This week we wander among the silent markers of people long gone in Northern Ontario with Back Roads Bill
“Ontario” comes from the Ongweh'onweh, meaning "original people" - the word “kanadario”, translating to “sparkling” water. Traditional, territorial lands, often based on watersheds have been inhabited for thousands of Indigenous communities and have spiritual customs and beliefs for entering the afterlife.
Settlement Graves A gravestone is defined as any stone marker that is used to identify and commemorate the burial site of an individual or individuals. These stones are also sometimes referred to as headstones, tombstones, or markers. There is a commemorative plot on the way to Sandy Beach on the shoreline of Lake Superior called the Mackenzie-Bethune Cemetery.“Louisa Mackenzie is at the top of my list for people I want to chat with when that time-machine finally gets invented! I have not confirmed this but I feel like it is certainly a contender as one of the oldest headstones in northern Ontario. You would be the expert on that with all your wanderings to fascinating places over the years.
One of the points of interest in this cemetery is a resting place for frontier settlers, including Louisa Mackenzie - great-grandmother of Dr. Norman Bethune and cousin of explorer Sir Alexander Mackenzie as well as some well-known surnames within Canadian history. The cemetery was opened from 1870 - 1885 and has 79 graves according to a reference at the Thunder Bay Public Library. One of the oldest is: “McLean, Ketty Ann Died Feb 10, 1872. Age 10 days.” Propped up on its side against a tree the rectangle stone has the initials K. A. M. Most of the markers here are hard to discern as the foliage is creeping in and the once-picket fences have long since collapsed. There is a commemorative plaque indicating people once looked after the plots.
Unlike much of the land in Northeastern Ontario, someone once lived here and planted these things. You walk through the clearing of what was a small HBC trading post and an Indigenous community, the meandering trail leads you to the cemetery. Bruce Mines For this final reference, you will have to go inside the Bruce Mines & District Museum, located east of Sault Ste. Marie.
“When mining slowed at Bruce, the Cornish miners moved on to where the work was - some to the Silver Islet mine and some to Michigan. There are stories where some remained and took up land grants. One story recorded is of those early farmers who sent potatoes from nearby Rydal Bank to the mining camp at Silver Islet.”
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