Muskoka 1873, Icelanders, Forests, Bogs and Rocks Standing In The Way

 

Photos by Suzanne Currie

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

ICELANDERS ARRIVE, PROMISES BROKEN, WORK TO BE DONE

     A preamble to today’s post

By Ted Currie

     There is no way I can fully divide my sentiments regarding the imposed and in some way unnecessary hardships government of the pioneer period in the District of Muskoka, hurt and confounded efforts to establish homesteads, and workable farms, but that being clearly stated once again, (as you will also read below), it is not to suggest in any way, that even the most  disadvantaged of settlers, was unable to find some inspiration and solace in the environs of which they were immersed. That the district would soon enough, even with everything it could produce in weather and landscape adversity, come to benefit from this most enthralling, beautiful area the continent. There had to be a great deal of compromise obviously, and a coming together of the mortal component of the settlement scheme, and the environs which even with its bounty, had huge and unforgiving disadvantages. But when one wanders the pioneer and other church and community cemeteries throughout Muskoka, and knowing the names of those courageous early settlers, it is profoundly interesting, to see how many of those brave souls lived long enough to produce offspring, that also stayed in the region, possibly working the same farmsteads as their parents and grandparents established back in the free land grants period. And to know by the dates etched onto the memorial stones, how many generations have thrived in the Muskoka townships, being part of the social, cultural heritage of what it means to be “local” in this huge district in Ontario. What began from a sense of adventure, and escapism to a new country, with many new and better potentials for making a more prosperous life for their families, became part of the texture and folkish realities of the entire region. Out of hardship came much good and eventual improvement in life and economy. So it may have begun with a tortured existence, in part because of having been misled about the region’s general advantages, to eager homesteaders, but it manifested into a long and fruitful relationship that is still in evidence today with so many historic family names relevant in this new century, and new decade. This gives the historian reason to pause on critiques, because much went well, despite it having the initial hallmarks of a sure disaster. Persistence obviously paid off for many homesteaders. Others left and led thriving existences in other parts of the province and country. I firmly believe there were more success stories when all was said and done, although I must footnote, that it would still be impossible to forgive the misdeeds and misrepresentations of former administrators of this province and fledgling country, for having brought so many emigrants to this land with thin promises and no safety net for those who were ill equipped financially and physically to endure the hardships of a wild frontier. It is all part of our culture today, if it was ever considered something of interest and relevance. Of this I am a diehard steward.

 

     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.

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The Icleanders In Muskoka Faced A Homesteading Nightmare But Became Victorious By Working As A Community

 

Photo By Suzanne Currie

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.

A preamble to today’s post:

By Ted Currie

     I have for long and long been hung-up on the settlement situation, as it occurred in Muskoka from the late 1850 through to the mid 1870’s, because of what misrepresentations were being offered-up to unsuspecting potential emigrants, who had considerable incentive to make improvements in their lives in the so-called “old country.” My problem is a fundamental one, and quite basic to the situation that existed in that time in Canadian history, being the fact that these homestead candidates were being duped by government land agents, steamship company representatives, authors of homesteading guides in the country, the province and the region, who without much in the way of conscience, were selling opportunities that were simply embellished to bulk up numbers and populate  Canada sea to sea, border to border, to nation-build. They made promises that the new frontier, as wild as they could expect it to be, was full to overflowing with everything they would need in those first years of expected hardship. It’s not like they didn’t tell these poor souls it would be a long difficult process to clear the land, and build proper housing for their families, and grow the kind of crops that would earn a cash reward, but would provide sustenance to the homesteaders in perpetuity. So it’s not like they denied the reality of hardship, but didn’t explain how much more difficult it would be, for urban refugees, fleeing a terrible life in Europe, to build the capabilities, physically and in the economic sense of security, to deal most effectively with harsh realities that felled many a pioneer into an early grave.

