The park chronicle Fall 2009 canadascapital.gc.ca

Introduction he National Capital Commission (NCC), in collaboration with the French regime, the region’s fur-bearing animals were the focus for trappers, TFriends of , presents the second issue of The Gatineau coureurs de bois and merchants. The 19th century saw the area open up Park Chronicle , a periodical aimed at increasing awareness of the park’s to colonization, and the population grew rapidly. The region was history and cultural heritage. The first issue, published in 2007, focused explored, drilled and exploited for the riches it contained, and entrepre - on the circumstances surrounding the creation of Gatineau Park. In this neurs made use of its forests, water power and even its underground issue, the authors paint a picture of the park’s industrial past. resources. For centuries, the Gatineau Hills were part of the Algonquin lands, and In bygone days, Gatineau Park was part of the scene of Canada’s industrial these people drew from the land what they needed to survive. During the revolution. Today, it has become the Capital’s conservation park.

Gatineau Hills Forest Industry 1800 to 1938 | Myth or Reality? by Denis Messier

The Axe Before the Plow From the mid-19th century onward, and particularly after 1854, the year that the It is a well-known fact that, for more Reciprocity Treaty between Great Britain than 150 years, economic development and the United States was signed, our in Canada’s Capital Region was based neighbours to the south represented an primarily on the harvesting of trees. increasingly important market for Local place names are a constant Canadian timber. This period also reminder of this industry’s importance marked the start of the decline in to the region’s history. Names such as exports of squared timber — squaring Wright (Philemon, Alonzo, Tiberius and timber was an extremely wasteful others), Maclaren, Bronson, Sparks, process that left an enormous quantity Eddy, Booth, Edwards, Leamy, McMillan, of unused wood debris in the forest. The

Egan, Low, Hamilton, Hurdman, Cross Y era of sawn timber began when the T E I C and Papineau remind us of the entrepre - O government of the united Province of S L A C neurs who profited the most from this I Canada made efforts to regulate and R O T S activity. Other names, much fewer in I earn some revenue from this industry. H Y E number — such as draveurs , portageurs , L L A V

Joe-Montferrand and allumettières , U Rapid urbanization in the United States A E N I T

Martineau and Ryan — recall the tens of A fed voraciously on Canada’s forests. The G thousands of anonymous workers and Five men and a tractor, 1920 population of Chicago, for example, small manufacturers from far and wide increased from 400 inhabitants in 1833 who worked in the logging camps, on the settlers, began efforts to find markets for addition to the shortage of productive to nearly 300,000 in 1870 — a mush - timber rafts, in the sawmills or the vari - the wood harvested in the region. This was farmland, which forced settlers to diver - room city, built entirely of wood! When ous manufacturing plants established the year that the first timber raft floated sify their activities, factors beyond the some 18,000 buildings burned in on both sides of the River. down the approximately 500 kilometres colony’s borders drove this push for Chicago’s great fire of 1871, it is most of rivers from Wright’s settlement to the lumber. American independence and, likely that wood from tens of thousands From the beginning of the colony in export port of Québec. It was the begin - above all, the Napoleonic wars that raged of trees went up in smoke. 1800, the wood from the surrounding ning of an adventure that would produce across Europe in the early 19th century , Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, forests was used first to build houses and colossal fortunes — but also unimagin - — as well as the blockade imposed Cleveland and Detroit also grew at a other infrastructure required for the able misery — and, somewhere between against Great Britain, which cut it off similarly fast pace. pioneers’ settlement. Wood was also these two extremes, it also provided a from its Baltic markets — prompted essential for making tools and furniture, livelihood for an entire population. England to draw on the resources of heating and cooking. However, the its North American colonies. The oaks, The Forests and the Trees amounts harvested for these uses barely red pines, eastern white pines and great made a dent in the region’s abundant A Market for Wood spruces of the Ottawa Valley were cut, It is well established where the trees were forest resources. Entrepreneurs soon squared and shipped to the British Isles going, but where did they come from? considered exporting lumber to reap The great abundance of this natural to build the ships of the Royal Navy, According to a number of historians who additional profits. resource does not adequately explain the the very navy that would help to have studied the history of the region fervour with which this industry was defeat Napoleon and establish the power and the Ottawa Valley lumber industry, It was in 1806 that Philemon Wright, the pursued and the important role it would of the British Empire for more than while the two sides of the river were leader of the first group of Ottawa Valley have in the country’s development. In a century. exploited equally, the Wrights and other

09-088 The Gatineau Park Chronicle ~ Page 1 productive adjoining lands. In what is in service, to the great displeasure of the now Gatineau Park, because of proximity club’s members. to the water, only the areas around the Meech Creek Valley and the shores of At that time, it was the deciduous forests La Pêche Lake and the La Pêche River — maple, oak, birch, beech and ash — were exploited, according to this model. that were selected for sale on the market in Hull and Ottawa as firewood. The While the great logging industry Great Depression, which lasted for more appeared to come to a halt at the foot of than six years, increased the demand for the hills, this does not mean that the this fuel — much less costly than coal forests covering the hills were free from and oil, which those who were unem - cutting. Many pioneers and small entre - ployed could no longer afford. preneurs also profited from these nearby

U resources, but on a cottage industry scale And yet, in 1935, even considering the A E N I

T and substantially later in the process. To felling of trees for firewood, as well as the R A M

N understand the difficulty of this activity, clearing that took place to develop roads, Y L E C

