN MILL, BACK IN THE EARLY 1980'S,  WITH MUSKOKA HISTORIAN, ROBERT J. BOYER, BUT WE FOR SOME REASON, DIDN'T HAVE THE PHOTOGRAPH ABOVE TO USE. WE DID HAVE A GROUP PHOTOGRAPH, IN FRONT OF THE MILL BUILDINGS, BUT NOT THIS PARTICULAR, UP-CLOSE, INTIMATE SHOT, SHOWING HENRY BIRD WITH CIGAR, AND THE FAMILY DOG AT HIS SIDE.....WITH HIS STAFF AT THE TIME. WHEN THE MUSEUM (BIRD HOUSE) WASN'T BUSY, I USED TO SIT IN HENRY'S OFFICE, OVERLOOKING THE MILL, AND WRITE AT HIS DESK. NOW I REALLY ENJOYED THAT HONOR.
     SUZANNE AND I OPERATED WOODCHESTER VILLA AND MUSEUM, BACK IN THE LATE 1980'S, AND I WAS ONE OF ITS FOUNDERS, DATING BACK TO 1977, WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE BRACEBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. EVER SINCE, SUZANNE HAS HAD AN AFFECTION FOR BIRD'S BLANKETS, AND OVER THE DECADES, SHE'S RESTORED, AND SOLD HUNDREDS, INCLUDING A RATHER RARE "BIRD'S TRAPPER'S POINT" BLANKET, A TAKE-OFF ON THE POPULAR HUDSON'S BAY BLANKETS. A LOT OF COMPANIES AND DEPARTMENT STORES HAD THEIR OWN TRAPPER'S POINT COPIES. THEY'RE OKAY BUT NOT AS VALUABLE AS A HUDSON BAY ORIGINAL.
     A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO, AT AN ESTATE SALE, WE WERE ABLE TO PURCHASE A SUBSTANTIAL QUANTITY OF BIRD'S WOOL, WHICH SHE USED TO RE-BIND DAMAGED BLANKETS. NOW SHE SITS HERE IN OUR NEWLY EXPANDED ANTIQUE SHOP, AT THE FORMER MUSKOKA THEATRE, (WHERE THE BOYS HAVE THEIR VINTAGE MUSIC SHOP), USING THE HISTORIC, ORIGINAL WOOL TO FIX THE ORIGINAL BIRD'S BLANKETS. NEEDLESS TO SAY, SHE GETS A LOT OF COMMENTS. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY ARTISANS IN THE WORLD REPAIR OLD WOOLEN BLANKETS, BY GEEZ, I'M MARRIED TO ONE OF THEM.
     SO THIS WONDERFUL OLD PHOTOGRAPH, WILL HANG BEHIND THE COUNTER AS SUZANNE WORKS ON BLANKET RESTORATION......NOW HOW AUTHENTIC IS THIS?
     I WILL ENDEAVOR TO RE-RUN THE PHOTOGRAPH WITH A SOMEWHAT COMPLETE LIST OF NAMES IN THE FUTURE.
     WE LOVED RUNNING THE MUSUEM, AND OUR BOYS WERE USED TO THEIR OWN "RUNNING" ALL OVER THOSE WELL MAINTAINED LAWNS. I'M SORRY THE TOWN OF BRACEBRIDGE ALLOWED IT TO FALL INTO SUCH DISREPAIR. I HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO HELP SORT OUT ITS FUTURE, BUT I'M NOT SURPRISED ONE BIT TO BE IGNORED. I JUST ABOUT CHOKED WHEN I HEARD SOME TALK ABOUT TURNING THE PRESENT POST OFFICE INTO A MAIN STREET MUSEUM.....WHILE WOODCHESTER BECOMES A NOTATION IN THE HISTORY BOOK.

Town of Gravenhurst 

Music on the Barge

Gull Lake Rotary Park – Gravenhurst

In Recognition of the Substantial Contribution

to the Restoration of the “Barge” 

at 

Gull Lake Rotary Park.

Presented to

Correctional Services Canada Beaver Creek Institution

Charles Stickel - Warden

Community Services Coordinator Stuart Barnes

&

The Community Services Work Crew

July 2012

SO HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN YOU PUT INTO ROTARY GULL LAKE PARK?

MAYBE WE'LL FIND OUT AS MUSIC ON THE BARGE SETS WEEKLY RECORDS

     IF YOU SAW A "PAID-FOR" PROMOTIONAL (ADVERTISING) VIDEO, ABOUT THE TOWN OF GRAVENHURST, YOU'D EXPECT IT TO HAVE A VARIED COLLECTION OF SCENES AND EVENTS CAPTURED OVER A PERIOD OF DAYS AND EVEN WEEKS, TO ARRIVE AT A FINISHED PRODUCT. THE VIDEOGRAPHER WOULD HAVE VISITED MANY DIFFERENT VENUES TO GIVE AN OVERALL IMPRESSION, OF CULTURE AND RECREATION ACTIVITIES IN OUR TOWN.
     SO IF YOU SAW A VIDEO OF ROTARY GULL LAKE PARK, THIS PAST SUNDAY NIGHT, FOR THE REGULAR CONCERT ON THE BARGE, YOU WOULD PROBABLY THINK THE SAME......THAT THE VIDEO WAS THE RESULT OF NUMEROUS WEEKS' COVERAGE, AT ALL TIMES OF THE DAY, AND EACH TIME IN NICE, SUNNY WEATHER, WITH A SPARKLING LAKE IN THE BACKGROUND.  BUT BY GOLLY, IT WAS ALL IN ONE NIGHT. YOU COULD HAVE MADE A FIRST CLASS, GRADE "A" VIDEO IN JUST ONE PERFECT NIGHT, OVER SEVERAL HOURS. THAT'S HOW MUCH CULTURAL, RECREATIONAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY WAS GOING ON IN ONE BEAUTIFUL LAKESIDE PARK.....ON ONE PRECIOUS SUMMER NIGHT.
     IT WAS A MODERN DAY RECORD FOR ATTENDANCE, AS PATRONS WERE EVEN SITTING NEAR THEIR CARS IN THE PARKING LOT, TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS "GRAVENHURST HAPPENING." SO AS I BEGAN TODAY' BLOG......HOW MANY PATRONS CAN BE JAMMED SAFELY AND COMFORTABLY INTO GULL LAKE PARK? WITH SOME BIG CONCERTS YET TO COME IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, WRAPPING UP WITH THE ANNUAL GOOD BROTHERS PERFORMANCE, WE MAY WELL SEE NEW RECORDS EACH WEEK. GADS, ISN'T THIS GREAT FOR OUR TOWN? WHAT A WAY TO CELEBRATE THE NEWLY REFURBISHED BARGE PLATFORM, AND THE 40TH YEAR FOR CONCERT PROMOTER, FRED SCHULZ, WHO RECEIVED AN ANNIVERSARY PLAQUE FROM THE MAYOR, IN FRONT OF MORE THAN 2,500 SPECTATORS, WHO HAD COME OUT TO SEE THE JOHNNY CASH / TAMMY WYNETTE TRIBUTE, WITH PERFORMERS, JIM YORFIDO, AND HIS WIFE, PAM YORFIDO.....WHO GAVE US A GREAT AND FULFILLING SHOWCASE OF WELL KNOWN COUNTRY SONGS.

EVERYTHING GOOD ABOUT GRAVENHURST

     My first sighting of the night, at Rotary Gull Lake Park? The auxiliary parking lot, at the south end of the park was open, as it should be for concert Sundays. Last week, by some strange circumstance, the parking lot was closed at concert time, inconveniencing many folks, some with disabilities, who find this a more convenient area to use, to walk down to the lake. Someone had obviously erred in closing it last week, assuming the regular Music on the Barge programs are a species of special event.......which they are not. After more than a half century, I don't think they fall under the heading, "special" unless you're talking about how "special" they are to the thousands of fans like our family, who wouldn't miss a Sunday night in the park......our park, for anything. By the way, we send our chairs in advance, to guarantee us a good spot for the show.
     I was impressed by the attendance of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, to thank the Beaver Creek Correctional Institute workers, for committing the volunteer labour to help restore The Barge, which two months ago, looked as if it had been hit by a cyclone. The Mayor and at least two Councillors assisted with the collection chores, and boy oh boy, did that make the Barge Debating Society happy......especially Manager Fred Schulz, who admittedly, has wondered about the Town's commitment to the Sunday program in the past. So during one of the largest concerts in at least the past ten years, and with so much activity going on in the park at the time, it was fantastic to have town representatives in the middle of all the fun. I hope they saw the true potential of the park and the regular concerts, which have been going on since the late 1940's, starting from the first bandstand, which was situated further up the hillside.
     As for the videographer, what a super night to capture fun in the sun. There was quite a show going on, and it wasn't just on the stage. There were canoeists traversing the lake, pontoon boats, kayaks, a wide variety of floatation devices, swimmers, sun bathers, shore dancers, hillside sitters, runners, walkers, the picnic gang, sing-a-long-ers, chair wigglers, foot stompers and those who sat silently, and enjoyed the panorama of so much recreation in one small acreage of lakeside park. What an incredible Muskoka promotion. What a great show of potential and actuality to all those pessimists in our midst, who claim, year after year, that our town will perish in the void of disinterest. Where were they this night? Were they sitting at home trying to think up things to grumble about, and dreaming up some ugly scenario, where all the businesses in town will fold-up come November? If they did happen to show up for the concert, maybe, just maybe, they had a treat from the snack bar, or brought along a picnic hamper, and dropped their guard for five or so minutes......which on Sunday was long enough to let the good times sink in, and leave a mark on even the most weary soul, and the hardest to please.
     Our boys love working with Fred on The Barge. In fact, they'd give up paying jobs, to work for someone who appreciates them, and has as much fun as they do, entertaining an appreciative audience. I can't tell you just how much this respite helps Suzanne and I get on with the coming busy summer week.....sitting by that venerable old birch tree, and being caressed by the beautiful lakeland breeze.....and being entertained by so many fine musicians, on that nostalgic platform that has adorned the Gull Lake panorama for almost all our respective lifetimes. If ever this writer feels truly and comfortably at home, and senses that hometown feeling he's been looking for, over a lifetime, Mr. Currie has found it on these electric, absorbing and exciting Sunday nights.....only a few blocks from home. It is the celebration of the good life here in Muskoka.......the one us permanent residents get to enjoy through the four seasons.....and ain't it splendid.
     A Gravenhurst Councillor friend of mine, asked last evening, if I'd been writing all night at the park. I said yes, but that wasn't quite true. I did in fact spend most of the time looking out upon this life-filled park, enjoying our special Concert Night, and my favorite picnic lunch.......and if she had looked closer, she would have seen that I was actually doodling in my notebook, because I was just too darn contented, to pen anything more than a sketch of a canoe and paddler, and the background rock of Gull Lake at its most picturesque. I didn't have to write anything down, at this time, to have an essay in waiting, when I got home to my keyboard.
     I only hope everyone had as much fun as we did.

