The Land Between: Southern Ontario

Forgive the length, but I learn by writing down what I read, hear and research. I've researched the history of Nepean, a suburb of Ottawa before.

I watched this video, The Land Between, online. It is fabulous.
There is even a The Land Between Circle
My daughter, a hydrogeologist, has sparked my interest in geology. We call her rock girl!

TVO Documentary: The Land Between

The documentary features our amazing ecosystem in The Land Between, which has bioclastic limestone. This is rock created from shells of dead sea creatures, and is more than 50% calcium carbonate.

Torrance Barrens

The glaciers scraped the land of its soil

A Muskoka cottager, Peter Alley (1943 - 2006), was curious about the land. He cottaged at Muldrew Lake, in the region of Muskoka, not far from where we 'cottaged' for 50 years and my parents retired there in 1991 (Bala).
Alley asked questions of the pros, featured in the video, and I learned a lot.

Famous Spots

Torrance Barrens (we took a walk there in 2008), is a good example of the area.
 His small lake that made him curious.
Devoid of soil, this land covers many regional boundaries, with north/south highways.

Inhabited for 12,000 years, colonialists have imposed themselves on the land and its peoples.

Flora and Fauna

It is an area rich in flora and fauna.
It is made up of flat limestone, with little soil, too tough in spots for trees.

only place for 5-lined skink!
I saw one once.
Too quick for me to photograph it.

In terms of land development are the shorelines, which are the most vulnerable. Everyone wants a cottage by the lake.

• Five-lined skink, Ontario's only lizard.
• Turtles
• American Eel: in the Sargasso Sea it spawns, when it is the size of a shoelace it comes inland.
• Loggerhead shrike: songbird feet but a predator with a hooked beak feeding on grasshoppers, small mice, and they impale prey on a hawthorn tree. There are two pockets of them left in Ontario.
• Lots of interesting plants: wildflowers and grasses. 
• Deer, moose, bear, muskrat, blueberry, pine.
• They've been here 10,000 years: native species from north and south meet here in the middle.

These I photographed in Gargantua Bay

Evidence of Ancient Peoples

In terms of Aboriginal peoples, the most interesting are Pictographs at Mazinaw Lake, 260 of Petroglyphs Provincial park, carved into the soft, metamorphic rock. Carved as instructions for the young people, they tell us, all created at least 500 years - 1000 years ago, at the very least.

Made from an iron-based ocre stain from the cerebrospinal fluid of sturgeon. The ocre washes off but the chemically changed surface remains.  They would have had to canoe in to do them. These are famous places for trading, celebrating the land, and for transportation to winter/summer grounds.

Rich in food sources

Inland there are many sources of wild rice, which native Peoples harvested.
Then there is the fishing. Especially, a 3000-year-old fishing weir: Mnjikaning Fish Weir Circle. This was a brilliant tool.

Fish Weir 

- Fishing Tool of Hunter-Gatherers

A fish weir or fish trap is a step forward in fishing technology, used in North America for the past several thousand years.

Began to practice agriculture.
Beausoleil Island had 7000 years of occupation. Trading was important, traveling by what is now the Trent Waterway system.
Hunter Gatherer Anishinabek, Algonquin/Huron, and the agricultural Wendat ('people who live in houses'). (Common Era: 1550).

Haudenoshone and Wendat had difficulties, exacerbated by the French and English who were fighting over the resources. Beaver and other furs became scarce. There was a battle south of Lake Ontario (1615).
Champlain visited The Land Between. He writes of three days plagued by rain and snow. He created maps. The 1649 battle ended any cooperation. The Wendat were decimated by pandemics and conflict with the Haudenoshone, and the Wendat left. May, 1904, the Missassaugas decided to attack the Mohawks in Georgian Bay, on the Island of skulls. They took the Portage Rd. up to Portage Lake. 1000 warriors were slain. The war ended in 1701. Peace council at Lake Superior.  Ojibwas hunting for north after 50 years of war.
The French were defeated in 1759, Chief Yellowhead of Rama was a hero of the time. Some believe it is this chief for whom the Muskoka region was named. This is a good read:

Chippewas of Rama First Nation

Under the leadership of our hereditary Chief, Chief Musquakie(Yellowhead) who ...The fish fence at the Atherley Narrows, is located near Rama First Nation.

Agriculture

Abandoned barns and farms are evidence of the inability of this shallow soil to keep an agricultural society. The Hunter Gatherers were well able to live here, especially with the deep native respect for the land and its species, and the circle of life.

Native Peoples grew the three sisters: corn, squash and beans.
Settlements filled up on the shores of Lake Ontario and spots further north were less tillable soil. Another good read, available in a video,
Methodist Missionaries started First Nation Reserves. Cold Water Reserve was considered too valuable and was taken back by the government. The government insisted land could not be settled until treaties were made, but they were rushed through and poorly made. This has led to a long legacy of treaty litigation.