O one needs only to imagine the settlers at establish farms, and build houses and J Lumber pile at Paul Dufour’s sawmill, Sainte-Cécile-de-Masham, ca. 1930 work, alone or accompanied by their other infrastructure, and including the sons when they were old enough, area occupied by lakes, still nearly 80 entrepreneurs had, at first, concentrated logging? It appears that the very nature equipped with a basic axe or two-handed percent of the Gatineau Hills territory on the forests on the shores of the Rideau of the industry, the geomorphology of saw, struggling through the deep snow. was covered with trees. Although the River and the banks of the the region, and the wood-cutting and They had to reach the trees they had report pointed out that logging activity on the Upper Canada () side, transportation methods of the era selected, cut them down, trim them and was intensifying in the hills — as was before turning to the north shore. provide as many possible answers as the hoist them onto a sled, or attach a chain dramatically witnessed by the cottagers very few official documents themselves. to them and pull them to the closest established around the lakes since the It appears that, except in Hull, it was not waterway or directly to the sawmill. It is end of the 19th century — it was evident until the late 1820s, when construction Because the limits of timber concessions not surprising to hear the saying that, on that forests still covered the greater part began on the Rideau Canal, that the forest were ill defined, and often practically the farms, before the invention of the of the area studied. It seems that the industry really began on the north side ignored by developers, it is difficult to chainsaw in 1933 and its widespread use alarm — raised very early on, very loudly of the Ottawa River. This activity had verify whether or not the Gatineau Hills after the Second World War, the forests and in very high places by the most started a little earlier, further east, in the were part of the lumber industry. grew more quickly than the time it took influential cottagers — signalled the Petite Nation and Hawkesbury regions. However, the cutting and transportation to cut them down. However, despite the fast-approaching end of this industry in Beginning around 1830, the Gatineau methods used in the 19th century kept amount of hard work involved, most of the hills and hastened the decision in Valley became the scene of intense logging teams within a relatively narrow the great evergreen trees that were access - 1938 to create Gatineau Park. logging activity. The Wright family bene - strip of land which, under ideal circum - ible had been harvested by the end of the fited from its ideal location in Wright’s stances, never exceeded 10 kilometres century. Town to take control of the valley’s and generally remained less than five Of Mills and Men immense wealth. For more than 10 years, kilometres from a waterway. It should be A few decades later, according to the the Wrights, allied with George Hamilton remembered that cutting took place interim report of a 1935 study ordered Apart from the landscape itself, the lumber of Hawkesbury, exercised a near monop - during the winter and that the felled, by the Federal District Commission industry left few visible traces in oly over the entire GatineauValley. In less trimmed and squared trees were often (predecessor of the National Capital Gatineau Park. Nor is there much evidence than five years, logging activities extended nearly eight metres long and almost a Commission), and conducted by the of the sawmills that were erected on the as far as Maniwaki, which also illustrates that the 19th century processes for cutting and transporting wood kept the industry confined to the areas along major water - ways. The further the operations were away from these rivers, the less profitable the business became.

Harvesting the Hills?

Asa Meech was the first colonist to settle in the area now known as Gatineau Park. Like many of his contemporaries, he came from the United States. In 1821, when he began clearing his lot, it was mainly for farming. Around him, in the hills, the population grew very slowly. U A

Only a few dozen farmers settled around E N I T R

Meech, Kingsmere and Mousseau A M N Y

(Harrington) lakes, attempting to L E C O scratch enough from the rocky soil to J feed their families. The names of these The Dufour family, Sainte-Cécile-de-Masham settlers were Dunlop, Murphy, Mulvihill, Daly, Healey, Carroll, Lacharité, Sheehan, metre in diameter. These logs were then Forestry Service of the federal periphery of what is now Gatineau Jeff, Mousseau, Harrington, Lauriault mounted on sleds and hauled closer to Department of the Interior, much of the Park. Most were constructed without a and Barnes. Among them were the waterways by teams of horses over area located between Chemin de la plan and there were few photographs of Americans, a number of Irish immigrants roads that had previously been watered Montagne, Chemin de la Mine and the these structures. fleeing the impoverished conditions of and frozen to facilitate the movement northwestern part of Meech Lake had their country and a few French of sleds. The steep slope of the hills been exploited during the 19th century. The first known sawmill was built by the Canadians, driven from the St. Lawrence presented challenges and certain dangers Most of the great eastern white pines, red Brigham-Chamberlain family, close rela - Valley by overpopulation of the land. for the workers. Since forest resources pines and oaks had been felled. To support tives of the Wrights, on Chelsea Creek, in were in abundant supply along the their observations, the report’s authors the late 1820s. Like the flour mill beside But what about the lumber industry in Gatineau River and its tributaries, entre - stated, for example, that most of the ski it, the sawmill was driven by water power the hills that today form Gatineau Park? preneurs preferred to avoid venturing trails used by the Ottawa Ski Club since from the creek. The mill had one, or perhaps Were trees from these hills on the timber into the higher hills, and concentrated the early 1920s were former logging two, saws and remained in operation raft of 1806? Had this area ever seen any the work of the loggers on the more roads, some of which had been put back until the 1870s. The sawmill, which

Page 2 ~ The Gatineau Park Chronicle supplied the local market, procured its wood from the first settlers who made their home at the foot of the hills between the lakes and the river. It probably served to produce the lumber used to build the first houses in the villages of Chelsea and Old Chelsea. Today, only the barn remains on the original site. The farmhouse, though t to be the oldest building in Chelsea, has been moved and currently stands close to what was once one of the region’s first farms, which is now the location of the Gatineau Park Visitor Centre. Y T E I

Twenty-five kilometres further north, C O S L the Maclaren sawmill ofWakefield is also A C I R O T

a well-known example of the use of S I H Y water power to process rough timber E L L A V

into lumber. This sawmill also supplied a U A E N I local market and employed only a few T A workers on a seasonal basis. G The Legros sawmill, 1975

