HISTORICAL SKETCH

of the Village of

STURGEON POINT
164O - I94O

by G. A. Lucas, B.A., clerk & treasurer.

Photo by Sir Ellsworth Flavcllc

Price $1.00
 CONTENTS
Introduction

I. The Days of the Red Men

II. Survey and Settlement 3

III. Pioneer Days 5

IV. Lake and River Navigation 6

V. Summer Resort Development 6

VI. Regattas 8

VII. Incorporation 9

VIII. Village Legislation ii

IX. Events of Interest Through Thirty Years 12

X. The Power Distribution System 14

XL The Community Pier 16

XII. The Union Church 17

XIII. The Golf Course 18

XIV. Some Names and Statistics 20

XV. Fishing for Maskinonge and Bass 21

XVI. The Scugog River 23

 INTRODUCTION
There are one hundred and fifty-six incorporated villages in the
Province of Ontario and several hundreds of hamlets known as
villages but in reality just a section of the township in which they are
located although some of these, known as police villages, have a
limited autonomy. Several small villages like Martintown in Glen-
garry County are considerably over one hundred years old but most
of the incorporated villages are of more recent date. Some early and
thriving villages like Port Hoover on Lake Scugog in Victoria County
have disappeared completely and many others fondly hoping for
growth and prosperity have, due to location, the advent of railroads
that passed them by, or other causes, failed to attain their ambition.
Villages have become incorporated, grown into towns and these towns
into cities but in most of these cases growth has been rapid and
continuous and many still expand and add to their population year

bv vear.
There is little doubt that if records had been kept of names and
events connected with all our they would prove of interest to
villages,
present day residents especially the older ones who love to recall the
days past and gone. Scores of our prominent leaders in political,
industrial and professional life have spent their early days in country
villages where often the old folks still reside to offer at times a welcome
homecoming. There everybody calls the visitor by his first name and
the fame, the fortune, the claim to the world's notice he has attained
seem matters of little moment, for the true villager measures a man
not by his attainments but by what he, himself, actually is. Any
attitude of superiority or spirit of boastfulness stamps the visitor as a
failure. He is too well known or known too well by somebody to
pretend to be anybody but an 'old boy' come home.
Fifty years ago every hamlet had its hotel, store, blacksmith shop,
wagon shop, harness shop, grist mill, saw mill or woollen mill, one or
more churches, a country doctor, a school near by, and perhaps some
small manufacturing industry. Cows were pastured in nearby fields,
geese rambled at will, poultry and pigs for winter use were in the back
yard but now the garage has usurped the place of all these and the
store and church alone remain. The village is now a mere suburb of
I
 A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH
the nearest town and the villager has become a true cosmopolitan
knowing and enjoying the advantages of both town and country
life, the happiest of mortals if he only knew it. His signposts greet
the incoming tourist with a hearty welcome and speed him on his way
with a cheery invitation to come again.
A great many of the early settlements were known by the name
of the owner of the mill and when the mill ceased operations the
village dwindled, not always however, for Wright's Mill became the
City of Hull, Scott's Mill the City of Peterborough, Shade's Mill the
City of Gait and Purdy's Mill the Town of Lindsay. Other places
were known as Somebody's Tavern, Inn or Corners and many of these
flourished acquiring a distinctive name. But there are still a great
many Corners around the Province and Corners they are likelv to
remain.
Need's Mill honoured by a visit from Governor Sir John Colborne
about 1834 was christened 'Rokeby' by him but the Indian name for
the rapids persisted in use 'Bob Cajwin' and the present name Bob-
caygeon was after a few years substituted for Rokeby and became its
legal name on its incorporation in 1877.
It is hoped that the following summary of the history of the
Village of Sturgeon Point will prove readable by those who during the
last half century have enjoyed and loved its attractive woods and
surrounding waters and if it does this it will have served its purpose.
Sturgeon Point is a summer resort on the Kawartha Lakes, the
"Laughing Waters" of the Indian tribes and was incorporated by
special act of the Provincial Legislature in 1899.

I. THE DAYS OF THE RED MEN

Our story opens some three hundred years ago. The last traces of
purple and gold had faded in the west and under the "soft splendour"
of a midsummer moonlight there lay revealed a birch bark canoe
drawn up on the sand bar that marks the north-eastern shore of
Sturgeon Point. Ogemah, a noted warrior of the invading Mohawks
encamped on the opposite shore and engaged in a clandestine love
affair with Manita, a Huron maiden, had kept his tryst. Discovered
by members of her tribe, he was slain and next morning, cold in death,
Manita's body was found by his side. To this day their bones lie
buried there at the foot of a great oak tree. Long afterwards the
tragic romance was recalled by the names of vessels that early plied
 OF THE VILLAGE OF STURGEON POINT 3

these waters, the "Ogemah" and "Manita" existing now in memory

only.
Before this event late in the sixteenth century, the area of the
present County of Victoria was occupied by Huron Indians who lived
in villages,one of which was located on the high land of the present
Carew farm just west of the township line between Fenelon and
Verulam townships. Champlain's records relating to his trips through
these regions are well known. Though still all virgin forest, he remarks
on the park-like nature of the trees along the shore. In imagination
we can see him sweeping round the Point with his five hundred canoes
filled with painted savages and landing to drive the game to the tip

for slaughter.
Later, about the middle of the seventeenth century, a migration
of Iroquois from south of Lake Ontario took place. The Hurons were
driven from their hunting grounds and their villages destroyed. There
is evidence of a Mohawk encampment amid the lofty forests that
overshadowed the shores of what was later to be known as Sturgeon
Point.
Retribution however befel the invaders and in the middle of the
eighteenth century, the warlike Mississagas from the north-west
moving down, fought one of which was fought
a series of battles,
between Blythe and Sturgeon Point and early settlers were accus-
tomed to visit the scene of this sanguinary struggle to secure relics of
the conflict. From the Indians, Mr. Jordan who settled on the Fenelon
Road in 1834 received an account of a terrible naval battle when two
flotillas of canoes met in mid-lake between Ball and Sturgeon Points,

the lake bottom being strewn with the bodies of hundreds of slain
warriors.

II. SURVEY AND SETTLEMENT

These several centuries during which the various Indian tribes
hunted at will, built their villages, tilled the soil in a crude fashion and
carried on their savage warfare, came to an end early in the nineteenth
century when all the land including what is now Victoria and sur-
rounding counties was purchased by the Government of Canada from
the Mississagas, certain reserves being allotted to them, for example,
the Scugog Island Reserve on which the Indians live to this day.
After 1776 United Empire Loyalists settled along the shores of
Lake Ontario and about 1820 a survey of the back country known as
4 A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH
the District of Newcastle was made and in the County of Peter-
borough which then included the present area of Victoria County, the
townships of Verulam named after an English Earl and Fenelon
named after a French missionary, were mapped out and opened for
settlement. As was far too common in those days they fell to a large
extent into the hands of speculators and this retarded settlement.
Four-fifths of the area of Sturgeon Point lies in Fenelon Township
and the remaining fifty acres most of which is in use as a Golf Course
is in Verulam.

