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Page Updated:
July 16, 2006
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JAMES
HOLLAND (1821-1896)
ANOTHER
KENNABI TRAPPER
by F. Bruce Ryans
(1953-55,56)
The bodies of water in Dudley
Township were named after the first settlers in Dysart Township (Town of
Haliburton etc.) In the book, “Fragments of a Dream - Pioneering
in Dysart Township and Haliburton Village”, Leopolda (Leo) z Lobkowicz
Dobrzensky writes,
“After 1859... trappers
David Sawyers, George Gregory, James Holland and William Gainforth decided
to stay in Dysart permanently. They were joined by three farmers....
These seven squatters... (were) identified as Dysart’s first permanent
residents. “ (p.21). He also quotes from another letter to the commissioner
of Crown Lands, dated June 29th, 1861, in which (P.L.S.) Gossage writes;
“There are three squatters... in this township (Dysart) on Lake Kashagawigimog
(sic), two of which have taken in their families. One of the two was ...
James Holland, who usually returned home... after the trapping season,
but in the spring of 1861 decided... (on) setting-up house-keeping.” (p.25).
It is also stated that he “travelled... in a birch bark canoe to the cabin...
where Algonquin Indians once camped.” (p.25). James Holland accomplished
a great deal in his 75 years, but our interest lies with his trapping endeavours
in Dudley Township, H.S.R’s home base. The author says that “Another
Holland camp was located on East Lake. Holland’s Lake, and Holland’s Creek
which flows into Drag Lake’s East Bay, were named after James who trapped
there.” (p.27)
The 135th Troop first saw Holland’s
Creek in ‘48. We were not told it’s original name. ‘Irish’ (Jimmy
Bruce (50)) our guide, called it the Drag River and told us that
the water flowed into Drag Lake’s East Bay, about a mile and a half to
the west. We were gathered at the ford in the gorge, ready to climb
that steep slope to Pike’s Peak, for the first time. This lower reach of
Holland’s Creek may have been called the Drag River for many years, but
it was much more a creek than a river. East Lake (a.k.a. Lake of
Two Islands or Two Islands Lake) had not yet undergone a name change in
‘48. It is about one-half mile south of East Bay, but only one-quarter
mile east of the much smaller bay, found just south of East Bay.
James Holland would probably have used this shorter and easier portage
to reach his camp on East Lake.
The peninsula that separates
these two bays was owned (ca. 1930 to ca. 1970) by Wm. Niddrie, a good
friend of my late father-in -law. Bill Niddrie was known to the few
cottagers on the lake as “The Mayor of Drag Lake”. Shirley (Shirley
(Fink) Ryans (55-56)) called him “Uncle Bill”. In the summer of ‘58
we stayed at her family cottage, located at Rock Point on the west shore.
Almost daily I crossed the Drag Lake to work for “The Mayor”. Among other
chores, I shingled the cottage, boathouse, icehouse, outhouse, and the
sleeping cabin at the edge of the rock face. That cabin was near the entrance
to East Bay, but the boathouse was around the point to the south, at the
entrance to the smaller bay. “Uncle Bill”, Shirley and I had never heard
of James Holland, but we knew that the bay was called Holland’s Bay. I
have no idea why the author failed to mention this fact in her book. Today,
residents still call it Holland’s Bay.
If there was a post to mark
the corners of the four townships of Dudley, Harburn, Bruton and Harcourt
(clockwise in order), that post would be in the middle of Fourcorner Lake
(a.k.a. Buck Lake). About a mile and three quarters due west of this point,
there is a small pond that could be considered the source of Holland’s
Creek (a.k.a. Drag River). The old Peterson Colonization Road
and the northern boundary of Dudley Township, pass along the north side
of the pond. It is known as Boundary Pond. Holland’s Creek wends its way
south-westward from there, through a series of : ponds, swamps, marshes
- as far as Holland’s Lake. Here the creek heads west to Minnie Lake
and then south and westward again, through the Pike’s Peak Gorge, until
it finally empties into Drag Lake’s East Bay. From Boundary Pond to East
Bay, it is 6 miles as the crow flies.
James Holland had many tributary
streams such as: Hurst Creek, Scraggle Creek and Kennabi Creek, where he
could have extended his trapline. He may have trapped the shores of Lake
Kennabi itself, but we can’t be absolutely sure. We cannot even be certain
that he trapped the valley as far north as Boundary Pond. We can be sure
however, that Holland’s Bay, Holland’s Creek and Holland’s Lake were named
after James Holland (1821-1896). We can also be sure that he trapped on HSR property long before Mill Valley Lumber Co. (1935-1945) or the earlier Laking Lumber Co. (1903-1928) cut timber. He was a pioneer trapper long
before Len Holmes, ‘Black’ Archie Scott or Ken White were born. He
has a place in HSR history.
The 135th Troop had a great
view from Pike’s Peak before we were led down the north slope (no definite
trail) to the sandy shores of Minnie Lake. ‘Irish’ our Scottish guide pointed
out the tracks of many birds and mammals. The timber wolf tracks drew the
most attention. We circled Minnie Lake clockwise and tried to cross Scraggle
(Moore?) Creek on a unique beaver dam. It was neither big nor long, but
it was treacherous. Probably fed-up with human traffic, the engineers had
covered the top of their dam with dozens of rolling pins. These beaver
had stripped the bark from 2” or 3” poplars, cut them into about 2’ lengths
and them spread them over the top of the structure. I have seen dozens
of dams in Algonquin Park and in Haliburton and Hastings counties, but
none were quite like that dam. Scouts with soakers and soggy clothes followed
their guide eastward with Holland’s Creek on their right. I can still see
the white plume on the green tam-o-shanter up ahead, leading us through
the marshy growth towards the Hurst Lake Road. We turned right and halted
at the bridge. Jimmy Bruce pointed northward and said that Holland (sic)
Lake was upstream and just out of sight. At the camp road we turned left
toward H.Q. and our camp at Big Bear Point. It had been a great hike.
The mistake, albeit tiny,
had probably been made prior to the ‘47 birth of Camp Kennabi. I do know
that the H.Q. staff usually called them Holland Lake and Holland Creek
ca. ‘50. Even Government of Ontario maps supported the error. If
someone in ‘53 had told me that the possessive form was the original, correct
and only form that should be used, I know that I would have laughed.
The boys would have thought it to be of little or no consequence. We were
both young and wrong. We could not see the future.
Horror of horrors! I saw
it on a HSR map, and I even read it in the Alumni Thunderbird. “Hollen”
Lake!!! Was the family name gone and the history with it? We had let ‘Holland’s’
slip to ‘Holland’ which was such a tiny error. Now we had let ‘Holland’
slip to ‘Hollen’ which was a total mistake. The language problem was both
oral and written. An enunciation error followed up by a spelling error
seems to cover the situation. I can now picture the day when a staff guide
(ca. 2020) will be trying to explain ‘Haul-In’ Lake to a group of campers.
Some may say that that’s far-fetched. I do not think so. We are almost
there now. It gets even worse! ...Just east of Hidden Bay there is a small
lake. On the east shore of that lake there was a logging camp operated
by The Ire’s Lumber Co. Yes! It was on Ire’s Lake. You, or rather
we call it Iris Lake. Once again we are quite wrong. There is neither an
Iris Lake nor a Hollen Lake, near Lake Kennabi (a.k.a. Kennebic or Kennibic
Lake).
Surely future HSR maps
can be corrected. Surely we all could make the effort to correct our enunciation
of Holland’s. I do know that it would please at least one old timer. More
importantly, James Holland and his descendants deserve our effort.
Help!!! I rest my case.
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