It appears that the first sawmills in the recalls that sawn timber was floated in operation in the territory or on the for many of the region’s loggers. More Gatineau Valley were built to saw the to Meech Lake, some as far as what is periphery of the current park. Like those recently, the construction of the access huge logs harvested during the early now O’Brien Beach. The wood was mentioned here, most operated on water road to the Mackenzie King Estate and period of logging in the valley. Once the retrieved from there in the springtime power, but some used oil, steam, coal or the opening of Boulevard des supply of these trees dwindled, the and loaded onto wagons for transport to even electrical power. Allumettières in the park have also sawmills rapidly became unprofitable, the Chelsea station, where it was then meant the felling of thousands of trees. unable to withstand competition from shipped by train. However, in contrast with past events, the gigantic modern facilities run by A Charcoal-Making Machine this tree cutting has been offset by the entrepreneurs such as Gilmour, Booth or The journal also mentions a mill owned planting of at least twice the number of Leamy, which operated hundreds of saws by Freeman Cross. A member of a large In 1939, at the same time that Gatineau trees that were felled. and annually produced thousands of family that had been established in the Park was starting to take shape, and as kilometres of boards or planks. Gatineau Valley since the 19th century, the approach of the Second World War Freeman Cross was a pioneer in the use began to alleviate the effects of the A few other sawmills were built in the of electrical energy in Canada. In the Depression, logging operations increased, early 20th century. Once again, there is early years of the 20th century, Cross and new industrial facilities were estab - very little written evidence of these facil - built a dam on Meech Creek to feed a lished in the Gatineau Hills. ities. A sawmill was built at Mousseau power station that ran a sawmill and a Lake by William Cameron Edwards, an toy factory at Farm Point in the Meech It was during this era that a charcoal kiln important industrialist who started his Creek Valley. Cross also used the creek to was built on a forest road that ran along career in Thurso, before making his for - float logs harvested around Meech Lake Mousseau Lake toward Philippe Lake, by tune in Ottawa in the lumber and finance down to his Farm Point sawmill. Thomas Gosselin, an entrepreneur from business. The sawmill was in operation Masham, and owner of the land. The until a massive forest fire around 1915 Further to the northwest, near the village kiln, which was manufactured in the city destroyed a large part of the Edwards of Sainte-Cécile-de-Masham, at the edge of Québec, measured approximately four property. His nephew, Lieutenant Colonel of what is now the Philippe Lake sector metres high by two metres in diameter Cameron Macpherson Edwards, who of Gatineau Park, the Dufour family and weighed some 1,100 kilograms. It inherited his uncle’s properties in 1921, operated a sawmill and a grain mill on was made of cast iron and the interior had the sawmill torn down and built a the La Pêche River which, in the early was composed of an oven and a short summer residence which, in 1950, 20th century, provided work for dozens chimney. The kiln used scrap wood became the official sum mer residence of of members of this family and other from a steam-powered sawmill, located Canada’s prime minister. villagers. This sawmill, like that of the nearby. The Federal District Commission acquired this land in 1948 and included it as part of Gatineau Park. The sawmill E R I

was demolished in 1949. The kiln, which A L L A

still stands on trail 50 in Gatineau Park, D L E H C is now one of the very few remnants I M of the logging industry from the Charcoal kiln, trail no. 50, Gatineau Park park’s past. Gatineau Park was created from several From Cutting Trees to hundred parcels of land acquired by the Preserving Forest Federal District Commission and the National Capital Commission over a The creation of Gatineau Park in 1938 period of more than 70 years. Before U

A did not put an abrupt end to wood cut - becoming the Capital’s conservation E N I T

R ting in the area. A number of farmers park, the area experienced close to A M N

Y continued to harvest wood until the end 150 years of more or less intensive use, L E C O

J of the Second World War. The actual exploitation and human occupation. Trefflé Ménard and Pierre Mayer’s horses, Sainte-Cécile-de-Masham creation of the park was truly an industry Although big industry ignored the area in itself. In addition, the first budgets to a certain extent, the former landowners In Volume 27 of Up the Gatineau! , the Legros family established further down - committed to establish the park were put forth enormous effort and consider - historical journal of the Gatineau Valley river, was supplied by timber cut in the allocated as part of a job creation pro - able ingenuity to draw a profit from the Historical Society, Chelsea resident Ed Philippe Lake sector, and its products gram and measures intended to alleviate forest resources that surrounded them Ryan recalls that, in the 1930s, his father were sold on the local market. the situation caused by the Depression. and to compensate for the poor agricul - used a sawmill powered by a steam The construction of the parkway network, tural potential of the Gatineau Hills. engine to cut logs into lumber on his These sawmills are just a few examples parking lots, picnic areas and Perhaps this article will help to preserve Kingsmere property. Another sawmill among those that existed during this campgrounds also required the cutting the memory of their contribution to the also operated at Mousseau Lake. Ryan period. A number of other sawmills were of thousands of trees and provided work region’s development.

