Incidents of pioneer days at Guelph and the County of Bruce

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DAVID KENNEDY, SR.

PIONEER DAYS

INCIDENTS

OF

PIONEER DAYS

AT

GUELPH

AND THE COUNTY OF BRUCE

BY

DAVID KENNEDY, SR.

TORONTO

1903

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one
thousand nine hundred and three, by DAVID KENNEDY, Sr., at the Depart
ment of Agriculture.

TO THE READER

The writer of this book would call
your attention to three things : first,
the contents are actual experiences and
conditions which are in no way colored
or embellished ; second that there is no
pretense to literary excellence, and third,
that it is written that the reader may
see the great strides of progress made
in one generation and not forget the
pioneer days of our great country.

WAS born in the Mansion House
of Craig, in the Parish of Colo-
monell, Ayrshire, Scotland, upon
the 2oth day of April, in the year
1828. My father, John Ken
nedy, was the youngest son of
David Kennedy, Laird of Craig, which estate is
entail.

My mother, Sarah Caldwell, was the youngest
daughter of a large farmer, and was born on the
Farm of Morriston, in the Parish of Kirkswald,
Ayrshire. They were married upon the <>7th
day of December, in the year 1825.

My father and mother united the names of
their birth places, and called our homestead in
the Paisley Block, Guelph, Craigmorriston, in
which place I resided for about fifty-five years.

Emigration and Ultimate Settlement at Guelph

My father and mother, with my oldest brother,
William, and m,y self, emigrated to Canada when
I was one year old, leaving Scotland in the
month of April and in the year 1829, and after a
long and tedious voyage in a small vessel, ar
rived in Montreal during the summer. My

father did not like the appearance of the coun
try and thought of returning to Scotland at
once, and going as far down the St. Lawrence
River as the town of Berthier, remained there
during the winter, and while staying there heard
very favorable accounts of the Canada Company
lands around Guelph. This caused him to
change his mind, and in the spring of 1830 he
again turned his face westward, and after a slow
journey, arrived at Guelph during the summer.
Guelph at that time was nearly all forest, and
had only a few log houses, for it had only been
surveyed in the spring of 1827.

My father, after a short residence at Guelph,
selected a lot in what was afterwards known as
the Paisley Block, in Guelph Township, near
what is now the City of Guelph. My father
never had much experience in the way of labor,
and especially in clearing up of land, so that
very little progress was made for many years,
and not until we boys began to grow up, and
many and great were the hardships endured at
that time by my mother and her little boys, for
my brother, John Caldwell, was born during our
stay in Guelph, in Nov., 1830. As time passed
on, the number of the family increased to nine,
the five oldest being boys and the four youngest
girls. All grew up to manhood and womanhood
but one little girl. In the course of a few
years, when we grew up towards manhood, we
soon put a different face upon things, and in
stead of poverty and want there was a comfort
able home and plenty. But we could see that in

a short time this home would be much too small
for us to remain much longer upon.

William and I Journey to Owen Sound and then to

Southampton

In the beginning of the year 1851, and some
time after having prepared a comfortable home
for our parents and the younger children of the
family, my oldest brother, William, and I
thought it to be our duty to start out and try
to make new homes for ourselves in some part
of the country, and just about this time there
were wonderfully glowing accounts in circulation
regarding the suitableness of the Saugeen River
valley as a farming district.

After seriously considering the matter William
and I concluded that we would try and get there
and see for ourselves.

So about the beginning of January, in the year
1851, we drove a horse and light sleigh up to
Owen Sound, and, after reaching there and rest
ing a few days with an old friend, Mr. Wm. Cor
bet, and obtaining fuller information, concerning
the remaining part of our journey, we proceeded,
and our friend, Mr. Corbet, and a friend of his,
Mr. Sparling, accompanied us to the mouth of
the Saugeen River.

So, after making all needful preparations for
the journey, and securing an Indian as guide, we
started one afternoon, and went as far as Mr.
Jimby s for the night, whose was the last and
only house on the way, and is about five miles
from Owen Sound village. This we did in order

9

to shorten the distance and make it possible for
us to get through on the following day, a dis
tance then supposed to be about thirty miles,
through a dense forest covered with deep snow.
But we made an early start the following morn
ing, and with constant and steady perseverance
we all managed to reach Southampton before it
was quite dark. Some of us were very tired and
nearly used up. But we got a very kind recep
tion from the few inhabitants that were in that
place. I do not think that there were more than
one or two families there.

Our Stay at and Departure from Southampton

While in Southampton we stayed with an old
acquaintance, Mr. George Butchart, formerly of
Pilkington Township, who, with his brother-in-
law, Mr. Orr, were at that time engaged in fish
ing. They had erected a log house during the
preceding fall and although it was by no means
completed as yet, still, Mrs. Butchart, a very
active lady of very superior appearance, and
who, I think, was the only white woman in the
place at that time, did all she could to make us
all feel as comfortable as possible after our long
walk through the deep snow. So the next morn
ing, William and I, after being advised and in
structed as to what direction and course we
should take, travelled along the lake shore four
or five miles, until we came to what is now Port
Elgin, and there we went back from the lake a
mile or two, and were so delighted and satisfied
with the appearance of the timber and lay of the

10

land that we then and there decided to try if
possible to make future homes for ourselves out
in this beautiful forest.

After another hard day s travel we re
turned to our kind hostess, Mrs. Butchart, who
soon prepared for us a supply of deliciously
cooked fresh white fish, which we all greatly re
lished after a long fast, and, remaining another
night there, and getting an early breakfast, we
started on our return journey to Owen Sound,
leaving our Indian guide behind, as he preferred
to remain at the Indian village where he had
left us on the way over.

We then bid our present friend a parting adieu,
hoping all to return some day in the near future,
for we were all so well satisfied with what we
had already seen of the country that we wished
to get back to it. So, in due time, we all reach
ed the Sound in safety, only feeling a little tired
from the long journey. But we found the return
journey much easier, owing to the path being
broken by our tracks across a few days before.

Oar Return to Guelph and Preparations to Return to

Saugeen

So, after remaining a day in Owen Sound, we
again set oil on our return journey to Guelph,
which place we also reached in safety.-

Arrived there, we gave an account of our trav
els, and a description of what we had seen of the
country to those who were an xious to know, and
felt an interest in our future welfare, and, after
fuller deliberation and consultation with inter-

11

ested friends, we decided to make an early start
to an almost inaccessible and uninhabited part
of the country, which at that time was an un
broken forest for many miles, and in a great
measure entirely cut off from outside communi
cation. The country was not yet surveyed, and
the few that were at the mouth of the Saugeen
River had gone there by boat on the lake for the
purpose of carrying on the fishing, which at that
time and for many years was and still continues
an important industry. But as there was no rea
sonable way of reaching this place but by water,
it looked more like foolishness than common
sense to attempt such an undertaking. Neverthe
less we had resolved to make the attempt, and
were joined in and encouraged by two of our
near neighbors, young men, like ourselves. We
had been raised alongside of each other, upon ad
joining farms, and our intimacy was of the most
friendly kind, so, when we decided to try our
fortunes in these new quarters, they resolved to
accompany us, and began making immediate pre
parations for doing so, as they did not care to
remain behind after we had gone. After com
pleting further arrangements, we engaged a col
ored man, a Mr. John Taylor, who at that time
had a good yoke of oxen and new wagon, and I
also had a yoke of cattle, which I wished to
take up with us. So we hitched them to the wag
on, and then put the other yoke in front, as they
were better broken to work, and so Mr. Taylor
drove the tandem team, and amongst us we
managed to fill the wagon up pretty full with
boxes, bedding, bundles, cook-stove, and other

12

odds and ends that we thought would come use
ful in the settlement of a new home in the
woods. Besides we took with us a limited sup r
ply of provisions and groceries, and such tools
as were indispensable in a new country. Upon
the whole the load was not of much value, but
very useful for us to possess.

Our Start for the New Country

So, upon the 25th day of March, in the year
1851, one fine morning, for this was an extreme
ly mild and early spring, for the snow was near
ly all gone, although the frost was still in the
ground and wheeling was fairly good, upon this
eventful morning, my brother William and I,
with our neighbor, Samuel Strowger, and our
colored Jehu, started on our journey of migra
tion, Philip Strowger having been detained on
business one day behind the others. The roads
being fairly good, we reached Fergus the first
night, and while staying there we met with a
young man called Thomas Burgess, who said
that he came from Peel County, and was on his
way to Owen Sound or some other part of the
country in search of his fortune, and as soon as
he heard that we were going to the mouth of the
Saugeen River he at once decided to cast in his
lot and accompany us, and so afterwards stuck
closely to us and became a partaker in all our
hardships and sufferings for the time being, and I
understand that he afterwards became a settled
resident of the place, and, being by trade a coop
er, he found plenty of employment in the making
of fish barrels.

13

On the morning of the second day we left
Fergus in good time, and succeeded in getting as
far as the Township of Arthur that night, and
putting up at a wayside inn. We made an early
start the next morning, and after driving a mile
or two we halted to cook some breakfast by the
roadside, where there was some wood.

Our Journey Continued, Whiskey Incident

While here we were nearly having a tragedy of
a very serious kind enacted, for during our stay
in Fergus our colored teamster had purchased
for his own use a jug of whiskey, and sometime
during the previous afternoon he was refreshing
himself from this jug, and then asked our friend
Sam to take a little also. This offer was wil
lingly accepted. This really was Sam s weakest
spot, for all the rest of our present party were
strictly temperate in their habits.

And as Mr. Taylor had brought a small chest
along with him in the wagon to hold his provis
ions during the journey, he also put this whiskey
jug into it and then securely locked it up for the
night, and how great was his surprise and in
dignation, when he got up upon the wagon for
his provisions, to find the lock broken and his
whiskey jug empty. He at once accused Sam of
being the guilty party and of having broken the
lodk and drunk all his whiskey. Sam as vigor
ously denied the charge, at the same time using
uncomplimentary language to the colored man,
which caused him to get himself into a most un
controllable passion. His eyes shone like two

14

balls of fire, he foamed at the mouth, and he
had a voice like a lion, and as he was a power
fully strong man he would soon have made an
end of Sam had he got hold of him.

But my brother and I got between them and
used all our persuasive powers to prevent what
might have ended very seriously if we had not
managed to keep Sam out of his reach until we
got him taken away oat of his sight. While
speaking of our friend, Mr. Sam, here, I may
say that he belonged to a fine, large English
family, comprising eleven in number, and they
were supposed to be rather aristocratic in their
tendencies, and consisted of six verv handsome
young ladies, who all grew up and afterwards
were all comfortably married. The other five
were boys, of which Philip was the eldest, and
our hero, Sam, the second. He was always a
great lover of horses, and was much in the pub
lic, and there learned to indulge too freely in the
use of that which afterwards became his master.

Our Journey Up Continued and Terminated on the

6th Day

So, upon the third day of our travels we
reached before evening Mr. Thos. Smith s hotel,
in Kgermont, which is a short distance past
what is now Mount Forest town, but which at
that time was all forest, as there was not a
house in sight, and while remaining at this ho
tel we were overtaken by Mr. Philip Strowger,
which made our party up to five in number, ex
clusive of Mr. Taylor, who by this time had re
turned to his usual mode of temper.

15

And upon the fourth day, evening, we arrived
safely at Mr. Hunter s hotel, in the village of
Durham, remaining there for the night, and while
there received a great deal of kindness, and also
useful information from Mr. Hunter regarding
the remaining portion of our journey and the
best way to take in order to accomplish our ob
ject. He advised us to go down the new line of
road towards Walkerton, instead of going by
way of Owen Sound. This new road from Dur
ham had been cut during the preceding fall, and
two new bridges were built over the Saugeen
River. We were advised to stop at the first
bridge and there make a raft or a scow and from
there go down the river to its mouth.

After getting so much useful information
from Mr. Hunter, we concluded to take his ad
vice and carry out his instructions as far as pos
sible. I also made suitable arrangements
with Mr. Hunter to keep my oxen when they re
turned after delivering the load at the bridge.
So, upon the fifth day of our travelling we start
ed to go down the Durham line, which we found
to be a hard road to travel. Night overtook us
and we had to make a fire of logs by the way
side, and there we spent the first night, a taste
of what we had for several weeks following to
pass through. The night was cold and chilly.
However, about noon on, the sixth day we reach
ed the bridge and there we unloaded the wagon
and allowed our colored Jehu to return with
oxen and wagon, with orders to leave my oxen
in charge of Mr. Hunter at Durham until the

16

woods would supply sufficient to sustain them
with food.

Our Decision to Make a Scow

So, having at last reached our present destina
tion, we hastened to erect some temporary tent
or cover as a shelter until we had devised the
wav of our further transportation, and after
some deliberation, we all came to the conclusion
that a good scow would be safer and easier to
manage than a raft upon such a great, rushing
river. But the question arose, where are we to
get the lumber to make a scow? There is
none nearer than Durham, and that cannot be
thought of; it is quite out of the question. Some
one suggested that if we could get a saw we
could find a pine tree and cut the lumber our
selves, and, fortunately for us, just at that time
we received a visit from a Mr. Schuke, who had
helped to build the bridges the preceding season,
and he possessed a saw and other tools requisite
for the making of a scow, so we engaged him to
assist us in the undertaking, which he very
readily consented to do.

He had removed, with his family into the
Township of Btntik the preceding season and
settled a short distance from where we had un
loaded our wagon, and which is now near or in
the village of Hanover.

So, we selected a large pine some distance
from the bridge and in a thick swamp covered
several feet deep with water and snow slush,
making it verv difficult of access, and hard to

17

reach. But for all that we got at it and had the
tree skilfully cut down upon supports high en
ough to enable the sawyers to do their work
more perfectly, and it did not take very long
time for us to get all the material cut and
readv for the making of a scow.

But the next, and greatest difficulty of all,
was to get this lumber to where it could be
made up, and then conveniently launched into
the river. The planks were green and heavy,
thev were more than thirty feet in length, two
inches thick and eighteen inches wide.

Our Continuation and Workshop at the Bridge

You mav imagine that it was no small job to
carry these heavv, long timbers such a distance,
and through such a thicket, covered with slush
and water. However, by persistent toil and con
stant perseverance, it was accomplished in time
and without accident, and in a short time the
scow was set up and completed, after causing uis
to make several trips to Durham for nails and
other needed supplies. And to add to our trials
and disappointments, by the time we got our
scow completed the river, from the effects of
heavv rains and melting snow, had risen to
such height that we found ourselves shut in uppn
a small piece of high land at the end of tjhe
bridge, where our stuff was placed, and we were
surrounded by water from three to five feet deep,-
so that our condition was anything but an envi
able one, and still worse than all, we were in-
Jormed that the water was so high that we cotuld

18

not pass under the bridge at Walkerton, although
it had been built twenty feet above low water,
so you ma} T imagine how greatly swollen the
river had become.

And I can assure you that we had all become
heartily sick and tired of this place and its sur
roundings. We had no shelter from wet or cold,
day or night, nothing but a continuance of wet
clothes and wet feet all the time for over two
weeks. That we were compelled to remain in
this miserable, comfortless abode, where we were
exposed to the inclemency of the weather at this
changeable season of the year, and when I tell
vou that we had neither bed, table nor chair,
cup, saucer nor plate, knife nor fork, and we never
had our clothes off during all this time, and for
several weeks afterwards. And you will not be
surprised when I tell you that we often wished
that we had never left our homes of comfort and,
plenty to endure such inexpressible hardships.
Our food consisted of fried pork, boiled potatoes,
scones made from flour, mixed with cold water,
and a little saleratus and salt, baked in a frying
pan over coals, and sometimes a drink of hem
lock tea, and we had always -to use our jack-
knives to cut our pork with and a scone for a
plate, so I can assure you that in a few
weeks we did not look a verv spicy looking 1
crowd, but quite the opposite. Nevertheless our
numbers continued to increase. There were
many from all parts coming in looking for land,
and stopping at Durham on their way up, heard
of our making a scow, and they were advised to
come down to us and try if we would not take

19

them down the river with us o,n our scow. We
had five in our own company, and were joined by
three, Messrs Martindale from New Brunswick, a
father and two sons, arid there were also two
brothers, John and Jake Atkinson, from some
where near Toronto, and a Mr. Boyle and an
other whose flame I have forgotten. Altogether
there were twelve of us awaiting the lowering
of the waters in the river. Some of these parties
had gone back to Durham and some went down
to Mr. Walker s, all to be in readiness to start so
soon as the water got low enough to allow of
us passing under the bridge at Walkerton, which
we hoped we would be able to accomplish in a
few davs time.

Our Departure Down the River

And u pon the first Monday we got our scow
loa,ded up and ready to start upon the Tuesday
morning. Leaving this comfortless and inhospit-
aible place early in the morning, we started down
the roaring river, ankl we had not gone very far
when it commenced to rain, and we soon got
well soaked. However, we were becoming well
accustomed to such things and did not mind it
much, so anxious were we to proceed forward on
our journey, and before starting we had set up
the cook-stove in the scow and put a length or
two of pipe on and made our fire in imitation
af a steamboat, and we had rowlocks and pad
dles for oars, besides a long sweep behind to
steer the scow. This sweep or helm was twelve
feet long, and had great power in the steering of

20

the scow, and we were greatly assisted by the
Messrs. Martindale, who were accustomed to
river navigation where thev came from, in the
lower province, so, while passing down the
crooked and swift flowing river, about noon we
saw the lirst little clearing, and having brought
with us the long tin dinner horn or trumpet, we
commenced blowing in imitation, of a steamboiat
whistle, when Mr. Josep/h Walker, the founder of
the now pretty town of Walkerton, and the oth
er male inhabitants of the place, came running
to the river s edge, cheering and waving their
hats in the air, and so great was the tumult and
noise of cheering and blowing the horn that
those pulling at the oars did not hear the in
structions given bv the man at the helm to pull
hard on their oars, but thought that he wanted
them to desist rowing, and the scow at that
time was headed in lor the shore. The swift
current soon got a side sweep upon her and sent
her round about at great speed, just missing
one of the piers of the bridge bv a few inches.
We had a verv narrow escape from utter de
struction, for if we had struck the pier our scow
and all upon her would have suddenly been
dashed to pieces an"d lost, the current was so
very swift and the water so deep that escape
would have been almost impossible, and those
on shore who saw the occurrence became pale
\vith fear, and we all got a great fright. But
fortunately we all escaped being swept ofi by
the sudden sweep, and after receiving on board
the remaining passengers and getting a small
supply of potatoes and flour we were soon again

on our rapid course down the river. But \ve
had not passed far from under the bridge when
we again were nearly having another narrow es
cape. So high was the water an,d swift the cur
rent at that time, and as there was a small is
land near the bridge, and upon it there was a
large bent cedar tree, leaning oiver the deep wa
ter only a few feet from its surface, and under
this tree the swift current seemed to draw us,
so that it required all our skill and efforts to
be put forth to prevent ourselves and everything
upon the scow being completely swept off in|to
the water. It was another hairbreadth escape.

The weather by this time had changed from
the warm, wet morning, for it had cleared up
now, and had become cold and windy, which
caused our wet garments to make us feel rather
uncomfortable, and we suffered" more or less from
the cold. But we continued to proceed dawn the
river without meeting with any serious mishaps,
and towards evening we ran our scow in to the
shore and tied her up fast to a tree for the
night.

And then looking for the best place to spend
the night, we took shelter under a large tree.
We soon made a fire and prepared wood for the
night and some hemlock branches to lay down
,upion, and as I was appointed to be chief cook
and butler for the time being I had a very busy
time in preparing food for so many. I had three
frying pans in use, some frying pork and two
baking scones, which I made by filling a large
pan with flour and then putting in a little salt
and a small quantity of saleratus, and after this

22

mixing with cold water until it became a stifi
dough, and then pressing- it into a frying pan,
and if the pan had been lately used for frying
pork that made the scone taste all the better.
But whether they tasted good or not they were
in great demand, and it seems astonishing the
quantity it required to supply the wants of a
dozen very hungry men, and I could not prorvide
the victuals fast enough to keep them all engag
ed at one time in eating, and it took a long time
before all were satisfied.