How Sturgeon Lake got its name is not known. There never were
any fish of the sturgeon variety in the lake. Lakes Scugog, Chemong
and Pigeon, also many others were named by the Indians. Sturgeon
Point as the most prominent geographical feature on the lake
naturally adopted its present name and was thus known by the
earliest white surveyors and settlers.
Cornish's Island and its small neighbour Muskrat Island are the
only islands on the lake. The former is located half way between
Sturgeon Point and Bobcaygeon. There are strange stories about the
hermit, Jackson who lived on the former island. Dr. George Cornish
made use of these traditions in a series of articles published in the
Lindsay Warder. At the winter solstice a mirror in the hermit's cabin
pointed to the hiding place of the keys that unlocked the iron treasure
chest hidden under the well-known rocks that guard the southwestern
point of the island. What it contained and how Dr. Cornish discovered
ityou may read for yourselves. No such tale of mystery surrounds the
area of which we write. On the 26th of August, 1833, John Langton,
a graduate of Cambridge University, at the age of twenty-four,
guided by Indians, landed at the well known Cedar Spring just around
the apex of Sturgeon Point. Proceeding up the shores he made a
preliminary survey as far as Cameron Falls and chose a location to be
known as Blythe Farm. It was so called after Blythe Hall, his birth-
place in Lancashire. He was a man of fine physique and outstanding
ability and after ten years of pioneer life moved to Peterborough and
married one of the Miss Dunsfords from the Beehive on the north
shore of Sturgeon Lake. He became a member of the Provincial
Legislature and afterwards Auditor of Public Accounts. Later he was
elected Vice-Chancellor of Toronto University in which city he died in
1894.
In his letters to his father and also to his brother, a prominent
Birmingham banker, a vivid picture of the hardships and joys of
pioneer life is portrayed. His mother, father and sister came to live
 OF THE VILLAGE OF STURGEON POINT 5

with him in 1837 and shared in dispensing an unbounded hospitality

to the nomad and often poverty-stricken bands of incoming settlers.
The Langtons' nearest neighbour was Mr. Jordan and his large family
who lived on the present White farm. Mr. W. Lloyd Wood for many
years a summer resident of Sturgeon Point was a grandson of Mr.
Jordan.

III. PIONEER DAYS

On Sundays, the settlers attending the log church on the hilltop in
Fenelon Falls often tied their dogs to the trees, stacked their guns
against the walls and perchance secured a deer on the way home.
Every man was a hunter. Muskalunge speared through the ice were
boiled whole. The flesh was shaken off into a barrel in which cooked
potatoes alternated in layers with the fish flakes and the mixture
stored away for winter use. Venison purchased from the Indians at
1 Vid. per pound and whiskey too plentiful in those early days supplied

welcome food and refreshment. The tradition still persists that a

barrel of whiskey is buried on the Blythe farm. If it is ever located
assuredly it should have the pungency and flavour of oak and old age.
Miss Anne Langton states that forty thousand gallons of whiskey
were annually sold from one store in Fenelon Falls. Miss Langton
was an artist of merit as reproductions of her work in her brother's
book and on the walls of the Blythe farm home show.
The land at this time was one immense forest, pine predominating.
These trees were ruthlessly chopped down by hired choppers made
into spars or square timber and floated down the waters with great
difficulty to Lake Ontario. A few trees still stand. Mr. Robert
Graham early took over a large tract of six hundred acres including
Sturgeon Point, and the gratitude of the present generation is due to
the Graham family for the preservation of some dozen of these three
hundred year old monarchs. These pines have always been a very
notable landmark, visible from every point on the lake and a con-
stant source of wonder and admiration to visitors to the Point.
The Graham acres included some remarkably fertile land but that
along the shore was mostly left in forest consisting of oak, maple and
basswood, also butternut, pine, spruce, cedar and poplar. Stump
fences on the farm still exist, a jaggedly picturesque monument to the
strenuous and unrelenting toil of hardy pioneers. For fifty years the
sheltered spots along the shore were favourite camping grounds for
canoe voyageurs on their way to the wilderness of lakes and rocks in
 A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH
the northern district of Haliburton, until its possibilities as a summer
resort attracted attention and development, as will be described later.

IV. LAKE AND RIVER NAVIGATION

were all important to trade and commerce
Facilities to navigation
and 1836 canal locks were constructed at Bobcaygeon, earlier
in
known as Bob-can-yeon. These were rebuilt in 1857 but it was not
until twenty-five years later that the Fenelon Falls locks giving a lift
of twenty-four feet were completed. Portages and the dragging of
scows up the rapids were difficult and heart-breaking tasks. John
Langton tells men
standing up to their waists in water inching
of the
the laden scows up, a laboriously slow job. Business shipments were
made by steamer or scow and our waters carried a busy and never-
ending stream of traffic, hard to imagine in these days of pleasure
craft alone, sail boats and motor boats. From 1850 onwards over
forty named boats in all plied between Port Perry, Lindsay, Fenelon
Falls and Bobcaygeon. Captain George Crandell was a noted navi-
gator and boatbuilder. He once razed a block of buildings in Lindsay
and used the lumber for his scows. Palace scows with roofs and seats
were towed behind the various steamers, too small to accommodate
the crowds that enjoyed the frequent excursions to Sturgeon Point.
In 1853 the fine steamer "Ogemah" was launched and twenty years
later the "Vanderbilt" queen of the lakes, 130 feet long and carrying
four hundred passengers was placed in commission.
Other boats were the "Ida", "Esturion", "Alice-Ether', "Cran-
della", "Manita", "Wacouta", and "Lintonia". The "Stony Lake",
a favourite excursion boat, remains as the sole representative of steam
navigation on these Trent waters apart from the Government-owned
"Bessie Butler" which has carried many celebrities including William
Jennings Bryan and Lord Tweedsmuir through the canal and world-
famous lift-locks.

V. SUMMER RESORT DEVELOPMENT

Captain Crandell, alive to its possibilities, decided to develop
Sturgeon Point as a summer resort and in 1876 built a hotel at a cost
of #25,000 located in the oak grove park in the vicinity of the sand
bar and present lower wharf. A tragic incident that created country-
wide interest occurred shortly afterwards in which the Wilkes Family,
 OF THE VILLAGE OF STURGEON POINT 7
father and two children were drowned while bathing. Old citizens of
Lindsay still remember the alarm and excitement when the bodies
covered with white sheets were brought up on the "Vanderbilt". In
these perilous times similar fatal and often more frightful accidents
attract but passing notice.
The Sturgeon Point Hotel as it wasbecame widely known.
called
It had a bar, bowling alley with dance hall overhead and in 1883 was
purchased by E. Dunham and Sons of Cobourg together with the
twelve acres known as Oak Grove. Mr. Dunham made extensive
improvements and excursion parties from Rochester and elsewhere
across the lake enjoyed the hospitality of the hotel so delightfully
located. Mr. Dunham's private residence was later moved further
west and became the summer home of Professor Milner. In 1898 the
hotel was destroyed by fire and the land bought by Mr. John Mc-
Donald, a partner of William Mackenzie of Kirkfield. These beautiful
parklike grounds, twenty-five acres in extent were purchased by the
late Sir Joseph Flavelle. The present owner is Mrs. Clara F.
McEachren.
Mr. George Crandell bought extensive shore property westwards
and in 1884 had Mr. James Dickson P.L.S. survey and divide into
lots, this part of lot ten in the tenth concession of Fenelon Township

