T HOSE F ABULOUS G ASPÉ F IDDLERS $10 Quebec

VOL 6, NO. 5 SPRING 2012 HeritageNews

Putting Heritage at the Top of Our Agenda Interview with Michael Fish 1812 and All That Exploring a 200-year-old Conflict Come to the Congrès The Fédération Histoire Québec Meets in Sherbrooke, May 2012 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

Quebec CONTENTS HeritageNews EDITOR Editor’s Desk 3 RODERICK MACLEOD Jimmy Darou and Carole too Rod MacLeod PRODUCTION DAN PINESE Letters 5 Canada before its time James Brierley PUBLISHER Internment no haven Sheila Eskenazi THE QUEBEC ANGLOPHONE HERITAGE NETWORK Mystery Photo 5 400-257 QUEEN STREET SHERBROOKE, QUEBEC J1M 1K7 Timelines 6 Fairbairn’s final renovations PHONE Quebec’s Morrin Centre wins award 1-877-964-0409 New Outaouais Museum Network Nick Seebruch (819) 564-9595 Minutes on the War of 1812 Elise Cotter FAX Dying of neglect: the burial grounds of West Bolton John Fowles (819) 564-6872 Expansion on the horizon at the Eaton Corner Museum Nick Seebruch CORRESPONDENCE [email protected] Interview: Michael Fish 12 WEBSITES Putting heritage at the top of our agenda Matthew Farfan WWW.QAHN.ORG The Saddest Fire 14 WWW.QUEBECHERITAGEWEB.COM Tragedy at the Laurier Theatre, 1927 Rohinton Ghandhi 47th Annual Meeting of the Fédération Histoire Québec 16 PRESIDENT 2012 Congrès in Sherbrooke KEVIN O’DONNELL That Gaspé Sound 18 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & The old-time fiddle traditions of the Gaspé coast Glenn Patterson WEBMAGAZINES EDITOR 1812 23 MATTHEW FARFAN A war of islands and rivers, Part II Sandra Stock Millwrights and Migrants 26 OFFICE MANAGER The Argenteuil’s early entrepreneurs Joseph Graham KATHY TEASDALE Proof of pedigree 28 Quebec Heritage News is produced four The United Empire Loyalists’ Association in Quebec Mark W. Gallop, UE times yearly by the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network (QAHN) with the support Reviews 30 of the Department of Canadian Heritage and Quebec’s Ministère de la Culture et The Magnificent Land Matthew Farfan des Communications. QAHN is a non-profit Eeyou Istchee by Louise Abbott & Niels Jensen and non-partisan umbrella organization whose mission is to help advance knowl- edge of the history and culture of the English-speaking communities of Quebec. Annual Subscription Rates: Individual: $30.00; Organization: $40.00 Cover photo: Erskine Morris and his fiddle, Wakeham, Quebec. Canada Post Publication Mail Agreement Number 405610004. Photo: courtesy of Brian Morris. ISSN 17707-2670 PRINTED IN CANADA

2 SPRING 2012

EDITOR’S DESK Jimmy Darou and Carole too by Rod MacLeod

ust like the way your bum leaves penser with its space-age silver knob And it was a family business: Bud- an impression on a vinyl seat was out of order and the white-hatted ning’s daughter Carole studied pharmacy cushion after you stand up, so does guy had to pour me a glass from a carton and worked alongside the master for a memory press into your mind: he took out of the fridge. many years. When he died in the late Jit’s an imperfect version, and it gradual- That was Berke’s Drug Store, not to 1990s, Carole took the helm of Bud- ly fades, but until that time you are left be confused (although I did confuse it) ning’s and kept it going; it is now in its with a trace of what went on. with the jewelry store downtown where 65th year. She, too, has a knack for ex- OK, so that sentence may not win my uncle worked. But the days of soda plaining little multicoloured pills and Metaphor of the Year award, but it does fountains and (alas) “doughnuts” were how they can affect your life, and on at allow me to talk about memories of quickly fading, and one day Berke’s was least one occasion has given me a clear- vinyl barstools, as well as changing gone – or rather it moved a couple of er understanding of what a certain medi- streetscapes, where I used cine might be seeking to to get my car fixed, and cure than I had received my favourite pharmacist. from the doctor who had I am just old enough made out the prescription. to remember the old drug The Budning reputation store on our main street is such that many people (Westminster in Montreal who no longer live in West) with its soda count- Montreal West still have er supporting clear plastic their medication sent to domes full of doughnuts them from Carole’s hum- (when they took the ble counter. In the last “ugh” out of “doughnut” years of his life, my fa- a whole lot of flavour was ther had his impressive lost), boxy spring-loaded array of pills delivered napkin dispensers, and, as regularly from Budning’s often as not, the elbows to his senior’s home in of the guy in a white shirt Westmount, a municipali- and crisp white hat who ty not known for its would serve you if he no- dearth of pharmacies. ticed you. In front of this Until a couple of counter were half a dozen years ago, a business with stools shaped like black kettle drums doors down to a spanking new building an even more remarkable pedigree than (yes, with vinyl seats) which you could and reinvented itself as Budning’s Phar- Budning’s stood just across the street. twist a half turn in either direction as macy. The business took itself more seri- Gas stations don’t normally find them- you sat before they swung you back to ously now, and if it lost the soda crowd selves on anyone’s list of heritage build- face the counter again. I’m not old it gained a loyal following of people of ings, yet “Jimmy Darou’s” was a fixture enough to remember having met anyone all ages who needed what it had to offer. on Westminster for four decades and, socially at this drug store counter – not Although Budning’s did sell greeting like Budning’s, had a charm and a sense the guys for cokes on hot Saturday after- cards and kleenex, the main focus was of dedication that more than made up for noons, not the girl down the street for a drugs; there were no bar stools, and what its unprepossessing aesthetics. daring single ice-cream float with two went over the counter wasn’t milk or Born Thomas Harold Darou, the en- straws – for the counter was gone before hotdogs but over-the-counter drugs. trepreneur’s fame came less from what- I was up for any of that. (Alas, by the When it came to prescriptions, you ever mechanical savvy he may have had time I was, fast food was as romantic as found that Mr B himself, a large, jovial than from his widely respected drive to it got – not that I remember complain- gent, had a knack for explaining the way be useful when others in his situation ing.) My only memory of actually pa- that what you had to take would work might have despaired. A Montreal jock- tronizing that drug store counter was without sounding like a tape recording. ey, “Jimmy” Darou was thrown from a stopping there one day for hotdogs with He seemed to care about his clients, both horse in a race at Blue Bonnets in 1933 my father, probably coming back from a as a good professional and as a member and was paralysed from the neck down. ball game, and being hugely disappoint- of the community – which he was: he For several years, according to The ed to find that the big shiny milk dis- and his family lived just up the street. Montreal Gazette, Darou rarely left his

“Jimmy Darou’s Filling Station, May 1938,” Conrad Poirier 3 Collection, Bibliothèque et archives nationales du Québec. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS room in the Prevost Sanitorium, his the building was remodelled to sport the in the provincial archives after his death main source of distraction being the ra- modern Texaco logo, which had bought in 1968, and his views of Montreal life dio. One of his favourite shows was out the Indian Oil Company. during the middle decades of the twenti- NBC’s “Don McNeill’s Breakfast Club,” From the beginning, Jimmy Darou’s eth century, including plenty of shots of a zany compilation of comedy acts fea- attracted the attention of another photog- the Canadiens in action, can be viewed turing such regulars as Fibber McGee rapher who had less international clout at www.banq.qc.ca. and Molly. (My parents grew up with than Life ’s but a solid place in Quebec Darou was an old man by the time I this stuff and often referred to my bed- history. Conrad Poirier, who lived one was growing up, but in more recent room-cleaning skills as being like those street over from Westminster in Montre- years I got to know his successors over of Fibber McGee, who apparently had a al West, had taken to photographing all-too-frequent visits. Dave Weigens- closet that dumped an avalanche of junk people going about their daily business berg bought the gas station from Darou on him whenever he opened when the latter retired in it.) the mid-1970s, and when The other radio person- Dave retired two decades ality Darou loved was later his son Joel took over. “Cheerio,” whose soothing Joel closed the gas part of voice reached across the the business and focused on continent from San Francis- car repair, in which field of co’s KPO (an affiliate of expertise he was a certifi- NBC). Cheerio’s real name able genius. And (in keep- was never revealed (we ing with the “human touch” now know it was author theme in this article) he was and editor Charles Kellog a pillar of both the commu- Field), but he had a loyal nity and much further following among the “hun- afield: you felt you could dreds of cripples and in- trust him with your life – valids who listen daily to which, as he kept cars road- his programme,” as The worthy, was pretty much Gazette put it. After receiv- the case. Year after year I ing several enthusiastic let- brought my aging Mazda ters from the former jockey, Cheerio de- in his community and sold the results to onto his lot, surrendering the keys into cided to come all the way to Montreal The Gazette, La Presse, and other news- his greasy hands in return for a casual and broadcast his show to 42 stations papers – making him one of the promise that they’d “have a look.” When across North America from Darou’s province’s pioneers of photo-journalism. it came, the diagnosis was always less room in the sanitorium on February 28, He found Jimmy Darou’s curiously pho- dreadful, and the cost less onerous, than 1936. togenic, and documented it for over two I’d feared. Some mechanics give you Inspired by Cheerio’s enthusiasm, decades, along with the colourful wheel- the runaround, voicing doom and gloom Darou checked out of the sanitorium and chair-bound fellow who ran it. A great if exorbitant sums are not spent on parts looked for a way to occupy himself many of Poirier’s photos were deposited they have to send away for; Joel would within the community. By this time, his mobility had improved considerably and he could sit at a desk and manoeuvre in a wheelchair. He decided to start a busi- ness and, as Charles Budning would do two decades later, chose Montreal West. Darou was featured in Life Magazine in March 1938: the article described his “busy gas station” and the positive influ- ence Cheerio had on his life, and it fea- tured a photo of him looking reasonably hale having gotten into his wheelchair from a car. Appropriately, Darou named his Westminster Avenue business “Chee- rio,” although within the town it was al- ways known as “Jimmy Darou’s.” For many years, Darou himself lived in a flat above the office. The gas he (or rather his staff) pumped was Indian, and the station featured the profile head of an In- dian chief over its doors; in the 1950s,

4 Bottom: Westminster Avenue, Montreal West, February 2012. Top: “Jimmy Darou, 21 March 1940,” Conrad Poirier Collection, Photo: Rod MacLeod. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. SPRING 2012 hand my keys back with a shrug, saying Fort Lennox/St-Paul-Ile-aux-Noix. that they’d just had to tweak the cavo- I know people who were interned rance and assuring me that my wheezing there and they would hardly have used old clunker was “a nice little car” that Letters the expression "safe haven" to describe could go on running well for years. It their experiences. Yes, it was safe, but did, thanks to Joel. Canada before its time they were interned there, behind barbed Two summers ago, Joel and his wire. partners disappeared. Apparently he got Sandra Stock writes that at the time There are good descriptions else- an anonymous buyout offer that spelled of the War of 1812 the term “Canada” where that more accurately explain the comfortable retirement, and he took it. referred to the colony of the two conditions at the time than the sanitized Sometime later, Montreal West residents Canadas, Upper and Lower [“1812: a version available from Parks Canada. learned that a Pharmaprix would open war of islands and rivers,” Winter 2012] There is a good story here, waiting on the site, news that has led to a great It may interest your readers to learn to be told. deal of protest at council meetings and that as early as 1775 one Nathaniel spilled much local newspaper ink. Smith, a Yorkshire immigrant to that Sheila Eskenazi Many complain that the new building part of Nova Scotia that later became Ste-Agathe, QC will be out of character with the street – New Brunswick, wrote home about his and now, as it materializes on Westmin- grain production saying, “Kannida is ster, it is hard not to take this point: one of the finest corn Countries in the while the garage was a modest structure World and can send to Markit large set well back from the road, the pharma- quantities at a low price.” cy fronts right on the sidewalk and its This was 16 years before the Con- height and bulk will make the entire stitutional Act of 1791, and 92 years be- street seem narrower and darker. Many fore Confederation. See Nathaniel are also worried for the health of the Smith: Stranger in a Strange Land, small-scale competition across the street. Tantramar Heritage Trust, (Sackville, Carole Budning has certainly con- NB), page 21. tributed to the public discussion on the subject in Montreal West, but her gently James Brierley confident position is that people will still Dunham, QC value the personal touch they get from her. I notice that Budning’s circulating flyers bear the motto: “Large enough to Editor’s note: serve you, small enough to know you.” Mr Smith may have been aware that And long may that be true. “Canada” was used during the French I’m sure that a couple of years from regime to refer to the Laurentian part of now we will have forgotten all the con- New France, by way of distinguishing it troversy along with what used to be on from the maritime portion, Acadia – or the new Pharmaprix site. Jimmy Darou’s Louisiana, for that matter. will have faded from memory, and exist Mystery Photo! The origins of the term “Canada” only on Conrad Poirier’s plates at the of course go back to the early Spanish Can you identify this photo? Bibliothèque et Archives nationales. explorers, one of whom ventured this far That is, of course, the way of things – The only clue is that it is north (it is not clear exactly which part and, anyway, it’s hard to get weepy nos- part of a set of he visited) and was unimpressed. “Ca! talgic about a gas station. Even so, it’s First World War-era Nada!” he was reported to have mut- all part of our heritage, and when it’s stereoscopic images tered – meaning “Pshaw! Nothing! At gone we’ve lost something that was, in from Quebec’s least Voltaire had the good grace to ad- its own way, grand. Eastern Townships. mit that we offered several acres of Like the “ugh” in doughnut. snow. Send your answers to: [email protected]. Sources: Montreal Gazette. Life Magazine. Internment no haven Budning’s Pharmacy Newsletter, Autumn 2011. I read the article on the War of 1812 The Breakfast Club Yearbook, [“1812: a war of islands and rivers,” www.richsamuels.com. Winter 2012] , and, although most of the David Watson, Montreal West: Looking piece is well-researched and informa- Back. tive, I would like to call your attention to Andy Riga’s Montreal Gazette blog. a different take on the Jewish refugees at 5 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