Our First Night Out on the Voyage

So, after the appetites of all" h/ad been satisfied
with eating, the next important business with
the majority of those present was to fill their
pipes, when smoking became the order of thjb
evening, and afterwards the telling of anecdotes
and stories occupied the greater part of their
time. I would sav just here that although many
of our company were almost entire strangers to
each other, yet our intercourse and treatment o!
each other was of the kindliest and most consid
erate nature. Perhaps our fellowship in suffering
may have had something to do in the matter,
and we are brought to feel our greater depend
ence upon each other. Such has generally been
the case in newly-settled communities. To re
turn to our story, as the evening passed on
drowsiness took possession of the speakers, when
wearied nature had to give in, and sleep gained
the ascendancy and silence prevailed. Yet the fire
required frequent attention, owing to the night

being so cold and windy, and some little time
before daylight we had a thick fall of snow,
which soon covered the unprotected sleepers to
some depth, but the sleepers continued to enjoy
their peaceful repose, seemingly quite unconscious
of their unpleasant condition. But such are some
of the varieties of life, and I felt tempted to say,
great is the power of endurance. Then I got up
and made on a good fire and prepared a good
pot of potatoes, to be ready for breakfast, and I
got some hemlock to make hot tea, baked more
cakes or scones, and fried pork. So I soon had
breakfast readv, and we all took a good drink of
hot hemlock tea, as it was considered a good
preventive of colds, and we no doubt stood in
need of something off that kind, after such severe
exposure.

Our Second Day on the Water, Past Paisley

So upon this Wednesday morning we again
untied our scow arid all got aboard, and we
made an early start down the river, and we had
not gone very far before we saw the first appear
ance of civilization; there were some lately cut
trees near the river banks and a newly-built
shanty, and we found the occupant to be Mr.
Simeon Orchard, the very first settler and foun
der of what is now the busy town of Paisley,
and just where the Mu,d or Tay River enters the
Saugeen. After a short stay with Mr. Orchard
we again pursued our journey down what was, to
all of us, quite unknown regions, and not know
ing what lav before us on our wav do\vn this

24

great, crooked, rapid running- river, which it was
in those davs, and the thought frequently occur
red to us that we were the first party of white
men that ever were known to pass safely down
this river.

And so, about noon we came to a beautiful
level beach, very heavilv timbered with fine
large maples like an extensive sugar bush. Here
we went ashore to get some dinner ready,
and also for the purpose of exploration, and so
greatly were we pleased with the appearance of
the land that we would have liked to locate
there had we known anything 1 of our where
abouts. So, after getting some dinner, we again
got aboard and continued our passage down till
about the middle of the afternoon when we again
observed some newlv cut trees, the first since
leaving Paislev. We immediately made prepar-
atio;ns to salute aricfc got our long horn and com
menced sounding it, and no sooner had we done
so than we saw r two men coming miming to
wards us, waving their hats and arms in the
air and cheering ajid beckoning tis to run our
scow into shore.

Our Arrival Down Near the Lake

And when we did go ashore, how great was
oiur surprise and delight to meet with an old
acquaintance from the Township of Pilkington,
Mr. Alexander Wallace, with his frien d,
Mr. James Cathay, the teacher or missionarv to
the Indians at their village near the mouth of
the Saugecn River. He was one of the two first

white men in this part of the country in 1848.
The other one was the Rev. Mr. Willis ton, In
dian missionary. Mr. Wallace had arrived
and located himself here i a few days previously,
and had Mr. Cathay assisting h dm to get a house
built; after introductory explanations we re
ceived some desirable and useful information re
garding the localitv, anjd were told that we were
only a bout three miles distant from the lake,
and about twelve from the mouth of the river,
as the river and lake run nearlv parallel with
each other for some ^distance. So, after obtaining
this information we secured our scow to a newly
cut stump, and started in the way that we were
directed to have a look at the great Lake Hur
on. So we passed d;own through a fine timbered
farming land and what is now the pretty village
of Port Elgin, and there for the first time most
of us took a look at the great lake. Returning
by the same track, we all greatly admired the
appearance of the forest that we had passed
through.

So, returning to o,ur scow, we made prepara
tions for supper and a place to lodge in during
the night, as it was again turning rather cold,
and our newly-found friends had only a shed
made of logs oin three sides and open at the
front, where they had a fire made of logs, with
some brush to lay utpon, but the wind was blow
ing strongly from the fire into the shed, filling
the place with smoke and ashes, which made the
place most unendurable and we could not stay
there any longer, and we had to get out and
make some other kind of shelter for ourselves,

26

and gathering some boughs we tried to erect a
kind of break-wind, but for all that we put in a
miserable, disagreeable night, suffering much
from the cold wind.

Second Night and Philip Selects His Home Witt
Mr. Wallace on River Bank

This caused some of us to deplore our condi
tion and grieve over the folly o,f our coming to
such a place. But in due time morning came
and with it a bright sun and warmer day, and
after replenishing ourselves again with break
fast and taking further counsel with those of our
party who were desirous of selecting homesteads,
we acted upon the advice of our new
Iriends, who advised us to cross over the river
to the other side, as the land was reported to be
even better than on this side. And immediately
acting upon such advice we again boarded our
scow and pulled for the other side, and soon
landed again upon a bea utiful, large river flat,
where we again tied up the scow and at once
started upon a tour of inspection, and going
down the river quite a distance viewing the land.
Those that were not so anxious to secure farm
ing lands proceeded down towards ^the Indian
village, and thus to the mouth of the river, while
the remainder of our partv returned to our scow
and at once commenced to erect some temporary
shelter for the night and prepare food, for we
were all very hungry. Travelling over the virgin
soil seemed to be a great appetizer for we were
always hungrv.

The following morning Philip Strowger select
ed for a home a fine site upon the large flats,
near where we now were and opposite the large
island in the river, and we all immediately join
ed in to assist him in the erection of a small
house, which he said would be a home for us all
until we had provided one for ourselves. So, in
a short time we had one up and coVered with
slabs of basswood, and we soon had it habitable,
and it was even a vast improvement upon wh;at
we had been lately enjoying, and we were invit
ed to consider this place as our present home.

Assisted Philip to Build His House

Philip was a very expert hand at using an axe
and a strong voting man, measuring near six
feet four inches in height, and he soon managed
to put things into shape, and then he went with
us to asj?ist and advise in the selection of farms.
We generally took long tramps, as we had so
much to choose from and were always looking
for something better. When we returned in the
evening we were nearly dead from hunger. So
we thought it would be better that one of us
stay at home and have some food prepared upon
our return. So our friend, Mr. Sam, did not
seem to be as anpdous as some of the others
about choosing a farm for himself, and he will
ingly volunteered to remain arid do the coo,king
for that day. As we started out that morning
Philip as usual was carrying his gun. When we
were a few yards from the house a partridge flew
up., and Philip shot it and carried it back to the

hoiuise and gajve it to Sam with orders to haye it
nicely cleaned and made into soup by the time
we returned, as soup , would be s uch a nice change
after using- so much salt pork. So we departed,
leaving Sam to have a nicely prepared dinner
reajdy for us upon our return. After a long walk
we- returned about four o clock as hungry as
hawks, and great was our disappointment at
finding nothing rea dy to eat, and there was Sam
lying comfortably upon his back cointentedly
smoking his pipe, quite at his ease, and when
Philip asked him why he had not cooiked dinner
he replied that he had, and on being asked where
it was, said that he had eaten it. Then Philip
said, and what have you done with the pheasant?
He said that it was in the pot, an<d on Philip
going to get it, asked where was the soup. Sam
said that he had drank it all to that. Philip
drank the remainder.

Experiences of some Cooking of Mr* Sam

So Philip, after drinking the remainder of the
sou,^), took the bird o(ut of the pot. It looked
plump arid very fat, but as soon as he put his
fork into it an explosion of the contents was
the consequence, which flew all oyer Philip s face,
for Sam was quite inexperienced in the art of
co/oking and he had neglected to remove any of
the inward parts from the pheasant, but had
ma3e and drank the soaijp from such ingredients
as it contained. Philip having dirank the dregs
of it caused a little lauigh at his expense, and
the saying is that a hungrv man is an angry

29

man. But this only caused go^d-natured Philip
to go and catch Sam by the feet as he lay there
laughing and pull him to the outside of the door
without using any violence whatever. However,
we all did the best we ciofuld under such disap
pointments and in a short time we had prepared
food for ourselves, afl;d Were satisfied, for we
hlad come to learn by experience that disappoint
ments were of frequent occurrence and we had
just to put up with such things.

William Goes Up the River and is Delighted with

What He Saw

The next day being Sunday, my brother and I
had been brought up under good Presbyterian
teaching and were taught to remember the S alb-
bath dav, to keep it holy, and yet William
thought that it could not be of much harm for
him to take a quiet stroll up the river bank a
short distance, and after walking a little over a
mile he came upon what he thought to be the
loveliest spot that he had as yet seen, and after
his return he told me all about it, and we re
solved to go up on the morrow, that is, Moridlay
morning and see it. So when morning came,
mv brother and I told the others that we were
goin,g up the river jto have a look: at a part of
the couittrv which William saw yesterday.

Oar Selections of Farms

Upon a Monday morning, about the middle of
the month of April, in the year 1851, about a
month after leaving Gutelph, we resolved, after a

30

very general and close inspection of all
the surroundings arid conditions of the
place, here to pitch our tent, and then
trv to hew out for ourselves future
homes in this beautiful forest, and although the
land was not vet surveyed, we commenced at
once to cut logs to build a shanty near by a
pure running spring creek, and not far from the
edge of the river, which had a pretty island of
green grass just opposite, and this had the ef
fect of giving a very pleasing, cheerful aspect
and appearance to the place. In a short time
we got our household effects brought here with
the assistance of our friends, and we also got
the logs of the shanty put up, which was only
thirteen feet square, and the next morning we
went to assist Jake Atkinson to build his house
on the opposite side of the river, for by this
time a majority of those who had come dqwn
the river with us had departed, mostly to the
mouth of the river or some other part of the
country, only those that wanted farm land re
maining. So, when we had nearly completed
raising Jake s house about noon, a gen tleman,
Captain John Spence, came up from Southamp
ton to get my brother or T to go with him, and
take squatters possession of some valuable pine
land about seven miles down the river towards
the Indian Reserves, for there were gentlemen
from Toronto making enquiries after such land,
and also our friend, Mr. McDonald, was anxious
to secure the pine for the purpose of making fish
barrels.

:U

Incident of the Bear, Wm. Lost

So William started immediately with Cap[t.
Spence to our quarters across the river and at
once prepared for themselves a hasty dinner,
made from pork gralvv and flour put into a pan
and fried together. This, with a drink of water,
cqmpleted their meal, and as it was a fine,
bright, warm day they set off at once, William
going in his shirt sleeves and carrying his axe
ujpon his shoulder. They turned down by the
batiks of the river, which they found to be a
long, rough, tedious road to travel, down the
croidked river, which made the way dbuble the
lengtji. But at last they reached the spot and
William commenced to perform the duties requir-
efd, while Capt. Spence coirtiiiued his course
down the river past the, Indian village and then
home. William, after finishing his work, thought
that he could reach home in, a much nearer way
by taking a straight line through the woods, and
as the day was drawing toward s its close, he
started off at a rapid p ( ace and after travelling
for a considerable distance was surprised to see
what appeared to be a large clearing, and get
ting nearer saw, to his dismay, that it was a
body of water, and as he was not aware of any
thing of the kind being in our near neighbor
hood, he became greatly alarmed atr/d frightened.
Solon he discovered that he was lost, and
must have gone a long way in the wrong direc
tion. This lake is now Arran, situated in the
Township of Arran. So William, after a few
moments of study and considering the best course

32

to take, for it was just about dark, started to
run back in the direction that he thought he had
come, in hopes of finding the river, and in his
excitement and haste he nearly ran over a large
bear.

William Lost and Found

So sudden and unexpected was the occurrence
that the bear was frightened up a tree, and Wil
liam lost no time in making the distancie be
tween them as great as possible, and while run
ning in the dark through a thick underbrush his
pants were nearly all torn to pieces. Not know
ing where he was, and becoming tired and hot
from the running and excitement, he came to a
large fallen tree, and then crawled into the hol
low for the night, and intended to try and de
fend himself with his acxe against the bear or
any other night prowlers, should they attempt
to attack him. But he soon found his bed cham
ber to be a very cold and uncomfortable one, for
being very warm from his previous exertion and
being almost without clothing, he soon became
very cold and chilled through. He lay with his
teeth chattering all night, but as soon as day
light began to appear he crawled out of his den
and began to take in his surroundings and be
gan by examining upon which side of the tree
the moss -grew, and the direction in which the
top of the pine leaned, and as it was a dark
morning the sun could not be seen, he had to be
guided by observation of these natural signs. He
set off in what he knew to be a southerly direc-

33

tion, hoping soon to reach the river, and in the
course of a few hours travel heard the rushing
sound of its waters, and continuing his way up
its banks, reached our quarters about noon in a
most pitiable-looking condition. But after giv
ing full explanation as to the cause and getting
some dinner, he soon became his former self
again, quickly recovering from all its effects, be
ing blessed with a good constitution. He was
as hardy as a knot and felt no worse from this
hard experience.

My First Night in Our New Home

I will tell you a little about how I employed
my time during William s absence. When I re
turned from assisting Jake I found some of the
remains of Capt. Spence s and William s dinner
in the frying pan, and after more fully supplying
my own wants, I at once commenced operations
and began to saw a doorway into our shanty,
and before night I had completed the cutting,
but as we had neither door nor roof, I got a
forked stick and dkove it into the ground and I
put some more sticks across and then covered
all over with a quilt, and then got some hem
lock brush to put on the ground for a bed, and
then I nailed another quilt on the doorway as a
slight protection and made every other prepara
tion that I could for remaining there during the
night, as I expected William to return every
moment, and thus I was kept quite busily en-
ployed until it became quite dark. William had
not yet returned and I began to feel a -good deal

34

annoyed at his seeming thoughtlessness or indif
ference in thus leaving me to remain alone for
the night, for I was under the impression that he
had returned as far as Philip Strowger s and
was remaining there when he knew that I was
alone and would be expecting him, for we had
only removed that morning and little did I think
that he was even in a worse plight than I. But
so anxious were we to have a home and shelter
that I was not willing to lose any more time by
going back to Philip s, and yet this place was in
no condition to remain in over night. This was
also my first night of separation from the others
and my first in our new quarters, and I felt .any
thing but comfortable. I slept very little, the
night was so cold, and I heard the lynx roaming
about outside the shanty. I would greatly have
preferred some other and more desirable com
panionship, but at length morning came and all
nature put on a brighter appearance.

Mrs, Wallace s Entrance

And while I am speaking of the events I think
that it would not be right for me to omit giv
ing an account of an incident that happened
about this time, just to give some idea of the
kind of material many of the early pioneers were
composed of. Our neighbor, Mr. Wallace, on the
other side of the river, had just erected a small
house of logs, but at this time it had neither
roof, floor nor door, when his plucky young wife,
who had a short time before walked all the way
from Owen Sound through the Indian trail, ac-

36

companied by her husband, who drew a tobog
gan all the way over on the snow, laden with
their household effects, and she also carried some
bundles in her hands all the way. Since their ar
rival she had been staying at the Indian village
with their friends, Mr. and Mrs. Cathay, but be
coming very anxious to see her new home and
assist her husband in his work, one morning she
left her comfortable abode with Mrs. Cathay
amd started off to see her new home. Carrying
some bundles containing a few requisites, and
walking all the way she reached her intended
home before evening, and as there was no door
way cut or any way of entering, she climbed
over the top of the logs and got inside in that
way, and ever afterwards remained to assist her
hhisband in all Ms undertakings, putting up
cheerfully with every hardship and inconvenience
incidental to pioneer settlement, and I am pleas
ed to add that this lady still remains and is yet
an active, vigorous woman, and able to enjoy
the fruits of her labors of earlier days, although,
many of those who to ok a part with her in those
days have passed away.

Home Incidents

In returning to our former subject I may say
that we put off no time in trying to put our
shanty into a more habitable .condition. William
was a good h and with an axe and with it made
many little things that were very useful. We
managed to roof our shanty with elm bark and
we chinked the cracks up with pieces of split

36

basswood and moss, and we made a fireplace
with stones from the river, and a chimney , place
of bent sticks plastered with mud, and a floor of
basswood , slabs, split and hewn with an adze.
But we were also very anxious to get some of the
land cleared in order to put in some crops and
persevered hard to attain that object. There
were a good many , people coming into the coun
try about that time looking for land, and very
frequently we had to ferry them over the river
with our little raft, and seldom a day or night
passed without having some to entertain. There
was no Qther place within reach for many miles,
and we never made any charge but welcomed all
who came. Sometimes it troubled us a little to
keep up a supply of provisions. We did not
know where nor how to get them, but we gener
ally managed to have something both for our
selves and others to eat. So we persevered ev
ery day enlarging our clearing, until we had got
quite an opening made in the woods, and as we
could see with pleasure each day the results of
the labor of our hands we were the more encour
aged to persevere in the attainment of this, the
object of our ambition, and then to look forward
with hope to the speedy betterment of our con
dition, and we often used to say that the bitter
cometh before the sweet, which will make the
sweet taste all the sweeter when it comes.

A Thrilling Incident of a Wrecked Scow

One Saturday evening early in May we noticed
a large quantity of wreckage floating down the
river in the shape of boxes, barrels and bundles

37

of bedding, also a coop full of drowned chickens
were found stuck in a tree top at the edge of the
river. We felt sure that something serious had
occurred up the river, so about ten o clock on
Sunday morning we got word that a scow was
wrecked in a rapids some miles up the river, and
that there were men, women and children aboard
of Her, and that they were in great danger of
perishing if they did not get immediate assist
ance, for they had been in the water since Satur
day at noon. This information was given us by
a party of surveyors coming .down the river in a
small scow, but they dared not venture near for
fear of knocking them all dff into the water, so
strong and rapid was the current at that place.
I may here say that the report of our safe pass
age down the river had become generally known,
and scows became popular. Some one suggested
that we take up our large scow and try to res
cue them, but that was almost impossible in
such a swift running river. It would have taken
a long time and the people were in imminent
danger, and every moment was precious, as we
did not know how far up the river they might be.
So we abandoned the idea of taking up the scow,
but instead we concluded to take an axe, auger
and ropes, and hurry up and make a raft up
above them and when down at the proper place
anchor it and endeavor by that means to rescue
those that were in such peril. So Jake Atkin
son, William and I each put a small piece of
scone in our pockets and then started up the
river bank on a run. But we found travelling
very disagreeable that morning for there had

38

fallen during the night about an inch of soft
snow, which made the branches wet and unpleas
ant and the way was very uneven and hard to
travel with much speed. But nevertheless we
soon came to out new neighbor s, Mr. Gowia-
lock s, who, with his son and Mr. James Row-
an, who had been there only a few days, had
just put some poles up against a tree and cover
ed them with boughs to make a temporary
shelter.

