Sometimes people drop the nicest things in your mailbox. Last week I got a photo and a message from Pat McFarlane. Thanks Pat! It was all about the Storyland Bunny that sits in my yard.
Keep sending those memories in!!
The Storyland Bunny was a great joy to their family and visitors. John and her husband Richard ( Dick) met when we were all much younger before children at the Bank of Montreal. In those days we all got transferred often and kept track of our friends.
We visited John and Maria in Renfrew on our honeymoon ( before Storyland) and we kept in touch when he lost Maria.
The boys on the top left are Richard (Toronoto) and Kevin (Carleton Place).The young boy in red I have no idea.
Ronald (Toronto)- Girl in yellow top is Kristal, Carleton Place.
What has three eyes, three ears, one big fin half way down its back, two legs, one big tooth in front, is silvery-green in color and stretches for 24 feet? Well, in 1969,the people of Cobden, 60 miles northwest of Ottawa, dont know either, but they claim it exists and theyve named it Hapyxelor, the monster of Muskrat Lake. And by the way, in case you were wondering, it eats fish and is considered friendly. Long considered a local leg end, Hapyxelor showed up in a recent report by a firm of consulting engineers working on a development plan for the Muskrat River.
The report mentions the recurring story” of sightings of a reptile or monster somewhat larger than a canoe which has never been identified. A previous reference to the monster was made by Indians during the 16th century in stories told about the “strange thing which roamed the waters of Muskrat Lake. Dick Heyda, owner and operator of Champlain Storyland at Renfrew, near Cobden, did some research on the monster and created a 28-foot plastic model. Mr. Heyda read about the consulting company report and after searching around got his description from Cobden fisherman and trapper Donald Humphries. Mr. Humphries, an ardent outdoorsman, had spent a lot of time on Muskrat Lake and the model was constructed from what he said he saw there one evening last year.
He told me he saw something like an eye emerge from the water and it seemed to rotate, Mr. Heyda said. A little later an enormous beak came out of the water and then the whole body. – He said it was about 24 feet long, had three eyes, three ears, one big fin half way down its back, two legs, a big tooth in the front and was silvery-green in color. The monster had a quick snack of cattails and then, after hearing Mr. Humphries sneeze, perked up two of its ears end slithered back into the lake.
1969
Westmeath Township’s Muskrat Lake monster metaphorically reared its ugly head from the surface of the 10-mile-Iong lake again last week when a boat was unexplainably upset during dead calm. At long intervals, over period of many years sightings of Mussy the Muskrat Lake monster have been reported by residents of Westmeath Township, which has been “dry” since prohibition days. Last week’s phenomenon was witnessed by foreign observers in the persons of James ‘Shear, of Leavenworth, Kansas, and Russell Rauch and Earl Andrews, both of Slatington, Pennsylvania.
Shear was bound for Eckford’s Bay when, for no apparent reason, his small boat capsized. He was rescued by Rauch and Andrews. They told their story to Mrs. Elsie McBride, a long-time resident of Muskrat Lake’s south shore. This was no illusion,” said Mrs. McBride. “Can an illusion spout Water in the air? She said something in the lake “blew off steam.” As recently as last week, it was speculated by Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Wilson, of RR 3, Cobden that “a long, deep ripple they saw near the middle of the lake was Mussy’s wake. Variably estimated at lengths up to 16 feet, she has been said to have an alligator head and upside-down legs like those of a cricket or grasshopper. A fact-finding group from Carleton University’s geography department, having read early reports of monster sightings at Muskrat Lake, noted in its report to Renfrew County Council in 1968 that the lake, though only half as large, was the same shape as Scotland’s largest body of fresh water, famed as the home of Nessle the Loch Ness monster.
1976
Mussy the Muskrat Lake monster may not have the international reputation of Nessy of Loch Ness but here’s a sea serpent with a history or at least a legend dating back more than 350 years. Since first described in Champlain by Indians, Mussy is said to have been sighted at least five times on this 10-mile-long lake about 75 miles west of Ottawa “Alligator head” and “grasshopper-like legs” are the terms most often used to describe the monster which is said to be about 20 feet long.
Until recently Mussy was heard from infrequently on the surface of Muskrat Lake. But in 1941 a man reported seeing “an object as large as the average horse” while fishing. The presence of such a creature in a lake so far from the ocean does not surprise some people at all.
Muskrat Lake was once part of the Champlain Sea a body of salt water that covered the Great Lakes and connected with the Atlantic Ocean. It receded about over 10,000 years ago leaving behind Muskrat Lake and whatever had been living in it. Though tiny in comparison the lake is 240 feet deep in parts. Rumor also has it that Mussy is amphibious. Don Humphries a nearby resident said he was paddling his canoe on a clear spring night in 1968 when he spotted the monster on shore.“It was out of the water scratching in the cat-tails with its snout apparently eating them”. But he said he startled it and it “quietly slid back into the Water without even a splash”.
1976
The legend of the mysterious monster of Muskrat Lake took another twist Monday with a report of “a green fin of some sort” cutting the lake’s surface and staying in view for about five minutes. The 10-mile-Iong lake has long been reputed to be the home of a local version of the Loch Ness monster. But Allan Childerhose doesn’t know exactly what he saw. The 16-year-old and his friend, John Hoad, 17, both from the Cobdon area, were on the shore of the lake about 8:30 p.m. Monday.