TIMELINES Quebec’s Morrin Centre wins award he superb and newly restored Morrin Centre in Quebec City was presented a Special Jury Prize at the 8th Annual Mérites d’architecture de la Ville de Québec last fall. These awards Trecognize innovation and quality in architectural de- sign, and are presented in various categories, including the Special Jury Prize. Martin Pineault, who was president of the ju- ry this year, and who heads the Direction de la Capitale-Nationale at Quebec’s Ministry of Cul- ture, had the following to say: “In my capacity as President of the Jury, I am honoured to present the Special Jury Prize. The selected project caught the jury’s attention for the restoration works undertaken since 2005 to refurbish a building that is recognized as a heritage site for Canada and a historical monument for Quebec. “The jury noted the commitment and efforts of those concerned in preserving and showcasing the various functions of the building throughout the centuries as prison, college, library and cul- tural centre, all while keeping the edifice abreast of security and accessibility norms in a subtle ar- chitectural blend of past and present.” Fairbairn's final renovations his past Valentine’s Day, a crew began the A busy spring and summer is ahead for all! For last phase of construction work on Wake- more information visit: www.fairbairn.ca. field's 1860s Fairbairn House. These interior renovations are expected to take up to four Tmonths, but the house should be ready for opening as a Heritage Centre later this year. This work has been funded by recent grants from the federal Department of Economic Development and the Municipality of La Pêche. Meanwhile, Fairbairn House committees are busy preparing exhibits, displays and programming to be presented at the Centre. Already, many artifacts and ideas have come in from Gatineau Valley residents eager to preserve their local history and to support the efforts of this new heritage centre. The old Fairbairn family farmhouse is a landmark most residents well remember on the main road leading north from the village. The house was built by William Fairbairn, a Scot- tish stonemason who worked on the Rideau Canal before set- tling in Wakefield, where his first venture was to build the 1838 grist mill. The Wakefield mill is now an attractive auberge and conference centre, which played host to U.S. Sec- retary of State Hillary Clinton and other dignitaries at the For- eign Ministers meeting in December 2010. As soon as weather permits, work will get started on landscaping and fencing the grounds around the house, includ- ing an upgrade of a natural amphitheatre in the park behind it, which will provide a permanent outdoor stage.

Top: The Morrin Centre. Photo: Matthew Farfan. Bottom: The happy wreckers of Fairbairn. 6 Photo: courtesy of the Fairbairn House. SPRING 2012

PROVINCE-WIDE New Outaouais Museum Network EXPOSURE Pooling resources to make a stronger whole AT A GREAT PRICE!! SPECIAL ADVERTISING RATES by Nick Seebruch 2012 t a time when funding for mu- The second type is for friends or hon- Purchase two or more ads of seum and heritage sites in orary members of the OMN, who are the same size, and receive Quebec is inadequate at best, non-voting. 40% off each ad! it is only logical that the mu- According to Bégin, the mission of seumsA in the province create networks of the Outaouais Museum Network is to SIZES mutual support to fill the gap that might “support, promote and represent the in- otherwise be taken up by the govern- terests of its members, i.e., the museums FULL-PAGE ment. This is what has happened in the and interpretation centres located in the Outaouais region Outaouais.” 10 inches (25.5 cm) high where eight local The Network, 7.5 inches (19 cm) wide heritage organiza- Bégin says, is $400.00 (Special: $240.00) tions and museums “born from its Back page, full colour $500.00 have decided to members and will (Special: $300.00) form a network accomplish its dedicated to im- goals through its HALF-PAGE proving communi- members. It is a cation and promot- multilateral net- 5 inches (12.5 cm) high ing solidarity. work based on 6.5 inches (16.5 cm) wide The Outaouais mutual recogni- $235.00 (Special: $141.00) Museum Network, tion.” as the new organi- The OMN’s THIRD-PAGE zation is called, was christened last fall objectives, Bégin says, are largely cen- (COLUMN ONLY) and has slowly begun to organize. The tred on the exchange of ideas, the pool- 10 inches (25.5 cm) high OMN was formed to serve smaller muse- ing of resources and the reaping of the ums and interpretation centres. benefits of shared experience. 2.25 inches (5.75 cm) wide Richard Bégin, president of the net- This pooling of resources in- $200.00 (Special: $120.00) work, told QAHN that the OMN is de- cludes the sharing of artefacts, ex- signed specifically for smaller museums hibits and expertise, as well as the QUARTER-PAGE in the Outaouais region which survive lessons learned from being small or- 5 inches (12.5 cm) high largely by virtue of community volun- ganizations, so that greater numbers 3.25 inches (8.5 cm) wide teers. of people can see the varied history $125.00 (Special: $75.00) Currently, the organizations that of Quebec and the Outaouais region. comprise the OMN include the Kiti- Thus far, the OMN is working to BUSINESS CARD gan Zibi Anishinabeg Cultural Cen- establish itself. It has created a web- tre, the Centre d'interprétation de site, http://www.reseau-museal- 2.5 inches (6.5 cm) high l'historique de la protection contre le outaouais.ca, and is working on a 3.5 inches (9 cm) wide feu (Château Logue), the Centre promotional campaign for its mem- $75.00 (Special: $45.00) d'interprétation du patrimoine de ber organizations, something that Plaisance, the Fairbairn House Her- has been overlooked in the past by FREQUENCY, DEADLINES AND itage Centre, the Symmes Inn Muse- Tourisme Outaouais and the Quebec SPECIFICATIONS um, the Musée de l'outil traditionnel government due to the small size of 4 issues annually en Outaouais, and the Musée des pi- these institutions. Deadlines: Summer (early June 2012); Fall (early September 2012); Winter (early Decem- onniers de Saint-André-Avellin. The Outaouais Museum Network ber 2012); Spring (early March 2013) Other organizations are eligible plans to publish a pamphlet to ad- Resolution required: Minimum 300 DPI to join, and Bégin describes two vertise each of its members, and to in black and white types of membership for which po- develop a financial support system By email at [email protected] tential members can apply. for small heritage and historical or- The first type is full-voting ganizations in the region that lack membership, for which museums or support at the local, provincial and interpretation centres are eligible, federal levels. provided they meet the mission and objectives of the Network and are accepted by the founding members. Fairbairn House. Photo: courtesy of the Fairbairn House. 7 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

Minutes on the war The Historica-Dominion Institute explores 1812 by Elise Cotter

“Make your own Heritage Minute Contest.” The Institute’s mandate is to build active and informed Canadian citizens through greater knowledge of the heritage and stories of Cana- da. Based on the celebrated Her- itage Minutes, this contest invites classrooms and individuals (ages 13 to 23) to write and produce a live- action or animated 60-second video based on the War of 1812. Through this contest, students can discover, consider and recreate stories of battle, like the ones that took place in Lacolle Mill and Châteauguay, and of heroes, like Tecumseh and General Brock, from the War of 1812. The contest accompanies the official Parks Canada War of 1812 website (www.eighteentwelve.ca). anada has begun its commemoration for the Filled with articles, learning resources, as well an in- War of 1812 bicentennial. While the war is teractive map, timeline and trivia game, the website seen by some as an unimportant conflict provides ample inspiration for 1812-themed Heritage (since it returned parties to the status quo Minutes. Cante bellum) it was an essential period in our history. The Historica-Dominion Institute also presents a Lasting three years, the War of 1812 represents the last War of 1812 Education Guide for middle and high time Canadians had to fight off a foreign invasion on school students. This print and digital resource discuss- Canadian soil. es defining moments, personalities and events of the In addition to the important impact the war had on war through themes of identity, historical significance, First Nations, English, French, and Black Canadians, it perspective and legacy. It is accompanied by an online also had an critical role in defining (or preserving) the national quiz competition (www.historica-domin- geography of Canada. It might be argued that Canada ion.ca/1812). took its first steps towards independence by successful- Canada’s history is defined by many significant ly resisting American sovereignty after war was de- moments; the war of 1812 is such a moment. By shar- clared against Britain, and therefore against the British ing the stories of the war, as well as allowing for inter- colonies of Upper and Lower Canada, on June 18th active ways to learn and discuss it, we insure it remains 1812. present within Canadian consciousness. On the occasion of its 200th anniver- sary, Canadians pay tribute to the war’s sig- nificance. We also take the opportunity to talk about and teach a conflict which set Canada on the path to nationhood and shaped our identity. As the largest independent organization dedicated to history, identity and citizenship in Canada, The Historica-Dominion Institute is making sure students – from elementary school to university – are engaged in the War of 1812 commemoration through dy- namic, interactive initiatives such as the

Photo: courtesy of the Historica-Dominion Institute. 8 SPRING 2012

Dying of neglect The burial grounds of West Bolton by John Fowles With the help of a number of wonderful volun- teers, we have cleaned and fenced the Blunt and Last Wayside burial sites. The stone marker is in place for the Blunt burial ground (see photo). In the spring, we plan to finish the fence and place the stone marker for the Last Wayside site. Having enjoyed such friendly cooperation from these two owners, we hope that the third owner will also give us permission to clean and fence the Fuller burial ground. It can only enhance the property. In spite of the dedication of committee members and volunteers, these burial grounds still have no legal protection. We hope that the municipal council of West Bolton will eventually give them legal status by citing these properties as heritage sites, according to the pro- visions set out in Quebec’s Loi sur les biens culturels. Members of the Missisquoi Historical Society sub- committee for the Preservation of West Bolton Burial Grounds are: John Fowles, Robert Chartier, Nancy Dixon, Kathy LePoer, Arthur Mizener, Cathy St. Jean he rural municipality of West Bolton in the and Heather Tuer. Eastern Townships has three extant nine- teenth-century family burial grounds – the Blunt, Fuller and Last Wayside – with a total Blanchard Ad Tof 41 inscribed headstones. Legally, these burial grounds do not exist and have no protection in law. Each is privately owned. Two of them are next to ac- tive gravel pits whose owner-operators also own the burial grounds. All three grounds have been neglected for decades. The last burial, in the Fuller, was in 1898. All three grounds stand in wooded areas and are not visible from the road. One of them had a right-of-way and a fence in 1946. None of them is mentioned in the current deeds. The three burial grounds are the last resting places of West Bolton’s earliest settlers, who came largely from Great Britain and the United States. These are the people who cleared the land and farmed it, built houses and barns, schools, churches, roads and mills – the very people who helped make the municipality the beautiful area that it is today. We have formed a small committee, which has graciously been accepted by the Missisquoi Historical Society (MHS) as a sub-committee of its Cemetery Committee. Over the last eighteen months we have ne- gotiated with the owners of the Blunt and the Last Wayside burial grounds for permission to clean the sites, put up a simple T-Bar and chain fence, and to place an inscribed stone marker at the entrance. The fence is there neither to keep animals out nor the peo- ple in, but rather to make a statement: “This is a spe- cial area.” The fence sets the burial ground apart from the surrounding woods, fields and working areas. Restoring the Blunt family burial site. Photo: John Fowles. 9 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

Expansion on the horizon Eaton Corner Museum by Nick Seebruch he Eaton Corner Museum is one of many small house for $80,000, and some to hire a project manager, historical sites in Quebec working to preserve lo- Mario Santerre. cal culture and history, while striving to find The Alger House was the first house to be acquired as a ways to better fulfill its role in the community. part of the project. The museum hopes the next one will be TThe museum, located on Route 253 mid-way between the Foss House, which will cost about $120,000. Both hous- Cookshire and Sawyerville, has been around for some time. es date to the nineteenth-century, and both are named after It first opened its doors in 1959 after volunteers purchased their original occupants. The Alger and Foss families were the use of the former Eaton Corner United Church for a dol- among the first settlers in Eaton Corner. The cost to authen- lar. (Almost four decades later the building was purchased tically restore both houses will be about $600,000. outright for another dollar.) The Eaton Corner Museum is The Eaton Corner Museum has also bought six and a currently comprised of two buildings: one the church, the half acres of property behind the Alger and Foss houses. other the former Eaton Academy on the other side of the Eventually, these properties will accommodate barns, out- street. But the museum is seeking to expand. buildings and displays. The expansion project is an ambitious, expensive un- Where is all of the money coming from? Several or- dertaking, especially for a small town museum like this one. ganizations, including the CLD du Haut-Saint-François, the Charles Bury, President of the Compton County Historical Eastern Townships Tourism Association, the Haut-Saint- Museum Society, the organization that operates the muse- François MRC, and the government of Quebec have all um, says that current estimate for the expansion project is made major contributions to the project. This is not to say about $1.6 million, a figure that may climb higher. that the museum has all of the money it needs. Indeed, as When asked where all that money would go, Bury said Bury points out, the museum plans to solicit the help of oth- that $200,000 has already been spent, some of it towards er organizations, and to hold “local fundraising events and feasibility and archaeological studies, some to purchase one activities.”