The Williams Treaties: Lament of a First Nation. Peggy Blair
Basket clause: they gave up everything, hunting, fishing, trapping, picking berries, birch bark,
There wasn't enough land to keep them alive. They were called poachers and game wardens to harass them. And still the racism persists.
The Mississauga thrived on the land, but were no longer able to travel to meed their needs. They couldn't farm on these lands, and the outlawing of Weitung's fish weirs meant they couldn't fish according to traditional ways, harvesting what they needs, throwing back pregnant females and young males. Like my grandmother, brought home when lost by local native people (read her story here), many settlers, map makers, fur traders, corporations (e.g., HBC), would not have survived without their help. It is amazing that First Nations have survived despite this exploitation.

Logging

Red and White pines were clear cut and decimated by logging. Slash and burn, before we knew better. They used the rivers for moving the logs.

Some dude named Need developed a lumber business in  Bobcaygeon. On Sturgeon Lake, Nov. 6, 1838, the first lock was opened. Trent-Severn locks links Ontario and Georgian Bay.
Log drives employed many and killed many, as well.

Logging & clear cutting decimated Georgian Bay fish stock
as spawning grounds were destroyed by silt.
(Public doman archive photo)

The 1880s feud in McDonald's Corners between Boyd Caldwell and Peter McLaren was infamous. It was on High Falls on the Missippi River. Caldwell was using McLaren's improvements to move HIS logs. Taking each other to court, the courts ruled that the rivers were commons, you could catch fish and need not ask anyone. It was available for use by all travellers.
See the Rivers and Streams Act of 1884 (Historical Plaque).

I spotted this on a trip along highway #7

Colonisation roads were built from Lake Ontario north. More work for hungry, needy men and their families. Safer, likely, than logging. You can see these roads, where better roads were created late. I took a trip around our old lake and found the Oka Colonisation Road on my travels. Now, these remote roads are exploited by snowmobiles and ATVs.

The government, needing settlers, felt that land capable of supporting pine trees could support 8 million farmers. Land agents worked to convince immigrants to settle in The Land Between: Free Grants and Homestead Act of 1868 promised 100 - 200 acres if settlers cleared the land and farmed. 
Even Sir John A. Macdonald knew that this was bad for the environment.

nSir John A. McDonald wrote to the premier of Ontario:

“The sight of the immense masses of timber passing my window every morning constantly suggests to my mind the absolute necessity there is for looking into the future of this great trade. We are recklessly destroying the timber of Canada and there is scarcely a possibility of replacing it.”

My great, great grandparents
He was an organist
from England and France.

My great grandmother
she opened up a rooming house
in Port Hope.

People were failing at clearing the land, those who arrived later. You need only read the diaries of Susannah Moodie and Catharine Parr Traill to understand how military officers, securing land in 1832, were unable to be successful and farm. Transplanted from England, and more familiar with embroidery and fine clothes, rather than living off of the land, they didn't know how to farm.

They had to clear several acres a year to keep their claims, and many opted to go west. Arable land needed a jack of all trades, and diverse pioneer farmers with many skills. You can see it some of the farmers we serve through Community Home Support here in Lanark County. Carpentry, building their own homes, dairy and beef cattle, building fences, adapting to the new technology of their time.
They could work as lumbermen, and then sell produce to the loggers.

The limestone was suited to cattle ranching. In the 1870/80s, they began to make it more successful. They lost sheep to bears, and then reverted to cattle.

Masonry

Algonquin College Campus - Perth

George Laidlaw imported a Scots stonemason for ten years to build stone walls. One had to do something with the immense amount of loose rock on the land. Perth, as well as many other towns, have some amazing buildings. Algonquin College offers training in repairing these old buildings. I did a post with photos, featuring some of their students. In the good, old days they used limestone to make concrete.

Repairing Perth town Museum walls

Industry

In Donald, from there to Tory Hill, they clear cut for a factory. This factory employed 300 people. They used the clearcut wood to make wood alcohol, necessary for dynamite.
Minerals

Abandoned barns - so sad

Limestone

Cave Eldorado, Marmora, Madoc had some gold. Ontario's First Gold Rush, in Hastings County, near Madoc. Gold, silver, iron, arsenite, uranium, cobalt, stellite, all created for the war effort, but petered out in time. They abandoned the site in 1941, to be cleaned up by taxpayers. 750,000 cu meters of waste with arsenic, cobalt, copper, radioactive waste material. Deloro mine site project is a major waste site in Ontario. I had never heard of it!

Tourism

Of major importance to those who survived in The Land Between, is tourism. A good read is Raisin Wine, which explains how tourists invaded Port Carling, and First Nations could no longer hunt and fish, while whites exploited the land and water. Many lived in poverty, serving as part-time carpenters for people who visited in the summer and had the money to maintain two homes.