Tom Thomson Became a Legend Sooner, Barge Review Delayed

The  Barge kept us late....and we are happy about it. 
We have run out of time this evening to write a proper review and profile of the Concert on The Barge, which we have just now returned. 


It will appear tomorrow evening instead.


The article below will be published in The Great North Arrow in August.
I thought I'd give my readers, who can't get a hold of copy, a preview of the final anniversary column regarding the death of Tom Thomson 95 Years ago.
















NINETY FIVE YEARS AGO, TOM THOMSON BECAME A LEGEND

By Ted Currie

    "From year to year Thomson grew ability to summarize, in the beauty of his colour arrangements, in confidence, and brilliancy of technique. His paintings are frank and beautiful statements of the moods and inner meanings of the scenes freed of all extraneous and distracting detail. His sense of design and colour wove enchantment into a sketch, never cluttering or confusing it, but rather adding a richer and more subtle significance. Thomson left probably more than four hundred sketches, perhaps twenty important canvases, with as many slighter or experimental pictures."
    The above passage was written by art colleague Albert H.Robson, in his small biography, titled simply, "Tom Thomson." He concludes the biography by suggesting, "His tragic and untimely death on Canoe Lake robbed our Dominion of a great interpreter of the Canadian wilderness; a faithful student whose sincerity, unresting passion for the true and swift insight into the heart of all that was beautiful, gave him skill and power to isolate the essentials, which lifted his landscapes from the purely representative to the realms of personal creative art."
    Ninety-five years ago, Canadian Arist, Tom Thomson, would be buried in the family plot in Leith, Ontario, a village near the Town of Owen Sound. It would be, in fact, the second time the painter was buried that month, of July, 1917.
    The first burial was in the tiny Mowat Cemetery, on the shore of Algonquin Park's Canoe Lake. As traditional funerals go, this one wasn't typical. It was conducted quickly, shortly after Thomson's body was found floating in Canoe Lake. There was no way the Thomson family could have attended, even if they had wanted to, and despite the suggestion it was the condition of the body that warranted speedy burial, it is noted that the body was embalmed on shore, by undertakers, Dixon and Flavell, a short time after a basic autopsy by Dr. G.W. Howland. Although the body was seriously decomposed, after a week in the water, it was hardly the argument, the body had to be buried immediately out of respect for Thomson, or for anyone else in that community at the time.
    The argument that authorities agreed to bury Thomson hurriedly, because of the advanced stage of decomposition, is flimsy at best. The undertakers should have known, that even to embalm the body before a coroner's investigation, was improper and could have lead to legal complications for the participants. When Coroner, Dr. Ranney, showed up, having taken the train from North Bay, Thomson had only just been buried......on July 17th, only one day after being snagged by a fishing hook in Canoe Lake.  Dr. Ranney had the authority to ask that Thomson's body be exhumed. He had the right to challenge the park authority, Superintendent Bartlett, and by Provincial jurisdiction, ask that the body be exhumed. There are many excuses bandied about, such as the war time situation, and shortage of doctors (coroners), but frankly, nothing should have got in the way of the coroner in this case, having full access to the body minus the embalming.
    The problem of course, was that there were linking of situations, that still confound investigation to this day. There are times when Thomson historians, and hobby investigators, are harshly criticized for trying to sort out the evidence from that July, ninety-five years ago, as if they are purposely trying to destroy the artist's good name. Unfortunately, a significant amount of bungling, and indifference to protocol, compounded what should have been a routine investigation. When Ranney did get a chance to conduct a Coroner's Inquest, he did so in the cabin of one of the prime suspects, Martin Blecher Jr., who had argued with Thomson, at an evening social event, the night before he went missing. There were witnesses who reported hearing Blecher threaten Thomson with unspecified harm, yet at the Coroner's Inquest, this was never mentioned. It was discussed following the Inquest but not during. This one occurrence alone, which should have been mentioned, would have caused the Coroner to ask that Thomson's body be removed from the Mowat gravesite.
    Was there some hesitation to bring this up, considering the inquest was being held in the Blecher family cottage? Although Blecher became an unlikely suspect in Thomson's demise, as time went on, the question lingers ninety-five years later, about the debacle of this legal event, that ultimately led to Dr. Ranney, agreeing with Dr. Howland's findings, and his hastily arranged, shoreline autopsy, that supported the theory of accidental drowning.....which with the Coroner's signature, made eventual "national history," he wouldn't have suspected at the time. Thomson's legend had been seeded, and not just because of the success of his art work. In reality, the mistakes and miscalculations, of which there were many, perpetuated the Tom Thomson mystery. While some purists, of his art career and paintings, view the "mystery" as a distraction from what is most important about his life and times, the tangle of mistruths and errors, that could only fuel suspicion, and thus intrigue about foul play, began in earnest, when those in attendance at the inquest, decided for whatever reason, to remain silent and accept the finding of accidental drowning.
    Then in the 1950's, Judge William Little, with associates, and some gardening spades, decided to exhume the supposedly empty grave in the Mowat Cemetery. It was supposed to be vacant. So there shouldn't have been a body in Thomson's first grave. But Little knew something different, and was proving a point. What he didn't realize, at the time, was that the Province wasn't interested in re-opening the Thomson file, even with bones found in a supposedly empty grave. He might have known this, from Thomson biographer, Blodwen Davies, who was the first to publicly question the accidental drowning theory, in the late 1920's, while interviewing Canoe Lake residents about the artist. She went as far as to contact the Ontario Provincial Police, to suggest Thomson had been murdered. She must have had good reason to suspect information on the case had been suppressed, but that there were still folks who wished to bring the suspect to justice. This never happened. The police gave it a cursory examination, and decided an investigation wasn't warranted. It was warranted. Davies, a well versed researcher and writer knew so, as did the folks she talked with in the Canoe Lake community, more than a decade after Thomson's death. Years later, she was still working on the murder-theory, with help from Dr. Frederick Banting, (insulin) a painter friend, who also subscribed to the theory of foul play. It was no different for Judge Little. He was stonewalled from his attempt to prove Thomson had never been moved from the plot in the Mowat graveyard, and that he had been murdered by someone in that Canoe Lake community.
    It was Little's discovery of bones, in a supposedly unoccupied grave, that is now, the pivotal situation in the Thomson mystery. The fact that he found human remains in that plot, should have by itself, initiated a fraud investigation. The Thomson family had paid an undertaker, by the name of Churchill, to remove Thomson....all of him, to the Village of Leith, Ontario, to be re-buried in the family plot. The fact there was still a corpse in Mowat meant that someone wasn't telling the truth. The fact the forensic examination revealed the bones, found by Little, had belonged to an aboriginal person, may have been corrupted itself, by the fact the government of the day, had no will to re-visit the Thomson case. Why? In the 1950's, Thomson's art work was becoming ever more popular. When Judge Little, in the early 1970's, wrote the book, "The Tom Thomson Mytsery," based in large part on the bones found in the Algonquin cemetery, the CBC film, documenting the story from the author's perspective, the legend, whether the Province or the Thomson family were upset or not, was most definitely heightened. Yet no one was willing to settle the fundamental argument. One grave had to be empty. It suggested to some historians, there was nothing in the Leith plot except a now-rusted, empty metal coffin, delivered by Mr. Churchill ninety-five years ago. There was reason to open the graves in the 1920's when Blodwen Davies raised the issue of foul play, and there was ample evidence provided, in the 1950's and 1970's, by Judge Little, to label this event a cold case, if only because of this strange reality of "two graves and one body."
   The Tom Thomson Mystery is forever linked with bungling by the Province of Ontario. Authorities in government and the Ontario Provincial Police should have been willing to find out why there was an unknown body buried in the Mowat Cemetery, in the same style and period of coffin, as Thomson was buried, and supposedly moved with, to the Village of Leith. Even down to the name plate on the coffin that had never been inscribed, due to the quick burial. They should have, at the very least, asked that an investigation be made, of his second burial site, to make sure that the deceased artist was in the family plot, as Undertaker Churchill had promised. Even the nagging suspicion that Thomson was murdered, gets lost in the quagmire of this unfortunate burial issue, which most certainly compounds the mysterious circumstances, and keeps the legend pumping along. But don't blame researchers and historians. They have been fulfilling their mandate, to investigate history and biography. It is a compelling story. It will continue to provide the allure to authors long into the future, unless, some day, a forensic test can be done on remains in the Leith plot......if indeed there are any old bones buried there to test. This is the haunting issue.
    I am a lover of all things Tom Thomson. I am an admirer of his art, and I have dozens of books regarding his life and career, and I'm always eager to learn more. The mystery of his death has never conflicted with my own appreciation of his painting, and without question, the vibrancy and spirit within his art panels, inspired me to visit Algonquin Park, and remain attached to its nature and traditions for all these wonderful decades. I will never watch the Northern Lights waver in the autumn sky, or see a crooked pine silhouetted against a rising stormfront, and not think of Tom Thomson, and how he might have painted life into such a scene.
    We owe a lot to this Canadian artist. And I believe we need to know exactly where he was buried. Or the Province, should, at the very least, as a result of their bungling of the case, erect a small memorial to Tom Thomson, on the site of that first burial, in the Mowat Cemetery. For the many Thomson admirers, who make a point of hiking back there, during their Algonquin trips, yes indeed, there should be a marker on the plot. Whether it is still Thomson resting in that grave, or someone else, it was where the artist's remains were first buried.....and this needs to be acknowledged. By the visitors each year.....it is validated as relevant, and respected, as a Thomson landmark.....a place to visit while in Algonquin Park, and in the Canoe Lake community.
    Was Tom Thomson murdered? The question will survive for another ninety-five years, I'm sure!
    "Except to a very limited number of friends, Tom Thomson is a remote and mystical figure that broke into the art firmament with a sudden and dazzling brilliancy, and then disappeared as suddenly into the great unknown," wrote Albert Robson, of his friend. "Thomson's truly amazing accomplishment is explainable mainly through the intensely passionate love he had for the lakes, woods, and rolling granite-ribbed hills of the country he interpreted so sensitively and beautifully."