     In the case of the Icelanders, it was a clear case in point, that while they were encouraged to emigrate to Canada, and the frontier of Ontario, they took promises of provisions awaiting their arrival, as a word of honor and commitment to the whole emigration deal as was presented. They arrived to find out just how these agents had been willing to go, making promises, in order to fulfill their mandate to occupy the unoccupied lands of Ontario. Call it what you like. Hoodwinked works. Add to this the fact there were few if any Icelanders at the time who could speak or write in English, and the fact that there was a barrier in communication, meant, of course, that there were accounts of these settlers being charged much more for goods from local merchants, than was warranted, and agreements in general were often in favor of the locals of the time, versus the Icelanders unaware the deals they were making weren’t the best values. But they did prevail, and they did clear the land, build secure and prosperous farmsteads, and became a strong community despite the difficulties they encountered for that first decade. They did have settlers in the group that arrived, opt to leave Hekkla, in favor of other more suitable locations, best for their particular aspirations; such as in Manitoba where there was already a budding Icelandic settlement. But it is important to note that all emigrant settlers, from whatever countries they called their homeland, had to face the serious consequences of these government misrepresentations, and for many it did result in homestead failures and evacuations in large numbers to other less inhospitable areas of the country. Some would never recover, and be reduced to re-settling in the hamlets, villages and towns that were in the beginning stages of their own growth spurts; but for many it was just as hard a life as they had left back in their respective home countries. It’s true than many thousands of emigrants learned quickly how to survive the shortfalls they had been saddled with, in the early years of their homesteading adventure. They learned to cope or face failure and potentially starvation. A full report has never been adequately prepared illustrating with clarity, just how devastating it was for these often ill prepared settlers, to arrive and take up the free land grants, only to find out that the agricultural claims were pretty much bogus; the thin soil not being all that arable, and not having the way and means of acquiring grazing livestock that the land was better suited. As I’ve written about previously, it was the story of the Icelanders in Muskoka, and their incredible resolve to make the land and situation work positively for them, is still an inspiration to this antiquarian, still fascinated by the entirety of the actual pioneer period in the district; that in my mind, created the true regional character and culture that got us from there to here, but has never really been understood; being, the reality, that those early years had not been honest ones, and in this general misrepresentation of advantages of frontier homesteading, the die was cast for a long misunderstood attitude; a subtle toughness of character of pioneers and their kin, many of the founding family names still firmly implanted in the heritage of this place they are now calling “The Hamptons of the North,” because of the great new wealth and prosperity pouring into the district each year. “Hamptons” of course referring to a wealthy area on the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. I hate the reference.

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.

Icelanders Settle In Their Own Specially Named Hamlet Known As Hekkla In Recognition Of A Homeland Volcano

 

Photos by Suzanne Currie

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.

The Very Courageous Icelanders Who Settled In North Muskoka In A Hamlet Named After A Volcano

 

Photos by Suzanne Currie

MUSKOKA COMMUNITY NAMED AFTER A VOLCANO IN ICELAND

FROM STEERAGE TO HOMESTEAD

     A preamble to today’s post

     By Ted Currie

     In the antique profession, being referred to by one’s peers as being obsessive isn’t really a good character reference. While it doesn’t actually suggest that this obsession-thing could define one as being a hoarder as a result, it does provide a shadowy overview of living life as a dealer-possessed by the wish to own a lot of old stuff. I’ve certainly known obsessed collectors, including my old book collecting associate, Dave Brown, who was also by all standards, a classic hoarder who self-punished himself regularly, by hauling home thousands of new acquisitions each month, to an already overloaded Hamilton bungalow. It didn’t really make him happy but none of his friends would dare mention anything about owning too much reading material for his own good. Dave literally got out of his death bed, and went to a regional book shop, and picked up a book he happened to life, for the price he wanted to pay. No, he would never read more than several chapters, but for him it was an obsession that made him feel positioned to take on any adversity; as if they could have become his protector in some way, in return for his loyalty to them….the books I mean.

     I have never felt consumed as an antique dealer by any particular obsession, because like many of my contemporaries, I’ve always been more fascinated by the retail component of the profession. I work hard to find interesting and under-valued antiques and collectables, that I know our customers will want to purchase, and I use some of the profit from these sales, to fulfill the ambitions to seek and uncover other neat pieces. Where I possibly have an unhealthy obsession, is in the area of Muskoka history, dealing with the legacy of the lowly immigrants who arrived in Canada ill prepared for what opportunities actually existed. They had been promised great potentials for prosperous new lives, far away from the urban and rural poverty they had experienced in their home countries, only to arrive on this shore, and in this region of Ontario, in the 1870’s onward, and discover that there had been considerable embellishment offered by government land agents recruiting settlers on foreign soil. I have obsessed then, quite historically, studying their plight, and how so many of them came to cope with the unfortunate circumstances they found themselves in, after making the full commitment of taking up the government’s free land grant offers. There are a lot of remarkable survival stories, and quite a few ones with tragic consequences, often ending in injury and death, that as far as I’m concerned, has never been fully understood, or seriously addressed. I believe the government had what is known as an “acceptable loss” understanding when they recruited new and vulnerable settlers to come to the homestead lands of Canada. This means they knew well in advance, that there would be a high percentage of casualties for these green homesteaders, but as long as it was within what they determined as a “reasonable” range, it would be considered a necessity of building a nation. Of course there were risks coming to the new frontier, but they should have spent a little more ink to explain just how dangerous homesteading could be to life and limb. Not to mention the near starvation conditions these homesteaders had to deal with constantly in a particularly harsh environs. Muskoka is a good example.