and prepare a plan thereof. Later he specified the width of Lake

Avenue as forty feet and sold the land between the road and high
water mark to the various frontage owners from First Street to Irene
Avenue, which was named in honour of Irene Crandell.
After the subdivision a regular building boom began and lots were
at a premium. Squire McDonnell and Messrs. Needier, Hamilton,
Judge Dean and Mr. Wm. Flavelle began construction. Mr. Flavelle
secured the frontage between First and Second streets selling part to
Mr. J. D. Flavelle and part to Mr. J. R. Dundas whose cottage is now
the summer home of Dr. and Mrs. Rundle. Judge Hopkins who was
then a practising lawyer in Lindsay began to build Rose Cottage in
1886. West of Irene Ave. as far as Cedar Spring, Mr. A. E. Gregory,
Mr. C. D. Barr, R. S. Porter, O. Bigelow, S. Britton, D. Cinnamon,
and R. Kennedy all of Lindsay secured lots and erected cottages. On
the side streets Mr. Joseph Brown, a Lindsay merchant, owner of the
steam launch "Retta", was a pioneer and built on Fifth Street then
just a path through the woods and was followed by Messrs. Mclntyre,
Sylvester, Terry, Stewart, Wilson, Taylor, Neelands, McLennan,
Milne, Goodwin, McGaffey, Fisher, Parkin, Easton, Matthews, Gross,
Dobson, Anderson, Sutton, Nugent, Simpson, Broderick and Dr.
8 A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH
Vrooman all men from Lindsay. Later from
business or professional
Toronto came Dr. Ryerson, W. Lloyd Wood, Mr. J. G. Grace and Mr.
Charles Linstrum.
During the fifteen years following 1885 the community grew very
rapidly by the influx of Lindsay citizens who had excellent boat
service, two steamers making double trips each day. Sixty-seven
cottages with a summer population of three hundred, half of whom
were children, occupied the choice locations and the popularity of
Sturgeon Point as an excursion rendezvous was at its height. In 1898
the Flavelle Milling Co., of Lindsay held a picnic, an immense crowd
of twelve hundred attending including Chief Goose of Scugog Island.
In August, 1899 the ladies of St. Paul's Church, Lindsay, held a
garden party on Dr. Ryerson's lawn, entertaining a vast host of
visitors. Dr. G. S. Ryerson had purchased Squire McDonnell's five
acre park and began to build in 1898. Mr. Eric Ryerson is the present
owner. In the same year a party of tourists from Indianapolis having
read descriptions of Sturgeon Point came by way of Niagara and
Toronto expecting to find hotel accommodation but a fire that
endangered the whole Point had recently destroyed the hotel and they
were hospitably entertained by Mr. J. D. Flavelle and others, on
which action a Peterborough paper of that day comments favourably.
It was the era of the canoe and some of the cottagers, among them
Mr. Thomas Stewart, J. W. and Kerr MacMillan took trips sometimes
four hundred miles long, up through the northern completely wild
districts, down the Ottawa valley, through the Rideau Lakes and
home by way of the Trent waters.

VI. REGATTAS
From the earliest days the settlers gathered at Sturgeon Point for
canoe races and sailing regattas. In 1838 at the first of these, James
Wetherip standing up in his canoe to take off his coat fell out and was
drowned. The prize money collected was set aside for the support of
his orphaned children. This incident affected Miss Langton so keenly
that she wished another location might be chosen but none seemed so
suitable. She gives an interesting account of a regatta in 1840, there
being twelve in the Langton party and twenty-eight from other points
on the lake. Venison, wild duck and cranberry tart were on the bill of
fare for the picnic that followed. From time to time similar events
took place but in 1878 a well organized regatta was held, the main
feature being canoe races in which the Indians captured all the prizes.
 OF THE VILLAGE OF STURGEON POINT 9
Seven years later on August 15th 1885, the Lindsay Canoe Club, an
active and flourishing organization held its first regatta at the Point.
It was a great success. In the sailing canoe race the following com-
peted: Flavelle's "Javelin", Goodwin's "Solid Comfort", Dundas'
"Flying Dutchman", Hopkin's "Deadeye", Stewart's "Lerherjibe",
Britton's "Dandy", Reid's (Bobcaygeon) "Freda", and Edward's
"Polly Ann", which won the contest. It was a great occasion when
Edward Hanlan the world famous oarsman brought his shell to the
Point and gave an exhibition race. As the years sped by interest was
transferred to motorboating and in 191 1 Dr. Cavan's "Nahma", G. H.

Hopkins' "Viking II", Flavelle's "Swallow", Pernn's "Thief" and

Irwin's "Vim" were the power boats contending while in the sailing
4

race Mrs. Beardmore's *Laurita" was beaten by Hopkin's "Rose".

Some years prior to this at the annual regatta, an exciting steamboat
race was staged between the Greyhound and the Alice-Ethel. It
started at Jackson's Island and finished at the sand bar amidst clouds
of steam and smoke.
The generosity and interest of the cottagers has enabled various
committees to stage splendid regattas from year to year. As many as
fifteen dinghies have taken part in the sailing races for the Kawartha
Lakes, the Sturgeon Lake and the Barrett Cups. The active sponsor-
ship of Sir Ellsworth Flavelle is largely responsible for the keen
interest in sailing. The Warners, Knowlsons, Flavelles, Hopkins,
Barrs, Ryersons, Kitcheners, Sutcliffes and others engaged in friendly
rivalry with the younger generation from Lindsay and around the
lake and kept alive an interest still maintained in annual regattas.
Mr. A. O. Hogg a past president of the Toronto Board of Trade, while
alive was always an active regatta supporter. Mention might also be
made of many others who have given liberal contributions or
unstinted time and trouble including Mr. Lou Scholes, the famous
oarsman, whose presence and enthusiastic interest have given the
regattas a class by themselves.