The Gatineau Park Chronicle ~ Page 3 were no longer in demand. Some breed - short time, and then worked on The Old Fox Farm ers went into raising mink, and the the annual Canada Year Book for Doratys made a start in that direction. Statistics Canada. However, the creation of Gatineau Park in Gatineau Park changed their plans. The Colonel sold the In 1985, members of the Doraty family property to the federal government, and revisited the site of their fur farm, and the Doratys knew that any future plans found a road running though what had by Carol Martin for fur farming would have to end within been their backyard, although their 10 years. They decided to leave, and dis - spruce hedge and the maple bush posed of the stock and equipment in remained. Few traces are left of the old 1952. For Christmas that year, their last fox farm, as tall pines have overgrown on , Jean received a fox fur boa, much of the area that was once cleared, her only fur memento of that period in and the old road is now closed off as part their lives. They left the property early in of the access to the prime minister of 1953, and moved to Stittsville, Ontario. Canada’s summer residence. This spe - Harvey had not qualified to practise law cialized industry, which took advantage in Ontario, but made use of his legal of the quiet and secluded environment expertise as a notary public, as well as of Gatineau Park, has gone, leaving little working as an insurance adjuster for an trace of its former existence within Ottawa firm. Jean taught school for a the park. N O I T C E L L O C S N H O J Y T A R O D N A E J Pair of foxes, Avion Fur Farm

A trail extending Pine Road from its noises and smells, so a quiet location is junction at the Cross Loop Road into preferred. The animals also have a pun - Gatineau Park leads to the“Old Fox Farm gent odour, which any near neighbours Road,” as some long-time residents still would likely find unpleasant. Foxes are N O I call it. Hikers and skiers will find no sign- omnivorous, but require a large propor - S S I M M

age with its name, but a branch off trail tion of meat in their diet, and farmers in O C L A T

50 leads to the acreage that Colonel a rural location are potential suppliers of I P A C

Cameron Macpherson Edwards selected waste meat. L A N O I

in the 1930s for a fox farm. This T A secluded area in what is now part of The Avion Fur Farm on the Edwards N The Moss Mine, during the Second World War Gatineau Park was an ideal setting for property took its name from the town of this enterprise. Avion, near Vimy, where Colonel Edwards saw action as commanding Fur had been a staple of the earliest trade officer of the 38th Battalion of the The Mines of between Europe and North America and, Canadian Expeditionary Force in the throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, First World War. Harvey Doraty, with the trappers exploited the Canadian wilder - assistance of Bob O’Neil, a carpenter Gatineau Park ness for a wide variety of animal pelts. from Chelsea, renovated and enlarged Some trapper-farmers who caught the old house, added a workshop, and by Dr. Shawn Graham animals in warm weather kept them installed rows of kennels for the foxes. In alive until winter, when their fur was April 1937, Harvey married Jean Parker, The same geology that makes Gatineau were little more than surface scratchings prime. The next step was “fur-farming,” who recalled that, following the ceremony, Park a stunning panorama, from the by farmers looking to create another a new industry begun around 1890, she changed into her “going-away outfit” Eardley to the rolling land - source of income. The Fleury mine, breeding and raising some of the smaller of jacket, ski pants and gum-rubber scape of the Meech Creek Valley, also opened in 1898 by M.C. Brown of fur-bearing animals. boots, after which the couple walked in made the area attractive to miners in the Cantley, was one of the larger mica oper - rain and mud through the bush to the 19th and early 20th centuries. There is a ations. Twenty tons (18 metric tons) In the mid-1930s, Harvey Doraty left his ranch. They lived on the property, raising certain romance in mines named “Eva” of mica were removed from two pits over law firm in Saskatoon and moved to a family of three children, while they or “Pink,” and their ruins and tailings 30 feet (9 metres) deep; one crystal of Ottawa with the intention of opening a managed the fox farm. Later, they added can be spotted underneath the dense mica was removed from this mine that legal office. However, he met Colonel a second house to provide housing for underbrush which has, for the most part, reportedly weighed more than 500 pounds Edwards, of an influential old Ottawa a family who worked for them. reclaimed them. The names recall some (about 227 kilograms). family, and decided on a different line of of the earliest landowners and entrepre - business. Both men had previously Over the next 15 years, the Avion Fur neurs: Forsythe, Baldwin, Lawless, Pink, Today, the most easily accessed mica raised silver foxes, and Edwards wanted Farm took prizes at the fox shows in Morris, Headley, Eva, Fortin-Gravelle, mine in the area is the Pink Lake Mica to go into fox farming on a larger scale. Québec City, sold breeding stock to Laurentide, Wallingford, Cliff, Fleury, Mine. This mine was first prospected by The result was a partnership, with ranchers from Nova Scotia to Alberta, Chaput-Payne and McCloskey. the Kent Brothers of Kingston in 1903. Edwards providing financial backing and sold their best pelts to Holt, Renfrew By 1904, the mine was producing mica, and Doraty agreeing to be the manager. and Company. The rest of the pelts went The most commonly mined mineral was which was being shipped along the to the Canadian National Silver Fox mica. In the 19th century, mica was Rideau Canal to Kingston, where it was Edwards had a property near Harrington Breeders Association in Summerside, valuable for its use as a heatproof win - cut and readied for market. This mine Lake (Lac Mousseau), with an old home - Prince Edward Island, to be sold at auc - dow material and, later, as an electrical consists mostly of surface cuts, most stead building on it, which seemed ideal tion. On one occasion, they received insulator. Mica mined in the park was of which were opened (using steam- for this venture. An isolated, rural site is $2,400 for a breeding pair of foxes. transported to Hull, where it was cut and powered machinery) by 1905. By the ideal for a fox farm, for several reasons. processed. However, only a few of the mid-1910s, the mine had closed down, During the breeding season and just Sales had continued all during the more than 14 known mines in the park only to be reopened by the Pink’s Lake after the pups are born, foxes tend to be Second World War, but then fashions were actually exploited on what can be Mining Company at the end of 1945. exceedingly sensitive to strange sights, began to change, and long-haired furs considered an industrial scale. Many This company even ran a tunnel from

