Unique Muskoka August

150th Anniversary Feature
CAPTIVES IN PARADISE
By J. Patrick Boyer
Steamboats changed everything.
Muskoka had been opened for settlement and
folks in the United States and Britain learned about
free-land farming – the once-in-a-lifetime chance to
win big – through Ontario government brochures,
national railway and trans-Atlantic steamship
company advertisements. Muskoka newspaper
publisher Thomas McMurray also provided
unrivalled accounts in The Northern Advocate and
his book, The Free Grant Lands of Canada.
In the early 1870s, McMurray’s weekly was
crammed with practical information, news,
advertisements for local services, poetry, serialized
novels, reports on the fledgling District’s activities
and Muskoka’s attraction for immigrants wanting to
farm.
The first newspaper in northern Ontario, the
Advocate contained plenty of what McMurray
called “information from practical experience”
for would-be settlers. His mission was “to bring
the Free Grants Lands now at the disposal of the
Government prominently before the notice of those
who want to find homes. Every opportunity will
be seized upon to open up and develop this Great
Territory.”
Working with editor James Boyer and printer
David Courtney, his Bracebridge weekly published
travel schedules, ship and train fares, tips to guide
those coming for land, and advice from farmers
already prospering here. A local sheet with a grand
mission, half the copies were mailed to the United
States and Britain.
But there was a serious problem. In an era when
newspapers were the main way people learned about
things, Free Grant Lands were getting a bad rap.
Sour reports about “farming” the Canadian
Shield were spreading as discouraged settlers
penned letters-to-the-editors of city newspapers.
Disgruntled farmers in southern Ontario,
whose land values were not
appreciating as they’d hoped
because the government was
giving away free farm land,
wrote their MPPs. Opposition
members, to discredit the settlement project,
quoted all with glee in the legislature. That was also
making news.
Something had to be done. Just in time, the
steamboat had begun Muskoka’s fundamental
reorientation.
In addition to mud, rock, stumps and swamps
glimpsed along bug-infested inland trails where
horse-drawn wagons and coaches struggled to
advance, the place could now be easily travelled by
water and viewed from majestic lakes.
McMurray’s crusade and A.P. Cockburn’s quest
to develop Muskoka by steamer inspired them to
invite Canadian newspapermen from the cities,
tour them around on the steamboat Wenonah, feed
them with information and ensure hard-drinking
reporters achieved true insight. Editors could see
for themselves what a grand place Muskoka was
and how narrow, sour and wrong its critics.
Their guests would be captives in paradise.
In the summer of 1871, the Canadian Press
Association’s editors and newspapermen duly
toured Muskoka, its memorable highlight a
day aboard Cockburn’s Wenonah. Muskoka’s
champions, McMurray and Cockburn vied to
outshine each other with educational addresses to
the enchanted scribes. Boyer circulated the decks,
answering questions while refilling every glass.
Returning to their city newsrooms after their
well-lubricated and closely-guided tour, the men
glowingly informed thousands of readers that
Muskoka was one of Canada’s most promising
places, easily three-quarters of it ideal for farming.
Yes, steamboats changed everything.
Photograph: Courtesy of Boyer Muskoka Archive
Engraving: Courtesy of Boyer Muskoka Archive
At the corner of Dominion and
Quebec streets in Bracebridge,
the prominent Northern
Advocate building is where the
first newspaper in northern
Ontario was published in the
1870s, promoting Muskoka
settlement.
An elected municipal official and
enterprising Muskoka businessman
with diverse interests,
Thomas McMurray published
The Northern Advocate and
invited newspapermen to see
“the real Muskoka” from the
decks of Wenonah.
1958
1982
The 800-passenger
Sagamo has its
maiden voyage and
ushers in the
“Golden Age of the
Muskoka steamers.”
After being dry
docked since 1914,
the Nipissing II is
relaunched as the
Segwun to meet the
passenger demand.
The stock market
crashes, triggering
the Great
Depression, which
causes a tourism
crash in Muskoka.
The Sagamo and
the Segwun, the
last two steamboats
on the Muskoka
lakes, stop cruising.
After a full
restoration, the
Segwun sets sail
again. It holds the
distinction of being
the oldest operating
steamship in North
America.