A FEELING FOR HISTORY I CAN'T EXPLAIN

A FEELING FOR HISTORY I CAN'T EXPLAIN

A PREVIOUS LIFE? MAYBE! BUT WHAT A CRAZY ADVENTURE

     I WILL STOP ALL OF A SUDDEN, BUT SOMEWHAT EXPECTED ON MY HISTORIC WALKS, TRUNDLING THROUGH THE OLD LOG BUILDINGS, WHEN BRUSHED EVER SO GENTLY, BY THAT HAUNTING FEELING, I NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO MY SURROUNDINGS.....VERY MUCH AS IF I HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE IN A PREVIOUS LIFE. WE ALL HAVE THESE FEELINGS. WE CAN'T EXPLAIN THEM, WE JUST HAVE A LITTLE SHIVER, MAKE AN ANECDOTAL COMMENT LIKE, "SOMEONE JUST WALKED OVER MY GRAVE," AND CARRY-ON, OCCASIONALLY LOOKING BACK.....AS IF EXPECTING TO SEE A GHOST. I'M SURE YOU'VE HAD SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN TO YOU. IT'S PROBABLY NOT ENOUGH TO WARRANT CONTACTING A GHOST BUSTER, OR A RESEARCHER OF THE PARANORMAL, BUT IT WILL STILL STICK WITH YOU FOR AWHILE AS A BELIEVE IT OR NOT.
    I WILL HAVE ABOUT FOUR OF THESE SITUATIONS, WHILE WALKING THE GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS OF STE. MARIE, AMONGST THE HURONS, IN MIDLAND, THE RECLAIMED SITE OF THE 1600'S JESUIT MISSION, THAT ENDED BADLY FOR THE MISSIONARIES AND ASSISTANTS. OF ALL THE HISTORIC SITES I'VE VISITED, INCLUDING IN ENGLAND AND UNITED STATES, THE MOST COMPELLING BY FAR, FOR ME, IS THE JESUIT MISSION. IT'S NOT A FEARFUL FEELING, BUT RATHER, A SENSE OF BELONGING TO THE HISTORY OF THIS REMARKABLE ACREAGE OF HURONIA LANDSCAPE, A SHORT WALK TO THE FAMOUS MARTYRS SHRINE, ONCE VISITED BY THE POPE.
     WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME WHY I HAVE MADE A LIFE, AND PROFESSION FROM HISTORY, I CAN'T REALLY ANSWER WITH ONE LIMITED-WORD RESPONSE. I CAN'T EXPLAIN WHY I HAVE ALSO SPENT A LIFETIME BEING COMPANIONED BY SPIRITS, I SEEM TO BE ABLE TO DRAW OUT OF THE STRANGEST PLACES.....AND CIRCUMSTANCES. IN A NUTSHELL, I AM DRAWN TO PLACES WITH HISTORIC AURAS, AND PATINAS OF PAST LIVES AND TIMES. WRITING RECENTLY ABOUT GRANNY BOWERS, A MUSKOKA PIONEER, WHO LIVED IN BOTH FALKENBURG, AND ON THE FRASERBURG ROAD, IN BRACEBRIDGE, AND THEN THE ICELANDIC SETTLERS WHO ARRIVED IN OUR REGION IN THE 1870'S, I HAVE FELT DRAWN INTO THEIR LIVES FROM THE VERY FIRST HOUR I BEGAN READING THEIR JOURNALS.
    BOTH THESE STORIES HAVE BEEN VERY INFLUENTIAL FOR ME, OVER A LENGTHY CAREER STUDYING AND WRITING ABOUT LOCAL HISTORY. I AM TRULY ABLE TO WALK INTO THE LIVES OF THESE OLD SOULS, AND EXPERIENCE WHAT THEY HAD TO DEAL WITH DURING THESE FRONTIER YEARS.....WHICH FRANKLY MAKE MANY HARDSHIPS TODAY, SEEM MUCH LESS SIGNIFICANT. CONTEMPORARIES WILL ARGUE THAT THE HARDSHIPS EXPERIENCED NOW ARE PROPORTIONAL TO THE ERA, AND THUS EACH PERIOD DEALT WITH ITS CHALLENGES ACCORDINGLY. SOME WILL SUGGEST THAT IT WOULD BE AN UNFAIR SITUATION, TO PUT TODAY'S YOUNGSTERS IN THE PIONEER ENCAMPMENTS, LIKE HEKKLA CIRCA 1873; EQUALLY SO, TO PUT SETTLERS INTO THE PRESENT WORLD ENVIRONS. TRUE ENOUGH. I STILL BELIEVE IT WAS MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THEN THAN TODAY, TO HURDLE SO MUCH, SO FREQUENTLY, JUST TO SURVIVE.
    
