Long Lake Chronicles

The Beginning:

For those of us who have been living at Lac Gagnon since 1950, writing a chronicle about the Lake is not just about looking back and remembering our early days there, but it also means recounting its early history, including its pre-1968 time when it was called Lac Long or Long Lake. This chronicle is not meant to be a history lesson, but it does require a brief look back in time into the history of the region. It will also be a series of short stories that will give an idea of what the lake was like then and what it is now without being pretentious. The idea for this chronicle came about after discussions with Louis St-Hilaire, the current president of the Association des propriétaires du lac Gagnon (APLG). He is an “old” lake man like me… or almost. My oldest memories date back to about 1950. Before that, they are the versions of my grandfather Albert. His own memories are those of his father Georges, who baptized some of his children in Duhamel in 1902-03.

Let’s start with the first inhabitants, the Algonquins. I won’t go back to 1653, when they were decimated by the Iroquois at Lac Nominingue according to the history books. For us and for some of the people of Duhamel and their descendants, the story begins around the time of the region’s colonization, at the end of the 19th century. One of the first maps showing Long Lake was produced by Joseph Bureau, explorer and surveyor. Apparently, he was quite a character. It was prepared on the instructions of the Gilmour & Co. logging company in 1852 and here is the link: Plan North Nation 1852 if you would like to view it. As you can see from the map, the loggers were interested in the wood, especially white pine, which was abundant and of very good quality at the time. You can also see the Native portages. We can assume that the landscape we see today has changed significantly from what it was back then. The great white pine, a typical specimen of which can still be seen on Sentier Caroline in the original growth forest, was more than 12 ft (4m) in diameter at the base! Today, the white pine is becoming rarer. Just take a look at the mountain tops around the lake. The trees that are much taller are the last witnesses of this era.
Who lived at Long Lake at that time? According to the 1861 census by the Sulpicians, the only people at Long Lake (from the native name Kajakokanak, meaning long) and Grand lac Preston, called Grand lac du Poisson-blanc (Atikamekong in Algonquin) at the time, were Algonquins except for one Canadian married to an Aboriginal woman who live at Grand lac du Poisson-blanc. There are a few names or surnames reminiscent of that time that are still in use today at Lac Gagnon. Pointe-à-Baptiste, Dam-à-Tanascon, Ruisseau Simon (Ernest River), Roche-à-Jean (southwest of the lake before reaching the large beach). These names refer to Simon Kanawato, Jean-Baptiste Bernard, Louis Nascon. We will see in a future chronicle on the arrival of the first settlers and their impact on Long Lake.

Article du journal Le Droit (17 décembre 2015)

