As I have travelled around the Pogamasing area it became apparent that many places and structures are no longer there, mostly because of natural deterioration or lack of use. Of course, a few buildings were torn down or burned such as the original Sheahan station while other structures, such as the village and the sawmill were dismantled, the bridge swept away with the ice, the dam replaced, and the DUKWs taken away and sold. A few larger trees such as the old white pine on Telephone Lake and on the Franklin Lake portage simply fell, a victim of old age or “weak shine disease.” However, the people at the station will no longer congregate simply because there are other ways to come and go, and the Budd, our most way of coming and going no longer serves the purpose, even with Covid.
One has to remember that the area has been lived in and developed since 1859 when the HBC first opened a trading post on Maggie’s Island by Louis Espagnol. After the CPR built the railway in 1884, the fur trade was finished and the logging industry began. Logging was closed after the KVP company left in the late fifties. Fishing became a tourist industry and two tourist camps were established by WW II veterans. At the same time, many individuals established their own camps, primarily for fishing, but they soon became family camps. It is those families that still come to Pog to enjoy the beauty of the wilderness and to spend a relaxing time with their families.
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