Book Reviews

Places where we travel usually reveal little of their detailed history. For the Spanish river area, we’ve had a bit of its story already: Grey Owl’s books, and then details collected by Grey Owl’s biographers. We are thankful for that, and in my case, this knowledge made me want to explore the area further.

Now, there’s a book that describes people, events and history of this specific area. It’s written by Andy Thomson, a member of the family that had logged the area in the 1930s and ’40s, built a saw mill beside the river and created much of the village at the place that is now the Sheahan railway stop. They still have a large camp there and are still call the area their summer home.

The book is focused on Pogamasing, the large lake that parallels the Spanish River in its mid-section. Andy spent his summers at that lake, as a youngster he was a canoe guide and later became a high school teacher. His academic curiosity shows in the thorough research done for this book: it’s a treasure trove of stories, maps, photos and archival records, all painting a vivid and detailed history of the area.

I was spellbound to find
* how the area experienced the First Nations contact with the Europeans,
* the documented efforts of the fur traders plying their business in that area, including the details of the various HBC posts from the Lake Huron North Shore to the height of land (such as the post at LaCloche, Green Lake on the Missisagi and of course the post on Lake Pogamasing),
* the pushing of the trans-Canada railway straight through largely uncharted bush, and the iron snake’s effect on people and land,
* the effort of then surveying endless miles of forests and lakes so the government could sell the rights to mine and log
* the various efforts to log the area and use the river to float the logs to the mills – and first-hand descriptions of how a logging operation was run in the days of horses and sleighs
* the building of the Wye village and successfully running the business in spite of the depression of the 30’s
* the arrival of tourism after WWII

It’s a fascinating book. I never knew the area had that much history!

From My Canadian Canoe Routes

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Review by Toni Harting in NASTAWGAN, the Journal of the Wilderness Canoe Association (Spring, 2012)

Over the years, quite a few WCA members have paddled the Spanish River, north of Lake Huron, starting with either the west branch from Biscotasing (see the trip report on page 13 of this issue), or the east branch from Duke Lake. About 13 km downriver from the point where the two branches meet, the railroad crosses the river, and one km downriver from that point a historically important portage exists on river right. This 600-metre portage leads to a small number of buildings of varying sizes on the eastern shore of Lake Pogamasing, an about 16-km-long, rather narrow lake that is quite symptomatic of what happened during the development in many parts of the Canadian wilderness in the past century and a half.
I quote from the book: “I was amazed to learn how Lake Pogamasing, a medium-sized and remote lake, was connected to so many significant developments in Ontario and Canadian history. A number of the major players were present at the Pog: the Anishnabe, fur traders, railway builders, surveyors and lumbermen. As well, key developments in our country’s history left an indelible mark on our area. Events and milestones, such as the Robinson-Huron Treaty, the building of the first transcontinental railway across Canada, the demise of the fur trade, the Depression, the Second World War and the development of the wilderness for recreation all had an influence.”
Each of us paddling the Spanish and who has the least bit of interest in the country they’re paddling through, would do wise to consult this profusely illustrated book and learn in exquisite detail about Lake Pogamasing and its fascinating history. Indeed, a genuine treasure of a book for everyone loving the Canadian North.

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