31.4K
Downloads
57
Episodes
For over 20 years I've been collecting stories, photographs, interviews, out of print books and researching various aspects of the human history of Algonquin Park in Ontario Canada. In other words, capturing voices from the past. In the fall of 2020, I launched my podcast 'Algonquin Defining Moments' to both complement my published books but also to continue my mission of sharing stories, recollections, traditions, landmarks and other fun Algonquin Park human heritage curiosities. In this way that those who share my passion for everything Algonquin Park can listen to snippets of the park and its people while commuting, walking, cooking, working around the house or even just meditating on the back deck. Enjoy! Gaye Clemson
Here's a list of published titles and short descriptions that are available either through the Friends of Algonquin Park Bookstore or Amazon:
Governor Smith's Ontario Retreat
In early 1896, just as J. R. Booth's Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway was nearly finished, Edson Chamberlin, the then General Manager of sister railway, the Canada Atlantic Railway was granted ownership by the Ontario Government of over 25,000 acres of land near Victoria Lake, just east of today’s Algonquin Park. Intending to use it as a personal recreation reserve, he soon transferred substantial amounts to partner Col. Edward Curtis Smith, who went on to become the Governor of Vermont in 1899. This narrative shares the stories of Smith and his family, his lodge, and caretakers Wilmot and Victoria Hamilton from nearby Madawaska, who kept the lodge and lake safe for Smith and his family’s visits for over 60 years and raised 15 children there.
Gertrude Baskerville: The Lady of Algonquin Park
In the spring of 1941, Gertrude Baskerville set our from the Kitchener area with her ailing husband and teenage son to join her brother in establishing a new life in a small cabin on the shores of South Tea Lake. Within a year her husband had died, her son was shipped overseas, and her brother decided that better opportunity lay for him and his family in British Columbia. This is the story of a woman who lived for over 35 years alone by the Smoke Creek Bridge, earning a living hooking rugs depicting Tom Thomson paintings.
Algonquin Voices: Selected Stories of Canoe Lake Women
Since 1917, much has been written about the life and death of artist Tom Thomson on Canoe Lake in Ontario’s Algonquin Park, but until now, little has been known about the women whose lives he touched. ALGONQUIN VOICES brings to life the lives of these and many other courageous women who have lived and loved since 1905 on the shores of Algonquin Park's famous Canoe Lake.
Rock Lake Station: Settlement Stories Since 1896.
For 40+ years one of the key stops along J. R. Booth's Ottawa to Parry Sound Railway was Rock Lake Station. For those camping enthusiasts, leaseholders and railway workers who settled on or visited Rock and Whitefish Lakes in the early part of the 20th Century, the train was the lifeblood of this little community.
Treasuring Algonquin: Sharing Scenes from 100 Years of Leaseholding.
Among the many who treasure Algonquin Park are a small group of leasehold residents who have occupied small corners of the Park since the earliest days of the 20th century. Using current and historical narratives along with extensive research through files seldom searched, this narrative reveals the depth and breadth of their roots in the community and provides a glimpse into their lives, traditions and contributions to the Park’s well being.
Algonquin Park’s Portage Store: History of a Canoe Lake Institution
Established by Molly Colson and her husband Ed, the then proprietors of the Algonquin Hotel just after Highway 60 opened in the mid-1930s, the P-Store, as the locals, call it has had many reincarnations. Learn about the history of this venerable institution, which hosts every week from the Victoria Day Weekend in late May to Thanksgiving in early October, hundreds of visitors venture to Canoe Lake who have come for an afternoon paddle, to pick up last minute suppliers or permits or just an ice cream cone or a Canoe Lake memory from the gift shop on a hot summer day. Whatever type of visitor, there is always something of interest at the Portage Store.
Nominigan and other Smoke Lake Jewels
The best way to see Smoke Lake is to stand atop the lookout at the nearby Hardwood Hiking Trail. In the distance, on the east side, is Nominigan Point, so named because of its origins as the home of the once popular Nominigan Camp. Originally built by the Grand Trunk Railway in 1912 to attract a newly emerging tourist industry, it was intended to compliment the Highland Inn on Cache Lake and Minnesing Lodge on Burnt Island Lake. Closed in 1926 due to a fire that destroyed the guest cabins, Nominigan was purchased by department store owner Garfield Northway in 1931. During the next 40 years was the lake's social centre.
Canoe Tripping Then (1903) and Now (2014)
In late September 1903, Ernest Machado, a 35-year old Boston architect, his older brother Jose, brother-in-law Alfred Whitman and three park rangers headed out from Canoe Lake on a twelve-day canoe trip through the Algonquin wilderness. In the summer of 2013, over a century later, the author and four companions repeated this trip with a view to contrast and compare the experiences both physical and spiritual.