“We were playing catch with a basketball,” said Allan in a telephone interview. “I was in the water and he (John) was on shore. He heard a splashing sound, there was splashing like a boat . . . Hey, look at that out there.’ he said.” Allan turned to see an object moving along the water about half a mile from shore, causing ripples and the splashing sound.
Trailing about 30 feet behind and cutting the surface was the “a fin of some sort.” The two boys watched for about five minutes while it continued to move down the lake towards Cobden, on the opposite shore. The fin dipped up and down in the water. The sight left Allan Childerhose unnerved. “I felt a little weird … a strange feeling. I didn’t know what to make of it because it couldn’t be a boat,” he said several hours later. His father said the boy was still shaken by the sighting.
The fin moved down the lake about 400 yards and then, said Allan, sank out of sight near the outer limits of Cobden. The boy said it could not have been a scuba diver because of its shape and size. The two boys talked immediately to several nearby campers who said they saw “a strange wave” but nothing more definite. “They said they saw something moving out in the water.” Frank Stark and his wife Betty of Innswood Drive, Ottawa, also saw something in the water described by Mr. Stark as “two bumps with a space between them”.
It was moving in a southeasterly direction with no discern-able color, he said in an interview today. “The wife said it sounded like rowing or splashing. like someone swimming the butterfly.” He said the object was in sight for two or three minutes and then “it just disappeared.” There have been several sightings over the years of various phenomena in the lake, many of which have included detailed descriptions of a large aquatic animal. The creature, affectionately dubbed “Nussy” has never been photographed, but is said to dwell in the depths of the lake which reaches depths of 20 feet in wme places.
The Muskrat Lake region was originally inhabited by the Algonquin people. The first European explorer to discover Muskrat Lake and its surrounding area was Samuel de Champlain on June 7, 1613. At the time, Champlain was exploring the possibility of an alternative route to the Northern Sea (Hudson Bay) that would bypass the treacherous rapids along the Ottawa River. During his expedition in 1613, Champlain came upon a group of Algonquins led by Nibachis, close to the shores of a lake that Champlain named Lac De Nibachis (now modern day Muskrat Lake). After supplying Champlain with guides, Nibachis sent Champlain and his men seven leagues down the lake by canoe. According to Champlain’s records, the adventurers then portaged one league to modern day Lower Allumette Lake to meet with Chief Tessoὒat on what historians conclude to be Morrison Island. – Wikipedia
The Astrolabe
During his 1613 expedition from the Ottawa River to the North Sea, Champlain lost his astrolabe. More than 200 years later in 1867, the astrolabe was discovered by a 15-year-old boy named Edward G. Lee who was helping his father clear land on lot 13, concession 2, Ross Township. Currently, a local resort called Logos Land, just east of Cobden, is situated on part of this land. In 1943, the astrolabe was acquired by the New York Historian Society and later returned to Canada when purchased by the Canadian Government in 1989 for $250,000. The astrolabe is currently displayed at the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa. A stone monument commemorating the discovery was erected near Logos Land in 1952 – Wikipedia
What kind of fish are in Muskrat Lake?
The lake itself is known for its large array of fresh water fish species, such as lake sturgeon, walleye, lake trout, pike, bass, catfish and longnose gar.
Currently, Muskrat Lake is approximately 16km (9.9 mi) in length with an average depth of 17.9m (59ft). The deepest point on the lake is 64m (210ft) and is located just off McNaughton Bay
Mussie is a Plesiosaur-like creature living in Muskrat Lake in Ontario Canada. Mussie is described as a living Plesiosaur with a large body, a long neck, and large flippers which help it move through the water. In some depictions Mussie has been made to look like a walrus or a sturgeon and sometime even a three eyed Plesiosaur. The first written account of Mussie dates back to 1916 but some locals believe that Samuel De Champlain encountered it on his travels. In 1990 a tourist group offered a $1 million dollar reward to anyone who could capture Mussie alive. Click here for more.
1988
The Toronto author who spent last week searching for Mussie, the “sea monster” of Muskrat Lake, says he may end his search even though he claims to have found some evidence of a large animal. Michael Bradley, who plans to write a book about the hunt, says he made three “unusual” sonar contacts with large animals and may have actually seen Mussie break the surface. But local doubters have left him discouraged about the hunt, he says, and he may not continue his search next spring. “I don’t want to do any more with this. Bradley says the animal he saw was about 200 metres away from his boat at the deep, northern end of the long, narrow lake. “I thought I saw a back break (Citizen illustration) the surface twice,” he says, adding, “I don’t know yet if I have pictures.” He describes a two-metre, dull red animal that moved back into the water too fast for his photog may end rapher to focus.
“The sighting is probably worthless, but the sonar contacts are something else.” Bradley originally planned to trap the creature in August, but changed his plans to a photographic expedition when he decided the animal was probably a type of primitive, landlocked walrus that could drown if trapped. Bradley’s photographer, Carolyn Gray, took pictures of the fish finder screen when it showed any unusual sonar contact, and the author estimates the animal shown there is about four metres long. He has sent copies of the pictures to the sonar manufacturer in Oklahoma to try and verify that the image is not of a shoal of fish.
Tammy Marion emailed me on Saturday wondering if I knew our family’s Storyland Bunny had once been beheaded. Yes, I knew well that the rabbit sitting in my yard had been ‘Marie Antoinetted” ….