10 SPRING 2012

As for the two heritage houses, the Caisse Desjardins community but is also trying to present them in a more uni- des Hauts-Boisés is lending the museum the money for the versally appealing way. Bury hopes that when the expansion mortgages, which are being countersigned by the town of is complete, people from outside the area will want to visit Cookshire-Eaton, in whose territory Eaton Corner is situat- so that they can learn more about Quebec and Canadian his- ed. tory. He also hopes the museum will attract people who live For its part, the town has provided the labour for the in the community but who have never visited. construction of parking lots, trails and plumbing systems on The short-term goal of the expansion project is to ac- the museum properties. The town also owns the old Eaton quire more historically significant buildings that are located Academy building which houses close to the church and academy. the museum’s offices and The long-term goal is to attract archives. The building is leased tourists and locals interested in his- back to the museum by the town, tory. with the town responsible for up- The Compton County Histor- keep. The academy and the Alger ical Museum Society has assem- and Foss houses are all recognized bled a committee comprised of by the municipality as heritage Charles Bury, Vice-President Marc properties. Nault, Secretary Jaqueline Hyman, Regarding the museum’s Past-President Patricia Boychuck mission, and more specifically if and Project Manager Mario San- the museum is interested mainly terre, who together are handling in local history, Charles Bury says the execution of the project. Julie that the museum’s goal is to “collect locally, think globally.” Pomerleau of the local CLD and Karine Dimarchi of the He says that the museum is interested in artefacts relating to town of Cookshire-Eaton are also involved. global events, but only in so far as they apply to the local sit- Although he describes the process as “slow as mo- uation. An example of this is the museum’s collection of lasses,” Bury expects that the Foss and Alger houses will be military uniforms worn by soldiers from Compton County. open to the public sometime in 2013. Until then, the existing This concept of “collecting locally, thinking globally” museum facilities (with all of their fascinating artefacts) will is a key part of the Eaton Corner Museum’s expansion ef- be open, as always, on a seasonal basis. forts. The museum is collecting artefacts from the local

L-R: Patricia Boychuk, Charles Bury and Mario Santerre of the 11 Eaton Corner Museum. Photo: Nick Seebruch. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

PUTTING HERITAGE AT THE TOP OF THE AGENDA

Interview with heritage activist Michael Fish by Matthew Farfan

During forty years as an architect prac- is treated as unrealistic, utopist, anti-pro- A: Absolutely. Any conservation that ticing in Quebec, Ontario and Nova Sco- gressive, anti-capitalist or worse. could be effected until the 1970s had to tia, Michael Fish became an advocate Every fact in favour of conservation be done with the permission of the own- for conserving buildings of historical in- will be denied, false facts will be substi- er of a property. The very concept of a terest and economic value. He was espe- tuted in endless train to overwhelm ar- “monument” was limited to buildings. cially involved in keeping people in their guments in favour of conservation. Of- Today, legal heritage protection is ex- homes during urban renewal and re- ten there are intimidation and threats to tended to groups of buildings, neigh- placement. He was a co-founder of serious conservers. bourhoods, landscapes, sites, historic Sauvons Montréal and served as a direc- There are now many so-called people and events, objects, even imma- tor of le Conseil des sites et monu- terial concepts. Moreover, adminis- ments du Québec for many years. trative structures have been mandat- Since retiring, he has done some ed such that (theoretically, at least) hands on re-development of ruined our entire organized society, from monuments. He also writes com- government, down through its des- mentary and lectures on current de- ignated ministers, cities and towns, velopment issues. through advice from (hopefully) ex- pert committees, has been invoked to take some formal and/or informal Q: In your opinion what is the part in the overall system of protec- main challenge facing heritage tion. Even the individual citizen has preservationists in Quebec today? a place in this structure, although the powers of that place could be A: The main challenge to us all is to improved. elect politicians who will put her- Politicians, however, have been itage near the top of the public able either to take advantage of agenda, as is the case in most of these mandates for the good of con- Europe, for example. servation or to frustrate them. Most citizens are not educated Those who would not protect her- to the values of living surrounded itage can fail to notify owners of by beauty and meaning in the com- their responsibilities to maintain munity. There are a number of rea- listed properties. They can fail to sons for this. The entire educational tell them that their properties have system, for one, is geared to turning some legal protection. They can fail out work-ready people who will carry think-tanks and politico-economic foun- to inform neighbours that properties out the will of large institutions, not peo- dations supported by corporations and nearby are under threat. And they can ple who are aware of their place in the wealthy individuals that fight preserva- fail to advise them that they can make environment and their responsibilities to tion with expert advice and material sup- representations to expert committees. protect it while they change it, hopefully port. They have made conservative po- Politicians can fail to nominate compe- for the better. litical movements much better organized tent people to the various expert com- There is a passionate, institutional- and much more effective than they used mittees that give advice. They can em- ized bias for what is new – fed by almost to be even a few years ago. ploy inspectors who report on the condi- every manifestation of the social and There is thus a big shortage of vol- tion of properties that are under threat economic system. The old is not neces- unteers among the population who can who can be ‘guided’ to give ‘friendly’ sarily put down. It is ignored until it gets and will fight for conservation. advice, a stratagem that is all too com- in the economic way of what is new. mon when cities and/or developers hire Usually argument in favour of preserva- Q: Have things improved since you first experts to comment on properties that tion is flat out denied, especially when became involved in heritage preserva- developers wish to demolish. So far, citi- supported with economic facts. But tion? zens are not necessarily able to verify when argument is debated, conservation expert reports by visiting properties un-

12 Michael Fish. Photo: Matthew Farfan. SPRING 2012 der threat. And until any citizen can visit weaknesses? a threatened property, any excuse can be Q: What would you say is the most ef- made in favour of demolition even of A: I share the opinions of such passion- fective way for local heritage groups to listed properties. ate conservers as Marcel Junius. Mr. Ju- get involved in heritage preservation / Municipal authorities have also nius was long a dedicated civil servant at promotion? been loath to list properties and even Cultural Affairs. He made a strong sub- more loath to respect the spirit of the mission to the government when the A: Citizens have to educate themselves. regulations that development within the new law was being considered in the They should start by reading the interna- 500-foot distance has to be of such a na- National Assembly. He mourned the loss tional charters on conservation of her- ture and scale that the value of listed of the expertise in the ministry and the itage. Local municipality-based conser- properties is not lost or mocked. withdrawal of the minister from day-to- vation groups, hopefully free of the local Since the late 1970s, new laws from day problems since the 1970s. He also real estate development industries, are Cultural Affairs have had as their main maintained that the new law was blood- essential to forceful intervention pro- thrust the transfer of principal responsi- less. It lacked a preamble, he said, that moting conservation. Such groups bility for heritage from the Quebec gov- spoke to the value of protecting heritage should also develop and maintain con- ernment to local municipalities. While it in every aspect of our national life. I tacts with other groups in Quebec and is praiseworthy in itself to involve mu- would add to this that the new law fails Canada, as well as in Europe. They need nicipalities, the provincial experts within to refer to the international responsibility support, too. the Cultural Affairs ministry that had that Quebecers have to the world com- UNESCO maintains a website and worked to build up a powerful civil serv- munity. There is no reference to the rich publishes all sorts of information that is ice, along with an irreplaceable library international literature and to the UN- helpful to everyone. Newsletters and lo- of documents, were scattered to the ESCO charters that have been written to cal conferences will also keep conserva- winds, their expertise transferred to oth- guide and inspire everyone to do their tionists improving their skills. Articles er duties in other parts of the govern- part in one of the great efforts to human- on websites and in magazines and news- ment. Since the 1970s, successive Cul- ize our world. I would like the new law papers are also effective. There is tural Affairs ministers have thus, sadly, to give the ordinary citizen who works strength in a group that doesn’t exist maintained a distance from almost all to conserve an equal place at least with with individuals. And politicians pretty daily cases, especially those problems other actors involved in a file. There much only listen to organized groups, which have arisen within municipalities should be a preponderance written into not individuals. which have almost no interest in the pro- the law that conservers have a better tection of local heritage because of their than equal voice than demolishers. Q: What would you say was your great- close ties to local developers. What has particularly annoyed me est personal heritage success story over the years has been the fact that list- and/or (if applicable) defeat? Q: What would you say is Quebec’s ed properties can be delisted. This I find greatest achievement in heritage terms absurd. Elsewhere around the world, A: As for me and those who have in the last decade? delisted properties cannot lose their sta- worked with me, the failure to buy and tus. Where would Florence, Rome, Lon- preserve 360 excellent housing units for A: The greatest leap forward is that don, or Paris be if delisting were possi- low income residents at the Benny Farm Montreal now has a good expert heritage ble? And if a developer is economically with new high rises on the site during committee that has protected quite a lot hurt by having to repair, preserve, or the 1980s and 1990s, rather than the of the city from demolition. They could adapt a property, governments allow for chaotic rehabilitation and demolition-re- do more if the city council could dis- subsidies to assuage the problem. I am placements that actually happened, still tance itself from the large engineering aware of almost no property that has sticks in my craw. On the other hand, the and real estate development firms. Few been given a subsidy by any local mu- preservation of most of Windsor Station other municipalities have done much nicipality on such a basis. But I know of makes me feel good, although the with- with their increased powers. If the Min- many properties that have been demol- drawal of its original track fan and the istry of Cultural Affairs had kept its ished even though there were bans on senseless location of a hockey stadium powers and its experts, I believe that demolition. in its place makes me very angry. more would have happened. Local peo- As to the practicality of the law, But there were some 300 files that I ple with careers involved in promoting look to those who now have the respon- have worked on across the country. demolition are immensely powerful sibilities to protect and preserve. We Many have worked out reasonably well. compared to disinterested individuals have to be optimistic, of course, but Philosophically, everyone doing this who would preserve local heritage. most cities have not stepped up to do work used to say, “Don’t lose the faith; what they are authorized to do. I would there will be losses.” I always thought – Q: What is your opinion of Quebec’s also note that the minister is no more and still think – that perhaps with just a new Cultural Heritage Act, Bill 82, likely to act in the stead of errant munic- little more luck and ministerial help, which will come into effect on October ipalities now than before the act was there would have been no losses. 19, 2012? Will this legislation be practi- adopted. If municipalities refuse to pro- cal? What are its strengths and/or tect, the minister should always act.