I might say here that the occupants of this
place were Mr. Gowinlock, a substantial Scotch
farmer from the Township oi Chinguacousy, and
Mr. James Rowan, who afterwards became mem
ber for the county, so when we reached this spot
we called out. Whv are you not up yet? Do you
not know that there are people wrecked up the
river? And receiving no answer we looked into
the tent and saw a man lying asleep on some
rugs, and again repeating our question and ask
ing, Why are you lying there? when he replied in a
sleepy, unintelligible way, Did you see anything
of my double-barrelled gun? We said no, and
then asked him if he was one of the party that
was wrecked up the river. He said yes. We
then asked him where Mr. Gowinlock was. He
said that they had all gone up the river to help
those that were on the water. We asked him no
more questions, but at once hurried forward as
fast as we could go. I might as well say here,
as I was told sdon afterwards, that this poor
young fellow from which we had just parted,
was a young Englishman lately from London,
and an expert swimmer. When the scow struck

the rock and went down the hinder part sunk
first, as it was laden with heavy material that
would not float, but slid down .to that end and
anchored her to the bottom in a sloping position,
the forepart being a few feet under the water,
but all the lighter articles that would swim were
carried away by the current, and it was some of
these that were seen by us as they were being
carried past on the Saturday evening. For the
scow had been heavily laden with household
goods and provisions, besides heavy tool chests
and nails; and also had on board four men, two
women and Hve children, and as they were in a
very perilous condition they made every effort
to save their lives. This young man was the
only good swim^mer and he was induced to di
vest himself of his clothing, and tying some bed
eords around his middle jumped into the water,
hoping to reach the shore and then make one
end fast there and the other to the scow, that by
that means they might find a way of escape.
After swimming over a distance the current
caught the rope in such a way that he could not
endure the effort and had to be drawn back into
the scow. But after resting a little he said that
he would try again, but this time he would take
the end of the rope in his mouth, as he thought it
would be easier to manage in that way. So he
made a second effort in this way, but had not
gone very far from the scow when he found that
the water was having as great an effect upon the
rope as it had at the first trial, and opening his
mouth let the end of the rope go, and made for
the shore, which he safely reached and then com-

40

menced his long walk down the river edge in a
perfectly nude condition, in hopes of finding
some place of shelter, and getting assistance to
help him in trying to rescue those that were
still upon the water. Continuing his way down
the river s edge for a long distance without find
ing any help, darkneste came on and he could not
see his way, so he had to content himself by
standing up against a tree all night, and to add
still further to his discomfort there fell about an
inch of snow during the night, and from the ef
fects of the cold and chiill he got into a kind of
stupid slumber just about daylight, and did not
awake for some time, but when he did he at
once commenced to proceed on his journey down
the river, but had only gone a short distance
when he saw a smoke and made straight for it,
quite unobserved, and he gave a great surprise
to Mr. Gowinlock, who was standing at that
moment with his back towards him, busily en
gaged making his oatmeal porridge for break
fast, and turning around suddenly. he saw the
naked man standing close beside him, which
caused him to start back, and holding up his
Hands he exclaimed, "The Ivoord be here, whar
cam- ye fra ?" So after giving t some little ex
planation of his circumstances and the disaster,
they at on ce furnished the poor fellow with a
flannel shirt, and after giving him something to
eat, put him into the bed they had just lately
risen from themselves. After taking a hurried
breakfast and securing the tools and material
that they would require in making a raft, they
started off up the river in search of the wrecked

41

scow, and as they had a good start of us they
had succeeded in making a raft and had safely
rescued all on board, and were just landing them
on the river s edge as we reached .the spot.

Messrs. Gowinlock and Rowan used great
caution and judgment in the successful accom
plishment of such a ticklish job. But the res
cued ones having no more relish for water con
veyance declined to proceed any further by the
raft, and so the rescuers proceeded down the
swift running stream and reached their aboide,
leaving the poor, pitiable, starving creatures to
our care. They were only partly clothed and
looked half starved, for they had been in the cold
water for more than twenty-four hours without
any food and hanging on to the scow for dear
life. No wonder their first request was for
bread. We had only the small piece that we put
into our pockets at starting and had not yet
taken time to eat, but we freely delivered up all
that we had, which was not much amongst so
many. It was now about four o clock in the
afternoon and we each took a shivering child
upon our backs, with their teeth chattering from
the cold and long exposure in the water, and
some had no shoes nor coats to wear, for all had
been taken down the stream. One poor lady had
the misfortune of getting her foot cut with an
adze on the scow, which made travelling very
painful, especially on such a rough gravelly road .
The names of these unfortunate persons, so far
as I can now remember, for it is over fifty years
ago, are: Mr. Silas Fuller, Mrs. Fuller and four
children; Mr. Gilbert and his man, who swam to-

42

tiie shore; Mrs. Philips and another lady and
child, whose names I forget.

Thus we continued our slow journey down the
river s edge, each with our load upon our back,
and we soon began to feel the need of) some din
ner, for we had all travelled a long way over a
rough road without taking any refreshments,
and it by this time was getting quite dark, and
glad were we indeed to see at a little distance
the light from Mr. Gowinlock s fire, where he in
his kind, hospitable way was busy pre
paring what he had, and was mak
ing oatmeal porridge, for oatmeal was
the only thing in the way of food diet that
he possessed at that time. But the children kept
crying for bread, and said that they did not like
porridge or gruel. Mr. Gowinlock said that he
had no bread to give them, nor anything to make
bread o^, and if they could not take that they
were "nane hungert." But we were feeling both
tired and hungry and were anxious to reach our
shanty, and suggested that we would take the
raft that had rescued them from the scow and
go the remainder of the way on the river. As
Mr. Gowinlock had only been a very short time
there he had no accommodation to offer, but
kindly consented to keep as many of the men and
boys as would stay with him, and if we could
take the women and girls with us, for we had
the best accommodation to give them. So we
agreed to do so, when the women offered a verv
determined opposition to venturing upon the wa
ter again, and it required all, our powers of per
suasion to induce them to do so, and to convince

43

them that there was really very little danger,
as we were acquainted with the course of the
river, and that it would be quite impossible to
travel by land on such a dark night. They at
last consented and one man also accompanied
us, so while we were proceeding safely down the
river and had gotten about half way, when we
heard a loud halloo from the opposite bank of
the river. Two or three men had come up the
river from that side in search of the wrecked
ones, as the news had spread all around by this
time and getting benighted they had made pre
parations to remain where they were during the
night, and hearing us coming down on the raft
they commenced to shout and halloo to us, mak
ing many enquiries, and when we told them that
all the party had been safely taken off the water
they then asked us to put across to them. But
we told them that we were too tired
and hungry and did not want to put off
any more time than we could help. They then
said that we could never get down that river on
such a dark night, and that we would all get
drowned. This set the women to screaming and
badly frightening them. We told them to keep
quiet and not to be afraid, for we knew the river
better than those who wished to alarm them
did, and in a few minutes more we would land
them safely on the shore at our landing place
near our shanty, which we very soon reached,
where we tied up our raft and quickly marched
up to the shanty. The first thing we did was to
light the candle and then make on a great fire
and put the kettle on, and get some food ready

44

as fast as possible, for we were all very hungry,
especially those poor women and children. We
soon got some ham and bread and a good cup
of tea, and after our urgent cravings of hunger
were satisfied we men all went outside for a
time in order to allow the women to retire to
the only bed that we possessed, and our next
concern was to find suitable corners or space in
which to obtain a little repose after our hard
day s travel, and just as we were getting things
into condition and were ready to retire we heard
the sound of voices outside, and upon opening
the door to our astonishment a number of men
entered/ enough to fill the house and occupy all
our standing room, for we had not chairs nor
seats to offer them, and if we had there was no
room to set them. The news of the disaster had
reached the mouth of the river, and as this was
Sunday some o,f the inhabitants and also a few
strangers that were up here looking for land,
started with the others up the river, in order to
render what assistance they could. But as they
did not know the distance and were entirely ig
norant of the way, they lost themselves and in
the darkness had been wandering about for some
time until they saw the light from our shanty.
It was now getting to be a late hour. They had
a loaf of bread which they had brought with
them and some of them also carried whiskey,
both externally and internally, and were a little
inclined sometimes to use improper language by
swearing, but we told them at once that we
would not allow any language of that kind in fhis
shanty. Afterwards there was no more trouble,

4ft

but the night was spent mostly in conversation
and telling stories and a song or \ two was also
sung. Thus the night passed away and when
daylight began to appear those who had come up
from Southampton wanted to get the raft to
carry them down the river. I said no, that I
wanted to go to Durham for my oxen in a day
or two and wanted to use it then to go down the
river. They pleaded with me to go
now and take them all along with
me. I consented, after consulting with
William and arranging with him to come
to Owen Sound and assist me in driving the
oxen over from there, for William was going
that day with some others to try to save some
of the stuff that was still on .the wrecked scow.
So I arid a number more started a little after
sunrise to go down the river upon the raft, but
we did not reach the mojith of the river till it
was nearly noon, and then I went^ direct to the
house of my friend, Capt. Spence and had a good
wash and tidy up, and enjoyed a nice hot din
ner, which was rather a luxury to me in those
times. Then I started immediately to cross the
river on my way to Owen Sound, a distance of
28 miles through the woods. It was now one
o clock. I was told by everyone that met me
that I could not get through that night, and as
I passed through the Indian village I met the
chief and I asked him what he thought of my
chan ce of getting thorough to-night. He shook his
head and said "Sun too much round that way.
pointing to the west. Notwithstanding this, I
pushed on as fast as I could go and carried my

46

coat on my arm, and in one of its pockets I had
a very valuable knife which had been given to
me by a young friend of mine lately from Scot
land, a younger brother of the late Charles Dav
idson, Esq., Guelp h. When I was running, this
knife accidentally dropped out of my coat pock
et amongst the leaves of the path, and when I
got nearly half way through I met the two
voung Messrs. Martindale, who came down the
river with us on our scow. They were on their
return from Owen Sound, which place they had
left at eight o clock in the morning, and they
were under the impression that they were nearly
all the wav across, so they were both surprised
and alarmed when I told them that they were
very little more than half wav. This informa
tion set them off at a run and I continued my
journey in the opposite direction as fast as I
could go, and I got into the Sound about eight
o clock, having made a very quick passage
across. But then I discovered that in my haste
by running I had lost my good knife that I had
so much prized. Ais usual I put up at Mr. Cor
bet s hotel and enjoyed a good hot supper, and
very shortly afterwards I retired to bed. I had
gotten no sleep on the previous night and after
the long walk of the dav I was very tired and
needed rest. ^So after having a good sleep I felt
refreshed and in the morning, after taking break
fast, I again set off on my way down to Dur
ham, a distance of twenty-eight miles, and
reaching that place early in the afternoon I re
mained there all night. But I made all suit
able preparations for returning to Owen Sound

47

with the oxen in the morning, and as it would
not be possible to drive them through the woods
yoked together I thought it better to leave the
yoke and fasten the bows upon their necks and
drive them separately. But I had not got very
far before I found out that I had made a great
mistake, for when I came to a cross road or an
open gate the one ox would turn and run in one
direction and the other one the opposite way.
This all caused me a good deal of extra running
and I made very slow progress all the way, and
to add still more to my trouble it
cornmen/ced snowing heavily just before
night, and the ground was soon cov
ered quite a depth. This made travel
ling very disagreeable and difficult, and when it
became quite dark I could not see the highway.
Especially wais this the case when I reached the
commons near Owen Sound where there were no
fences nor houses to be seen. All was white
with snow T and as the oxen were also white in
color I had a hard job to keep them both in
sight, and I did not know whereabouts I had got
to, and could only follow the cattle, which ulti
mately brought me to a house, where I made
enquiries and got some assistance to drive the
oxen to Mr. Corbet s hotel, finally reaching rnv
destination, tired and discouraged.

But I was glad to see my brother William,
who had arrived from Southampton a short time
before I came, so that after getting supper I
was again ready to go to bed, for I had put in
a most unpleasant day s work. There was at
the hotel that night a Mr. Broadfoot staving.

48

who had come up to look for land and was anx
ious to accompany us to Southampton on the
morrow, and assist us in driving the cattle over,
which proved t*o be no easy task, for we had riv
ers to cross -and swamps to pass through. But
by persistent, patience and perseverance we man
aged to reach the Indian village before dark, and
after several vain attempts we at last succeeded
in forcing them to swim the Saugeen River over
to an island where we left them for the night,
as there was plenty of grass for them to eat up
on the island.

After accomplishing this task we all went
down the banks of the river to its mouth and
then crossed by canoe over to Southampton, and
then to the residence of our friend, Capt. Spence,
for the night, where we always received generous
kindness, and after putting in a good night there
we again set out in the morning to look for the
oxen, and found them where they had been left,
and after some little trouble we got them to
pass over the remainder of the river, and in
course of time we at length reached our lit
tle home in safetv, after several days of hard
toil and suffering. But truly the back seems to
be made for the burden, for the more we had to
do the better able we were to do it, and the more
athletic we became. So great was our power of
endurance that we would no more feel any ef
fects from running twenty miles than we would
formerly do from walking ten, atid when I now
look back for more than fifty years and think of
the fatigues and hardships we then endured, and
the many dangers we came safely through, I am

49

filled with wonder and amazement, and the only
way that I can explain these things is that we
were both blessed with good healthy constitu
tions and had always been of temperate habits,
and had also been very strictly taught and
trained to continue in such habits by a noble,
godly mother, whose great influence over us was
a power! for good in our lives in those days.

Recovery of Knife

So in a day or two William got a > yoke made
and we got the oxen yoked up and ready to
start logging, but we found them not very tract
able and a good deal of trouble to manage. They
did not like to work and every chance they got
would clear away into the woods, going for
miles, and although we had a good bell on one
of them, yet they would go far away beyond its
hearing, and after all we could not blame the
poor brutes, for no doubt they were lonely. There
were no cattle but themselves within many miles
and they would wander away trying to find the
road back to where they came from for long dis
tances, and the only way we had of finding them
was by following their tracks, and sometimes we
ran great risks of losing ourselves in the woods.
We had always to carry a small compass in our
pocket as it would sometimes take us a whole
day to find them, and we would often have to
leave the yoke upon them all night to prevent
them going away again before morning.

About this time there were several people com
ing into this place looking for land, and am
ongst them was Mr. Peter Smith, who stayed a
day or two with us and ably assisted us to do

50

our logging and clearing up of some land, and
he afterwards became one of our neighbors, set
tling on the opposite side of the river from us.
I am told that Mr. Alexander Smith, the Lib
eral organizer, is one of his sons. I got another
surprise about this time. I was told that one
of the Martindales had found a very valuable
knife on his way over from the So and a short
time ago. While he was running he tripped and
fell with his face almost directly upon the top of
this knife. And so the first time that I went to
Southampton I made enquiries, and being per
fectly able to describe what it was like, he said
that it was mine, and at once returned it to
me. This certainly was a very singular inci
dent, that he should trip at the very spot
where my knife lay amongst the thick leaves.

Home Incidents, We Tourney to Guelph

There were very many events, almost of daily
occurrence, which would be interesting to relate,
but I will confine myself principally to those
which did most personally affect ourselves, as
they seem to be the most firmly impressed upon
my memory, and I am anxious to make nothing
but truthful statements so far as my memory
will allow or carry me back to those days of
our early pioneer life. I will again refer to our
clearing of the land, which we accomplished in a
short time, and had it all planted with potatoes
and corn, and besides these we had a nice garden
of vegetables. As we had not much more use
for oxen at the pfresent, and they were always a
charge to look after, I got a chance to sell them

51

to Mr. McDonald, who wanted them and offered
me eighty-five dollars for them. They were a
very large, heavy pair of cattle, but never had
done much work and were scarcely what might
be called properly broken in to work. I shall
perhaps refer to them again further on in this
story. My brother and I had promised our
father before leaving home that if we were all
well we would return and assist him with the
haying and harvest, and therefore we had to
hasten our planting and other work in order to
keep our promise, and by constant work we
managed to get things into good shape by the
time we wanted to leave for Guelph, which was
about the first of July.

During the months of May and June a good
many people had come into Southampton, for it
was then being surveyed, and amongst some of
those that I will mention are Mr. McNab, the
agent; Mr. Peter Brown (I believe a cousin of the
late Hon. George Brown) and several others
whose names I do not now remember, and about
this time also, Mr. Vidal (now Senator Vidal),
had commenced the survey of the Township of
Saugeen, and was then prospecting up the river
near Paisley and working his way down towards
the mouth of the river. However, William and
I had to leave before the land was surveyed, and
began to make preparations for leaving by care
fully stowing away all destructible household
effects, such as bedding and every other thing
that mice could injure or destroy, for they had
become very numerous and destructive. So we
made everything up into bundles and suspended

52

them from, the rafters of the shanty by cords,
and when we thought that we had completed the
work satisfactorily we started on our way over
to Owen Sound, reaching there in the evening
and remaining for the night.

Conclusion of First Trip and Return to Guelph

The next day we walked as far as Egermont
and stayed at Smith s hotel for the night, and
from there we made an early start in the morn
ing for we were anxious to get home that even
ing. But we found that travelling that day was
very fatiguing and painful, as our feet had be
come very sore and tender from the long walk
of the previous days in such hot weather, and
over a hard, dusty road. But when we did at
length reach the old home of our youth we re
ceived such a kind and cordial welcome that we
were inclined to forget all our pains and toils,
so great was our delight at meeting with loved
ones once more.

Beginning of Our Second Migration

After enjoying a day or two of rest we felt
able to take part again in the work of the hav
and harvest fields, and when we had any days to
spare from home we always found some of our
neighbors very anxious to secure our assistance
and in that way we earned over lorty dollars
in a few weeks. This proved to be of great help
to us in the wav of purchasing a supply of pro
visions and groceries and other needful things,
such as wheat for seed, besides a quantitv of

miscellaneous articles too numerous to mention.
Altogether there was a large wagon load, for be
sides the stuff that we had, our cousin, John
Caldwell, from Pilkington, who was waiting to
go along with us to take up land near where we
had settled, had also some baggage to take
along. And so we engaged a span of horses and
wagon from our old neighbor, Mr. Youngson, to
take us to Walkerton and he sent his man along
to take care of the horses and bring them home.

Second Journey

After we got everything in readiness we made
our second start for our new home, but we made
very poor progress on our way up, meeting with
many mishaps. Our first serious accident was
the breaking of the hind axle of the wagon. This
occurred as we were passing along by the Town
ships of Kgermont and Normandy, and it caused
us to unload our wagon by the roadside, and as
there was no wagonmaker s shop in these parts
rny brother found an elm tree near, by that was
suitable for the purpose of making a new one,
and he soon had it hewed out with his axe into
the proper shape. But the skeans or irons were
also broken, and we had some trouble .to find a
blacksmith and when we did succeed in finding
one he said that he had no coal to do the work,
but as our case was an urgent one he said that
if we got him some hemlock bark that he would
try and do the best he could for us with it un
der the circumstances. And so he mended them
in a way thiat they stood the test for years, as

54

I was afterwards told by the owner. After this
delay we got as fetr as Smith s Hotel, staying
there for the night, as this hotel was at that
time a favorite stopping place, and then leaving
early in the morning we reached Mr. Hunter s
hotel at Durham early in the afternoon and we
stayed there until morning, when we turned
down the Durham line towards Walkerton. We
found this still a very bad road, and we had
scarcely gone half way down when we had an
other breakdown. This time it was the wagon
reach or coupling pole. We had again to unload
and then William soon found a small tree that
would make a new one, and he cut it into shape.
But we had no auger large enough to bore the
hole for the king bolt to pass through, and one
of us had to go back several miles to Durham to
borrow a large auger, and by this delay we
lost much time, so that we did not get to Walk
erton until some time after it was quite dark,
as we were all quite ignorant of the road, which
we found to be a very rough and uneven one.
Those on foot had to feel their way first, them
stand and give me instructions where to drive,
in order to escape being upset, for there were
many dangerous places, and it was so dark that
I could not see the horses. Our teamster refused
to risk his life upon the wagon, so that I had
to take charge and drive as I was directed by
those who were picking the way on foot. For
tunately we soon reached the river bank and .de
scending crossed over the bridge, and soon after
reached Mr. Walker s inn, and when we unloaded
the wagon in the morning our teamster actuallv

56

wept for joy, and was so glad that this tedious
and harassing journev was now at an end, so
far as he was concerned, and that he was permit
ted again to return to civilization. I don t know
that he was a very stout-hearted gentleman at
the best.

As we had lost so much time and had so many
delays on the ^ay up this far we
did not want to lose but as little
time as we could help in preparing
a scow to take us down the river. Walkerton
had made quite a little advance since we had
passed down in the spring. I think Mr. Walker
Irad erected a saw mill, and there were other
buildings put up and several people had come
into the township during the spring and sum
mer.

