Supplies from Chapleau for Construction of the Canadian Northern Railway 1912 and 1913

CPR staging area at Rossport (McKay's Harbour) 1884 CP Corp Archives

NOTE: Here is another article by Ian Macdonald and Mike McMullen on activities from the early history of Chapleau and area. Thanks Ian and Mike.  My email is mj.morris@live.ca

 by Ian Macdonald and Mike McMullen       

 The routes of Canada’s major transcontinental railways were largely determined by how easily roadbed construction activity could be supplied with materials and equipment.  Sir Sandford Fleming, who was Engineer in Chief for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1877, recommended to the Government at that time that the most favourable conditions for railroad construction through Northern Ontario were north of the height of land.

These recommendations were subsequently rejected by the government in favour of a route for the CPR along the north shore of Lake Superior where construction activity could be more easily supplied with materials and equipment by lakes streamers and sailing vessels to various construction staging points along the north shore of Superior such as Mazokama (Kama), Rossport (McKay’s Harbour), Heron Bay and Michipicoten... see photo above

 This was coupled with the decision to construct the roadbed east of Lake Superior along the height of land largely between White River and Cartier. Tracklayers under the direction of Harry Abbot progressed west from Biscotasing to Girdwood which was 39 miles east of White River between October 1884 and April 1885 at an approximate rate of ¾ mile per day. Tracklayers were supplied by work trains following behind which was the standard way of building railways in the roadless world of late 19th century Northern Ontario.

2, Trailblazers: CPR tracklayers west of Sudbury (1884) CP Corp Archives

Eventually, Fleming’s original 1877 recommendations to build north of the height of land were finally adopted by the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) when the company began construction of a new 617 mile rail line in 1911 between Capreol and Port Arthur. The line would be located approximately 60 miles north of Chapleau.  Speed of construction was of paramount concern for CNoR who rejected the traditional method of roadbed construction used by the CPR in 1884-85 as being too slow.   see photo 2 above

It was determined that the only way to meet construction deadline challenges was to haul supplies north from the CPR at a series of construction staging points along the line, which would be stockpiled with supplies and equipment during the winter of 1911-12. These supplies would subsequently support the army of men and horses engaged in the real construction operations beginning in the spring of 1912 which progressed east and west from each construction staging area. Completion of the line was scheduled for January 1, 1914. 

3. Rail Bridge: CN bridge over Nemegosenda River near Elsas. (1953) ian Macdonald

 One of these construction staging areas was where the CNoR line crossed the Nemegosenda River near Elsas.  The possibility of supplying the work forces at this location from Chapleau emerged as an appealing opportunity for Chapleau merchants and other Chapleau businessmen to consider. The challenge was how to do it.  See photo 3 above

In 1962, The Chapleau Sentinel carried an article written by Charles Austin, youngest brother of James McNiece Austin, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Smith and Chapple Limited in 1937. Included was a description of the effort to develop the supply network from Chapleau to Elsas for the CNoR work crews. It was led by business partners James McNiece Austin and George Nicholson despite the fact that they were not at that time directly involved in the transportation of retail supplies and materials. 

4. Description of supply route (2011) Ian Macdonald

 The concept of the network was that supplies would be moved from Chapleau north on the Kebesquashing River to the Robinson Lake portage (18 mile rapids). They would then be transported by horse and wagon over a new 11 mile tote road constructed from this location east to the southern tip of Nemegosenda Lake. They were then moved north up the lake to where another three mile tote road had been built to bypass rapids on the Nemegosenda River about fourteen miles north of the northern tip of Nemegosenda Lake.   See 4 above

Motor boats were then used to convey supplies from this point north on the Nemegosenda to the construction camps near Elsas. Charles Austin wrote that over 100 teams of horses were worked at one time during the winter months.

An article in a 1965 issue of the Chapleau Sentinel describes how this challenging supply problem was dealt with from an operational point of view. In 1912 and 1913, Edgar Pellow was contracted to haul freight, mail and other supplies to the contractors, James Stewart and Son and Courtney and Conmee, who had contracted to cut the right of ways and lay rails in the vicinity of the present hamlet of Elsas during the spring, summer and fall seasons. Tom Godfrey and Harry Pellow freighted the goods by motor boat and scow from Chapleau to Robinson Lake Portage. (18 mile rapids).

Charlie Leon and Sev Martin hauled the goods over the 11 miles of road from the Chapleau River to Nemegosenda Lake with horse drawn wagons. Bill Newsome then took charge and hauled the freight by boat from the landing on the afore mentioned Lake which was just about opposite where the Nemegosenda River empties into the Lake north to the rapids on the Nemegosenda River where a three mile tote road had been cut around them.

On this tote road, Mr. John Blackburn was in charge, assisted by his son Peter, a well known retired Chapeau railroad conductor. From there, motor boats took the supplies on the last leg of the trip to the construction crews. A stop over place was established with a cookhouse at the end of the eleven mile road on Nemegosenda Lake. This was in charge of Mrs. LaCasse who with her young son and daughter looked after the place during the first year.

