Pogamasing:
The Story of a Northern Lake
by Andy Thomson
Lake Pogamasing is a unique lake within the Sudbury District of Northern Ontario. Through the years is has been the site of a Hudson's Bay Company post managed by an Anishnabe chief, the centre of a logging and sawmill operation and village during the challenging Depression decade, and home of a flotilla of Second World War DUKWs.
These uncommon attributes are only a few examples of what makes the history of Pogmasing so compelling. Its story is also a microscopic view of what happened not just in Northern Ontario, but in Canada from the 19th century to the present.
Supported by original archival research and over 100 photographs, maps and illustrations, this story of Pog is enlivened by fascinating first-hand accounts of life in the bush from the intrepid people who have ventured and lived there.
Andy Thomson is a retired secondary teacher who taught history in Toronto and at Lahr Senior School (DND) in Germany. He has spent years exploring Lake Pogamasing, canoeing, hiking and snowshoeing with his wife Mandy, their two children Alex and Fraser, and many friends. He developed an early interest in the area's history, fostered by his mother and her family. He has a camp on Pog and is a member of the extended Plaunt family.
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ISBN: 978-0-9810609-7-2 | WMPub#1171
7" x 10" | 304 pages; over 100 pictures, maps, diagrams; trade paperback | $29.95
Andy Thomson's Pogamasing: The Story of a Northern Lake is a wonderful read of a part of Canada and a cast of Canadians the likes of which we shall not see again. It has drama, humour, history and, on every page, love of a special place.The research is phenomenal and many of the stories the "mattress drownings" in particular are heart wrenching and powerful. It is well written, well organized and nicely illustrated. I cannot think of a family history or a local history that compares to it. Drop in for a visit and you'll stay to the very end.
.Roy MacGregor, Globe and Mail columnist and author of A Life in the Bush, Canadians: Portrait of a Country and Its People and Northern Light: The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson.
Table of Contents
1. The Importance of Pogamasing
2. The Anishnabe, the First Inhabitants of Pogamasing
3. The Impact of the Newcomers
4. The Espagnols: the Leading Family of the Spanish River
5. The Pogamasing Post and the Lake Huron District
6. The Coming of the Iron Snake
7. Pogamasing: the Canary in the Coal Mine
8. The Surveyors: Assessing the Potential of the Timber Resources
9. A Forest Fire Sparks Logging
10. The Charlton Limit
11. W. B. Plaunt Establishes a Sawmill at Wye
12. Lumbering in the Thirties: Interview with Bill Plaunt
13. Life in a Company Village
14. Beyond Lumbering
15. From Logging Camp to Fishing Camp
16. Families Eclipse Fishing
17. Billy's Bay to Plauntation
18. Summer Camp to All Season Camp
19. Going to Pog
20. Mishaps and other Adventures
21. At the Turn of the 21st Century
22. Journey's End