October 2008 issue
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Feature
In the Paddle Strokes of Thompson
More than 160 paddlers and their crews help recreate David Thompson’s historic canoe trip to Fort William. And engineers and land surveyors add some colour to the bicentennial re-enactment
BY KEN JOHNSON, P.ENG.
PEGG Contributor
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TAKING THE LEAD |
A brigade of modern-day voyageurs — with one team made up primarily of Alberta engineers and land surveyors — followed in the historic paddle strokes of David Thompson, earlier this year. The 63-day, 3,600-kilometre canoe trip in honour of the famous surveyor, fur trader and explorer was a logistical challenge, with the full brigade comprising at its peak a moving village of more than 200 people.
Without several years of advance notice, even finding campgrounds for the 160 paddlers and their support crews would be impossible. Therefore, to make the bicentennial commemoration of the actual journey happen, the David Thompson Brigade organizing committee began its work four years ago.
Our team joined this adventure of a lifetime for an 1,100-kilometre leg through Alberta and on to Prince Albert, Sask. Thompson’s full route was from Rocky Mountain House all the way to Fort William, the site of modern-day Thunder Bay, Ont. Our stint works out to about 30 per cent of the total distance, but we stood out for other reasons.
The first task of the engineers-and-surveyors team was to find a voyageur canoe. After a few queries through the brigade committee, we located a 40-year-old boat in Rocky Mountain House, and ultimately moved it to Monroe Kinloch’s garage in Sherwood Park. Over the next 12 weeks an amazing effort from Mr. Kinloch, his extended family and his neighbours transformed a well-used old canoe into a floating work of art.
We certainly couldn’t compete in terms of weight and speed with the space-age-built, more modern canoes that made up the majority of the fleet. Still, the beauty of our rebuilt fibreglass boat and the enthusiasm for the event stopped us from blending in.
Snowy Greeting
Our voyage was indeed an adventure from the onset, with 30 centimetres of fresh snow welcoming us to Rocky Mountain House in the second week of May. In spite of the weather, the spirits of the engineer-and-land surveyor team — and the entire Brigade — remained high as we set out to paddle across a good part of Canada.
The capability to paddle across such a vast portion of a country, portaging only 150 kilometres, is uniquely Canadian. During the fur trade, this feature of our national geography allowed the North West Company to compete from Montreal with the Hudson’s Bay Company.
Our first week on the river was a blur of learning the long-lost arts of the voyageurs while coping with fatigue. Many paddlers hit the sack by 9 p.m. just to get enough rest to continue the routine the next day and the days after that.
The team started the voyage as novices in the first few days. We quickly progressed into an independent crew, thanks to the guidance of the seasoned brigade paddlers.
The first week of paddling offered a wide variety of river conditions and river vistas. A metre of river bank ice followed the brigade for the first two days, reminding us that a mere two weeks had passed since the break-up of the North Saskatchewan. The upper reaches of the river also offered some fast water and good practice in developing our maneuvering skills. Many opportunities presented themselves to scrape paint off the keel, thanks to the odd encounter with gravel bars.
We did fall into the routine of river travel quickly, with early-to-bed nights and, kicked off with a bowl of porridge prepared by our support crew, early-to rise mornings.
Sail Those Rapids
On the water, it wasn’t all about paddling. We had to learn sailing skills, too, after actually designing and assembling a square rigging. We also experienced the unique opportunity of sailing through rapids.
More challenges lay ahead. The second week of paddling offered much tougher conditions, with strong headwinds and long days on the water.
The conditions made our team even more thankful for our support crew, their great cooking, and their camp tear-down, relocation and set-up, each and every day. This gave the paddlers the luxury of collapsing with a cold beer and no worries, when the day’s voyageur work was done.
Although the participation of our team was brief in the overall David Thompson Brigade voyage, we were integral to overall spirit. The bagpipes of John Haggerty, P.Eng., were heard as the brigade made ceremonial landings at communities along the way. And the “musket” salute of Monroe Kinloch usually accompanied John’s piping.
Among the many memorable events along the way was the brigade’s arrival at Elk Point with a string-of-pearls canoe formation and the pipes growing louder as the brigade approached land. David Thompson, I think, would be proud of the efforts of these modern-day re-enactors.
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LOOKING GOOD — AND IT FLOATS |
Meet the Team Team members included John Haggerty, P.Eng., Ken Johnson, P.Eng., Mark Selander, ALS, Jim Stuart, P.Eng., Monroe Kinloch, ALS, Robin Arthurs, ALS, Lew Rodney, ALS, Pat Moloney, ALS, Denny DeMeyer, PLS (Washington State Land Surveyor), Gordon Thomson, BCLS, and the wives of several of paddlers. |
More Info
Official Site
www.2008thompsonbrigade.com
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