     The Icelandic settlement in north Muskoka fascinated me as a student back in high school. I read all I could about the hamlet near the present Village of Rosseau that had been named after a volcano in Iceland. What a neat story. But what fascinated me then, as it still does so many years down the road, is that the Icelandic settlers were model homesteaders, in that they worked with what they were “gifted” so to speak, and decided as a community, to carry on despite the array of hardships that arrived at their doorsteps regularly, and take whatever opportunities arose that would give them even a minor advantage to survive and complete their farmsteads. For example, Iceland, thanks the cold climate and years of volcanic actions on their country, do not have large stands of trees. Pioneer period in the Rosseau area was heavily treed, and not only did the Icelanders learn quickly how to become loggers of acclaim, they also worked for the province to help build a major regional road to the north and east of their settlement. It is true that a substantial number of Icelandic settlers did move on to other settlements in Canada, in the years that followed, it was also to join other family members and countrymen and women in their own regional homestead success stories. But there were just as many who remained and whose names are still recognizable, as having been from that initial foray into the deep woods of the Ontario frontier. I had admiration for the Icelanders that eventually led me to write a larger research paper, that was eventually translated into Icelandic and published overseas by their own historical society. This is the material I produced back in the late 1980’s that seems just as relevant now, in this period of profound change here in the district of Muskoka.

     

     BACK IN 1990 I WORKED ON A PROVINCIALLY FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECT, WITH A REGIONAL HERITAGE GRANT PROVIDED BY THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND COMMUNICATIONS, TO PROFILE THE ICELANDIC SETTLEMENT IN MUSKOKA IN THE 1870'S. IT WAS ENTITLED "FROM STEERAGE TO HOMESTEAD," AND WAS PUBLISHED FOR THE BENEFIT OF LOCAL LIBRARIES, SCHOOLS AND ARCHIVES.....LOCAL AND PROVINCIAL. THE PAPER WAS PUBLISHED IN AN ICELANDIC MAGAZINE SHORTLY AFTER IT WAS RELEASED. IT WAS GREAT TO WORK WITH ALL THOSE OF ICELANDIC  HERITAGE, AND I WAS WELCOMED INTO MANY HOUSEHOLDS AND EVEN A SPECIAL CHURCH SERVICE, IN THE HAMLET OF HEKKLA, IN NORTH MUSKOKA, TO HONOR THE COURAGE OF THE HOMESTEADERS TO THE ONTARIO WILDS.

     IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE IT WAS BEING CIRCULATED, SO I THOUGHT IT WAS A WORTHWHILE PROJECT, TO FOLLOW -UP THE GRANNY BOWERS' STORY, OF LAST WEEK. IT IS A FASCINATING STORY, AND THE INITIAL RESEARCH GOES BACK TO MY DAYS AS AN ASSISTANT EDITOR OF THE MUSKOKA SUN, WORKING FOR MUSKOKA HISTORIAN, ROBERT J. BOYER. I WILL BREAK IT UP INTO CHAPTERS, AS WITH GRANNY BOWERS' JOURNAL. HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS IMPORTANT STORY ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT OF MUSKOKA.

AN EXPLANATION; HARDSHIP AND PROMISES

     The steamship crashed its human cargo down hard, as it dipped into the deep chasms of waves, miraculously sliding safely up the other side of a turbulent ocean.

     Raging, tumbling North Atlantic swells seemed endless to passengers, many sick and vomiting, clinging onto the hard reality of the lurching ship, and a dream of new land full of potential.

