Thanks to Bobby Swain of Basswood Outfitters for this contribution to the history corner. We recommened that you checkout the many interesting blogs that Bobby has created on the Basswood Outfitters web page.

Introduction – by Bobby Swain

Following is a link to a series of articles from Forest and Stream magazine (1893) which detail a foray made the prior year by a group of American sportsmen from several mid-western states, to what was then the very remote location of Big Basswood Lake east of Thessalon.

The area around Big Basswood Lake had been surveyed and registered as Day Township in 1879, and the lots were put up for sale by the Ontario Government in 1880. Much of the land in the southern part of the Township proved to be productive farmland and was purchased as such by many early settlers whose names would be familiar to many in the area to this day.

A portion of the Township which was not suitable for farm settlement was the strip crossing between the two largest lakes in the jurisdiction. This narrow strip of land between what are now known as Big Basswood and Bright Lakes, was shown in 1882 maps as the proposed routing of the CPR Soo branch of the railway (before the final decision was made to run the main line north of Lake Superior from Sudbury Junction). The property along what became Harris Creek between the two lakes, was quickly identified as ideal for industrial applications such as grain milling and saw milling due to the water power supplied by the steep creek.

The area just east of the Creek was identified by J.B. Dobie as an ideal location for a townsite to be developed along the railway which would prosper from both the nearby industry and tourism along the lake shore. Mr. Dobie, then and for many years, the owner and operator of a general store in Thessalon, purchased the property in 1880 under the speculation of the railway location. A townsite was surveyed in 1882 and named Portage City. The first drawing card of any townsite in those days was the establishment and construction of a church building. Therefore, the first lot to be granted and developed in Portage City was the McArthur Presbyterian Church, which is mentioned in one of the articles noted above and linked below. Remnants of the Church graveyard still exist near the shores of Big Basswood Lake on Portage Street, nearly 140 years later.

Mr. Dobie sold the central Big Basswood lakefront property to an Englishman, George Dyer, for the purpose of Mr. Dyer establishing a fishing camp for international visitors to the new townsite - which as you will read he readily undertook this task. Unfortunately, Mr. Dyer passed away in 1894, a year after these articles were published and Mr. Dobie subsequently purchased the property back from Mr. Dyer's estate in 1895. Mr. Dobie went on in the next couple of years to build onto Mr. Dyer's lodge and establish what he named Komta Cottage. Komta remains to this day nestled up in the forest on the bank of Dobie Bay on Big Basswood Lakenear the Harris Creek dam.

For perspective on the era that this trip was taken and the associated article published, 1892 was the year that the incandescent light bulb was invented, Grover Cleveland was elected the 24th President of the United States, and John Thompson was elected as the 4th Prime Minister of Canada – and as you will read, it was the first official year of tourist accommodation on Big Basswood Lake.

Below is the link to the 1893 Forest and Stream magazine articles about the"Kingfishers" trip to Basswood Lake in 1892. For easier reading these articles have been transcribed and will soon be compiled into a story to be published on the Basswood Lake Outfitters website (basswoodlake.ca). The transcribed story will add perspective notes and plenty of additional information relating to Mr. Dyer and the Kingfishers' 1892 trip to Big Basswood Lake - keep in touch for updates.

Click here to read v.40 (1893) - Forest and stream - Biodiversity Heritage Library

Page 429 - Part 1

Page 452 - Part 2

Page 474 - Part 3

Page 492 - Part 4

Using the "single page view" is easier to read and the page numbers noted are the actual page numbers seen on the magazine page headings.