LIVING THE LIFE - ONE ERA TO ANOTHER WITHOUT TOO MUCH CHAGRIN

     I am just one of millions of folks who dwells.....or better stated, dawdles in the past, by choice. I feel comfortable wandering around historic buildings, and houses, and museums that subtly and gently, take me on adventures I hadn't even thought of, before entering the site. I do feel paranormal activity in a lot of these interesting places, either from the buildings, or from the artifacts and antiques in the collections. I'm never repelled by these situations, although I have talked to many visitors who dislike these strange interventions. As a former manager of Woodchester Villa and Musuem in Bracebridge, which is the octagonal former home of woollen mill founder, Henry J. Bird, the paranormal was just a day to day reality of the marvellous 1880's house, overlooking the rapids of the Bracebridge Falls. Some members of staff didn't like the ghostly, spirited stuff, but the older volunteers and guides couldn't have cared less about apparitions or anything else malevolent.      I didn't find the house threatening, just occupied by the family history of which it was perfectly entitled. I have sensed paranormal entities in dozens upon dozens of older homes I've visited, but I didn't make a habit of telling the hosts their humble, nicely appointed abodes were haunted. Maybe they knew or didn't care.
     When it comes to the reasons why I imbed myself in history, it comes down to the comfortable feeling and the reward of reliving it, that keeps me delving further and seeking out new avenues to stroll. I don't ever go anywhere seeking out ghosts specifically. I do head out on my travels around Muskoka, looking to be immersed in history, and since I worked on the creation of the Bracebridge Historical Society, and Woodchester Villa, back in the late 1970's, I've never been without a hand in some heritage project. This has included a stint as director of the Muskoka Lakes Museum in Port Carling, and Curator of the Bracebridge Sports Hall of Fame at the Memorial Arena. I've been in the antique trade since I was twenty, and had my first shop in Bracebridge, at 22. I just like the feeling of old stuff.....but when I say that to my partner Suzanne, the scorn sears through my soul. So I don't make jokes about age. Her birthday is tomorrow and I'm thinking about buying her something......old. Like me, she's hooked on antiques. Sewing materials, quilts and hand-made items in particular. So there you go. Antique dealers give each other antiques for special occasions. Thus, birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmas can get pretty expensive. In regards to supply and demand, antiques are pricey.
     There's something powerful about holding a painting that is one hundred and fifty years old, or a quilt that was made by a group of village women by the light of an oil lamp, in a drafty old farmhouse. There's is a definite aura attached to fine lace work done by a pioneer, carried over as tradition, from a long line of crafters from Europe. I have handled a sampler from the 1770's, and felt the imprint of the letter press, from the same vintage, in one of my many old books, some that have dated as far back, as 1602.......which was a goat skin covered German Bible, that I purchased from a former bookbinder who worked for Hunter-Rose in her youth. I have felt the strong, positive aura, holding onto Irvin "Ace" Bailey's skates, and Roger Crozier's goal stick, from the 1966 Stanley Cup playoffs, both of which I was once in charge, as hockey collection curator. Arguably, some people don't care about provenance. They wouldn't feel a spirit if it bit them on the forehead. That's okay. It's not imperative to feel the presence of the other side, still wandering the earth. But it is part of my profession, as a writer / historian, and antique dealer. Every one of our family members knows what it means when someone in our company says, "It spoke to me. I had to have it." It doesn't mean there was a ghost rider attached. It does mean, there was a vibe we couldn't avoid or neglect. I've brought home a lot of things like that, and yes, some of the items did have ghosts attached......if you believe in ghosts in the first place.
     I don't live in a haunted house. It's just mildly enchanted. I don't seek out haunted houses, buildings, fields or forests. We just kind of find each other, and the same can be said for items touched by the paranormal. Which leads me back to places like Ste. Marie, where I could actually live.....if they'd let me.....and I'd feel as if I'm home again. Was I a Jesuit Missionary in a former life? Maybe the builder of the structures, or chap in charge of the community gardens? Maybe the paddler of the birch bark canoes? Digging the outhouse holes? But if you are reading this, and you've got this far in the copy, I'm willing to bet you have had similar experiences, and made note of where and why, and the frequency. The deja-vu situation. The "I must have been in this place during another life." "Say, that smells like apple pie baking...like the ones my mother used to make." Yet there is not an oven in the vicinity, or a restaurant. The smell of your grandmother's flower garden, you remember from playing around it, during your childhood. When some sensory influence comes along, out of thin air, surely you ponder, even if you are a disbeliever, if there is a chance the deceased are trying to remind you of something?
    A lot of misunderstanding about this comes from the fact that Hollywood has established, in hundreds of depictions on film, what they and their art departments, believe ghosts look like, and what it is like to have a paranormal experience. The kind of ghostly encounters I've had, wouldn't make very good movies. There are no thunder storms and lightning when I visit with paranormal circumstance. I don't need an eerie moss-covered Victorian mansion, or any murder or bloodshed to feel elevated to communication with the dearly departed. It's all very casual and innocent, but whenever it happens, and wherever the message or reminder comes along, I take the time to ponder just what this could have been. It's true. Some times I do find a baking pie in the oven. Suzanne makes good pies. If the scent arrives while on a cross country hike, or in the middle of the night, after a cursory look for a source, I just say hello to all the family members who have passed, and who had invited me into their kitchens, as a youngster, or young man, to visit.    There are reasons for feeling this way, and science would explain it differently than those who subscribe to life after death. There are mediums, like John Edward, who might suggest someone who has passed, is trying to get a message to you or assistance from you, to extend the message to another person or acquaintance. As John Edward indicates that it is important to validate these messages, I have been doing this my whole life anyway, with some pretty interesting results. Whether I'm talking to thin air or not, who cares. If people see me talking to myself, or talking into the void of thin air, out into a field of wildflowers, in a forest glen, or in an otherwise empty attic, then they can think what they wish. I've had others approach me, at an historic site for example, and say, "did you feel that?" "Sure did. Did you smell the cinnamon?" The fresh baking from the cook's handiwork, when no kitchen was in operation? I love this sensory perception stuff. I am always so entertained to involve myself in heritage projects that are thusly enhanced by curious paranormal activity, and keep in mind that this doesn't mean ghosts and wee beasties criss-crossing. It can be as simple as a touch on the back or shoulder, as if your mother or father is guiding you along a path, or hallway, to show you they are with you.....in life and spirit. It can be an aroma you recall from childhood, or a special place you attended, that makes you remember a family time or member, and their reactions. You can brush it off like many do, and never mention the experience. Or you can validate the experience and intervention, as a sign from those who have departed, trying to get you to remember something you may have forgotten.....about your relationship with them in life.
     Here's an experience I had this week. Maybe when you read it, you'll say, "oh that's nothing.....just coincidence." I suppose if it happened once in a while, that might be the case. If it happens as frequently as it happens to me, it's an existence I depend on to get my work done. Let me explain.
     I have been working on a future feature blog and video, to recognize the 150th anniversary of the naming of the Gravenhurst Post Office, in 1862, by William Dawson LeSueur, in honor of the settlers here, and the British writer / poet, William Henry Smith, after his book that year, "Gravenhurst; or Thoughts on Good and Evil." I have a series of blogs and a video ready for the first of August. What I didn't have was the rough notes and photographs I had, when I first did the project back in the late 1990's. It was looking pretty bad when the historian / archivist couldn't find all his notes for a project a week away. For days and days I had a nagging feeling, I had to move a church pew on our front verandah, and take it to the store. Suzanne and I have had an emotional debate about the pew for several years. She's okay with selling it, but I'm a little reluctant, seeing as it was special to her mother Harriet (Shea) Stripp. Seems odd that Suzanne feels it isn't important, as an heirloom piece, but I do. Harriet always liked me. Before she passed, shortly after Suzanne and I were married, she gave me a few very important historical documents and books, relevant to her family, which we still possess. The most important, was the first Muskoka history, written by Thomas McMurray, published as a Settler's Guidebook in 1871. I know every word in the book by now. It had belonged to Harriet's father John Shea, of Ufford, in the Three Mile Lake area, of the present Township of Muskoka Lakes.
     The pew was rescued from the former United Church in the hamlet of Ufford, just before it was torn down. The pew was kept in storage for many years at our family cottage on Lake Rosseau, and when Suzanne and I lived there after we were married, I insisted on having the pew on the second floor, along the railing of the staircase. Suzanne was working at the Windermere Golf Club, the day I decided to haul it out of the basement, and carry it up the hillside, and through the cottage, up the stairs by myself. I won't kid you. I nearly died doing it, and Suzanne was furious that I did it without help. Harriet was encouraged about her new history-loving son-in-law, and told me all about the pew. When the cottage was being sold, Suzanne's father gave us the pew to bring home, and it was at one side of the harvest table for most of a decade. When we changed tables, the pew looked foolish, and we took it out for awhile, and stuck it rather unceremoniously on the deck. We even tried to sell it last year at a yard sale. No one had a room for a pew. So it wintered back on the deck.
     Suzanne gave me instructions to ship it up to the boys' store this week, and I must admit many reservations. I sort of owed it to Harriet to hang onto the pew for some reason. Strange enough this week, I got the feeling it was time to follow through, and regain our deck for use. The pew clogged it up, with our other more comfortable chairs. Having ignored the urges for three days, I finally got to the point, I had to move the ten foot long bench, that particular moment.....as if I was being told by something beyond, to get the job done now! So without help, I moved it off the deck, and by myself into the driveway. When son Andrew emerged, and yelled at me for trying to kill myself, "by pew moving," he asked if there was anything else he could help me with. I asked if he could please move the piano bench, also on the deck, that had also once been on the second floor of the Windermere cottage. He yelled back at me that there were many papers in the bench, and it was too heavy to move with them inside. I went to have a look, and there they were......ninety percent of my William Henry Smith papers. Only that morning, son Robert, who is my videographer for the William Henry Smith project, was worried about my delays, finding the graphics of Smith and LeSueur, that are supposed to be included in the video, he's been trying to wrap-up. Did Harriet lead me to the cache of resources that I needed on that precise day? You bet she did! She was a lover of history, and she would have known how mad I was, at misplacing the files. If I hadn't moved that pew, in the first place, I would not have looked in the piano bench. In fact, moving the pew allowed me the first access to the bench in over a year. I didn't have a clue how my files got in the bench. Suzanne may have been house cleaning and filed, what she hates of my clutter around Birch Hollow.
     As for the pew? I don't know if I can sell this Muskoka / Windermere heirloom, after quite a number of strange occurrences, of which it has played a part since I married into the family.
     Another strange aspect of this pew, may be the association to another interest she had in the United Church she remembered as a child. It was the fact she penned a list of all those who had been buried in the tiny cemetery, situated beside the old church, with one special inclusion she never fully researched.....but had wanted to find out about. She had learned that one of the congregation had been a veteran of the American Civil War, fighting as a Canadian, for either the North or the South. We gave the information, some years ago, to local Civil War historian, Tom Brooks, of Gravenhurst, but despite his best efforts, he couldn't conclude if the deceased veteran had actually been a participant, but there had been men with that name who had been enlisted.
     Suzanne will tell me that it won't fit behind our new dining room table, and I will argue that we may one day get another table, and an extended family to fill in the space availability. It will of course be another area for the cats to occupy when I want to sit down, and it will collect dust and need regular maintenance to keep in good condition. But for both of us, it will also serve to remind us, of pioneer faith, charity, neighborliness, and durability......like our marriage, to last through all kinds of events and challenges, and obstacles that are part of this grand and to-be-cherished mortal coil.
     Maybe we will sell it, or maybe not. We will let Harriet decide. I think she's already spoken, in that soft heavenly way, that we should do what we feel is right. Spirits aren't too interested afterall, in material things, like old church pews from once upon a time.
     Thanks for joining today's blog. Please visit again soon.

FURTHER ADVENTURES WITH THE ICELANDERS IN HEKKLA, MUSKOKA

FURTHER ADVENTURES WITH THE ICELANDERS IN HEKKLA, MUSKOKA

SETTLERS ARRIVED EXPECTING MORE - AND BETTER

     PUBLISHED IN THE ICELANDIC MAGAZINE, 'LOGBERG,' IN SEPTEMBER 1988, IS A DESCRIPTION OF THE HOMELAND CONDITIONS IN 1874 DURING THE EXODUS PERIOD. THE ARTICLE READS AS FOLLOWS:  "THIS IS THE ERA WHEN THE LARGE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE TO CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES WERE BEGINNING. IN 1874 THE POPULATION OF ICELAND WAS A BIT OVER 71,000. AGRICULTURE WAS THE MAIN OCCUPATION AND MOST OF THE PEOPLE LIVED IN THE RURAL AREAS. THERE WERE 2,000 PEOPLE IN REYKJAVIK. THERE AND IN OTHER MERCHANTILE VILLAGES, FISHING ON OPEN ROW BOATS AND SMALL SAILING VESSELS WAS THE MAIN OCCUPATION. MANY FARMERS ALONG THE COASTLINE ENGAGED IN FISHING. SOME FARMERS SENT THEIR MALE HELP TO THE SOUTH AND WEST COASTS TO TAKE PART IN FISHING FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. THEY LIVED IN SMALL HUTS BUILT FROM PILED STONES AND TURF. THE CONDITIONS IN THESE HUTS WERE BAD." POVERTY WAS MAJOR FACTOR FOR THESE FUTURE HOMESTEADERS, AND MANY FELT THEY HAD NOTHING TO LOSE BY JOINING THE ADVENTURE TO NORTH AMERICA. FOR SOME, ADMITTEDLY, IT WAS A FATAL MISTAKE.
     IN YESTERDAY'S BLOG (YOU CAN ARCHIVE BACK IF YOU MISSED IT), I PUBLISHED EXCERPTS FROM A LETTER WRITTEN BY ICELANDIC SETTLER, PALL SNAEBJORNSSON, DATED 1887, RECALLING THE EARLIER CROSS-ATLANTIC VOYAGE ABOARD THE STEAMSHIP, "GRESIAN." THE INITIAL PASSAGE FROM ICELAND TO SCOTLAND WAS ON THE SHIP, "CAMEONS." THE LETTER CONTINUES:
     "WE WERE ALL SEASICK BUT GUDRUN WAS THE LEAST," HE WROTE. "WE WENT SWIFTLY, LIKE A BIRD, AND IT WAS HARD TO SEE THROUGH THE WINDOWS FOR THE HEADS OF OTHER PEOPLE, BUT WHAT WE SAW SEEMED BEAUTIFUL SCENERY IN SCOTLAND, EVERYWHERE. THERE WERE ACRES OF FIELDS, HILLS, MOUNTAINS WITH FORESTS IN BETWEEN. THERE WAS HAY OUTSIDE IN SEVERAL PLACES. IT WAS RAKED UP AND LOOKED TO ME LIKE IT IS DONE IN ICELAND. I SAW A LOT OF SHEEP AND PIGS, ALSO SOME GOATS. WE SAW HORSES IN THE COUNTRY AND ALSO SOME IN GLASGOW. IN GLASGOW, I MEASURED MYSELF WITH ONE AND IT SEEMED TO ME TO BE TWICE AS HIGH TO THE COLLAR-BONE THAN I WAS, AND I WAS AMAZED AT HIS SIZE. WE WENT THROUGH TUNNELS ON THE RAILROAD IN DARKNESS AND I DIDN'T LIKE IT AT FIRST. WE ARRIVED IN GLASGOW LATE IN THE DAY IN POURING RAIN. WE GOT OUT OF THE TRAIN AND WALKED A LONG WAY THROUGH THE CITY UNTIL WE ARRIVED AT THE IMMIGRATION OFFICE AT 6:00 P.M. WE WERE GIVEN A MEAL AND A POLICEMAN STOOD IN THE DOOR AND WOULDN'T LET ANYONE IN EXCEPT THOSE WHO WERE ELIGIBLE TO ENTER."

PASSAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

     "We had an interpreter in Reykjavik. He was Daniel Danjellsson, and he was good to us on the way, but that evening in the immigration office he went away and we didn't know where he was. We had no interpreter and we couldn't do anything about it," pens Snaebjornsson. "We had to go on board ship that night, as the boat we were to go on had waited just one day for us. It was a 4,000 ton ship and was called the 'Gresian.' We sailed next morning downstream and in very calm weather. It was lovely to see the shores and buildings on both sides. Everyone had to go on deck and show their passports and the number of passengers had to be counted. There were 285 Icelanders an over 200 other nationalities. It was much nicer to have people on board than the 40 horses that were brought on the 'Cameons' from Iceland to Scotland. After the count we kept on sailing and that evening we had gone quite a distance on the ocean.
     "The next morning Ireland disappeared from view. We were half sick while crossing the Atlantic Ocean and it was rough except the first and last day of our journey. One night it was so rough that we had a job to stay in our beds and our trunks and comforts were going back and forth. Two babies were born on that trip, and one baby, who was three weeks old when it left Iceland, died on our last day on the Atlantic Ocean, and it was put overboard. After eleven days we landed at Quebec and from there we went to Ottawa. Everyone left us there and went to Winnipeg except Bjorn and Valdorasi and two went right away to Quebec, as they were hired by an American who was on the boat from Scotland.
     The Icelander writes, "At Ottawa we waited from 2:00 o'clock until midnight and then went to Toronto. From there we went to Bracebridge where Bjarni (great grandfather's brother) met us, and we sure were glad to see him. We went to Rosseau by boat and it was 11|:00 o'clock when we arrived at Hekkla. Bjarni's house had burned to the ground that spring with most of the contents. He was building another house and had the roof on it when we came. He was real pleased to see us and we have been with him these three weeks since we arrived. I have been helping Bjarni with the house. It is 23 feet in length and 16 feet wide. We have laid the floors and put in the upstairs and there is a basement under it all. We will be moving in, although there will be a lot to finish, but that can be done by degrees. I thought the trees were pretty here but there are a lot of hills and knolls and the scenery isn't nice. We got to Hekkla on a Saturday and the colourings (October) of the trees were in every shade supplied by nature but now the colours are fading. The weather has been nice since we came, as any July weather in Iceland.  We have had night frosts but hot in the daytime. The grass is quite green and the cattle are still outside but the horses are housed and fed hay and oats as they have been used to.
    "Bjarni has two colts; one is two years old and the other only one year. I haven't seen a bigger horse in Iceland than the two year old. She is broken-in and draws well, and the one year old is to be broken in this winter. He bought them this spring for one hundred and ten dollars and considered it a good buy. Anywhere I have gone since I came here, is nothing but bush except where men have cut the trees and sown grass and grain, or grown vegetables. All one can see is the land that has been cultivated as the rest is all bush. There are six homesteads here and big fields. When a house is built and trees cut down and fields begin to get bigger, one will be able to see further about us.  Communication was difficult and connections with home were rare except for the occasional letter. Much mail never made it to the isolated frontier homesteads. But it was the bond of the community that offered new settlers faith and home pride to continue the arduous task of carving out their individual farmsteads." (letter from Hekkla by Pall Snaebjornsson)
     Contained as a conclusion to one of the Icelandic journals I had access to, at the time I was researching the settlement of Hekkla, the following summation sheds considerable light on the relationship between all those of varying nationalities struggling to survive....most often against all odds. The journal, as first translated by the late Bena Grenke, quotes a letter written by a Hekkla resident, Asgier, to Iceland in the year 1990: "There has always been a warm neighborly feeling among the Icelanders in Cardwell. Since 1888 when the reading society was formed, it has grown and we have a lot of Icelandic books now. A true feeling toward the Lutheran Church has been retained and Bible readings have been continued. Although the Icelanders were so inexperienced when they came to this country, it is true that they have progressed better than people of other nationalities. So much of the virgin forest has been cleared, giving farmers large accretes of land and they have build good houses on their farms. If ever the Icelanders disappeared from this settlement they would always be thought of as hard-working, self-supporting people."
     The Icelanders had been dealt harsh realities, both in their homeland and on the Canadian frontier. Although the historian finds it difficult to deny that Icelanders were better prepared for hardships than other settlers, coming to Muskoka at the same time, accumulated evidence supports this presumption. While they weren't loggers when they arrived in Canada, they soon learned how to use the axe and saw, and in fact, made their first money, clearing roadways for the government. The had a cultural / community bond that helped them stave off the feeling of isolation on the frontier, and there were many examples of Icelanders helping each other on building projects and farming generally. As well, there are other examples of homesteaders of other nationalities, assisting the Icelanders, and the reverse also holds true.
     The Icelanders had endured the ravages of economic depression in their homeland. They struggled against climate and failing agriculture, and the associated problems of unpredictable volcanic action, that caused immeasurable hardship for those in closest vicinity. The combination of unfortunate factors was a motivational peak to many potential new-land settlers, willing to gamble that a better future existed......somewhere else. The Icelanders, like thousands upon thousands of immigrants, had been purposely misinformed about the availability of employment (in the Village of Rosseau, as relates to the Icelanders), the food and material provisions upon arrival, suitable shelter, arable land and adequate tracts of land to construct a village. Tactics used by government and steamship agents should have been considered suspicious. At the time however, Icelanders felt they had little choice, but to gamble on at least part of the claims being correct. The land agents were obviously getting commissions on the number of immigrants they were able to sign-up, in conjunction with steamship clerks, working the same avenue. They told good stories but a lot of it was sheer fiction.
     When the settlers, bone-weary from the gruelling journey, finally arrived in Muskoka, the vista was haunting. From expectations of the 'promised land," to the eerie, smokey darkness of towering forests, rock and swamp, the Icelanders were introduced harshly, to the future in all its ominous glory. Through the smoke of a thousand fires, burning off the slash of woodcutting, and the seemingly endless bogs and rock outcroppings, it is hard to imagine the fortitude in the wake of near-desperation, how the settlers set to work to make the best of an adverse situation. They learned quickly how to diversify their personal economies, and made good use of the resources the hinterland provided. The logging industry was Muskoka's most active industry, in those years, and for many settlers, working in logging camps over the winter season, and concluding with the spring drive, helped feed their families, and provide money to buy seeds for spring planting. The Icelanders participated in the industry both as labour and entrepreneurs.
     Hekkla had its failures just like any other pioneer community on the Ontario frontier at this time. Certainly some of the immigrants buried beneath the markers at the Hekkla United Church Cemetery, perished as a direct result of the physical hardship presented by homesteading. Today, however, as descendants of the settlers meet to honor their families, pride of accomplishment exchanges in handshakes, between long time family friends and kin. When they pray together at special anniversary services each autumn, the strength of the congregation is witness to the survival of proud Icelandic-Canadian culture. The legacy of Muskoka Icelanders survives, not only in Hekkla, but in many parts of the district where descendants now live and work.
     In conclusion, the words of Muskoka Historian Thomas McMurray seem most appropriatre to the study of the Icelandic immigration to Canada in 1873: McMurray writes, "A strong, hardy class of men, possessing courage and perseverance, with constitutions capable of endurance, assisted by a little means, are sure to get along well in this country, and in a few years to become independent."
     Thanks for joining today's historical blog. Hope you will come back and visit again.

