Canadian Archives Direction des archives Branch canadiennes ERIC W. MORSE FONDS R8288 Finding Aid No. 2279 / Instrument de recherche no 2279 Prepared in 2002 by R. Fisher for the Social Préparé en 2002 par R. Fisher pour les and Cultural Archives Archives sociales et culturelles ii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ............................................................ iii CANOE TRIPS SERIES ......................................................1, 9 CANOEING and FUR TRADE RESEARCH SERIES .................................4 EDUCATION and PROFESSIONAL LIFE SERIES ..................................7 PERSONAL and FAMILY MATERIAL SERIES ....................................8 ERIC W. MORSE fonds Archival Reference No. R 8288 Inclusive Dates 1926-1995. Extents 85 cm of textual records. 460 photographs. 171 maps. 3 prints. Biographical Sketch Eric Wilton Morse was born 27 December 1904 in Naini Tal, India, the son of Wilton Henry and Florence (Griffin) Morse. His family moved to Canada in 1910 and eventually settled in Port Hope where his father was a school master at Trinity College School. Eric Morse was educated at Trinity College School and eventually followed his father’s footsteps, becoming a school master there. In 1936, he enrolled at Queen’s University and received a Master of Arts degree in History for his thesis on the “Immigration and Status of British East Indians in Canada”. At this time, he also wrote Canada and the Drug Traffic (Toronto 1938) for the Canadian Institute of International Affairs. His teaching career ended after the outbreak of the Second World War when he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Morse decided to remain in Ottawa after the war, becoming the National Secretary of the United Nations Association in Canada in 1945. He became the National Director of the Association of Canadian Clubs in 1949 and held this position until his retirement in 1971. Morse loved canoeing and the outdoors and in 1951 he began retracing the fur trade routes of Canada in a series of annual summer expeditions. With a group of like- minded men, many of them prominent in Ottawa, he began to explore the Voyageurs’ Highway by canoe from the Ottawa River on to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba and Lake Athabasca in northern Alberta. The composition of the group changed from year to year but Morse was a constant, handling much of the logistical arrangements. The social prominence of the group and the novelty of their voyages attracted the interest of the national media who dubbed them the “voyageurs” and covered their trips in the news. Pierre Trudeau joined the group in 1966 for its trip down the Coppermine River iii in the Northwest Territories. Morse’s wife, Pamela, frequently joined the annual trips after their marriage in 1959. About this time, Morse had also become interested in canoeing the “Barrens” in the Northwest Territories and the “fresh water northwest passage” from Hudson Bay to the Bering Strait. In 1962, he led one of the first recreational canoe parties to cross the Barrens, following the Thelon River. His last major canoe trip was in 1980 when he and Pamela Morse returned to the French River and Lake Huron. In preparation for his trips, Morse researched the historical fur trade routes and early exploration of Canada exhaustively, becoming an authority on the original routes used by explorers and voyageurs, and on the location of the earliest portages. He waged a campaign with all levels of government to have the Voyageurs’ Highway and historic portages designated and marked as historic sites. He published widely on wilderness canoeing and the fur trade, writing a series of articles for the Canadian Geographical Journal, The Arctic Circular and The Beaver, among other periodicals. In addition to brochures and pamphlets on canoeing, his book the Fur Trade Canoe Routes of Canada: Then and Now, was published by Parks Canada in 1969 and reprinted in 1971, with a revised edition published in 1979 by the University of Toronto Press and reprinted in 1984. Eric Morse’s memoirs, Freshwater Saga: Memoirs of a Lifetime of Wilderness Canoeing in Canada were published posthumously in 1987 by the University of Toronto Press in Canada and by NorthWord Publishing in the United States. Morse received the Order of Canada in 1975 and an honorary doctorate in 1980 from Queen’s University. The Morse River in the Northwest Territories was named after him in 1985 in recognition of his role as the “dean of Canadian canoeists”. He married Mary Robinson in 1931 and they had two children, Peter Wilton Morse and Wendy Diana Morse. He married Pamela Mary Clarke in 1959. Eric W. Morse died in 1986. Scope and Content The Eric W. Morse fonds comprises textual records, photographs, prints, and maps which