Apparently the white water rafting ‘kids’ down the road from Storyland on Storyland Road sometimes created acts of sabotage, including at least one beheading suffered by the five-metre-high fibreglass rabbit that welcomed visitors to the park. Storyland was the first man-made major tourist attraction in Renfrew County. The only other major attraction at that time was the Bonnechere Caves.
Storyland was founded in 1966 by Durk and Bonnie Heyda, immigrants from the Netherlands. The first figures were built in their basement; later ones were made by an artist. Berkhout bought Storyland in 1975 when his friend, Durk, grew ill: Raised in Holland during the Second World War, Berkhout had a difficult childhood. He visited the park and fell in love.
But in 1978, tragedy struck when his wife, Maria, was killed in a car accident, leaving him with five children. The business suffered until he remarried in 1983. Together, with a brood of nine children, he and Nancy rebuilt. By 1989, attendance was up to 40,000. When Berkhout retired in 2008, he sold the park to Todd Mattila-Hamilton, an Ottawa businessman who intended to inject new life into it “I saw potential,” says Mattila-Hamilton, 37. “That’s a classic attraction that has a built-in following.” Then the global economy collapsed, investment dollars dried up and he got cancer. “I haven’t had the strength to run the business. Storyland closed at the end of the 2011 season, which saw about 20,000 visitors. He put it on the market but was unsuccessful in finding a buyer interested in storytelling.
Dick Heyda had heard the “legend” of the monster of Muskrat Lake, near Renfrew, and worked all winter making a fibre glass “replica” of it according to a description (second or third hand) given by a Cobden man who claimed to have seen it. The 28-foot Hapyxelor, as he called it, was put on display in a prime spot in Storyland 40 acres of bush laced with trails and huge hand-made fairy tale characters overlooking the Ottawa River at Champlain Point, near Renfrew. read– Lake Monsters–Hapyxelor, Nessie, the Monster of Muskrat Lake
If Hapyxelor was largely a figment of many imaginations, no one seemed to mind. Heyda and his wife Bonnie worked long and hard to make it that way. They made the woods come alive with fairy tales. The fibre glass characters in clusters represented 30 different stories and in the middle of it all is Heyda’s own brainchild, Dr. Goodkind, who cared for all the Storyland inhabitants in Goodkind hospital. Many of the characters talked in both French and English and some, like the Pied Piper, come with sound effects.
In 1990 there were over 200 figures and 40 storyland settings including the wicked witch’s house, Mary’s growing garden, the Madhatter’s tea party and the old lady living in a shoe. Many of the settings had moving parts, activated by pressing a button.
John Berkhout, who died on May 30, 2022 at the age of 81, owned and operated the Storyland theme park near Renfrew for more than three decades, from 1975 until he sold it in 2008. There, more than one million visitors and generations of families came to walk its fairytale paths.
All stories come to an end. After 45 years of delight and imagination, the three-dimensional figures were dispersed at an auction that my son and I attended in the pouring rain. The Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe, Little Miss Muffet and the Pied Piper were are now “chattels” sold to the highest bidder, along with the candy floss machine, picnic tables and inflatable slides. On the auction block: Two 12-foot-high fibre-glass rabbits, Porky’s Bandstand, the Cow Who Jumped Over The Moon, Storyland Windmill, Crooked Man and Crooked House, the Lion and the Mouse and more.
Every day I look out the window and remember that Storyland belonged to children and those that were young at heart like myself. It was the world of books, of summer, of Sunday drives, the family together for a special trip. Anticipation would build during the drive, along a twisting road off Highway 17 west of Ottawa. Giant ice cream cones with child-size alcoves stood as sentry boxes by the path from the parking lot. Once the kids and I got there we never wanted to leave, even though we went there many times. I am sad that my grandchildren will never experience Storyland, but one of the remains still lives in my yard.
The Balderson Cheese Cow- that stood beside the old Balderson Cheese place on HIghway 7 for years in my yard..
As you know the Balderson Cow is nicknamed Baldy Welsh after Carleton Place’s iconic paddler from the Canoe Club. The Storyland Bunny is now named the Storyland Ballygiblin Bunny now he is residing in Carleton Plac
Nicki LaFramboise has the second bunny at the first ‘glamping’ site in Eastern Ontario. ELEMENTS LUXURY TENT CAMPING is located on the former STORYLAND site, about a hour west of Ottawa– so no one need to worry–the bunnies are in good hands–
Orlando F. Moses, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to one month in jail and a fine of $300 and costs of six additional months, after admitting in Hull- police court ownership of a still worth about $500, and also about 20 gallons of liquor.
The accused was arrested on Saturday Morning by Quebec Liquor Commission police, who raided a small house on Mountain road, Wrightville, Hull. Moses served as chief constable of Almonte for about a year about four years ago. Col. R. deSalaberny acted as counsel for Moses, and he asked the clemency of the court, stating that it was a first offence. Henry M. L orranger, who represented the federal excise and Inland Revenue Department, asked that a fine of $500 be imposed considering that the maximum was $2,000. Mr. Loranger also asked that the goods seized be confiscated, also the automobile owned by the accused.
Col. do Salaberry objected to the confiscation of the car, stating that no liquor was found in it. The Magistrate after hearing both counsels sentenced Moses to a $300 fine, and also one month in jail, and ordered the still and other articles confiscated, but added that the car be returned to the owner.