13 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

THE SADDEST FIRE Tragedy at the Laurier Theatre, 1927 by Rohinton Ghandhi he flicker of images on more surreal appearance, as they son, six-year-old Gaston, among the screen was the only rushed down the balcony stairs on- the dead. Of the 78 children that source of light for an es- ly to be ordered back up by a fran- perished, 64 were asphyxiated, 12 timated crowd of 800 tic ticket collector. were crushed, and ironically only Twho were packed into the old Lau- Children returning up the 2 died from the actual fire itself. rier Theatre on January 9, 1927 for stairs only crashed into those still Although the funeral proces- a cold Sunday afternoon matinee. forcing their way down in sheer sion was watched by over 50,000 The balcony itself was crammed panic. Only one of the balcony Montrealers and lasted for only a with almost 300 children ranging stairway exits was open, the other day, the disaster itself changed in age from 4 to 18, as they stared remained locked, causing a bottle- Quebec’s cinema laws. For nearly on in wonderment at the images neck of youngsters with only one 40 years, all Quebec children un- being projected. It der 16 were banned was a silent picture: from going to the a comedy called Get movies. ‘Em Young. The A generation of view from the bal- children, therefore, cony was slightly would not enjoy blurred, as plumes comedies such Get of cigarette smoke ‘Em Young – writ- formed linear ten, directed and clouds before the starring Stan Laurel screen. As the himself as “Sum- smoke thickened mers” the butler. It and the air took on a was a 1926 produc- different scent, the tion made at the Hal children in the bal- Roach studios in cony continued to Hollywood. Soon focus on the on- after, Stan Laurel screen action. Mo- would meet Oliver ments later, the ac- Hardy and begin tion would become producing films as real, as a smoulder- the team of Laurel ing cigarette was and Hardy – films slowly burning be- that Quebec children tween the old theatre’s sub-floor way to go. When the first line fi- would not see because of the laws and its upper floorboards. nally reached the exit doors, they passed just as they were starting to The first alert came at 2:00 found themselves being crushed be made. p.m., as a boy in the balcony eyed against them by the force of the The Laurier Theatre had been a small flame coming from the rushing crowd behind, as the doors inaugurated in 1912, the year the projection room below and shout- only opened inwards. As wave af- Titanic set sail. It was located on ed “Fire!” – sending people scram- ter wave crashed forward, they St. Catherine Street East, on the bling for the nearest of four exits. trampled and pinned those in front, north side between Dezery and Within minutes, a choking, blind- jamming the doors shut ever Préfontaine. The theatre presented ing smoke filled the theatre. In the tighter. From just across the street, nickelodeon-style silent movies darkness of the aisles, the panic firefighters from Station 13 quick- and could hold more than a thou- grew and swept across the rows of ly arrived, but could do nothing to sand viewers in its wooden-back seats. The 500 or so sitting in the clear the mounting surge of young- seats. It was part of small local orchestra section were lucky sters pushing against doors from chain of cinemas owned and oper- enough to make it to the street. For within. ated by the Lawand family, includ- the remaining 300, mostly chil- Fireman Alphea Arpin was the ing the Dominion, King Edward, dren, the theatre would take on a first to enter, only to find his own and Maisonneuve theatres. The

The Laurier Theatre after the fire. Photo: Cinémathèque Québécoise. 14 SPRING 2012

Laurier did have a stylish “horse- own local history. and the Seven Dwarfs, which those shoe” balcony, yet it lacked the A year after the fire, on March in other provinces could see. Yet prestige and architectural beauty of 22, 1928, the Taschereau govern- Quebec courts continued to uphold later Montreal theatres. ment would adopt a law requiring the movie law, citing that “family Who could have foretold that, all theatres to have exit doors that life would be breached if our chil- only 15 years after its opening, the opened outwards and prohibiting dren were allowed to view movies before the age of 16.” Many saw the law as inconsistent, as at the time Quebec children could marry at age 14. The law was finally re- pealed in 1961, and only officially replaced by today’s movie rating system to coincide with the open- ing of EXPO in 1967. At one time, Verdun had four major theatres: the Savoy, the Ver- dun Palace, the Fifth Avenue, and the Park Theatre – all of them built to meet the specific fire code, with sections most probably derived from the Laurier disaster. Although these theatres were built to these new standards, smoking continued to be allowed within them, and at Laurier would become world- all children under 16 from going to times was openly promoted in their renowned as the site of one of the the movies. From 1928 to 1932, lobbies, in their movies, and even worst theatre fires in Canadian his- theatre owners continued to appeal by their favorite Hollywood actors tory? To this day it is still known the law, and at one point they suc- on screen. as “the Saddest Fire” or as “the ceeded in having it suspended, if Laurier Fire Crush.” Although the only for a short period. In February Laurier was a simple movie house 1938, a public outcry was made Rohinton Ghandhi is a Verdun his- for the working classes, the fame across Quebec newspapers and air- torian and writer; his column “The of its catastrophic end and great waves pleading to permit children Southwest Corner” appears fre- loss of life continue to allow it to to be able to watch the newly re- quently in The Suburban. stand out within the ashes of our leased Disney film Snow White

HOMETOWN HERITAGE ESSAY 1ST ANNUAL CONTEST HERITAGE PHOTO CONTEST! 2012 2012 Open to students in grades 4, 5 and 6 across Quebec! Open to High School Students across Quebec! Cash prizes! Great publishing opportunity! Cash prizes! Great publishing opportunity! Deadline: April 30, 2012 Deadline: April 30, 2012 For contest details, contact QAHN at: For contest details, contact QAHN at: [email protected] [email protected] Tel: (819) 564-9595 Tel: (819) 564-9595 Toll free at: 1 (877) 964-0409 Toll free at: 1 (877) 964-0409

Interior of the Laurier Theatre after the fire. Photo: Cinémathèque Québécoise. 15 47TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE FÉDÉRATION HISTOIRE QUÉBEC

LES CANTONS DE L’EST / THE EASTERN TOWNSHIPS LIEU DE PASSAGE / LAND OF PASSAGE TERRE D’ACCUEIL / PLACE OF SETTLEMENT ESPACE D’INTÉGRATION / HOME OF COMMUNITIES

Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, May 25-27, 2012 Delta Sherbrooke – Hotel and convention centre

A session title in English indicates a presentation given in English. Participants can register for the complete conference, or for individual sessions and activities. For information: www.histoiresherbrooke.com

FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012:

1:30-5:00 P.M. Welcome and registration of delegates; Hotel Delta Sherbrooke, 2685 King West, Sherbrooke

2:30 P.M. Annual Meeting of the Fédération Histoire Québec

5:15 P.M. Depart from hotel for opening cocktail, Société d’histoire de Sherbrooke

6:45 P.M. Depart on foot for the Granada Theatre, 53 Wellington North On the way, you can enjoy views of the Magog River Gorge, Place des Moulins, city hall and historic Wellington Street

7:00 PM. Opening banquet, featuring an opening address by historian Jean-Pierre Kesteman: Séjourner et repartir. Mobilité géographique, rééquilibrages sociaux et culturels dans une région du Québec. Le cas des Cantons-de-l’Est, XIXe-XXe siècles. Followed by a presentation by the theatre group Traces et Souvenances.

10:00 P.M. Return to the hotel.

SATURDAY, MAY 26, 2012

7:30 A.M. Delegates’ Breakfast

8:30 A.M. Delegates’ registration; opening of Salon des exposants.

9:00 A.M. First block of presentations.

CONFÉRENCE 1: Les Abénaquis et l’arrivée des Blancs dans les Cantons-de-l’Est (titre provisoire: Nicole O’Bomsawin

16 CONFÉRENCE 2: Irish Emigration and Rural Settlement in the Lower St. Francis Valley, 1815-1855: Peter Southam

CONFÉRENCE 3: Du Paléoindien récent au Régime français : 10 000 ans de présence amérindienne à Weedon: Éric Graillon

10:30 A.M. Second block of presentations

CONFÉRENCE 4: Sherbrooke, terreau fertile pour l’implantation du féminisme:Micheline Dumont

CONFÉRENCE 5: Les communautés religieuses dans les Cantons-de-l’Est : un rôle spécifique au Québec?: Guy Laperrière

CONFÉRENCE 6: Explorer David Thompson in the Eastern Townships in 1834: Barbara Verity and Gilles Péloquin

NOON Buffet luncheon; presentation by Léon Robichaud: L’histoire et les médias numériques : enjeux et réflexions pour la diffusion auprès du grand public.

2:00 P.M. Third block of presentations

CONFÉRENCE 8: Hors de Montréal, point de salut? L’histoire des petites et moyennes villes du Québec, 1900-1939: Harold Bérubé

CONFÉRENCE 9: Le Chemin des Cantons : parcours illustré d’un patrimoine religieux unique à la région: Monique Nadeau-Saumier

CONFÉRENCE 10: A Southern Wind: American Printers and the Emergence of the Press in the Eastern Townships: Pierre Rastoul

3:30 P.M. Fourth block of presentations

CONFÉRENCE 11: La jeune recherche en histoire à Sherbrooke (student Round Table, bilingual) Animateur: Guy Laperrière

CONFÉRENCE 12: Quand la diversité change de visage! Les nouvelles vagues d’immigration et leur impact sur la vision contemporaine de la diversité dans les Cantons-de-l’Est: Michèle Vatz-Laaroussi

CONFÉRENCE 13: Où était la Nouvelle-France?: Catherine Desbarats

6:00 P.M. Cocktails, Delta Hotel

7:00 P.M. Closing Banquet; presentation of Fédération Histoire Québec prizes and awards

SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012

10:00 A.M. Sunday Mass, Basilica Saint-Michel Cathedral, 130 rue de la Cathédrale

11:30 A.M. Cultural excursions (lunch provided):

EXCURSION 1: Tour théâtralisé de la Cité « Par le chemin des fresques » An animated tour of the outdoor frescoes of Shebrooke

EXCURSION 2: Circuit « Mémoire vive » A self-guided tour of historic Sherbrooke, with iPad access to maps, photos and historical information

EXCURSION 3: Victorian tea at Uplands Cultural Centre, Lennoxville, followed by a visit to St. Mark’s Chapel at Bishop’s University, with a brief organ concert.

EXCURSION 4: A visit to the Compton-Coaticook region including the Beaulne Museum and the Louis Saint-Laurent Museum, with a multi-media presentation on the life of the former Prime Minister.

Participants will be returned to the Delta Hotel in Sherbrooke by about 3:00 p.m.

17 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

THAT GASPÉ SOUND Exploring the old-time fiddle traditions of the Gaspé coast by Glenn Patterson

rom 2005 until 2010, I was one of Canadian fiddlers interested in dis- had heard plenty of great fiddle music of two hosts at a weekly blue- covering the obscure older fiddle tunes recorded on very primitive equipment grass and old-time music jam and styles, so I felt there were likely rel- and insisted that I would love to hear his session at Grumpy's Bar in atively unknown local fiddle styles and father's music. Montreal.F As a fiddle player, I had spent tunes in Canada still awaiting discovery. About a year passed before Brian the previous six years learning the old- Some time in 2008, a talented emailed me the first batch of his father's time fiddle music of the southern United acoustic guitarist named Brian Morris tunes. I was completely unprepared for States. In particular, I was fascinated by began attending our weekly jam sessions what I was about to hear. This was some the music of pre-commercial and early in Montreal. He mentioned that his fa- of the most exhilarating and passionate commercial fiddlers from Kentucky, ther, Erskine Morris, was an old-time fiddle music I'd ever heard and was easi- West Virginia, Virginia, and ly of the same calibre of North Carolina, whose reper- many of the most revered toires extended back well in- southern fiddlers I had spent to the nineteenth century. several years studying. This Various American folklorists was raw, driving music be- had made recordings of local ing played for a room full of old-time fiddlers starting step dancers at a family re- around the 1930s and many union in Douglastown in of these recordings had been 1984. The tunes were all made available through the played over Erskine's com- United States Library of plex foot clogging, typical of Congress, university Québécois fiddlers, with the archives, and tapes in per- fiddle tuned in several open sonal collections. These tunings. The use of open were often copied and sent tunings on the fiddle (tuning among fiddle enthusiasts the strings to pitches differ- throughout the continent ent from the standard vio- who were interested in dis- lin/fiddle tuning of G-D-A- covering the older fiddle styles not rep- fiddler. When I asked where his father E), was a feature common among the resented on commercial recordings. was from, he replied: “Gaspé.” Perhaps older generations of North American fid- Unlike much of the commercially somewhat predictably for a younger An- dlers, but has essentially disappeared in recorded fiddle music, which had be- glophone with roots outside of Quebec, I Canada among the current generation of come more homogeneous to meet mar- said: “So, he was French, then.” To para- fiddlers. I was also struck by the ancient ket demands after the Second World phrase Brian’s answer, he told me that French Canadian character of these War, the music of these home-grown fid- his father was from an Irish village tunes and their English titles, like "The dlers generally showcased highly unique called Douglastown on the Gaspé coast, Queen's Reel," "Fat Molasses," and styles and repertoires that were often lo- and that his family was a mix of Irish "Tommy Rooney's Jig." Although the cal to a small geographic area such as a and French Canadians, though just about fiddle style was heavily French Canadi- county or a cluster of villages. After everyone in the village was English- an, it was still quite different from any- having taken several trips down to the speaking. Intrigued, I asked Brian if he thing I had heard from early Québecois southern United States to study their might have any home-made recordings fiddlers like Isidore Soucy, Joseph Al- music, and having befriended a fiddler of his father that I could listen to. He lard, Jos Bouchard, or Louis Boudreault. who had done extensive collecting of said he did but warned me that they After several fruitless Google old-time Kentucky fiddlers during the were just home-made cassettes and searches of these tune titles and their 1970s and 1980s, I suspected that there weren't of the best audio quality and that French translations, I began suspecting might be similar collecting opportunities I probably wouldn't be very interested in that perhaps the music I had just heard in Canada. Unlike in the United States, hearing them. I assured him that poor was more than just a lone Anglophone there didn't seem to be as large a group audio quality was not a deterrent as I Gaspesian who had managed to pick