Forests, Bogs and Rocks, Muskoka 1873

MUSKOKA CIRCA 1873 - AND THE FORESTS, BOGS AND ROCKS STANDING IN THE WAY

ICELANDERS ARRIVE, PROMISES BROKEN, WORK TO BE DONE

     WHEN I READ NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE EDITORIALS TODAY, ABOUT THE ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGES OF MUSKOKA, AND THE HIGH LEVEL OF POVERTY WITHIN THE DISTRICT, I GET THE SENSE EVERYTHING THE WRITER'S KNOW ABOUT THIS SITUATION, IS VERY MUCH IN THE PRESENT......AS IT SHOULD BE, FOR THE RELEVANCE OF TODAY'S NEWS. BUT YOU SIMPLY CAN'T UNDERSTAND THE ISSUE OF ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGE AND INEQUALITY, WITHOUT KNOWING SOMETHING OF THE HISTORY OF THE REGION, FROM ITS OPENING YEARS OF SETTLEMENT......BECAUSE THIS WAS THE SEED, AND THE TRADITION, OF WHAT WE HAVE TODAY, WHERE THE RESIDENTS STILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE CHALLENGES OF A SEASONAL ECONOMY. WHAT APPEARED A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO DESTITUTE IMMIGRANTS, AS FREE LAND GRANTS, WASN'T QUITE AS FREEDOM-FRIENDLY AS IT WAS BEING PROMOTED BY GOVERNMENT LAND AGENTS, WORKING ON BEHALF OF THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT, TO ATTRACT SETTLERS TO THE EVER-EXPANDING NATIONAL FRONTIER.
     MANY POOR FAMILIES ARRIVED IN THE HEAVILY FORESTED REGION, WITHOUT THE MEANS OF SUPPORT FOR DAYS, LET ALONE MONTHS AND YEARS. I OFTEN DRAW ON THE HISTORY OF THE ICELANDIC IMMIGRATION TO MUSKOKA, AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW GOVERNMENT PLAYED A PIVOTAL ROLE IN SETTLING THE INHOSPITABLE LANDS, AND FACILITATING MANY PERSONAL TRAGEDIES. MANY HOMESTEADERS DIED AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE HARDSHIPS OF FRONTIER LIVING. THEY HAD BEEN LURED FROM URBAN POVERTY IN EUROPE, AND WITHOUT THE FARMING CAPABILITIES, AND MUCH RURAL EXPERIENCE TO DRAW ON, WERE THRUST INTO THE CANADIAN WILDERNESS TO CARVE OUT HOMESTEADS. JUST THE MISTRUTHS ABOUT THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF ARABLE LAND, ON THE ROCK SHELF MUSKOKA RESTS UPON, LED HOMESTEADERS TO BELIEVE THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO SURVIVE ON THE CROPS RAISED......AND CONTRIBUTED TO SOME RECKLESS DECISIONS. THE ICELANDERS FACED ALL OF THIS, AND AS THERE ARE FEW TREES IN ICELAND TO COMPARE WITH THE TALL PINES OF MUSKOKA, THEIR BURDENS BECAME SO MUCH GREATER WHEN THEY SAW THE MASSIVE, OPPRESSIVE FORESTS OF MUSKOKA, ON THE STEAMSHIP PASSAGE TO ROSSEAU.
     THE ICELANDERS FORGED A TIGHT COMMUNITY, AND SOME HISTORIANS WOULD AGREE, THIS HELPED THEM SURVIVE THE FIRST BRUTAL YEARS, TRYING TO COPE WITH THE NATURAL OBSTACLES AND WEATHER EVENTS, THAT KEPT FARMSTEADS STRUGGLING, WITH ONLY MODEST IMPROVEMENTS, AND MANY SET-BACKS. A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF SETTLERS, WORKING ALONE IN ISOLATION, FAILED AND MOVED TO MORE SETTLED AREAS. THE REALITY OF ISOLATION TOOK ITS TOLL ON THOSE WHO WERE USED TO URBAN LIVING IN EUROPE.
      I WOULD LIKE TO RESUME THE STORY OF THE ICELANDIC SETTLEMENT IN MUSKOKA, WHICH BEGAN IN 1873, WITH NOTATIONS TAKEN FROM A TRANSLATED JOURNAL.

THE AUTUMN OF 1873 IN HEKKLA, MUSKOKA

     "One mild morning in October 1873, the wives and families of Baldwin Helgasson and David Davisson started out to walk from Rosseau, arriving at their home by evening. Some places they had to climb over large rocks. No sun could reach the roots of the trees because of the dense growth. Mr. Helgasson and Mr. Davidsson brought the belongings of their families in a rowboat up the Rosseau River, having to portage on more than one occasion, making the trip twice as long. The two families, making a total of nine persons, had to crowd into this sixteen foot by fourteen foot home and because of their extreme hospitality often had visitors. Two unmarried immigrants, Jakob Lindal and Bjarni Snaebjornsson, built a small house that fall, in which to spend the winter. They were the first Icelanders to build a house in Canada. Helgasson and Davidsson were the first landowners. These four men built the roads in front of their properties. These men also put forth extreme effort to complete their part of the road so the task of toting their supplies from Rosseau, one day, would not be so time consuming. The winter of 1874 was very severe with deep snow and hard frost.
     "The Icelanders' greatest worry was the lack of work and poor pay. They had been told on the way over from Iceland that work was plentiful at Rosseau and they would be able to get work when established. In Muskoka they were told there was an all-Icelandic settlement but this proved false. These strangers in a strange land were discouraged, poor, and had a language barrier. After a short stay in Canada many went to the United States. Some went to different places in Ontario, including Toronto. Work was not plentiful in Toronto either. The collapse of the New York banks were blamed for the shortage of work in Ontario. Vigfus Sigurdsson, the bookbinder, was one of six men who walked the 24 miles from Rosseau to Parry Sound to procure work in a sawmill. They were promised six weeks work which lasted sixteen days and for which they were paid ten dollars. The immigrants were delighted with the many lakes, rivers and trees in Muskoka, also the abundance of wild fruit and maple syrup. Their first homes were built of logs, chinked with wet moss, which hardened like mortar. These cottages were cozy, warm and attractive.
     "Some Icelanders chose Kinmount, in Haliburton, in which to make their homes; however a few fared worse than those in Muskoka. Discouraged with conditions and lack of adequate work, together with an offer of free transportation, many of the Icelanders who had not established themselves in Ontario, left for New Iceland in Manitoba. Baldwin Helgasson and his wife Sofia were life and soul in the Icelandic community in Cardwell. They named their place 'Baldurshage,' and David Davidsson named his home 'Lundi.' Those who established themselves in the locality were Jakob Lindal at 'Lagre-Hvammi,' Bjarni Snaebjornsson, at 'Bjarnarstodum,' Thorsteinn Hallrimsson at 'Laufasi,' Brynjolfur Johnsson at 'Halsi,' Anton Kristjansson, at 'Blidand,' and Angair V. Baldwinsson. These are all recorded as the first farmers in Cardwell by Helga Baldwinsdottir Belgasanar.
     "The later settlers, Helga reports, had friends to meet them upon their arrival and did not experience the difficulties the first group of people had to contend with. 'We were charged double the price of articles that others had to pay. For a pie cut in six pieces, one piece cost us twenty-five cents. My father bought a cow for sixty-five dollars while the real price was only twenty-five to thirty dollars. We were beginning to speak some english, as we had learned some of the language the last winter in Iceland. My father had a little money and that may have been the reason he was charged more than others; but he loaned quite a bit of money to others who did not, or could not pay it back.
     "In the year 1874, two other Icelanders arrived in Muskoka. Arni Jonsson, a nephew of Baldwin Helgasson, who was  a minister and professor, stayed three years and returned to Iceland. The other, Baring Hallgrimsson, who married Jakob Lindal's sister, moved with them to North Dakota in 1881. The only social events in Hekkla were a birthday or a christening, as there were so few settlers. On Sundays Baldwin Helgasson had Bible readings and hymn sings (as they had done in Iceland) where all the settlers gathered at Baldursaga. He acted as minister for these services, at a funeral and at a christening, as well as being called to a sick bed. Olafur Thoreirsson writes about Baldwon Helgasson; 'He was the first and foremost to the Icelandic people in Muskoka in every effort undertaken. He was cheerful, proud, artistic, learned, a good writer, expert carpenter, trained blacksmith, an athlete, a good singer, public speaker, and yet a very humble man. Sofia, his wife, was 18 years of age when she and Baldwin married. She was the prettiest girl in the country, well educated with many accomplishments. She was very generous and unselfish. For 20 years she was an invalid and then taken to Winnipeg for medical treatment but she died on the 23rd of October 1902.
     "Mr. Case, an Irishman, his wife and two daughters, were neighbors of Baldwin and Sofia. He was a capable, diligent, hardworking man. He taught Baldwin how to sow the seed on the land, tend the garden crops, cut potatoes for planting and many other things. The maple trees were tapped and Mrs. Case showed how the sap was boiled for making the maple syrup and maple sugar. This was a grand success as Baldwin sold 200 pounds of maple sugar at fifteen cents a pound, as well as a lot of syrup, keeping plenty for their own consumption. Mrs. Case taught them how to make soap out of the lye from ashes that saved buying the commodity; also to make braided straw hats of wheat and oat stalks for sunshade in the heat. Netting was worn over these straw hats, for protection against the ravages of flies and mosquitoes that the people weren't used to, suffered from in the first years. Mr. Case was an expert in taming oxen and it fell to him to train the oxen for neighbors. He never used the whip but kept up a constant chatter with them, and they soon seemed to understand what he was saying. Most of the oxen were called Buck and Bill. He would call to Buck who would come forward and then Bill, where they would stand together for the yoke to be put on their necks. He was so good and patient in training them.
     "In 1880, Baldwin Helgasson moved from Muskoka to North Dakota where he bought a farm. He sold it and lived in several different places. In 1881, all the Icelanders from Muskoka, with their families, moved to North Muskoka, except Bjarni Snaebjornsson and David Davidsson at Lund. Asgeir Baldvinsson went to North Dakota but after a few years returned to Muskoka and bought Lund from David Davidsson, who moved to North Dakota. In the year 1878, Gisli Einarson and his brother Jakob, sister Arnbjorg and their mother Magnusdottir came to Muskoka. Maria kept house for Bjarni Snaebjornsson until Jakob married Jorurn Pallsdottir who, with her father Pall Snaebjornsson and her two sisters, Solveig and Godrun, arrived in 1887. Jakob took over Bjarnarstodum as Bjarni Snaebjornsson had willed it to him at his death in 1897.
     "Gisli Tomansson and Gudmunder Asgeirsson were new farmers coming in 1883. A post office was opened and named Hekla.' Asgier tried to have a 'k' taken from the word but was unsuccessful (Hekla, the volcano, has only one k in its name). Asgier was the first postmaster. He was district manager and county official for many years and earned the trust and respect of the people as his father did before him. In 1907 he moved to Edmonton and later to the Pacific Coast. The Icelanders in the Muskoka settlement have always lived in harmony and co-operation with each other. In 1888 Pall Snaebjornsson organized a reading and study society and it wasn't long before a great many good Icelandic books were purchased. The Lutheran faith was adhered to by reading old religious books with satisfaction and attending the Sunday services. When Icelandic people came to Muskoka they were very poor and friendless but they have progressed better than the people from other countries who lived in the same area.  The forests were cut down and large, well cultivated fields were in evidence. Nice homes and barns were built. In the years to come, although no Icelanders will be living there, the english speaking people will refer to them as hard working, independent and trustworthy, indicative of their Icelandic heritage."

