Hidden Ontario (28 page)

Her passion for local history, and the tragic death surrounding Tom Thomson, led Clemson to create the Tom Thomson Murder Mystery Game. According to Deemeester, Clemson, in her game, looked at some of the theories behind Thomson's death:

 

Deemeester also added, “According to current Ontario Parks government policy, all residential leaseholders will be obligated to either tear down or burn their buildings and ensure that the land is returned to its original state by 2017 — ironically, 100 years after the death of Thomson.”

There are many unexplained events on Canoe Lake. One young girl, Sarah, found a painting tucked in a crack in a tree and an old piece of wood inscribed with a biblical quote. Does she have a Tom Thomson original? Who is creating mystical art in Algonquin Park?

There are power boats on the lake now. There are mysteries, and there are many unanswered questions for the curious visitors.

 

“The City with a heart of gold” — Timmins, “The Gold Capital,” located in the heartland of the greatest mineral-producing area in the Western Hemisphere.

Timmins has seen economic activity since the early French fur trade in 1678.The discovery of silver in Cobalt, in 1903, enabled Noah and Henry Timmins, general store operators, to make a small fortune. From there Noah and Henry went on to finance the development of claims that had been staked by prospectors Benny Hollinger and Alec Gillies, at Porcupine Camp, now Timmins. It was renamed in 1909 in honour of these two industrious men.

The first mining claim in the district was staked in May 1905 on the southwest shore of Nighthawk Lake by Edward Orr Taylor. The following year Reuben D'Aigle headed up a prospecting party in Tisdale Township.

The D'Aigle party made a very significant oversight. To their misfortune, they missed some fairly obvious rich gold showings that were merely covered by moss. It was Jack Wilson Massey who uncovered the Golden Staircase, as it was called, and it eventually became known as the Dome Mine.

Two Finnish prospectors, Victor Mansen and Harry Benella, made a gold discovery on Gold Island, in Nighthawk Lake, in 1907. The immediate finds, however, were not encouraging and the project was suspended. It was Charlie Auer who later staked a nearby claim that became the Nighthawk Peninsula Mine and, between 1924 and 1944, produced about $500,000 in gold.

Barber Benny Hollinger and his partner, Alec Gillies, made the first substantial strike, south of present-day Gillies Lake, in Timmins. Noah and Henry Timmins invested their money in the Hollinger interests, and the Hollinger Mine was incorporated in 1910. A property that was staked by Sandy McIntyre and Hans Buttner became the McIntyre Mine. It was later discovered that copper was also present in the mine and, by 1963, the copper ore recovered exceeded that of gold.

It was still the shanty town of Porcupine Camp in 1911, but it was beginning to grow with the help of prospectors and other investors. In July of that year disaster struck. Gale-force winds fanned a number of scattered bush fires into a massive firestorm that flattened the entire settlement and killed 200 people. Many were buried on the shore of Porcupine Lake, a location appropriately called Dead Man's Point.

The Municipality of Timmins came into being on January 1, 1912, and grew quickly. So many people came here from different parts of the world that it can be said that Timmins was “multicultural” before the rest of Canada.

The Timmins area has been a steady producer in gold production alone, more than $1.5 billion has been mined here. Immense copper, silver, and zinc reserves have been unearthed in the Kidd Creek area. This most notable discovery was announced in 1964, by the Texas Gulf Sulphur Company. Their Kidd Mine operation is now operated by Falconbridge Limited, and remains a viable metallurgical industry.

Stone is an impressive material, and the Timmins-Porcupine Chamber of Commerce understood this when they raised a 15-ton ore specimen from the Kidd Creek Mine, containing zinc, copper, silver, lead, and cadmium.

The Timmins Underground Gold Mine Tour is a great tourist attraction and is located at the Hollinger gold mine on James Reid Road. The underground portion of the tour lasts approximately 1.5 hours and is guided by retired miners who operate all of the various equipment. On the surface, visitors can pan for gold (keep all you find), view the pouring of a “Gold” brick at the Refinery, or tour the Hollinger House.

Timmins is the largest mining municipality in the world today and it is also very picturesque, with more than 500 lakes and hundreds of miles of streams. There is camping at Kettle Lake Provincial Park, 20 minutes from downtown, and it is one of Ontario's finest parks.

It is an unfortunate state of affairs, in a land of such natural beauty, to learn about the mineral rights in the area. You may think you own your property in Timmins, but you do not own the rights to what exists beneath the soil. You have “surface rights.” The rest of the rights are already owned by previously staked mines. Therefore, if a copper, gold, or silver vein is discovered on your land, you could find heavy equipment digging up your backyard tomorrow.

Residents of Timmins are well aware of this unfortunate situation. Just a few years ago, a mining company decided to claim the gold tailings discovered in a city park. The trees were ripped out of the ground and the earth was removed. In a very short time there was nothing left of the park. What will it take for mankind to end the rape and pillage of the earth? To put something back where something has been taken? Perhaps the city fathers should remember their title: “City with a Heart of Gold!”

 

A French fortified post named Fort Rouille was built in 1749 on the present site of the Canadian National Exhibition. Prior to this, Native fur traders travelled down the Humber River, across Lake Ontario to Fort Oswego to trade with the English on the south side of Lake Ontario.

Natives named the fort Toronto, meaning “Place of Meeting.” That fort was burned by the French when it became evident that the British might take it over. An obelisk erected on the actual site, and a concrete outline in the grass of Fort Rouille, just west of the bandshell on the CNE grounds, is all that is left to tell the tale.

