Northern Ontario and  wild blueberries go hand in hand.   Wawa’s own “secret” blueberry patch is one of Northern Algoma’s most popular picking grounds.  Both high and low bush blueberry plants  thrive in this unusual environment amongst abandoned railway beds, hydro dams,  open pit mines, unique geological features and a Hollywood movie backdrop. 
 
Blueberries thrive in the rugged Canadian Shield landscape where for centuries, forest fires were nature’s way  of clearing the land and welcoming the emergence of the coveted blueberry  bush.  Journals and diaries of  Canada’s first explorer’s record the  practice of the local first nation’s people setting fire to sections of forest  in order to encourage berry growth.  In 1855, a fire started by native’s burning a blueberry patch near Lady  Evelyn Lake, west of Lake Timiskaming, ignited a massive fire which burned over  2000 squares miles of forest and reached as far west as the Michipicoten River  Village area on Lake Superior.
 
In 1921 a forest fire swept through the  Magpie River Valley, WaWa  City and destroyed all of  the buildings at the abandoned Helen Mine.   Another forest fire in 1946 was successfully rerouted past the Wawa townsite but burned much of the same terrain along the MagpieRiver  north of Wawa  Lake.
  
While most northern forests thrive after a cleansing fire enriches the soil, the natural re-growth of plants was hindered in this region by the sulphur dioxide fumes that blew across the landscape from Algoma Ore Division in Wawa.  The sintering operations at Algoma Ore  began to process siderite ore in 1939.  During the early years high contents of sulphur fumes had a devastating effect on the vegetation growing downwind of the mill. As environmental concerns grew and government legislation became more stringent, sulphur fumes decreased and the boreal forest began to reclaim the  barren landscape.  Since the closure of operations at AOD in 1998, the re-vegetation process has been  noticeably dramatic.

Despite the blue fume clouds that once floated across the valley, avid blueberry pickers would hitch a ride on the ACR on Sunday’s when the plant was shut down, or when the wind was blowing in a more favourable direction.  The Algoma Central Railway line criss-crossed through the blueberry fields from 1912 until the early 2000’s when the rails and ties were removed.  The first section of track in this area was constructed from Michipicoten Harbourand the Wawa Station to Hawk  Junction.  This rail line was at  one time a vital link for Wawa residents to the outside world.  It carried everything from ore, pulpwood and fuel, to newborn babies, the
Eaton’s catalogue and the Christmas Turkey.  
 
Siderite Junction (or “Four Corners”) was the cross point of the main railway line to Hawk Junction with the sideline which ran into the Sir James Open Pit Mine. Constructed in 1958 this railway bed was  in operation until shortly after the mine shut down in 1967.  The abandoned railway beds now make for a reliable and scenic access road  for berry pickers, cyclists and snowmachines alike. 
  
Access to Wawa’s famous blueberry patch from the west carries berry pickers across the Steephill Falls Dam operated by Brookfield Renewable Power Inc.  For those who are observant, you can still see the remains of the first hydro-electric generating station built on the Magpie River in 1913 to supply power to the Magpie Mine 20 kms north.  This flat-slab  buttress dam was abandoned in 1927 but remains as one of the only examples  of early hydro dam construction of this design in Canada.  In 1978 it was used as a Hollywoodbackdrop for the movie Rituals starring Hal Holbrook.  
  
In 2002 the Magpie River Terraces Conservation  Reserve was created along the Magpie to recognize and protect a series of some  of the best preserved lake and river terraces found along the Lake Superiorshoreline.  These unique geological formations were created by the dropping lake levels in the Lake Superior Basinafter the recession of the Wisconsin Glacier 10,000 years ago. 
 
Whether you call it the blueberry patch, the fume kill, the treeless zone, or the Magpie River Terraces Conservation Reservation, everybody knows that Wawa’s “secret”blueberry picking grounds are a unique asset to the rich natural and cultural heritage of the Northern  Algoma region.

Those of us who enjoy our after dinner stroll with Fido in tow should be aware that we are not the first residents to anxiously glance toward the shadows near the edge of town and beyond the comforting glow of our flickering street lights.   

Like all citizens of Northern Algoma, Wawa residents live in a remote and scenic corner of Northern Ontario. We know that our dues for being lucky enough to call this our home, is to endure suffocating black flies, blinding lake effect snow squalls, hungry black bears and curious wolves. 

During the severely cold winter of 1910-11, residents of Wawa (both human and canine), were desperate for meat.  A load of frozen beef hauled by horse and sleigh on the Grasset Trail between Missinabi and Wawa was trailed by a hungry pack of wolves for several miles.  One by one, quarters of beef were shoved off the sleigh and sacrificed to the wild dogs in order for the driver and horse to gain a mile or two before the pack reappeared to resume their next course.  Every morsel of meat gone, the driver feared that his horse would be next on the menu before reaching the safety of the Helen Mine camp near Wawa.

The sacrificed meat was originally destined to feed the 200+ hungry iron miners and their families.  The only other available meat in the vicinity was a small heard of caribou that wintered between Wawa and Michipicoten Harbour.  With permission from the Dominion Government, desperate residents dispatched the entire herd.

Wolves were a concern again during the winter of 1924-25.  The Sault Star headline for November 22, 1924 read “Joe Ball, of Michipicoten, With Clothes Torn Off, Won Desperate Battle with Wolf Which Attacked Him – Hobbled by a snowshoe and unarmed he strangled the wolf with a piece of trappers’ cord.  Beat off three others with snowshoe he was able to remove from his right foot.” (The Sault Star, 22Nov1924)

During the lean years of World War I, many citizens began raising their own live stock for food.  Alex Ross, a long-time resident on Broadway Avenue had to dispatch the largest wolf he had ever encountered in order to save one of his prize pigs.  “Skinned, the pelt was over 7 feet long, the biggest wolf I ever seen and the only one I ever got during my long years up here and he had to come right into my back yard and ask to be shot.” (The Sault Star, 4Jul1935)  Mr. Ross’s sow had both ears chewed off and became a local curiosity for Wawa residents and visitors alike.

In 1935, a Sault Star correspondent postulated the theory that the rise in daring wolf attacks in the Wawa area was due to the cross-breeding of timber wolves and domesticated dogs.  At the turn of the 20th Century, hardy sled dogs were a valuable addition to the winter work force at the bustling Michipicoten Harbour and railway operations.  With the collapse of the Clergue empire in 1903, the 28 dogs were “turned loose, and soon became wilder than the worst wolves and hunting in a pack, old timers say, [giving] rise to the stories of parties being trailed by hungry wolves …These dogs, in time, crossed with the wolves and gave rise to a large variety of timber wolf.”  (The Sault Star, 26Feb1934)

Advice for us from Joe Ball in 1924 after a pack of young wolves attacked him:  “A wolf is always hungry and is never hungry.  By which he means that he can defer eating till another day if he wishes to…Young wolves are notoriously venturesome like young dogs.  Anyone acquainted with young dogs knows how irresponsible they are…and it may be agreed that a young wolf has no more sense than a young dog…Mr. Ball has no fear of a wolf.  But he thinks no one should be foolhardy.” (The Sault Star, 22Nov1924)

Wawa vs. wolves will continue to be a story of respect for our nature and our heritage.

                                                                    --oOo--

To read the original 1924 Sault Star article on Joe Ball's harrowing fight with the wolves, go to my first blog "Wawa vs Wolves".