CCGS Miskanaw

The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Miskanaw was put in service on the Athabasca and Slave rivers in 1958, the year we arrived at Fort Chipewyan. It ensured that navigation channels were safe and marked for traffic, as the river channels were in constant flux.

CCGS Miskanaw arriving through the ice, spring 1961. The wheeled airplane, a Helio Courier H-250 I believe, doesn't make sense to me as the airstrip wasn't constructed until 1962, so this photo may be misdated... Courier Air Service ran a scheduled passenger service between Edmonton and Fort Chipewyan until 1966 when the public airport opened. 

Arriving at the government dock.

Edmonton Journal, Saturday, June 13, 1981, F12, "She's a guiding light along the Athabasca"

St. Paul's Church

I was confirmed in St. Paul's Anglican Church in Fort Chipewyan on January 16, 1961, along with Hilda Fraser and Dot (Dorothy) Loutit. Mom was baptized by Bishop Pierce on the same day.

Dot, me and Hilda

Note Bishop Pierce authenticates this document with the Diocese name, Athabasca, instead of his own surname.  Mr. Herman gave me first communion, a big deal for me. 

Sunday school at St. Paul's Anglican Church, ca 1959
Constructed in 1880, this is the longest serving Anglican church in Alberta.

Mom, my sister and I went to church every Sunday, along with Miss Stewart from next door. There was a small but very dedicated congregation - the singing was amazingly loud with Mrs. Mabel Fraser leading every verse. I can't remember Mike ever joining us - it was a free time for him, he got the house to himself, and could crank up the stereo as loud as he wanted . Which he did! The reels of tape, carefully cataloged and labeled, are in a box in my garage now. I haven't quite been able to dispose of them. A lot of Broadway musicals, light classical, the Inkspots, etc. In the summer his Sunday mornings were tinkering with the boat or fishing at the point.

There is a cemetery between the church and the parish hall. Mike hid in among the tombstones one evening when some congregation members were gathering, and scared one of our neighbours so badly that she wet herself. There was a wonderful empty space behind the cemetery that had large trees and rough land perfect for playing battle games (WW2, cowboys, Robin Hood, etc.), building forts, and climbing. This natural playground was one of the reasons I never learned to play piano - I couldn't justify the time away from my friends to make the commitment.

Ground Observer Corps

From about 1960 until it was dismantled in 1964 I was an active member of the No. 20 Squadron of the RCAF Ground Observer Corps (the eyes and ears of the Royal Canadian Air Force). Yesterday I found my pin in Mike's jewelry box. I haven't yet found the books of silhouettes which I memorized...

Danny's Card

This wallet card of Fort Chipewyan was a gift from Danny Johnson. Danny died in a fiery car crash in June 1967 while commuting to Edmonton from Fort Saskatchewan. I was a pall-bearer. School children at recess watched the funeral procession through the playground link fence. We drank all night at Danny's folks' home, walked the dewy golf course in bare feet at 4am, ended up having breakfast at the Red Hat on Highway 16, in remembrance of a great guy.

This was my playground! Through my early teens I explored the myriad channels, islands, bush-paths and hills around Fort Chipewyan, by boat, canoe, hydroplane, bicycle, motorcycle, skis, and on foot. We swam all summer long, and skated sometimes for weeks before the snow came. The lake was incredibly varied depending on wind and river levels. For a few years, until I left for high school, I worked for Water Resources Branch taking daily recordings of lake levels and wind conditions at a meter stick on the point below the old fort buildings, for $30 per month. This was my first regular income, with savings going to boats and motors, guns and shells, a bicycle, various collections, cameras and photo processing.

The Peace, Athabasca and Slave Rivers join here - these channels were the highways of the fur trade, and the reason for the site's strategic importance. The North West Company, Hudson's Bay Company and the XY Company had a lively competition for furs from posts on Fort Chipewyan Point, Potato Island, English Island, and Old Fort Point, changing allegiances and locations for several years  between 1788 and the 1821 merger. My great great great great grandfather Peter Fidler established Nottingham House on English Island for the HBCo. I recall setting foot on English Island only once, in late June 1965, when we rescued our boat from floundering on the rocks not 30 meters from the building site for the post. We never realized either its location or our family connection to the site where my ancestor Andrew Fidler was probably conceived in late winter 1806. I wasn't particularly interested in history at the time, was more focused on exploring, hunting, and having fun with friends! We built forts, had rock wars (!), cowboys and Indians, some organized sports such as football, softball, boxing and curling, and lots of time on the lake. I knew most of the islands, channels and bays on the card above very well.

In retrospect, my parents were very trusting that I would keep out of trouble. After all, this was a big dangerous lake, with conditions that changed quickly in any season.

This Google Earth image illustrates the complex water relationships near Fort Chipewyan. The clear cold water of Lake Athabasca, fed for millenia by melt off the Canadian Shield, mixes with the muddy waters of the Peace, Athabasca and wetland lakes. These rich wetlands provided habitat for the huge beaver and muskrat population that attracted the fur trade. 

The lake has changed dramatically since we lived there. The WAC Bennett Dam on the Peace River in BC had a profound effect on the Peace-Athabasca delta, causing lower water levels, lack of spring surge and unprecedented winter flooding from releases that cause aquatic mammals wintering below the ice, such as beaver and muskrat, to either drown or freeze. Contaminating effluents from the Tar Sands projects on the Athabasca River have also created health issues for residents drinking the water and eating local fish.

This Blog

This is a simple blog, not a website. I add posts for new topics and update existing posts with new material, with the most recently updated post appearing first in the blog followed by progressively older ones. The first post however is always Fur Route (dated in the future) so there is a constant starting point, and some posts are cross-referenced with links. There is also a date-sequenced list on the right of each page for direct navigation to posts, which I try to give meaningful names.

The blog is evolving by my adding, but not necessarily publishing, posts on topics that seem to consolidate around a theme, and populating these posts over time with photos, memories or links that play strongly, as I come across them. When I think a post is ready to share I publish it - it then becomes the first post readers see after Fur Route. I also may link the post to a name or word  elsewhere. The evolution of material is influenced by whatever I'm reading or spending my time on, including talking to Mom who is my only link with my childhood. Working for the HBCo ensured we had a very transient lifestyle so I never developed lasting links with any of the communities I remember so well. This must be experienced by other "southerners" in those northern communities with their isolated social structures - kids of Signals, RCMP, HBCo, and missionaries during the 1950's - I believe this makes our memories rather unique from a historical perspective. The strong pull to the North and its isolated lifestyle of freedom also impresses my memories and influences the development of this blog.

I've used Google's Blogger service because it's easy to use and free, so far. Eventually I may add labels, pages, more interesting design, etc., but for now am sticking to default templates and layout and this simple (and reliable I hope) use of Blogger. If you want to follow the blog by getting notices on updates I believe you will need to register a Google account, I don't know.

If you have any suggestions, (gentle) criticisms, memories to add, etc. please leave comments.