VII. INCORPORATION
So rapidly did the community grow and such were the prospects
for future expansion that it was decided to seek incorporation as a
Village. Hon. G. W. Ross was the Premier of the Province and a
deputation, Mr. J. D. Flavelle, Mr. Thos. Stewart, Mr. G. H. Hopkins,
and Mr. C. D. Barr went to Toronto and were able to secure the
passage of a special act of incorporation in March 1899. Mr. J. P.
IO A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH
Whitney, Leader of the Opposition took an active interest in the
proposal which was opposed by the Township of Fenelon represented
by Mr. R. J. McLaughlin, K.C. Certain concessions had to be made
and the Village was obliged to remain part of S. S. Number 3 Verulam
a union school section. Special clauses affirmed that the Council
should constitute the Board of Health and that one person should act
as Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor and Collector. The Village was now able
to collect and expend its own funds apart from County and School
rates and has thus developed into what is possibly the most attractive
and desirable summer resort in central Ontario.
The Act provided that the first election should take place on June
20th, 1899, with Mr. J. M. Knowlson as Returning Officer who
reported the following council elected by acclamation: Reeve, Mr. J.
D. Flavelle, and Councillors, Messrs. Grantham, Stewart, Kennedy
and Milne. Mr. Flavelle held the office of Reeve for ten years during
which period O. Bigelow, J. M. Knowlson, R. A. Millar, Wallace Jones
and Jos. Brown served on the Council. For the twenty-five years
following, these citizens were Reeve: 1909, J. W. Anderson; 1910, Jos.
Brown; 1914, J. D. Flavelle; 1916, A. B. Mclntyre; 1917, J. M.
McLennan; 1918, J. Brown; 1919, A. Fisher; 1921, W. A. McLennan;
1924, J. M. Knowlson; 1929, J. W. Shelly; 1934, Col. John A. Cooper;
1939, Mr. R. H. Hopkins. In addition to the above the following have
rendered service as Councillors: W. A. Goodwin, J. P. Ryley, Jno.
McCrae, G. A. Lucas, P. L. Spiers, Lou Scholes, Dr. J. W. MacMillan,
C. E. Linstrum, P. Morgan, J. L. McLennan, E. W. D. Campbell, R.
H. Hopkins, W. M. Knowlson, Dr. R. G. Stewart and Mrs. J. F.
Carmichael.
For the first financial year of the infant corporation the income
was ^366.29 and expenses $321.43 and three years later #434.50 and
#392.43 respectively. In 1904 the Council through the assistance of
Senator McHugh of Lindsay was able to get a grant of #500 towards
the construction of a wharf but efforts to have the Government take
over the wharf as part of the Canal system were unavailing. Expenses
were low; for example, the school grant now about #300 was only #30
in 1903. With the expansion of the Village expenses increased
accordingly, in keeping with the times. The policy of the various
councils has been to balance expenses with receipts each year and not
burden the future with municipal debt. In 1937 the village became
subject to County Road rates as on petition from the council and
townships the Fenelon Road was incorporated into the County Road
System. Adding to these the County and House of Refuge rates, and
 OF THE VILLAGE OF STURGEON POINT II

the High and Public School taxes, makes an amount that calls for
almost forty per cent, of the income. The assessment which was
$18,500 in 1900 had increased to over $100,000 in 1937, lake front lots
becoming more valuable and many very commodious and attractively
finished cottages being erected.

VIII. VILLAGE LEGISLATION

Apart from the various routine bylaws there appear some of
interest relating to early conditions in the new municipality. In July
1900, Bylaw 11 was passed prohibiting horses, colts, fillies bulls,cows,
calves, steers, oxen, heifers, rams, sheep, swine, mules, goats and geese
from running at large. The poundkeeper's fees varied from six cents
for a goose to twenty-five cents per day for a cow for care and food.
Penalty for breach of bylaw was not to exceed fifty dollars. Records
show that the lack of enforcement of this enactment became a thorn
in the side to councils of later days. In June 1901 the maintenance
and improvement of all the streets on the Crandell plan were assumed
by the corporation. In November 1902, the council authorized the
purchase of Lots one, two, three and four on Lake Avenue known as
the spring lots, from Mr. J. D. Flavelle as a public park. The price
was $455 and Mr. Flavelle agreed to take a mortgage for $300, which
mortgage he presented to the Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay. In
January 1906 carters were made subject to a license of five dollars
and in May of the same year it was enacted that no horse, cow, goat,
or pig should be kept in the triangle bounded by First Street, Irene
Ave., and Lake Avenue and not within two hundred feet of any
dwelling outside that area. In December 1906 Henry Street, so
called from Mr. Henry Graham was designated as a village street,
thirty feet wide and extending north 2310 feet to what is generally
known as the second landing. This was done at the request of Mr.
R. J. McLaughlin who with others began to build on the shore west of
Cedar Spring.
In May 1907 Mr. W. R. Wadsworth of Toronto was granted a
franchise to lay mains and establish an Acetylene Gas Plant for light
and heat, but no action developed although a similar plant was con-
structed in Lindsay. In the same year, since cattle were proving a
nuisance, it was provided that gates should be placed at the entrance
to the village on the Fenelon Road. A most comprehensive bylaw
respecting law and order prohibited the discharge of firearms from
12 A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH
May September ist, the use of fire crackers, a speed of over six
1st to
miles an hour for any vehicle, driving without lights after dark,
cleaning fish on the shore or throwing refuse into the lake, defacing
buildings or benches, and cutting down trees or shrubs on the public
highways.
Expenses were mounting and the first money bylaw was passed in
191 1 to borrow $550 against current taxes and Jas. E. Graham was
appointed the first village constable and caretaker. Medical health
officers have been Dr. Vrooman, Dr. Collison and Dr. Graham. The
Cedar Spring Park lots were sold to Dr. Nesbitt in July 191 5 for $500.
Prior to this negotiations with Mr. John McDonald for the purchase
of some acres adjoining the sand bar and lower wharf, for park pur-
poses had not been successful. The road fronting on lots 24 to 27,
plan 64, Thurston subdivision was closed by bylaw in 1918. Later
under the sponsorship of Dr. J. W. MacMillan a bylaw was promul-
gated and approved by the Board of Municipal Affairs, restricting
building to private detached dwellings with necessary outbuildings.

IX. EVENTS OF INTEREST THROUGH THIRTY YEARS

The first baby born at the point was Baby Stewart of New York
and the Council voted three dollars for a christening cup suitably
engraved dated August 5th, 1900. In that year a grant of #150 was
made for a telephone line and the G.N.W. telegraph line was sold. The
land in front of lots 34, 35 and 36 Lake Ave., were bought bv the
Village from Franklin Crandell for $90 and funds were apportioned to
protect the spring in the bank in front of the Grace property. A Rain
Shelter was built on the upper wharf at a cost of $3 15.83 and a special
constable was engaged from Lindsay to investigate some robberies,
fortunately rare before or since. A grant was made towards eradicating
caterpillars, evidently as bad then as now.
In 1904 First, Second and Fourth streets were underbrushed and
opened sufficiently wide for driveways. A grant was made towards
building steps to the spring on the bank at Cinnamon's and $25 was
voted for a well on Third Street. #50 was granted to gravel Lake
Ave., the gravel coming from Mr. W. Needler's shore. Mr. McDonald
was requested to remove obstructions on the hotel property roadway
as it had become a public right of way.
The first election since incorporation in 1899 was held in 1906. Mr.
J. D. Flavelle became Reeve by acclamation and the vote for elected
 3