Moses was a former Toronto constable. He had served for more than 12 years in police forces, including Almonte. He served during the Great War and was awarded the Military Cross and also the Croix de Guerre, and also served two years with the Scotland Yard, London.
Moses was last seen on the little bridge opposite the Rosamond Stock Farm two months ago and told them he was married and was running a chicken farm near Hull, Que. Moses will be recalled by many different people in town.
During the Depression things were tough for everyone. But, I still can’t believe how a man who worked in authority had his finger in the passions of crime. I guess we will never know.
“When Moses was on the stand during the preliminary hearing he admitted having served prison terms for forgery, extortion and a breach of the Inland Revenue Act. At present he is in custody of the Carleton county police on a charge of house breaking.”
That although Mrs. Moses swore that she had asked Mr. Rudd to come and see about a leak in the ceiling of the bedroom of the apartment, the roof above the place in the ceiling where there had been a leak had been repaired before Mr. and Mrs. Moses became tenants, and had not leaked while they were tenants.” “That Mr. Rudd would not have left his work to go. to the apartment in the center of the town at two o’clock in the afternoon for immoral purposes.” “That on account of his age and physical condition, Mr. Rudd was incapable of committing the crime with which he has been charged. This alone would make it necessary for me to dismiss’ the charge against Mr. Rudd.” “That the offers, first of $200 and then of $1,000 were made by Mr. Rudd and his solicitor, to avoid publicity and not to compound a felony.” “I am further convinced that no Jury would find Mr. Rudd guilty of the lesser offence of attempting to commit an indecent assault.”
Renfrew County Renfrew County – Keysource Thomas-Thor Renfrew County
Almonte Gazette-November 21 1940
Starting on the return journey from a hunting trip Mr. Rodger Somerville, governor of Lanark County jail, and L. C. Affleck, publisher of The Lanark Era, had a narrow escape from drowning Friday morning. Leaving their hunt camp on Leclaire lake in the Matawatchan district (near Renfrew), early in the morning, the two hunters had to cross the lake to their cars. The boat was powered by an outboard motor and about one hundred yards from the camp shore, the boat suddenly submerged and the two men had to strike out for shore.
Each grasped an oar which enabled them to keep afloat but were hampered considerably by their heavy clothing and long boots. Mr. Somerville was the stronger swimmer and reached shallow water first and shouted encouragement to Mr. Affleck. Both men were exhausted when reaching shore. Shouting to other campers across the lake, about 800 yards distant, they came to the unlucky men’s assistance and supplied them with wood and blankets. After drying their clothes they were able to continue their way home. A considerable amount of camp equipment and personal belongings went to the bottom of the lake when their boat submerged.
Leclaire Lake
Leclaire Lake is a lake in Ontario and has an elevation of 260 metres. Leclaire Lake is close to Little Lake.
The Township of Matawatchan had two communities: The Village of Matawatchan and Camel Chute. Camel Chute was originally named Campbell Chute after a local logger, but when surveyors arrived and asked residents the name of the place the local brogue was misheard as Camel. Matawatchan is an Indian name (probably Algonquin) and in some records it is spelled as ‘Mataouschie’. Some believe it means “running through rushes”, but Indian Affairs says it means “first settlement.” Some current long-time residents think the name should be translated as “hidden village.” It suggests that there may have been an Aboriginal settlement here before the Europeans arrived.
While Griffith was primarily Irish and French in the early days, the population of the geographic township of Matawatchan was primarily Scots and French. Local memory says that the first settler in the Village of Matawatchan was a MacDonald, but soon after there were Wilsons, MacPhersons, McLellans, Hutson’s and many others. Many of the French families are still here but their names have become anglicized over the years. The LeClaire family were very early settlers, and they are still prominent in the area. Read more here– CLICK
In 1921 the year electricity came to Lanark, the Era installed a typesetting machine, the Linotype. This truly was a labor saving device. The first linotype operator to be trained by myself was Miss Bell Currie, now Mrs. Austin McFarlane. She later became operator on the Ottawa Citizen. The Era was the first hydro-power user in Lanark as I did away with the gas engine and bought an electric motor to drive the press.
With a desire to move on to a larger newspaper field, I sold out in 1929 to L.C. Affleck, who continued to build up the business for 19 years. In 1947 the Era was on the market and Erroll Mason decided to try his luck in journalism. Mr. Mason passed away in October of 1961 and the Era continued under the proprietorship of Muriel Mason, and her staff, the Somerville brothers, Ivan and Leonard.
This postcard was sent by a friend in 1907 asking Eva to come visit her in Carleton Place. I always love buying these as I try to find out who they are. The sender only had their initials, but I still could track down Eva Muir from Renfrew. Eva passed away in April of 1930. I could find out no more information about her.
A Hart in ThaiA Hart in Thai –We searched the forest for Al Capone’s Secret Last Hide Out in Canada. After talking to a few locals of the where about, then to go here and there getting lost but after 2 hours driving in circles we found it! Its on Private Property and we did get caught. But after got permission to video and photograph the outside and interior. We didn’t venture into the basement as to dangerous. The cabin is huge many rooms and bedrooms and beautiful fireplace. Low escape windows and suppose to have secret tunnel in basement. Its in the forest no river and lakes near?
