"An Ice Skating Fishing Trip" by George Theriault in 'Trespassing in God's Country' See book order info at end!!

George Theriault flew in northern Canada since the summer of 1934 when he began work as a dock boy at the seaplane base in South Porcupine, Ontario, according to an outline of his career in his awesome book 'Trespassing in God's Country''>

Before establishing his own air service in Chapleau in 1954, Mr. Theriault had served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and after World War II ended in 1945, he established himself as a skillful bush pilot and sportsman. I enjoy returning to "Trespassing in God's Country"perhaps because my father Flying Officer Jim Morris who was killed on active service if the RCAF on July 16, 1943, learned to fly planes from the early bush pilots who landed on the Chapleau waterfront. Had my father returned home, my mother told me he would have been a bush pilot or commercial pilot. Such was not to be but George Theriault has given me a glimpse into their lives.

Thumbing through his book again I came across a chapter entitled 'An Ice Skating Fishing Trip' -- the title intrigued me so I decided to share some of this adventure with you.

In 1950, still in the RCAF he was posted to the base at Goose Bay, Labrador, He met a couple of men who worked at the base but lived in a community named La Vallee Heureuse or Happy Valley in English. These men told  him about a river that was full of sea-run speckled trout. "When the river froze , the trout would run up it to spawn in the open rapids." The only way to reach it was to cross the lake then walk.

"Once the river was about three inches thick, the native men attached their tie-on skates, and skated down the the river looking for the migrating trout. The timing was critical because the trout were only visible through the ice when the river had just frozen. Once it snowed, the fish were hidden."

The good ice skaters at the air force base were excited about a skating-fishing party, Mr. Theriault wrote. They arrived at the spot and "hurriedly put on their cold ice skates and began skating on three inches of glossy ice. "As soon as our bodies got into the rhythm of skating we started to thaw out and enjoy the bright sunny day"

They had a hearty meal at the home of the Beauvais family and then off they went to fish each with two short poles about 24 inches long with a line about the same length.

The shadow of a school of trout appeared under the ice 

Here is how the fishing worked. As a fish went for their lure they quickly jerked the lure out of the water with a fish on it and they dropped their other line in the water. Amazingly they could pull about 150 trout that came flying out of these holes in just a few minutes.

More amazing!!!!

"Eventually one school of migrating trout would be joined by four or five hundred more trout in another school, and in no time, there were about fifteen hundred trout moving up the river'. They were easy to spot."

Later Mr, Theriault caught a nine and a half pound speckled trout and put it a freezer but forgot to take it with him. "As luck would have it, someone ate it".

'Trespassing in God's Country: Sixty Years of Flying in Northern Canada' is a must read for anyone interested in our north country..

George Theriault died on May 26, 2015 at age 95. I leave you with the final paragraph from his book: "That's the most amazing thing: life just goes on  -- with us and without us. None of us are permanent fixtures on this landscape; we are all trespassers in God's country."  May he rest in peace.

Thanks  to John Theriault, one of Mr. Theriault's sons who provided me with a copy of his father's book. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

TO ORDER BOOK!!!!!!!!!  John Theriault kindly sent me information on ordering the book....retail@bushplane.com...the contact person is donna barill...the book is 20$ and postage about 10...

"Mustard seed sown in fertile soil" guided missionaries and pioneers in Chapleau's Roman Catholic community according to Father Romeo Gascon

RC church circa 1914

Before the first Roman Catholic church was built in Chapleau, mass was sung in the home of Mrs. Noel de Tilley, according to an article in the Richard Brownlee papers.

Mr and Mrs de Tilley lived in a cottage next to Tom Carr's boarding house circa 1885. It was across the street from where the Algoma Hotel was later built.  Noel de Tilley had "the honour of driving the first engine into the station" in the summer of 1885.

Mrs. de Tilley is also credited by many sources as being responsible for suggesting the name Chapleau to civil engineer C. Dufresne who "found it quite a problem to select names for all the places along the line and he turned to her for inspiration."

The visiting Roman Catholic priests also stayed in their cottage.

Before the first Roman Catholic was built it was housed in a tent where Collins store is now at Lorne and Birch Streets. The second church was built where the present church stands today.

Rev Father Romeo Gascon who served as parish priest from 1906 to 1958 picks up the story of the Roman Catholic church in Chapleau in a signed article again in the Richard Brownlee papers.

Father Gascon wrote that "The early beginning of the Catholic church in Chapleau as in any other place was modest. Great and numerous were the hardships of those first missionaries who had to minister to to the few faithful scattered over such a large territory. Those who have shared the trials of these bygone days, those who have witnessed these events are the only ones who can do justice to the perseverance and self sacrifice of those first missionaries."

