Lakehead University - Yearbook (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada)

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LAKEHEAD TECHNICAL INSTITUTE YEAR BOOK Mr. J. P. Bertrand is an authority on the history of North-Western Ontario and has long been regarded as our local historian. We would like to express our sincere thanks to him for this essay. — EDITOR. ©ngin of port Brtbur OLLOWING upon the Union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1841, the Canadian Government, representing the Union of Ontario and Quebec, taking an example from the people of the United States, began to think in terms of Western expansion, having in view the purchasing of the rights of the Hudson ' s Bay Company in Rupert ' s Land, which extended from Fort William to the Rocky Mountains. The first important event during that period of our local history was the purchasing by treaty of all the Ojibway lands from the various bands ex- tending from Batchewanaug Bay, near Sault Ste. Marie, to Pigeon River and extending Northward to the height of land. This very important treaty, which was signed by the representatives of the Crown and the accredited Chieftains from the various bands of Ojibways, was duly signed at Sault Ste. Marie on the 7th day of September, 1850, is known as the Robinson- Superior Treaty. According to some stipulations of that Treaty, a number of blocks of lands were set aside as reserves for the Ojibways. This Treaty was brought about possibly earlier than anticipated on account of the great mining boom along both shores of Lake Superior which had began in 1841 along the Southshore and finally extended to the North side of the Lake on Canadian territory. During the seasons of 1845 and 1846, no less than one hundred and thirty locations had been staked. These particular locations were two miles in frontage by five miles in depth. It can readily be seen that a good part of the North shore of Lake Superior was claimed by prospectors. Only 27 of these mining claims were made good. The others were allowed to lapse. The government of the day had yet no right to the land since it had not been purchased by agreement from the Ojibways until 1850. After that date, upon the completion of the agreement, all the Ojibway lands bordering on the North shore of Lake Superior, became the property of the Crown, to be known as Crown Lands. They were administered by departments known as those of Lands, Forests and Mines. The year 1957 will mark the anniversary of the most important event in the history of Port Arthur. It will be the centennial of its founding. It was, in fact, in 1857 that a townsite consisting of 534 acres was carved out of virgin forests, surveyed into lots and sold by auction. Robert McVicar, who had seen distinguished service with the Hudson ' s Bay Company in the Northwest Territory, was appointed Crown Lands Agent. He became the first permanent white settler to set foot in what is now the City of Port Arthur. His modest log-house and office was located at the intersection of Arthur and Cumberland Streets. In time these lots were tak en up by new settlers but evidently there was no rush to establish the new settlement, since by 1870 the total popula- tion only represented 200 inhabitants. Robert McVicar acquired considerable property adjoining the townsite, and his descendants at a later date were the largest owners of real estate property in and about the young town of Port Arthur. McVicar Creek and McVicar Street were named after him. — 21 —

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LAKEHEAD TECHNICAL INSTITUTE YEAR BOOK liHNiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiminiiiitiiiiiiiiiimn MADSEN RED LAKE GOLD MINES LIMITED (No Personal Liability) • OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS JOS. McDONOUGH President FRED R. MARSHALL, Q.C Vice-President MARIUS MADSEN Director HUGH MACKAY Director HORACE G. YOUNG, M.E Director A. T. SEQUIN Director ROBERT C. COFFEY, M.E Director MISS M. MASTERSON Secretary-Treasurer E. G. CRAYSTON, M.E General Manager EXECUTIVE OFFICES MINE OFFICE 67 Yonge St., Toronto, Ontario Madsen, Ontario lllllllllltilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMlllllillllllllllllllllllllHIIHIll KINDLY PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS — 20 —

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LAKEHEAD TECHNICAL INSTITUTE YEAR BOOK ORIGIN OF PORT ARTHUR — (Continued) Coinciding with the opening of the new townsite, an event of national importance since it was the first independent settlement to have been estab- lished west of Sault Ste. Marie, S. J. Dawson, a civil engineer who had previously been connected with the Canadian Government in some important public works in the St. Lawrence Valley was now appointed to make a survey of a possible wagon and water route which could be established between the infant settlement of the Lakehead and the Red River Colony, the latter still under the control of the paternalistic rule of the Hudson ' s Bay Company. After considering alternate routes, Dawson finally recommended a wagon road to Lake Shebandowan, thence pretty much over the old Canadian canoe route to the West end of Lake of the Woods and thence from the Northwestern angle another wagon route to the Red River settlements. By 1867 Confederation of the Canadian provinces became an accom- plished fact and negotiations were immediately opened up in London, Eng- land, for the purchase of all the rights of the Hudson ' s Bay Company in Rupert ' s Land, which extended then from the mouth of the Kaministiquia River to the Rocky Mountains. S. J. Dawson was then instructed to go ahead with his project of linking the East with the West with his wagon and water- way highway, which became known as the Dawson Route. Negotiations having been successfully carried out in London by two Canadian representatives and the Committee of the Hudson ' s Bay Company for the transfer of all their rights the Canadian Government was therefore ready to assume authority over the Northwest Territory. Unfortunately, just as they were ready to do so, the Red River Valley was plagued with a re- occurring grasshopper migration which, like the locusts of Biblical days as recorded in Genesis, darkened the sky and covered the land, destroying everything as they went along. To assist the Red River Colony the Cana- dian Government decided to rush along the construction, particularly at the far end of the Dawson Route in order to offer some relief by creating work for the Red River inhabitants. The construction from the Northwest angle on the Lake of the Woods to the Red River Valley or Fort Garry went on merrily during the summer of 1869. Paradoxical as this may seem to students of history this relief measure undertaken by the Canadian Government with the best of intentions was one of the causes that led to the Red River insurrection in 1869. It was not the sole cause of the trouble, but certainly one of them, if not the most serious one. It thus became necessary for the Canadian authorities to restore order along the banks of the Red River in the newly-formed Province of Manitoba and the Government did act with resolution and despatch. Colonel Garnet Joseph Wolseley, afterwards Lord Wolseley, who was serving as a com- manding officer in the Canadian militia in Eastern Canada, was appointed in charge of the Expedition to Fort Garry, and arrived here with his officers and soldiers in the early summer of 1870. A fellow-passenger on board the steamer Chicora was Thomas Marks, the pioneer merchant of Port Arthur, with whom Colonel Wolseley must have found a great deal in common on the trip across Lake Superior. As they were disembarking from the steamer, Colonel Wolseley asked Mr. Marks the name of the place. Upon being told that it was called The Station, Wolseley stated, Let ' s name it ' Prince Arthur ' s Landing ' after Prince Arthur of Connaught. The young Prince was then in Eastern Canada. — 22 —