Hidden Ontario (25 page)

Two years prior to the Native land settlement, the first dock on the Canadian side of Sault Ste. Marie was begun by a Mr. Garfield, at the foot of Spring Street. Then it was not long before the first lake steamer, the
Gore
, engaged in a regular passenger and freight service from southern points on Georgian Bay to points along the North Shore. The
Dime
, so named for the price of the fare from Michigan to Canada, was the first steam ferry to run between the two Saults.

The first settlers in the area were connected primarily to the fur trade and came from Ireland, France, Scotland, and England. When the fur trade declined, the settlement became little more than a steamboat landing. In 1857 the population of non-native settlers was 300.

Sault Ste. Marie was incorporated as a village in 1871, and in 1887 as a town. That same year, the Canadian Pacific Railway and the International Bridge over the rapids were constructed; this provided Sault Ste. Marie with active transport connections to a greater area. In 1895 the Ship Canal was opened for traffic. Prosperity led to city status by 1912.

At the turn of the century, a rather enterprising soul by the name of Francis H. Clergue arrived in the area. He was a shrewd man and quickly realized the marvelous potential of the area; within a few years, he had developed numerous industries. The Power Canal was enlarged, the Pulp Mill and the Hudson Bay Railway were constructed, and the iron ore mines of the Michipicoten District were developed. The steel industry was established at Sault Ste. Marie, following the incorporation of The Algoma Steel Company Limited in May 1901, and the first standard steel rails to be made in Canada were rolled in May 1902.

Rapid industrial development attracted European immigrants. Italians, Finnish, French, and Polish arrived, eager to work. Since the end of the Second World War, many Dutch and German families have called Sault Ste. Marie their home.

The 20-million-dollar International Bridge connecting the two “Soos,” as they are affectionately termed, was officially opened in 1963 by Governor George Romney of Michigan and Premier John Roberts of Ontario.

Ernest Hemingway once remarked in the
Toronto Star Weekly
that the best rainbow trout fishing in the world was in the rapids at the Canadian Soo. To this day, St. Mary's Rapids is rated once of the best trout rivers in the world, right on the waterfront of Sault Ste. Marie.

Tourism is a major industry for the city of Sault Ste. Marie today. A very popular attraction in the area is the famous one-day wilderness train tour of Agawa Canyon. Tourists climb aboard to relax and recline in their seats as they roll past beautiful pristine waters and the incredible gorges of Algoma Central Country. It is a 180-kilometre (114-mile) trip from Sault Ste. Marie to the Agawa Canyon, where a two-hour stopover provides an opportunity to photograph waterfalls and rocky cliffs, walk well-groomed nature trails, or climb up to the lookout for an awesome view of the canyon floor below.

This incredible opportunity to see the magnificent geographic features of the Laurentian Shield is available in every season, which is an unusual opportunity in the north.

One can still experience what the Jesuits felt: a virgin land, a land still unconquered, strong, beautiful, defiant, awesome. We are blessed indeed to have this in our midst.

 

On August 4, 1793, Lady Simcoe, the wife of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe, while riding in a boat on Lake Ontario, recorded this in her diary: “We came within sight of what is named in the map, The Highlands. The shore is extremely bold and has the appearance of Chalk Cliffs, appearing so well that we talked of building a summer residence there and calling it Scarborough.” Surveyor Augustus Jones was also particularly struck by the majesty of the cliffs and had earlier been responsible for naming the area “The Highlands.”

On August 27 of that year, on the occasion of the naming of York, the great grey cliffs to the east, so similar to those of the English Yorkshire town, became known as Scarborough.

The Scarborough Bluffs run along Lake Ontario for approximately 9.5 kilometres (six miles). These cliffs contain a vivid record, in the uppermost 60 metres (200 feet), of the last stages of the Great Ice Age. Under layers of glacial till are 45 metres (150 feet) of sediments called the Scarborough beds. They are made up of 18 metres (60 feet) of stratified sand and 27 metres (90 feet) of peaty clay. The clay area contains some wood, leaves, mosses, and the remains of 72 species of beetles, all but two of which are now extinct.

