The mines we’ll look at in more detail have connections to
the following communities just west of Ottawa. All but Calabogie fall within
Lanark County.
The area east of a north-south line running through Almonte
and Carleton Place consists mainly of exposed limestone formations, including
the unique
Burnt Lands Alvar a few kilometers to the east of Almonte. The
limestone here reveals only a few of the most primitive marine fossils (e.g.
shellfish and trace fossils) but lacks the spectacular fossils of later eras because
the glaciers long since ground away all the more recent fossil-bearing layers.
To the west of this line rises the Canadian Shield, which
forms an obvious ridge just outside Almonte and runs north to Pakenham along
the Mississippi River valley. This ridge once formed the western shore of Lake
Champlain, an inland sea that connected to the St. Lawrence River valley and
the Atlantic Ocean after the last ice age about 12,000 years ago. Visible
evidence of the ancient shoreline today includes the broad sand deposits along
the Old Perth Road just west of Almonte, which were once beaches probably teeming
with seals, walruses, and other creatures. Today the Lanark highlands is full
of swamps and lakes that formed in the pits and valleys scoured out by the
glaciers in the hard, impervious rock.
The geology of Lanark County promoted the
formation of mineral deposits with industrial value. In the early 1800s, government
surveyors exploring the area discovered this extensive mineral potential. They
noted that compass readings were affected in some areas where the geology was
known to be conducive to iron ore formation, suggesting the presence of
significant deposits.
Mapping studies over the next few decades revealed a trend
of north/south strikes, particularly along the area that eventually became the
route of the K&P Railway. Some of the major mines that we’ll examine are
indicated with red dots in the picture below; the dots along the left follow
the K&P. For the most part these are iron mines, but deposits of silver,
gold, copper, and other minerals were also identified. The discovery of
potentially rich mineral deposits, combined with the waning square timber
industry and the rising pulpwood industry, set the stage for developing roads,
rails, mines, and settlement in Lanark County.
By 1871 construction of the K&P was well underway. As it
pushed north, small communities around the pulpwood and mining industries
sprang up. Some politics was involved as well: the original route of the
K&P was well to the north of its current route in the area of Lavant Station.
Note on the map the location of "Iron Mine" in the bottom left corner. This is the Wilbur mine. The community marked "Lavant" is not to be confused with Lavant Station, which was incorporated by William Caldwell as "Iron City" in 1881 when the railway arrived.
The influence
of one of the local industry magnates—probably Boyd Caldwell or his nephew William (who was pursuing a mine near what became Flower Station)—got the route pushed south to
its present location. Compare with the map above.
Who were the Caldwells?
To understand the mines you need to understand the people
behind them. The Caldwell name is unavoidable in this context. There were many
Caldwells: they were movers and shakers, and many of them had the same
name—which creates a lot of confusion when trying to understand exactly who did
what. The Caldwells must’ve recognized this ambiguity, because sometimes they
added or changed their names to help distinguish each other. As best as I can
figure out by correlating reliable dates for births, deaths, and reports, these
are the key Caldwells with respect to the mining story.
A key insight is that it was the cousins
Thomas Boyd Caldwell and
William Clyde Caldwell who had the main mining interests. Fortunately, both had distinguished political careers (federally, Thomas; provincially, William), which means there's a good public record on their activities. Unfortunately, their political record overshadows their personal business record and makes it hard to sift out any details about the mines. My
sense is that their interest in mining was very much a sideline activity, with
politics and running their main timber and woolen mill interests being their
main focus.
Thomas’s father, Boyd, began mining the Wilbur site in
January 1880, before the arrival of the K&P in 1881. I haven’t been able to
find much detail about mining activity at Wilbur before 1880, although some
test pits were probably dug. Indeed, mining reports for 1884 note that early
development had long since been abandoned and that little was known about prior
activity beside some anecdotes from speaking with the Caldwells. The Wilbur
mine will be covered in a lot more detail in a future post.
The ambiguous names also create some mysteries about which descriptions
relate to which mine sites. At the time, everyone knew who “Caldwell” was and
understood the proper context when referring to “the Caldwell mine”. The
available record often doesn’t clarify which mine is the subject; there’s just
a reference to yet another “Caldwell” mine. This is further compounded by the
frequent change in ownership of different mine sites, some eventually bought
back by earlier owners. Throughout this evolution, even a mine that is named in
a contemporary record may not reflect the true ownership. Locals probably knew
it by one name, and people elsewhere may have used different names. Figuring
out which descriptions relate to which mines requires building a timeline of
activity at each location, reviewing ownership records, and correlating with
other dated information. I’ve attempted to do this where possible and my story
reflects my best understanding of the record.
In addition to their timber operations, Boyd Caldwell and
his son Thomas ran the Appleton woolen mill, the ruins of which are still
visible today at the falls in Appleton.
Alexander Caldwell, Boyd’s brother and himself a timber
baron, built “Clyde Hall”, a beautiful stone home in the town of Lanark.
An interesting footnote to this story is the dispute
Boyd Caldwell had with Peter McLaren, another timber baron in the region. At issue was who
could access waterways for the running of squared timber which was sent down
the rivers to eventually reach the Ottawa lumber yards. At the time, waterways
such as the Mississippi, Fall, and Clyde Rivers in Lanark County were privately
owned—usually by the timber barons. The dispute eventually reached one of the
highest courts in England and was finally won by the Caldwells, establishing
the principle that waterways are open to all. As a result of this case,
Canadians today enjoy access to most waterways and lakes across the country.
Here’s a picture of the K&P locomotive #9, the “Boyd
Caldwell”, which probably dates to around 1886-1887. Boyd Caldwell died in 1888
so it’s likely this locomotive was named for him rather than his son Thomas
Boyd, who would only be in his early 30’s and probably not yet wealthy (or
socially established) enough to have his own eponymous toy.
Not to be outdone, in 1887 William Caldwell (who was 14
years older than his cousin Thomas and already an MPP) also scored himself a
personalized locomotive, the K&P #10.
By this time the K&P railway to Renfrew had been complete for three
years, so what better way to celebrate?
In the next post we’ll look into the mining
technology of the day because it serves as another important basis to
understand the historic record, and to interpret site features.