As we could get the lumber from Mr. Walker
to build the scow we did not require to wait, for
he could supplv us with what we wanted in that
line, so that in a few days we were ready to pro
ceed down the river, which at this time was a
very different stream from what it was in the
spring, when we first passed down it. So w r e
got the scow ready and loaded our stuff upon
her, and about noon we got aboard and set off,
and had to keep a sharp lookout some places to
avoid the shallows. But we were very cautious
and vsucceeded in passing down without any in
terruption, and before it got dark we ran into
the shore and. there tied up for the night, just a
few miles before we reached what is now Paisley
town. On the next morning we made an early
start and arrived safely down at our own, hum-

56

ble looking home in the evening, feeling thankful
for our safe return to its shelter, but at the
same time a little depressed by its lonely condi
tion. On our way down the river we no
ticed here and there a few trees chopped, but no
actual settlement in sight. But there had quite
an advancement been made about Southampton
and along the lake shore.

Our Arrival Home and Delight in the Fortune of
Our Location, Mice Plague

You may conceive of our surprise when we
looked around the next morning to find a stake
a little in front of our shanty door, with our
names marked by the surveyor on both sides, and
that our little thirteen feet square shanty stood
upon two lots, about equal parts on each, and
we also had our names written upon the two
rear lot stakes in the same way, and a road or
highway running between them, so that we
could not have been better suited, nor desired
more nor better treatment than we had received
from Senator Vidal, who surveyed the township
during our absence. But we knew that although
we were away we had some true friends left be
hind us, and although there was some trouble in
some quarters regarding first claim upon lots,
we never had the least degree of trouble.

Although we found everything so satisfactory
outside of our shanty the inside was quite the
reverse, for although we had used the precaution
to make up into bundles and suspend from the
rafters all our bedding and destructible stuff be-

5;

fore leaving, yet upon our return we found that
the mice had taken advantage of our absence and
had made a nursery for hatching amongst our
bedding, and cut everything that came in their
way. So innumerable were the swarms of wood
or white bellied mice (sometimes known as deer
mice), that we found it to be impossible for us
to keep our eatables in any place that they
would not get them, except in our round iron
bake kettle with close-fitting lids. Close wooden
boxes were of no use, for they would gnaw
through them in quick time, and now that we
had returned with plenty of fresh supplies in
the way of provisions and seed wheat their num
bers seemed to increase tenfold, and so great did
the plague of mice become that we were put to
our wits end, and it became a problem whether
they would not drive us out and get full posses
sion. We used every conceivable means of de
stroying them by every kind of trap that we
could invent, and sometimes we would be able to
get the lend of a cat for a few days, but nothing
seemed to have any effect in lessening their num
bers. Thev seemed to increase all the more rap
idly, arid so daring were they that if we left the
table a moment to fetch the tea or coffee pot
from the hearth, whenever our backs were turn
ed, thev would come and snatch our ham or

*/

bread from our plate and ran away with it in
a moment. My brother often caught them with
his hands a^d killed them by the dozen while
sitting at the table, for he had made a candle
stick out of a piece of basswood, and I have of
ten seen the mice run up and bite the candle

58

while we would be sitting reading by its light
in the evening, and we found as fall and winter
approached that their numbers kept increasing,
and the more tenaciotus they became; so much so
that when we were in bed alid asleep at night,
we would often be awakened by mice pulling at
oftir hair and cfutting our bed covers in order to
get the cotton wadlding, or Our hair to make
themselves nests. I assure you we were
not the only ones that were pester
ed with the plague of mice, for all
of our neighbors had their share of
trouble to bear with the same nuisance. Yet, not
withstanding these pests, we kept constantly
employed in clearing up the land, and making
other needed improvements. So anxious were we
in this undertaking that we often neglected to
make any preparations for our next meal, and
when at work we became so thoroughly tired and
hungry that we could suffer no longer, we would
go into the shanty, make a fire, and then pa
tiently wait until we got something cooked and
ready to aplpease our hunger, and we often used
to declare that this wotald be the last time that
we would be so foolish as to go to work without
having some food prepared that we could eat
upon our return without having to wait so long.
But these resolutions were like piecrust, only
made to be brdken, for as soon as we got a
good meal, and were satisfied, off to work we
would go, and never think about the next meal,
and thus we put in rather a dreary time. But
hope carried us on, for we looked forward to
the time, in the very near future, when we would

59

be blessed with a comfortable home and the
happy influences of sweet domestic association.
But during this time we made frequent visits to
Southampton, where we would meet with old
friends, such as Mr. McDonald, who had bought
a small vessel called the Saucy Jack, and was
sailing her between Go*derich and Southampton,
and would bring passengers and goods, which
was of very great service to the place. So,
sometimes after a verv short visit at the home
of our friend, Capt. Spence, and tasting of the
comforts enjoyed under such social surroundings,
it had the effect of making us more dissatisfied
with our own present condition in our poor
shanty life, and of the misery attendant upon
the keeping of bachelor s hall.

Incident of the Bear

I must not forget to relate an incident that oc
curred about this time, in which I was intimate
ly connected. There was word sent up from
Southampton urgently requesting one of us to
go down to the pine lands and remain there in
possession of it for a short time, for there were
parties at present in search of such land, and
were making every enquiry where to obtain such.
So I volunteered to go diown and remain for a
time in possession, or until the danger was past.
I made a small raft for the purpose of taking me
down the river, and I put up a small supfply of
provisions, and providing myself with a blank
et, and putting some matches in my pocket, anjd
taking my axe and a double-barrelled gun that

60

I had borrowed from Mr. Brown. After getting
mvself so thoroughly equipped, I and the dog
got aboard the little raft to descend the river.
I may say here that this dog was
a very poor, miserable, half starved an
imal that took up with us, and fol
lowed us when we were coming down the
Durham line with the wagon. The poor thing
was very hungry and we took compassion upon
him and fed him, and now he had become much
changed in appearance, and was growing quite
fierce and daring. Karly in the afternoon I
reached the spot and landed, and looked over the
ground and cut down a tree here and there,
in order to secufre possession, and as I had
not seen nor heard anyone around, nor the ap
pearance of anyone having been there, early in
the evening I cut some wood and made a fire
in the woods, back some distance from the river,
and when it began to get dark I spread my mat
on the ground, eat my lunch and put on a good
fire, and then laid down to rest u(pon my blank
et, my axe and gun close by my si : de, and the
dog lay close up to my back. In this way I had
gone into a very sound sleep, for a long time,
as the fire had all burned up and nothing re
mained but ashes. All at once I was awakened
in a great hurry. The dog had jumped np and was
barking fiercely close by my side. I immediately
sprang to my feet and commenced to stir up the
fire, at the same time urging on the dog, who
would not leave my side, but kept barking fur
iously, with the hair upon his back standing on
end. I knew that there was something nearby

61

that he was afraid of, an<d as I stirred the fire 1
found a piece of stick that had some fire on cne
end, and this I kept shaking in the air until it
became bright. With this in one han d and the
gun in the other, and the dog a foot or two in
advance, I kept swinging the stick, urging on
the dog, and following in the direction indicated
by him. I had not gone many yards in that
way before I heard, close by me, the trampling
of some heavy animal, and by the breaking of
the brush I knew that it was a large bear, so I
swung my stick around in the air and threw it
in the direction of the sound that I heard, and
then retreated in haste to make on a good fire,
the dog following close at my heels. I put off
no time before making a good fire, so as to give
light, for I knew that my safety depended much
upon keeping up a good bright light. However,
I heard nothing more of the intruder that night,
as I kept on a blazing good fire. I have no
doubt but it was Mr. Bruin, thinking to make
an early breakfast by catching me sleeping,
which no doubt he could have done if it had not
been for the dog, that awoke me in time, and I
may mention that this dog was afterwards pre
sented to Mr. Peter Brown at his request. After
taking some breakfast, I sauntered about the
greater part of the day, and in the afternoon T
started to return back tome, as I did not care
to run the risk for another night of becoming
food for the bear, and as I had brought the pock
et conrpass along with me, I took what I be
lieved would be a straight couirse to our home,
and succeeded in reaching there before it was

62

dark, and was gladly welcomed safe home once
more. But as the days became shorter and the
evenings longer, we had no way of amusing our
selves but by reading. We had no newspapers
and very few books, but we would sit and read

I

turn about, by the ligtfit of a tallow candle, and
of the Bible chapter after chapter. We were aU-o
greatly interested in reading the writings of the
Rev. Dr. F. W. Krummatoher on the prophets
Elijah and Klisha. These, along witji Bunyan s
Pilgrim s Progress, comprised nearly all the
stock of our reading matter, for no sooner had
we settled into a home of our own than we set
up and established family worship in our poor
shantv, and although we were only tjhtree young
men, we seldom neglected the dfaty, for Cousin
John was still with us.at that time, and whe
ther we had strangers remaining over nigiht with
us, or we were alone, it made no difference to us
in that respect, and we would have all kinds of
people staying over for a night, for there were
manv coming from different parts of the coun
try looking for lanld. We had a stmall cedar raft
that we used in crossing the river. This raft
would carry the three of us and the dog nicely
across the river, and we used to fer
ry a great many across both ways,
and amongst the number we had a
quiet, pious, middle-aged man, from Nova
Scotia, who remained with us during the night.
The next morning, after breakfast, this gentle-
mian wanted to cross over, for he wanted to go
and see the new Township of Bruce. So I said
that I would tfUce him over, but when we came

63

to the edge of the river he said that he was
afraid to trust himself upon that raft to cross
that large river. I told him that there was not
the slightest danger, that we crossed and re-
crossed it, several times, almost every day, with
two or three upon that raft, and that if he want
ed to get oVer not to be afraid but get on, and I
brought the raft u p to the edge and he got upon
it, and got down upon his knees on the raft and
commented to pray. I pushed the raft oil into
the stream and I noticed that it was sinking
very much deeper in the water tjian usual, and I
told him that I thought he would be better
standing up, for he was getting wet, but he an
swered me by saying that he preferred to re
main upon his knees, and he continued in this
position, with his eves closed, earnestly engaged
in prayer, although his end of the raft was sunk
about a foot under the water, and when we
reached dry land, although wet nearly up to
his waist from kneeling, he thanked me, and
said that he would never run the risk of cross
ing- that river again, for rather thaft do so he
would travel by land all the way to Goderich
and get back home by that way. Such an effect
had that man s mind over his body, caused by
fear, that he was like a lump of le;id, more than
a man.

Home Events Continued, Callers and Indians

I must say that we rather enjoyed having
strangers calling and conversing with us, for we
received a good deal of outside information in

64

that way that we would not otherwise have
heard, and some of them were greatly pleased
and delighted with the situation and surround
ings of our place, and declared that it was a
perfect paradise. We said that no dofabt but the
place was all right if we only had a few more of
the comforts of civilization, but we hoped that
before many years the conditions would be
changed for the better. Amongst other visitors,
and in the way of variety, we would receive
calls from the Indians, who were often passing
up and down the river in their canoes, spearing
fish and shooting ducks, and it was movSt sur
prising to see how expert they were in the man
aging of their canoes, for they would dart about
after the sturgeon at great speed, and the
squaws. were just as quick and skilful in manag
ing the canoes as the men, for they would stand
with a foot on each side, on the top of the can
oe, and dart it about after the fish like a shot,
while the men would use the spear, and often
thev would get a number of fish which they
would exchange for bread with the settlers when
they could do so. They used to come up to our
shanty and stalnd outside, by the door, and
halloo loudly, and when we would leave our
work to see what was wanted, they would say
"tobacco," and when we told them that we had
none, as we did not use it, they would then pat on
their stomachs, and say "buckity." That meant
that they were hfungry and if we had any bread
we would give them something to eat. They
were always peaceable and. quietly disposed, and
would not attempt to enter if there were no one

65

around, but would soon go away, although the
door was not locked. But they were very sus
picious of being cheated in their dealings with
white men, and no doubt but they frequently
suffered from having been taken advantage of
in tneir dealings, and to give an idea of how cal
lous an Indian can become, I will give an in
stance that occurred at that time at the mouth
of the Saugeen River. A few young men had
gone out in a boat, and while crossing the river
near the lake the boat got upset and, while they
were all struggling in the water and calling for
help, an Indian stood with his canoe on the
shore near by, and answered back to their pite
ous cries for help, "How much zo give, then
me go? For, no doubt, he saw a good oppor
tunity at that moment to drive a hard bargain
with those who were desperately struggling in
the water for life. They were rescued by others,
but little thanks to the Indian, who stoo d by
coolly looking on.

During the fall months the surveying of Sau
geen Township was completed, and there were
large numbers of people coming in looking for
land, and the agent, Mr. McNab, was very anx
ious to secure the better class of settlers, an)d he
gave every encouragement to such as wished to
locate upon land. We had also quite a number
call upon ns in their travels,. and this caused us
to make frequent trips to Southampton, in or
der to keep up the supiply of provisions, and
wihile there, at the home of Capt. Spence, we
would have the pleasure of meeting with such
old acquaintances as John Mclyean, Bsq., an

66

old merchant from Guelph, and his nephew, Mr.
A. McDonald, also Mr. McNab, the agent, and
his son, John, a lad of about fourteen, who
came up from; Toronto during- the August of 1851.
(And I had the pleasure of meeting him again
at his own home in Southampton, in August,
1902, and conversed freely with him about old
times and the great change that h as been
wrought in the country since we first met, fifty-
one years ago, and just abont as great a change
has taken place in his appearance and mine since
we were boys then, but now old, white-haired
men.) At one of these social meetings at the
home of Capt. Spence we all spoke of our inten
tion to return to our old home before Christ
mas, and then we agreed also to meet at Mr.
Spence s house and all travel together in com
pany from there over to Owen Sound. But as
Mr. McDonald was going to make some trips
to Goderich with his vessel, we promised to
await his return to Southampton at the end of
the sailing season. But he deferred his return
long beyond the usnial time for sailing on the
lake.

Incidents of New Settlers, Mr* Gowinlock and the

Tracks

I will relate an incident that occurred shortly
after our return from Guelph, about this time,
just to give a little idea of the wonderful am
ount of confidence and genial kindlness and hos
pitality that existed amongst the early settlers
of the country.

67

One fine afternoon we noticed a large, heavily-
laden raft coming down the river, and to our
surprise we saw that it was being pushed right
across to our lan ding place, and there they com
menced to unload, and as we did not know who
the parties were, we went to see and asked him
what he was doing, when he said that he had
lately selected a lot of land and that he was go
ing to leave his wife and family with us until
he could get a house plit up for themselves, and
of course we could not say nio. This gave us
the pleasure of entertaining Mrs. Mclyean and her
twin babies and nurse girl for about a week in
our small shanty, and strange as it may seem,
we felt no real inconvenience, nor were we great
ly inconvenienced during their stay with us. This
Mr. Mcl/ean settled on a fine farm a little east
of Burg.oine, on tjie roa d to Tar a, but I am told
that he au d most all of the early settlers of
those days have passed away, anJd those who
were brought in with their parents over fifty
years ago are now old men and women.

I will take the liberty of here relating a rath
er laughable incident that occurred this fall, just
shortly after a very heavy fall of snow. I had
occasion to go up the river one morning to see
our neighbor, Mr. Gowinlock, about something,
and I fouind that he was just then making pre
parations to go down the river to Southamp
ton, and we were walking back in company and
had got about half way to our shanty, when we
came across the tracks of some one who was out
shooting an d walking upon snow shoes. Our
friend, Mr. Gowinlock, had never seen anything

68

of the kind before, an4 when he came to the
tracks he was struck with amazement and
alarm at seeing them, and standing still, held
up his hands with this exclamation, "O the
the Ivord preserve us and what kind of great
nxuckle beast can that be? O I hope that it ll
no devour us. See the marks of its great big
feet. And when he saw that I was smiling, he
said, "Do ye ken what kin<d o beast it is?" I
said yes, that it was not a beast, but the track
of a man walking upon snow shoes. He said,
"Dear me. Well, I was wondering that a great
beast, halving feet of that size di d not sink much
deeper in the snow."

Some time about the beginning of November,
in the year 1851, or near the time when this last
related event took place with Mr. Gowinlock
and the snow shoes, I had been invited to at
tend a local temperance meeting, which was go
ing to be held in Southampton on a certain
evening about that time, and although our num
bers were not large, yet it was a very social
gathering. Besides some of the Indians would
take an interest in the proceedings and give us a
specimen of their native oratory, and sing some
of their temperance songs. In their speeches
thev would tell us of some of the awful effects
that "squitee wabboo, or fire water, had
wrought amongst their people in the past.

An.d just while in the mi dtet of the entertain
ment, our worthy president, Alexander McNab,
Esq., land agent, said that he desired to call
the attention of those present to a most import
ant and pleasing event, and it gave him very

69

great pleasure to be able to introduce to those
present, no less a personage than Mr. Simon
Orchard, the pioneer of Paisley, who has just ar
rived amongst us, having driven his oxen and
sled, or jumper, through the woods, and as his
was the first vehicle drawn by animals that was
ever known to arrive in this place it created
quite a little sensation. Mr. Orchard stated
that it had taken him two days to accomplish
this jou rney, as he had to slash his way through
the woods with his axe. The snow was not yet
much over a foot deep. This seemingly small
event had nearly the same effect upon the inhab
itants of that time as the arrival of a first rail-
wav train woluld have at the present day, and
neither are these old events soon forgotten. As
an instance, I h ad the pleasure of spending a
short time with my old friends, Captain and
Mrs. Spence, in the autumn of 1902, and while
talking over old events I was reminded by Mrs.
Spence that Mrs. McNab and herself enjoyed
their first sleigh ride with me in the early win
ter of 1853, a circumstance I had never thought
of. But she said that Mrs. McNab and herself
often spoke with great delight of how greatly
they had enjoyed it.

Local Events and Regrets

So we continued at our new home and took up
the potatoes and disposed of some of them to
Capt. Spence and Mr. Brown, who came utp and
made a raft, a^d went down the river with the
potatoes. Mr. Peter Brown had removed to

70

Southampton with his family during the sum
mer, and at his house we always found a kind
home and warm welcome. I may also say that
our cousin, John Caldwell, who had come ufp
with us and remained for a time, had selected a
lot or two and then returned to Pilkington with
the intention of coming back in the spring, but
he, having afterwards taken up land in .the new
Township of Minto, did not return, but dis
posed of his claims afterwards to Messrs. Wil
liam and Joseph Stirtin. These gentlemen,
along with their brother, John, who also settled
near by the others, all became prominent men
and leading farmers in that community. They
all came from near Guelph and were brothers of
o ur venerable old member for South Wellington,
David Stirtin, who still lives and holds the posi
tion of postmaster for the city of Guelph. He is
now a very aged gentleman, and was one of the
first settlers aroun ; d Guelph.

My brother and I were mostly left alone daw-
ing these short, dark days of fall, and as winter
approached the weather grew more disagreeable.
Still we continued to underbrush and chop down
the trees, until the snow became too deep to do
much outside. That season the snow came very
early and we found ourselves almost entirely cut
off from communication on all sides, for the riv
er was nearly frozen oiver and it was impassable,
owing to the floating ice, and nothing could be
seen but snow everywhere and upon everything,-
deep snow. This had a very depressing and sad
dening effect upon William and I, apid we both
keenly felt our lonely and isolated condition,

71

and often regretted our folly by ever coming to
such a place. We would long for a change, and
greatly did we desire the associations of more
cheerful companionship, for we felt our condi
tion to be a very monotonous one.

Local Events, Preparations for Return, etc.

