National Post from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 101

JUNE 13.2003-03 COTTAGE TIMES MOMENTS IN MUSKOKA TIME INSIDE SSflK i tamammjLmmmaaaamJ Setting sail the middle of the 19th century, most of southern Ontario had been settled. It had offered prime farm land and easily accessible forests, both ready and waiting for immigrants to take advantage; and this they did with such enthusiasm that by 1850 land grant authorities were looking eagerly to the north. The vast and beautiful part of Ontario's face was not that inviting. Its southern edge was part of the great Canadian Shield, and was studded with pristine lakes, jagged hills, and an The Royal Muskoka Ship Segwun, the darling of The Muskoka Fleet, is setting sail this season complete with an $85,000 renovation. Page 4 almost impenetrable bush.

Stretching from Georgian Bay to the Ottawa River, its southern border was the Severn River; and apart from the occasional explorer, native people and a few I A was untouched by civiliza- tion. One can only imagine 1 i wnat won(er Disney would 1 1 1 1 nave created there had VJtJVJ Muskoka only waited for Lloyd Dennis ras rlch beautiful, and the increasing rush of immigrants to the new land made it even more inviting. The building of colonization roads took on a new life and government surveyors were assigned the task of laying the lines that would open the way for settlement. But where to begin? Connecting the Ottawa River by road to Georgian Bay seemed logical; and to the planners, the rest seemed simple. They envisioned a series of roads running from the south to meet the northern line.

These, together with linking concession roads, would provide Oh! the horrors of that journey! reached another 24 miles, aiding in the birth of such communities as Utterson, Allensville and finally, Huntsville. These settlements came alive when the railway came through some almost 25 years later; but they first made settlement possible in that part of Muskoka, which after all, was their main purpose. Meanwhile, a namesake of They envisioned a scries of roads lining from the south to meet the northen: K-v UvMhir Vifi.fi II ne. the author, surveyor J.S. Dennis, was busy laying out a route from the Muskoka Road to Parry Sound.

This was known as the Parry Sound Road, and it left the Muskoka Road just north of Bracebridge and ran northeast for about 45 miles to Parry Sound. It was completed in 1867, the year of our Confederation. It cost $28,154.59 including two bridges, one costing $1,800. an easy answer for the expected rush of settlers. The Muskoka Road would be one of those answers.

It would begin at the Severn River and wind its way north through rock and bush to finally reach its sister road at some distant point in the north called 'Bell's Line'. But it was more easily said than done. Road construction in the south had been relatively easy. It was largely a matter of clearing the land of trees and building a roadway. But the How does your garden grow? Gardeners just have to garden! As soon as the warm temperatures and sunny skies thaw the winter landscape, there they are out in their gardens.

Page 6 Day tripping in Bracebridge Bracebridge was originally known as North Falls. This Muskoka community thrived, when others around it didn because of fur trading, forestry, farming and because of its waterfalls. Page 13 Would HI answer i'tu X'Jt That road led to two others running northeast from Rosseau and Parry Sound. Like the Muskoka Road, the Parry Sound Road gave birth to a number of pioneer communities. Falkenburg, Beatrice, Raymond, Ullswater and Bent River were among the beads of people that began to appear on the necklace of settlement.

For almost a century people have considered Muskoka a treasured Canadian place. Which indeed it proved to be for many people. LANDPage 4 road builders ran into difficul- ty immediately upon crossing the Severn. There they were met by the forbidding rock of the Shield, which seemed to say "Touch me at your peril!" But the goal was too inviting to permit retreat. By twisting and turning, filling and digging, by felling the forest and using small logs for a road bed, the indomitable workers wriggled their way northward.

The road builders built a bridge over the river at Bracebridge in 1861, and by 1863 the ribbon of road had PUBLISHED BY THE PROPRIETOR. THE PACKET TIMES, A DIVISION OEOSPKEY MEDIA GROUP INC. 31 COLBORNE ST. BOX 220, ORIU-IA. ON L3V IT4 Publisher Ken Koyama Managing Editor Mark Hisset Sales Manager Bill Crawley Production Manager Mike Sallows Kditors loan Ooyle.

oe Mercer Sales Marion Hearty. Bill Stevenson. Jeff Mitchell DesignProduction Tammy Neely Circulation Manager Kick Matty For more information regarding advertising please contact one of our sales representatives Marion Hearty 325-1355 ext 233 Bill Stevenson 325-1355 ext 238 or 645-9144 Jeff Mitchell 645-9144.