     The same savage blast of wind that ripped apart and toppled many trans-Atlantic voyages, spared the immigrants aboard this vessel. In the steamship's wake, the spreading white foam memorialized the graves of those poor souls, victims of the unpredictable, powerful northern sea. The weathered hulk would arrive at a Canadian port after an excruciating voyage, riding the cauldron of twisting currents in the North Atlantic. The Icelanders escaped the watery grave. Captives of the sea for weeks on end, they were finally free. Some historians would argue, they were freed of one form of imprisonment, and  confined to another......this time, the frontier of their new home, that itself would claim many settlers lives, over the coming decades.

     As the stormy Atlantic had nearly suffocated the life out of its passengers, in the silent hollows of the thundering waves, the anticipation of the new homeland became exceedingly uncomfortable. They had been forewarned by some others, on the ship, about the dense forests they would face, and the unfavorable topography of rock, with thin soil, and bitterly cold winters......and most precarious of all, short growing seasons. These stories, that were told by frustrated homesteaders, were much different than the glowing reviews of the new homestead lands, in the District of Muskoka, being boasted by government land agents, and in the editorial reviews of "Settlers' Guide Books," of which there were numerous being sold at the time.

     As their passage by rail, got them closer to the hinterland they would eventually settle, the band of Icelanders became consumed by the landscape, as treacherous as it was, with narrow cartways, hills, and large connected bogs, imposing slow and difficult travel. Settlers often had to disembark the carts at the bottom of hills, so the horse or oxen could pull the wagon and luggage up the incline. Outside of later journal accounts, we will never know how fearful the immigrants felt about the ominous transformation of topography from Quebec City, onto the tiny hamlet of Rosseau, in North Muskoka. But what we do know, is that the dramatic changes from Iceland to Canada forced a massive human adjustment in expectation, that became impossible for some of the settlers, who abandoned the idea of homesteading in Muskoka shortly after arriving. The success, for many, was the establishment of Hekkla, six miles east of the Village of Rosseau, in North Cardwell. When a number of settlers abandoned the fledgling hamlet, to seek out more established Icelandic communities, many of their stories are inspiring to the student of history, following their journey to more suitable agricultural land.

     To judge the immense challenge to settlers seeking the promised land, it is necessary to examine the tragedy experienced by those who left Hekkla, seeking refuge in the Village of Kinmount. A year after the first settlers arrived in Hekkla, in 1873, the Victoria Railway was looking for labourers. The demand for labourers spread to immigration depots where the news found willing listeners. News also made it to the practically stranded Icelanders, chopping out the first homesteads in Hekkla. Unemployed and disenchanted with the opportunities on the swamp, tree and rock covered terrain, news of railway hiring and settlement in the established community of Kinmount, in Haliburton, found equally willing bodies to join the cross-district migration.

     Those who stayed in Hekkla maintained a modest existence. Icelanders who chose to abandon the isolated settlement, were cheated again from achieving the dreams they had clutched to their hearts through North Atlantic storms, pounding rail and cart passage to the interior of wilderness, that would become their new hamlet. Failure was pioneer reality and no immigrant lived unscathed. In perspective, the study of the Kinmount tragedy is an important latitude, from which to begin the investigation of the Hekkla settlement. It was, in fact, failure that set historical record for both the further development of Hekkla, and the migration of surviving Icelanders from Kinmount.

     Author-historian, Guy Scott, who wrote the text entitled "History of Kinmount - A Community on the Fringe," summarized the economic failure that led to the tragedy. "The Icelandic settlement of Kinmount was well meaning idea that failed. It might have succeeded had not work on the Victoria Railway halted for a year. The new immigrants were suffering from culture shock and could not acclimatize themselves to hacking a farm out of the Snowdon Bush." In earlier testimony, the author noted the following; "Soon after their arrival in October, 1874, tragedy began to stalk the beleagured immigrants. A major epidemic of diarrhea and sickeness dogged them. A Doctor Fidler was dispatched by the railway to check out the situation. In a report of Nov. 7, he reported that sixteen children had died in the one night he spent among them. Dr. Fidler maintained the diarrhea was caused by the overcrowded shanties, poor sanitation, bad ventilation, and an unbalanced and strange diet."

