This week, Bill tells us of a community story that is about our mining heritage, not on the back roads, but on the water
Heavy rain is forecast on the museum tour day, with some wind that might mean a fetch on the very open end of east Red Lake.
Red Lake Ontario had a Klondike-like gold rush when thousands of seekers stampeded; by any available means, to stake their fortune in an isolated area. Cobalt had experienced the same in 1905, with silver, but there was a railway to get there. The west end of Red Lake is different than the Town of Red Lake to the east. The original gold rush in the Red Lake area centered around the west end but by the late 1930’s, attention had shifted to the Town of Red Lake.
The need for a new highway to the area was needed but the remoteness of Red Lake combined with the Ontario Government's Depression-era finances, the road seemed unfeasible, miners and their families were connected to the outside world only by airplane and canoe. But that’s how we get there today. Consider watching the 2:53 minute video on how the museum came to be. It epitomizes the work ethic within a collective community spirit. “Countless hours, sweat and toil and a barge.”
“It is nothing but trees and bays and islands today. About all that remains are the rock piles from the mines and a few corners of the old log cabins.” She said it is the framed 22” X 34” photos on the walls that attract your attention. The inventory continues to grow with discovery, now more than 150 old photographs and stories of life in the area back in the gold rush. Photos are changed from time to time so there is always something new to see.”
“This is not a regular museum which preserves artifacts. We are not official historians. This means we can use oral history and concentrate on the old time characters of the gold rush.” Many have drill rod posts with a number at the top, drilled into the lakeshore bedrock. The tour guide tells the stories of the people.
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