Donald
Teuma-Castelletti
BRISTOL Oct. 13, 2018
Those who like their education on the go had the chance to take a step backwards through time on Saturday, when the Friends of Chats Falls (FCF) organized a fall hike through the brush and trails behind Pontiac Station.
Exposing hikers to the hidden history of the trail, FCF members guided the group along the path that mid-1800’s citizens would have employed while traversing to Union Village, before returning via a route alongside the Chats Falls Canal, all the while learning about the natural flora and fauna found around them.
Led by FCF’s Maude Lambert, Michael McBane and Bob Baser, 25 hikers started in Bristol’s Pontiac Station, where they received a quick introduction before starting off on the old path of the Canadian National Railway (CN) line. After several hundred metres, and a quick education on slag, the group was led off the trail and into the bush.
This exit brought hikers onto the remnants of the horse railway, used in the 1800s to bypass the difficult terrain to move supplies and people quickly through the bush via horse-powered carts.
“When you think of a horse railway, it sounds kind of hokey,” said Baser.
However, he continued, the system proved successful, and though firsthand accounts from travelling it depicted mosquito-infested rides through frightening travels, there was only ever one death – a horse, in an accident. This is a much better track record than VIA Rail could boast, added Baser, with a laugh.
Along this route, Lambert said to keep an eye out for blasting points in the rocks beside the trail. Sure enough, long half-circle shapes could be found, indicating points where workers had drilled in, by hand, to the rock, before packing it with powder for blasting, so that the route could be carved through the landscape.
Thereafter, the next destination was straight to the Ottawa River, where the group heard about the wharf that once resided at this location. Staring at Arnprior across the river, this spot was once the point at which the Union Forwarding Company would load supplies and people onto the steamboat Oregon, to be taken up to Portage du Fort.
A warehouse once resided at this location, and Lambert said that on calm days, the water reveals the remnants of a barge stuck in the riverbed.
Next to this was where Union Village once resided, and the group continued onto the remnants of the Chats Falls Canal, an ambitious project meant to connect the Ottawa Valley with the Atlantic Ocean.
The brainchild of John Egan and Ruggles Wright, the canal was meant to provide an alternative route to the St. Lawrence River, as that path proved too close to the Americans in times of tumult, detailed Lambert and Baser. While the canal appears to be close to reaching the river, with mere metres separating the project from completion, Baser said the real issue came with the installation of all of the locks needed to transport ships, which proved too costly and the ultimate downfall of the project.
On the way back, the group maintained a steady pace until encountering a beaver dam, at which point it was decided to cross over it. With the steadiest travelers standing guard, the whole group succeeded, and soon arrived back on the remnants of the CN line.
Hikers enjoyed a destressing period at their starting point, where further curiosities of the local history could be divulged before everyone continued with their weekend.
While there are no plans set in stone for the FCF’s next outing, they’re looking to host another hike in November, with date and details to be determined.