OF THE VILLAGE OF STURGEON POINT 1

councillors stood: Bigelow 35, Anderson 34, Millar 30, and Brown 24.
No further elections took place until 193 1, acclamation being accorded
for twenty-five years.
In 1906 Mr. I. E. Weldon made application for a franchise for
waterworks, Irene Ave. was gravelled in part and the Spring lot park
cleaned up. The hotel property was bought by Mr. J. W. Flavelle of
Toronto and an amicable arrangement made respecting the right of
way along the shore. Fire destroyed the school on the Fenelon Road
and a demand for $500 was made on the village but no action was
taken.
Sixth street was opened up in thesame year and an appeal made
to the County Judge against the County assessment. Dr. Ryerson in
1908 presented a well-signed petition asking that elections be held in
the summer. This was granted and has been the practice ever since.
$27 was given towards a well on Fifth street. Fifteen oil street lamps
were installed in 1910, maintenance to cost 40 cents per light and a
concrete basin was built to protect Cedar Spring. Benches were
secured from the John Carew Company and a grant of $30 made
towards a well at Mr. Knowlson's.
A memorial was presented to the Government in 1910 asking for a
lighthouse at Flavelle's Point with the result that a red buoy was
anchored there — a favourite fishing spot. Towards eradicating poison
ivy ten dollars was given and a considerable amount of cribbing done
along the shore. By arbitration Sturgeon Point's share of the school
levy was placed at 25 per cent, and later increased to 35 per cent.
Henry Street was opened as far as Clerk's at a cost of #100. Certain
applications having been made for water lots, the Council was assured
by the Provincial Government that no action would be taken without
the Council's knowledge and consent. Mr. P. J. Breen offered Lots
four, five, and six on Irene Ave. for $575 as a Public Park. These were
later acquired without cost.
Thewell at the foot of First Street was closed in 191 5 and $75
spent in drilling a well on Irene Ave. near the upper wharf. #50 was
granted to the Red Cross in this and the following years. Formal
congratulations were tendered to Mrs. Elizabeth Hopkins on her
hundredth birthday, January 15th, 1916. Towards a well on Henry
street #35 was granted, the residents of that street paying the balance,
$100. Mrs. Walkey's store located at the foot of First St. was
destroyed by fire. Due to heavy county expenditures the county rate
was advanced to $515 and the school levy to over $200 in 1917. Oliver
Smith, O.L.S., prepared a map of the village this year at a cost of
14 A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH

#250. Consideration was given to opening Irene Ave. to the Fenelon

Road but on account of the expense nothing was done. An acre of
ground was bought from Wm. Graham for municipal use and the first
oiling of the roads was in 1924 when at a cost of $248.60 Lake Ave.
was oiled from Knowlson's to Cedar Spring.
Mr. G. H. Hopkins was appointed County Judge for Haldimand
in 1916 and Mr. J. P. Ryley was appointed Clerk and Treasurer, and
served for the next fifteen years. Appreciation was embodied in a
motion relative to Judge Hopkins' seventeen years service. In 1926
Henry street was opened to Graham's Landing and a deputation from
Pleasant Point requested that the village consider supplying that
resort withpower by means of an underwater cable. On the Fenelon-
Verulam boundary an acre of land for municipal use was leased from
J. E. Ellis for a period of ten years. Roads were oiled in 1927, 1929,
and 193 1 at an average cost of $300. The second election in the
history of the village was held in 1931. Over a long period efforts had
been made to have the Dominion Government take over the upper
wharf as part of the Trent Canal System and in 1932 largely through
the influence of Dr. MacMillan, this was done and a cement top built
over the wooden pier. Irene Avenue was opened to the Fenelon Road
in 1933, a project that had been long delayed. By decree of the
Municipal Board thirteen acres of Wm. Graham's farm in Fenelon
Township were annexed to the Village making the total area
incorporated 247 acres and a new street, Forest Road, was made
through the woods connecting Irene Ave. with Henry street at the
rear of the cottages. This in 1938. The cost of land and construction
of this half mile avenue was $1500. It was designed to take the
traffic off the narrow lakeshore road, too narrow in many places for

two cars to pass and also to enable nervous drivers to avoid some
danger spots adjoining the high banks.

X. THE POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

Various factors led to the introduction of electric power, the incon-
venience and constant danger of fire from oil lamps, the expense and
care involved in private battery plants, and also the very unsatis-
factory street lighting. The matter was first thoroughly discussed in
Council meetings in 1924, Mr. J. M. Knowlson being Reeve and
Councillors Messrs. Spiers, Brown, Scholes and Lucas. Mr. William
 OF THE VILLAGE OF STURGEON POINT 15

Flavelle became actively interested and great credit is due him indeed
for without his invaluable assistance it is a question whether the
efforts made would have seen fruition. The Fenelon Falls Commission
was anxious to retain all power facilities for prospective industries. It
was the era of expansion and high prices prior to the collapse of 1929
but the Commission was finally induced to sell not less than thirty or
more than fifty horsepower. The contract was for ten years renewable
and power was to be supplied for four months only, May 24th to
September 24th at the rate of $30 per annum per horsepower. A
municipal surplus of $1200 was available and a ten year debenture
with interest at six per cent, was sold to Mr. R. Kylie, Mayor of
Lindsay, at par. The transmission line from Fenelon Falls and the
distribution system through the village was completed at a cost of
39,918.48 and paid for from debenture proceeds, current taxes and
light surplus. In 1926 the light income was #1300 and the bill for
power $375. It was quite evident that the flat rates charged were too
high. Meters were therefore introduced and equitable rates estab-
lished. The use of power for cooking, heating water and for motors
was never contemplated but the demand became insistent. The
cottagers began to come earlier and stay later and in 1930 the Council
met with the Commission and persuaded them to furnish power from
April 1st until December 1st without extra charge, an action very
much appreciated. More transformers were added and a half mile of
line built across the golf course. In 1934 in order to accommodate the
demand for more power and better voltage the Council with Mr. R. H.
Hopkins, C.E. as chairman of the light committee had the system
changed from 2200 volts to 4400 volts. Four new transformers were
purchased, a bank loan of $1200 being negotiated. The contract for
power was renewed on the basis of $36 per H.P. per annum for six
summer months and optional power for the other six months at $24.
Stoves, water heaters, and electric pumps came extensively into use
and in 1938 almost one hundred meters were used and the village
makes a brilliant spectacle from the water and across the lake with its
brightly lighted cottages and some fifty hundred-watt street lamps.
Sturgeon Point was one of the pioneers in this advance in comfort,
convenience and pleasure but now practically all of the scores of
summer resorts in Ontario have electric power. An underwater cable
from Pleasant Point supplies power to Kelly's Point where Col. C. D.
MacAlpine has his summer home and also to Hickory Beach, Sandy
Point and Blythe. In 1940 owing to the definite decision of the
 A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH

Fenelon Light, Heat and Power Commission not to supply power

outside Fenelon Falls, a sale of the transmission system was nego-
tiated with the Ontario Hydro Electric Commission. In order to
secure township rural power a special act of the Legislature was
enacted under the sponsorship of Leslie M. Frost, M.P.P., so that the
Village is now considered a township as regards Ontario Hydro power
supply and rates. The system
be rebuilt, the primary voltage
will
increased and the village poles and wires moved from the lake front to
Irene Avenue and Forest Road, an improvement effected by the Bell
Telephone Co. in 1939.