Page 4 ~ The Gatineau Park Chronicle Alanson Baldwin purchased the mine, as mineral rights. Negotiations ensued, and mute testimony to the men who worked well as some neighbouring properties soon a new company was formed. Henry in the deeps, making their own contribu - which also had promise for iron mining. Wood of Denver, Colorado, a pioneer in tions to the Allied war effort with every The Baldwin mine produced roughly developing economical ways of extracting swing of the hammer. 3,000 tons (2,721 metric tons) of ore molybdenum from ore (achieving 80 during the 1870s.Various legal difficulties percent efficiency), was brought in to beset Baldwin, and the ownership of the develop this mine site. It was soon pro - Moonshine and the various mines in the area (the Forsyth, ducing at full capacity. Molybdenite has a Moss Mine the Baldwin, and the Lawless) passed high melting temperature, so it was used through a succession of hands over the in alloys with steel to strengthen arma - The Second World War touched everyone next 50 years. Production continued, ments. The miners processed 150 tons — in countless ways. On the home front, intermittently, during that time too, but (136 metric tons) of ore daily. Over the a daily reminder was the need for never again at the same pace or with the lifetime of the mine, nearly 250,000 tons rationing. Ration books contained same economic impact as dur ing those (226,795 metric tons) of ore were milled, coupons for a variety of daily goods. One N

O 20 years in the mid-19th century. 1,000,000 pounds (453,600 kilograms) of these was alcohol; it was not unheard-of I S S I

M of concentrates were created, and 25,000 for teetotallers to sell their alcohol M O C

L tons (22,680 metric tons) of waste rock coupons on the black market, or trade A T I P

A The Moss Mine: Biggest were mined. All of this was transported them for other goods. Some workers at C L A

N in the World! by horse power to the PPJ Railroad, the mine had other ways of meeting this O I T A

N several kilometres to the south. demand for alcohol. The Moss Mine, during the Second World War In the far western corner of Gatineau Park, there are several mine pits, under - The value of molybdenum during the Every mine needed a chemist to test the the edge of the lake to the earlier surface ground tunnels, building foundations First World War was over $2,000/ton, ore and, during the war, some enterpris - pits, but this was the last gasp for the and crumbling structures standing as and the mine earned back the cost of ing workers drew the chemist into a mine. It was closed by 1946, all the silent witnesses to an important episode opening it within the first few months. scheme to distill alcohol in a secure equipment was removed, and now only a of our industrial heritage. Nearly 100 With the worldwide depression follow - room in the laboratory. They coloured keen eye can spot the earlier diggings. years ago, this area of North Onslow ing the end of the war, the price for the the alcohol with tea and flavoured it with Township was the epicentre for one of commodity dropped, and the mine essences that could be had from the In terms of economic value, the more the biggest mines of its type in the closed. The mine changed hands — and ration books. The alcohol was strictly for important and longest-lived mines in the world. Well over 100 men worked and names — several times over the next 20 the coterie’s private consumption, as park were the iron mines in the Pink toiled in the pits of the Wood years. It was reopened with a skeleton there would be enormous trouble with Lake sector, and the Moss Mine in the Molybdenite Mine, with their families staff during the boom times of the the police if the alcohol was sold. Onslow/La Pêche Lake area. living above the underground shafts. At 1920s, but closed with the onset of the Nevertheless, word got around and soon

The Iron of Gatineau Park

The discovery of iron in the Gatineau Hills is connected with the first surveys and settlement of the area. In 1801, John MacTaggart, who was surveying the area for Philemon Wright, noticed the needle in his compass swinging wildly about as he traversed a certain portion of lot 11 range 7, in what was later known as West Hull Township. The reason, of course, was that the high iron content in the rock was interfering with the Earth’s N O I

magnetic field. MacTaggart and Wright S S I M were not able to exploit this discovery M O C L until 1826, when they formed the Hull A T I P A

Mining Company, and dispatched a C L A N O colonist to occupy the lot. This was little I T A more than a claim-staking exercise, and N the mining that did take place was small The Moss Mine, during the Second World War scale at that time. Tiberius Wright sold the time, the mining camp was one of the Great Depression. The Second World War “the Provincials” were in the area, asking the rights to this Hull Iron Mine to largest towns west of Aylmer. There were saw a resumption of production at nearly if any bootleggers were about. They visited Forsyth and Company of Pennsylvania over 40 buildings, and more than 300 the same level of intensity as during the the mine, and were directed to speak to a in 1854 (thus renaming the mine as the people living at the mine site during the previous war. However, once the United man who “knew a thing or two” about Forsyth Mine). The ore was of such qual - First World War, the mine’s greatest period States joined the war effort in 1942, life in the area. He in turn directed them ity that the company exhibited a ton of of prosperity. cheaper sources of molybdenum could to an old man, whom they questioned ore from this mine at the 1855 Paris be exploited via open-pit mining, and as follows. International Exposition. Production Molybdenite comes from the Greek word the mine in Onslow closed down. increased dramatically. Between 1854 meaning “lead.” Indeed, the first owner “Who is making the moonshine around and 1860, about 15,000 tons (13,600 of the land thought that he had found The mine was never known officially as here?” they asked. metric tons) were shipped, and 13 men lead while target shooting at cans on an the “Moss Mine,” but perhaps the origin “What’s it worth t’ye?” said he. worked at the mine. Ore was taken out of outcrop of rock behind the family farm. of that name comes from the procession “Ten dollars.” (A good sum in those days!) the hillside (near where the modern The odd stray bullet would chip flakes of crates of mineral, drawn by horses “Give it t’me and I’ll tell ye alright,” hydroelectric pylons cross through the park off the rock. Examining these chips, the down the long road to the train station, said the old man. from Hull to Aylmer) to the little village owner noticed a bluish coloured metal. A each one with the chemical formula They gave him the money, and the of Ironside, where it was loaded onto nearby mine on the Ontario side of the “MoS 2” written on it. Even as recently as old man said, barges for the journey along the Rideau Ottawa River was mining lead, so he the 1960s, there still stood some struc - “God makes the moon shine, and Canal to Kingston. In Kingston, the ore was thought he might have found a lead tures on the site but, after the mine was I’ll give ye a tip: He makes the sun transshipped onto lakers, which trans - deposit. The chips were sent to the closed, most of the buildings were sold shine too!” ported it to Cleveland and the iron mills. Dominion government for testing, and and dismantled (much of modern (Story recounted by Edward Mulligan in the were found to contain 15 percent molyb - Quyon’s building stock has its origins in Shawville Equity, December 10, 1986.) A fire in 1870 destroyed the village of denum disulfide (MoS 2). The men from the mine buildings), the equipment was Ironside and the infrastructure there for the Galetta mine tried to stake a claim, shipped away, and the forest was allowed preprocessing the ore. At this time, but discovered that the farmer had the to reclaim the site. The ruins stand in

