ALGONQUIN DEFINING MOMENTS

Episode 48:Lake Opeongo PT3 (1925-Present)

Episode 48:Lake Opeongo PT3 (Leaseholding 1925-Present)

In this last of 3 Lake Opeongo episodes, my focus is now on leaseholding activities on  Lake Opeongo beginning about 1925 including a detailed history of Opeongo Lodge,  the life and times of John Bates (Opeongo's only private leaseholder), Lake Opeongo tragedies and few of my own Lake Opeongo musings.  Much of the content comes from a now out-of-print 1998 book by S. Bernard Shaw, called Lake Opeongo:  Untold Stories of Algonquin Park’s Largest Lake. Other references include:

• Algonquin Park: A Place Like No Other by Roderick MacKay - 2018
• Spirits of the Little Bonnechère by Roderick MacKay 2016 2nd edition
• Algonquin Story by Audrey Saunders 1946
• Protected Places: A History of Ontario’s Provincial Park System by Gerald Killan 1993
• Nick’s Story Pique Magazine by Robin Nish 2011

This musical interlude is called Thunder Spirit and comes from Dan Gibson’s 2013 Solitudes CD of the same name. It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found where ever you get your music streaming.

 

Episode 47: PT2 The Great Opeongo Lake - Colonization 1850-1925

Episode 47: PT2 The Great Opeongo Lake  - Colonization 1850-1925

In this episode, I’m going to focus on recounting the history of the early Lake Opeongo colonization efforts that began in the early 1850s with the building of the   Ottawa Opeongo Colonization Road. Then I’ll share some stories about the Dennison Family’s farming efforts and early attempts at leaseholding on the lake until about 1925. Much of the content comes from a now out-of-print 1998 book by S. Bernard Shaw, called Lake Opeongo:  Untold Stories of Algonquin Park’s Largest Lake. Other references include:

• Algonquin Park: A Place Like No Other by Roderick MacKay - 2018
• Spirits of the Little Bonnechère by Roderick MacKay 2016 2nd edition
• Algonquin Story by Audrey Saunders 1946
• Protected Places: A History of Ontario’s Provincial Park System by Gerald Killan 1993

This musical interlude is called Courage and comes from Dan Gibson’s 2013 Solitudes CD called Thunder Spirits. It is brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC. Solitudes music can be found where ever you get your music streaming.

Episode 46: The Great Opeongo Lake - Times Before 1893

Episode 46: The Great Opeongo Lake - Times Before 1893

In this and the next two episodes, I will focus on sharing as much history as I can about Algonquin’s largest body of water, Lake Opeongo. Much of the content comes from a now out-of-print 1998 book by S. Bernard Shaw, called Lake Opeongo:  Untold Stories of Algonquin Park’s Largest Lake. I’m also for the first time, going to try to share as much as I know about the indigenous Lake Opeongo experience.  For this, I depend upon two sources by Chief Kirby Whiteduck of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan including a 2001 Algonquin Park TED TALK and Chapter Two in Mike Walton’s 2009 Algonquin Park: The Human Impact. Other references include:

• Algonquin Park: A Place Like No Other by Roderick MacKay - 2018
• Spirits of the Little Bonnechère by Roderick MacKay 2016 2nd edition
• Algonquin Story by Audrey Saunders 1946
• A History of Canada in 10 Maps by Adam Shoalts 2018
• Protected Places: A History of Ontario’s Provincial Park System by Gerald Killan 1993
• Names of Algonquin - Technical  Bulletin No,  10  Friends  of  Algonquin Park 1991
• It Made the Farmhouse Warm for Winter by Rory MacKay, The Raven, Vol. 63 No.5 Dec 2021
• Trading Places, by Rory MacKay, The Raven Vol. 63, No. 4
• The Algonquins of Pikwkanagan First Nation https://www.algonquinsofpikwakanagan.com

This musical interlude is called Ancient Voices and comes from Dan Gibson’s 2013 Solitudes CD called Shimmer  

 

Episode 45: Chat with Dr. John and Mary Theberge - Part VI - What Good is a Wolf?