Snapshot courtesy Swift River

One interesting feature of The Land Between is the Kirkfield Lift Lock, finished in 1907, taking boats from Lakefield to Lake Simcoe.

In Muskoka, they still argue over the Bala Falls. Originally built to regulate water levels which fluctuated up to 9' over the seasons, they needed to be able to run the steamships for the tourists  who went north from Toronto to Muskoka for the summer.

In the 50s, the falls harnessed the power of the water for electricity. It was abandoned for this purpose, but 'Save the Bala Falls' and Ontario Wind Farms are generating a lot of controversy!

photo courtesy Swift River

I find it sad that tourists forget the rich aboriginal history of this land, and prefer to keep their precious frontage for themselves to exploit as they see fit. The quiet of the land, disrupted by transportation technology: motor boats evolved from the canoe, to the sleek, mahogony Ditchburn boats, boats with disappearing propellors (Dippies), and now the incredibly large, powerful, noisy boats and PWCs of the new millenium.

Imagine the hours and the
blood, sweat and tears
to create these barns.

Back off government, but send money!

Ontario Farm

With the drought in Ontario, farmers are lining up for handouts from governments. Isn't it ironic?
Especially in south eastern Ontario, the Back Off Government capital of Ontario!
Local MPP, Randy Hillier, is even more shameful, earning a salary off of government dollars, having done illegal protests, illegal deer hunts, leading blockades, dumping hay bales in front of provincial offices.
Back when he was the president of the Ontario Landowners, it was a time when they didn't want to comply with government regulation of land rights, including the environmental laws designed to protect species.


Drought or not, it's dry, hot and bad for crops: climatologist
 CTV British Columbia News -3 days ago
 Small U.S. farmers struggle to stay afloat as drought kills vegetables ;it's caused Ontario to seek financial help from the federal government. ... The province also asked Agriculture and Agri Food Canada to help assess...


Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA)

McGuinty Government Calls on Federal Government to Increase Support. Ontario has asked Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to join with the ... Buying local food supports  farmers and boosts jobs and economic activity across Ontario.

  June 2012: Randy Hillier cuts ties to landowner lobby 
 PERTH — Eastern Ontario MPP Randy Hillier has severed ties with the Ontario Landowners Association, the group he helped start, and which helped him get elected. The split occurred over Crown land patent grants. The landowners association insists that by paying $50 to the Ministry of Natural Resources to get a land patent grant, it guarantees property rights because it refers to the original property agreement and trumps later laws.

Old time farm equipment

Hillier doubts that but says he remains an advocate for property rights.

Hillier splits from property rights group

by Mark Brownlee 12 Jul 2012 – Scientists stage mock funeral to protest cuts to research... Randy Hillier has severed ties with the Ontario Landowners Association

Irrigation

Farmers Feed Cities

Trip through the country

straight rows

everything greening up

Farmers feed cities, all they are all busy in S.E. Ontario! Even landscaping companies. Soon it will be time for veggie gardens. I must get busy...

busy spot

major silos

Handy things

wind was blowing

Hubbies family farm, 1950s 

The old home and buildings are gone

 We drove by Hubbies family farm, 1950s - this is where the house sat, now a pond. At the time, no electricity, plumbing...-they moved into town when he was ten years old (1959). He wrote a guest post awhile back, about life on the farm. Here is a snippet:

One day, I went into town with my grandfather on the buggy. Even in the 50's a buggy in town would draw a crowd. Anyway, my grandfather left me in the buggy while he visited his brother at the mill. The horse got bored or hungry, at any rate, to my embarrassment, he continued the journey around town, with me and buggy in tow, despite my best efforts at whoo. The town itself was a village of 600 or so then, I think.

Read more here: Hubbies family farm

We visited the family gravesite, the town cenotaph, as well as the church where he was an altar boy!

Kingston, Ontario Tour

The drive to and from Kingston is one of farms, farm land and farm buildings.

There are historic sites. We briefly visited the residence where Sir John lived, now turned into Bellevue Museum. (See the photo slide show below) An early 1840's home, Bellevue House served as a rental home to government officials, including Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada's first Prime Minister. MacDonald's short time at this residence was marred with sadness, as his son died and his wife was very ill.

The Wolfe Island wind farm is a contentious issue, but Kingston remains what it once was: an historic place where Aboriginal People once travelled and lived and French and English fought over land and territory.

The penitentiaries are quite interesting, with a museum in the centre of town. And there was a protest outside the hospital with pro and anti-abortion protesters on either side of the street. I took a video on the drive by, and made hubby drive around the block to video the other side, to0!

It is a city of contrasts, with old buildings, and Timmy Ho's on the same vista!