However, time passed on, and the day at last
had come When we were to leave and go to
Southampton to meet with ! those that we had
made an appointment with, to meet at the home
of Capt. Spence, and after we had made all ne
cessary preparations for our journey, as we did
not intend returning before spring, we started
to walk down the bants of the river through the
deep snow, until we reached a place in the river
where we knew the water to be deep and it had
very little current. This part we knew to be
frozen over, and so risked crossing there, and al
ter using all precaution and carefully picking
our way, we succeeded in reaching the opposite
side in safety, and close to the residence of Mr.
Peter Smith. There we heard from Mrs. Smith
the sad rumor of the los<s of the "Saucy Jack,"
and that Capt. MIcDooiald and all on board of
her were drowne/d. This intelligence had the ef
fect of casting a gloom of sadness over our al
ready depressed spirits, and it required some ef
fort to enable usi to make our way through the
deep and little trodden snow, through the woods
to the beach, and when we reached the lake shore
we, found the wind intensely cold and piercing.
There we saw the marks of a hand-sleigh, which

72

had lately passed along towa rds Southampton,
and which we soon discovered was taking the
remains of young Martinidale, who was found
drowned in the hol;d of the vessel. All the others
seemed to have been washed overboard, and
their bodies were not founid ujntil the ice melted
away in the spring. The crew consisted (so far
as was then known), of the captain and owner,
Mr. A. McDonald, and the two brothers Martin-
dale, who came down the river in our scow with
us in the spring, and they each, I understood,
left young widows an/d small families. The cir
cumstances were so exceedingly sad that it had
a serious effect upojn the small community in
every way, for the vessel was returning from
Goderioh very late in the season, and was laden
with flour and all other suipplies that were re
quired for the inhabitants of Southampton dur
ing the winter. The vessel, it apjpears, had been
completely overturned by the storm, as her sails
were fo,u;nd to be wound all around her, and ev
erything aboard of her was washed away, and
at this time all their provisions in Southampton
had been consumed, an,d they were all patiently
awaiting the arrival of this long-delayed boat
for fresh supplies. You may imagine the con
sternation and alarm caused by this sad catas
trophe. I was told that our friend, Mr. McDon
ald, ha)d remained m/u ch longer in Goderich than
was prudent at this season of the year. But
there was an election in the County of Huron
going on at the time and so anxious was he to
assist his friend, the Hon. Malcolm Cameron, in
his election that he had neglected to return in

proper season, and thus it ended with such serious
results to so many, for all were coincerned, for
there was no way of getting any nrore supplies
during the winter but by packing it across by
the trail through the woods from Owen Sound,
and this, at that time, would have been a hope
less job, for, owing to the deep fall of snow,
there had been n|o communication with Owen
Sound for some weeks.

When we reached Southampton it was not sur-
pjrising to see that everyone was wearing a
verv melancholy countenance, and had a sad
look, anid we also met quite a number of young
men awaiting our arrival and wanting to pro
ceed at once acnoss to the Sound, and although
they knew that there had been no travel, nor
anv path to guide their way through this great
forest covered with deep, untrodden snow, yet,
OAving to the sad misfortuine that had just hap
pened in the loss of the vessel containing all the
supplies, it made it expedient that we should
depart at once. So, ufcpn the following morn
ing, six brave, stout-hearteid young men, sup
plied only with a biscuit or two each, started to
cross the river in a large canoe owned by Alex.
Butchart, and after several very close shaves
from being upset by the large quantity of float
ing ice that was then at the m,outh of the river,
they ultimately succeeded in reaching the other
side, when they then commenced their perilous,
long journey through the woods, and as nearly as
I can remember the party consisted of six young
men, Messrs. George Gray, William Kennedy,
Thos. Burgess, Clement Ceifect, and a Mr. Mill-

74

wood and Silverthorne. These poor fellows
found a hard road to travel. Mr. McNab, wh-o
was not quite ready to start with the others in
the morning, prevailed upon me to remain with
him until the afternoon, when we would all
cross the river and go as far up as the Indian
village, and remain at the house of Mr. Cathay
for the night.

So, early in the afterndpn, we, that is to say,
Mr. McNab and his son, John, Mr. Chisholm
Millar, the surveyor, who had been surveying
the Township of Bruce, and myself, were accom
panied to the river s edge by many friends Who
were solicitous about our getting safely across
owing to the amount of floating ice, which made
the passage dver very dangerous, and the boat
that was being used was a very small one and
could not carry us all over in one trip. So
Captain Spenice anti Mr. Reid, who had charge
of the boat, asked Mr. McNab and John to get
in and they would take them over first, and
then return for Mr. Millar and me. After cau
tiously pushing their way through the ice and
using some exertion in their efforts, they reach
ed the other side, where Mr. McNab and John
remained, an d also Capt. Spence, who had been
rather unwell for some days, felt the exertion
required in the managing of the boat rather hard
upon him, and so Mr. Reid volunteered to bring
back the boat for Mr. Millar and me. But when
he got back into the swift current amongst the
ice he seemed to have lost all control of tjie
boat, and kept going arotirtd and around with
the ice and was being carried right into the

75

lake, while Capt. Spence, who saw the eminent
ly dangerous condition of affairs, kept pace with
the boat down the river s edge, and at the en
trance into the lake there ha,d formed a jam of
ice, where fortunately Mr. Reid managed to
get in ainft Caipt. Spence, walking out upon the
ice, reached the boat and succeeded in getting
into her, when he soon brought her over to us
again. But while all this was going on we were
all standing on the opposite shore powerless and
speechless, with our hearts in our mouths, and
I confess that I was trembling with fear from
head to foot, for when I entered that little boat
I scarcely expected ever to reach the other side.
So when Mr. Millar and I got seated in the boat
it was with much misgiving on my part, and
when we had gotten out into the mididle of the
river and amongst the flow of ice, one of the
rowlocks gave way and the boat became un
manageable, and I then felt sure that our end
had come and that was just what I expected
would happen, for we were being carried rapidly
down into the lake.

So near were we that when the surf of the lake
struck our little boat the water would dash all
over us and would soon have filled the boat,
when Mr. Millar with great presence of mind
got down and lay in the bottom of the boat and
secured the bolt that had dropped out, put it
back into its place, and lay there and held it in
place. This enabled Capt. Spence to guide and
control the boat to the opposite shore, which we
at length reached and landed upon the quickly
forming ice, when Capt. Spence, taking the lead,

76

safely guided us to the edge, where we were
joined by Mr. McNab and John, who had closely
watched us through the distressing circumstances
by which we were surrounded. So, after bidding
each other a parting farewell, Capt. Spence an d
Mr. Reid returned to Southampton, and we
four pursued our way up the river banks to the
Indian village, and to the house of Mr. Cathay,
where we were kindly received and entertained
for the night.

As Mr. MicNab had previously engaged two
men to carry over his packs to Owen Sound this
made our number up to six also, the same as
had passed along in the morning.

After spending a pleasant evening with Mr.
and Mrs. Cathay, upon the next morning, after
partaking of an early breakfast, we six started
on our journev, following closely in the foot
steps of the six who had passed along the morn
ing before us. Notwithstanding that we had
the advantage of a partly broken path, we made
but slow progress an^d found the travelling very
fatiguing and our you/ng friend, Johjn, had the
misfortune of getting his feet wet very frequent
ly, for in crossing over creeks or other wet
places he would be sure to slip into them and
get wet. Although his father had a good supply
of dry stockings along in the packs, yet it was
no pleasant undertaking to sit down in. the deep
snow anid put on d|ry ones, which he very fre
quently had to do. This young gentleman was
scarcely fifteen years of age and had been ten
derly brought up in the city of Toro.nto, and
was quite unaccustomed to endure hardships of

77

any kind, so before noon, and after we had trav
elled several miles through the snow, John got
so tired that he became almost p owerless, and
seemed to lose all control over his legs, and
would slip into every conceivable place of dan
ger. We tried to render all possible assistance,
but we found it very difficult to do much, owing
to the great depth of snow and the narrowness
of the path, and this stopping so often to change
stockings caused some delay anid hindered us
much in our journey. But his father displayed
so much real patience and kindness with John
that Mr. Millar and I felt heartily sorry for
them, and more especially when John would
plead with his father and all of us to go on and
leave him there, for he never would get through
and it was useless for us to sacrifice our lives in
orders to try and save him. Of course we did not
listen to such talk and only put forth the great
er efforts to help him, anid about two o clock,
just a short time after we crossed the Sobble
River, we came upon a spot where there had
been a fire very lately, and I said to Mr. McNab
and the others that I was sure from the appear
ance of the place and from the way that the
ssnow was stam\ped and tracked about that the
six poor fellows who started a day before us
were here last night, when Mr. McNab replied,
"O, for God s sake, do not say so." I said that
I hoped that I might be, mistaken, but I was
very much afraid that it would only prove to
be too true.

So we continued our slow march, Mr. Millar
and I rendering every possible assistance to Mr.

78,

John, for he had by this time become nearly
quite helpless, and we tried every way to help
him along-. I tried to carry him u>pio)n my back,
but the snow was so deep and the path so very
narrow, and John had no power or control over
his legs to keep them turned tup out of the snow,
but allowed them to hang- down on each side of
me, and make two deep ruts in the snow like
two sticks, so I had to give up this method of
conveyance and try some easier mojde of accom
plishing my purpose. Having around me a long
sash or cravat I tied it across my shoulders and
gave him the ends to hold on by and his father
would walk behind him and steady him up. We
managed by that way to make a little progress,
but at short intervals he would let himself drop
down into the snow and almost draw me upon
the to p of him, and after about two hours of
this process I became exceedingly , tired and said
that we might: just as well give up all hopes of
getting through to-night as we were very little
more than half way, and if Mr. Millar would
take mv place and assist Mr. McNab that I
would hasten foirward and prepare some place
where we could remain for the night, and short
ly after we made this arrangement, I started
forwar.d at a more rapid pace and had not gone
very far before I overtook Mr. McNab s two
men, who carried his packs, whom I soon passed.
I told them what I was going to do, and short
ly afterwards I came upon a place where the
track of those who had preceded us branched off
into different directions. I could see that they
had lost their way and that they ,had become

confused, but pursuing what I thought to be
the most direct line I soon came to a place
where the tracks had all united again into one
path, and I could see also that the tracks were
very fresh and that I was getting very close up
on the first party, so I did not stop as I intend
ed doing, to erect a place of shelter, but pressed
on, for it was now getting dark and I soon saw
at a little distance ahead a gleam of ligfct, and
in a few miniutes mpre I came upon the first
party of six. They had reached a deserted shan
ty that had been p,ut up duritng the summer.
This they had taken possession of anjd they were
trying to p;ut themselves into the best position
available under such circumstances, but I can
not say that any of them looked >hapipy or con
tented, nor were they in the most agreeable
state of disposition or temper, for, after two
days tramping in the deep snow without food,
their suffering may be conceived.

After giving and. receiving some explanations
regarding our several conditions, I asked for
some one of them to go back with me and try
to assist forward those still behind us up to this
place, but no one felt able or willing to do so,
they were all so tired out and hungry that they
could not stir. But after a good deal of plead
ing with them, Thos. Burgess at length consent
ed to accompany me back. After walking some
distance and hallooing frequently we at last got
a reply, and then threw ourselves down in the
snow ain d awaited their slow arrival. These
turned out to be M r. McNab s two men with his
packs. They said that as they did not see any
thing more of me after I had passed them, al

though they had travelled until it got dark, they
had thrown themselves down in the snow and in
tended to remain there for the night. But when
they heard us shouting they got up and came
forward, although they had neither heard nor
seen anything of the remainder of our party
since I had passed them. So then Mr. Burgess
and I went back with them to the shanty, and
after remaining there for about an hour I again
prevailed upon Mr. Burgess to accompany me
back once more to see and bring in the missing
ones of our party, and so we travelled slowly
back again over the same path. We kept giving
ati occasional shioiut as we travelled in hope of
receiving an answer, but we had to go back some
distance before we got any reply. But when we
did get qne we again threw ourselves down in
the snow, intending to remain where we were
until they came utp to u;s, but they kept u such
a continuous halloo and shouting that we were
forced to get up and go and meet them, and I
must say that they were needing some help, for
both their strength and patience were nearly ex
hausted, so I relieved Mr. Millar of any further
duties for the present, so that he anjd Mr. Bur
gess then at once started for the shanty, leav
ing me to assist John. I tied my comforter
around my shoulder again, and by this means,
with the assistance of his father, we reached the
shanty before midnight, where we founid the oth
ers already all huddled up in a mixed heap,, each
one trying to make the best thing possible out
of it, under all the circtimstalnces. So Mr. Mc-
Nab opened out his pack and took out a rug an<d

81

a buffalo robe, whidh he shared with some of us.
Thus we passed the night, and when daylight
began to appear we all made ready for an early
start, and as we did not wait for brea.kfast we
soon got ready for the tramp, where Mr. Millar
and I were expected to take rhe lead in doing
the first breaking up of a path, as many of the
others had already had two days of the experi
ence and w.ere used uip and unable to take any
more, an active part in the performance. So as
soon as it was light enough to see the way we
set off, taking each our turn, in opening a
path through the deep trackless snow, anid the
others following us in single file, and when the
leader became exhausted he would drop to one
side amongst the snow, and the next would take
the leaid, but bv this time there were not more

w 1

than dne or two that had strength enough left
to force their way through the deep snow, and
so they always stayed in the rear. I remember
on one occasion I was taking the lead and
we were passing through a long swamp and ev
erything was so deeply covered with snow that
no sign of any path was to be seen, when all at
once I sank down to the neck amongst brush. I
had got upon the top of some fallen tree. Mr. [Mil
lar, wto was close behind me, turned a little to
one side anjd by that means escaped falling into
the same trap upon to of me.

However I soon managed to extricate myself
and regain the proper path, and thus we journey
ed on in comparative silence. You may imagine
our joy and delight when about one o clock we
saw a clearing and called out to each other to

82

take courage for here is a clearing, and this
news put new energy into the hearts of tihe poor,
despairing ones, for the most of them had begun
to despair of evetr getting out of the woo dis. In
a short time we reached the home of M ( r. Jimby,
but found only Mrs. Jimby and children at the
house. We soon made our condition known and
she hastened at once to prepare food. The
Messrs. Jimby had gone down with two yoke of
oxen arid a sleigh that rooming to Owen Sound,
in order to break a track through the deep snow,
for there had been no travel since the heavy
snow storm. We felt a little disap
pointed at this information, as we haid fully in
tended When we reached Mr. Jimby s to engage
him to take us all to Owen Soiled with his oxen
and sleigh. But the benefit of having the road
broken with the cattle and sleigh would be of
-reat help to us in the latter part of our jour
ney. Mrs. Jimby soon had a quantity of pork
fried and bread and tea prepared, but we made
up a rather large company to be waited up
on all at Once, and Mr. McNab in his magnani
mous way suggested that those of the first
party be attended to x first, as they had been the
longest without food. You may be assured that
Mrs. Jimby had no time to lose for it kept 4ier
very busy for some time cutting bread, frying
meat and pouring tea into cups, and after we
had all gotten our immediate wants supplied
Mr. McNab asked to be permitted to remunerate
in a slight measure Mrs. Jimby for the bountiful
supper she had so quickly prepared for us in our
extremitv. As it was wearing towards evening

and we had yet five miles more of a journey to
make before we reached the Sound, we all set off
upon the last stage of our travel and we found it
very much easier to walk after getting! some din
ner and also f,rom the track of the oxen and
sleigh in the morning, and when we had gone
about half way we met Messrs. Jimby on their
return from Owen Sound, whiclh had the effect
of still further improving our path, so, after our
hard experience, we all reached the Sound at
last, anjd thankful were we to find ourselves once
more within the comfortable hostelry of our old
friend, Mr. Corbet. After a short rest we all
made preparations for pursuing the remaining
part of our journey to our several homes, some
by stage or other modes of conveyance, and thus
we parted, all hoping to meet again in the near
future under more pleasant circumstances. In a
few days more we reached our old home near
Guelph, the day before Christmas, and were
gladly welcomed back by our friends and ac
quaintances, and thus ende d our first year, with
much of the experience of what a pioneer life
means in the early settlement of the ne\v coun
try, in the County of Bruce, in the year 1851.

Making Preparations for Returning

For the winter and early spring of 1852
we remained at our old home and greatly did we
relish arid appreciate the change of conditions.
All this made us feel that there was no place
like home. It was so very different from wnat
we had so lately experienced in every way, for

84

here we were again invited to taste
of the comforts of life and to take
a part in many of the pleasures and
enjoyments of the happy social gatherings
so fascinating to our youthful minds. There is
no dioubt at all but we had aur future plajnp al
ready formed about all these things, but the
time for their fruition had not yet come, but we
hoped 1 sooft to be able to erect comfortable
hocuses at our new homes, and then we wojtild be
prepared to early out our much c herished de
sires to their fullest 1 completion, and no doubt
but we sometimes also built castles in the air
which never matured, for we had, like others,
to contend 1 with many of the disappointments to
which flesh is heir in this life.

In this wav we passed the months of winter,
but at the same time we were always looking
forward to and were making full preparations
for our return in the spring. I had secured a
very good yoke of oxen and a cow
by exchanging a good, young horse and
some harness for them. These were
things that I did not at present, require, so
I had to delay my return until the beginning of
the manth of ! May, for we hoped that by that
time the woods would provide pasture for the
cattle in the shape of leaks and cow-cabbage,
which grow in abundance everywhere in spring.

William had returned some weeks before, and
when he arrived at Sa ugeen and to lid our neigh
bor, Mr. Wallace, that I was waiting to bring
up some cattle, Mr. Wallace said that he was
needing some also, and that he would go to

85

Guelph and meet me there and we could drive
them together, and so we could assist each oth
er on the way. In good time Mr. Wallace came
to Guelph and met me there and soon after
wards purchased what cattle he required. I think
that he bought a yoke of steers and two cows,
and just about this time Mr. James Scott, from
near the Waterloo line, came to see me, and
said that he wanted to go up with me and take
u)p land at the Saugeen, and that he wished to
accompany us and assist in driving the cattle.
So, in a short time, we had made all necessary
preparations for our journey. Our herd com
prised eight head in all, two yoke of oxen and
four cows. M r. Wallace and I eacji had the same
number. It was in, the beginning of May when
we again set off on olur long journey up to a
new cojuntry, but we made very slow progress in
our march, for the cows that Mtr. Wallace had
got were in a very poior, lean condition and quite
unfit to travel such a long distance,
for we had not gone more than a
day or two when one of them show
ed signs of great fatigue from the contin
uous toiling, and she would lay down on the
roadside frequently to take a rest, so we had
just patiently to wait with her until she felt dis
posed to rise up and walk, and this was always
trying to our patience, as we were all exceeding
ly anxious to m ove o]n, for we found the wayside
inn accomm pdatioln to be of a most undesirable
kind. I will just describe a few instances as a
sample of many. I do not know whether there
were any licenses granted to sell liquor in thfose

86

days or not, but the places where such was sold
were very plentiful all along the roa;d. I re
member just on the top of the bank before cross
ing- the river at what is now Mount Forest there
was a small log house which ,had a sign of a bot
tle and a glass, made by a coal upon a piece of
board, whicji was nailed up just over tne door,
and many of those places had no- conveniences
or accommodation for travellers, yet Mr. Scott,
so as to pass off the time during our frequent
delays, would go into some of them and patron
ize their establishments by indulging to a limit
ed extent, when Mr. Wallace would use his
powers of persuasion to dissuade him from suth
a practice. But Mr. Scott got a good joke upon
him, for as we were moving slowly along the
road one evening near by the Township of Sulli
van and just close by^tlie side of the road there
stood a very small shanty, which had a sign u>p-
on it with this inscription written, "Whiskey
sold here by the wholesale, and just at this
place Mr. Wallace s poor cow laid down and re
fused to go any further. As it was getting to
wards night Mr. Scott and I had to push on
with the remainder of the cattle until we could
reacfi some more commodious quarters, so after
going about a mile further we came to another
inn, and there we enquired if they had any hav
for our cattle, and also if they could actommo-
date us with supper and beds. We received an
swers in the affirmative, and when we got the
cattle put up for the night and went into the
house for supper, I assure you it was a very
primitive looking place, for as yet there were no

87

partitions in the house, an,d aroUfnd the chim
ney comers of the large fire place there was what
we used to call a grist, that is to
say, several bags of flour and bran
which had been lately brought from the
mill, and these bags of flour were be
ing usefcl for seats near the fire place. As we en
tered the house we saw two women; one was
quite busy preparing supper for us, and the oth
er was sitting up,o<n o ; ne of the bags of flo ur, ap
parently soundly sleeping. But presently she
awoke and began to chatter away to herself, and
this ma de the other woman feel ashamed, and
she came and took her away outside for a while.
But I noticed when she got up that the bag of
flo*ir upon which she had been sitting and also
Upon the floor it was qiuite wet. This sight had
the effect of spoiling my supper that nig(ht, but
it is quite possible that she had spilt either tea
or tod dy upon herself. We spent a short time
afterwards in common conversation and were
then shown up the ladder to the loft, an^d there
we found a very poor, hard bed, but such incid
ents were nothing unusual in those days, so next
morning we took breakfast an4 awaiteid Mr.
Wallace s arrival with his lean cow. Then Mr.
Scott told Mr. Wallace that he need never say
anything mjore to him about going into taverns
to drink, for he had shown that nothing would
satisfy- him but staying at a place where whis
key could be bought wholesale, but he, Mr.
Scott, only occasionally bought it by the glass
at retail prices. And then we soon got started
off again at a slow pace and continued utntil we

88

reached within a few miles of Owen Sound, when
we turned in through the Township of Derby by
the new line of road, near a place that was call
ed Ingles Mills, and through places that are
now called Tara and Burgovne, and from
there through to the Saugeen River,
which we reache d after several long, weary days
of travel, which we found very often to be very
trying to our patience when compelled to endure
so many enforced delays.

