The Rural Voice, 1994-08, Page 37Daytripping
Daytripping back to the days
before the Europeans arrived
in Bruce County
Story and photos by Keith Roulston
With its century farms and stolid
stone buildings, Bruce County's
farming country gives a sense of the
history of the region but this month's
Daytrip takes you into a history that
goes far back beyond the time the first
plow entered the ground.
Bruce County has a high profile
native community and the history of
that community is particularly evident
in the Southampton area, both in the
Bruce County Museum and at the
Saugeen Reserve north of town. Our
journey was arranged to take in both
areas as well as a quick view of other
parts of the county.
We began at Chesley, stopping to
have lunch in the riverside park there.
Chesley has taken advantage of its
river area much more extensively than
most communities. You can follow
Fourth St. Southeast past the
community centre and the curling
club to the riverside area. The road
with the river on your right, loops the
Kinsmen Playground, the Centennial
Swimming Pool, the Rotary Pavilion,
the Lawn Bowling Club and even the
hospital before rejoining the main
street (First Avenue).
Chesley was founded in
1858 by Adam S. Elliot
who opened the first
general store and built the
first saw and grist mills. By
1866 there were 60 people
living in a small settlement
by the river and by 1880 the
community had grown
enough to be incorporated
as a village.
Chesley has always been
a furniture making centre
and the Heirloom plant still
offers a showroom. A piece
of agriculture's past is also
A magnificent view of the Saugeen
River is one of the treats at the
Friendship Garden on the site of the
signing of the Saugeen Treaty,
handing over a huge piece of First
Nation territory in 1854.
preserved in two water -powered feed
mills in the town. Chesley has also
become a centre for Amish farmers so
farming, the way it used to be, is on
view in neighbouring fields.
We headed north on Bruce County
Road 10 toward Tara, 19 km to the
north. One tends to think of rolling
hills when one thinks of Bruce County
but here the land is in a plain. The
Bruce County Museum has evidence
that the history of the arca
around Tara goes hack long
before even the native
population arrived. A 10,000 -
year -old wooly mammoth
tooth was found near the
village, proof the prehistoric
giant roamed Bruce County.
The Royal Ontario Museum
restored the artifact and
returned it to the Bruce
museum for display.
North from Tara we
travelled through land that
became more rolling, turning
left on Highway 21 at
Allenford. Not far from the
A dugout canoe al
the Bruce County
Museum.
AUGUST 1994 33