18 Erskine Morris entertaining friends at a house party. Photo: courtesy of Brian Morris. SPRING 2012 some tunes off records of French Cana- spirit and their laid-back demeanour. It terns. He would also often re-tune his dian fiddlers. Perhaps this music was in- is said that Mr. Joe had a sweet sound on fiddle to open tunings which would give stead the result of a local fiddle tradition the fiddle, produced with a gentle touch his fiddle more volume and resonance. particular to the Gaspé coast around on the bow, and that he would shift clos- Essentially, Erskine was the “whole Douglastown. In a series of follow-up er and closer to the edge of his seat as he band” and had to create as much music emails and phone conversations with played to clog his feet. Erskine also as possible with his fiddle and feet to Brian Morris, I was made aware of a learned tunes from Joe's brother, Charlie propel a room full of rowdy dancers. rich musical culture of fiddle playing, Drody, who was an excellent fiddler as Like many Gaspesians, Erskine left step dancing, and square dancing that well, and who was actually Erskine's the coast in search of work after the end once existed on the Gaspé coast around next-door neighbour. The Drodys are of the Second World War – accompanied Douglastown where his family was renowned even today for all the musi- by his new bride, Kyra Grant, also from from. As Brian put it, “the fiddle could cians the family has produced. Joe Douglastown. The couple moved to pull the whole town together for a party Drody passed on his music to his sons Powerscourt, Quebec, in the Château- just about any night of the week in Dou- Anthony, Joseph, and Johnny, who guay Valley, south of Montreal. There, glastown.” learned the fiddle. His two daughters al- he purchased a farm with the help of a Brian's father, Erskine Morris, the so picked up music, Brigid becoming a veterans assistance loan, and began his oldest son in a family of six girls and guitarist and Mary Ellen a singer and family with Kyra. During his time in four boys, was born in Douglastown on guitarist. Powerscourt, Erskine would often play November 29, 1913, to Edgar Morris the fiddle after a day's work in the field. and Beatrice Fortin. Erskine began Just about every weekend, a gang of playing the fiddle at thirteen. His first fellow Gaspesians would come out to fiddle teacher was his mother Beatrice the farm to hear the fiddle. who did not play the fiddle but who in- Growing up, Brian Morris remem- stead could sing the old tunes note-for- bers his mother and father hosting par- note similar to the well-known Madame ties with fellow Gaspesians most week- Bolduc, also a Gaspesian of Irish and ends. Sometimes Erskine's friends French descent from further down the would show up unannounced at the coast in Newport. The singing of fiddle farm from Montreal late in the evening, tunes, sometimes referred to as "lilting" long after Kyra and Erskine had gone in Cape Breton and "turlutte" in French to bed. Nonetheless, the visitors were Canada, was a skill once found in many always given a warm welcome to come rural communities in Ireland, Scotland into the house for a night of music, step and Canada. Beatrice was so skilled at dancing, and cheer that would last until singing the tunes that the first piece the early hours of the morning. Erskine young Erskine learned from her was was never reluctant to play music for "Fat Molasses," a complex tune with friends, especially if there were step highly irregular musical metre, a feature Other well-known fiddlers Erskine dancers among them. common among the older French Cana- would have heard growing up in Dou- After twelve years in Powerscourt, dian and First Nations fiddle music. A glastown were Willie Grant (his moth- Erskine moved his family to Verdun, further testament to Beatrice’s skill was er's uncle), James Henry Connolly, Fred where, Brian remembers, his father often that when a fiddler was unavailable for a Kennedy, Napoleon Rooney, Tommy played most of the day at home on group of dancers, they would have her Rooney, Arty Savidant from York, and weekends. After the Second World War, sing the tunes alone while clogging her Patrick and Roland White from Bois- you could often find many expatriate feet to provide music for a square dance Brulé. The fiddle was so popular in Gaspesians in Montreal neighbourhoods or for a group of step dancers. Douglastown that many houses had fid- like Verdun, Lasalle, and Notre-Dame- Erskine's main fiddle tutor was an dles just for occasions when a neighbour de-Grâce. Erskine often entertained older neighbour, Joseph Drody (affec- who played happened to stop by. friends around Montreal with his music tionately known as "Mr. Joe"), born in Erskine was frequently engaged to until he retired to Cambridge, Ontario, Douglastown in 1884. Erskine would play fiddle for house parties and dances in the late 1970s. walk from his home on the main road around Douglastown. As this was the As well as playing fiddle for the along a path through the woods to Mr. era before amplification and guitars Gaspesian diaspora around Montreal, Drody's homestead on the second range. were commonplace, he played on these Erskine made numerous home record- There, Erskine was taught many of the occasions with only his feet clogging for ings of his fiddle playing which he and old Douglastown tunes that had been accompaniment. These parties being his wife would copy and mail out to played in the area for well over a centu- rather raucous affairs, Erskine developed friends and relatives from the Gaspé ry. Erskine looked up to Mr. Joe not just a self-contained style of playing that fea- across the country who missed hearing as a fiddler but as a person as well. tured an aggressive bow attack, extreme- the old Gaspesian fiddle music. When Joe Drody and his family were well- ly precise and highly syncopated these tapes reached their destination, the loved in Douglastown for their generous rhythms, and sharp foot clogging pat- recipient would usually make copies for

Erskine and Kyra Morris. 19 Photo: courtesy of Brian Morris. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS several family members and friends, and old Gaspé tunes. Around December hours. If anyone knew about the old- so even today there are many Gaspesian 2009, I began to entertain the idea of time Gaspesian fiddle music that Erskine households throughout Canada that have creating an Internet “blog” Morris was steeped in, surely the daugh- copies of Erskine Morris' home record- (http://gaspefiddle.blogspot.com) to ter of Erskine's fiddle mentor would. ings. Erskine's home-recording legacy serve as a place where Brian and I could Brian took me to meet Brigid at her spans four decades, extending from the share his father's tunes and information home in May 2010, and during the sev- late 1950s until the early 1990s. These on the Gaspesians who played this mu- en-hour jam session that followed she recordings, made on reel-to-reel and cas- sic. shared with us a seemingly endless store sette recorders, include music Erskine By March 2010, Brian and I had of stories, jokes, and genealogy concern- made at house parties, family reunions, posted several of his father's tunes on ing many of Douglastown’s and Gaspé's or alone in his living room. Erskine our new blog, and it became clear that a best fiddlers, step dancers, and colourful would also take his recorder when visit- significant portion of those interested in characters. Brigid and her husband Jim- ing his Gaspesian musician friends, back our work were Gaspesians, many of my's generous nature, patience, and home and abroad, and would record whom now lived throughout Canada and easy-going attitude is really inspiring them. In this way, he also left us with the United States. As I became aware of and I have since been fortunate to have many recordings of his family and neig- the scope of the Gaspesian diaspora and spent many hours and late-nights mak- bours playing fiddle, harmonica, guitar, how fragile their culture had become ing music with Brigid and enjoying the mandolin, tenor banjo, lilting tunes, and over the past sixty years, I realized that company of her family. singing songs. our blog could be a useful resource for During our first visit with Brigid, During Erskine's time away from current and future generations of Gaspe- Brian and I played a tune we had learned the coast, he was exposed to the music sians and their descendants who might from a recording of a fiddler from of commercially recorded L'Anse à Brillant, Cyril De- French-Canadian, Down East, vouge, who was 95 years old at Ontario, Cape Breton, and the time and living in a seniors’ Métis fiddlers, and in this way residence in Châteauguay, Que- learned many new tunes from bec. Brigid had met Cyril while outside of the Gaspesian tradi- they were both working at the tion. What is perhaps unique Murdochville mine in the 1960s about Erskine as an old-time and they had played lots of mu- fiddler is that he would always sic together throughout the adapt the new music he was years both back home and learning into his native fiddle around Montreal. Although he style. This would often require could no longer play the fiddle, that the melody and rhythms of Brigid suggested that Cyril the tunes be significantly re- would love to hear us play this worked. However, as Brian tells tune, especially as we had ap- me, Erskine was very assured parently played very close to that playing the tunes in the the way Cyril had. Gaspé style was the best way In June 2010, Brigid had they could be played. Also, unlike many benefit from a free online resource arranged for Brian and me to go with her old-time fiddlers who began learning where they could explore their musical to visit Cyril at his home. I met an ex- tunes from commercial records, Erskine heritage. In order to better understand ceptionally sharp and entertaining gen- never abandoned the local Gaspé tunes the forces that shaped Gaspesian fiddle tleman. Throughout the afternoon, Cyril he learned while growing up. For this music, I decided that I would benefit effortlessly told jokes and spun stores reason, we often find Erskine playing from meeting Gaspesians now living about old-time Gaspesians and all the popular Don Messer and Andy DeJarlis around Montreal who had first-hand fun they used to have. He had a tireless tunes alongside the old Gaspé contact with this music. sense of humour which had us laughing favourites, with the new and old reper- One of the names Brian Morris kept throughout our visit. toires all rendered into Erskine's Gaspé mentioning was Brigid Drody from Cyril was born in 1915 to Leslie style. Douglastown, now living in Howick, in Devouge and Ruby Leggo in L'Anse à With all the music and information the Châteauguay Valley. Brigid is Joe Brillant (or Brilliant Cove, as he and Brian was providing me about his father Drody's daughter and is a well-loved other older Gaspesians sometimes called and the old Gaspesians he remembered, guitar player in the Châteauguay Valley it). His father, mother, and two brothers, I thought there might be some interest in and at the Pembroke Fiddle and Step Denzil and Glenn, also played. As Cyril this music among fiddle aficionados on Dance Festival. She is regarded as one described it, “there were four fiddles the Internet. I thought the same fiddlers I of the best backup guitarists for the old- hanging on the wall back home, and the had met and corresponded with while I time tunes and is famous for her ability four of them were never all there on the had been studying the old-time southern to play non-stop for fiddlers in marathon wall at the same time.” Like many older fiddle music might be interested in these sessions sometimes lasting up to sixteen Gaspesians, Cyril's father, Leslie, fished

20 Cyril Devouge, Truro, Nova Scotia. Photo: courtesy of Trena Devouge-Stirling. SPRING 2012 the shores during the spring and summer en Rooster" that he learned from Roland ways brag to the younger Ernest that he and worked in the bush in the winter. White. For the “Golden Rooster,” he was going to get rid of the motorbike be- While fishing, Leslie would return home claimed, “no one in the world knows cause, as he put it, “it takes the speed every weekend and play the fiddle this tune anymore except me.” (Note wobble when I get it up to 150 mph.” around the house. Cyril learned tunes that this tune is not the same melody On a phone conversation in September from his father during this time. He also recorded by Don Messer under the 2010, I asked Cyril about his motorbike, learned many tunes from his best friend, “Golden Rooster” title.) and he told me the same story that he Roland White, of Bois-Brulé, who was We visited Cyril several times after had told Ernest over seventy years earli- from a family of well-respected fiddle our first visit. I also had several pleasant er. Like Brigid and her family, Cyril players. phone conversations with him. On sub- struck me as one of those special people Cyril was perhaps the first person sequent visits, Cyril helped me to under- of the older generation that understands I’ve met who demonstrated the deep stand the intricacies of the Gaspé style, the value of music, family, friends, and emotional response many Gaspesians particularly in the manner of using the laughter in a well-lived life. have when hearing the old fiddle music. bow to give the tunes the old Gaspé In the summer of 2010, I cycled He spoke of being so moved by his fa- touches. Although he could no longer from Campbellton, New Brunswick, to ther's fiddle playing growing up that he play, Cyril had many of the old Gaspe- Douglastown with my touring bicycle would often start to cry and have to run sian tunes so firmly in his mind and was and camping gear. I met many great up to his room so that his father would so skilled at singing the melodies, that friends along the way in Shigawake, not see this. At ten years of age, Cyril he would always stop us when we Barachois, Malbay, and finally, Douglas- played for the first time in public at a played a wrong note or needed to add an town, where the town was holding its "tea meeting" in Seal Cove. “All of Seal extra "jiggle" or "hook," as he often put annual Irish Week festival during the Cove and half of L'Anse à Brillant were it. I worked hard on the bowing tech- first week of August. I met up with Bri- there,” he recalled. niques Cyril had helped me with, and on an Morris (and my fiddles) in Douglas- Cyril was touched that we had come our second visit he gave me a most en- town where he was visiting family. out to play music with him and that we couraging compliment by turning to Brian showed me how strong the were interested in his music. He became Brigid and saying: “He has that Gaspé love for fiddle music still is among the very emotional at times during the after- sound.” people of Douglastown by arranging a noon, and once or twice was nearly in Sadly, Cyril passed away in March series of musical visits throughout the tears – which he described as "tears of 2011, a few weeks after what would turn week with different friends and family joy." He told us that he liked nothing out to be our final visit. Cyril had a who wanted to hear us play the old better than to hear a fiddle and guitar charming, comical personality, and was Gaspé tunes. It seemed like Brian and I play the old tunes. However, it was a prankster and natural entertainer up played in at least two different kitchens clear during our visit that Cyril was very until the end of his life. He was a notori- every day and I was struck by how much sad to have lost the use of his hands in ous teller of tall-tales – and he told them people appreciated hearing this music. old age and that he could not join us on not from a wish to deceive but from a As a fiddler performing at the festival the fiddle. He did treat us to several love of entertaining people and stretch- described it to me, people in Douglas- tunes expertly played on the harmonica ing their imaginations. As a child, Ernest town seem to follow every bow stroke. that he had learned from his father and Drody from Douglastown remembers Special highlights included meeting from Roland White. He also sung or lilt- Cyril coming back home from Montreal Brigid's brother, Joseph Drody, at his ed the melodies to several other Gaspé on a motorbike that Ernest and his cottage in L'Anse à Brillant, playing for fiddle tunes including the quirky "Gold- friends greatly admired. Cyril would al- Brian's aunt Phyllis, his friends Norma