Changes in the Country

Upon our return from Guelph we found that
since the comipletion of the survey of the town
ship that there were riumbers of new settlers
coming into the place, and amongst some of
those that I remember were Messrs. John and
Thomas Smith, brothers of Mr. Peter Smith,
and also the Messrs. Bell, McGillivrav, Pilgrim,
Goble, Parish and McLean and some others
whose names I have forgotten at the present,
and some of those who had gone back to their
old homes in the fall did not return in the
spring, and their places had been taken posses
sion of bv new comers, and some ha)d left their
farms an(d gone down to the village during the
winter, and then had settled there, for bv this
time manv of the most desirable lots had been
taken up and, in a few cases, there arose some
disputes regarding prior claims. But they were
mostly always quickly settled without causing
much trouble.

Mr. Scott, who came up with me, worked for

89

a month or two with us, helping to log and
clear up the land for spring crops, an)d then he
selected a lot for himself down the river a few
miles, and after he got a house erected in dtae
time he got his family moved up and became
a resident of that new country. I must not omit
to relate an event that occurred during Mr.
Scott s stay with us. About this time we had
religions services held in a few of the houses by
the Methodist minister, Mr. Hfatchihson, and a
stu dent from Knox Presbyterian College, To
ronto, and I was appointed the collector and
treasurer, and Mr. Scott, who had rather too
much conceit regarding his ability as a singer
or leader of psalmody, was appointed precentor
in the Presbyterian meetings, and these meet
ings were generally pretty well attended by all
the settlers that were near, or that could by any
means attend such services, for the greatest of
harmony prevailed amongst the different sects.
But according to the denomination of the preach
er, the singing was usually led by one of the
same persuasion, and it so happened upion one
occasion when Mr. Hutchinson was officiating
that his leader, Mr. William Cunningham, was
disabled from the effects of a cold, and ais Mr.
Scott was present he was asked to lead in the
singing during the service. Mr. Scott, without
much hesitation, consented, when Mr. Hutchin
son very considerately, and in order to make it
easier for Mr. Scott, gave out the 23rd psalm,
instead of a hymn, and so Mr. Scott, feeling the
responsibility and importance of the position,
began with his favorite old tune of Belerma, and

90

he had not gone very far before he was assisted
by Mr. Cunningham, who was sitting beside
him, and started off in the new quick style, while
Mr. Scott continued in the old, slow fashion, so
that when Mr. C. was at the end of the verse
Mr. S. was only about half way. This made a
great discoid of sounds and so they stopped and
made a new start from the beginning, and this
time it was even worse than the first attempt,
for by this time Mr. Scott was getting quite
neryotos and tremulous of voice. When he made
the third attempt he got as far as "The lyoord
is my shepherd," when he fairly broke down,
with the exclamation, "I cannot manage it. I
am fairlv beat, when the minister said, "Never
mind. Let u& pray, and as soon as the meet
ing was closed for that day Mr. Scott was aut
and off like a reindeer, and never stoppejd to say
good day to any one. I never heard him men
tion his singing after that day. I may also say
that my Sabbath collections during the season
onlv amounted to something like four dollars,
for it was not usiial to donate more than a cop
per at each collection, and these preachings were
conducted, both in village and country, wherever
there was a house large enough to accommpdate
a few people, and everyone was anxious to do
all in their power to assist in making the ser
vices both pleasant and profitable, and besides
this there was a very strong temperance senti
ment in the community amongst the leading
class of the people. The agent, Mr. : Alexander
McNab, was decidedly a strong leader of tem
perance, and he gave every possible encourage-

91

ment to all good settlers of that class, and al
though all were not strict teetotallers, yet he
secured a very desirable class of settlers for Sau
geen and the su rro unding townships, aind the
fruits of their industry and perseverance are very
visible to this dav, as seen in their fine, well-
cleared up farms and substantial houses and
barns. In the way of advancement and intelli
gence the Coruntv of Bruce has not many equals.
A number of the inhabitants are of Germ a^i and
Scotch descent, and I am told that many
who came into the county forty or fifty years
ago and were then not worth more than forty or
fifty dollars, are n ow worth as many thousands.
So there was a continuous, steady progress
made in the way of settlement and especially
along the three leading roads, such as the Goder-
ich rioad, wjhich ru ns through the Townships of
Saugeen and Bru ee a little distance from the
lake shore, and right through the centre of the
village of Port Klgin. All this part was quickly
settled and comprised a line section of country.
The next aind most important line that was
quickly settled was what was known as the
Klora and Saugeen road. This runs through a
splendid large section of farming country, be
sides it passes through many important towns,
such as Walkerton, Paisley, and some others of
a little smaller dimension. I well remember the
anxiety that was displayed by many to secure
lots upon this line. Our old friend, the Rev. Dr.
R. Toirance of Guelph, had asked us to secure
him some lots and we selected a fine tract of
land upon this road for him. I believe that

92

shortly afterwards these same lots became the
property of Messrs. Craig, who still retain pos
session of them.

The third important line of road was that run
ning through the Townships of Arran and Der
by to .the Owen Souad road. TJiis was opened
early in 1852 and several settled that season up
on it all along by Invermay and Tara, but es
pecially near by the corners, that is called Bur-
goyne, there is a splendid settlement of well-to-
do farmers, wh:o ha ve been settled there for
many years. There is a f Presbyterian church at
Burgoyne of considerable dimensions, and in
which, the 1 Rev. Mr. Tolmie officiated for a great
many years, for this is indeed a fine section of
country for several miles around, and is settled
by a superior class of farmers. I think that
there is also ; a good large Methodist church in
this place, but I have been a great miaay years
absent from these parts and, therefore, will not
attempt to further describe them, but will con
fine my remarks to events that occurred in the
days of the early settlement of the country, and
with which I was more immediately concerned.
I will here relate an incident that very closely
concerned myself. It was some time about the
middle of June, in the year 1852. There came
an exceedingly great rain, causing the river to
overflow its banks many feet, and it was coming
down a rushing, mighty stream, so William and
I thought the ground a little too wet to
\vork upon pleasantly, and as we were needing
some supplies of provisions, we would embrace

the opportunity of going down to Southampton

9:1

to get some. We, as usual, took our little raft
and crossed the river, an d after making it fast,
we walked di,owti the river s edge uptitil we came
to our neighbor, Mr. Wallace s, place, where we
found him very busily engaged in cutting down
and getting rid of all the timber that was with
in reach of the water s edge, for as soon as it
fell into the river it was carried away, botlv
and brainches, an d by that means he was getting
a piece of land cleared u!p witjhout much
trouble, an\d as he was very anxious to get a
piece of ground ready to sow with turnips, he
asked as a faVor if o ne of us could not remain
and assist him that day, as he wished to take
advaJntage of the rise in the river. I consented
to remain and help him with this work and Wil
liam went oft to the village alo ; ne. And it so
happened that there was a very large basswood
tree wthich we felled into the river, but it was
too far from the water to be carried right away.
So Mr. Wallace and I tried to get it pushed off,
but we were not able to do so, when Mr. W.
said that he woiuld yoke up his steers and per
haps they could move it, which would be much
easier for us than lifting so heavily, and also
that the cattle might be required much oftener
now that the trees were further from the river.
So in course of a little time Mr. Wallace came
along with his oxen, which I must say were very
untr act able and unaccustomed to the yoke, and
hard to manage. But in time we succeeded in
getting the chain hitched around the butt end of
this big basswood tree, and, no sooner were the
oxen attached to it, than they made a rush for

94

the river, and in spite of all our efforts to stop
them, the tree was soon all afloat and with the
oxen still attached to it, was rushing rapidlv
down the river, the oxen making every effort to
swim across to an island that was in the middle
of the river. This had the effect of causing the
top of the tree to be suddenly driven in towards
the shore, when we. caught it by the branches
and drew it towards the side for all that we were
worth, and the oxen, which were getting pretty
well exhausted by this time, were doing their
best pulling against us, trying to reach the is
land. There was nothing of them to be seen but
the tips of their horns, and the ends of their
noses out of the water; the chain had got over
their backs and held them down in the water,
which, caused them to moan piteously. But no
sooner had the tops turned in towards us than
we saw our opportunity, when we ran and caught
hold of the branches and pulled it in such a way
that Mr. W. got into the large limbs and crawl
ed upon his hands and knees until t he at last
reached the chain, when he managed to get it
unhooked, and then crawled very cautiously, but
speedily back to the branches, which I was hold
ing on to with all my might, although I was
drawn into the water nearly up to the waist,
and in another moment or two would have been
off my feet. I called to him to make all possible
speed, and just as he got near enough to jump
I felt myself being carried away, and called up
on him to jump, which he did, and I caught him
not a moment too soon, or he most certainly
would have been taken away down with the tree,

95

or been drowned, for he could not swim more
than a stone. The tree was soon carried away
down the river towards the lake, and the poor
oxen, after they had been released from the tree,
managed to reach the island, and there they
stood very fatigued looking. After resting our
selves for a 1 short time and considering ..what
would be the best way to get the oxen off the
island, for we could not get along very well with
out them now, I proposed that we make a light
raft out of a couple of cedar rails, that were ly
ing near at hand. So we got a hammer and
some nails, and two short pieces of board. We
nailed them together, and after furnishing my
self also with a paddle, I got upon the slim
raft and pushed out into the stream, but no
sooner had I reached the swift current, than by
my having to use more force to urge the raft to
cross the stream, it parted in two, and I
fell backwards into the water, and my frail craft
floated down the river, but I succeeded in gain
ing the shore, and after resting a few minutes,
I said to Mr. Wallace, now that I was as wet as
I could possibly be, I would go up the river a
short way and swim in a slanting direction
across to the island, before the swift current
could carry me past. So I foolishly attempted
to swim over with a pair of heavy cowhide long
boots upon my feet, and a pair of worsted pants,
with a leather belt around my waist. In I
went and before I knew where I was, I was down
within a few feet of the lower end of the island,
just where the two currents meet, and I put
forth all my strength in trying to reach the is-

96

land, but all to no purpose, for I could not gain
an inch against such a current. At last my
arms refused to move, and I went down feet
first, until I touched the bottom, which was
about twelve feet down at that place, and then
gave myself a hard push upwards with my
feet. This sent me up to the surface again,
where I renewed all my efforts to reach the is
land, which was so very near. Mr. Wallafce was
going up and down the river s edge in great dis
tress, being quite unable to render me any as
sistance. My strength again failing me I
went down to the bottom a second time, and in
the same way, as I did at the first, I again gave
myself a violent push upwards, which sent me to
the top a second time, and most fortunately at
tihis moment Mr. James Orr, who had just come
up from Southampton, saw my perilous condi
tion at once, and came running and calling to
me to swim down the stream, and then ran up
and got a cedar rail and pushed it into the wa
ter as far as he could, and no sooner did I turn
to go down with the stream than it gave me
quite a rest, and I found it to be easy work be
sides trying to go up against it. So, by the
time the rail came down, I was within reach,
and caught it, and pulling it under my arms,
I paddled myself towards the shore, and it hap
pened that there had been a tree stuck fast at
some distance further down the river, and to
that spot Mr. Wallace ran and climbed in am
ongst the branches with a fishing pole. One end
of it he reached out to me, and I caught it by
the end, and by that means got pulled ashore.

97

But I was so exhausted that I could not stand
for quite a while, but had to be laid upon the
ground for some time to rest. But I quickly
recovered sufficiently to go to the house and put
on a dry shirt, and get some food, and while I
was doing this, Mir. Orr, who was a good swim
mer, divested himself of his clothes and swam
over to the island and drove the oxen back
again. By this incident I was taught a serious
lesson. I may say that I never knew until that
day how great and many had been the dangers
and risks that we had passed through in cross
ing and redrossing that river so often and
sometimes even carelessly and thought
less of danger, for although we were
fairly good swimmers, yet if by any mis
hap we fell into the middle of the river in our
clothing and heavy boots, our chances of escape
from drowning would be very few indeed.

And upon the afternoon of this very day an
incident occurred that I think is well worth re
lating. About four o clock, a party of five
men, belonging to a surveying company, had
come up from Southampton, to where Mr. Wal
lace and I were at work, and they anxiously de
sired that I should take them across the river.
But I did not care to run many more risks, for
I had got about enough of the water for one
day. I told them where they would find our
raft, and that they were quite welcome to use
it, but that they would require to make two
trips, for the raft would only carry three safely
over at once, and if three crossed over one could
return with the raft and get the two that had

98

been left. In that way they could all pass over,
and then tie up the raft on that- side, and my
brother and I would find some other means of
passing- over when we returned in the evening.
But they insisted upon my going up to where the
raft was tied up. So I accompanied them up
the river to where the raft was, and when they
saw it they were very much afraid, and would
not venture upon it, but urged that I should
take them over. I said that I had never been
afraid of the river until to-day, and besides I
did not feel able to undertake such hard work
after what I had alreadv passed thlrough, and it
would cause me to pass over three times at
least, for the raft would not carry more than
two besides myself. But I told them that there
was the raft and if they wanted to cross over
that they were very welcome to use it. At
length three of the most daring got upon it and
shoved out into the river, but no sooner did
they reach the current than they, were swiftly
turned about, and the raft began to sink deep
down in the water. Fortunately they drifted
into an eddy, and we again got them safe
ashore. They had all got .wet up to their knees,
besides receiving a bad fright, and they all turn
ed sharply upon me and certainly they gave me
anything but a blessing, and told me that that
raft never carried three across that river, and
that I was only trying to play a trick upon
them, and deceive them, and that I did not care
if they all got drowned. Upon this being said,
I got upon the raft and called upon any two of
them to get on and I would take them across,

99

just to prove to them what I had told them was
true. In a little time two stepped on with me
and I ferried them to the other side in safety,
and returned with the raft. "Now you thxee have
seen what I have done. Take the raft and ferry
yourselves over." They said no, that they were
afraid, but would give me a dollar to take them
across. I said no, that I had taken a good
many over at different times and never yet took
a copper, and I did not feel like beginning to
day, but if they wished they could take the
raft and use it, and leave it on the other side,
but I would do no more for them. So then one of
the men declared that he w^ould sooner walk all
the way up by the banks of the river until he
reached the bridge at Walkerton, than cross the
river on that raft. I told him to please him
self about that, and leaving three upon one side
and two upon the other, I bade them good after
noon, and then returned down the river s edge
to Mr. Wallace. When I told him what I had
done, he said that I was not to be blamed, tak
ing my experience of the former part of the day
into consideration, and from what I had already
passed through in crossing over with some that
were in mortal fear of being drowned. The mind
seems to have such a wonderful effect upon the
body, that one would almost think that they
had suddenly changed into a lump of lead, and
in case of an accident such a one would be sure
to grab hold of some one and prevent them from
swimming, and the consequence would be that
both would perish together. I will here relate

another event that o ccurred to me some time in

100

the month of June, which I will never forget. It
happened that along about this time we would
have very frequent callers from people looking
for land, and as a natural consequence the de
mands upon our store of provisions were i; .uch
heavier than they would otherwise have been.
This caused us to make more frequent visits to
Southampton for flour and other needful sup
plies, so I volunteered upon this occasion to go
to the village, for I rather liked to go to
Southampton to see my friends, and hear the
news, for at this time there was neither any
established post nor paper, and reading matter
was scarce in these quarters in those days. So
I started one evening, for the days were long,
although as yet there were no roads, but over or
under fallen trees, and across creeks upon a tree
cut for the purpose of crossing over upon, in
stead of a bridge, and along by the lake shore
on stepping stones, and by portage, to South
ampton, which would be fully eight miles by
these short cuts, yet I reached there when it was
early in the evening. I got a bag of 100 pounds
of flour and all in readiness for an early start
home in the morning. After having tea and
spending the night at the home of our good
friend, Capt. Speixce, I awoke about daylight
and put the bag of flour upon my back, hoping
to reach home in good time for breakfast. I
managed to get along very nicely for a time, un
til I had gotten about half way, when my load
of flour became very heavy and I had to take
frequent rests, and I was so hungry and weak

that when I put it down to rest I could scarce-

101

ly get it upon my back again, and as it got hot
ter towards noon the weaker I became and the
heavier the load grew. About noon I reached
home perfectly tired out, and so I proved the
old adage to be true in my case also. It was
only a lamb when I started off with it, but it
became a very heavy sheep before I got it home,
and I never wanted to try another such experi
ence, as carrying a bag of flour eight miles be
fore breakfast.

Along during the early part of this summer
our old friend, Mr. George Butchart, commenced
the erection of a saw mill upon what is known
as Mill Creek, near to Port Elgin, a very much
needed construction at that time, as so many
people were moving into the country and requir
ing lumber for building purposes, and as there
was some good pine and other timber in this
section the enterprise was a desirable one. In
due time the preparations for the dam were
made, and the timber framed and ready to put
up. For by this time there were some framers
and other mechanics in and around Southamp
ton, where several houses were in course of be
ing erected, and so the day came when all was
in readiness for raising the saw mill, and al
though the timbers were very heavy x there was
an abundance of help. But the majority, of those
present had never seen a frame building jput up
in their lives, and they were as green and ignor
ant of what to do as it would be possible to
conceive. Although they were composed of a
number of exceedingly strong men, yet the fram-
er or contractor could do nothing with them.