XL THE COMMUNITY PIER

During the hot summer months swimming, diving and bathing are
the most popular pastimes and the necessity for some accommodation
for the large number who did not own shore-line lots
of residents
became very evident. 1936 the Reeve, Colonel Cooper, made
In
investigations in connection with securing a suitable location that
would be convenient for cottagers in the central part of the village.
Through the generous co-operation of Mrs. Gardner he was able to
negotiate a twenty-five year lease of her waterfront and as funds were
available, the Council decided to build a village pier for the use and
enjoyment of all and sundry. After considering various plans and
securing reliable information from such sources as Hydro Electric
engineers conversant with dam and pier construction, it was decided
to build a straight rectangular structure. Ice pressure is very severe
in the Kawartha Lakes and the damage to piers which occurred so
often, was to be avoided by sound construction.
Specifications called for a length of forty feet and a width of eight
feet at the top and nine feet at the bottom with a height above high
water mark of twenty inches. The mixture was to be eight bags of
cement to the cubic yard and the gravel tested quality. The pier was
to be adequately reinforced with steel rails and the contract price not
to exceed #900. Steps and protecting walls were added along the
banks and the crowds that flock there every sultry summer afternoon
fullv justify this greatly needed civil improvement. The cement
mixture, two to one, is so strong that it will long defy the erosion of
wind, water and ice and the wild fury of gales and tempests. This
monolith of artificial stone should be as lasting as the red rocks
embedded in its cold heart.
 OF THE VILLAGE OF STURGEON POINT IJ

XII. THE UNION CHURCH

On the twenty-first of December, 1888, there was filed in the
Registry Office of the County of Victoria, a deed for lot three on the
south side of Irene Avenue, Township of Fenelon, transferring the
ownership of this land from Duncan John Mclntyre, Barrister, to the
following residents as trustees: Thomas Stewart, Barrister, Joseph R.
Dundas, Merchant, James Hamilton, Carriage Maker, John Head,
Teacher, Robert S. Porter, Stationer, Frederick C. Taylor, Agent,
William Needier, Gentleman, James Wetherup, Merchant and Dun-
can Mclntyre who jointly paid the sum of #75 as consideration. These
trustees were to hold office for life and in case of death or resignation
to make appointments to fill vacancies.
In the following year a building was erected open on two sides. A
pulpit, organ and benches supplied the furnishings and for twenty-five
years services were conducted by visiting ministers from Lindsay or
by guests The open building supplied a convenient place
at the Point.
for picnic parties but during the passage of the years the building
became somewhat dilapidated and in 191 5, through the generous gift
of Lady Flavelle, the present very attractive and splendidly furnished
church was erected, work being completed on July 1st of that year. It
was modelled after a similar building which Lady Flavelle had seen in
Florida. The church has a seating capacity of 350, a choir loft and a
minister's vestry. It is an octagonal structure, walls and ceiling corre-
sponding and is lined throughout with southern pine. The seats are
designed for comfort and appearance and there is abundant window
space, giving it an outdoors effect that makes it an ideal place for
Sunday morning services held regularly during July. The contracting
firm was J. G. Scott and Co., of Toronto and the cost #7,500.
The opening ceremony took place on Thursday, July 5th, 1915
when the keys were formally handed over to Mr. Thomas Stewart as
representing the trustees, by Lady Flavelle. Sir Joseph Flavelle also
spoke briefly. Mr. Stewart in accepting the keys expressed the sincere
appreciation of all the residents for the gift and the interest shown in
the welfare of the Point. He gave a detailed account of the past
history of the church from its beginning in 1899 and promised a
happy future. On the following Sunday, Canon Marsh preached and
Mrs. Reesor sang "He That Dwelleth".
Several ministers who are permanent summer residents supply
services along with ministers from outside points. These have included
Dr. J. W. MacMillan and Dr. R. J. Stewart of Toronto, Rev. George
 [8 A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH
Edminson of South Orange, N.J., Dr. A. G. Sinclair of Bloomfield,
N.J., Dr. Charles Stewart of Buffalo, N.Y., Rev. P. C. Howard of
Bobcaygeon. Insurance to the amount of $ 10,000 is carried on
building and contents, Trustees are Sir Ellsworth Flavelle, Mr. J. S.
McLean, Mr. E. 0. Bradshaw, Mr. Douglas Stewart and Mr. G. A.
Lucas.

XIII. THE GOLF COURSE

The corporate area of the Village of Sturgeon Point includes a
level area of about fifty acres on the lake shore. About eight acres at
the extreme eastern end of the village is thickly wooded with second
growth birch, maple and evergreens. Fifty years ago this land was
very much covered with stones and boulders and abandoned as
unsuitable for crop production. It was acquired by Mr. J. D. Flavelle
who was interested in golf as well as curling. Mr. G. H. Hopkins
secured a half interest and efforts were at once made to make a
playable course for the summer residents. There was no course in
Lindsay until a later date. Messrs. Flavelle, Hopkins, Barr, Morris,
Little and MacMillan formed the original club and a team taken to
Port Hope was able to give a good account of themselves.
To improve the course it became the bounden duty of each player
to pick up rocks on every round and the numerous stonepiles today
are monuments to their faithful industry. The first, tee was outside
the grounds and located at the creek on the Carew farm where it may
still be seen. It was soon moved eastwards and the drive off had to
clear the two fences on the boundary road between the townships of
Fenelon and Verulam. These proved wretched hazards and in 1928
the tee was again moved into the Golf Course proper. Some members
including Messrs. Barr, Grace and Wood feeling doubtful of the possi-
bilities ofsuch a stony course developed another Golf Links called
"Merryland" on the open fields north of Irene Avenue and also built
an excellent tennis court on this land at the head of First Street.
This area was abandoned after a few years as the other course was
gradually improved.
For many years it has supplied the excellent sport and fine fellow-
ship that goes with golf and was maintained without any definite
organization and at only a nominal cost. As interest grew the necessity
for further development became apparent. Judge Hopkins and Miss
Ethel Flavelle disposed of an interest to Sir Joseph Flavelle and by
 OF THE VILLAGE OF STURGEON POINT 19

the terms of a joint deed from these three the golf course was trans-
ferred to a Board of Trustees for the benefit of the community.
On July 24th, 1929, the following circular letter was sent to the
residents of the Point:"Through the generosity of Sir Joseph Flavelle
the golf links have been put in excellent shape. A water system has
been installed, the club house has been attractively furnished and
many improvements made under the supervision of an experienced
golf architect. It is now a very fine playing course and a choice
property. It is being presented to the people of this community and
deeded to five trustees as representing the residents, who are to hold
it on their behalf.