The Gatineau Park Chronicle ~ Page 5 of income within the Maclaren com- pany’s commercial empire.

The Woollen Mill

The woollen mill was built between the late 1850s and early 1860s. Expanding their business by establishing this new industry seemed the next logical step for brothers James and John Maclaren, who had already owned the gristmill in the little community of Wakefield since 1844.

In 1877, the woollen mill was destroyed N

O by fire, but was later rebuilt. This business I S S I

M produced bolts of fabric used for making M O C

L suits and blankets. Residents of the A T I P

A region could purchase the fabric in the C L A

N Maclarens’ general store in Wakefield, or O I T A

N place an order to have suits made by the The Wakefield Mill tailor employed at the store.

Each of the activities at the woollen mill The Wakefield Mill occupied a different floor of the building: weaving, on the ground floor; wool card - by Fabian Mugny ing equipment, on the first floor and spinning, on the second. At the turn of the 20th century, the dye house was Who wouldn’t be impressed by the sight business, James Maclaren and Company. addition to the gristmill and woollen connected directly to the spinning mill. of this stately building of stone, wood Upon the death of James Maclaren in mill. Little information is available Water power drove the various looms and brick on the shore of the La Pêche 1892, his son Alexander took over the concerning its history, its activities or and spinning machines. Around 1907, River near the beautiful village of management of the company’s industrial its demise. electricity began to be used for lighting Wakefield? Situated at the northeastern buildings in Wakefield. the building. At that time, the mill end of Gatineau Park, this building is the After brothers James and John Maclaren employed approximately 25 people, last remaining vestige of the large indus - On June 25, 1877, a fire destroyed the purchased the gristmill from William mainly women. trial complex formerly located at this flour and woollen mills. Both buildings Fairbairn in 1844, they built a sawmill on site. It all began around 1838 with the were rebuilt. Between 1897 and 1908, the the left bank of the La Pêche River, facing During a second fire, on May 18, 1910, construction of a gristmill by William mill was enlarged, and rollers replaced the gristmill. The building was situated all of the buildings that made up the Fairbairn, followed by the expansion of the old millstones. At the time, the mill either next to it or just above the dam on industrial complex were destroyed. The the site with the addition of other indus - had four separators and six sets of double the river. The exact date when the fire began in the spinning mill, and was trial buildings erected by the Maclarens. rollers. The tool shed, as well as the shed sawmill was built is unknown, sometime likely started by a match or perhaps a housing the control equipment, now between the late 1840s and early 1850s. nail falling into the batting machine, William Fairbairn was born in Scotland adjoined the flour mill. This mill was It is even possible that the sawmill was which operated at 5,000 revolutions per in 1790. His father sent him to able to produce fine, white flour of better once destroyed by a fire which occurred minute. The fire spread very rapidly Manchester to learn the trade of mill - quality. During the same period, a gener - a few years after its construction. An because of the oil-saturated wool, first wright. He married, left for Canada in ator coupled with turbines produced 1897 fire insurance policy indicates that inside the building and then throughout 1817 and finally settled in the newly electricity to light the various buildings the building had one-and-a-half storeys the entire Maclaren industrial complex, established village of Wakefield in 1834. and even the Maclarens’ general store in at that time. As they had done when pur - destroying the gristmill, sheds and ware - In 1838, he sent a petition to the the village a few dozen metres below. chasing the mill, the Maclaren brothers houses, along with the employee housing Governor of Lower Canada and Upper borrowed the necessary funds from their located a few metres below the spinning Canada seeking permission to erect a A second fire ravaged the industrial site father, David Maclaren. mill along the La Pêche River. The total gristmill on the La Pêche River at a in 1910, this time destroying all the amount of damages was estimated at strategic point situated near the conflu - buildings, warehouses and sheds, as well According to the 1861 census, two $50,000 to $60,000. ence of the La Pêche and Gatineau rivers, as the employee housing. Only the flour employees worked at the sawmill. With at the site of a 10-metre falls. The three- mill was rebuilt and enlarged, doubling income from the sawmill, John and The spinning mill was never rebuilt, and-a-half-storey stone structure was its production capacity. This building James were able to expand their activi - putting 30 people, mainly female workers, built in the Georgian style. The mill may can still be admired today: it has been ties and, after 1861, built a woollen mill out of work. It is not hard to imagine the have begun operating in 1838. The mill converted into a four-star hotel and spa, and a brick kiln. James Maclaren was consequences of the loss of so many jobs was not a large-scale business operation; serving visitors to Gatineau Park. particularly interested in the lumber for a small village such as Wakefield. its purpose was to produce flour for the industry, as he was involved in purchasing local market. In 1844, William Fairbairn Alexander Maclaren died in 1939, and wood to supply the Wakefield sawmill. It sold the mill to fellow Scots, brothers the mill was sold a few years later to J. P. is most likely that the Maclaren sawmill James and John Maclaren, for 300 pounds. Henderson. He converted part of the mill in Wakefield remained a small business into apartments. In the 1950s, meeting local demand. In the 1850s, According to the 1851 census, the mill Henderson rented the building to broth - James Maclaren relied on other, much had three employees at that time, includ - ers Kenneth and Ernest Young, who larger sawmills to meet the increasing ing a head miller. The 1861 census began producing feed. Finally, in 1962, demand of the larger markets for con - reveals that the Maclaren brothers were the National Capital Commission bought struction lumber. operating an oat mill, which was likely the mill and allowed the Young brothers part of the flour mill. Two employees to work there until their retirement By 1908, that is, before the terrible fire of oversaw the operation of the oat mill, in 1980. 1910 that would reduce the various and one additional employee worked at buildings of the industrial complex to the flour mill. As of 1861, the Maclarens cinders, the sawmill was no longer on the further expanded their business activities The Sawmill Wakefield insurance policy. The building with the construction of a woollen mill therefore disappeared sometime and a brick-making plant. John Maclaren At its peak of development, theWakefield between 1897 and 1908. This sawmill lived in Wakefield and managed the village industrial complex included a sawmill in operation represented only a tiny source