At 4:32 in the YouTube video the police show up so please realize that this is Private Property and it chould be respected.IT IS UNSAFE
At 4:32 in the YouTube video the police show up so please realize that this is Private Property and it should be respected.
There has always been a rumor that has been circulated around the Ottawa Valley that Al Capone may just have had a secret hideaway deep within the Madawaska Valley. I knew that Al Capone spent some time in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and heck, they even spotted him in Kemptville! The rum runners created a tunnel system in Moose Jaw so the bad folks could shuffle from one building to the other without their derrieres freezing off off in the dead of winter. Of course there was a rumour that he did that in Carleton Place, Ontario at the Queen’s Hotel too.
Mike ToporowskyThe Moose Jaw story is probably correct. The only difference is that the tunnels existed already. They were created during a time when Chinese immigrants were charged a head tax. The Chinese community laboured to create these tunnels to stay out of sight, decades before Al Capone and crew arrived
The legend (and even has been advertised) that some local Lanark County residents have claimed they saw Capone and Jack Demsey frequenting Lake Park Lodge and even the Queen’s Hotel. Seeing the man sold tons of illegal liquour from Canada, there is probably some slight truth to the rumour.
LODGE IS CLOSED
The tunnels were used for gambling, prostitution and warehousing illegal booze. Some tunnels went right under your local CPR stations and opened into a shed in the rail yards. That way it was possible to load and unload rail cars without any risk of being seen by the police. Rotgut whisky was made locally, but all the good stuff came from the Bronfman distillery in Montreal.
So one day I saw a 2016 posting and photo’s about Capone’s Hideway on What’s Up Renfrew, Ontario and decided to share it in my local history groups. It’s not every day that you see things like that right? Five years later (2021) I received quite an angry email from a woman who thought I took the photos. She proceeded to tell me that she was going to call the police because I had been trespassing. She also insisted the log cabin had nothing to do with Al Capone and that I had must have jumped the fence as I seemed to be very close to the building in the photo, and I was in big trouble with her lawyers.
WTH?
my gangsta cane
Well the day she emailed me was my birthday and I had just turned 70. I have a weak right leg and use a cane. But don’t clock me out just yet, my cane is silver glitter but yes, my fence jumpin’ days are long over. I live through the rest of you, so keep those cards and letters coming as they say LOLOL. It took a couple of emails, but she finally realized I was just a writer, and not Nancy Drew. BUT, let this be a lesson in getting permission first please on unoccupied properties.
So yes, I believe that Capone was in Carleton Place and especially near Casey’s Hill (get this near Letterkenny Road) ( no, this not a typo). Even though these gangsters insisted they did not come to Canada, I am sure they did. Have you ever read about Billy the Boodler who showed up in Carleton Place? read-Billy the Boodler Comes to Carleton Place Or what about the cow shoes?? Read-Did The Bootleggers in Lanark County Wear Cow Shoes? I mean there has to be something there right?
For more than forty years, that reputation alone was enough to keep Capone’s Quadeville hideout a virtual secret from the rest of the world.
The secluded hideout was established in the 1930’s just north of Quadeville. Well hidden off Letterkenny Road, members of Capone’s gang sought sanctuary here from rival gangs and the police.
Quadeville is a short distance east of the small town of Combermere. This secret hideout has become a fascinating story over the years for many local residents and visitors to the area.
A long, sturdy, log building was built by local carpenters to the specifications laid down by Capone’s second-in-command; one of Capone’s star gunmen. The building no longer looks like the fortress it once was when Capone’s gang was there. It has since been converted and furnished as a summer home. At one time, it was owned by Harvey and Rene Mesdag of Toronto.
The building and property has since been sold several times. It is presently owned by someone of Pembroke. It’s windows and doors boarded up from the present day vandals. Carved initials can be seen on the log exterior. Anything of value left inside the building is now pretty much ruined.
According to the Mission House Museum, it is also rumored that a former property owner, who also provided the pine logs for the structure, became uneasy over non-payment. He decided to go to Toledo and presented himself at the gangsters’ headquarters. Unexpectedly, he was met by a ‘front’ man.
Once there, the Canadian was grilled by one of Capone’s lieutenants, who happened to be wearing a holstered handgun. “Now we can settle this matter between ourselves in the back office or you can come and take it up directly with the big boss at 10 o’clock sharp.” These were the two choices he was given. The words were loaded with menace. The Canadian replied that he would return and talk to the boss.
Next, he walked quickly to his waiting cab where the nervous driver warned him to get back to Canada as fast as he could. And so he did just that. That Canadian was August Quade and the amount of money owing to him was $1,500 which was a pile of money in the 30’s. It is interesting to note that no one ever saw Capone at the hideaway or in stores in the area. Read the rest here CLICK
Canada’s allure as safe haven made famous by Capone Roy MacGregor north of Quadeville, Ont. It’s not hard to see the attraction if you happen to be on the run. The fortress chalet sits on the side of a difficult hill, surrounded below by impossible swamp and beyond by impenetrable bush. The windows now either broken or partially covered by plywood afford a perfect view of the winding laneway and, beyond the Private Property sign, the narrow road that heads south toward the sleepy little village and north to nowhere. The basement windows are kicked in, and the hidden tunnel that some locals claim exits at a secret spot far back in the deep woods may be home now to a family of raccoons.
