Photo caption:  Women and children at HBCo post - Courtesy of City of Vancouver Archives, c. 1883

On May 9, 2020, the Hudson’s Bay Company will reach a milestone.  It is currently the oldest, continuously operating trading company in the world and as of this coming Saturday, the HBCo will have accumulated 350 years under its wool blanketed belt.  No other company has had such an impact on the very fabric of our continent and country.  The HBCo has also played a significant role in the rich story of the Wawa area.  Our town may be small, but you would be surprised how much of the HBCo story is woven into the fabric of Michipicoten’s rich tapestry.
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Think back to your grade school history class when we learned about a couple of adventurous French traders and explorers affectionately called “Radishes and Gooseberries”.  Pierre-Esprit Radisson and his brother-in-law Medard des Groseilliers lost faith in France’s royal court and potential financiers, which resulted in them leaving their countrymen and offering their services and first-hand knowledge of North America’s bountiful fur reserves to King Charles II of England.  On May 9, 1670, a royal charter was granted to the Governor and Company of Adventurers trading into Hudson’s Bay and the Hudson’s Bay Company was formed.  All waters flowing into the Hudson’s Bay were included in this grant which included the Moose and Missinabi River basins which Radisson learned could be accessed through Michipicoten and Lake Superior.  Life in North America would never be the same again.

The birth and evolution of the fur trade could not have been achieved without the guidance, trust and knowledge of the Indigeneous Peoples of North America.  Cooperation with the well-established social, economic and political cultures in this “New World” became invaluable to the trading of goods for furs to meet European fashion demands.  The Indigenous Peoples shared their knowledge of the land, the food, the travel routes and the furs.  The men were the backbone and labour – sharing their skills for making and using the tools of the trade (canoes, snowshoes, traps etc.) as well as paddling and portaging mountains of goods and furs in and out of the deepest interior of the continent.  The women provided the foundation and essentials of life – preparation of both food and furs, maintaining the home and hearth, and offering timeless knowledge of plants and seasons for medicines, nutrition and vital tools and items for daily survival.  Many women married company men and their descendants evolved into a vibrant and unique culture known as the Metis.

I learned about the Hudson’s Bay Company long before my grade school history teacher had the chance to introduce me to our required Canadian history curriculum.  My grandmother often shared stories of provincial archaeologists visiting our family cottage near the mouth of the Michipicoten River.  Over the years interesting artifacts and items would appear in the rusty waters of the Michipicoten, carried downstream from a series of fur trading posts dating back to the early 1700’s.  A variety of archaeological digs in the late 1960’s and early 70’s resulted in a number of large collections of both pre-historic and historic “Michipicoten” artifacts currently archived, stored and displayed in a variety of museums and universities throughout Canada.

The Hudson’s Bay Company built a post at Michipicoten in 1797.  The first factor (boss) for the Michipicoten Post was Henry John Moze who arrived at Michipicoten on June 8, 1797 after paddling from Moose Factory and waiting 11 days at Missinabi for the lake ice to thaw.  Moze was accompanied by his “Indian Guide” and three company men to assist in carrying goods and help in building the new post.  The choicest location for a post at Michipicoten however was already taken by the HBCo’s main rival, the North West Company.  It’s a long story, but suffice it to say, both companies could not compete and in 1821 the two amalgamated as one under the banner of the HBCo.  Due to Michipicoten’s strategic location on the East/West trade route through Lake Superior-Georgian Bay-French River to Montreal, AND the North/South route from Lake Superior to James Bay, the HBCo established their Lake Superior District Headquarters at Michipicoten from 1821 to 1887.

As a result of the location of the HBCo. Post,  Michipicoten was the centre of activity.  Local Indigenous residents who at one time roamed the land with the seasons and food sources, began to set up permanent residence near the Post complex on the banks of the Michipicoten River where it meets the Magpie.  Michipicoten River Village can trace its perpetual roots well back into the 18th century.  Indigenous seasonal occupation in the vicinity has been scientifically dated 2000 years before present.

Interactions between Michipicoten’s earliest residents and the HBCo. did not always benefit both parties.  Common ailments and viruses easily fended off by the employees of European descent had devastating impacts on the North American’s physiology.  William Teddy and Louis Towab’s family lost 7 children in an epidemic in 1895-96.   

Much of the focus and objective of the trading empire was to ensure the local trappers became dependent on the goods and items traded.  These not only included items to ease daily existence, but also items which would have devastating effects on the social and economic character of North American cultures.  Guns changed the political boundaries, power centres and strategic rivalries.  Alcohol and its chronic ailments had devastating effects on individuals, families and entire communities dependent on each other to survive in a harsh and fragile landscape where starvation was not uncommon.

