GBA 2020 - Fall Update

www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Fall 2020 HISTORY By Peggy Muntz and Vivian Stephenson, edited and updated by Ian Baines 2019 T he late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw the opening of the Manitou area around Moose Deer Point and Twelve Mile Bay to visitors from the south. A number of resort hotels opened, private fishing clubs purchased islands for their members’ use and a limited number of private cottages were built. The solitary lumbermen who cut logs for the Georgian Bay Lumber Company suddenly found themselves joined by campers, anglers and tourists on Georgian Bay. By the turn of the century, the Manitou area was well known to US fishing enthusiasts and campers, with the odd Canadian thrown in for good measure. Local First Nations people, especially the nearby Moose Deer Point band, provided considerable support for these visitors. They helped the newcomers navigate the area and acted as hunting and fishing guides. Without any roads, steamboats became the source of transport to bring all these new visitors, and support their hardware, grocery and mail needs. By the late 1890s, regular service to the area was bringing dozens of folks every week. The steamship captains used their extensive knowledge of the local rocks, shoals and deep-water channels to land passengers and freight at a small, select number of islands. Initially, Kah-She Dock served as the landing for the Manitou area, and the 60-foot-long steamship dock on its north shore has since been restored to its original design. The dock was originally owned by the Kah-She-She- Bog-a-Mog fishing club from Pittsburgh. Rowboats and a few private motor launches would meet the steamship and carry passengers to the resorts, private islands and campsites. As more and more people arrived, the demand for a larger common dock increased and Manitou area cottagers formed an association for the purpose of acquiring a deep-water dock in order to build a freight shed and a common landing that was capable of accommodating the big boats at least once a day. The Manitou Association was incorporated in June 1929 “to provide opportunity for social intercourse amongst the members, transportation, postal and to construct a dock … convenient for the purposes of the Corporation.” That same year, the Association acquired the island #483, on which Manitou Dock would be built. The History of the Manitou Association Stoney Lakes Steamboat on Starvation Bay, circa 1900. Log Boom in Starvation Bay, Manitou area, circa 1870.