By Don Clement
An article titled ‘Two Stubborn Men’ taken from an old ‘Globe and Mail’ Weekend Magazine article (Vol. 22, No. 6 – Feb. 5, 1972) is available on the WCA website with the permission of its author, Peter Martyn.
I’m not sure how widely this old story has been circulated… maybe, several WCA members have already had access to it but for those who haven’t, the article is an interesting read, and it profiles a couple of old time residents that I was fortunate enough to have known personally as a cottage kid spending all his summers up here on our beloved ‘Georgian Bay’.
The story is related to two ‘salt of the earth’ commercial fishermen, Alan Milligan and Lid Haggart. Lid Haggart and his family ended up becoming permanent year-round residents once the Sand Bay Road was extended out to ‘Bedrock’ at Haggart Bay. Marg Lloyd (Lid’s daughter) still lives where the original fishing camp was first purchased from the Crown in 1952. I often spotted Lid piloting his old grey fishing metal scow, and on a few occasions I travelled with him down to Dillon or out to check his nets in his boat. I even experienced watching Lid with his son Jack cutting ice in the winter. They used a large gas-engine powered circular saw and cut a grid of ice blocks, and then pulled the blocks up into their icehouse to be buried in sawdust. They used the ice to pack ‘the catch’ in wooden boxes for shipment. The Haggarts used to make their own wooden boxes, caught the fish, cleaned the fish and earned a living.
I did not meet Alan Milligan until I turned 14-years old. That’s when I started a summer job working at the old Dillon General Store (now abandoned, and in complete disrepair) located at the bridge over the Shebeshekong River. The Milligan’s, Christenson’s and the Ramsey families were all year-round residents. I came to know the older generation of those Dillon pioneer families. I worked at the store each summer when I was 14, 15 & 16 years old. Individuals like Walter Christenson, Ron Ramsey and Alan Milligan certainly impressed a kid from Oakville. The old store was originally known as Ramsey’s Store and they sold ‘White Rose’ gasoline, kerosene, camp fuel, worms, and delivered propane cylinders by boat to the islands. At the time I worked there, the store had been purchased by George & Dorothy Sleeth. If you needed a ‘box’ of beer or a ‘bottle’ of spirits… it could be obtained. I came to know Alan Milligan quite well as he would come in to get gas for his half-ton truck, and would often sit down and solve a few of the world’s problems with a discussion in the workshop with my boss. I was paid $0.50/hr. and it was the best time of my life as I could travel to work in a 12-foot cedar strip boat powered by a 7-1/2 hp Johnson. I had many cottage friends out on the islands that I still see each summer. On a couple of occasions I went out on Alan Milligan’s fishing tug named the ‘Albert M.’ Once we went all the way out to the Limestones in that tug… as Alan navigated out between Adanac Island and Oak Island… I remembered which side of Elm tree Island Alan chose to continue out to the Limestones for our picnic.
Anyway, I remember that Alan Milligan died young… at age 54. (1919 – 1974) It would only be a couple of years after he was featured in the Newspaper article. He’s buried in the Carling Cemetery. Lid Haggart lived a longer life (1910 – 1990) After losing his wife Isabella, Lid bought a CB radio, and it was a tradition to listen to him ‘sign off’ every night on channel 13 at 08:00 o’clock. He lived until he was 80… often cussing and cursing anytime something didn’t quite match his opinion. He appeared to be ‘rough and tough’… but, once you got to know him he was often kind and considerate. Lid is also buried in the Carling Cemetery.
Incidentally, earlier today I was on the phone with Marg Lloyd (Lid’s daughter) and verified that she has an original copy of that old Weekend Magazine article. I’ve known Marg for years, and consider her to be a valued friend… she’s a real character like her father.
It happens that my birthday falls at the end of July… if COVID-19 doesn’t catch up to me… I will celebrate my 73rd birthday here. I consider myself blessed and very fortunate to say I’ve never missed a single birthday up here in the paradise of ‘the Bay’ I call home.
Just thought I would share the old PDF digital file and story for anyone that might not have seen it.
The initial article written by Peter Martyn is used with his permission.