Part 2, The Settlers' Arrival

The arrival of the first settlers in Duhamel began around 1880. At that time, Long Lake was already feeling the effects of the log drive, turning Pointe-à-Baptiste into an island due to the rise in water levels caused by the lock on the Petit-Nation River. On an 1884 map (Spruce Lock), a lock, not a dam, is mentioned. Does this mean that log drivers could travel between the Chute de la Montagne and Long Lake, making their work easier? Visiting the “Dam-à-Tanascon” site, one can see the remnants of two structures on the riverbed. You will also find a historical interpretation panel. The site is located a few dozen meters from the first rapids on the river and is also accessible by a small trail from the road.
Pointe-à-Baptiste Island was already inhabited, probably by Jean-Baptiste Bernard, an Algonquin. Born in 1829 at Long Lake, in 1884, he was living on his farm with his wife and four children. The attached map, by surveyor Mathieu in 1884, shows four buildings. In 1896, another map, by surveyor McLatchie, provides more details (Detailed map Pte-à-Baptiste). As mentioned in the previous chronicle, he was not the only person living at Kajakokanak Lake (the Algonquin name for Long Lake). Simon Kanawato (Lac Simon is named after him) also lived there, as did Amable Canard blanc, for whom the island on Lac Simon is named.
It is likely that the small rock island at the mouth of the Petite-Nation River, known as La Roche- à-Jean, was named for the same Jean-Baptiste or perhaps his son, Jean. According to accounts of the time, a woman accompanying the log drivers on a trip through the woods was frightened by a violent thunderstorm that had risen on Long Lake.
Because they were having difficulty manoeuvring the boat with the boom it was dragging, she was left on the island for the night with a native named Jean and they were rescued the next day. This woman’s story came to me from my grandfather, he was talking about his mother. It’s also the same story they relate in the village. A boat anchor was found near the island and has been mounted at the entrance to the village in Duhamel.
Villages come into being with the arrival of people who, in the hope of a better life, decide to settle in a region that seems favourable to them. They may have heard about it through word of mouth, or the authorities decide to colonize an area by providing land to settlers. They think they will find work there and start a family, or simply, but more rarely, they come out of a taste for adventure. At the end of the 19th century, everyday life was already an adventure for most ordinary people.
As the first exploration surveys were completed, Long Lake was divided administratively into two territories, Gagnon Township and Preston Township. Duhamel was called Preston at the time. The first settlers arrived in Duhamel and Long Lake in the 1880s. The road leading to Long Lake, called “Mercier Road” on some maps, was rudimentary. It was more of a logging road, because what attracted the first settlers was the possibility of logging in the winter and working on a farm come spring.
One of the first to settle at Long Lake was the Rev. Amédée Thérien, chaplain of the Reform School of Montreal, also known as Mont St-Antoine. He arrived in September 1880 with a few young adults or teenagers in the hope of “reforming” them by getting them interested in agriculture. He settled at the mouth of the river opposite the peninsula. He brought with him some two thousand grape vines which he planted on the island in the hope of producing wine there. Despite his praiseworthy efforts, these young settlers had no interest in staying. Only the name Île-à-Raisins remains today. Here is what Father Proulx recounts during an expedition of eight people to Long Lake to visit the young colony (Voyage au lac Long, Rév. J.B. Proulx, Imprimerie du nord, 1882).
The group included Rev. J.B. Proulx, Amédée Thérien, expedition leader, his mother, Mrs. Pierre Thérien, who wanted to visit her grandson, C. Gagnon, his brother Olaüs Thérien, a law student, J. B. Malboeuf who was attending the college and who came to choose some land with two friends, an Irishman and medical student, D. McNamara, and a student from the Reform School, M. Rodrigue, a strong young man. They first slept at Saint-André-Avelin, at the rectory and hotel, then at Hartwell (Chénéville). They travelled from Montreal by train and then by stagecoach from Papineauville. This short book, that describes what he sees and who they meet, is an interesting read that gives a good description of customs at that time.
“The house rises on a point that juts out into the lake, a tongue of land with a dozen arpents suitable for cultivation. Already, three arpents have been cleared through the firs, maples and big elms, whose enormous trunks lie on the ground like defeated and mutilated giants.
Four arpents further back, a hundred-foot, steeply cut mountain, with a crown of beautiful trees at the top, shelters the house from the north and west winds. On the side of the mountain, fifty feet above the ground, there is a cave that looks like an open mouth; perpendicularly above it there is a block made of one single stone that looks like a gigantic nose: hence the name Butte-au-nez.” (unofficial translation)
My friend Gérard and I tried to find this cave, but in winter and on snowshoes, with too much snow on the ground, we didn’t have any luck. We’ll try again!
But even if the first settlers to reside along the river did not get their land titles until 1900, many arrived as early as 1882, including Grégoire Carrière. It was almost exclusively south of the lake and as far as Pointe-à-Baptiste that the first lots were allocated. We find the names of Joseph Carrière (1893), Louis Tanascon (1901), Georges and Émilien Chartrand (that’s right, my great grandfather and his father, Émilien, 1902), Joseph Émard (1901), and later, Arthur Lamontagne (1919), Lucia Delorme (1930). This last lot, located to the right of the former Poliquin campground, would later become an important resort in the 1940s.
In 1887, a road (survey map) was built between Duhamel and Nominingue to link the Ottawa region with the Upper Laurentians, in order to promote colonization, which was being encouraged by Father Labelle. This road, some sections of which still exist in their entirety, such as the Chemin du Roi trail (Club Skira, trail map) cost $12,447.08 plus $5,000 for the exploration!
As early as 1889, the first settler from Nominingue, Maxime Dumoulin, settled with his eight sons and one daughter almost at the mouth of the Ernest River, which was then called Simon Creek. The site of his farm, still visible more than a hundred years later, was disturbed during the logging operation after the 2006 tornado.
In a future chronicle, we will see the arrival of the railroad and the first tourists at Long Lake during the 1930-1960 period.