     In tomorrow's blog, I will publish a letter from 1887 by Pall Snaebjornsson, from Hekkla, detailing the voyage from Iceland to Canada. It begins, "As last I sit down to write you a few lines, but first and foremost I want to send you my thanks for all the latest and last goodness to us before we left Iceland. I will try to give you details of our journey from Poroddstom. We left at noon, Tuesday, August 23rd, and went aboard the chip 'Cameons' and embarked the next morning. Right away, as we were passing Flagastodaboda, there was quite a lot of ice and fog. It took two days to get to Homi and 24 hours from there to Reykjavik. We got there on Saturday morning, August 28th, in good weather and it took us six days to get to Granton in Scotland. Inspectors came to inspect our luggage but didn't find any tobacco or whiskey. Nothing else seemed to be of importance to them, for these were the only things they seemed concerned about. Our luggage was taken at once to the train and it went on to Glasgow, but we were taken off the dock and put into a boat and taken across the sea where ships go. When we docked, we went right away into a train and left at once. We went swiftly, like a bird, and it was hard to see through the windows for the heads of other people, but what we saw seemed beautiful scenery in Scotland, everywhere."
     Join me for the next chapter of the Icelandic story, in tomorrow's blog.

WILLIAM HENRY SMITH / 150TH GRAVENHURST ANNIVERSARY, VIDEO UPCOMING

     I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH SON ROBERT, THE FILM-MAKER, MUSICIAN, ON ANOTHER OF MY GRAND PERSONAL PROJECTS. I'M SURE HE HATES IT WHEN I COME UP WITH A NEW FILM IDEA, AND ALTHOUGH I ALWAYS GIVE HIM LOTS OF TIME TO WORK ON IT, THE FATHER-SON THING BUGS HIM A LITTLE. I'M ALWAYS MICRO-MANAGING. AS A FORMER NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER, I DO TEND TO STICK MY OAR IN TO PLACES IT DOESN'T BELONG. HE'S DONE QUITE A LOT OF FILM WORK, AND THIS WILL BE THE THIRD BASED ON DAD'S SUGGESTIONS. HE DID A HUGE WHACK OF WORK PULLING TOGETHER THE "SKOKIE" SONG FOR THE GRAVENHURST WINTER CARNIVAL, AND DID A MARVELLOUS JOB CREATING A COMPANION MUSIC VIDEO FOR THE RICHARD KARON BIOGRAPHY THAT I WROTE THIS PAST SPRING......AND YOU CAN NOW WATCH IT ON THE NEWLY LAUNCHED "KARON BLOGSITE."
     THIS PAST WEEK, I'VE BEEN MOTORING AROUND TOWN, AND SURROUNDING AREA, GETTING VIDEO FOOTAGE FOR THE WILLIAM HENRY SMITH STORY I'M PLANNING FOR THE FIRST OF AUGUST. IT WILL, WITHOUT A DIME OF FUNDING, OR ANY ENDORSEMENT FROM THE TOWN, RECOGNIZE THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NAMING OF THE GRAVENHURST POST OFFICE IN AUGUST 1862, BY POSTAL AUTHORITY W.D. LESUEUR, BASED ON THE NAME OF A BOOK WRITTEN BY BRITISH AUTHOR, POET, LITERARY CRITIC, WILLIAM HENRY SMITH. THE PROPER TITLE, IS "GRAVENHURST; OR THOUGHTS ON GOOD AND EVIL," A BOOK YOU CAN STILL ACCESS VIA "GOOGLE BOOKS."
     I'VE BEGUN TAILORING THE HISTORICAL ESSAY, AND HAVE ADMITTEDLY, OR WITHOUT RESERVATION, SOLD-OUT TO THE MUSIC VIDEO CONCEPT, BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT WILL BE THE BEST ALL-ROUND METHOD, OF SHOWCASING THE POET, THE TOWN, AND THE POST OFFICE, VIA SOME INTERESTING VISUALS AND MY SON'S MUSICAL EXPERTISE. I'M NOT AT ALL SURE THAT THE SPIRIT OF WILLIAM DAWSON LESUEUR WILL BE PLEASED AT THIS BELATED HONOR, WITH CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ATTACHED, BUT IT'S THE ONLY WAY I CAN THINK OF, TO REINFORCE THE RELATIONSHIP THAT HAS NEVER BEEN FULLY EXPLORED AND CELEBRATED......WHICH FRANKLY, HAS ALWAYS BOTHERED ME. LESUEUR BESTOWED A GREAT HONOR UPON US, AND FOR MOST OF OUR TOWN'S HISTORY, WE HAVE MADE ONLY BRIEF MENTION......AS IF THIS IS ALL IT DESERVES. I BELIEVE THIS IS WRONG, AND SHOULD BE CORRECTED. WILL A SHORT HISTORY AND A MUSIC VIDEO CEMENT MR. SMITH IN OUR MINDS? I DON'T KNOW. BUT I COULDN'T LET THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY, OF THE OFFICIAL NAMING OF THE GRAVENHURST POST OFFICE, PASS, WITHOUT DOING SOMETHING. TOWN HALL FEELS THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF INCORPORATION IS THE BEST CHOICE TO CELEBRATE. IT DESERVES A MENTION AND MINOR RECOGNITION. THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY, OF BEING NAMED AFTER A WELL KNOWN BRITISH WRITER, BY A RESPECTED CANADIAN HISTORIAN (W.D. LESUEUR)? WELL, I HOPE I CAN SELL YOU ON ITS IMPORTANCE, WITH A FEW WORDS AND A REALLY SWELL VIDEO.
     IT WILL BE PUBLISHED ONLINE, ON THE EVENING OF AUGUST IST. PLEASE JOIN ME FOR THE LAUNCH OF SOMETHING THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY MAKE INTERESTING VIEWING.....AND INSIGHTFUL READING.
      MAYBE. MAYBE NOT. I JUST COULDN'T LET THIS HISTORICAL MILESTONE PASS WITHOUT MENTION.....AND A LITTLE HUMBLE FUSS. IT'S THE LEAST A LOCAL HISTORIAN CAN DO!

1873 In Hekkla, Muskoka, Country Legend on The Barge

A COUNTRY LEGEND THIS SUNDAY ON THE BARGE, AT ROTARY GULL LAKE PARK


Johnny Cash,  June Carter  Tammy Wynette Tribute
Music on the Barge – Gull Lake Rotary Park – Gravenhurst

The music of Johnny Cash and Tammy Wynette will be celebrated on Sunday, July 22nd commencing at 7:30 p.m. at “Music on the Barge” Gull Lake Rotary Park, Gravenhurst
These unique musical pairing stars Jim Yorfido who is currently receiving rave reviews across Canada for his portrayal of Johnny Cash in “The Sun Records Story”, the official touring show of the famed record label from Memphis, Tennessee.  At the “Music on the Barge” performance, Yorfido will be covering music from the entire and extensive career of Johnny Chas including the early hits such as “I Walk the Line” Folsom Prison Blues” to other chart –toppers such as “Boy Named Sue”” Sunday Morning Coming Down” and “Ring of Fire”.
Joining Jim Yorfido will be Jim’s real-life wife Pam Yorfido, who portrays country music legend Tammy Wynette.  Best known for her hits, “Stand by Your Man” and the classic D-I-V-O-r-C-E.  Pam also joins Johnny Cash to perform some duets including the show-stopping “Jackson” and “It Ain’t Me Bebe” amongst other fun tines.  In addition to recreating the vocal style of Tammy Wynette, Pam Yorfido has “gone the extra mile” in the wardrobe department and wear dresses from Wynette’s actual personal wardrobe in the show.  Pam proudly notes “It’s an honour to keep singing these songs and preserving the Tammy Wynette legend with integrity.”
Vocally, James Yorfido’s striking Baritone voice is a rarity amongst Cash performers.  He actually has the exact same vocal range as “The Man in Black” himself!
Musically, his three-piece backing band truly captures the CASH sound with unmatched authenticity” upright “slap” bass, note for note guitar licks, count for count drum beats, all performed on expensive, vintage instruments and equipment.
In addition to capturing the “Cash sound”, James Yorfido successfully re-creates the distinctive look of “The Man in Black” with meticulous attention paid to every detail of the Cash wardrobe.
Of course, Johnny is joined on stage by the colourful June Carter-Cash, portrayed by James’s real-life wife Pam Yorfido, who look, talent, experience and professionalism is a perfect match for this top calbre show.
Don’t miss the Johnny Cash and Tammy Wynette Tribute on Sunday, July 22nd commencing at 7:30 p.m. at Music on the Barge, Gull Lake Rotary Park, Gravenhurst.
The concert will be cancelled and not relocated to another venue in the event of inclement weather, rain or lightning for the safety of the audiences and performers.  A collection will be taken during the evening.

1873 AND THE ICELANDERS' ARRIVAL IN MUSKOKA

OFF TO NORTH CARDWELL, AND A NEW SETTLEMENT

     THERE IS A POEM, WRITTEN BY REVEREND NILS WILLISON THAT CHARACTERIZES THE HOMESTEADERS WHO HEADED INTO THE THICK BUSH, BOGS, HILLS AND LAKES OF THE MUSKOKA DISTRICT. THE POEM WAS WRITTEN IN 1944, AND IT REKINDLES THE SPIRIT OF THOSE OFTEN BRUTAL YET REMARKABLE TIMES, OF HOME AND FAMILY ISOLATION.
     "HOW SOON THEY PASS - THE OBJECTS OF OUR LOVES.
     THE LILY BLOOMS, THE SONG OF THE BIRD IS HEARD;
     THEY ARE NO MORE. LIKE FAITHFUL HOMING DOVES,
     OUR DEAR ONES FOR RETURN TO GOD ARE STIRRED,
     OUR LOVED ONE PASSED THE NOON OF MAN'S BRIEF DAY,
     THEN NOON FOR HIM WAS MERGED IN FAIRER LIGHT."

