The pioneers of old Ontario 1923

Front matter

ivi i"

) f

THE MAKERS OF CANADA NEW SERIES

Foreword

In the Spring of 1897 I began a series of trips a-wheel through rural Ontario. ‘These trips were undertaken with the object of obtaining first-hand information, for publication in the columns of The Weekly Sun regarding actual conditions on the farms of the province.

While engaged in that task, and purely by accident, I stumbled on a veritable storehouse of information of another kind altogether. This information was carried in the memories of men and women then still lving—memories that went back to the days of the virgin forest, of log cabins surrounded by blackened stumps in the midst of scanty clearings, of bush trails and corduroy roads over which settlers toiled with their grists to distant mills, of old-time logging bees, and of the circuit riders who carried the Gospel message to those real heroes, who at such infinite cost in toil and privation were effecting a conquest in which there was none of the brute triumph of the conqueror or the bitterness of defeat in the conquered.

On the memories of those met with I drew for the material given in a series of pioneer sketches which appeared from time to time in the columns of the press during the period from 1897 to 1914. These sketches, with some further inxI

XII FOREWORD formation gathered at a later date, form the basis of what is contained in this volume.

It was Goldwin Smith who first suggested the idea of putting into permanent form the fragmentary accounts of pioneer life which are here offered. The suggestion was made shortly after the sketches began to appear in print. Partly for that reason, but still more because the judgments and ideals which have governed my more mature years are mainly the result of the teaching and example of Goldwin Smith, whose character and aspirations were expressed in the inspired phrase, ‘‘above all nations is humanity,’’ this volume is reverently dedicated to his memory.

It is not pretended that what is given even approaches the standard of a complete history of the period dealt with in the life of Ontario. It | is hoped, however, that the facts collected may in some measure make easier the task of one, with wider knowledge and greater literary skill, who wil] some day write a real history of the land in which we live. And there can be no real history of this land unless full justice is done to the memory and service of the men and women who, while suffering unbelievable privations, enduring a loneliness almost too great to be borne, and with hearts aching because of ties broken with home and kindred, laid the foundations of the civilization which it is our privilege to enjoy.

W.LS.

Contents

Page ESTAS G2 IM SARI oC Ix 2 VI UA ls XI INTRODUCTION Beem TIMING OF THE: PIONBERS 2...02..00...c0c tec a0cesineecccsdacqessecsssere. 1 FROM SOUTHERN HOMES ON THE SHORES OF THE BAY OF QUINTE................000c0ccceeseeesseees 5 REITING PEE BLAZED TRAT fo ...2.-5. lesai es hse cece ecnccsseecne vege fone 13 MEE LONELY GHAVE. BY THE WAYSIDE.............0.0000.c:0.cc0cc0c0se00 18 RDI EEE BDSG 250 ct 2c cao bd Feud vase) Aepisnenavee 4 duaded <lnusaeleyes 23 WITHIN REACH OF THE ST. LAWRENCE CEINDING CORN IN A HOLLOW STUMP...........0c00..0.0.c0.sccceneneesseeee 29 IE Sr AN UNt ea nogcl shtee da since ab Lee Sagaue elimi ded pas 39 IR Ae STENT REV PIV 5 ds. So ons 205 Sot eccces4eoe seasans saeecepebs pledeadyecncss 45 PireIMG HIMSELF ON RATIONS .......2..0/cccscscnsvehccacseveoseseuesecssctdesas 52 CHILDREN AND SHEEP IN THE CELLAR. ..............c.ccccccceccee cece sneeeees 55 PIONEERS OF GANANOQUE AND VICINITY.............00.cccsceeecnseeeneeees 63 ON THE PENETANG TRAIL SEE a ce ie, OCUNG. eRe nr Oo 73 Seren erese HAT ARI NO MORE .oW. 0.0). cc.cc25 neh ap leenctende tend eveescto ates 80 RAFTING TIMBER ON THE ST. LAWRENCE...............0.000c0scesseceeeeees 86 BOWATHIDE INN S FAMOUS GUESTS. 2... ccicieesicccbesegedcoie feeb oven tinct eee 90 Rr aM Ae CS TERN MEE Y 5, 25028 20. varies an stv ned cess sdtes io ckevoesebans fo eaabss 96 HARDSHIPS OF THE NOTTAWASAGA PIONEERG.................0000000 008s 99 BeTUEUIGEY | SEETTAMMINT..<, 2..$5c.<0.s:.seay«senossests spotevin adds cokencenarse sss 104 eRmeeeLATSUSY OEDAYS COB TI NUSE Bick fa ccgs cccsdexsctsnetsaes vei gol Ane ovce cicttess 106 REMINISCENCES OF A SUNNIDALE PIONEEBR..............0.cc0c0:seeeseeees 114

XIil

XIV CONTENTS