Part 3, the Singer Company, Long Lake Cottages and the Americans’ Clubs

Shortly after the Spanish Flu of 1918-20, things started to get busy at Long Lake. For a long time, log driving was the only activity that disturbed the lake’s tranquility. The logs arrived at the lake by Simon’s Creek (Ernest River) and the Petite-Nation river. Once there, they were held back by booms to prevent them from drifting onto the lake. The remains of these booms can still be seen today at the mouth of the Ernest River. They were then towed south by boat to the entrance of the Petite Nation river. In fact, the anchor of one of these boats was found near the entrance of the river. That was to change, however, with the arrival of the Singer Company.
The Singer Company in Duhamel. Source TNVR

In 1923, the Singer Company needed hardwood, primarily yellow birch, for its sewing machines. It purchased 500 square miles of timber rights for $500,000, a territory ranging from Thurso to south of Mont-Laurier. Hardwood does not float so the company had to find another way to transport its wood. Since the W.C. Edwards Company had logged the limits of softwood in the region, the Singer Company built a railway, operated by Thurso Nation and Valley Railway (TNVR), linking the Thurso plant to Fascinant lake. Construction would take place in stages, with the first section, which went as far as Iroquois lake, being finished in 1930. The Great Depression slowed activities for a few years. Since most of the lumber of interest had been harvested as far as Chevreuil lake, in 1938, the rail line was extended towards Duhamel and completed in 1940. Singer would build houses for its employees and make Duhamel its headquarters.

World War II would see an increased demand for special lumber to manufacture items such as plane propellers. In 1942, the railroad was extended to mile 43, John’s Creek (between 3560 and 3986 ch. du lac Gagnon West). In 1943, the railroad was further extended to mile 47. A spur was constructed to the shores of Long Lake, at the Grande Baie beach. This is where Camp 15, a collection of cabins knows as the camps des Allemands was constructed. In the fall of 1943, the government ordered that about 40-50 German prisoners be transferred there. Most were detainees, but about seven or eight of them were captured military prisoners of war. Given the labour shortage, the prisoners worked on building the railroad and as loggers. Well-fed, and under the watchful eye of benevolent guards employed by Singer, with the exception of Warden Landriault, a former Bordeaux prison guard, few were tempted to escape. At the end of the war, some decided to stay in Canada.

The Camp 15 buildings were gradually abandoned. Around 1958, the roofs having collapsed my grandfather received permission from Singer to take logs from the walls to build his cottage. Since there was no road yet, the logs were floated and towed to their destination. I was part of the trip Unfortunately, about ten years later, the cottage was destroyed by fire.
In 1947, the railway line was extended to the south of Ernest lake and then to Fascinant lake, where a major logging camp, Camp 27, was set up. A huge sorting yard stretched for nearly a kilometer. The logs, piled up to 6 metres high, stretched as far as the eye could see. It was an impressive sight!

Long Lake Cottages

Around 1938, another event was to give tourism a boost at Long Lake. Jo Aubry bought several lots along the lake (lots 44 to 48 in Rang VI) from a Mrs. Cléroux. He sold his share to his three brothers François, Ernest and Gérard. Over the years, François remained the sole owner until his death in 1998. With the help of a landscape architect, he developed the land so that he could build about twenty summer cottages, an office, a tennis court that could host provincial championships, multiple playgrounds, a dance floor, a convenience store and even a bread oven to serve the customers! Unless you’ve seen pictures from that time, you cannot imagine what the layout was like. A majestic entrance arch bordered by trimmed spruce hedges that extended to each access road to the cottages, cone-shaped trimmed spruce trees, a diving board, boat house, bark canoes for rent, an impressive quantity of numbered rowboats, etc. In short, a complex, known as the “Long Lake Cottages”, worthy of a large outdoor centre! Of course, it should be remembered that at the time, the territory along the road from Duhamel to the Aubry’s was already cleared and cultivated, as you can tell by the size of the trees in these pictures.