document his life and contribution to canoeing in Canada. It includes material related to his canoe trips retracing the original routes of the voyageurs and exploring the Northwest Territories and other remote parts of Canada; research and writing on historic fur trade routes and portages; professional work for the Association of Canadian Clubs and other institutions; and personal and family life. iv Series Descriptions: Canoe Trips Series (45 cm of textual records; 141 maps; 455 photographs; 3 prints; 1951- 1994; Vols. 1-2, 5-7) This series comprises Eric Morse’s trip files for his annual summer canoe trips between 1951 and 1980 and some shorter, local canoe trips. The files hold diaries and logs kept by the Morses or other members of the party; detailed notes on obstructions or portages; research notes on the journals of explorers or fur traders who had followed the same route; navigation plans, maps and charts; aerial photographs; snap shots of canoeists, campsites and scenic views; clippings of newspaper articles by or about the canoeists; licenses and permissions from the authorities; and correspondence and memoranda relating to the composition of the party, route chosen, logistics, catering, aircraft charters, and other arrangements. In addition to Morse’s own trips, the series holds a map, flag, and mock-up of a Toronto Sun article about the 1985 expedition in his honour to the Morse River. The more regular “voyageurs” in the 1950s and early 1960s included Blair Fraser, Anthony Lovink (Dutch ambassador), Dr. Omond Solandt , Tyler Thompson (US ambassador), Denis Coolican, Major-General Elliot Rodger, and Sigurd Olson. Later canoeing companions included Angus C. Scott, G.H.U. Bayly, Jim Bayly, Bill Mathers, Peter Blaikie, and A.R.C. Jones, among others. Some of the rivers and lakes travelled include the Gatineau, Ottawa, Mattawa, Petawawa, French, Churchill, Hayes, Fond du lac, Methy (La Loche), Clearwater, Camsell, Rat, Burntwood, Hanbury, Thelon, Winnipeg, Rainy, Lockhart, Snare, Porcupine, Bell, Coppermine, Dubawnt, Kazan, Taltson, Reindeer and Berens Rivers, and Lakes Huron, Superior, Winnipeg and Great Slave Lake. Pierre Trudeau accompanied the Morse party on the 1966 trip down the Coppermine River. There are snap shots from that trip and a typed log including an account of the rescue of two American kayakers by Trudeau and Jack Goering. Canoeing and Fur Trade Research Series (19 cm of textual records; 30 maps; 5 photographs; 1954-1995; Vols. 3, 7) This series consists of files relating to Eric Morse’s books, articles, and other publications; involvement in the designation and marking of historic sites; portage and canoe route investigations; and more general research on canoeing and the fur trade. It includes manuscripts of his articles “Fresh Water Northwest Passage” for the Canadian Geographical Journal and “Was this Hearne’s Thelewy-Aza-Yeth?” for The Beaver and speaking notes on the role of national parks. Correspondence with various government departments relating to historic sites and markers documents his lengthy campaign to have the historic canoe routes and portages of the “Voyageurs’ Highway” preserved and v commemorated with plaques or road signs. Morse conducted extensive research to identify the original canoe routes and portages used by the early explorers and voyageurs. There are files of route investigations for the channels and portages of the French River, portages at North Bay, Kaministikwia River- Dog Lake route, Michipicoten River route, Boundary Falls portage, Allumette Rapids portage on the Ottawa River, and the Second Chaudiere portage at Ottawa. Some of his correspondents in this series included A.R.M. Lower, Kaye Lamb and Calvin Rutstrum, among others. Education and Professional Life Series (16 cm of textual records; Vols. 3-4; 1926-1974). This series comprises records relating to Morse’s graduate education at Queen’s University and his professional career as a teacher at Trinity College School, national secretary of the United Nations Association in Canada, and national director of the Association of Canadian Clubs. It holds manuscripts, correspondence and research material relating to his M.A. thesis on the “Immigration and Status of British East Indians in Canada” (Queen’s 1936), and in particular for his excerpted article on the Komagata Maru affair in 1914. In this regard, the personal recollections of the incident (file 4-13) by Rear-Admiral Walter Hose, RCN, later Chief of the Naval Staff, are notable. The material for the Association of Canadian Clubs consists primarily of clippings of club events and talks and congratulations on his retirement. Personal and Family Material Series (5 cm of textual records; Vol. 4; 1934-1977) This series consists of papers relating to Morse’s personal and family