Queen's U. is a fabulously old place (1842), where many have gone in years past, and years to come. Hubby bought a cap that said, "Founded '41". In the store he explained to a fellow grad that he wasn't there in 1941, that Queen's was founded in 1841. Then the other gentleman said he attend in 1953, and his granddaughter attends there now. In fact, he drove her to campus, complaining that they couldn't just cross the street to the Book Store, someone had built a building after his time there. Hubby found a change or two, too!


Kingston photo slide show



Kingston video

Life on the farm - memories

I believe in gratitude...
My husband grew up on a farm in the 1950s. It puts life in perspective. Many, in many countries, do not have the luxuries of potable water, in this day and age. We take life for granted.

This is his reflection on life on a farm, without running water or indoor plumbing. Here is what he wrote:

My clearest thoughts on the farm, were the smells and sights in the barns, sheds and stables. As a little boy that's where I played by myself (which may explain my love of solitude). We had these large draft horses, very gentle, I could play under them with out fear. I still love the look and smell of these great animals.

I remember going out to the fields with my grandfather. We would have hitched up a couple of horses, giddy up to start, whoo, to stop, gee to turn left, haa to turn right. In fact, most of the time, we were on "auto pilot" as the horses knew the routine as well as we did.

One day, I went into town with my grandfather on the buggy. Even in the 50's a buggy in town would draw a crowd. Anyway, my grandfather left me in the buggy while he visited his brother at the mill. The horse got bored or hungry, at any rate, to my embarrassment, he continued the journey around town, with me and buggy in tow, despite my best efforts at whoo. The town itself was a village of 600 or so then, I think.

There was a post office where my mother worked. The basement flooded every spring. As the washroom was down there, it had to be accessed by a raised board walk. Our local dentist still used a foot drill, in a room out of Norman Rockwell.

A couple shared a store of fine china, a barber shop, and the local rod, reel, etc. supplies. The "new jeweller" had been there only 30 years. My uncle ran a confectionery where I would get candy after church on Sunday. At milking time we would call for the cows - co bosh, co-bosh. I have no idea where the expressions came from but the cows, with some encouragement from our collie, would come.

I remember the sight of sunsets across the open fields as far as you could see, especially in winter, covered in snow. About two fields back from the barn was a low area. It flooded every spring. I called it Lake Winnipeg (Lord knows why) and sailed wooden sticks in it.

At the back of the farm we had a bush. When I was about five or so, I followed our dogs or more likely led them to it. Yes, I was lost in it. I didn't know it, wasn't frightened, but search parties were out for me. It was in winter. Apparently the dogs knew better and barked until a farmer, out hauling logs, found me. I guess that he and the dogs saved my life.

Our farm house was old, brick and somewhat falling apart. We didn't have plumbing, nor central heating, and at times no electrical power (depending on when the bills were paid). Water came from a hand pump outside the summer kitchen. Summer kitchens were once common. Basically they were used in summer especially in thrashing, when there would be a number to feed. In winter they were shut down to reduce the space to heat.

One of our sheds was a disused ice house. All of them had the old smells of wood and oil. I still have a wooden carpenter's plane that belonged to my grandfather. It still has that smell on it, and if I pick it up , all the memories come back.

My grandmother was a strong farm wife who worked in the fields, grew vegetables, and ran the house. She could drive horses, kill chickens, bake pie, and quote long passages of Bryon off the top of her head.

I should point out that my mother and I came to live with her parents after my father was killed in an industrial accident. I was actually born in Ottawa and lived there until maybe I was a year and half or two. If my father had lived, no doubt my life would have been very different. We moved out to the farm with my grandparents. We were what we now call the working poor. My grandfather would have made a good priest, or teacher, but as a farmer he didn't do well. He was the oldest of seven of eight kids, whose father died at a young age. He left school to support his family. Indeed his younger siblings thought him as a father more than a brother. He never said an unkind word about a soul, no matter race, creed or calling.

My grandmother was ambitious, smart and frustrated by the life she had vs. the life she wanted. She dominated my mother, but adored me, as her adopted son was killed in the war, and her biological son was killed in an accident. I should say that despite our lack of services and relative isolation, I was never hungry, nor cold or afraid.

When I was ten, we had to sell the farm and move to town as my grandparents were too old to work it. My mother associated the farm with poverty and loss. She was determined that I would do better. As in many families this would cause us some problems down the road. Moving was the right thing to do. I often think that for my mother, a move to Ottawa would have been better. Being a young widow, in a small town in the 1960's, was not an easy thing. As for me that move was a clear line in my life. Leaving the farm was the first, and the most difficult.

Now only my aunt in Ottawa would have any idea of what I speak of. All the rest are gone, but the memories will continue with me. I hope this gives a sense of what that life was like.

BTW: All photos are from our recent travels around S. Ontario!