Surroundings: around and about

The grounds were enormous; from Blackstone Harbor to Little Blackstone Lake stretching west and including the Baker Homestead although I believe he referred to it as Baker’s Landing at the time.  That is how big the WILLEBEJOBE grounds were according to Jo.  I asked him why he bought the Baker Homestead.  He told me he didn’t want the land developed and with less development boat traffic was kept to a minimum during the weekend.  True, I didn’t see very many boats in the harbor; most of what I did see seemed to be towards Pete’s Place. He explained this one day when we hiked to Baker’s Landing.

WILLEBEJOBE & Surrounding Area Map (Undated Conger Map Courtesy of Janey Knight; Highlighting by Dave Nadzam)

Beaver Dams

 

Our mission at Baker’s Landing was to breach a beaver’s dam in a few places.  Accompanying us were my dad and brother Jeff, Billy Calhoun and Jerome.  This seemed to be something Jo had done on occasion as Janey told me that he had been known to use dynamite to carry out this task but not this time.

Breaking a Beaver Dam
Here Jo and, I believe, Jerome, are breaching a beaver dam on a cool fall day.
(Photo Courtesy of The Massasauga Archives)

In addition to, what I thought of as a long hike, we spent a couple of hours taking portions of the dam apart by pulling sticks out.  Mission accomplished, we returned to the cabin and while returning I noticed the pond level was down about a half-foot.  Later that evening I asked Jo whether he thought the pond was drained.  He remarked that it probably wasn’t as the beavers probably already made repairs to what we had done and the water was probably rising again.

I sat there thinking about what he just said. I asked myself, “If the beavers were that good and could repair the damage we had done, why did we spend the afternoon taking the dam apart?  What had we just accomplished?   Why did we do this if the beavers were going to just build it again?”  Seems like an exercise in futility, don’t you think?  Beavers 1, Calhoun Demolition Crew 0.  And so it seems the beavers would always win and be in first place.

Although Jo never really explained the purpose of this exercise, I guess I did learn to appreciate the beaver’s marvelous engineering and construction skills as it is really difficult to take apart what they’ve put together.  I also learned about persistence; the beaver’s drive to never give up.

Unless our home was being threatened, we wouldn’t do this or even consider it today no matter how much fun we think it might be.  We would let nature run its course; beaver dam leads to pond leads to marsh leads to meadow which finally becomes forest.

Baker’s Trail

Today, The Massasauga identifies the Baker Trail as starting at the cabin, looping around the Baker Homestead and connecting with the portage (between Blackstone Harbor and Little Blackstone Lake). Neither Janey nor I remember anything about Baker’s Trail.  Maybe it existed back then but other than the hike to the pond to break a dam, neither of us was aware of a looping trail.  Neither Jo nor Jerome ever mentioned such a trail. Perhaps it just lacked the formal name of Baker’s Trail.

We vaguely recall that it may have also been the Baker Trail we followed for trash disposal.  It seems the trash dump was somewhere on the Baker property, far enough away from the cabin to keep bears and other wildlife from rummaging around.

Porcupines

Jo and Betty Dean didn’t seem to be real concerned about bears or other undesirable wildlife encroaching.  I think if it was a problem, we wouldn’t have slept on the porch.  They downplayed the presence of rattlesnakes as they were a rare occurrence.  What Jo didn’t care for were porcupines…

     Jo didn’t like porcupines as they could cause a bit of damage.  All the wooden handles on tools, especially axes and hatchets, were wrapped in black electrician’s tape.  When I asked him why, he explained that the residual salt from sweaty hands remained and penetrated wooden handles.  Porcupines liked the saltiness and unprotected wooden handles were tasty.  If you inadvertently left a tool (with an unprotected wooden handle) out overnight, there would be good chance it would have a damaged or missing handle the next day. 