     The author quotes an article published in the Fenelon Falls Gazette, accusing the Icelanders of being "lazy, drunken bums, better gone from the area." Mr. Scott clarifies by writing, "the local residents rallied to their defence. In the tough times, during the summer of 1875, many local farmers employed out-of-work immigrants out of sympathy. Curiosity soon gave way to acceptance and the relations between the locals and the Icelanders remained cordial down to the end."

     "The Icelanders depended upon the railway as their source of income. Normally work on the line was suspended for the winter months, but the Icelanders were kept working through the winter of 1874-75. Then in March, disaster struck. The Victoria Railway Company ran out of funds and was forced to suspend operations. The Icelanders were thrown out of work. They were suddenly destitute and desperate. After anxiously waiting for the railway construction to begin again, the colony began to dissolve. Many who could afford to, moved away in search of work. Others gallantly took up land and began to clear their farms. They tried to make ends meet until work on the railway began again."

     The historian, Scott, concludes the study of the settlement in the following paragraph:

     "The lots they abandoned were later occupied by other settlers and successfully farmed. The Icelanders also wanted to remain together in a tight body, and there was just not enough available land in Kinmount to satisfy their desire. Most were destitute and desperately poor when they left Kinmount, and somewhat disillusioned with local back-township economics. Had they stayed, in a few short years, they would have seen the local economy boom as the railway brought new economic vitality. Maybe the Kinmount of today would have been graced with such surnames as Jonasson, Gilison, Thorlakeson and Bjarnson. The Icelanders must have felt no grudge against their former friends in Kinmount for they continued to correspond with the locals after their move. One such letter in January 1876, informed their Kinmount friends that the new colony had been established. All they left behind were memories, legends and about thirty unmarked graves, of those Icelanders who made Kimount their final stop."

     The story of Hekkla is not without its own sense of tragedy. Much of what the Kinmount settlers experienced, in poverty and unemployment, the Hekkla settlers also suffered. But as Kinmount settlers gave up their homesteads, the Hekkla Icelanders remained, surviving by sheer tenacity in one of the most adverse locations in the province. Fifteen years after Hekkla was first carved from the dense Muskoka forest, newly arrived immigrant Pall Snaebjornsson wrote home to Iceland about the wretched homestead conditions, the depressing isolation, and the struggle to survive against economic and physical adversity. When noted Icelandic researcher and historian, Nelson Gerrard, of Manitoba, visited Hekkla, in November 1989, he confessed the community had not been given the historic distinction it deserved. "Hekkla progressed well," stated the researcher. "They changed the woodland into well fenced fields with impressive buildings. The work of settlers is apparent today." Meeting with the original descendants of the Hekkla Icelanders, Mr. Gerrard discovered many fascinating facts about local family history in the small Cardwell community, and ties with many other North American Icelandic settlements. "I did not realize Hekkla had survived. But you are living proof it existed and survives today," Mr. Gerrard told his audience, during the historic meeting of descendants, and the Icelandic-Canadian historian. The assistance received from family members of the original Icelandic settlers, in Hekkla, provided a majority of research from the completion of this heritage project.

     In tomorrow's blog, I'll begin the study of Icelandic immigration to Hekkla, beginning in the year 1873. By the way, the Icelanders thought so much of the topography of their new settlement lands, in North Cardwell, that they named it after an active volcano in Iceland, known as "Hekkla." I'm still not sure, after all these years, whether it was named in honor of the volcano, or as a more unfortunate reference, signifying the hardship they were about to endure.....as settlers in a new and inhospitable environs. All of it, different than they had been promised, before they agreed to come to Canada, and onward to the Free Land Grants of Muskoka. The story is about community and the cultural strength that held it together. The Icelanders stuck it out, and adapted to each new challenge, including the serious language barrier. They cleared trees for the province to build new roads. They found pockets of arable land, and when the soil was too poor, or thin on top of the rock base, on some farmsteads, they found the livestock that was best suited to graze the hills and valleys of the rugged terrain of North Cardwell.