      THESE ARE HAUNTING LINES WHEN RECITED, JUST NOW, WHILE LOOKING OVER THE VALLEY BEYOND THE TINY WOOD-FRAME CHURCH, SEEING THE NOSTALGIC CONTRASTS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW ON OLD FARMSTEADS....HEARING THE WIND BRUSHING THROUGH THE LONG GRASS ON THE HILLSIDE.  WE MIGHT EXPECT TO SEE REVEREND WILLISON LOOKING OVER THE PIONEER GRAVEYARD, AT THE TINY HEKKLA CHURCH, WHERE THE ICELANDIC COMMUNITY GATHERED TO PRAY.
     IN THE REFERENCE TEXT ENTITLED, "THESE OUR ANCESTORS WERE - DISTRICTS OF PARRY SOUND AND MUSKOKA," COMPILED IN 1974 BY THE SENIOR CITIZENS GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, THE NAMES OF HEKKLA'S SETTLERS, BURIED ON lOT 16, CONCESSION 7, CARDWELL TOWNSHIP ARE LISTED. BURIED BESIDE THE FIRST ICELANDIC SETTLERS ARE PIONEERS OF OTHER NATIONALITIES WHO HAD ARRIVED IN THE COMMUNITY SHORTLY AFTER THE FIRST FEW HOMESTEAD LOTS WERE CLAIMED. IN THE SHADOW OF THE HEKKLA CHURCH, CONSTRUCTED ON THE SITE IN 1901, ARE THE TOMBSTONES OF REMEMBRANCE.....A TIME WHEN SETTLERS STRUGGLED TO MAKE THE BEST OF AN ADVERSE SITUATION. MANY PERISHED WITHOUT FINISHING THEIR TASK, WHILE OTHERS LASTED LONG ENOUGH TO WATCH THE FIRST PLANTING RISE IN STRONG SPRING SHOOTS. THE FORTUNATE ONES WERE ABLE TO TASTE AND FEEL THE TEXTURE OF SUCCESS AT HARVEST TIME.

PEACE IN THE CHURCHYARD

     The churchyard is a tranquil, spiritual place, obviously inherent to cemeteries, situated quaintly on a hillside overlooking some of the Hekkla pasture land, cleared in the 1870's, by the first settlers to build their humble shanties and barns. Many of the Icelandic names carved onto the tombstones are spelled incorrectly. It was not a reflection of dislike for the Icelanders, rather an ignorance of proper spelling of the often lengthy Icelandic names. "Bjarni" might be reduced to "Barney" by the English workers, responsible for tombstone inscribing.
     The homesteaders shared much common ground regardless of their motherlands, language, religion and cultural differences. They were all searching for fulfillment of promises made by government officials. Equally, many pioneers shared the agony of broken promises and shattered dreams, while still faced with the demands of everyday survival. For decades, the vision of prosperity was remote as settlers were forced to deal with crop failure, and endless homestead clearing and burning to create more arable farmland. And even then the amount of good farmland, located in shallow pockets between forests, bogs and rock, was little in comparison to the better agricultural lands to the south and west. Some disappointments followed the settlers to the grave. Other Icelanders joined the exodus to new and promising communities such as Kinmount, North Dakota and Western Canada. Today the only reminder of the Icelanders' attempt to settle in some of these hamlets, are the weather-worn headstones on cemetery plots, and obscure historical references found in regional archives. Yet there were parallel success stories in a majority of Icelandic settlements, and family members still occupy the communities set up as far back as the 1870's. Hekkla has many similar stories of perseverance and success. The names on the tombstones are a poignant reminder of the Icelandic-Canadian experience, from the first trail broken to the hamlet, by pioneer axe and saw, to the present, and the kin of those settlers, still residing in the district they helped open for all others.

A PERSPECTIVE ON THE YEAR 1873

     To get a proper perspective of Muskoka, at this time of pioneer settlement, circa 1873, we will firstly examine what the settler might have witnessed and physically endured on the land and water journey northward, from the transportation linkage from Toronto, by rail, then steamer, and cart. A journal entry written in the 1870's, by another pioneer, (published in the text of "Muskoka and Haliburton," by Florence Murray), reports on the treacherous journey, as being most discouraging. "We landed at Washago, and after standing for more than an hour on the quay, took the stage-wagon for Gravenhurst; the vehicle being so crowded that even the personal baggage, most essential to our comfort, had to be left behind. Oh, the horrors of that journey. The road was most dreadful - our first acquaintance with corduroy roads. The forest gradually closed in on us, on fire on both sides, burnt trees crashing down in all directions, here and there, one right across the road, which had to be dragged out of the way before we could go on. Your brother with his arm around me the whole time (I clinging to the collar of his coat), could hardly keep me steady as we bumped over every obstacle.      "In the worst places, I was glad to shut my eyes that I might not see the danger. Your poor sister had to cling convulsively to the rope which secured the passengers' baggage (ours was left behind and we did not see it for weeks) to avoid being thrown out and for long afterwards we both suffered from the bruises we received and the strain on our limbs. At last, long after dark, we arrived at Gravenhurst, where we were obliged to sleep, but we had a good supper on board and a gentlemanly Englishman, a passenger by the stage and well acquainted with Muskoka, took us to a small hotel to sleep. The next morning we went to Bracebridge."
     The following excerpt is a translation of Icelandic journal accounts, regarding the venture to Muskoka's North Cardwell in 1873.
     "In a previous chapter to the one I am attempting to translate, I (the late Bena Grenke), read that a group of Icelanders coming to Canada were 165 people; 115 were supposed to go to Muskoka. They had been promised shelter, 200 acres of free land and other provisions, providing they stayed three months. After that time they were free to go wherever they wished. There was some trouble about the 50 people who were to go to Milwaukee by the immigration officer, as he felt they should stay in Canada but their papers allowed them to go.
 From there, "On August 22nd, 1873, these people left Quebec City by railway to Montreal. It was dark when they arrived at Cobourg but they continued their journey arriving in Toronto the next morning at 8 p.m. August 27th. It had taken them 42 hours, 510 miles from Quebec to Toronto with stops. The Milwaukee people left Toronto for Wisconsin, going to Sarnia, across the St. Clair River and on to Milwaukee."
     An abbreviated journal account, dealing with the movement of settlers northward, introduces the reader to the eventual arrival of the Icelandic party in Muskoka.
     "They left Toronto by rail on August 29th, arriving at Washago at 2 p.m. From there by horses and wagons, they travelled to Gravenhurst, which took a number of hours. After spending the night in Gravenhurst, they continued their journey by boat (steamship), to Rosseau, arriving very late in the evening. All passengers spent the night at Immigration House on the bay."
     For clarification of the situation, "Immigration House," is described by author D.V. Stott, in his book entitled "Kawandag.....The Story of a Changing Market," with the following reference:
     "On the point of land closest to Inglenook, was a structure known originally as the Immigrant Shed. Built by the government in the 1860's, this three or four room frame building was designed to house travellers who were making their way via the Muskoka Lakes to the free grant lands. Some settlers had the necessary funds to arrange proper hotel accommodation but the poorer folks would seek shelter in this shed while waiting for the next stage to depart on the Nipissing Road."
     The Icelander's journal entry continues:
     "Early the next morning, August 31, the Immigration Officer, J.B. Beat, and some villagers, came to welcome them as the news of their arrival had been sent to Toronto. They were taken into the Immigration House, and provided with bread, meat, syrup and tea. Icelanders felt bad at not receiving coffee. (A beverage consumed by many Icelanders). There was not enough room in the Immigration House for the big group so most of the men slept outside in the bush back of the house. They didn't  mind as the weather was warm. They were fed for three days and after that each was on his own but they could sleep in the Immigration House. Some men got a bit of work but none got steady occupation. When the Icelanders arrived in Rosseau they were told that there was land fifteen miles north of Rosseau that they could  get ownership of."
     Additional journal documentation list the following names part of the original group of Icelanders in Muskoka: "Vigfusar Sigurdsson, bookbinder, Anton Kristjansson, Bryn Jolfur Jonsson, Thorsteinn Hallgrimsson, Bjorn Skagford, Benedikt Jonsson bardal, Rafn Jonsson, Bjarni Snaebjornsson, Jakob Lindal and Sigridur, a widow. These immigrants were advised by the town officials that crown land could be procured north of Rosseau. These Icelanders travelled by foot to look at this land but found it unsuitable for farmland. Some Danish, Swedes and Norwegians later settled on this land and praised it. After looking over this crown land to the north of Rosseau it was decided to travel easterly six miles into Cardwell Township. Four men were in this party. The names were Baldwin Helgasson, David Davidson, Anton Kristjansson and Jon Hgalmarsson. A guide from Rosseau went with these men as it was completely through forest that they had to travel (in part however, along the Rosseau River). It seemed fertile. Also a road was promised to them for the next summer. (A waiting period lasted two weeks before permission was granted for a claim) These men were to cut wood for seventy-five cents a cord. This remuneration was not adequate to provide for food and shelter, and winter wasn't far distant. Two hundred acres of land with a house 14 feet by 16 feet was purchased for one hundred and fifty dollars by Baldwin Helgasson and David Davidsson. An agreement with settlers and with the district management to build three miles of road was entered into at forty-five dollars per mile. Food was advanced to them with the understanding that payment would be charged against their earnings. Although inexperienced with the use of axes and road-making, three quarters of a mile was finished before winter set in. Their wages would have averaged fifty cents per day. They had measured for the road and blazed the trees on each side where the road would be. Had it not been for the generosity of two friends, one in Canada and one in Iceland, the first winter for the immigrants would have been grim."
     We will re-join the history of Icelandic settlement in Muskoka, in tomorrow's blog. Thanks so much for joining chapter three of this important aspect of regional history. Please join me again.

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.