102

They would stand in groups and talk, paying- no
heed to what the framer said, for they did not
know by name the one piece of timber from the
other or where it should be placed. So the fram
er had to give up in despair, after talking him
self nearly hoarse. Just at this very moment
there arrived a small party of men that had
newly reached Southampton, and was told of a
saw mill that was being raised that day, and
they hastened out to the spot. Amongst the
number was an active young man, a framer,
from Orillia, and he said that he never yet had
much trouble in managing the hands at a rais
ing of a building, and that he would njot be
afraid to take the men in charge and put up the
building. Consent to let him try was willingly
given by the contractor, so this young man
mounted upon the top of a half-raised bent,
there to harangue the people. After he had
called them all to order and attention, he said
that he wanted them all to keep silent and at
tend to what he said. He knew that they were
perfectly able to raise this building in short
time, and he asked them all to lift together
when he gave them the command to "Ye O,
heave. Now are you all ready. Ye O, heave,"
and away the bent went up without a stop, as
if it had been made of so many laths, for so
sudden and unexpected was the move that the
bent was taken clear away from under the poor
fellow s feet in a moment, and he fell back
wards astride of a man s shoulders, and down
about sixteen feet into the mill race, striking
his head against a beam at the bottom. He

103

never spoke, but only gave a quiver, but was
soon carried up to the edge of the bank and ev
ery available appliance was used in order to
bring him around. It was some time before he
gave much symptom s of life, and it took several
weeks nursing before he was able to retuirn to
his home again. This accident had the effect of
casting a damper and depression over all pres
ent foir a time, ,and when we did get to work
again it was worse than it was before the acci
dent, for none seemed to care to do anything.
So then it was suggested that we try again by
calling sides and see what effect that would have.
I was asked to be one of the captains. I said
that there were many older men here, I thought,
who would do better than I, but was told they
were without experience. I then i said if desired
I would try and do the best I could to get the
building up, and then, the people were all called
together, and told what we were going to do. My
opponent had a slight advantage over me, in be
ing a carpenter himself. However, the choosing
of sides turn about commenced, and, of course,
I had to begin with my neighbors, Mir. Peter
Smith and Mr. Pilgrim, and others, but I did
not know the names of all present and I was
assisted and directed in many cases at the in
stigation of Mr. Smith, who knew them all, and
when we got our sides completed I had as stur
dy a lot of Highlanders as any one could wish,
and the only trouble now was to keep them
back. Two of them would take hold of a heavy
piece of timber and run away with it, while be
fore this six or eight men could scarcely man-

104

age to get it along, and when it came to raising
the bents, we would have our side up and pinned
before the others had theirs entered. This no
doubt caused trouble and delay, for we often had
to drive our pins out again before the other side
could enter theirs. Notwithstanding all this, I
could not keep them back, and the next bent
would just be the same, and if they had been
commanded to capture a fort or engage in a
tug of war they could not have gone to work
with greater will and determination to win. I
may say that this saw mill served the purpose
for which it was intended, and when timber be
came scarce it was converted into a grist mill,
and the site has been occupied for several years
doing good service in that way.

I have already stated in a former part of
our experience as early settlers, what we had to
endure and suffer from the plague of mice, and
how we found things upon our return from
Guelph in the spring of 1852. During Mr. James
Scott s stay with us a rather laughable event
occurred, which I think is worth relating here.
Mr. Scott was rather what might be called a
staid Scotchman, who had no bad opinion of
himself, and he felt much annoyed at the depre
dations of the mice, and so plentiful were they
that every effort to overcome them seemed to
be of little avail. This gave Mr. Scott full
scope to exercise all the ingenuity of his inven
tive powers to subdue them, and keep them
within reasonable bounds, and it was almost im
possible to keep anything eatable that thev
would not find and destroy. The only places of

105 "

safety were our two round bake kettles or ovens,
with close-fitting lids, and in these we had to
store away our provisions, but these places of
safety were not always available for that pur
pose, for we generally made i our own bread
from salt raisings or yeast of that material, anfd
Mr. Scott was quite an expert in the making of
bread of that description, which was very palat
able, and, of course, had always to be very care-
fullv kept from the ravages of the mice in the
bake oven. So we had^ to make a strong, heavy
box, and suspend it from the wall, with close-
fitting door and shelves, and in this we put our
eatables and groceries, such as bread, butter, su
gar, tea, coffee, mustard, pepper, salt, etc. Con
ceive of our consternation when we opened this
cupboard door in the morning to see about a
do zen of mice jump out of it, and then find, in
stead of our provisions, a large mouse nest,
made of cedar bark, and all the paper torn from
our grocery parcels, constructed into a large
nest, and our tea, sugar, coffee, pepper, mus
tard, all mixed into a dirty confuted heap on
top of our butter plate. We all felt like giving
up in despair, but Mr. Scott said, that by all
means, let us try to get a cat, for we cannot
live with these destructive vermin over-running
everything in this way. So it happened that
my brother, William, was down at Southampton
a short time after the above occurrence, and
was telling some of our friends about the great
annoyance that we suffered from swarms of
mice, and said that he wished that they could
direct him to where he could get a cat, when

106

some one said that they thought that they could
find one far him. After some enquiries he got
the offer of an ugly old torn cat,, which they
would lend him for a while, but they also said
that he was rather treacherous and a notorious
ly bad 1 thief. However, William was glad to get
anything in the shape of a cat, ,and brought him
along, as he was told that he need not trouble
himself greatly about returning the cat.

We all received this ugly old cat as a welcome
-visito)r, for we hoped that he would be able to
deliver us from the awful tyranny to which we
had been subjected by the plague of mice. But
we were rather doomed to disappointment, for
this old cat had no!t been many days in our pos
session before James Scott took a very strong
dislike and hatred towards him, and I suppose
that he had plenty of cause and reason for this
dislike, for I do not think that this cat posses
sed one attractive or redeeming quality in its
nature, for it did not seem to care to try and
catch mice, but depended entirely upon sponging
and stealing for a living.. So Mr. Scott s hat
red became so intense towards that cat that he
could nott see it without having something bad
to say about it, and wished to be allowed to
drown him in the river. We would ask him to
have a little patience, for the cat was a. stranger
in the place yet, but when he became acquaint
ed with his sturtoundings that then he would
take to his instincts and kill mice. But one day
when we came to the shanty to get our dinner,
the cat was left inside as usual to watch the
mice when we went out to work in the morning,

107

so when we opened the shanty door out ran the
cat, for he had knocked down a flat-iron that
hung upon a nail on the wall, and it fell on the
top of our largest bake kettle and broke the cov
er in pieces, and as what we had intended for
our dinner had been stowed away in the ket
tle, the cat had eaten and destroyed it. The
bake 1 kettle had unfortunately been left sitting
directly under where the iron was hanging, and
this proved a severe loss to us under the cir
cumstances, as we had no means of replacing it.
All this gave James a double plea in his object
of drowning the cat, and James said "Surely af
ter seeing what he had done you will allow me
to drown him, for such a nasty, ugly, thievish
brute should not be permitted to live another
hour." We said, "Well, James, if you can catch
him, after dinner, while you, are resting your
self, you may take him down to the river and
drown him. James received this permission
with evident pleasuire, and just as soon as he
had finished eating his dinner, he went out in
search of the cat, putting on a very soft,
persuasive, pleasant tone of voice to induce the
cat to allow itself to be caught by him. At
last he succeeded in capturing it, and taking the
cat up in his arms, he said, "I have got you
now, you old thief, and I ll soon put an end to
you, you ugly brute. He carried him down
to the river s edge. The cat, true to his in
stincts, became alarmed at the sight of the wa
ter, and struggled to get away, but when it
found that it could not escape, as Mr. Scott had
already gone into the water some distance, the

108

cat only clung the closer to him, and began to
crawl up to his shoulders, and as Mr. Scott
was a man over six feet in height, the cat at
tained to some little distance above the surface
of the water. When Mr. Scott had reached the
deep, swift running current, and attempted to
remove the cat from its perch, to complete his
purpose, the cat seemed to be aware of his in
tention and only clung the more tenaciously to
his shoulders, sinking its claws deeply into his
flesh through his thin cotton shirt. This had
the effect of causing James to turn and quickly
retrace his steps to the shore, wearing a very
wry face, and with the cat still upon his shoul
der. I said to him, "What is the matter, James,
have you relented?" He said no, but that he was
not able to take the brute off his shoulder. It
had stuck its claws all so deep into him, and
the more he tried to remove it the deeper it
siink them into him and the tighter it clung to
him. But as soon as he had gained the dry
land the cat began to relax his hold and want
ed to get down. James caught hold of him and
held him tight, and then asked to be given a
piece of cord or string, when he fastened one
end around the cat s neck, and to the other end
he tied a stone, and taking it down to the river,
said, U I will fix vou this time, you ugly old sin
ner," and when he thought that he had reached a
suitable spot for the purpose, he threw the cat
and stone with all force into the river. But, lo!
to his disappointment, the stone went about
twice as far into the water as the cat. It had
slipped out of the string. The cat only went a

109

little way into the water an d swam ashore, and
escaped in spite of Mr. Scott s efforts to pre
vent it, and then made off to the woods, and we
never saw any more of that cat. I have some
times heard it said that cats were witches, or
witches were cats. Whichever way it is I do not
know, but one thing seemed certain, that this
cat took the hint, and knew enough to keep
away and never show his face around these quar
ters while Mar. Scott remained near at hand. To
many this story of the cat and mice may appear
to be very trivial, but to us at that time it
was a very significant and an important busi
ness for us to know how we could overcome such
a great nuisance as these mice had become, for
it must be remembered that in those days and
in that place we had no means of replacing those
things that were destroyed, for the country was
very different then from what it is at present.
I will only add that there were other vermin be
sides mice and much smaller than them, that
were very plentiful in many houses in those days,
which also were a great plague ,to many. I
do not mean mosquitoes nor flies, although
there were plenty of both of these pests.

Story of Our Cattle

I will give a little of our experience with the
cattle that I took up with me. The oxen we
found to be very useful and helpful during the
time of logging and clearing up the land in the
spring and early summer, but we found it some
times very hard to keep track of them, for they

no

would often wander away through the woods for
a great distance, and it was very difficult some
times for us to find them, and when the cows
calved it made matters much worse, for we had
to allow the calves to run in the woods and suck
their mothers, for we did not have any conven
ience for the making of butter or of putting the
milk to any profitable use, but we only required
a little for domestic purposes, and this we were
often deprived of, for it was seldom that we
could find the cows when we wished to have
some milk. Under the circumstances we did not
find the keeping of stock either pleasant or pro
fitable, in such a new country, and not until we
had proper conveniences for pasturing and suit
able buildings for wintering stock, was it found
to be a profitable business. Wheat raising was
the principal crop for several years for both the
soil and climate were admirably adapted for its
cultivation, and the price of wheat became very
high during the continuance of the Russian
war, which certainly had the effect upon that
fine young country of giving it very material aid
in its early start as a settlement during the fif
ties.

I will relate a circumstance that was of some
importance to me personally, during the summer
of 1851. I had sold the yoke of oxen that we
took up with us that spring, and for which I
was to receive the sum of eighty-five dollars
from my late friend, Mr. McDonald, whose life
was accidentally cut short by the sad wreck of
his vessel, the "Saucy Jack," late in the fall of
1851, and which sad calamity prevented him

111

paying me for the oxen, which he no doubt
would have done had he been spared to return
from Goderich in safety. However, as Mr. Mc
Donald was so unexpectedly taken away, his
business affairs were not well understood by any
and so I was deprived of the money. But along
about the first of July I was informed that there
was to be a meeting of the creditors held in
Goderich about the middle of July, so before
that time I went to Southampton to meet Cap
tain Spence, who was also going to Goderich on
the same business, and was taking his little
niece with him. So we all started in the morn
ing in a small sail boat for Goderich, and when
we got opposite to what is now Kincardine it
was just about sunset. Then suddenly came up
a thunderstorm, with a considerable squall of
wind. Capt. Speuce at once lowered down the
sails and said we must take to the oars and pull
for the shore with all our might. This had the
effect of frightening me considerably, for we were
about ten miles out from shore. I immediately
applied all my might and strength to the oar,
in hopes of soon reaching land, but as darkness
set in I could not see the shore, although I of
ten asked the question, Plow far do you think
are we from the shore, now? The answer I got
was, Oh, pull away, we will soon be out of dan
ger, you are doing very well. I said that 1
hoped that it was not mulch further, that I was
getting so very tired. But no shore did we reach
until it was just getting daylight, when we
drew in towards land. I asked Capt. Spence
what place it was, and to my surprise he said

112

that it was Goderich harbor. Then I felt quite
angry with Capt. Spence for keeping me rowing
so hard all night, in order, as I thought, to
avoid danger, when, in reality, there v/as very
little to avoid. But his object was to reach
Goderich harbor without losing time. My hands
were blistered and my arms sore and tired from
such continuous hard pulling, for I was under
the impression that our safety depended upon
our exertions.

After landing I told him that I had gotten all
I wanted of sailing in a small boat on the lake,
and that rather than return with him I would
walk all the way home, sooner than put in an
other such night on the water. But Captain
Spence only made light of my troubles and said
that as soon as I got a sleep that I would be
all right. However, as it was now daylight,
we parted, leaving Capt. S. in conversation with
some acquaintance that he met at the wharf,
and although I had never been in Goderich be
fore, I started to walk up town, looking for an
open hotel doo.r. Soon I came to where there
was a clean-looking place, where a maid was en
gaged in sweeping the steps at the front door.
I asked her if she thought that I could be ac
commodated with a bed, for I had been on the
lake all night. She said, Oh, certainly. Then
she showed me into a room and asked if I wish
ed to be called for breakfast. I said no, that I
would rather sleep until dinner was ready. So
I got a good rest, and was quite refreshed, and
afterwards got up and enjoyed a good dinner,
which made me feel, as Capt. Spence had said,

118

that I would be all right. I then started off
down the street in search of my friend, Spence,
from whom I had rather uncivilly parted in the
morning, thinking that I had been a little im
posed upon through my ignorance of sailing, for
I had never had much practice in that line on
the lake.
But I had scarcely reached the street corner

j

when, to my surprise and I must say pleasure
also, I was accosted by a young lady, Miss
Gooding, whose acquaintance I had the pleasure
of making on the preceding summer, while she
was a visitor at the home of Capt. Spence in
Southampton. I asked her then if she had seen
anything of the Captain, and she said that he
was at their house when she left home, and then
she kindly invited me to accompany ner home
and spend the afternoon with them, and remain
for tea. I willingly accepted this kind invita
tion, and was richly rewarded, for I do not
think that I ever put in a more pleasant and
happy afternoon, and, afterwards I spent a most
genial and happy week in Goderich, lor during
our stay there we were all invited to make the
comfortable house of Mrs. Gooding our home,
and I found it to be a delightful change from
what I had latelv experienced in our shanty life
on the Saugeen River.

I do not think that our creditors meeting
came to mulch. I know that all I got for my
share was a bag of flour, which I took home
with me. There was a quantity of damaged
store goods sold by auction, but I don t think
that they all amoulnted to much, as they were

iu

badly damaged by fire, for the whole of Mr.
McDonald s stock was supposed to have been ac
cidentally burned at Southampton the preceding
winter. After spending a very delightful time
in Goderich, which I thought to be a very pretty
place, and after receiving a promise from Capt.
Spence that he would not. ask me to row again,
and that he would not start out without having
the prospect of a fair wind, notwith
standing my former protestations, I was per
suaded to venture again in that boat. One fine
morning with a favorable wind we set oil, but
by noon the wind had ceased and there was a
calm, and we then made very slow progress, and
as we were near to what is now Kincardine, we
made for the shore, and ran a little way up
into the month of a creek or river, for the
night remaining in the boat, and covering our
selves with the sails. I do not think that there
were more than one or two small fishing shanties
at Kincardine at that time. It was a very new
looking place, a^id I could not see anything of
it, but by daylight there had sprung up a brisk
favorable wind and we again set off full sail up
the lake in good speed, and when we got oppo
site to what is now Port Klgin, which we soon
reached, Captain S. put me and the loo-pound
bag of flour ashore, and then ran up to South
ampton in short time. I put the bag upon my
back and started thorough the woods for home,
but when I reached the creek where the saw mill
was being erected there were several men at
work at the new dam, so when I arrived where
thev were they took possession of my bag of

115

flour and would not allow me to .carry it any
further, but said that they would bring it home
to me after they quit work at night, which they
kindly did. Thus ended my first trip upon the
waters of Lake Huron, and how very greatly ev
erything has changed since those pioneer days,
I will not even attempt to describe.

Some time after my return from this trip to
Goderich and during our usual monotonous life
in clearing up the land, we unexpectedly receiv
ed an urgent letter from our father, a short time
after harvest, requesting that either William or
I would at once return back to the old home
and take charge of the farm, for he was getting
well up in years and he found that the care of
managing the farm was too much for him, and
that he was not able now properly nor profit
ably to conduct the work, especially as he had
now to depend almost entirely upon hired help.
So now William and I consulted earnestly and
very seriously over this matter and finally came
to the conclusion that it would be, all things
considered, the proper thing for one of us to do,
and after deciding upon this course, we each
agreed to give ulp our present claim to the two
lots of land to the one that remained for the
sum of one hundred pounds, to be paid out of
the portion of the old homestead when divided,
and which we would be entitled to receive as
our 1 portion of the same when a settlement was
finally made. After settling all these matters
between ourselves satisfactorily, the next and
most important business was to decide who was
to go, and which of us was to remain, and as

116

we were both seemingly willing- to be guided by
the wishes of the other we could not decide, and
to settle the matter we agreed to cast lots. Af
ter a fair trial it came to my lot to go back to
the old home of our youth, and where I had al
ready spent twenty years of my early life. I
was glad indeed to return to it, where I could
enjoy more of the social comfort/s of life, yet I
felt very sorry to go away and leave all alone
in this place my elder brother, from whom I had
never been long parted for over twenty-four
years. Our lives had been very closely bound
together, and we had been as one in all our joys
and sorrows hitherto, and I felt very sad indeed
at the thought of parting from him, for I never
knew until that time how greatly we were at
tached to each other, and I felt like backing out
of the arrangement, for I felt that it was an act
of cruelty for me to go away and leave him by
himself like a hermit in the wilderness. But he
seemed not to mind it, but looked upon the mat
ter in a brighter way, and was quite reconciled
to his circumstances. Of course hope is a great
encourager and gives strength to endure great
and hard trials, and causes u,s to 1 see the bright
instead of the dark side of things, and I will here
add that our separation from this time became
nearly final, for in the spring of 1854 I entered
into arrangements with my father and the other
members of the family to buy out all their
shares and interest in the old homestead, and
which agreement I carried out to completion
and became sole proprietor of the old home in
Paisley Block, Guelph.

117

I just wish to say before closing that iiry bro
ther, William, who took such a conspicuous and
a,ctive part in all the adventures and vicissi
tudes incidental to early settlement in a new
country, is still alive and although in his 77th
year, continues to enjoy fairly good health, and
is now retired from active farming and living
in a comfortable home in the village of Tara,
and is surrounded by many comforts. His fam
ily are nearly all married and comfortably sit
uated and doing well fotr themselves.

In a short time after concluding those very
important arrangements with my dear brother,
William, I began to make preparations for my
return to the old home at Guelph. But at the
same time I must confess that it was not with
out some feelings of regret that I had been call
ed upon to leave my new home on the banks of
tlhe Saugeen River, where I had purposed mak
ing my home in the future, and where I had hop
ed to spend many years of my life in comfort
and peace, notwithstanding that much of my
past experience dujring my short residence in
this place had so very much more of the bitter
than the sweet in its composition. Such is life
everywhere; and when we have youth and hope
on our side many of these seeming difficulties
can be overcome, for I had already formed many
plans and purposes, which I hoped to see com
pleted in the near future. I have no doubt now
but many, if not all of them, would have turned
out to be only castles built in the air, which
never would have matured. So one morning af
ter I had got all in readiness for my return to

118

Gnelph, I made a start for the Owen Sound
road, bringing nothing back with me but the
yoke of oxen and one cow, leaving all else with
William, for OUT experience with the cattle was
that without proper conveniences for their care
and management that the trouble with them
was more than they were worth, for when we
wanted them we never knew where they were to
be found, and we lost a good deal of time in
seeking them for they would wander away
many miles through the woods, apparently very
desirous to return to where they came from. So
on my return to Guelph with them I found that
they were very little trouble to drive, but seem
ed to know where they were going, and travel
led right along at a good pace, so that I reach
ed what was then called the California Inn, on
the Owen Sound road, the first evening. I be
lieve that the place is now called Chatsworth. I
remained there for the night, and the next morn
ing before leaving I was induced to purchase
one or two more animals at a cheap figure, for
cattle seemed to be plentiful and money very
scarce, for by the time I had reached the old
home I had aidded still a few more to my num
ber. I was convinced that there was money to
be made in this line of business, so after my re
turn to Guelph, and with the assistance of some
friends, was enabled to spend most of my spare
time engaged in buying cattle and sheep during
the fall and winter of 1853.