Their clientele, mostly outsiders and many of them Americans, came especially for fishing and hunting. It was the golden age of these activities! Some even came by plane. Several people from Duhamel served as guides, including Aurèle Nault, a colourful character, and Hyacinthe Canard Blanc.

Every year there was a major canoe race, which drew crowds of people from the village and surrounding area. The provincial championship was at stake! Schools and scout groups were also hosted. In short, it was “the” place to be!

Two other locations also catered to tourists. First Arthur Lamontagne, south of the Poliquin Marina (see aerial photo). Then, at the end of the road, Lionel Éthier (see aerial photo), owner of a small grocery store in Duhamel that is now the Serjo convenience store. Some of you may remember Marcel Filion delivering milk, cream and ice cream to the end of the road at that time! Outstanding service! There was only one cottage on the east side, owned by an aviator by the name of Smith. This cottage still exists and is, to my knowledge, unchanged. I’d like to add a clarification: there is no “yellow bay”, as shown on some maps. There was only “côte jaune”, so named because of the reddish-yellow sand hill located on the 1st beach on the east side at the south end of the lake.

The Americans’ Clubs

Around 1930, several private clubs already controlled huge territories in the region, under an 1895 Quebec government law. They had been granted the exclusive right to hunt and fish, often to the detriment of the territory’s inhabitants. Their members were mostly from Montréal, but many also came from the United States. Lac Gagnon was not spared. The territory west and north of the lake was controlled by the Club Bourbonnais. The northeast side belonged to the Chapleau club, which controlled 22 lakes. The territory to the south was under the control of the Club des Douze, including Preston Lake. Until about 1960, boats could not travel to the north of the lake without being intercepted by the Club Bourbonnais custodian, who lived in the club’s large cottage. The cut-off line was located a little north (100m) of the public wharf. You can still see the rocks that formed the base of a dock. It was forbidden to travel to that part of the lake if you had fishing gear in your boat!
The surrounding lakes were in the same situation, be it Ernest, du Sourd or Preston lakes, to name a few. There was a large cottage on each of these lakes that could accommodate 10 to 20 people. A separate cottage was assigned to the club’s custodian. Next to the main clubhouse was an ice house, which was filled with large blocks of ice during the winter and covered with sawdust so the ice could be stored all summer long. It was the custodian’s job to make sure nothing was missing. Many villagers worked for these clubs, as custodians, guides and cooks. Before the arrival of the railroad, du Sourd and Ernest lakes were only accessible by a horse cart path. Quite an expedition!

Around 1960, the Bourbonnais club, sensing that the lake was opening up to vacationers, left the lake, abandoning its huge cottage. The lake was once again accessible to all. Also, in 1960-61, surveyors hired by Québec City surveyed the entire lake. Leaving from the Aubry’s by freighter, the teams of surveyors and summer employees, including myself, went to a predetermined starting point. The work consisted of clearing the surveyor’s line of sight with an axe or saw and measuring the distance with a “chain”. This was my first job.

This marks the end of the lake’s early history; this is when cottage owners started to arrive. The rest of the chronicle belongs to you. If you have any anecdotes, funny facts, memories, photos or anything else to tell, send them to info@aplg.ca. We may write a fourth article if we have enough of them. It’s now up to us to continue protecting the lake. Those of us, like me, who knew the lake before the 1960s, are a bit sentimental about that time. What we do with Lac Gagnon or Long lake is up to us.

Association des Propriétaires
du lac Gagnon
C.P. 354
Duhamel, Québec J0V 1G0

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