Wherever "there" may be; finding Mississauga outside of the city - Part 2

Read the first instalment by clicking here.

Wherever I travel, I always find myself drawn to the history of the place that I am now exploring. I happily ponder historic architecture, place names, heritage signs, monuments, markers, plaques, and other things that capture my curiosity.

Group of Seven Replica Boxcar at Sault Ste Marie

We recently spent some vacation time near Sault Ste. Marie – and what a wonderful journey it was. And once again I was amazed at the connections to Mississauga that we stumbled across. As I mentioned in a previous article, I am always enamoured by the process of connecting wherever I might be to the place I call home.

On our way to Sault Ste. Marie, making the long drive from Sudbury, we passed along the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 17) along the North Shore of Lake Huron, coming through the small community of Spragge. The community takes its name from the surrounding historic Township, which itself was named after William Spragge, Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs from 1862 to 1874. Spragge, who was married into the Molson family of the famous brewery), has ties to historic Mississauga. You will find his name listed on property along the Credit River Valley in the 1877 Historical Atlas of Peel County – even though he had passed away in 1874. This was in connection with the sale of the Credit Indian Reserve lands and the subsequent survey and sale of lands south of Dundas Street which had been managed by the Department of Indian Affairs. It is unclear why his personal name was attached to the land here.

Mississauga First Nation sign on Highway 17

Further along Highway 17, we passed through the Mississauga First Nation (Mississagi River 8 Reserve), and it was my children who were excited to see the name “Mississauga” emblazoned on a sign so far away from our home. That ignited conversations with them about the Indigenous Mississaugas, the connections to our home, traditional territories, and finally, sobering talk about residential schools and truth and reconciliation – all started from seeing “Mississauga” on a sign and young minds trying to make sense of their surroundings.

A short distance away, on the outskirts of Blind River, we passed a billboard from Pinchin Environmental – a large environmental and engineering consulting firm – whose historic roots are right here in Mississauga. The company was founded in 1981 by Don Pinchin, who was born and raised in Streetsville. Don’s grandfather Herb Pinchin, who was a treasurer for Toronto Township (historic Mississauga), purchased a farm along Mississauga Road in 1932 and converted it to apple orchards. The farm was run for many years by Don’s father, Vic Pinchin. The former apple and turkey farm, located near the crossing of Mississauga Road and Highway 403, is now owned by the City of Mississauga and is referred to as the Pinchin Property. Even as the company has grown and expanded their services well beyond our borders, there is a wonderful story on the Pinchin Ltd. website about their connection to apples along Mississauga Road: https://www.pinchin.com/whats-new/our-apple-story/

The Chicora Incident OHT Plaque

After arriving in Sault Ste. Marie, a lovely walk along the historic locks brought me to an Ontario Heritage Trust marker commemorating the “Chicora Incident” in 1870. The plaque took me by surprise, because I have been working on an article on the famed Chicora, a steamship that once plied the waters of Lake Ontario and called at Port Credit and Lorne Park. To find a plaque and image of the ship in Sault Ste. Marie was an exciting find, particularly since my own article focuses on other aspects of its long story (stay tuned for next week’s Way Back Wednesday article for more on the Chicora). The short story of the “Chicora Incident” was that in May of 1870 a British-Canadian Expeditionary Force, being sent to the Northwest during the Red River Rebellion, were blocked passage through the locks on the American side of Sault Ste. Marie. This delay ultimately led to the construction of a lock on the Canadian side, allowing direct access on Canadian waters between Lake Huron and Lake Superior.

A short distance away from the locks at the new (and beautiful) railway station building for the Agawa Canyon Tour Train stands a replica on a boxcar used by Group of Seven artists as they travelled, toured and sketched the scenery around Agawa Canyon and Lake Superior. Between 1918 and 1922 artists Lawren Harris, Franklin Carmichael, Frederick Varley, J.E.H. MacDonald, A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer and Frank Johnston travelled in a specially equipped boxcar on the Algoma Central Railway as they explored, as MacDonald wrote, the “original site of the Garden of Eden”. Later, in 1928, group member A.J. Casson also painted along the shores of Lake Ontario. I was drawn to thinking of our own connections to the Group of Seven – notably A.J. Casson, whose grandmother resided in old Meadowvale Village, was a frequent visitor. Contemporaries A.Y. Jackson and Arthur Lismer also painted in the village, as did many other artists.

Mishipeshu

Our trip through Agawa Canyon and Lake Superior Provincial Park was highlighted by the magnificent and humbling scenery – the vast landscapes and vistas were beautiful to behold. Road signs depicting an image of the Indigenous underwater spirit Mishipeshu, (“the Great Lynx”) engendered other conversations around Indigenous history. Legends of water spirits on Lake Ontario have a strong cultural connections to those associated with Mishipeshu in Lake Superior, and connected with the spirit world of the Indigenous Mississaugas along the Credit River.

As we continued along with our drive we stopped (for gas and an ice cream break) at Agawa Indian Crafts & The Canadian Carver along Highway 17. A chance encounter there brought Mississauga back into focus – while getting ice cream we ran into Chris Chapel, the schoolmistress from Old Britannia Schoolhouse – it truly is a small world at times. Our conversation connected not only with the sites and scenes along the shores of Lake Superior, but also to the rich sense of culture and history the area provides; from the halfway point of the Trans-Canada Highway at Chippewa Falls and the Wawa Goose to the Edmund Fitzgerald Lookout and the incredible beach at Pancake Bay. It was a wonderful moment to pause and connect with a Mississauga friend during a momentary pause on our journey.

Halfway point Trans-Canada Highway at Chippewa Falls

For many years I have been fascinated by the stories of early sailing on the Great Lakes, and of the many shipwrecks that lie in their deep, cold waters. Of course, the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking in 1975 is one of the most well-known, and I had been reading a book about its tragic loss on this trip – and a side-journey to Pancake Bay brought us to the very stretch where some of the only known wreckage from the ship had washed ashore. Standing on the beach in Pancake Bay was the closest point of land to the wreck site itself – and another chance encounter in the parking lot with someone who recognized me – a resident of Lorne Park who happened to park beside our vehicle. We had a few moments to chat about some fun stories of Mississauga history (they had a question about a historic crime in Mississauga), and truly helped to connect me to home even as I travelled.