But once, so they claim, the legendary Chicago gangster Al Capone, hid out here in the deep Canadian forest 180 kilometres east of Ottawa, having fled America until it was safe to go home again. Many Americans honest, law-abiding Americans are said to be looking north once again for safe refuge from everything from hijacked airliners last month to anthrax this month to fears, even, from nuclear terrorism in an increasingly uncertain future. Last week, CBC Radio reported that there has been a significant rise in U.S. inquiries coming into Toronto-area real estate offices, most from large city dwellers looking for condominiums with low-risk addresses. Marinas in the New York City area are besieged by buyers looking for used boats in which they might, if necessary, escape north to the Maritimes.
The Ottawa Citizen reported this past weekend on a new “survival” trend: small-centre Americans making sure they have money and food cached in fully tanked cars, ready to flee for the Canadian border at the first sign of new trouble. “I feel very safe there,” Rhode Island banker Georgina Cormier told the newspaper. “There is a sense of safety and security when I go to Canada. If I had to go somewhere, that’s where I would want to be.” Al Capone may have felt the same even if Old Scarface did once tell a reporter, “I don’t even know what street Canada’s on.” Some Saskatchewan oldtimers have long maintained that, in fact, Capone knew River Street in downtown Moose Jaw as well as he knew the back alleys around Chicago’s infamous Lexington Hotel. According to Moose Jaw leg end, Ca pone’s gangsters moved into an underground maze of tun nels originally built by Chinese immigrants hiding out to avoid pay ing Canada’s notorious “head tax.” Capone is said to have liked Moose Jaw’s proximity to the U.S. border, and with prohibition ending there nine years earlier than it would in the States, the little Prairie city made an excellent centre out of which to run his expanding bootlegging operations.
Laurence Moon Mulhn, an el derly Moose Jaw resident, claimed several years ago that he used to earn 200 tips running errands for the gangsters, and another local said her barber father used to be called down into the tunnels to cut Capone’s hair. Those tunnels, excavated, cleaned up and lighted, are now called “Little Chicago,” and are Moose Jaw’s top tourism draw. There has, however, never been any documented proof that this happened, or even that the notori ous gangster ever visited any part of Canada. Capone, however, despite the best efforts of a 300-man special detective unit to find him, went missing for three months in the summer of 1926. Some said he was in Wisconsin. Others thought Michigan. A few even claimed he’d fled to Italy.
There are people around Quadeville who think he came here but not until the early 1940s when Capone was finally released from the prison where he’d been serving time for income tax invasion. According to local legend, the cabin on the side of the hill was built, to specifications, out of huge squared pine timber in 1942. The man who built it travelled to the States to collect on an outstanding construction bill for $1,500, only to be threatened by a gun-carrying henchman and told that “Da Boss” would deal directly with him later, in the day. The builder turned tail, ran back to Quadeville, and the outstanding account was never again mentioned.
Madawaska Valley historian Harry Walker wrote about the cabin and the Capone connection decades ago, but could quote no sources, since area oldtimers refused to speak on the record about what they’d seen and heard of the cabin. They did talk to him, however even when Walker showed up with a former county warden to serve as witness and he came to believe that there was indeed something to the Capone legend. “Even today,” Walker wrote in the early 1970s, “the memory of the event instills fear in those who came in contact with the gangsters.” But other investigations by the Eganville Leader and The Toronto Star not surprisingly produced no concrete evidence. After his release from prison, Capone was seriously debilitated by the effects of syphilis and was often hospitalized.
He died after a long illness in 1947. It is hard to imagine him roughing it in the Canadian bush during those years, far from the comforts of electricity and running water. But historical fact seems to matter little to those who say they remember big limousines heading out Letterkenny Road, beautiful women, big men in fancy suits and a particular man the local kids were told to call “Uncle Al.” A few kilometres down Highway 15 at Latchford Bridge, the nearest village to Quadeville, 79-year-old Leonard Moysey stops raking his leaves and offers a unique perspective on it all.
Moysey grew up in Moose Jaw and would have been a youngster there in the very years Capone was supposedly hiding out in the tunnels beneath River Street “When we were kids,” he says, “we never knew anything about that. Never heard a word about Al Capone. It was all talk that developed later, way after the war.” Moysey believes that the stories of Moose Jaw and Quadeville are both seriously flawed, made up by wishful thinkers and over-extended imaginations. The abandoned cabin may merely be a northern version of the infamous “Secret Vault” of Capone’s that was found during a Chicago excavation 15 years ago and ceremoniously opened by Geraldo Rivera on national television only to discover there was nothing inside.
Back in Quadeville, the men gathered over morning coffee at Kauffeldt’s little rural post office are more interested in talking about the current state of the world the news on television, the moose hunt than they are in going on the record about any possibility that Al Capone ever lived up the road. “We used to go up there when we were young lads,” says one coffee drinker, “but we never saw nothin’. “Once the rumours started about it being Al Capone’s place, people started breaking in. But I don’t know what they thought they might find there’s nothing there.” But that, of course, in fall of 2001, is precisely the attraction. National Post
These photos are from the 104 page1953 magazine ” Renfrew and its Fair Through 100 Years” By Henry J. Walker who wrote the Carleton Saga. Donated by- Ed and Shirley (Catherine) Simpson
“The greatest fair in the Ottawa Valley since 1853.” It is an exciting four days with ample amount of activities such as: Beef Shows, Heavy & Light Horse Shows, 4-H & Interclub Shows, Swine & Lambs, many more Livestock events, Exhibits, Art, Domestic Science, Women’s Institute Displays, Floriculture, Fruit, Vegetables, Junior Classes, Needlework and so much more.