Page 6 ~ The Gatineau Park Chronicle Modern Industry on the Shores of Meech Lake by Denis Messier

Whether you walk, cycle, snowshoe or ski, exploring Gatineau Park is an expe ri - A Unique Role for the Manor ence that never fails to thrust the visitor deep into a peaceful, thought-provoking A few years after Thomas Willson’s natural panorama. On occasion, at a death, the property was sold toArchibald bend in the trail, visitors may stumble J. Freiman, a prosperous Ottawa busi - upon a building, object or facility that nessman. Born in Lithuania, Freiman piques their curiosity because of its ran a large department store on Rideau unusual shape or seemingly strange Street in Ottawa. He lived in the former location. Willson home from 1923 until just before the Second World War, in 1938. This is true of the Carbide Willson ruins. Located on Meech Creek, only metres From 1938 to 1979, the house was owned Y E L from“Little Meech Lake” at the source of P by the family of Joseph Gilhouly, an O T S the creek, these ruins bear witness to the E Ottawa dentist. In 1979, the National M A J

industrial past of the Gatineau Hills. M Capital Commission acquired the prop - A I L L They are what remain of the dreams of I erty and integrated it into Gatineau Park. W one of Canada’s most energetic and pro - Carbide Willson’s acid condenser tower, dam, footbridge and generating station, July 13, 1917 The building was unoccupied for awhile, lific early 20th century inventors and then renovated and converted into a gov - industrialists, Thomas Leopold Willson. centre, not far from Chaudières Falls, a from St. Catharines, Ontario, to ernment conference centre. It was leased powerful and inexhaustible supply of Shawinigan, . He travelled to the to PublicWorks and Government Services hydroelectric energy. Soon thereafter, he Saguenay, where he recognized the Canada, which has managed the house Farm Boy to Industrial Baron built a calcium carbide plant on Victoria region’s vast hydroelectric potential. He since then. The house is now a site for Island to supply the central Canadian purchased immense forest properties, to government meetings and confer ences Thomas L. Willson was born in 1860 at market. which he hoped to attract hydroelectric for small groups of up to 30 people. his father’s farm in Princeton, Ontario. It and pulp and paper companies. was in Hamilton, an important steel In 1905, like many prominent citizens In April 1987, Willson House was the town, that he attended secondary school in the Capital, Thomas Willson looked In 1905, he built a highly sophisticated scene of one of the most famous federal– and apprenticed with a local blacksmith. to the Gatineau Hills. He purchased a laboratory in the basement of his provincial conferences in Canadian history. At a very early age, he demonstrated an 400-acre estate on the southeast shore of Metcalfe Street residence in Ottawa. It was in this house that the famous uncommon scientific ingenuity and Meech Lake, where he built his summer There, he conducted a multitude of “Meech Lake Accord” was negotiated, curiosity that prompted him to develop a residence in 1907. experiments prior to focusing on the marking a significant point in the consti - host of industrial processes, for which he development of superphosphate-based tutional history of Canada. obtained more than 70 patents in The Willson House is located on a chemical fertilizer. Despite its sophisti - Canada and the United States. promontory overlooking Meech Lake. It cation, the Metcalfe Street laboratory did If Thomas Willson had decided to settle is built in the Queen Anne Revival style, not allow him to produce sufficient vol - in Ottawa to be closer to the seat of political However, Willson is most famous for his a style of architecture that was common umes of the fertilizer to demonstrate the power, he most certainly never imagined discovery of a process to produce cal- in Britain in the late 19th century. profitability of this enterprise. He there - that it would one day come to his own cium carbide through carbon electrolysis. Situated on the highest point of the cliff fore turned to his Meech Lake property house in the heart of the Gatineau Hills. In 1895, when he was only 35 years old, on the lake, the house is constructed of to provide facilities suited to his projects. Willson helped found a company that materials native to the region, the pink later became the multinational corpora - granite and timber having come from the In 1911, Willson erected a dam and Willson’s Legacy tion Union Carbide. site itself. The house’s rustic appear ance experimental electrical station at the blends perfectly with its environment. source of Meech Creek. His project ser- Today, theWillson estate is protected by the iously angered waterfront cottagers, who Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, Changing Water Into Light The two-and-a-half-storey house has saw water levels rise nearly two metres which has evaluated the estate’s build - 11 bedrooms and seven fireplaces with and some of their buildings disappear ings as“classified” — the highest level of One of the chief calcium carbide applica - four chimneys. It is surrounded by several beneath the surface of the water. heritage recognition. This recognition is tions that Thomas Willson succeeded in outbuildings — including a garage, Willson’s popularity declined sharply; justified by the quality of architecture, developing involved the affordable pro - employee quarters, a chapel and an air - however, the grumblings failed to deter the historical integrity of the buildings duction of acetylene, a gas that, when craft hangar — built on an estate of the inventor from his projects. The elec - and the national significance of Thomas burned, emits an extremely bright light, more than 180 hectares of rolling, wooded trical station provided enough power to Leopold Willson. and that, at the time, was highly prized landscape. The property is accessed supply an impressive phosphoric acid for domestic and industrial lighting, through a massive gate of wrought iron condenser, the first of its kind in the By contrast, the Meech Lake industrial prior to a massive shift to electricity. To and cut pink granite, leading to a broad world. facilities are in ruin, a reflection of produce this gas, Willson simply brought winding laneway, lined with electric Thomas “Carbide” Willson’s shattered calcium carbide pellets into contact with lampposts, also made of cut stone. These facilities, still in the experimental dreams. However, what remains speaks water. Cities, trains, factories and even stage, required huge capital investment, eloquently of a dramatic period of eco - waterways were soon lit with acetylene funds that Willson also needed badly for nomic development that brought Canada produced by this process. The Industrial Revolution his projects in the Saguenay. Nevertheless, into the western industrial revolution. Comes to the Gatineau Hills he opted to put everything into phos - The Gatineau Hills played a part in this phate production, mortgaging all of his revolution, as home to Thomas“Carbide” A Prominent Ottawa Citizen Thomas Willson’s scientific interests assets. Unable to repay his debts, Willson Willson, an inventor and industrialist Moves to the Gatineau Hills were not confined to calcium carbide was plunged into bankruptcy, losing all whose efforts and energy helped to lay and acetylene production. He was also of his properties along with the rights to the groundwork for the industrial core of In 1901, it was a prosperous Thomas passionate about hydroelectricity, the all of his patents. He spent the last two the Canadian economy. Willson who moved into a house on emerging pulp and paper industry, years of his life striving to rebuild a busi - Metcalfe Street in Ottawa — close to the improving the telephone, and auto- ness in Newfoundland. Thomas Willson seat of federal political power, and at the mobiles. In fact, he was the first Ottawa died in New York in 1915 after suffering heart of a major industrial and financial resident to own a car. He built factories a heart attack.