The British were anxious to own this new territory and negotiated with the Natives in 1787 for the land that the city of Toronto now occupies. Natives still contend that ownership of the Toronto Islands was never negotiated in the treaty, named “Toronto Purchase.” This treaty encompassed an area stretching 23 kilometres (14 miles) along Lake Ontario and running northward for 48 kilometres (30 miles). In return for this, the British paid the Natives 1,700 pounds sterling and 149 barrels of goods (axes, cloth, and blankets). One year later, the southern section of land was surveyed for a townsite.

It wasn't actually settled until 1793, when John Graves Simcoe established Fort York. Simcoe called the new settlement York, in honour of the son of George III of England.

At noon, on August 27, 1793, Simcoe ordered the first royal salute to be fired to celebrate the birth of the capital of Upper Canada. To pay homage to such status, Upper Canada's first “government house” was a canvas tent. Three years later the first parliament buildings were constructed at Front and Berkeley Streets. Unfortunately, the buildings were burned to the ground by American forces during the War of 1812. Little York defended itself bravely during the war against the American force of 2,400 soldiers. However, the Americans won the day after an eight hour battle. Not satisfied with winning, American soldiers torched York's public building and temporarily occupied the town until the British regained control.

Government officials erected a new brick government building on the same site, in 1818, and it was destroyed by fire as well. A third parliamentary building constructed west of present-day Union Station on Front Street served as the seat of the government until 1893. New buildings were then erected in Queen's Park at the head of University Avenue on April 4 of that year, and the Ontario Legislature opened its 26th session. Premier Oliver Mowat presided over the legislature.

A traveller visiting the settlement in 1798 remarked, “A dreary dismal place, not even possessing the characteristics of a village. There is no church, schoolhouse nor, in fact, any of the ordinary signs of civilization. There is no inn, and those travellers who have no friends to go to, pitch a tent and live there while they remain.”

Upper Canada's capital, situated on low-lying ground, became known as Muddy York, especially in the spring. It was Bishop Strachan, an educator and the first Anglican Bishop of York, who was instrumental in the development of the settlement. Bishop Strachan founded King's College, chartered in 1827, as the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada. King's College later became known as the University of Toronto.

The name York ceased to exist in 1834, when the settlement reverted back to the Native name, Toronto, and it was incorporated that same year as the City of Toronto, population 9,000. This grand city inhabited one square mile and extended north to Dundas Street, west to Bathurst Street, and east to Parliament Street. The first mayor of the city was William Lyon Mackenzie, a Scotsman, editor of a newspaper, and opponent of the Family Compact — the ruling class. Mackenzie's career as a reformer climaxed during the armed Rebellion of 1837. This battle was fought near Montgomery's Tavern on Yonge Street, and it ended with Mackenzie's defeat and exile.

Trinity College, Toronto, circa 1860.

Courtesy of Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library

The most famous and the longest street in Canada, Yonge Street, began as a soldier's trail in 1795. This pathway provided a route and connection to Lake Simcoe to the north. York's first industry, a tannery, opened on Yonge Street in 1812. In 1849 Yonge Street saw the city's first public transportation: four six-passenger, horse-drawn omnibuses operating between the St. Lawrence Market and the Red Lion Hotel in Yorkville. The first horse-drawn street railway in Canada appeared on Yonge Street in 1861. Electric trolleys began in 1892 on Church Street and reached a speed of 10 miles per hour. Timothy Eaton opened his first business in 1869 — a dry goods store on Yonge Street, and Robert Simpson followed suit three years later.

The first steam engine to be built in Canada was at Good's Foundry. On April 16, 1853, this quaint locomotive, named
Toronto
, was transported down Yonge Street to the permanent tracks on Front Street, at the foot of Bay Street. A month later that same locomotive headed the first train to run in Ontario. It went from Toronto to Machell's Corner, which is now Aurora. The first train to visit Toronto on the newly completed Grand Trunk line arrived on October 27, 1856. The city's first Union Station, a small brick building at the foot of York Street, was built for joint use of the Grand Trunk, the Northern, and the Great Western Railways until a new station was opened west of York in 1873. The Union Station that we see today was started in 1914 and completed 13 years later, at which time it was opened by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) during his 1927 trip to celebrate Canada's 60th birthday.

Crime always accompanies major cities, and although we read about it every day, it certainly isn't new. By 1862 at least 12 people had been hanged in Canada, and Toronto had some stories to share. Flogging and branding were common punishments for petty larceny and other misdemeanours in the early 19th century. The hangman usually administered the lash and most often did so in public. It was also his duty to brand criminals. This was usually done on the hands or on the tongue, until 1802, when it was abolished for all but manslaughter.

York's first public execution occurred in 1798. The crime was forging an order for three shillings and sixpence. The accused was John Sullivan, a tailor. It had actually been Mike Flannery who did the forgery job. Flannery had simply used Sullivan, but upon hearing news of the discovery of the forged document, Flannery fled to the United States. Sullivan was merely the man who signed the document in order to cash it. He was sentenced to death, and confined in an old log jail situated near the present King Edward Hotel. On the day of the execution, October11, people celebrated as if it were a public holiday. A huge crowd of men, women, and children congregated by the gallows, and there stood Sullivan waiting to be hanged. The crowd watched with bated breath. Snap went the rope. Sullivan's neck did not. The rope had broken. Not only was he the first to be hanged. He was the first to be hanged twice!