The Drodys entertaining at Pembroke, Ontario, with 21 Hemas Rehel. Photo: courtesy of Debbie Sams. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS and Brian McDonald, Marguerite square dancing that lasted until two in Our blog has continued to grow and Rooney, and swapping tunes with one of the morning. I also had a great time now contains over 80 posts detailing Douglastown's last old-time fiddlers, teaching two fiddle workshops for be- various aspects of Erskine and his neigh- Ernest Drody, Charlie Drody's son. Bri- ginners and intermediate players want- bours' music, including tune analysis, an and I were also happy to meet Gaspe- ing to learn about the Gaspé style. Other history, and reports of various events sians who had been following our blog highlights were two unplanned late- Brian and I have attended. Throughout, and who had offered encouraging feed- night music parties in Phyllis Morris' we have always had lots of help from back. I was especially touched when kitchen, with myself, Brian Morris, various members of the Gaspesian com- Brian's aunt showed us the binder she Brigid and her brothers, Joseph and An- munity, several of whom have con- had containing every article we had thony, and Montreal-based fiddler Laura tributed articles. A great help came in posted on the blog that her niece had Risk providing the music to a packed the form of a new contributor, Laura printed out for her. Seeing the positive house of appreciative fans. During the Risk, who had taken a keen interest in response to fiddle music during the this music after discovering our blog festival, it was clear that the fiddle in the spring of 2010. could "still pull the whole town to- Recently, I started a channel on gether." Youtube (www.youtube.com/gaspefiddle) I returned to Douglastown in Au- where we have been adding videos gust 2011. Irish Week organizer Luc from our collection. So far, we have Chaput had offered me the chance to placed footage of several of our visits do a performance, lecture, and fiddle with Gaspesian musicians and have workshops for the festival, which I lots of donated footage from friends had gladly accepted. On the Wednes- at the Pembroke Festival that we are day evening, I was scheduled to give currently processing. Soon, I will be a presentation on the life and music posting some great footage including of Erskine Morris at the community an afternoon I spent with Romeo centre with Brian Morris and Brigid "Tunny" Hottot of Shigawake, who is Drody. Although I had feared atten- from a family of fiddlers and step dance would be low since Erskine dancers whose legacy extends back had left Douglastown so long ago, several generations. We are also con- people started flooding in about five sidering putting some of the best mu- minutes before we started and it was sic we have collected from Erskine soon standing room only in the class- and other Gaspesians on a CD with room with a few people even poking extensive liner notes. their heads in from the hallway. We It is interesting to note that there had a warm response from the mostly are a growing number of fiddle music local audience as we played tunes and 2011 Irish Days, there was a tangible enthusiasts in the United States and Eu- detailed the life of Erskine and the sense of cultural pride and it was great rope, including some well-known fid- Gaspé fiddle style. It was rewarding to to see that more attention had been given dlers, who are using our blog to listen to see the audience participating in the to local Gaspesian culture around Dou- music that was once little-known outside presentation, openly sharing stories and glastown. The town seemed to come to- of the Gaspesian community. I am hope- insight into their musical culture. The gether over their culture, and people ful our work will help to bring about a audience especially enjoyed hearing would find any excuse to start a square renewed interest in Gaspesian fiddle mu- Norma McDonald lilt while we played dance set, especially when the Drodys sic among people from the Gaspé and two local tunes and having a mini-con- were providing the music. elsewhere and that this music will not be cert with fiddlers Joseph and Anthony Throughout 2010 and 2011, I was lost in generations to come. So far, the Drody. fortunate to meet and play music with response to our work has been touching, Towards the end of the presentation, more Gaspesians and learn about their and I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the energy in the room soared when a musical heritage. I made pilgrimages to all the Gaspesians who have helped us renowned step dancer and caller from the famous blue Gaspé tent at the Pem- along the way. Saint-Eustache, Jean-Francois Berthi- broke Fiddle and Step Dance Festival, aume, got up and treated the room to where I made new friends and shared Glenn Patterson is a Montreal-based some high-octane footwork. It was clear lots of late nights with Brigid, Joseph, old-time fiddle player. He plays fiddle when our presentation ended that people and Anthony Drody playing and listen- and old-time banjo with several Montre- still wanted to hear more fiddle music ing to fiddle music. I was impressed by al area groups and is interested in local and I suggested we all go to the dining how dedicated to expressing their cul- North American fiddle traditions. He is hall after a short break for air. What en- ture the Gaspesians are during this festi- the co-founder of www.gaspefiddle sued was a three-hour jam session of val, which a core group of them have .blogspot.com , a website devoted to Gaspesian and French Canadian tunes been faithfully attending annually since documenting the older fiddle traditions including a 40-minute set of non-stop the late 1970s. of the Gaspé coast.

22 Roland White at a house party, 1963. Photo: courtesy of Trena Devouge-Stirling. SPRING 2012

1812 A war of islands and rivers, Part II by Sandra Stock Part One of “1812: A War of Islands British forces from Britain. There were appeared in the Richelieu at the mouth and Rivers” (Winter 2012) featured the also local militias (again, mainly native- of the Lacolle River. role of Fort Chambly and Fort Lennox born), who were part-time volunteer sol- The municipality of Lacolle has during the War of 1812 and in the years diers. In those days, militia duty was of- preserved the blockhouse as a heritage after. ten linked to having received a land site as well as the nearby Whitman grant, one of the duties owed the Cemetery, a Loyalist burying ground Lacolle seigneur. Canadian forces also included used from 1816 to 1971. Mohawk warriors from Kanhnawake Although there was some loss of n warfare, as in real estate, nothing and Kanesatake allied with the British life and many injuries during these en- matters more than location – and and Canadians. The Mohawks played an counters, compared to more recent con- tiny Lacolle was on the front line important role as guides, scouts and flicts these battles were more like skir- during the War of 1812. Two note- fighters in terrain that was still mostly mishes and guerrilla warfare. At the worthy conflicts occurred there over the unfamiliar to Europeans. same time, the population of Lower I Canada was not very large, and course of the war, one of them marking the first significant ap- it was very difficult to move pearance of Charles-Michel troops through this terrain. d’Irumberry de Salaberry, later Many lives were lost on both hero of the Battle of Château- sides due to poor living condi- guay. tions and sickness, especially Part of the Lake Cham- in the harsh winters. plain-Richelieu military territo- ry, the Lacolle River fed into Châteauguay the Richelieu about two kilo- metres away from today’s n the autumn of 1813, a town. In 1812, the settlement large American force ad- known as Lacolle Mills had a vanced along the Château- sawmill and, curiously, a light- guay River intending a house, both guarded by a small Itwo-pronged attack on Montre- fort or blockhouse. al. They were met by a much The First Battle of Lacolle smaller force of Canadian Fen- occurred in November 1812, when the cibles, Voltigeurs and militia led by blockhouse was captured by a party of Not willing to give up easily, the Lieutenant-Colonel Charles-Michel invading Americans early one morning. Americans attacked Lacolle again, in d'Irumberry de Salaberry. This entirely Later, in the dark, when more American March 1814, under the command of Ma- local army defeated the Americans and reinforcements arrived, this first group jor General James Wilkinson who ulti- forced them to withdraw. Montreal was mistook them for the local militia and mately proved to be quite incompetent. saved. The battle took place near the fired on them. In the ensuing total con- By this time, the regular British army Châteauguay River, between the present fusion, the real Canadian local regiment had strengthened its defenses and in- towns of Ormstown and Howick, up- (the Voltigeurs), under the command of stalled a full-time garrison of eighty men stream from the town of Châteauguay. de Salaberry, arrived. The Americans in the blockhouse and the stone mill Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Sal- had to retreat towards Lake Champlain with 420 reinforcements closely posted. aberry was born in 1778 at his family's and later withdraw completely from Although the American invaders had a manor at Beauport, just east of Quebec. Lower Canada, at least for a while. force of 4,000, the British were easily His father, Louis-Antoine d' Irumberry The Voltigeurs were primarily a able to hold them off as they had the lat- de Salaberry, was the seigneur of Cham- French-speaking regiment, although est technology in weapons: the Con- bly and Beaulac. The de Salaberrys were there were an appreciable number of greve rocket. These rockets made so an aristocratic military family originally English-speaking members as well. The much noise they not only scared the ene- from Bayonne, a town in southwest Fencibles were essentially English- my but could be heard three kilometres France near the Spanish border; they speaking. Both groups were made up of away by a force of Canadian Voltigeurs were partly of Basque descent. De Sal- native-born Canadians, not regular and Fencibles, who attacked the Ameri- aberry Père had been a sea captain with cans from the rear. British gunboats then

Blockhouse at Lacolle. Photo: Pierre Bona. 23 QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS the French navy and was sent to New expected to recruit, clothe, feed and gen- bled Canadian force. In some situations, France in 1735. Charles-Michel's moth- erally care for their own groups of men. however, actual numerical strength is er was Françoise-Catherine de Hertel. The weaknesses of this system are obvi- not always an advantage. Like many of their class, the de Sal- ous: leadership depended upon social In late September 1813, de Salaber- aberrys appeared to make the transition position, wealth and advantageous con- ry decided to harass the American force to British rule quite easily. They had lit- nections as much, if not more, than abil- as it began to move along the Château- tle sympathy for the French Revolution, ity and training. Soldiers could rise guay River. He led his Voltigeurs and for Napoleon or for the republican Unit- through the ranks, but usually not very their Mohawk allies towards Château- ed States. far. Soon after the Napoleonic Wars this guay Four Corners, New York, blocking Charles-Michel followed family tra- situation improved somewhat with re- the roads (such as they were) with carts dition and enlisted in the 44th Regiment forms to the military and the improve- and fallen trees. This was a good guerril- of the British Army. He enjoyed the pa- ment of training academies. Luckily for la warfare tactic, suited to the area’s tronage of Edward, Duke of Kent, who Lower Canada, de Salaberry had good swampy and wooded terrain – more sen- was commander-in-chief of the British natural leadership as well as a fine talent sible than having serried ranks of regular forces in North America during the for making the right friends in high soldiers marching along in the open. 1790s. Edward was an excep- There wasn't much “open” in tionally bright and well-educat- upper New York State or Lower ed royal, but did not see eye to Canada at that time, yet it took eye with his father, King a long while for the various George III. In Quebec, Edward militaries to adjust their Euro- lived openly with his mistress, pean methods to North Ameri- Madame Julie Saint-Laurent, can conditions. Those who and their son Robert Wood was learned the most quickly from adopted by a middle class fami- the native tribes tended to suc- ly there. Being a prince, Ed- ceed. ward could never legally marry De Salaberry then retreated Madame Saint-Laurent, and back downriver to a spot called was later pushed into an “ac- Allen's Corners, where he ceptable” union with a German found a good location for dig- princess; their daughter was ging trenches and building oth- Queen Victoria. Edward estab- er defenses. On October 21, the lished very agreeable relations American force crossed the with the Quebec elite, and for border and camped downriver many years kept up a copious and places. at the site of where the Ormstown Fair is friendly correspondence with Charles- The Châteauguay River valley was now held. De Salaberry took a position Michel de Salaberry – in French; Ed- very thinly populated in the early nine- on the north bank, where deep gullies ward was fluent in several languages. teenth century. It wasn't until the 1830s and bushy swamp would provide cover, Through Edward, de Salaberry was initi- that agricultural development began and and encouraged his men to shoot their ated into the Masonic Order. Freema- the main towns of Ormstown and How- muskets sporadically to give the impres- sonary was a powerful social and politi- ick were established. The Battle of sion of a much larger force. The Ameri- cal network at this time, and being a Ma- Châteauguay took place between these cans tried to circle around through the son was highly useful for an ambitious two later settlements on both banks of swamp, but were ultimately unsuccess- young man. the river. The river marked another route ful, and retreated. Once again, Montreal With this connection, along with his towards Montreal from New York was saved. family's position, de Salaberry was slat- through reasonably flat land, even The Battle of Châteauguay was the ed for the military “fast track,” though though the waterway is much narrower first truly Canadian military victory. De he showed ability as well as ambition. than the Richelieu and not navigable Salaberry had defeated a much superior He was first garrisoned at Quebec, but other than for pleasure craft. In 1813, force with only 400 Canadian troops and soon saw action in the West Indies, the the American invasion force was led by 170 warriors from Caughnawaga (mod- Netherlands, Sicily and Ireland. Re- General Wade Hampton and Colonel ern-day Kahnawake). In November, a called to Canada in 1810 after an ab- Izard. It numbered about 4,000 men, al- second American invasion was defeated sence of sixteen years, he was asked to though estimates vary depending upon at Crysler's Farm in eastern Upper Cana- organize a new unit, to be called the the historical source – we found a vari- da. This failure ended the American Canadian Voltigeurs light infantry. The ety of head counts from 3,000 to 7,000. plans to take Montreal from any direc- creation of the Voltigeurs and Fencibles The normally reliable Parks Canada tion. marked the birth of the Canadian Armed count of 4,000 seems the most likely. After the war ended with the Treaty Forces. At that time, officers had to pur- By all reckonings, it was a considerable of Ghent in late 1814, de Salaberry re- chase commissions (positions) in the force for the time and definitely very tired from military and public life. Al- regular armies and navies and then were much greater than the opposing assem- though he was an acknowledged hero