Jonathan Gates was one of the early pioneers here. In 1815 he cleared the land and settled east of the gully that descends to the lake south of the junction of Kingston and Bellamy Roads. Gates wasn't the first person to settle in the area. Only as recently as 1956, when the Miller Paving Company turned up some skeletons, has the earlier settlement history come to light. From 1956–1958 the Royal Ontario Museum ethnologist, Walter Kenyon, excavated the site and charted a village of about one acre in size. Radio-carbon testing showed that the village had been occupied around 1,125 A.D. Evidence found during the dig suggested that it belonged to a pre-Iroquoian group called Glen Meyer. Within the palisade area, archaeologists traced the outline of five multiple-family longhouses. They ranged from 11.5 metres to 18 metres (38 to 60 feet) in length and from six metres to eight metres (20 to 27 feet) in width. A steam-shovel operator cutting into Taboris Hill, at the east side of Bellamy Road north of Lawrence Avenue, exposed an ancient Native burial pit. Two sites, together containing the bones of 472 people, were found. In a solemn ceremony on October 20, 1956, these bones were reburied by the chiefs of the Six Nations.

In the years following 1793, many shrewd government officials and army officers of York obtained generous grants of land in the Township of Scarborough. These landowners were speculators and wanted the sites for future development, or resale at a profit.

In 1796 the highlands of Scarborough caught the eye of a Scottish stone mason by the name of David Thomson. He had come from Dumfriesshire by the way of Niagara and was employed in the construction of the new government buildings of York. Thompson searched beyond the Don River for a home for his family. When he travelled 20 kilometres (12 miles) on a Native trail that wound northeast from the 40 houses on the shore of the bay called York, and 4.5 kilometres (three miles) back from the bluffs, he found his land of promise on the banks of Highland Creek. There he built a lone log cottage not far from the present-day Scarborough Hospital.

Down by the bluffs, at the foot of what is now Markham Road, William Cornell moved his family from the schooner, on which they had lived for a summer, to the heights, where he built a home. In the course of two years, he cleared and planted Scarborough's first orchard. During the winter he travelled to Kingston to purchase millstones in exchange for a fine span of colts and returned by sled to Highland Creek. There he built the first grist and saw mill.

Another courageous Scarborough pioneer was Sarah Ashbridge, a widow who arrived at York from Philadelphia, in 1793. Together with her two sons and three daughters, she settled near the mouth of the Don River. She later began clearing the 300 acres of granted land that extended north from the bluffs, east of Midland Avenue.

In 1803 Stephen Perril built the first brick house in Scarborough. Around 1834 a carpenter named Thomas Adams, who had arrived from Vermont in 1808, built a sailing vessel named the
Mary Ann
, at the mouth of Highland Creek. The vessel provided a tremendous service to the farmers for many years by transporting potash, grain, and shingles to York. On her return trip, the vessel brought flour, salt, and lime to the settlers of Scarborough. By 1830 the population of Scarborough had reached 135.

During the mid-1800s, three gristmills and 23 sawmills operated along the banks of Highland Creek and the Rouge River. Several villages flourished at the crossroads: Highland Creek, Malvern, Ellesmere, Wexford, and Woburn.

Scarborough was formally incorporated as a municipality in 1850. This was the beginning of local self-government. In 1910 Sir Eugene O'Keefe of the Toronto brewing family donated $500,000 for the construction of St. Augustine's Seminary. A lovely site of more than 100 acres was acquired on the south side of Kingston Road, east of Midland Avenue. The imposing structure of St. Augustine's Seminary, crowned by a lofty dome, still stands on the bluffs high above Lake Ontario. Opened and dedicated on August 28, 1913, the seminary has trained at least 1,400 students for the priesthood, over a 50-year span.

Following the end of the First World War, the suburbanization of southern Scarborough grew steadily. By 1925 the population of Scarborough was 15,783 and by 1930 it had grown to 18,351.

At the end of the Second World War, the influx of immigrants from Europe opened a new chapter in the history of Scarborough. Over the next 20 years, farm after farm was devoured by bulldozers. Row upon row of closely packed houses and towering apartment buildings sprang up like a new crop in a farmer's field. Factories emerged and Scarborough quickly became Ontario's fifth-largest municipality, with a population of 224,000.