In order to provide for the efficient operation of the links and the
making of further improvements with the addition of such other
sports as may seem desirable, the trustees are calling a meeting for the
organization of a Golf Club on Saturday August the 3rd at 4 P.M.
Please accept this as a cordial invitation to attend. Now is the time
for all of us to show our interest in the handsome and valuable
property which has been given us and to provide that it shall become
and remain a source of recreation and enjoyment for all who holiday
on Sturgeon Lake. (Signed) J. W. MacMillan, J. S. McLean, J.
Ellsworth Flavelle, G. H. Hopkins, P. A. Wisener, J. M. Knowlson,
Reeve of the Village, Trustees."
At a special meeting of the Council held to consider a communica-
tion on the matter of a Community Golf Course, a resolution was
passed requesting the Reeve to write accepting the gift subject to the
terms of the Trust Deed, namely that the property should be exempt
from taxation as long as it was used for golf and that the Reeve should
be amember of the trustee board.
From 1929 onwards various improvements have been made
including a more effective system of waterworks. An old pioneer log
house was bought, taken apart and re-erected alongside the club
house which some years previously, another log house, had been
moved down to the lake shore. This was done by the aid of generous
private contributions and a committee of ladies undertook to furnish
and equip the club house and kitchen. Students of the O.A.C. Guelph
who undertake the care of the course year by year were supplied with
cabin accommodation also through private subscriptions. The Course
has proved an invaluable addition to the attractions of Sturgeon
Point and is continually being improved. Presidents have been Dr.
MacMillan, Mr. W. E. Rundle, Mr. John Appleton, and Dr. Chas.
Stewart. The Treasurer is Miss Ethel Flavelle.
2C A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH

XIV. SOME NAMES AND STATISTICS

This resort noted for the large number of fine cottages all of
is

wooden construction and as a rule painted either brown or white.

From outside Lindsay and Toronto the summer residents include:
Col. W. E. Phillips and W. H. Ross of Oshawa, Mr. E. A. Lowden and
Mrs. A. MacDonald of Hamilton, Mr. J. W. Shelly, Mr. J. L. Brown
and Mr. A. L. Hagerman of St. Petersburg, Florida, Dr. R. A. Allen
of London, Mr. J. F. Carmichael of Kitchener, Dr. Chas. Stewart of
Buffalo, Rev. Geo. Edminson of South Orange, N.J., Dr. A. G.
Sinclair of Bloomfield, N.J., R. Abraham of Picton, J. C. Burke of
St. Catherines, W. J. Langton and Capt. F. J. Smith, Montreal. From
Toronto come Mr. Wallace Barrett, Mr. Gordon Barr, Mr. H. G.
Benson, Mr. L. P. Bowes, Mr. G. Burdick, Mr. E. W. D. Campbell,
Mr. L. Bossi, Mr. E. Cooke, Mrs. A. F. Clerk, Mrs. F. Cross, Col. Jno.
Cooper, Mr. G. Thornton, Mrs. E. Cinnamon, Mr. H. N. Crichton,
Sir Ellsworth Flavelle, Miss F. Easton, Robert Fleming, Murray
Gordon K.C., Mrs. Gardner, Mr. Chester Harris, Mr. R. F. Harris,
Mr. R. H. Hopkins, Mr. W. M. Knowlson, Mr. Chas. E. Linstrum,
Mr. A. J. Milner, Mrs. R. J. McLaughlin, Mrs. W. A. McLennan,
Mr. E. H. Fee, Mrs. Clara F. McEachren, Mrs. J. W. MacMillan, Mr.
P. Morgan, Mr. J. S. McLean, Mr. J. H. Lowry, Mrs. Jessie Mclntyre,
Mr. F. C. McCardle, Mr. C. A. Mitchell, Mr. L. O. Oke, Mr. F. G.
Rice, Mr. Eric Ryerson, Mr. F. A. Robinson, Mr. Lou Scholes, Mr.
P. L. Spiers, Dr. R. G. Stewart, Rev. J. A. Steed, Mr. Frank Taylor,
Mr. Wellington Jeffers— Financial Editor "Globe and Mail", Mr. P.
A. Wisener, Miss Florence Walkey, Mrs. Gordon Palen. Mrs. Wakely
comes from Ottawa. From nearby Lindsay come the rest of the
cottagers, Messrs. Brown, Carew, Kitchener, Lucas and Miss E.
Neelands, also Mrs. T. Stewart, Mrs. J. P. Ryley, Mrs. A. E. Taylor
and Mrs. Sandy. There is a continual demand for properties but very
little supply.
Serving Canada and the Empire on land, on sea and in the air are
many young volunteers from the Point. Johnston Ellis Taylor, son
of Mr. Frank Taylor is presumed
reported missing in an air raid and is

dead. His brother Stewart is also in the Air Force. Don Cooper is an
officer in the Artillery overseas. Jack Scholes is in the R.A.F., and
Lou in the R.C.A.F. In this service are also Flavelle Barrett and
Frank McEachren. Donovan and Romney Lowry are Flight-
Lieutenants while the brothers Grant and Bud McCardle are in air
training camps. David Flavelle is in the Navy. Besides these are
 OF THE VILLAGE OF STURGEON POINT 21

Captain F. J. Smith, Flavelle MacMillan, Gilbert Campbell, Jack

Cooper, Harold Sutton, Hec Crighton, Clarence Fisher, Dr. Mulligan
overseas, Captain John A. Baine of the 63rd Battery, Jack Brown of
the Y.M.C.A., and also Charlie Stewart who is in the U.S. Army.
Colonel Phillips and Mr. J. S. McLean occupy very important
executive positions not to mention the many ladies who give so
generously of their time and labours, Mrs. Milner, Mrs. Ryerson, Mrs.
Wisener, Lady Flavelle, to mention but a few of the scores engaged.
Mrs. Clara F. McEachren has been overseas on Red Cross service
while Miss Ethel Neelands' neice Mrs. Strachan, a passenger on the
ill-fated "Zam-Zam", is now a prisoner in Germany.
The Village has a permanent population of ten and a summer
population of about five hundred. has an area of 247 acres and a
It
shore line of over two and a half miles. Total income from the tax
roll and the municipal power distribution utility before its transfer to
Ontario Hydro varied between five and six thousand dollars and
expenditures were kept within these figures. There is no funded debt.
Permanent assets include the Street Lighting System, the Public Pier,
the Rain Shelter and a two-acre park lot on Irene Avenue. There is
a daily mail service from Lindsay from June 10 to September 10. The
postoffice and telephone central is located in Lakeview Inn. About
half the cottages have electric water pumpos and septic tank instal-
lations, a very desirable and almost necessary improvement. Eight
public wells with Cedar Spring supply excellent water. Ice, bread
and pasteurized milk is delivered daily. That the future of this
favoured lakeside resort will be as happy and prosperous as the past,
no one can doubt.

XV. FISHING FOR MASKINONGE AND BASS

"Whence and what are you monster grim and great?
Sometimes we think you are a syndicate
A wide, ferocious and rapacious jaw
A vast insatiate and expansive craw
And like the 'trust' your chiefest aim and wish
Is to combine in one, all smaller fish."