Episode 45: Chat with Dr. John and Mary Theberge  -  What Good is a  Wolf? Part VI  

In this, the final episode of my six-part series on wolf research in Algonquin Park, I have the pleasure of chatting with long-time wolf researchers Dr. John and Mary Theberge. Today we talk about their sense of where things are at these days regarding the plight of wolves both in Ontario, British Columbia, and the USA’s Yellowstone National Park.  John and Mary as you know from episodes 3 & 4 picked up the baton from  Douglas Pimlott in the mid-1960s. Their extensive work on wolf vocalization amongst other topics was groundbreaking. In addition, they were instrumental in bringing to all of our attention the extent of the winter migration of deer outside of Algonquin Park. After much controversy, this eventually led to a total wolf-hunting ban in all the townships surrounding the park. 

This musical interlude is another wolf track called “The Beckoning Sea” from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes Legend of the Wolf CD, and brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC.  Solitudes music can be found where ever you get your music streaming.

Episode 44: Dr. John Benson’s Algonquin Wolf Research 2007-2011 (What Good is a Wolf Part V)

Episode 44: Dr. John Benson's Algonquin Wolf Research  2007-2011 (What Good is a Wolf Part V)

In this episode, (Part V of a six-part series on wolf research in Algonquin Park), I chat with Dr. John Benson, who picked up the Algonquin Park wolf research baton in 2007, as part of his PhD studies at Trent University. Much of John’s work focused on taking a look at wolf-coyote hybridization and its impact on Algonquin’s wolf population, on territoriality, which researchers call spatial segregation and wolf and pup mortality risks amongst other very interesting topics.

Dr. Benson is now an Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Ecology with the School of Natural Resources a the University of Nebraska. For info on his work check out this video:  https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/9745

This musical interlude is another wolf track called “Silent Running” from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes Legend of the Wolf CD, and brought to you with the approval of Digital Funding LLC.  Solitudes music can be found where ever you get your music streaming.

Episode 43: What Good is a Wolf PT4 - More of John and Mary Theberge’s Great Leap Research

Episode  43: What Good is a Wolf PT4  - More of John and Mary Theberge's Great Leap Research

This episode continues by sharing the 1987-1999 work of Dr. John Theberge and his wife Mary Theberge. In this episode, I’m going to focus on the uncovering of the annual deer migration and the collective freak-out that this caused amongst the people of the Round Lake area, the Ministry officials, the Theberge’s themselves, and eventually the general public of wolf lovers and protectors. 

The list of references that have informed much of this and the previous episode includes:

• John and Mary Theberge’s 1998 book Wolf Country
• https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/89/4/1067/868475
• Theberge, J. B., and M. T. Theberge. 2004. The Wolves of Algonquin Park, A 12-year Ecological Study, University of Waterloo, Department of Geography
• Several Raven Newsletter articles including:
  • Kill the Wolves and Kill the Park Aug 5, 1993, Vo 34, #7
  • Is Algonquin big enough for its most famous animal? June 26, 1997, Vol 38 NO 2
  • The Best Wolf is a Wild Wolf August 14, 1997, Vol 28 No 9
  • A Wolfian Trilogy - Part 1: The Bite that shook our Faith July 15, 1999, Vol 40 # 4
  • A Wolf Trilogy Part 3: You Red it Here First July 29, 1999, Vol. 40 No. 6

This musical interlude is another wolf track called “Play Fight” from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes Legend of the Wolf CD and brought to us with the approval of Digital Funding LLC.  Solitudes music can be found where ever you get your music streaming.

 

Episode 42:What Good is a Wolf PT3 - John and Mary Theberge’s Great Leap

Episode 42:What Good is a Wolf  PT3 -  John and Mary Theberge's Great Leap

This episode focuses on the  1987-1999 groundbreaking work of Dr. John Theberge and Mary Theberge. A student of Douglas Pimlott in the 1960s, John Theberge was a professor and researcher in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, from 1972 until his retirement in 2000. His initial interest in wolves involved work on wolf vocalizations (published with WRS’s Dr. Falls in 1967 and on observations about their behavior in the summer of 1969). His wife and research partner Mary Theberge was a key fieldwork contributor, an expert in aerial telemetry and satellite imagery interpretation, and very skilled in wolf vocalization. 

