Notes on Sites of Indian Villages 1903 The Fishing Station by Andrew Hunter

Remains of the fishing station and the fish weirs of the Hurons at the Narrows. The position of the old weirs is north of the old railway bridge. In 1887, the late Joseph Wallace sr, a local archaeologist, of Orillia , indentitied this as the fishing station mentioned in Champlain,s Journal ( 1615) , at the time when he had extracts from that journal printed in the Orillia Times.see champlain,s Works Vol.4 page 34 .Mr. Wallace also contributed an article on the subject to the Canadian Indian Sault Ste. Marie Ont. and it appeared in the issue of that periodical fo February 1891 pages 134-138, under the heading A Fishing Station of the Ancient Hurons Identified. Owing to the rarity of that reference to the fish stakes. After some general remarks on the object of Champlains expedition he says- The Narrows present much the same features as in Champlain,a day. But its fame as fishing ground has long vanished, bass may still be caught with the rod, or trolling, and in the winter season some scores of Indians and whites may be seen  spearing herrings through holes cut in the ice. Still there is no doubt that at the time to which reference is made,all those lakes were literally swarming with fish.Are there any remains to point out the exact locality where these stakes crossed the strait? In answering this question in the affirmative, I would state that some years since my friend Gilbert Williams, an Indian informed me that he had seen very old stakes which were used by the  Mohawks  for catching fish. Some time after when I was writing out a story of Champlain for one of our local papers, I was conversing with Charles Jacobs on the subject, who said he had also seen the stakes and further that the locality was known to this day as  " Mitchekun"which means a fence or the place which was fenced or staked across. He said that if a strange Indian  were to ask him where he came from he would answer Michekuning the termination  "ing" signifying from that is from Mitchekun. We were at the time standing on the Orillia wharf and within sight of the endof the Narrows. Charles Jacobs said ask old Mr. Snake who was standing near by where Mitchekun is. As soon as i asked the old man he turned and pointed to the Narrows, which  was between two and tree miles distant. In September 1886 I walked down to the Narrows and entered into conversation with Mr. frank Gaudaur  who is of Indian extraction and the keeper of the Midland railway bridge who immediately took me to the side of the bridge and a few paces distant and showed me a number of the stakes which remained> Dredging the channel for the purpose of navigation had of course, removed the greater part of them,only those on the outside of the dredged portion being left. Mr. Gaudaur said that there were some other places where stakes might be seen, but that this was the most compete part. The stakes as might be expected were a good deal twisted by the current, but the ends  were still close together, and firmly embedded in the clay and mud at the bottom ,so that it as only after considerable pulling with a spear that one was brought to the surface. The stakes would be about five or six feet long and thicker than a walking stick. It is to be observed that they are not placed across in a straight line indeed one portion is continued in a direction half- way down the stream and would thus produce an angle when the line was change upwards and at the opening of this angle would be placed the net and this is in exact accordance with the method which Champlain describes, when the Indians were hunting deer that is by staking out large space in the woods with an angle into which the game was driven. It is not difficult to account for the stakes lasting for so many years when we consider that the tops were under the surface of the water thus escaping the action of the air and also the ice, which in this locality is never of great thickness because of the rapidity of the current. It must be understood that we do not assert that these identical stakes existed there in Champlain,s time although it is possible that some of the may be part of the original construction. It was probably used for fishing purposes long after the time of Champlain,s and even after the destruction of the Huron ,s for Iam strongly inclined to suspect that a portion of the Mohawks settled down on the vanquished territory and remained there a considerable time. If such was the case the fence would be repaired from time to time, as circumstances required, whit out altering the site to any material extent. The stake which i had been pointed with an axe of considerable sharpness as evidenced by the comparatively clean cuts made in the operation. Our present Indians who are Ojibways know nothing about them , except the tradition before mentioned. Mr. Snake is an old man, and he stated to me that the old Indians when he was young , referred the whole construction , and its use to the Mohawks  I have no doubt,if they are not molested the remains will be in existence a century hence. A paragraph in the Orillia packet of June 21 1889 affords some further information upon the important fishing station- During his stay here Mr. A. C. Osborne, of Penetanguishene accompanied by Me. Joseph Wallace sr. visited Mr. F Gaudaur and they made a most interesting discovery A copy of Champlain,s journal describes the method by which the Indians took fish in 1615. They had rows of stakes driven into the bottom of the Narrows in such a way as to corral the fish in passing from one lake to the other. In this manner enough fish for thr commissariat during the expedition in which they engaged against the Iroquois were taken in five or six days. When this part of the journal was read to Mr. Gaudaur, he took his visitors to where the rows of stakes could be seen under water. The Ojibways he said found these stakes there when they came a hundred and fifty or eighty years since,knew what they were for, but did not use them .They were in large numbers and at one time extended across the Narrows but very many were thrown out in dredging the present channel. The stakes are of tamarac Me Osborne secures two one had evidently been put down to replace another at a date subsequent to the other , which was soft like cheese when pulled out . The top is desiccated and is covered with slime, Though only some six inches were visible they extend a long distance into the mud. Me. Osborne believes that the older stick is one of those there when Champlain encamped at the spot. Mr. Gaudaur says that these under water fences probably suggested the Ojibway name for Orillia or the Narrows Michikaning The place of the fence.