Granny Bowers Story From Fraserburg Should Attract Our Attention

 

Photos by Suzanne Currie

THE STORY OF GRANNY BOWERS SHOULD ATTRACT OUR ATTENTION

GRANNY BOWERS LIKE SO MANY OTHER RESIDENTS OF RURAL MUSKOKA, DEALT WITH HARDSHIP AND POVERTY AS JUST THE TRIALS OF DAILY LIFE IN MUSKOKA

     A preamble to today’s post

     

    By Ted Currie

     As a regional historian toiling about the archives, I have no apology to offer, having specialized now for many years in the pioneer, homesteading period of our district; because I suppose it’s the case I appreciate the very large scale privation these immigrants to our part of Ontario suffered, and often failed at, because they were truly looking for a better, more prosperous way of life from the cities overseas. Even as an antique dealer since the mid 1970’s, I have possessed a particularly keen enthusiasm for the folk art furniture in traditional pine, that came from those modest log shanties and cabins that protected the settlers for those long and frightening winters spent largely in isolation. Although in local history, I was often, by circumstances of a publisher’s order, to work on more politically and economically slanted chronicles, of the movers and shakers of the communities from the late 1800’s, I wouldn’t do anything more than the basics to pass editorial scrutiny. Given the opportunity, I’d be right back doing what I enjoyed most, and that involved investigating still further what it was like to live that existence of severe hardship on the slim possibility a profitable homestead could be achieved with the right combination of stubborn determination and economic savvy. I have had the very great pleasure of reading some incredible stories about frontier survival and amazing resourcefulness, such that I have never been won’t for much else in local history to keep me gainfully employed. I have a deep reverence for these pioneer folks, and all those who have suffered the disadvantages of financial hardships, who have also had to cope with living rurally without possibility of changing their fortunes; other than to say that survival was their fortune. So when I began reading, more about the new Muskoka fortunes, and how fertile the region for more big developments, and larger scale lakefront installations, to satisfy those who have vast fortunes to invest, the only rub for me, was that this joyous potential was crowding out the reality of our legacy, in what determines the true cultural identity of Muskokans in general. And when the media, especially in recent years, basks a little in this truism of Muskoka’s out of control real estate price escalation, it’s getting harder and harder to hold on to the past, as that critically important memorial beacon, that should infuse a respectfulness about what hardship and poverty has meant to the character of this so called paradise on earth. Although rich and the not-so-rich have cohabited here since the beginning, one has never eclipsed the other and for good reason. Hundreds of thousands of local residents, and families dating back to the founding years, have worked for those of considerable means, and from external business economies, helping them achieve a decent living standard, and regular, if only seasonal employment. For some reason today this seems to have become a taken-for-granted relationship, and that, I believe is a mistake.  The Diary of Granny Bowers is just one of many homesteading accounts that has riveted me over the years, about the amazingly inspirational stories about those folks who really did build the foundation of today’s social / cultural / economic realities, that for this historian, are more revealing than most of the contemporary overviews that tend to disregard how it all came together from the late 1850’s. I have sort of made it a life-long project to represent and protect the integrity of our pioneer heritage; that made us locals stubbornly determined to make a good life here in what we have long called, our own “God’s Country,” that wasn’t all about prestige and wealth. Was it a good place to call home, however modest?

     I CAN STILL REMEMBER THE CHRISTMAS SEASON, I FOUND MYSELF, ON NUMEROUS FRONTS, REPRIMANDING  LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR WHAT I BELIEVED WERE INSENSITIVE EDITORIAL COMMENTS. MADE ABOUT THE INCUMBRANCES (VIA STATISTICS) OF POVERTY REARING IT’S UGLY SELF IN THE HEART OF THE EFFERVESCENT MUSKOKA. WHETHER IT WAS A PROBLEM WITH WORDSMITHING AND EDITORIAL OVERSIGHT, IT SEEMED TO REPRESENT POVERTY AS A CUMBERSOME, DEPRESSING REALITY THAT WAS INTERFERING WITH OUR "BRANDING” PROMOTION, BEING PITCHED IN AND ABOUT MUSKOKA. YOU KNOW THE ONE ABOUT THE PLAYGROUND OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS. THE HAMPTONS OF THE NORTH. HEAVEN FORBID THAT THE REALITY OF FAILING PERSONAL ECONOMIES SHOULD TARNISH OUR IMAGE HERE IN THE PRESUMED LAP OF COTTAGE LUXURY; PORTRAYED THEN AND NOW, AS AN OASIS FOR THE “HAVES” AND ALL THOSE OTHERS WHO CAN AFFORD TO COTTAGE OR LOUNGE AT A LAKESIDE RESORT. SO I GAVE THEM A LITTLE HISTORY LESSON. ONE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN EASILY GIVEN BY GRANNY BOWERS, FROM THE LITTLE 1942 BOOKLET, PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY OF ST. JOHNS THE EVANGELIST, IN BRACEBRIDGE.