Over harvesting of local beaver and other fur-bearing mammals in the mid-1800’s meant Michipicoten needed to diversify to ensure the post could cover expenses.  Post employees became proficient fishermen, netting seasonal stocks of sturgeon, trout, herring, whitefish and pike.  Fish would be salted, packed in barrels and shipped to southern markets.  Michipicoten had a productive tinsmith and blacksmith shop.  Post employees also built wooden York boats to replace the more fragile birch bark canoe.  The post was utilized by travelling missionaries for sermons, baptisms, and marriages.  Indian agents also made annual visits to provide the annuities to Michipicoten First Nation members after the signing of the Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850.  Michipicoten also operated as a post office and the first Mining Divisional Office of Ontario in 1898 after the discovery of gold on Wawa Lake in 1897 by William Teddy and Louise Towab.

Amenities at the Michipicoten HBCo post provided travelers not only supplies and a warm meal, but also a respite from sleeping in tents and out in the elements during long stretches of paddling on Superior and the Michipicoten River.  These guests and travelers included a long list of characters we learned about in that same grade school history class:  Sir Sanford Fleming, Alexander Mackenzie, Frances Ann Hopkins, David Thompson, Louis Agassiz, Governor George Simpson, to name just a few.

Although the post was instrumental in providing supplies, provisions and prospecting licenses to the rush of miners seeking their fortune in gold in 1898-99, Michipicoten was unable to compete with trading posts in the Chapleau area next to the Canadian Pacific Railway.  In 1904 the HBCo eventually closed the Michipicoten Post.

The HBCo. renewed its presence in Wawa when The Bay Department store opened its doors on Broadway Avenue in the early 1960’s.  The Bay was an integral part of the downtown business sector even when it was rebranded as the Northern Store and later sold to the Northwest Company.  Almost like the story came full circle.

The Bay is no longer a fixture in Wawa, and the HBCo. is no longer a Canadian company.  Even with American proprietors, the HBCo blankets, signature colours and cast of characters continue to represent a truly Canadian story that reflects our adventurous spirit and links with the incredible landscape we call home.  Wawa should be proud of the ties and strong connections it has to the people, communities and cultures which are woven into 350 years of the unique Hudson’s Bay Company story.

To discover more information about Michipicoten’s rich history, you can explore the Canadian Museum of History website for the "Michipicoten Pot"  or go to the Royal Ontario Museum website and search the online collection for a painting of the Michipicoten Post completed in 1897 by William Armstrong.

If you enjoy watching shows like Gold Rush Alaska  and  reading about the famous Klondike Gold Rush, you might be surprised to know that  the rugged eastern shoreline of Lake Superior is also home to a dynamic gold  rush history which continues to this day.
 
A picnic in 1897 on Mackey Point on scenic Wawa Lake was the staging area for  Algoma’s first gold rush when Louise Towab and William Teddy uncovered a gold  laced quartz vein.  While the  Klondike gold fever was still fresh in everyone’s blood, one thousand hopeful souls flocked to the tiny Michipicoten River Village and Hudsons’ Bay Company post.  Visions of rich placer gold  fired their imaginations. Every creek bed, river and stream were staked and panned.  
 
By September 1897, some 1,700 claims were staked. The area was proclaimed a mining division and the first Ontario Mining Recorder’s Office was set up at the  abandoned Michipicoten HBCo. Post.  WaWa City was surveyed and registered in 1899.   The gold seekers soon discovered that there were no nuggets to be  had.  The most productive “gold  mine” in the area was the local hotel and tavern known as the Balmoral Hotel,  which sat where the Lakeview Hotel presides  today.
 
The rugged Michipicoten mountains did reveal their worth to  those more patient and practical prospectors who secured finances and resources  to drill, explore and develop some of the more profitable veins hidden beneath  the forest floor.   Dozens of  mining camps began to dot the landscape.  Of note during this first gold boom were the Grace, Norwalk, Jubilee,  Sunrise and Kitchie Gami.  In March  1903 newspapers reported “8 gold bricks  valued at $8,630 were received at the Imperial Bank from the Grace Mine, result  of 4 weeks’run.”  At the  current price of gold these bricks would have been worth over  $700,000.

The stock market crash of 1929 threw many in despair.  But in Wawa the gold rich quartz veins  called out to many who were driven by sheer determination to make a profit.  The high unemployment rate in Sault  Ste. Marie at the time led to an influx of grubstaking.   Merchants would fund grubstakers to travel up the coast to  Michipicoten and WaWa City to look for gold with the understanding that if gold  was found, the merchants would get their share. New gold veins were uncovered,  many new mines were opened and some of the original abandoned mines were dusted
off and reactivated.
          
Many of these grubstakers added their muscle and long hours to  the hard-working crew at places like the Minto, Darwin and Parkhill mines.  Labourers were told they would not be  paid until the mine actually poured its first gold brick.   Even though it was the “Dirty Thirties”, a headline in the Sault  Daily Star on January 6, 1932 read “Michipicoten Snaps Fingers at Depression,  Advances More in 1931 Than in All History.”  The Parkhill was mining veins that were  producing 1.9 oz/tonne at 50 to 100 tonnes per day.   The price of gold per ounce in 1932 was $20.67.    The price of gold today is $1685.00/oz.  Local gold mines today on average  produce 850 tonnes of ore per day which assay at approximately .3  oz/tonne.
 