Mac Beattie was the Ottawa Valley. And for almost everyone who knew him he will always be the personification of the area he loved. Even in death. Monday Beattie died in the Arn-prior Hospital having lost his five-month battle with cancer. Born at Braeside, near Arnprior, 65 years ago, Beattie spent more than 40 years celebrating his native valley in song and poetry, lie was one of the first artists to appear on national television when CTV first came into being, performing on Cross Canada Barn Dance out of CJOH.
He and his Mclodiers were frequent performers in the early days of radio station CFRA, founded by the late Frank Ryan, as well as on national radio out of Pembroke and on television’s Don Messer Show. When news of his death circulated around town it was obvious nothing else would be talked about, nothing was as important. In the Cameron Country Hotel the oldtimers had their Beattie stories to tell. “He wanted to give people a little bit of enjoyment,” Max Mooney said. “He was the Ottawa Valley, his father before him was a fine musician.
His father used to sit in this very bar room and when he’d play the bagpipes, we’d all rush to the door to sec who the band was.” Murray Dark of Belleveue Farms recalls “hundreds of dances with Mac in Pukenham and at Sunny-dale Acres in Lake Dore where Mac found his inspiration for the Lake Dore Waltz. “Mac and the Melodiers used to drop in at my place every time they came by,” says Jim Reid, owner of what was then Reid’s Fine Foods. “My wife played the piano and they sometimes set up the band for a little bit.” “He was a hell of a hockey player; a goaltender,” Mooney remembers. “He played Junior hockey for years three of the Major Leagues were after him.” But music and the valley kept Mac.
He married Marie McMunn, raised his three children in Arnprior, and daughter Bonnie began to sing with her father’s band at a young age. A year ago, some 400 people attended a testimonial dinner for Beattie at Renfrew Armory, when he was presented with a plaque on behalf of Premier William Davis for his outstanding contribution to country music in the Ottawa Valley. He recorded nine albums, mostly of his own music, and published a book of poetry in the ’60s. He leaves 80 poems, which will be published, and at the time of his death was writing some of the history of the Valley, with particular attention to the lumbermen who worked the Ottawa River. His most successful song was The Logdrivers’ Song. 5 June 1982
John MacNab Beattie (Mac) was born where the Madawaska and Ottawa Rivers converge at the town of Arnprior, Ontario, in the year 1916. His father, Jim, was away at war in Europe and would not see him until it was ended. When Jim Beattie returned home the family moved a few miles upstream to the village of Braeside where he would take a job with the Gillies Lumber Company.
Jim Beattie, a harmonica and bugle player, ventriloquist and jokester, would spend his winters in the shanty camps of the Gatineau Hills in Pontiac County, Quebec. It was at these camps that Jimmie would hear the songs and stories of shantymen from all over the valley. They’d sing Irish songs, Scottish songs, French songs and songs of the shanty life. They’d dance the reels and entertain themselves to pass the monotony of daily life in the winter camps.
When Jimmie came home each spring, he’d bring back those songs and stories that would fascinate his family. It was in this atmosphere that Mac grew up. It was in this folklore of the valley that he would dedicate his life. His love of the stories, the lives of the people, of the gentle times, the hard times, it all hit home by the time he was a teen-ager. Mac Beattie utilized these spiritual forces to forge ahead during those very interesting times.
Listening to Mac Beattie’s lyrics now, you could not fail to notice his frequent mention of the people and places of the Ottawa Valley. You would also probably notice the strange way he used his voice to enunciate his words, the old-style inflections he utilized in his poetic ballads. I have not heard anyone else sing like this, and even now in the Valley with its distinct Irish/Scotts accent, Mac’s accent remains unique.
Mac Beattie never played a melodic instrument other than a bit of harmonica. Instead, he chose the washboard to accompany his songs. Along with friends Gaetan Fairfield and Garnie Scheel, he formed a band called the Melodiers in the early 1930s to mimic the sounds of the big dance bands of that era.
It is probably because his songs were either learned or composed without the accompaniment of a melodic instrument that Mac’s vocal patterns remained in theold traditional style. He didn’t have a wonderful voice, but what he had he used well. He sang a cappella, using the syllables of words in the traditional way of Celtic melodies. He’d teach these songs to his friends who would then work out arrangements to fit around his singing style.
In time, Mac Beattie would go on to become Mr. Ottawa Valley with his Melodiers, riding the ups and downs of the music business for over 5 decades. During that time he would be heard and seen on national television and radio; he would associate his show with step-dancing great Don Gilchrist; he would make lifelong friends with important cultural leaders of both sides of the Ottawa River. And lastly, he would be inducted into the Ottawa Valley Country Music Hall of Fame as its second inductee (at Mac’s insistance, his late fiddler, Reg Hill, received the honour of being the first to be inducted). He would also leave us with 90 tracks of music spanning 9 LPs recorded between the years of 1960 to 1975.
