THE WESLEMKOON ALLIGATOR The accompanying photo is of the alligator, The Weslemkoon (meaning bank beaver), that was employed to tow logs on Lake Weslemkoon during the 1890’s. It is a photograph taken during a picnic as the craft was travelling from Weslemkoon down the Mississippi branch of the Madawaska River past McArthur’s Mills to the […]
BANCROFT SHRINERS AFTER DINNER SPEECH Wasn’t that a fine meal? It reminds me of two down and out Irishmen, Casey and Murphy. As they passed a restaurant they spied a sign that proclaimed: “If we don’t have it we’ll pay you 100 pounds.” “Let’s try it,” said Murphy. “We haven’t got any money. What if […]
BIA DINNER MARCH 5, 2005 The following was a presentation at the Bancroft Legion. Good evening. Before I start I would like to point out that the easiest way to stay awake during an after-dinner speech is to deliver it. By the way, your museum, next to the post office, was built in 1879. While […]
ONTARIO OTTER FOR MISSOURI by B.M. 1984 The state of Missouri needs otter and the province of Ontario wants wild turkey. No problem. Ontario has otters, Missouri wild turkey. The solution is simple. Ontario and Missouri will trade otter for turkey. Otter for Rebel’s Cove, Missouri and wild turkey for Simcoe, Ontario. The turkey didn’t […]
THE SHOE TREE by B.M. circa 1988 Plainly speaking, we are not talking about the shoe tree that granddad used to keep his leather shoes in shape. This tree is alive and thriving. If tongues could talk they would tell you that Bill Boland, of Kinmount, started it all in 1982 by nailing shoes to […]
BANCROFT SLED DOG RACING by B.M. 1988 What do the Bear Grease, the Iditarod and the Bancroft International have in common? How did diaper rash prevent a competitor from finishing his race? Read on if you care to know. On Saturday, February 21, the 5th Annual Middle Distance Bancroft sled dog race took place. The […]
MY FIRST and LAST RACE by B.M. February 1987 “Aaaar, rruuff, urrr, aauurru….” 33 dog teams yelping, howling, dare I say crying, begging to go; sounding like they were being choked to death. BUT – these were happy sounds albeit somewhat frustrated for they had come to race, not stand and wait. The veterans had […]
FISHING IN ALGONQUIN PARK In 1892, one year before the birth of Algonquin Park, the Province of Ontario initiated a creel limit that would continue until 1971 when fishing licences for men were discontinued because the government maintained that it was too costly to administer. Women had been exempted from purchasing a fishing licence in […]
HUNTING IN ALGONQUIN PARK Hunting pre-dates the birth of Algonquin National Park although wild game may not have been as abundant as it is to-day. The explorer David Thompson complained of a lack of wildlife in what we now regard as Algonquin Provincial Park. In 1893 when Peter Thompson assumed command he immediately recommended that […]
EARLY LIFE IN ALGONQUIN PARK by B.M. Trapping, hunting and fishing played an important historic role in the evolution of Algonquin Provincial Park as we know it to-day. Like a path from the past these passions have woven a common thread through the forests of time. It was the trapper who valued the raw wilderness […]