The last spike of the Canadian Northern line between Capreol and Port Arthur was driven by CNoR President, Sir William Mackenzie, on January 1, 1914 at Little White Otter River approximately 60 miles north of White River on the CPR.

The concept of supplying and stockpiling supplies from the south proved to be successful for CNoR inasmuch as 617 miles of railroad had been built in less than two years. Sir Sandford Fleming’s early recommendations about the route also proved correct and resulted in the lowest graded railroad on the continent with a grade of four-tenths of one percent with an almost perfect alignment. 

See video taken from the cab of an eastbound CN locomotive crossing the steel truss bridge over the Nemegosenda River. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBG9ecEKF68
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBG9ecEKF68

The heavily indebted railway was nationalized by the Canadian Government on September 6, 1918 and eventually merged into the Canadian National Railway System in 1923.

The Rustic Bear Den Café and Market officially opens in St John's in Chapleau

The Rustic Bear Den Café and  Market, located in the basement of St. John's Anglican Church on Pine Street,  will hold its official opening on Saturday February 25.

From noon to four p.m., enjoy snacks and the craft market, while there will be live music in the evening.

In 2016, Chapleau residents were asked to reimagine a building with which they were very familiar, yet in some cases had not been inside of it for years. St John’s Church on Pine Street is a well-known and well-loved fixture of the community, but was ready to enter a new chapter. As a pillar of the community, the most important task in imagining that new chapter was to prioritize an open, vibrant community use of the space. But what could that use be? The best way to find out, of course, was to ask the community for input.

The original St. John's was located on the site of the old tennis court and was officially opened on July 1, 1886. The first service in the present St. John's was held on March 29, 1908, and the final cost of building it was $18,000.

An  August 4th Open House resulted in many ideas about how the basement of the church could be transformed to fill gaps or address needs within the community. What about a bakery, a gathering space, a craft market, or a small business incubator? What about movie nights? A patio by the waterfront? The wish list that was collected was imaginative, inclusive, and inspiring.

Well, that wish list has now become reality.

The Rustic Bear Den Café and Market will officially open on February 25, in the basement of the St John’s church. The new manager, local businesswoman and artisan Tanya Keech, has organized a vibrant collective of local craftspeople to showcase their handiwork, and is operating a café with snacks and drinks to bring some warmth to walks along the winter waterfront. Tanya is organizing markets every other weekend and is working to bring in a regular dining feature on Fridays and Saturdays. 

“It’s a very unique building, and we’ve kept many of the unique features like the posts and wood beams,” says Tanya. “The central location near the waterfront is also great.”

 Jason Rioux, who bought the church in 2016,  partnered with Toronto-based community consultants small to help organize the community Open House in the summer. Small is affiliated with ERA Architects, a heritage architecture firm, who joined the project to help with the design of the renovated basement. Anglican services are still held upstairs.

Heather Campbell photo

ERA’s Max Yuristy was at the August open house and is thrilled to have been part of the design process. “We were able to take the ideas the community had and bring them to life, which is extremely rewarding from a design perspective,” said Max. “It will be great to be back in Chapleau on the 25th to see people enjoying the café and exploring the market.” 

"Preserving the historical character and meeting new building codes proved to be a huge effort,” says Jason. “A big thank you goes out to all the local tradesmen and suppliers who did a
great job in transforming the space into something we can all be proud of.  I look forward to the many entrepreneurs that will be able to flourish in this space going forward.

“If we don't try, nothing will happen.”

It has been open for a short time, and I visited the Facebook page. The reviews, so far are most encouraging for the new venture.

Here are some:

"Love the atmosphere. Going to enjoy coming back often".

"Cozy atmosphere and a warm open feel. Honestly I had the best pumpkin latte of my life. Staff is extremely friendly and fun.

"Had a wonderful time."

They pointed out that while the basement space is now open, that doesn’t mean the work is finished. There are still some improvements to come, such as a wood stove for chilly winter afternoons, and, a back patio is still on the wish list. Of course, community support is also required for these new wishes to also turn into reality. If you’d like to give your input attend the Open House on February 25th.

Here are some details: The Rustic Bear Den Café and  Market is located at
4 Pine Street West, Chapleau, in the basement of St. John's Anglican Church. Ph: 705-870-4587. It has a Facebook page that is updated regularly.