The Gatineau Park Chronicle ~ Page 7 The Wakefield Mill: Interpreting the Industrial History of Gatineau Park by Denis Messier S N I K P M O T N A I L L I J Model of the Wakefield Mill, as restored in 2008

For more than a century, the Wakefield feed. The mill ceased operations when demonstrate how the mill operated. The before. Rideout performed the delicate Mill remained in the hands of the the Youngs retired in 1980. NCC called upon one of its employees, process of cleaning, repairing and Maclaren family, who used it mainly to Keith Rideout, an extremely talented rebuilding the reproductions of the land - produce flour. However, by the start of At that time, the NCC decided to restore architectural technician, who built the scape design around the building model. the Second World War, the mill was a portion of the building, and convert it model of the Wakefield Mill that, for The water supply mechanism — which sold and partially dismantled. It later into an interpretation centre about the nearly 10 years, fascinated students and had so well illustrated how the mill oper - changed hands several times. industrial history of this part of the visitors taking part in the interpretive ated on water power — was removed, Gatineau Valley. In partnership with the activities. since the moisture it produced had In the early 1960s, the National Capital Gatineau Valley Historical Society, the caused the model to deteriorate. After Commission (NCC), which had begun an mill helped to recount nearly 150 years of The mill interpretation program con- several months of detailed work, the extensive program to protect the heritage history in the region. The NCC even cluded in 1990. Both the building and the model was returned to Gatineau Park, of Canada’s Capital Region, purchased managed to reinstate the building’s voca - model remained in limbo for several renewed, resized and adapted to the the Wakefield Mill to rescue it from demo - tion as a gristmill, much to the delight years. A decade later, the venerable build - needs of various types of users. For lition and maintain its vocation. The NCC of its visitors. ing found a new vocation, when the NCC many years to come, it will reflect a page continued to lease the mill to brothers entered a public–private partnership to of history of the Gatineau Hills and Kenneth and Ernest Young, who, since Since a considerable portion of the rehabilitate the Wakefield gristmill. The Gatineau Valley. 1950, had been operating a small manu - machinery and equipment had been dis - building underwent a major transforma - facturing plant that produced animal mantled, a model was commissioned to tion. The structure that had witnessed more than a century and a half of the industrial history of the Gatineau Hills and Gatineau Valley stepped firmly into the age of leisure. The mill became an inn, which very quickly gained an enviable reputation among high-quality accom - modations facilities.

The model remained in storage and For more information gradually deteriorated. However, in 2008, about Gatineau Park, in cooperation with the Friends of visit Gatineau Park and the operators of the canadascapital.gc.c a. Wakefield Mill Inn and Spa, a fundrais - ing campaign was organized to help the W91-3/2-2009E-PDF 978-1-100-13972-2 NCC finance the restoration of the T U O

E model. Once again, the NCC called upon D I R H

T Keith Rideout, the same employee who I E K had built the mill model nearly 30 years Model of the Wakefield Mill

Page 8 ~ The Gatineau Park Chronicle