During this second Wawa Gold Rush, immigrants flocked to the  many mine sites which came to be known as Gold Park.   Many could not speak English and were unable to find jobs anywhere else  especially for the relatively higher mining wage of $.50/hour.   Life in Gold Park was good.   The area boasted 300 souls while the Wawa town site was little more than  a supply depot. With the onslaught  of World War II, iron ore became the new resource on demand and gold mines were  quickly phased out. Workers and  families at the Gold Park communities moved themselves, their furniture and  sometimes their homes to the booming communities of Wawa and Sault Ste  Marie.

Gold mining activity in Wawa was reignited in the late 1960’s,  when the original Cora shaft of the Jubilee gold deposit was reopened.  In the late 1980’s old mine shafts from  the past 80 years were pumped out at sites like the Sunrise, Kozak, Canamax,  Kremzar and Citadel.  Today the  high price of gold and advanced mining technology continues to encourage  exploration of the original gold veins of the 1897 Wawa gold rush.    Gold mining is still an important part of the unique resource based economy of Northern Algoma at Wesdome, Richmont and Edward Mines.

Superior’s Gales are once again upon us.  While we huddle in our 21st century homes
listening to the shuddering soffit, the wind whistle down the chimney, hoping the neighbors tree doesn’t decide to drop itself on our garage, it is hard to imagine the plight of shipwrecked souls caught out on Superior in days past. The violence, bone-chilling temperatures and the unforgiving topography of the east shore of the largest Great Lake is legendary.

The earliest known shipwreck north of Montreal River Harbour was a passenger-freight steamer called the ACADIA.  During heavy seas, the boat ran aground near Grindstone Point south of  Old Woman Bay on November 6, 1896.  Built in Hamilton in 1867, the ACADIA was the first vessel built in North America to have a composite hull (oak planking over iron frames).  Loaded with 21,000 bushels of wheat, a hole in the hull sank the ship in 20 minutes in 12 feet of water.  Before it could be salvaged, the ACADIA was pummelled to pieces by the constant wave action on this exposed rocky point.  The crew survived but had to make the long and arduous trek to Gargantua Harbour more than 15 kilometres away. On a calm day kayakers and canoeists alike can still catch glimpses of twisted pieces of the ACADIA’s steel hull trapped  among the giant boulders at Grindstone Point.  The ships bell is now on display at the Agawa Bay Visitor Centre.

The imposing cliffs and impenetrable shoreline of Old Woman Bay claimed the wreck of the GOSPIE on December 4, 1906.  This 200 foot wooden steamer belonging to the MacKay Company of Sault Ste. Marie was downbound from Fort William with a load of supplies for the CPR when it became unresponsive during a fierce snow storm. The ship and its crew of 18 drifted approximately 60 miles/100 kms north from 25 miles off Whitefish Point to where it beached itself near the south of the Old Woman River.  Captain Boult managed to get everyone safely to shore only to find that they had very  few provisions.  He sent 12 of the  crew in a yawl boat to Michipicoten River where they could get supplies and send word to the ship’s owners.  Ill prepared for the fierce head wind and bone-chilling temperatures, the wet and weary crew abandoned the small boat and decided to walk along the coast to
Michipicoten instead.  Needless to say the journey was no easy task.  The Canadians in the crew fared better than the newly landed immigrants  who were quickly overcome with the cold and suffered from their lack of experience in the bush.

Imagine the surprise of Joe Legarde and his guests when 3 of the crew stumbled through the doors of the North Star Boarding House in Michipicoten River Village in the middle of the night.  The next morning, William Kimball, John Andre, Alex and Joseph Michaud manoeuvred a rescue boat out through the treacherous Michipicoten River mouth and scoured the shoreline for the remainder of the crew.  Four miles from the village the rescuers came across the half frozen men, one walking in his stocking feet.  The villagers spent the next day trying to warm the frozen hands and feet of the motley group.  Joe Legarde’s dog team took the worst of the crew to the Algoma Central Railway in Michipicoten Harbour where they were transported to the care of Dr. Grimshaw at  the Helen Mine.

On December 20, 1906, five of the GOLSPIE sailors arrived by tug in Sault Ste. Marie and underwent amputations for severely frost-bitten limbs.  One of the men
lost both his hands and his feet.  One poor soul succumbed to the ordeal after he contracted pneumonia.   A letter to the Editor of  the Sault Star on December 11, 1906 reported that an investigation by Magistrate George Reid found that the crew members were to blame for their own fate.   The plight of the GOLSPIE was the
subject of much parliamentary debate.   The parliament of the day used this tragedy as an argument for developing  workmen’s compensation which was gaining greater support during the  administration of Prime Minister Wilfred  Laurier.

Little remains of the GOLSPIE.  Some remember a ship’s boiler near the mouth of the Old Woman River. Early scuba divers remember a sunken  wooden deck in the southwest corner of the picturesque cove.   Rainbow fishermen sometimes snag wooden ribs reaching out of the sandy  bottom of the bay while trying to catch the big one.  Although little can be found of Superior’s sunken vessels, the stories and tales will continue to instil a sense of wonder and awe about the Lake, especially when the gales of November are upon  us.