I extend my thanks to Jason Rioux, Heather Campbell and Tanya Keech for their assistance. On a personal note, I extend my sincere congratulations to them on this venture. My family, both Hunt and Morris, has a connection to St. John's going back more than 100 years, and my great fear was that the church may be demolished. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Joy (Evans) Heft shares 'lasting memories of our treasured roots" in Chapleau remembering Harry 'Butch' Pellow

Butch, Joy, Sharon Swanson at 2012 CHS Reunion

NOTE: Joy (Evans) Heft captures not only memories of our mutual friend Harry 'Butch' Pellow, but also of growing up in Chapleau in the 1940s and 1950s. I vividly recall the games we played in the neighborhood, especially hockey in their back shed and of course, "going down the lake." I lived on Grey Street, just one back lane and back yard  away from Aberdeen. Joy brings back "lasting memories of our treasured roots" in Chapleau. Perhaps amazingly, many of us are still in touch all these years later.   Butch died on December 13, 2016. Thanks Joy.

And the wheel comes full circle in more ways than one. When Joy and I were both attending Chapleau High School, we collaborated on a weekly  high school column for the long gone Mid North News. My email is mj.morris@live.ca MJM

By Joy (Evans) Heft
Butch grew up at the corner of Birch (Main) and Aberdeen Streets two doors from the Evans family home on Aberdeen. In fact at one time their back yard backed onto our side yard but sometime before my recollection there was a smaller home moved to the property which was lived in by the Lapp and Moyle families and later the McEachren family. Butch was a bit younger than my brother, Jim, and a bit older than me. I remember playing with the neighbourhood children, mostly out-of-doors. Sometimes the girls and boys played together – i.e. the girls were allowed. Kick the can and hide and seek numbered among the games and I remember one fierce water pistol fight when I would have been about ten. I think I got called in by my mother likely because it seemed unbecoming.

Our back shed was a frequent venue for some of our games and the loft provided a great hiding place as well as a place to explore to discover what was stored up there. Jim and his friends used the shed more in winter when the boys were a bit older to play hockey or take shots on goal there. When I occasionally played in the Pellow home I had a terrified fascination for the bear rug in one of the rooms.

One of my memories is of a solar eclipse when our family, the Moyles and the Pellows congregated in the Moyles’ back yard early in the morning with our rolls of film through which to view the sun moving behind the moon without damaging our eyes. I think we were about ten at the time and it made a lasting impression.  Butch and I reminisced about this event during a recent visit.  
Another of our activities was going as a group to the Saturday afternoon movies.

My Aunt, Sister Gabriella, recounted an incident which she found very cute. Butch had come over to our place before some of us were heading off to the ‘show’ as we called it. Butch piped up, ‘I have Joy’s  money’. Why he had my money, a dime at the time, I think,  is anyone’s guess, but it presaged his lifelong habit of generosity  from which many of us benefited in many ways, not the least of which were the number of Chapleau parties held at his and Brigitte’s Toronto home, the most recent in October  2014.

CHS "Girl Cadets" from 1950s with CO Neil Ritchie

Another act of generosity that sticks out in my mind was a much later occasion when we returned to Southern Ontario together after a long week-end. I had gone up to Chapleau by train and Butch by car, so he invited me to accompany him  back by car with the plan that I would take the bus from Toronto to Oshawa where I was then teaching. He insisted on driving me on to Oshawa after that long trip  then himself back Toronto. He married shortly afterwards, I believe, and I attended his wedding, but our paths crossed much less frequently in the years to follow. 

Butch, Jim Evans, Doug Slievert, Roger Mizuguchi, Donna Lane, Alison McMillan, Joanne Moyle

Butch attended public school while the Evans children were at the separate school. We met up in high school, though, and once again were part of the same entourage as we dated mutual close friends. Once thing I recall, in particular, was that he loved dancing as we all did and that his favorite song was ‘Stardust’. When I think of it now, it seems like a sentimental song for a teenager, but that is another of his trademarks. I  recall his fondness of the song whenever I hear it. As most know Butch created a wonderful collection of photographs featuring many of his contemporaries in the numerous activities we participated in, a lot of them in the great outdoors  during the summer ‘down the lake’.

Butch and Roger at the Eighteen

One of those was a trip to the eighteen mile rapids for a picnic with a fairly large group. One of my own pictures from that event features Butch clutching an LP (Stardust, perhaps?) about to put it on a portable record player as we called them. 

Butch with record player, Gordon Bolduc, Mabel Doyle

Once we headed off to university we met up occasionally in Toronto – my brother Jim lived with Butch for a short time during that period - and I recall one party Butch invited me to quite a distance from the residence I was living in where the curfew was midnight; the trip to and fro on public transit took more time than we spent at the party and I was docked an hour the following week as a five minute late penalty. In retrospect I reflect upon the gracious stride with which he took the harried return trip, typical of him, really.

During ensuing years when Butch and others of us were young adults home working in Chapleau for the summer we would ‘hang out’ together enjoying our  freedom in the Northern landscape creating lasting memories of our treasured roots.

His appreciation of that youth and the personalities that enhanced it were evidenced in many ways for me not the least of which were the letters he wrote regarding some of my own family members at the time of their death  in which he recalled some of their attributes and/or idiosyncracies and the events involving them that impacted his own life. That he would take the time from his busy schedule to share these is again a mark of his enduring generosity of spirit.