     One morning, Billy Calhoun went to use the outhouse and discovered a porcupine in one of the trees nearby.   Without giving it much thought Jo got out a 22 caliber rifle and let Billy have a shot at it.  Billy shot it and the porcupine fell from the tree.  We dug a hole and buried the porcupine but not before I removed a few quills to keep as souvenirs.  When we finished, Billy fashioned a cross and placed it atop the porcupine’s grave for which Jo praised Billy thoughtfulness.

I doubt today we’d do this; we would leave it be and see if the porcupine would become a nuisance. If it went away, great; if not, then deal with it accordingly.

BJ’s Cabin

Backside of BJ’s Cabin
(Photo by Jack1962 Copyright 2013)

The small cabin located near the main cabin seemed to go by a lot of different names: guest cabin, bunk house, Betty’s cabin, BJ’s cabin and of course Betty Jo’s cabin. The cabin was a small version of the main cabin.  It lacked kitchen and bathroom facilities.  Its porch wrapped only two sides.

In 1970, my last visit, I slept on the porch of BJ’s Cabin. I slept there because there were more guests.  Betty Jo was there with two friends so she and her friends slept on the main cabin’s porch. Karl, a Norwegian, who accompanied Jo and Betty Dean on their return trip from Europe stayed with me in BJ’s Cabin.

Little Blackstone Lake

This was a small lake that bordered the northern edge of the property.  There were no visible cabins on or near the lake.  it was a fine place for canoeing and fishing.

Billy Calhoun and Jeff Nadzam on Their Raft (1963)
Billy and Jeff to the left of the cabin’s front dock on Blackstone Harbor.
(Photo Courtesy of The Massasauga Archives)

My brother Jeff made his first trip to the cabin in 1963, the year before my first visit. He went there along with Billy.  When he returned from Canada that year, he told me and our parents about the raft he and Billy built.  According to Jeff, they cut the logs and bound them together with sisal. Betty Dean was quite impressed with their craftsmanship and verified it was “seaworthy.”

 They built a couple rafts that year. They don’t recall the other lake’s name where the first one was built but it wasn’t Little Blackstone. They were with Jo and Jerome but whether it was built while fishing for perch or while breaking a dam is up for debate and probably doesn’t matter. What does matter is that they both had fun during their undertaking. There was a price to pay as Jeff recalls being stung multiple times by hornets while retrieving logs to build the raft.

Generator Shed

The Generator Shed
This building housed the generator which was only operated on rare occasions. The small sign is misleading as it really doesn’t house washroom facilities; there is a small arrow pointing to where the washroom can be found.
(Photo by Jack1962 Copyright 2013)

The generator was not used very often.  I only recall it being turned on once while visiting.  I seemed to miss the whole matter as I was fishing down at the boathouse dock one evening.  I was returning to the cabin and could hear the generator running.  I thought it would be running all evening but that didn’t happen.  As soon as I entered the cabin, Jo turned it off so I only caught a quick glimpse of the lights in the main cabin. As to why the generator was on, I really don’t recall. Janey  recalls the generator…

  “The small green house with a single door was the generator house.  The generator was turned on for special occasions or when it was dark, cold and rainy.  That was a special treat…”

I would imagine that the generator’s fuel consumption and the difficulty transporting gasoline dictated that the use of the generator be minimal.  Kerosene, I’m sure, was more economical and safer to transport.

The Canadian Shield

The Canadian Shield
Rock is everywhere or so it seems. Obviously there are trees around and one wonders after seeing all the rock how it was farmed but there was a garden and a hay-field.
(Photo by Jack1962 Copyright 2013)

Rock seemed to be everywhere. It was uneven and I remember Jo telling us that we were not to run anywhere, anytime without exception.  It would be too easy to trip and break an arm.  Without medical facilities around, it could be a painful journey to Parry Sound.  Other than that we were free to enjoy ourselves.

I climbed around the rock facings and the outcrops.  There were junipers and wild blueberry bushes with five-lined skinks running through them which were impossible to catch.

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Posted September 18, 2013. Updated and edited February 12, 2014, November 11 and 4, 2013