Mississippi River Festival:
the
loggers’ feud at High Falls
In the mid 1870s, High Falls on the
Mississippi just above Dalhousie Lake was the centre of a major
controversy over the freedom of navigation on Ontario’s waterways.
During these years there was a private dispute between the Lanark
logging firms of Peter McLaren and Boyd Caldwell over the right of
Caldwell to pass his timber through the log slides constructed by
McLaren on his land adjacent to High Falls. This was only resolved
with the decision on March 6, 1884, by the British Privy Council,
Caldwell v McLaren 9 AC 392 (1884)
supporting the
claim by Boyd Caldwell to public navigation rights. This became
a landmark event of major
economic importance
locally, provincially and nationally.
The key to success in the logging
industry was the ability to move timber down the rivers from the
stands inland to mills downstream and markets abroad. In the
mid-1870s, Peter McLaren purchased land adjacent
to High Falls, constructed a dam across the river, directing the
water through a chute on his property. McLaren claimed that his dam
and the expensive slide improvements gave him exclusive rights to use
that portion of the river and conversely to deny passage to Caldwell
and other logging firms. Boyd Caldwell felt entitled to move his
timber past the “unlawful” obstacles, either by breaking the dam
or using the McLaren chute. Thus began years of legal action between
the rival loggers (including the Ontario Court of Appeal and the
Canadian Supreme Court) moving quickly into the political realm as a
full-blown federal/provincial dispute, the provincial and federal
governments supporting Caldwell and McLaren respectively. Tension was
high throughout the region, dividing families and settlements
along Caldwell/McLaren lines, seriously affecting the socio-economic
fabric of the local settlements centred on logging.
The court decision definitively ended
the decade of intermittent blockage of timber movement on the
Mississippi River. It settled an on-going Federal/Provincial
constitutional dispute pitting free navigation rights against private
property rights. More importantly, the decision led ultimately to the
1884 Ontario Streams and Rivers Act and that, to this day, guarantees
freedom of passage on Canada’s navigable waterways.
Shortly after the judicial resolution,
the personal feud faded and the families and followers reconciled
upon the romance (ignited at a McDonalds Corners dance) and
subsequent marriage between a fiercely loyal McLaren man and the
daughter of a similarly fiercely loyal Caldwell man. Caldwell and
McLaren became close friends and moved on to wider interests and
illustrious careers.
On August 22 and 23
in McDonalds Corners, you are invited to the Mississippi River
Heritage Festival to celebrate the 125th
anniversary of the British Privy Council decision, the historical
events that culminated with that decision, and the central role of
logging in the rich heritage of the Mississippi River.
Visit
www.mississippiriverheritagefestival.ca for details of the festival,
or call 613-259-5654.