The list of references that have informed much of these two episodes include:

• John and Mary Theberge’s 1998 book Wolf Country
• https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/89/4/1067/868475
• Theberge, J. B., and M. T. Theberge. 2004. The Wolves of Algonquin Park, A 12-year Ecological Study, University of Waterloo, Department of Geography
• Several Raven Newsletter articles including:
  • Kill the Wolves and Kill the Park. Aug 5, 1993, Vo 34, #7
  • Is Algonquin Big Enough For Its Most Famous Animal? June 26, 1997, Vol 38 NO 2
  • The Best Wolf is a Wild Wolf. August 14, 1997, Vol 28 No 9
  • A Wolfian Trilogy - Part 1: The Bite that Shook our Faith July 15, 1999, Vol 40 # 4
  • A Wolf Trilogy Part 3: You Read it Here First July 29, 1999, Vol. 40 No. 6

This musical interlude is another wolf track called “In the Den” from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes Legend of the Wolf CD and brought to us with the approval of Digital Funding LLC.  Solitudes music can be found where ever you get your music streaming.

Episode 41:Remembering Dan Gibson’s Wings in the Wildeness

Episode 41:Remembering Dan Gibson's Wings in the  Wildeness

In the mid 1970s Dan Gibson award winning wildlife film maker, sound recording artist, inventor of the Dan Gibson Sound Parabola recoding device, founder of Dan Gibson’s Solitudes music label, Juno award winner and a recipient of the Order of Canada decided to venture into doing a  feature length film. Filmed on Canoe Lake during the summer of 1974, Wings in the Wilderness went on to win a Canadian Film Awards Etrog for Best Sound in a Non-theatrical Film and Certificate of Honour for outstanding contribution to the art of cinematography.  This was because for the first time ever, flying geese were filmed whilst  flying up close and personal in V- formation.  In this episode I interviewed  my brother Bob Clemson, who was a production assistant on the film, with additional commentary from my childhood and Canoe Lake friend Holly Gibson Stewart.

This  episode’s musical interludes include ‘Whiskey Jack Creek’ and ‘White Throat’ from Dan Gibson Solitudes Land of the Loon CD and brought to us with the approval of Digital Funding LLC.  Solitudes music can be found where ever you get your music streaming.

Episode 40: Remembering Dan Gibson - Nature Film Maker Extraordinaire

Episode 40: Remembering Dan Gibson - Nature Film Maker Extraordinaire

In this episode Holly Gibson Stewart, one of my long-time Canoe Lake friends, joins me in sharing stories of her father, Dan Gibson, and her perspectives about his extraordinary film and music career.

One of the key founding members of Pimlott’s Algonquin Wildlands League in the 1970s, Dan Gibson was a Taylor Statten Camps Camp Ahmek alumni and a long time resident of Canoe Lake since the mid 1940s.   From there, he went on to leverage his keen interest in photography and Algonquin Park’s wildlife to become an award winning wildlife film maker, sound recording artist, inventor of the Dan Gibson Sound Parabola recoding device, founder of Dan Gibson’s Solitudes music label, Juno award winner and a recipient of the Order of Canada. His ground breaking role in helping all of us see, hear and better appreciate wildlife cannot be underestimated.

This  episodes musical interlude is called Stream of Dreams and is from Dan Gibson Solitudes Harmony CD and brought to us with the approval of Digital Funding LLC.  Solitudes music can be found where ever you get your music streaming.

Episode 39: What Good is a Wolf? PT2 More of Pimlott’s Myth Busting

Episode 39: What Good is a Wolf? PT2 More of Pimlott's Myth Busting

In this episode, I share more o Douglas Pimlott and his researcher's ground-breaking and myth busting research on the wolves of Algonquin Park.  Topics of interest include details as to how wolves move, what they eat, how they establish territory and of course wolf vocalization and the history of Algonquin's premier public wolf howls.

Musical interlude is a track from Dan Gibson's Solitudes Breaking Through the Mist  album and is called Return to the Pack.  It is  brought to your with thanks from Digital Funding LLC. This and other of Dan Gibson's Solitudes work can be found on Apple Music, Spotify or anywhere else where music streaming is found.

The majority of the  references for this episode include:

• Russell Rutter and Douglas Pimlott’s 1967 The World of the Wolf
• Pimlott, Shannon and Koolenosky’s 1969 Department of Lands and Forests Report on the Ecology of the Timber Wolf
• Various articles in a  special Winter 1979 edition of the Ontario Naturalist by Lu. N Carbyn, Bruce LittleJohn’s, John Theberge &  Theodor Mosquin