It happened that in about a month or six
weeks after I had left the Satigeen and my bro
ther William by himself, word was sent to his

119

mother that he had met with a serious accident
while chopping, by cutting one of his feet badly
with his axe, and that he would be completely
disabled for some time and quite helpless and
dependent upon others. However, in the mean
time, his good neighbor, Mrs. Peter Smith, was
attending to his wants, and had him removed to
her own home and there she was nursing him.
All this made my mother feel extremely anx
ious and as it was not possible for her to go to
him herself she thought the next best thing to
do was to send our eldest sister, a girl of about
fourteen years of age, so that she might wait
upon him and attend to his wants until he
would be able to get around again. So I was
asked by my mother to .take Hannah up the
Saugeen to look after William, and I at once
agreed to the proposition, and got a horse and
buggy and we immediately started off and by
the evening of the second day we had reached
the new line of road by which I had a few
weeks previously driven out the cattle. This
road, as yet, was in many parts cmly a blamed
line, although in places it was chopped but not
logged up, and was quite impassable with a
horse and buggy. So we were compelled to
leave these behind, and travel the remainder of
the way by foot. We had to pass through the
new Townships of Derby and Arran, and then
through a portion of Saugeen, a very long walk
for a young girl, besides it was over a very
rough road. Poofr thing, she became very tired
before we got through, and I had to persuade
and encourage her to persevere. She would of-

120

ten ask me if it was much further. I would say
that it was only a little distance now, and it
was always growing less, and she would then
cheerfully struggle on, for she was really a
noble girl in every sense of that word, and had
inherited many of her mother s excellent quali
ties, both in temper and disposition. While thus
speaking of my sister, Hannah, here, I can add
that she continued to manifest very greatly that
self-sacrificing disposition during her short life,
for at the request of her father and mother she
sacrificed all her personal prospects and ambi
tions here, and went to Scotland to take care of
an old widowed aunt, where she faithfully wait
ed upon the old lady for several years. But she
took ill and died at the home of her aunt, Bal-
beg Cottage, Ayrshire.

However, in returning to the original story,
I may sav that Hannah and I finally reached
the shanty just before it got quite dark. s She
wa^s very tired. I do not think that she could
have gone another mile. We found William as
well as we could have expected under the cir
cumstances, and very pleased to see us both, and
we all enjoyed our meeting together again very
much. I was sorry to have to go away from
them so soon, but could not help it, for I had
left the horse and buggy on the way, and had
to return to them at once. So, after spending
a short time with William, I had to return,
leaving his sister with him to look after and
take care of him for a short time. I have often
thought since of what a miserable, lonely time

she must have had, cut off from all .companion-

121

ship and social society. At her age it must have
been very trying, indeed, but I never heard that
she made any complaint, but accepted it as a
natural consequence and just what she expected
to find ,in such a place.

After leaving the Saugeen I soon reached the
Owen Sound road and got my horse and buggy
and returned in safety to Guelph. I do not
remember of anything of importance to relate
during my return journey. I was soon engaged
again in my usual occupation, and in buying
cattle and sheep, which I found sometimes to be
quite a profitable occupation, but it required
both capital and experience to make it a suc
cess.

And again in the first month of winter I drove
to Owen Sound with a pair of horses and a
sleigh for the purpose of bringing home my sis
ter and Wiljliam, and I took up with me as far
as Owen Sound, a Mr. Riddle, a school teacher,
who was also a son-in-law of the late Thomas
Ivandlanks, .Ksq., manager of the Gore Bank in
Guelp h. This gentleman was going up to settle
in this new district, and I was told that he af
terwards settled in or near to Invermay. I af
terwards brought baqk my sister, Hannah, and
William, for he wanted to come down and spend
the winter amongst his old friends and acquaint
ances around Guelph. And this ended what
was my sixth trip up. to that new country in
less than two years time, so I had become well
acquainted with the road, and with many of the
people on the way.

122

Very shortly after I left the Saugeen valley,
during the fall of 1852 and spring of 1853, there
were very many changes taking place in the set
tlement of the country, for there were quite a
number of new settlers taking up land and oth
ers were buying out some of the original occu
pants. These changes were very visible, not only
throughout the Township of Saugeen, but all
over the new country. I will only mention a
few among the many desirable settlers that came
in, mostly from Waterloo County, and settled in
and around what is now Port Klgin. There were
the Messrs. Stafford, Schantz, Bricker, Hover,
Hilker and Rhuby, besides many others, and
very quickly did they convert the vast forests
into fruitful fields, for these people brought both
experience and capital with them. And to-day
much of the fruits of their early labors can be
seen in the fine cleared-up farms, with large
barns and comfortable dwellings, and nowhere is
this thrift more observable than in the pretty,
clean, well-kept village of Port Klgin, which is
now greatly in advance in ,many ways of places
that are very much older, for it was only in the
summer of 1853 that my younger brother, A. H.
R., came up to Port Elgin and bought out a
new house that was then being erected for a
store by Mjr. Samuel Bricker, and there he after
wards commenced business, and kept the first
general store und post office in that place until
several years afterwards when he sold out
the business to Messrs. Rhuby and lyehennan, and
again returned to Guelph for a time, and started
business there. But once more he sold out and

123

removed ,to Minnesota, and has carried on farm
ing in that state for several years, and still con
tinues there in that occupation. In the month of
September, 1855, my next brother, John C.,
came up to Port Elgin and bought four lots
from Mr. Hilker, and then put up a house. Then
lie established the first wagon maker s shop in
the country, where he made the two lirst wag
ons that were made in the County of Bruce, and
where, after a residence of over fortv -seven

-

years, he still continues to reside. Although he
may be said to have practically given up busi
ness he still employs his leisure hours in his
old shop doing little repairings when his health
will permit him to do so, and which I am glad
to say that in general is very good for a man
of over 72 years. He is also the possessor
of a very comfortable, desirable home, surround
ed with many pleasant, social comforts, and a
competency sufficient to enable him to spend his
remaining days in ease.

I remember that I came up with my brother,
A. H. R., who had started store-keeping in Port
Klgin, and we brought up two sleighs loaded
with store go/ods from Hamilton, which, at that
time, was the chief emporium for goods, and I
liad the honor also of being asked by Mrs. Peter
Brown to bring uip with me her sister, a young
lady also from Hamilton, whose society I great
ly enjoyed, for the more pitchy and rough the
road was and the harder it stormed and snowed,
the lou der she would laugh, although at times
the wind and cold was almost unendurable. She
would only laugh and say, Is not that a great

124

breeze? And the snow was so deep and the
roads so heavy that it took us a day longer
than we expected, and instead of getting to Port
Elgin on Saturday, it was Sunday evening be
fore we reached that place, for we had also the
experience of an occasional upset as we passed
through the new road from the Owen Sound
line. After unloading the goods at Port Klgin
the next day I drove over to Southampton and
left Miss B. with her sister, Mrs. Brown, and it
was at that time that I had the pleasure of giv
ing the Southampton ladies that much spoken
of and appreciated sleigh ride.

Another event which I yet remember in refer
ence to this trip was that I had put into Mr.
Stafford s hotel stable two span of horses for
two nights, and that he charged me eight dol
lars for hay and stabling of the horses. Hay
was very dear and scarce at that time.

I have made frequent visits since that time to
this part of the country and have always been
greatly impressed and pleased with the steady
and continuous progress that has been made
since those pioneer days.

Copy of a letter received from Captain John
Spence of Southampton, this 24th day of Octo
ber, 1902, in reply to questions asked by me,
and to which he gives the following answers :
That he started from Kingston in the sum
mer of 1848, in company with Captain William
Kennedy, and they came to Toronto in the
steamer Magnet, Capt. Sutherland. Then they
took stage to Holland Landing, Lake Simcoe,
took the steamer Beaver to Orillia, stage from

125

there to Sturgeon Bay, bought a canoe and came
down the Severn River, took the steamer at
Fenetanguishene, thence for Owen Sound, and
took our canoes round to Colpoys Bay, which is
near Wiarton, carried our canoes to the Sobble
River and thence to this place. "My intention
was to find a place convenient for fishing and
Indian trading, and this place suited me. The
only white men I found here \vere the Rev. Mr.
Williston, Indian missionary, and Mr. James
Cathay, teacher.

"I started and built the first house that ever
went up in this pla;ce. I became acquainted with
the late John McLean, Esq., about the year
1840. I knew him when we were in the Hudson
Bay service. I first met his nephew, Alexander
McDonald, in Goderich in 1849. George Butchart
and James Orr came up shortly after I came
here, and with them I made arrangements to go
into the fishing. But when Captain Kennedy
left to go in search of Sir John Franklin these
arrangements were broken up. Mrs. Butchart
was the only white woman in this place in 1850.
Mr. Chisholm Millar surveyed part of the Town
ship of Bruce. Mr. Brough took a cold and died,
leaving his work unfinished, which w T as complet
ed by Mr. Millar.

"Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brown came here in the
summer of 1851, and some years afterwards re
moved up to the Sault Ste. Marie, and they both
died there."

In conclusion, I will just say that possibly I
have omitted to mention some incidents that
anight have been much more interesting than

126

many here related, but I have truisted altogeth
er to my memory, for my desire is to give a
truthful statement of events as they occurred,
and I have also tried to avoid all semblance of
fiction.

I will here relate a few of the incidents that
occurred in connection with our settlement in
the Paisley Block, in the fall of 1830. My father,
soon after arriving- in Guelph, selected a lot of
the Canada Company s lands in the Township
of Guelph, and then contracted with a Mr. Mac-
Donald, who had some little experience in the
art of building log houses in those days of early
settlement, and for such service he and his as
sistants were to receive four shillings or one dol
lar and a bottle of whiskey each, per day. Such
were the usual wages paid, and the custom of
the country in those times. So one day my
father went to see what progress was being
made in the erection of the house, and after ar
riving there he soon became very much interest
ed on seeing the men chopping down the trees,
for he had never seen anything of the kind done
before, and was quite ignorant of the danger at
tendant upon the cutting down of timber, so he,
instead of keeping well out of the way of dan
ger, got right into it, and was struck and knock
ed down by a falling tree, which broke one of his
legs a little below the knee. The men had to
make a kind of handbarrow and carry him home
to Guelph, and then send all the way to Hamil
ton for a doctor, and in a day or two Dr. Mac-
Kelcan arrived and set the broken limb, but it
was crooked always afterwards, being so long

127

before the bone was set. This unfortunate acci
dent confined father to the hoftise for several
weeks, and also prevented him from assisting or
taking an active part in hastening forward to
completion the new house, which was intended so
soon to become our future home in the woods,
and it was quite late in the faill when we could
remove, and not having any experience of what
a Canadian winter meant, insisted upon remov
ing his family ait that late season of the year
out to a half-finished house in the woods, for my
father, owing to the accident, was forced to de
pend entirely upon hired help in the erection of
the house, arid the work was not always done in
a proper or substantial way. For example, a
log house required to have a part or two or
three of the bottom logs cut out at one end of
the building and the space built up with stone
and mortar to form a back wall for a fire place,
and this new house had one of very large dimen
sions built up with this material, which had be
come frozen. But when there was a large fire
built u)p against it in order to warm the cold
ho v use the very first night, just as soon as the
frost thawed ojut of the mud plaster the whole
of the back wall fell down, which made an open
space large enough to admit the prowling wolves
which were prowling all around the house, as if
just looking for some place to get in. My moth
er would sometimes speak of the first night
spent in her new home in the woods, when she
lay all night quiaking with fear and shivering
with cold, ex/pecting every moment to hear the
wolves enter and devour her little children. So

128

terrified were all present that they dared not at
tempt to get up and make any repairs, but re
mained in bed until daylight, for they were in
such mortal dread of the wolves that they were
afraid to speak, or even stir, for fear of attract
ing them. But when doming came some assist
ance was procured, and the breach in the wall
repaired. But before many weeks had passed
the snow became nearly foair feet deep, which
made travelling difficult, and although sur
rounded by woods it was no easy matter always
to procure a sufficient supply, owing to the great
depth of snow, for when a tree was cut down it
would sinjk oiut of sight in the soft snow, which
had first to be shovelled away before it could
be cut, and so aw kward and inexperienced were
they at using an axe that a good ch ojpper would
cut more woold in one hour than they could in
ten, and so great was the ignorance and preju
dice possessed at first by many of the old coun
try immigrants, that they would only use their
old style of a broad axe that they had brought
from the old country with them, and very few
knew how to use an axe of any kind, but would
hack all around a tree, just like as if it had been
gnawed down by a beaver. I can yet remember
seeing my father anjd mother carrying in the
wood upon a handb arrow, after they had shov
elled a narrow path through the snow to where
the wood had been cut, and often my brother
William and I wcrtild follow them out by the
narrow way, that stood up like two high walls
on either side, so that we could not see over the
top, and when we would meet them returning

with the loaded; barrow, we had to turn back
and run to the house, for there was no way of
passing, and it would keep my father and mother
pretty well employed to furnish a sufficient sup
ply of wood to keelp up anything- like a comfort
able heat, for the house was in a very unfinished
condition during the first winter. I will try to
describe it in part, just as I can remember it. Its
size was 20x26 feet, built of round logs, one
storey and garret in height, but without flooring
above, with a large round hole dug in the centre
for a cellar, witih about one-half of the ground
floor covered by boards, the other piart open over
this hold of a cellar. A heavy carpet was hung
across from side to side just at the edge of the
floor, to form a partition; and also a slight pro
tection from this cellar. But I remember that
it frequently happened that when some of us
small boys got a little out of temper that we
would often run to this carpet to sulk or pout,
and forgetting ourselves we would lean too heav
ily against this carpet, which would cause it to
slack back a little, when down we would go
plump into the cellar, out of sight in a moment,
so that this hole soon became a great dread to
us boys. Now, this house that I am describing
may be considered a very fair average sample of
the homes enjoyed by many of the early settlers
in those days, but I have often thought since of
the sad change it must have been to my father
and mother, and many others also, who had so
lately left homes of comfort and even luxury,
and who were now compelled to suffer in a new
land such unexpected privations and discom-

130

forts as they were then enduring. Sometimes
we were for weeks without bread and ha d to
subsist upon potatoes and turnips, and these
were very often frozen during winter. I can re
member well seeing my mother putting the pota
toes into cold water to draw the frost out of
them before being cooked, and then we had nei
ther meat, milk nor butter to eat with them.
The labor of clearing the first acres of unbroken
land was all performed by the settlers w r hen
they subsisted entirely upon pptatoes as a diet,
baked and boiled time about, by way of change
or variety, with sometimes a dish of greens
made from cow cabbage or the tops of young
turnips, were added when in season. All this
may seem strange when I tell you that the for
ests abounded with various kinds of game, and
the creeks were full of speckled trout, yet it
rarely happened that the settlers succeeded in
capturing any deer. But the Indians that came
u p from the Credit in the fall of the year would
kill deer by the dozen, and it was at such times
that the settlers, if they had any money at all,
could get a chea p supply of venison from the In
dians, for I can yet remember, although my fa
ther was a sportsman in the old country, yet he
would never venture into the woods to shoot
deer for fear of getting lost or of being attacked
by the wolves or bears, and so timid were the
people that they would not venture outside of
the. house after dark, for in the evening the deer
would come around the house in droves to get
aw r ay from the wolves, which could be heard
howling in every direction, arid my father, who

13 L

had a good rifle, would quietly open a window
sufficiently to get the point of his rifle out, and
then shoot at a deer, and if it was wounded it
would only run a short distance, when it would
be caught an;d devoured by the wolves in a few
minutes, so that nothing of it could be seen but
the blood-stained snow, so that my father s ef
forts to obtain a supply of venison were worse
than useless, yet the deer were very plentiful. I
can remember when I was a very small boy of
sometimes coming across herds of more than
twenty in a flock, when the old bucks would
shake their heads, stamp their feet, and snort
at me, and I would have to stand still and clap
my hands together and make, all sorts of noises
to frighten them so that I might pass them safe
ly, and I have seen packs of wolves in the woods
and even in the clearing during the day, for they
would often kill sheep for us and even attack
young cattle.

Bears

I have also got into unpleasantly close quar
ters with bears when it was too dark to see
them, for they will not run from you like a wolf,
but they will very seldrnn attack a person if
left alone and, not interferred with, except when
they are hungry or in defence of their young.
They are very fond of pork and will catch and
kill pigs when they find them in the woods seek
ing beechnuts. The bear is also destructive on
grain, especially oats, just before they get ripe.
I can remember when very young that my father

332

had sown a small field of oats near to the house,
atfd just after they had come out into ear, that
a large bear would come almost every day and
feed upon them. He would sit an,d gather the
grain all around him with his paws and then eat
the tops off, and sometimes he would lie down
and roll the oats flat to the ground and then eat
his iill. When we little boys would try to frigh
ten him awav by making a great racket bv
knocking upon old pans and making other
sounds, he would sit an d look at us quite
unconcerned for a time, apparently eyeing us
with utter contempt, for we always had to re
main at a very respectful distance from him,
but as we kept up our noise he at length would
move oft leisurely to the woods, and go a short
distance, and then climb up a tree and remain
there until we had made a hurried retreat to the
house, when he would slowly come down and re
turn again to the oats, for we were strictly cau
tioned bv oiur father and mother to keep away
an,d not go near him. We then considered discre
tion to be the better part of valor, and left him
to enjoy his feed of oats in peace, but the result
was that the oats were all completely destroved
in a short time.

But seventy years or more have wrought very
great changes, both upon the appearance o! the
country and its inhabitants, for it was in the
year 1832 anld the few following seasons that a
great many immigrants arrived and settled in
and around G uelph and the neighboring town
ships, and some of them brought a considerable
amount of money with them, while x many were

l:;:;

tradesmen and laborers, who mostly all proved
to be a very desirable, class of settlers, although
at first many of them were exceedingly green re
garding the requirements of a new wooded coun
try. Many laughable and funny stories are told
concerning s ome of their doings.

I will just mention one case as a sample of
the mainy, to give some idea of the annoying
stupidity and want of experience displayed by
many of the new comers. About the year 1836
there arrived an immigrant with a young fam
ily, from the north of Ireland, who had been a
linen weaver in the old country, and as he had
a friend here who haid been settled upon a farm
of his own (near by ours) for several years, he
came to him upon his arrival, and got permis
sion to build a shanty upon his land and move
his family into it, until he found a lot for him
self, for by this time most of the land had been
taken up in the immediate neighborhood. His
friend agreed to give him employment during his
stay at chopping and clearing up lan d. So, af
ter he had got everything settled and in order,
he was then provided with a new axe and handle,
and he started out one frosty morning to com
mence his work at chopping down the forest
trees, but it so happened that his friend had to
go to Guelpih that morning with his oxen and
sleigh, and on his way passed near by where
this green;horn was cutting down a beech tree,
and after being gone several hours, on his re
turn, saw him still pounding away at the same
tree, when he called to him, "What, have you
not got that tree down y^t, Hugh?" v No T and

134

troth I ve, been working till I am all wet with
sweat, but the wood has got so hard froze that
the, axe won t cut it at all. "I/et me see the
axe, Hugh. Man dear, the whole of the steel
has broke out of it. Did you not see that? 1
"Troth, an I never looked at the axe, for I
thought it was the frost that was making the
tree so hard to cut, and I was thinking that
chopping" was very slow work here in the win
ter. Such were the beginnings.

Yet, notwithstanding these drawbacks, in a
few years some of the most thrifty of the set
tlers possessed a yoke of oxen and a sled, also a
cow or two, and a few hogs, which fed mostly
u pon beechnuts. These, with a quantity of
fowls, kept the larder better supplied with such
varieties as beechnut-fed pork, eggs, very leaky
milk and butter, maple sugar and molasses.
These, with potatoes, constituted the principal
food of the settlers in those days. Money was
very scarce, and when we could sell eggs at three
pence per dozen we thought it a good price. But
these days and these pioneers Lava all passed
from the changing scenes of this world, having
served their d>ay a\nd generation. But to them
and their successors, all honor and credit is due,
for having changed a dense forest into a fruitful
garden, and the haunts of the wolf and the bear
into Iiomes of peace and plenty, occupied by a
refined, intelligent and educated people, both in
city and conmtry, who are also in the enjoyment
of many of the modern improvements of an ad
vanced civilization.