     THE MUSKOKA WILDS WERE FULL OF DESPERATE STORIES OF THE POOR AND DESTITUTE, WHO ALTHOUGH PENNILESS AND HUNGRY, STILL WORKED AT CLEARING THEIR HOMESTEAD GRANT LANDS,  ATTEMPTING YEAR AFTER DISCOURAGING YEAR, TO GENERATE CROPS FROM THE THIN, ROOT AND ROCK STREWN SOIL. MANY OF THESE COURAGEOUS SOULS DIED TRYING TO CARVE OUT SUCCESSFUL FARMSTEADS, AND ARE STILL BURIED IN UNMARKED GRAVES ACROSS THE COUNTRYSIDE. THE SUFFERING WAS EXTREME, AND SO MANY OF THESE SETTLERS WERE RECRUITED BY UNSCRUPULUS EMIGRATION AND STEAMSHIP LINE AGENTS, WHO PAINTED THE FRONTIER OF CANADA, IN MUCH GRANDER TERMS THAN WERE WARRANTED. WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES WERE FEW, AND USUALLY BURIED WITHIN THE GLOWING REVIEWS, PUBLISHED IN SETTLERS' GUIDE BOOKS. THUS, SO MANY ILL PREPARED SETTLERS ARRIVED IN THE HARSH ENVIRONS OF CANADA, AND MUSKOKA IN PARTICULAR, THAT FAILURE WAS OFTEN IMMINENT. GRANNY BOWERS' STORY IS PART OF THIS UNFOLDING TRAGEDY, THAT IS MOST OFTEN OVERLOOKED, WHEN WE'RE CELEBRATING THE HERITAGE OF OLD BOATS, STEAMSHIPS, RESORTS, AND OUR COMMUNITIES. GRANNY BOWERS' STORY IS HONEST BUT DEPRESSING. SEEMS A LOT OF FOLKS DON'T LIKE BEING DEPRESSED BY WHAT THEY READ. AS AN HISTORIAN, I WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH. NOT THE GLOSSY OVERVIEW, AND POPULAR, "FEEL GOOD" HISTORY, WE MOST OFTEN RECEIVE, IN OUR HERITAGE PUBLICATIONS TODAY.

     THE POWERFUL STORY IN THIS TINY, UNASSUMING LITTLE BOOK, IS PRECIOUS TO ME, AND IT IS WHY I DECIDED TO RE-PUBLISH THE MATERIAL IN THIS BLOG. IF YOU ARE JUST JOINING THIS FOUR PART SERIES, YOU CAN ARCHIVE BACK TO THE FIRST AND SECOND CHAPTERS, BY GOING TO THE BLOG HISTORY. THE BOOKLET WAS PRINTED IN SMALL QUANTITY, AND THERE ARE VERY FEW LEFT FOR PUBLIC VIEWING.

IN GRANNY BOWERS' WORDS

   (MRS. BOWERS' AND HER HUSBAND, WITH CHILDREN, ARE IN THE COOKSTOWN VICINITY, WITHOUT MONEY OR LODGING, AT PRESENT IN THE TEXT)

     "We told the hotelkeeper there that we had no money but would like to stay all night; we told them of our hard times, and one man wanted to take up a collection for us. He started with ten cents. But my pride was hurt and I decided to move on. But a rich lady and gentleman came in and persuaded them to keep us all night. In the morning we had a bit to eat in our room and started again to Carlooke and arrived there about noon and went into a boarding house to warm ourselves and found they were old neighbours of ours. They used us good and we had a good dinner; all we could eat. And when we were refreshed we continued on to Alliston and stopped awhile at my sister Annes, where we left our little girl and then went on to my mothers. Once there I was settled for the winter. Then he went back to Allandale to cut wood. He worked here till the 20th of March with Squire Little and all he saved in that time, from Xmas to March was $1.00. The rest went for board, tobacco and drink. With the dollar he bought enough calico fro a dress for myself and the little girl.