In 1883 Father Cote had taken charge of the vast district between North Bay and Port Arthur. He was also responsible for the first "chapel" on the Collins store site.

Father Cote said mass and administered the Sacraments in construction camps or private homes along the way.

By 1891 Father Grenier SJ took charge of the mission at Chapleau and under his guidance a larger church was built. This church served the Roman Catholic community until 1918 when it was destroyed by fire. 

Other priests came and left but it was Father Proulx who also looked after the "spiritual needs of the numerous missions on the Railway." Then Father Lefebvre came who beautified the church with by having three new altars installed. 

Father Proulx returned and 'It was under his ministry through his energy and zeal that two modern and substantial buildings were erected, the Catholic separate school and the priest's house."

Faher Gascon arrived in 2006 but in 1918 shortly before Christmas the church was destroyed by fire.

He commented: "The church and its contents, rich statuary and costly mass vestments, tribute to the zealous work of the early missionaries and the generosity of the faithful pioneers was the prey of fire on the night of December 18, 1918. In a few hours nothing was left of the work and generosity of thirty years,"

Father Gascon noted that the fire cast a gloom over the joyous feast of Christmas but this gloom was of short duration. 

Immediately the Catholic people with their Pastor, (Father Gascon) "pledged themselves to rebuild on a larger scale, to put up a church which would be a credit and proof of their unfeigned faith and generosity."

And this was accomplished.  The first mass  in the new church was celebrated on Christmas Eve 1919. On Christmas Eve this year Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church will celebrate 100 years in the new church. 

I leave you with part of a final comment from Father Gascon.  "The beginning as you may see was modest. It was the mustard seed sown in fertile soil. Through the zeal, sacrifices and energy of these first missionaries and pioneer settlers this tiny seed has germinated and grown up to be a large tree. Its branches and leaves now throw a refreshing shade...."  My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Pioneers carved Chapleau out of wilderness as "ribbons of steel arrived in 1885

If you had been suspended high above Chapleau in 1885, all you would have seen at first glance would have been a virgin forest, many lakes and rivers and two thin ribbons of steel that had been laid in a cleared section and were cutting through this vast uninhabited area of Canada.

Vince Crichton tells us in his book "Pioneering in Northern Ontario" that the ribbons of steel were rails of the Canadian Pacific Railway leading 381 miles west to Fort William and 170 miles southeast to Sudbury.

Recently after ten years of writing Chapleau Moments weekly I have been spending time with Vince's book, the Richard Brownlee Papers as well as material on the  Chapleau Library site, compiled primarily by Hugh Kuttner and the late Doug Greig.

Vince noted that there were very few signs of life except along the railroad, and at the trading posts. You may have seen Cree and Ojibway trappers in canoes going to and from their trapping grounds with their winter's catch of fur.

When it became clear that Chapleau would be a terminal of the railroad some homes were built on the hill in the vicinity of the Lady Minto Hospital, opened in 1914. This was called "Old Chapleau" and a long board walk connected it to the CPR station area. 

Meanwhile, T.A. Austin had opened his store in a tent in that area and Mr. Brownlee who arrived in February 1886 a barber shop. Later in 1886 both had moved to buildings on Birch street which remains the community's main business district to this day. Several stores had been opened by 1887.

public school

Fast forward to 1914 and Chapleau had  two schools, three churches, a hospital, two doctors, an Opera House, three confectionery and ice cream shops and a variety of commercial enterprises to fill the needs of families."  A water works system had been installed and electricity provided. The Town Hall also opened in 1914. The YMCA was completed by 1908.

Vince described heating and cooking in homes.

"All of the houses were kept warm with a pot bellied stove with a large gaping mouth through which the fire was banked for the night with a copious amount of good white birch. The kitchen stove on which the lady of the house cooked and was her pride and joy also burned wood"'

In 1945 when my mother Muriel E (Hunt) Morris and my grandparents Edythe and George Hunt and I moved into our house on Grey Street, a wood stove primarily heated the house and my grandmother did all the cooking on it for several years. The house was never warmer, and her meals were awesome too!! 

Mr. Fortin brought us the supply of wood each year.

first station circa 1886

Mr. Brownlee, in his own handwriting refers to an article about Chapleau written to mark the Royal Tour in 1939.. "Considering its wild surroundings the stranger is agreeably surprised to find a spot so remote from what he calls civilization so completely up-to-date as Chapleau -- no shack town!"

The winters were "long, cold and exhilarating.." according to Vince. Not much change there !!

In a real sense the pioneers of Chapleau carved a community out of the wilderness.

Bill Pellow delivery circa 1911

I was delighted to read the article in the Chapleau Express announcing the completion of the first phase of a Downtown Revitalization Project.  My email is mj.morris@live.ca