6 www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Fall 2022 McGregor Bay is the second most northern GBA member association, with Killarney Park to the east, and Manitoulin Island to the west. Lying within the La Cloche Mountains, the white quartzite hills of the McGregor Bay Ridge make up its southern edge, and another range of spectacular white hills borders the north. Within these boundaries lie a series of islets, islands, reefs, and shoals, mostly unmarked. The only road access to the Bay is from Highway 6 at Birch Island, a village in the Whitefish River First Nation, part of the Anishinabek Nation. It is not known how long the area was occupied by the people of the Anishinabek Nation, but it is known that the original Birch Island settlement was on Wardrope Island – one of the largest islands in McGregor Bay. The village was later moved to its current location on a narrow strip of land that divides McGregor Bay from the Bay of Islands. At the western mouth of the Bay lies Dreamer’s Rock, an important spiritual site for the members of the Whitefish River First Nation. The earliest known European visitor to the area was the fur trader and partner in the Northwest Company Alexander Henry, who was passing through on the way to the west in 1761. Later, Captain Alexander McGregor came from Goderich to settle in the Bay area in 1836 and established himself as a trader of various commodities – whisky being the main one. He eventually married a woman from Birch Island, Robin Shawanosawe, and from that union the McGregor family members can trace their lineage. The beauty of the Bay attracted the attention of many wealthy American and Canadian families who first arrived by boat, then by train, as there was no road access until 1925. As with many of the cottage areas that were developed all over A (Very) Brief History of McGregor Bay HERITAGE By Gillian Woodrooffe, McGregor Bay Association Ethel Jenkins and her daughter, Julia, working in the McGregor Bay store. Ontario, one generation succeeded another – with first names changing but family names remaining a constant, and often being used to name beloved geographical places and serve as a reminder of the area’s history. Surveying the Area In 1916, TJ Patten, a Dominion land surveyor, enlisted members from the local Indigenous communities to assist him in his mission to survey McGregor Bay, the Bay of Islands, and most of the North Channel of Lake Huron. To this day, every island in the bay bears his characteristic survey markers made from squared cedar stakes, each bearing the carved initials TP and a unique number. He later settled in Little Current, married Jesse Potts of Little Current and built a cottage in McGregor Bay – which remains in the family. A Presidential Visit Birch Island had an interesting role during World War II, when President Franklin Roosevelt, arriving by presidential train, spent a week in 1943 fishing its waters, just as the war was reaching a critical point for the Allies. He was on his way to Quebec City to meet with Prime Minister Winston
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