     Granny Bowers writes, "Somewhere the middle of April, he sent me a letter with 15 cents. He said for me to try and get up to Angus and pay the 15 cents for fare on the train from there, down to where he was. I thought he must be pretty hard up if that was all he could spare me. And I was too independent to use it. I would have to walk twelve miles anyway to take the train. In about five days I made up my mind to go to him, about 25 miles, and I walked all the way. I started at 8 o'clock in the morning and arrived when the five o'clock train was coming in. He met me about a mile from his work. The man he was working for had paid him some wages to come and get me. He took the baby I had been carrying and carried it into camp. When we got in he kindled the fire and put the kettle on for tea. He went about three miles to Allandale for bread, butter and eggs and we had supper. But I was too tired to eat and wanted to lie down and rest; I was not well for a week. I was so sore from carrying the child. Then about a week later he went to Alliston and got the little girl that we had left with my sister Anne.

     "In the shanty was a heap of straw in the corner for a bed and an old quilt and old stove, and cracked stove pot. This was all we had to make a start with. I had to take my white undershirt to make a sheet. It made a good sized sheet too for skirts were made very full in those days. Then we had the quilt to put over us. We had to do with this till fall and we had all summer to get a few more things together. The woodcutting wasn't much of a job so we had to go in for haying and harvesting for Squire Little. We did four or five acres of wheat for him and eight acres of oats for another man. He cradled it with the grain cradler while I raked and binded. Then we pulled nine acres of peas for the Squire, the pea-vines were seven feet long and a very heavy crop. Then we did odd jobs such as digging vegetables and the like till fall set in. I got my share of the wages for all the work I did. In the fall we went to Barrie to do our shopping. I got some hay ticking for a bed and some flanellette for sheets and he got groceries and provisions. Then we were more comfortable. We stayed there that winter and bought some land from the squire, where we moved to a little shanty near-by in March. Then we stayed there all that summer while he put up a small house on his own property. Here in August, my third child was born.

     She reminisces that, "My husband and another man had been making shingles and a few days before my baby came, I packed twenty-one bunches. He got a man to haul them out to the station and should have got $1.25 a bunch for them. He did not get home till the next day and came in shivering with cold and could not give any account of the money but 37 cents. He had been drinking and it had either been lost or stolen. We were out of bread at the time and when the baby came ten days old, I carried him a mile to pick berries to earn the bread with the other two children toddling after. When another load of shingles was made, he had to take the money he got for them, to pay the man for hauling them out, so we had nothing that time. It happened when we were living there in Inisfil near Barrie in the year 1867. About that time my husband's father died and his mother wanted us to go to Mulmur and live near her, and so we went. His brother had a job chopping, so my husband helped him from March till May. It was about three miles from his mothers so my husband thought we might as well live in the shanty with his brother where they were chopping, and I went in for sugar making and when the work was done, we moved back near his mothers. We remained there all summer and winter and it was here my 4th child was born. My husband received five acres of the farm, as his portion of the estate, so he built himself a nice house on his own land. At that time his mother was bothering us a lot and we could not do as we liked on our own property and so after my fifth and sixth children arrived, we decided to go to Muskoka again."

     She penned in her journal, "In the spring of the year, 1873, when my youngest child was five months old, we moved and started in with the other pioneers. He sold his property in Mulmur and bought a good yoke of oxen, a good cow and ten hens for a start. The oxen carried us to Muskoka. When we arrived there, we found some other people had settled on the land we had when we first came out, so we had to find another homestead, and build another log house. We found a spot in the wilderness and cut logs and put up our house the first year in a temporary way. It was ready to live in on the 4th of November and it was a very bad winter, with four feet of snow. The place had a good beaver marsh and my husband cut a stack of beaver hay for the animals for the winter but they would not eat it as they had been used to better, so we had to sell the oxen and wagon for $40, and the cow for $18.00, so we just had the hens left. There was no work for men in the country then....only cutting cordwood at 40 cents a cord, and not very much of that unless you went three or four miles looking for a job. We made snow shoes that winter from basswood bark and a broad runner hand sleigh and started to make shingles. He went a mile and a half to get the timber. He had no saw like there is now, just common cross-cuts (old style)....no lance teeth. He used to get the tree down the first day, and two shingle cuts off and hauled home on the hand sleigh. He would cut away at the tree till it was all hauled home, and then he made a saw horse and riving block, and made shingles all winter in the house. He rived them and I shaved them, and our eight year old boy packed them; about thirty one or thirty two thousand that winter."