One of the most extraordinary cultural sites in Scarborough is the Guild Inn. The Guild of All Arts, its original name, began in 1932 when Rosa and Spencer Clark purchased the central property of 40 acres, once known as Ranelagh Park, located on Eglington (the original spelling). They resided in the main building, originally constructed by Gerald Harold C. Bickford, to be his country home.

During the depression the Clarks hoped to help those difficult years by stimulating interest in the arts and crafts, and by indicating ways in which a livelihood might be gained. Within a year there were shops and studios with sculptures, batiks, weavings, tooled leather, ceramics, pewter and copper, wrought-iron, and woodwork. In succeeding years more of the fine and lively arts were added.

Attracted by the activities and the beauty of the setting, atop the Scarborough Bluffs, visitors arrived in increasing numbers. Dining facilities were added and guest rooms followed until the Guild facilities became a flourishing country inn, uniquely situated in the midst of its arts and crafts activities.

During the winter of 1942–43, the Guild became an official naval base, HMCS Bytown II, where the first group of Wrens were trained. Shortly thereafter, the entire property was requisitioned as a specialized military hospital. Used entirely for nervous disorders, it was known as “Scarborough Hall.”

When the Guild was returned to the Clarks in 1947, some of the craftsmen had established themselves elsewhere, some had been lost in the war, but others did return. The Guild's guests and visitors came back in even greater numbers. It was necessary to expand the accommodation, and the Guild Inn name became even more widely known.

The grounds of the Guild are adorned with a collection of historic architecture. More than 40 years of effort by Spencer Clark has resulted in saving important fragments of about 60 buildings; items like Sir Frederick Banting's fireplace and the original steps of Osgoode Hall can be found here. A grindstone, made in Ireland circa 1860, was brought to Canada by the Goldie family of Galt, and it is now on the grounds of the inn.

In 1978 the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, acting for Metropolitan Toronto and the Provincial Government, purchased the Guild and its surrounding land.

Today the Guild Inn is closed. The future of the inn is overshadowed by thoughts of demolition and future development.

Scarborough, throughout its history, has been identified with the stark beauty of its bluffs. The silence, stillness, and the boldness here that caught the attention of Lady Simcoe and the fancy of David Thomson can still be seen and felt. If you walk beneath the cliffs along the lake, you can ignore the modern development around you and gaze over the lake and up the rough-hewn bluff even as our forefathers did. There is a day park there which, fortunately, makes this beautiful sight still available to everyone.

 

When a woman or man is murdered, their soul often remains the prisoner of circumstance. They remain in the vicinity of the crime. For nearly a century, the death of Tom Thomson on Canoe Lake, in 1917, has remained a mystery. Was it accidental drowning or was it murder? The existence of his spirit on Canoe Lake could support the theory of murder. You be the judge.

Tom Thomson was born in Claremont, Ontario, on August 4, 1877. At the age of two months, his parents, along with his six brothers and sisters, moved to the town of Leigh near Owen Sound on Georgian Bay.

As a young boy, he thoroughly enjoyed the outdoors, fishing in the bay, swimming, and boating. Tom had an ear for music and played the violin, mandolin, and coronet. He was also fascinated by birds, the colour of leaves in the autumn, and flowers in the spring. According to his brother, George, he paid keen attention to the seasonal movements of animals. As a teenager he was strongly built and stood almost two metres (six feet). Judge Little, author of
The Tom Thomson Mystery
, said, “Conversely he couldn't find satisfaction in study; he neither finished high school nor completed a machinists' apprenticeship started in his late teens at Owen Sound. He also attempted, but never completed, a business course at Chatham.”

It was in 1901, at the age of 24, that Tom took his first step toward a career in art. He followed his brothers, George and Henry, to Seattle, and there joined a commercial art studio where George had begun a year earlier. There Tom explored the territory of his imagination; there he began experimenting with crayon and then watercolour sketches. Some mention has been given to an unsuccessful romance with a woman while he was in Seattle, which fostered his return to Toronto, in 1905. There he found employment with a commercial art firm.

In 1911, he acquired a new job with the firm of Grip Limited. It was here that he made contact with other kindred spirits — J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Fred Varley, Tom MacLean, A.Y. Jackson, and Frank Carmichael. At 34 Tom had begun to do sketches and oil paintings around Toronto, near the Don Valley, Rosedale Ravine, Scarlet Road, Old Mill, and Lambton.