And Now there is great news! Peter Beattie has just released The Best of Mac Beattie and the Ottawas Valley Melodiers CD – this means that you can now purchase Mac’s wonderful music for the first time in years. Contact Peter at p.beattie@sympatico.ca Read —Mac Beattieand the Ottawa Valley Melodiers __ CLICK
With his oldtime music group, the Ottawa Valley Melodiers, he was heard regularly on CFRA radio, Ottawa, until the late 1950s and on CHOV, Pembroke, until the early 1960s. He also performed at local fairs, dances, and clubs. The Melodiers included at various times Beattie’s daughter Bonnie, the steel guitarist Garnet Scheel, and the noted fiddler Reg Hill. Beattie’s first 78, ‘The Log Driver’s Song,’ released by Rodeo Records in the early 1950s, was followed by 11 LPs under Rodeo’s various labels. Many of his songs were based on Ottawa Valley events, people, and places – eg, ‘Lake Dore Waltz’ and ‘Train Wreck at Almonte’.
I noticed a comment regarding my 63 Chev wagon that was parked in front of the ESSO station; that and the tragic news of David Hagerman’s death caused me to reflect on a most fortunate conclusion to a head-on collision we had on the Friday 1st Dec, 1966. ( Dowdall’s Esso and Hank’s Tire- Jo-Anne Dowdall-Brown and Larry Clark)
The accident took place on Hwy 17 between Cobden and Haley Station Rd. There were six of us in the car (Chev wagon) I was driving, Beth sitting beside me in the front seat and my 7-8 month pregnant sister, Eleanore beside her (loved those bench seats). The three children in the back.
My youngest son Keith was lying on the back seat and the other two were way in the back, luggage area (probably fighting?) surrounded by a variety of Christmas presents.
It was dark of night (very black). I had just turned my head slightly to speak to Eleanore, when my attention was drawn to an on-coming car breasting the hill, but one with four headlights-I reacted quickly as two of them were in my lane. Here my memory is rather vague-I must have cranked the wheel severely to the right-and then oblivion. I must have been out for only a couple of minutes and my next memories were of being in a stranger’s car being driven to Renfrew hospital-not sure who else was with me-perhaps the other adults (children?).
Dec 2 1966
Arriving at the hospital, in a state of confusion, I very relieved to find out that everyone had survived albeit with a variety of broken bones , cuts and contusions. The doctor wanted to examine me but I insisted he look after the others first. Later determined the Beth had a broken collarbone and a very large gash along her jawline requiring many stitches (the gearshift lever); Eleanore some bleeding and was being monitored closely (the two of them had numerous small facial cuts from flying glass); Brent a small gash on his face; Aimee and Keith, no apparent injuries.
In the middle of all this, the other driver was brought in but quickly ambulanced to Ottawa with a severe eye injury (I knew him from CP but forget his name, which is why I was looking for the newspaper article). Not a way to meet someone from our home town.
I called my parents with the bad news and arranged for a family member to come and drive myself and the children to my parents as Beth and Eleanore, were being held overnight (in fact Eleanore was being driven to Carleton Place Hospital by ambulance) in hospital. I would regret this decision later when, a pain in my left/ankle of which I had been dimly aware of, manifested itself in an increased, barely bearable throbbing, with which I had to put up with for the remainder of the night.
Throughout the night I had to keep immersing my foot in near boiling water to distract from the throbbing. I did make it through the night and arranged to be driven back to Renfrew to gather the remainder of our belongings, visit the accident site, take pictures of the car and most importantly to arrange for the release of Beth from the hospital. I also persuaded a nurse to provide me with pain pills.
A few days later, a friend (Dave) who was on course in Ottawa, joined Beth and I on a visit to Eleanore in Hospital. It must have been a sight coming down the hall, three abreast as I was limping, Dave was on crutches (broken ankle due to a fall off a ladder) and Beth with a large bandage on her face and left arm in a sling. It was cause for another bit of excitement.
Nine months late, having lost my limp, I was in a very fastidious (didn’t much like him for that reason) doctor’s office for my annual medical (ATC licence) and on questioning/examining me, pulled out a great protractor-type thing and upon applying this gismo to my arm, asked when I had broken my arm/elbow.
I explained about the accident which of course arched his eyebrows and led to a much more thorough examination which alarmed me a little but nothing more was determined other than my arm was 20 degrees from being straight. This, over time resolved itself to near perfection (like the rest of me:)
A year and more later, I attended the trial of the other driver; he was defended by a very good lawyer (one of the Anka’s-Paul’s uncle, I believe) and by the time the trial was over it was hard to believe that the accident had actually happened.
I was of little or no help as I didn’t remember much. The charges were dismissed. However the other witnesses (the ones being passed) tried their best to paint a complete picture. I took them to lunch and it was only then that my memory came flooding back (or at least their version).
I had forgotten that I had cursed the onlookers who had gathered- for not acting quickly enough in getting the kids out of the back seat. I passed the kids, one at a time through the opening that should have been the windshield except that I couldn’t find Keith. He had been sleeping on the back seat and when the other two were projected forward, breaking the rear seatback and covering him when he was forced to the floor. This would have slowed their forward movement so that it had (probably) minimized the effect on those of us in the front seat and reduced or nullified any potential injuries they may have suffered as a result of the crash.
The main witness testimony (a truck being passed) was that when they perceived what was about to happen they pulled to their right leaving their lane virtually clear but the overtaking vehicle. He, instead turned to his left thus colliding with our vehicle (he may have attempted to turn back) thus turning a head-on into a partial head-on??
lindaseccaspina 