24 Charles de Salaberry’s portrait and sword on display at the Château de Ramezay, Montreal. Photo: Rod MacLeod. SPRING 2012 and deemed the “Savior of Montreal,” the colonies – especially along Lower leading role. The final results of the war he decided to concentrate on looking af- Canada's waterways. The importance of were disastrous for them. Their great ter his extensive properties – his own, as the Richelieu and St. Lawrence rivers fi- leader, Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief well as the even larger ones belonging to nally seemed to be realized in practical who had tried to unite the midwestern his wife, Anne-Julie Hertel de Rouville. ways. The government bought St. He- tribes, and who had fought with the The Rouvilles gave the de Salaberrys len's Island from the LeMoyne-Grant British (mainly in Upper Canada), had land at Chambly (near the fort) and then family, who had owned it since 1665. In been killed at Thamesville in October Charles-Michel received a large sum of 1820, construction began on the stone 1813. The British, who had encouraged money from his godfather, the cleric fort, the powder house and the wooden the native peoples to claim a homeland Charles-Regis des Bergères de blockhouse. This was the central depot to the west of the United States, aban- Rigainville. Later, Anne-Julie inherited for supplies and administrative offices. doned their First Nations allies after the the fief of Saint-Mathias down the The fort on St Helen’s Island was a war. The expanding United States Richelieu; they also bought an adjoining British army garrison until 1870, when pushed ahead westward over the Ohio fief from merchant William Yule of Canada took it over from the British. In River and the disunited and leaderless Chambly. De Salaberry became a justice 1874, it was made a public park. In the native peoples lost their lands and inde- of the peace for his area, and after his fa- 1930s, the buildings were partly restored pendence. ther's death, seigneur of Saint-Mathias. as part of a public works programme. At The one positive result of the war In 1817, he was awarded the Order of this time, the Levis Tower was erected was the birth of a uniquely Canadian the Bath by the British government. as a water tower, sporting an antique identity. Although most people in Lower Many of the old seigneurial proper- look that has erroneously led people to Canada in particular were still somewhat ties had been redistributed or sold after think it is part of the old defensive struc- at a loss to define this, they knew who the Conquest. Part of Chambly had been tures. During World War II, the facilities they didn't want to be – American. The given to Gabriel Christie, a general in were used to detain prisoners of war, English-speaking, as well as the French- the British Army. This property, adjoin- who were forced into labour for farming speaking, population of Lower Canada ing de Salaberry's now vast estate had and lumbering on the island. In 1955, became more aware of being on a differ- passed to Samuel Hatt, another wealthy David Stewart purchased the buildings ent political and cultural path from the merchant. Hatt became a friend as well and they now house the Stewart Muse- Americans. The scenes of the battles are as a neighbour to the de Salaberrys, and um of Military History, featuring an ex- now all parks and historic sites. The in 1820, Charles-Michel joined with cellent collection from the French rivers and islands that saw so much con- Hatt to form a steamship company. regime onward. flict are now peaceful. Steamships were the new and going The Quebec City Citadel was con- thing for wealthy investors of the time, structed in the wake of the War of 1812, Sources: and given that the best and fastest trans- and Fort Lennox was expanded. The old port was still by water, this must have walls of Quebec were repaired and Websites of Parks Canada. seemed a good plan for de Salaberry. strengthened, even though they were al- Alexander D. Angus, Old Quebec in the However, their steamship, the De Sal- ready seen as obsolete defenses. A very Days Before Our Day, 1955. aberry, was wrecked off Cap Rouge visible military presence was maintained Edgar A. Collard, Canadian Yesterdays, with some loss of life, and that venture throughout Lower Canada, primarily as 1955. came to an unpleasant end. In 1829, de a deterrent to any further American inva- Raymonde Gauthier, Les manoirs du Salaberry died suddenly while visiting sions. Québec, 1976. his friend Samuel Hatt in Chambly. The War of 1812 was the last major Pierre-Georges Roy, Old Manors, Old There are a large number of direct conflict in which native peoples played a Houses, 1927. Charles-Michel de Salaberry descen- dants, as he and Anne-Julie had four sons and three daughters, but according to the Dictionary of Canadian Biogra- phy website, they live in Ontario and British Columbia. The Yule and the de Salaberry manor houses still exist as well-preserved private homes in the town of Chambly.

After the War

here were several important long-term outcomes of the War of 1812. Immediately after hostilities ceased, Britain im- plementedT a serious defense project for Henri Julien, “Battle of Châteauguay, 1813.” 25 Lithograph published in Le Journal de Dimanche, June 24, 1884. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

MILLWRIGHTS AND MIGRANTS The Argenteuil’s early entrepreneurs by Joseph Graham uring the first ten years of the lords, the colonial elite focused these an- few problems for the new United States nineteenth century, there was gry mobs on a common enemy. Further, and created a huge one for the Indians. an influx of Americans into by according the poor whites certain The British had the most incredible the Ottawa Valley and many rights that were not extended to African ‘oops’ moment in North American histo- otherD parts of the British colonies. What Americans, they encouraged hatred be- ry: they forgot to invite their Indian al- we call the American War of Independ- tween the blacks and whites, reducing lies to the negotiating table at the end of ence, they called the American Revolu- the risk that they might rise together. the American War of Independence. The tion, and their term might be both more This new dynamic converted a danger- new masters of the American rabble, accurate and less flattering. Howard ous subclass into a human resource that having made no peace with the Indians, Zinn, in his People’s History of the Unit- could be directed against the British simply offered Indian land to their still- ed States, shows how the revolution was while keeping slaves, blacks and angry underclass. Since they vastly out- a power grab by a colonial elite of busi- freemen in their unenviable places, numbered the war-weary Indians, they nessmen and landowners. They promot- watching and distrusting each other. moved west and began a huge holocaust, ed ideals of democracy in order leaving the American elite’s hands to control a severely stressed free of blood. Not surprisingly the and exploited rabble. Great largest influx of ‘Loyalists’ into the Britain, having exhausted itself remaining territories of British North in a war with the French, fell America was by disillusioned Iro- into possession of France’s quoian farmers. To this day, having American empire and was been promised land in southwestern obliged to keep promises they Ontario, they continue fighting to had made to allies such as the correct broken promises. various Indian nations. Thus, Many Americans with no the Proclamation of 1763, end- prospects at home, no will to steal ing the war with the French, in- land from the Seneca, Shawnee and cluded the tracing of a jagged Cherokee, and faced with high taxes boundary line running from on anything they might earn, migrat- Florida north through New ed to British territory looking for op- York. Among the proclama- portunity. They were post-war immi- tion’s provisions, Algonquin grants who were not Loyalist but ex- land along the Ottawa River ploited Americans who came, a gen- was designated as Indian land. eration after their ‘revolution,’ look- The original purpose of the ing for work and land in the boom- proclamation, when conceived ing British colonies. The British by the powerful Sir William were at war again, this time with the Johnson, British Superinten- new French empire, led by dent of Indian Affairs, was to Napoleon, and war brings opportuni- delineate the eastern limit of ty. Indian lands and the western They settled, sometimes with limit of the colonists in the strong doses of naivety, into our Thirteen Colonies. small communities. Two such men, Many of the wealthier elite in the As the plan progressed, most of the Jacob Marston and Josiah P. Cass, both Thirteen Colonies had achieved their po- Indian nations, seeing problems devel- originally from New England, home- sitions by ignoring an increasingly large oping in the rebelling states, sided with steaded on adjacent farms in what has population of unemployed people and the British. During the fighting that en- come to be known as Cassburn in exploiting tenant farmers and workers. sued, rebels spilled across the line of the Prescott County, Ontario. As is so often Poor, landless whites were starting to Proclamation of 1763 and saw first-hand the case, the influence of the female line rise up, arm-in-arm with ‘Negroes’ the well-kept farmland of the Seneca, is not properly recorded. We know that (African Americans), and cause bloody the Shawnee, the Cherokee and other In- the two were related by marriage; havoc in the colonial society. By direct- dian nations. Marston’s wife was Cass’s sister, but I ing their anger against the British over- The American Revolution solved have not found her name. Thanks to this

26 Murray Mill, St. Andrew’s East, Quebec. Photo: Matthew Farfan. SPRING 2012 unrecorded family bond, the couples descendents would figure among the man resources were plentiful in New partnered in most things, carrying their prominent families of the valley. England. Even a generation after Shay’s purchases on their backs the twenty In the meantime, Major Patrick Rebellion of 1787 there were many miles from Pointe Fortune. They carried Murray, who fought for the British in the growing up with no future. In 1787, wheat through the woodlands for seed- American War of Independence and rose thousands of Massachusetts farmers, ing and produced admirable crops, to command Fort Detroit during the many of whom were forced to become which of course would have to be car- 1780s, purchased the seigneury of Ar- soldiers and then were never paid for ried back for milling. genteuil in 1793. Seigneuries, dating their services, rebelled because the Realizing the potential of wheat, from the French regime, were used to wealthy Boston elite was taking their and intrigued by the idea of milling their colonize regions. The owner, who farms for back taxes. The army crushed own grain, they purchased a millstone – looked actively for settlers, made an in- the resistance and the courts showed no and carried that huge weight the same come by leasing farmland for home- mercy. One of the Founding Fathers, twenty miles to their homestead. Having steading. After the French Regime, it Samuel Adams, a willing participant in no doubt consulted with an honourable was not uncommon for wealthy or well- the suspension of habeas corpus in that millwright, they soon came to discover connected people to acquire seigneuries, event, declared: “In monarchy, the crime that their stone was too hard to grind build mills, promote colonization and of treason may admit to being pardoned wheat. It is likely they received a lot of reap the benefits. or lightly punished, but the man who hazing from their patient wives as this Pierre Panet, the seigneur who sold dares rebel against the laws of a republic strange, ambitious project did not work to Murray, accepted to defer a part of the ought to suffer death.” Not surprisingly, out as planned. After great expense and purchase price. While the repayment the Ottawa Valley, opening for settle- successive failures to grind grain, they schedule was reasonable, Murray lacked ment in the wealthy, powerful British learned that a good way to deal with a the necessary experience to develop the Empire, attracted many New Englan- hard millstone is to bury it for a few property, and soon faced insolvency. ders. years and let it soften underground. His son, James, who some sources claim Murray engaged Thomas Mears, a Waiting the requisite number of rescued the seigneury from creditors in hydraulics engineer, who dammed the years, they went to dig up the stone, but 1803, was influential in its subsequent North River and helped him design and couldn’t find it. The huge millstone had development, but while the seigneury build the mill. Stories of Mears’ work simply disappeared into the ground. Two developed rapidly, their tenure was nev- brought more young Americans to St. generations later, Richard Marston, a er stable. They named it St. Andrews, Andrews. Headed by Walter Ware, grandson, was still digging up the land, and worked hard to develop it, while up whose father operated a mill in Massa- looking for it. Whereas the very gener- the North River, they sold a large parcel chusetts, they negotiated a lease with the ous Cyrus Thomas recorded the incident to Jedediah Lane of Jericho, Vermont, seigneur and built another mill almost without pointing fingers or scoffing, he compromising their seigneurial rights directly across the river from the grist- did venture that the stone may simply for a quick payment. mill. It would become Canada’s first pa- have slipped into the underworld, de- Needing to improve services to his per mill. fending beliefs “of our forefathers” to tenant farmers and assure their trade, In order to make the mill viable, that effect, as perhaps among the few re- Murray sought expertise in New Eng- Ware contracted with James Brown, a al possibilities. In spite of this loss both land to help him harness the North River bookbinder and printer in Montreal, to of stone and face, the Marston and Cass and build a gristmill in St. Andrews. Hu- sell the mill’s paper products. By 1806, only a year after the mill had begun pro- ducing, Brown, whose properties would grow to include ownership of the Mon- treal Gazette, became a minor share- holder in the mill. After taking Ware to court for not respecting his obligations, he bought out the balance of the shares in 1810 and moved to St. Andrews to run the mill himself. The balance of Brown’s working career became continually more focused on the mill and, in spite of financial suc- cess in Montreal, by 1822 he had sold both the Gazette and his Montreal busi- ness, sinking his capital into the mill. He had moved into the territory of hard- working, risk-taking immigrants. Vil- lage-sized rafts of logs floated along the Ottawa, guided by the currents and the efforts of the crews that lived on board,