Such well describes the Maskinonge. There are nine recognized

spellings of the name of this well-known fish but the general designa-
tion is just 'lunge'. Thirty years ago it was abundant in all the
Kawartha Lakes. The small mouth Black Bass were so plentiful that
the limit could be secured any day and four or five pound fish were
 22 A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH
common. Fishing was done entirely from canoes and row boats and it
\\ not until later that the use of small motorboats and the growing
as
population of the summer resorts reduced the fish population to its
present condition, a conditionwhich the Ontario Government is
making every effort to remedy by more stringent regulations and by
re-stocking from its hatcheries.
Muskailunge or Maskinonge as the Ontario Game Laws designate
it is the game par excellence reaching a weight of twenty-five
fish

pounds or over and a length of four feet. 1 he flesh is white and flaky
and of excellent flavour. The food value of these voracious denizens
of our inland lakes has thus served to reduce their numbers.
Sturgeon Lake has a large number of shallow bays, the lake
proper is only 24 feet deep with a clean rocky bottom, and the lake is
remarkably free from weeds. 1 he big Bay at the mouth of the

Scugog River is drowned land due to the raising of the lake level years
ago at Bobcaygeon and weeds abound. These weed beds make a
hiding place for the muskies from which they pounce on passing
perch, minnows or herring. The small weed bed at the north end of
the village shore line has supplied scores of fish every summer. Sandy
Flack or Mr. P. Morgan can testify to this. Let the word pass around
that an eighteen pounder has been landed and in short order a score
of boats will dot the lake's surface, evidence of the wool-dyed fisher-
man's undying optimism. At the mouth of the Fenelon River, below
Sandy Point and around Cornish's Island are other well known weed
beds. Sir Joseph Flavelle, Professor Milner, Dr. MacMillan, R. J.
McLaughlin K.C., Mr. J. S. McLean used to be well recognized
figureson week-ends casting or still fishing. Mr. McLaughlin used to
quote a saying from "Midshipman Easy" about the Captain who
remarked when his wife fell overboard, "Better luck next time".
The black bass population is being renewed each year by finger-
lings. These fish are game and great fighters but the flesh has not the
flavour of those caught in the cold waters of Georgian Bay or the
northern Haliburton Lakes, \ears ago it was common to catch one
hundred fish in a summer and it seems a pity that the present limits
were not imposed long ago. Conservation is a term only recently
generally recognized by private persons as well Government
as
officials. It is impossible to over-emphasize the importance of game
fishing as an attraction for our visitors from the south of us. Even
one 'lunge' a summer sends them home happy.
What about the best time, the best places, the best weather for
success? The place is important but fish are caught at all times and
 OF THE VILLAGE OF STURGEON POINT 23

in all weathers. However on evenings before sunset when the weather

is fair and the water smooth, more seem to be caught than at any
other time. The bright slanting sunshine of the glorious summer
evenings make the silver, copper or wobbling baits visible to the
hungry maskinonge. Then occurs that one sensation that ever thrills
the most inveterate fisherman and that is the startled feeling of
surprise on seeing emerge from the placid waters of this peaceful lake
such fierce and savage-looking monsters as our Great Lakes Muskal-
lunge.
Recently it has been found possible to grow these in the hatcheries
to a reasonable size and the lakes are being systematically re-stocked.
This has required endless and patient experimentation. The limit to
each person might well be reduced to six per season. Unfortunately
the carp are becoming plentiful and while they are vegetable feeders
they create such a disturbance by stirring up the muddy bottom as to
interfere with the hatching of the spawn. To get rid of these un-
welcome intruders is a perplexing problem to the Game and Fish
Associations zealously endeavouring to conserve the resources we are
fortunate to have at our very doors. And the Game and Fisheries
Department of the Ontario Government merits the highest possible
praise for its efforts to solve the problems involved. Perhaps it is not
too much to hope that some day conditions as they were some twenty
or thirty years ago may be restored.

XVI. THE SCUGOG RIVER

—
Among others, one cherished memory a motorboat trip down the
Scugog at sunrise on a Canadian midsummer day. The river smooth
as polished silver, not a breath of air to stir even the most gossamer-
like spray of foliage, the air so cool and so fragrant with the pungent
and exhilarating odours from the marshes and harvest fields, the sweet
pur-r-r of the rhythmic motor accentuated by the varying musical
notes of the underwater exhaust, the swirl of water at the bow and
sides, the sense of aloneness on the river —
what a combination for a
sense of strange contentment and sheer delight in living, for true
enjoyment in the allurement of nature unmolested by the hand of
man! Days past and gone but the memory lingers.
There is no river in old Ontario just like the Scugog as it winds
and curves for twenty miles from the hard spring-fed waters of Lake
Scugog to the soft and mineral-free waters of the northern Kawarthas.
The Petewawa, Bonnechere and Madawaska wind their hundred-mile
24 A SHORT HISTORICAL SKETCH

lengths over granite rocks from Algonquin Park to the Ottawa where
they are joined by the scenic Rideau and Nation. The Trent and
Moira ramble through Lennox and Hastings, the Don and Humber
are a memory of the past, and we cannot forget the Grand and
Thames with charms of their own but often in spring raging and
terrifying torrents. Then there are the Saugeen, Maitland and
Ausable of cold clear waters in Bruce and Huron, habitat of speckled
trout, the Severn so well known to tourists, and the Nottawasaga
flowing through the flats of Simcoe County where grew the finest
basswood in all Canada. We cannot forget the rapid and rock-strewn
streams of Haliburton and Muskoka nor the Burnt River flowing to
Cameron Lake, its banks completely arched with butternut trees, but
withal the Scugog is still unique. But why so?
First for the great variety of its vegetation and growth of water
plants and second for its being the summer habitat and breeding
place of so many varieties of waterfowl. It winds its tortuous way in
a continuous S past fourteen lighthouses at the bends in the stream,
through great masses of cattail, wild rice, smartweed, nut grass,
wapato, bur reed, bulrush, meadow grass, cord grass, water celery,
pond weed, pickerel weed and water lily white and yellow. In some
places these weed beds extend back for a quarter of a mile and here
amid the haunts of the busy muskrat the wild fowl find an ideal
nesting place.
The great Blue Heron, a scavenger protected by law stands
motionless on some dead stump or flaps his way deliberately across
the swamp, the Pied Billed Grebe or Helldiver disappears like a flash,
her nest built on floating weeds and covered when left, the Wild Ducks
with their eight ducklings, which disappear one by one through the
summer, the American Bittern with his protective colouring, the
white-billed Coots and the red-billed Gallinules all are there to delight
the lover of wild life. Here, Ernest Seton Thompson acquired much
of his knowledge which he has passed on to the boys and girls of
Canada such an absorbingly interesting manner.
in
Overhead, the Killdeer with its exquisite markings, the swift
Plover and Tern, and immense flocks of red-winged Blackbirds and
all the others, Crows and occasional Hawks fly on their own particular

errands. Such is the Scugog and such it is likely to remain, a little-

known and little-travelled section of the famous Trent Valley Canal.
And this, friends and residents past and present of Sturgeon Point
for whom alone these items have been gathered together, ends my
story.
Sturgeon Point Regatta