St. Andrew’s East, Quebec, c.1850, from Cyrus Thomas, A History of the 27 counties of Argenteuil, Que., and Prescott, Ont., 1896. while gangs of Irish, Canadiens, Mar- quired the seigneury and the Murrays itimers and Scots, some farmers and oth- faded from the historical record. The Joseph Graham is writing a book on the ers desperate for any kind of employ- significance of this change for Brown history of the Ottawa Valley, of which ment, chopped away uncomprehending- was that the Johnsons would refuse to this is an excerpt. ly at the ancient Algonquin forests. The renew Walter Ware’s original lease when Ottawa River, once called the Grand, it came due in 1834. Sources: that for centuries had accommodated the Although not necessarily the best meeting, trading, fishing and hunting adapted to the farm culture that was de- Alan Taylor, The Divided Ground, 2006. communities of the Indian cultures, was veloping along the valleys on both sides Cyrus Thomas, History of the Counties deteriorating into a sewer, rife with a of the river, entrepreneurial American of Argenteuil and Prescott, 1896. new kind of commercial-industrial cul- immigrants were becoming the most nu- Frank Mackey, Steamboat Connections, ture whose relationship was one of ex- merous of the new arrivals. Ambitious 2003. ploitation. The new paradigm was not risk-takers, they brought new ideas and Daniel T. Elliott, Archaeological Investi the rotation of the seasons, but the status techniques into the valley. Thomas gations at Fort Morris State Historic of the individual. Fortunes were won Mears, among the better educated and Site and Liberty County, Georgia, and lost, and anyone could be the winner no longer needed in St. Andrews once 2003. or the loser. the mills were built, followed the pattern The Murrays once again faced in- of acquiring land for farming but, trans- solvency and lost the seigneury through fixed by a fast-flowing channel on the a sheriff’s sale in 1807. Sir John John- far side of the river, identified on the old son, legendary for his family’s relation- French map as Chennail écarté, he had ships with the Indian communities, ac- other things in mind.

PROOF OF PEDIGREE The United Empire Loyalists’ Association in Quebec by Mark W. Gallop, U.E.

“Those Loyalists who have adhered to ganization, the United Empire Loyalists’ lence, theft or confiscation; demonstrat- the unity of the empire, and joined in the Association of Canada (UELAC), in ed loyalty by service to the British au- Royal Standard before the Treaty of Sep- 1914. thorities by either men or women; or aration in the year 1783, and all their My interest in my family history death prior to the 1783 Treaty of Sepa- children and their descendents by either started in my teens, which was fortu- ration due to imprisonment or on their sex, are to be distinguished by the fol- nate as so many of my older relations way to Canada. lowing Capitals affixed to their names: were still around to share their stories. Finding an ancestor on the muster U.E. alluding to their great principle, At a certain point I discovered that an roll of one of the Loyalist regiments The Unity of the Empire.” Eastern Townships ancestor had emi- makes the proof of loyalty relatively grated from the United States after the straightforward, although there remains legacy of the popular growth Revolutionary War and might qualify as the challenge of proving the connec- of family history in the Unit- a Loyalist. The UELAC intrigued me. I tions in each generation of the descent. ed States in the late nine- particularly liked the idea of the disci- The circumstances of my own an- teenth century was the foun- pline of the application process for full cestor were not as clear. Lemuel dationA of hereditary societies. The best membership, which requires primary Stevens was born in Petersham, Massa- known of these are the Daughters of the source documentation proving the qual- chusetts in 1748. However he took his American Revolution (DAR) and the ifications of the Loyalist ancestor as oath of loyalty to the Crown only in Mayflower Society. Canada has a simi- well as the links between generations. 1798, before a commissioner at Mis- lar organization with an august pedigree It is not sufficient that one’s ances- sisquoi Bay. This puts him in a catego- originating from the 1789 decree of tor was a resident of the Thirteen ry relatively common for those who Lord Dorchester reproduced above, Colonies and left during or after the settled in Quebec from the Thirteen which established the only hereditary Revolution. Migration is not sufficient Colonies: “Late Loyalists.” These were honour endorsed by the Government of in itself. There needs to be evidence of immigrants who may have been Loyal- Canada. The United Empire Loyalists’ loyalty to the Crown, such as service in ists but were not within British lines by Association of the Province of Quebec a Loyalist Provincial Corps; loss of 1783. Lemuel’s migration was extend- was founded in 1895 and the national or- home and property through threats, vio- ed and indirect, moving from Massa-

28 SPRING 2012 chusetts to Newfane, Vermont, for two decades and the birth of most of his children. The question of Lemuel’s Loyalist status and migrations was confusing in part because the history of Vermont in the later decades of the eighteenth cen- tury was far from straightforward. Ver- mont was not one of the original Thir- teen Colonies to establish the United States of America in 1776. For some time after, Vermont fiercely maintained its independence and was favourably disposed at times to casting its lot with British North America. Largely unset- tled at the time of the Revolution, the Newfane and Brattleboro area of south- ern Vermont became a haven for refugee Loyalist families from Massa- chusetts such as the Stevens. Vermont only joined the Union in 1791, after which many of these families were prompted to resettle further north in worked to complete the application and brooke/Lennoxville. It is most com- Lower Canada’s Eastern Townships, find proof of the links between each mon to join the branch closest to you, this time firmly within the boundaries generation in my descent from him, us- although for a nominal additional of the British Empire. The story of this ing mostly birth and marriage certifi- charge it is easy to also join a branch in multiple migration is told in a chapter cates as they almost always give the the area where your Loyalist ancestor entitled “Newfane Loyalists of Stukely parents’ names. Census records, news- first settled (there are 27 branches Township” in The Loyalists in the East- paper obituaries and tombstones can al- across Canada). It is also usual to join ern Townships, published in 1984 by so help when they spell out the family the UELAC first as an associate mem- the Sir John Johnson Centennial Branch relationships. My application was ac- ber while working to complete the ap- of the UELAC. cepted and my certificate was issued in plication proving Loyalist ancestry to The proof that Lemuel was more 1980, after which I headed to universi- qualify for full membership. Individu- than a migrant with British sympathies ty, and with multiple moves and life als with an interest in the aims of the in search of land, but indeed a true changes I lost touch with the organiza- organization but without Loyalist an- Loyalist, was found in the U.S. Nation- tion. cestry are most welcome to join as as- al Archives in Washington D.C. I visit- Thirty years later fate brought me sociate members. ed while on a family vacation, and after back in touch when I sat next to the The Heritage Branch has a resource a brief search found Lemuel’s name on president of the Montreal (Heritage) collection of Loyalist books and material a roll of “Officers & Soldiers who Branch of the UELAC at a barbeque of housed in the Quebec Family History marched to Brattleborough in the the St. Andrew’s Society of Montreal. Society’s Pointe Claire library. This in- muster December 24, 1782…to sur- Through the course of the evening I cludes The Loyalists of the Eastern press insurrections & Disturbances then was recruited back as a member of the Townships, mentioned earlier, as well as subsisting in those parts.” While this organization and also as Branch Ge- The Loyalists of Quebec 1774-1825: A battle was more of a skirmish, it came nealogist. In this role, I now provide Forgotten History, published in 1989 by at a time when Ethan Allen, as head of support and assistance to others in the Heritage Branch. While the former is out Vermont’s governing body, was negoti- process of preparing their applications, of print, the latter is still available ating with Sir Frederick Haldimand, as I had done three decades before. The ($24.95 plus $4.50 shipping and han- Governor of Quebec, for the union of Branch Genealogist must recommend dling within Canada, UELAC Heritage Vermont with Canada. The muster was applications before being sent to the Branch, 700 Casgrain Ave., St. Lambert, called to surpress Yorkers (New York Dominion Genealogist for approval. QC J4R 1G7). “patriots,” in the language of Ameri- I found the UELAC to be a thriv- cans, or “rebels,” in British terminolo- ing organization with an impressive se- More information on the UELAC, its gy), who were agitating for Vermont to mi-annual magazine and a weekly elec- benefits and resources can be found at join the United States. tronic newsletter. Quebec is well www.uelac.org and contact information Because Lemuel had taken up arms served by three branches: Heritage, for branches can be found at against American revolutionaries, this based in Montreal; Sir John Johnson in http://www.uelac.org/branches.php was acceptable proof of Lemuel’s loy- the southwestern region of the Town- alty to the Crown for the UELAC. So I ships; and Little Forks in Sher-

The Little Hyatt School in Milby, Quebec, a project of the Little Forks 29 Branch, UEL. Photo: Matthew Farfan. QUEBEC HERITAGE NEWS

REVIEWS The magnificent land Eeyou Istchee: Land of the Cree By Louise Abbott and Niels Jensen Cree Outfitting and Tourism Association, 2012

ow in its second printing, Eeyou Istchee: Cree and the land in which they have lived for Land of the Cree is the latest book by thousands of years. The introduction sketches the Louise Abbott (text) and Niels Jensen transition of the Cree from a nomadic people to (photography), funded by the Cree one centred in modern, self-governing villages – NOutfitting and Tourism Association (COTA). An a transition that has come about largely in the unusual feature of the book is that the text (a 35-year period since 1975, when the Quebec short history of the Cree of northern Quebec, government signed a landmark agreement with brief chapter intro- the Cree pertaining ductions and photo to the use and ex- captions) is in three ploitation of their an- languages: English, cestral lands for hy- French and Cree, re- droelectric purposes. flecting the trilin- The bulk of the gual nature of the book is photography, modern Cree people. with over 200 full- In the preface, colour images divid- Abbott explains how ed into chapters, the book came about. each commencing Between 2007 and with a short introduc- 2009, she and her tion. Most of the husband/partner chapters focus on tra- Jensen were commis- ditional Cree activi- sioned by COTA to ties, such as fishing travel to the territory ("Rod and Reel") and of the Cree on the basket making east coast of James ("From Bark to Bas- Bay and Hudson ket"). The longest Bay. This "dream as- chapter, however, is signment" (Abbott’s titled "The Seasons phrase) was to pho- of Eeyou Istchee,” tograph the Cree which features im- people, their commu- ages of the land- nities, and their en- scapes and the flora vironment in an effort to help the Cree promote and fauna of the Cree territory. Here we find regional tourism, in particular eco- and cultural- everything from close-ups of lichens, to panora- tourism. Eventually, the pair were commissioned mas of water and stone, to colourful birds, like to produce this book. the northern horned lark, fluffing up its feathers “People down south don't really know us as a in an effort to keep warm in the snow. people – our history and traditions," writes Intended, at least in part, as a way of pro- COTA president Sherman Herodier in the pref- moting tourism in the region, the portrait pre- ace. Abbott, however, hopes that the book "will sented in Eeyou Istchee is, not surprisingly, a provide an introduction for non-native readers somewhat idyllic one. There are, however, some and an incentive to visit Eeyou Istchee [and...] a stunning views here, and the authors have done commemoration for Cree readers of their distinc- an excellent job selecting, researching and pre- tive heritage and of the magnificent land that senting the material. they have inhabited since time immemorial." Eeyou Istchee: Land of the Cree (252 pages, Reviewed by Matthew Farfan hardcover) begins with a brief overview of the

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