Historical Plaques of
Cochrane District

For centuries the site of Cochrane was used by indigenous peoples as a summer camping ground. Later it became a stopping place for fur traders en route to Moose Factory. In 1907 the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (later Ontario Northland) chose 'Little Lakes Camping Ground' to be its junction point with the National Transcontinental (later Canadian National). The town site was named for the provincial minister of lands, forests and mines, Frank Cochrane, a strong supporter of northern railway construction. Lots were sold by auction in November 1908, and on January 1, 1910 Cochrane became an incorporated town. Despite devastating fres in 1910, 1911 and 1916, this rail town developed into a vital centre of trade and transportation in northern Ontario

The surveying of the line which intersects Highway No. 11 here (survey mile post 162) was the first step taken by the Ontario government in the exploration and development of this region. During the 1890's interest in Ontario's northern mineral, forest and land resources increased rapidly. Accordingly, Alexander Niven (1836-1911) ran an exploration line to James Bay by extending northward what was then the boundary between the Algoma and Nipissing Districts. In 1896 he surveyed the line to mile post 120 and two years later extended it to a point just north of the Moose River. All later surveys, including the Exploration Survey of 1900 which provided the first detailed report on this region, have been based on this meridian line.

On July 29, 1916, fires which had been burning for some weeks around settlers' clearings along the Temiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway were united by strong winds into one huge conflagration. Burning easterly along a 40-mile front, it largely or completely destroyed the settlements of Porquis Junction, Iroquois Falls, Kelso, Nushka, Matheson, and Ramore. It also partially razed the hamlets of Homer and Monteith, while a smaller fire caused widespread damage in and around Cochrane. The 500,000-acre holocaust took an estimated 223 lives, more than any other forest fire in Canadian history, and led to the development of improved techniques and legislation for the prevention and control of forest fires.

In 1610 Henry Hudson, a renowned English navigator, commenced his second voyage in search of a northwest route to China. With great daring and resolution he navigated the treacherous waters of Hudson Strait and descended into Hudson Bay. Believed to be the first European to explore this vast inland sea, Hudson laid the basis for English claims to much of present day Canada. His accomplishments were marred, however, by discord on the voyage. Having prolonged his futile search for the Pacific Ocean, Hudson was forced to spend a bleak winter in James Bay. When discontent among the men erupted into mutiny on the homeward journey the following spring, he and eight others were cast adrift in a small open boat and left to an unknown fate.

In the summer of 1911, when the Porcupine gold rush was at its height the weather was hot and dry. On July 11, galeforce winds from the southwest whipped individual bush fires into a 16 km sea of flames that swiftly engulfed the drought-parched forest. The fire-storm swept through mining camps, razed the towns of South Porcupine and Pottsville, and partially destroyed Golden City (Porcupine) and Porquis Junction. Many people fled into Porcupine Lake to escape the flames. The blaze laid waste to about 200,000 hectares of forest and killed at least seventy-one people. Communities throughout Ontario responded generously with aid, and in a remarkably short time the towns were rebuilt and the mines back in operation.

From the 1880s onwards, as railways opened up northern Ontario, prospecting activity in this region intensified. The Porcupine gold rush began in 1909 following three signicant discoveries. Thousands of prospectors and miners poured into Tisdale and neighbouring townships to stake claims. By 1912 several mines were in operation, including the celebrated "Big Three": Dome, Hollinger and McIntyre. That year, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway opened a branch line from South Porcupine to Timmins which made it easier to bring in the heavy machinery needed to mine the hard rock of the Canadian Shield. For a number of years the Porcupine gold fields produced more gold than any other region in North America. The area continues to be an important source of valuable minerals.

Born in Latchford and raised near Porquis Junction, Cosens enlisted in the Argyll and Sutherland Regiment, Canadian Active Service Force, in 1940 and transferred to the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada in 1944. Early on February 26, 1945, his unit attacked German forces at Mooshof, Holland, a strategic position vital to the success of future operations. His platoon suffered heavy casualties and Cosens assumed command. Supported by a tank, he led another attack against three enemy strongpoints, which he captured single-handed. He later was killed by a sniper. For his "outstanding gallantry, initiative and determined leadership" he was posthumously awarded the Commonwealth's highest decoration for valour, the Victoria Cross.

In March 1686, the Governor of New France, intent on protecting his colony's fur trade interests, sent an expedition from Montreal under command of Pierre Chevalier de Troyes to attack the Hudson's Bay Company posts on James Bay. The party of about 100 men travelling in 35 canoes included French Canadian militia, colonial regular troops, French officers and native guides. Having ascended the French River and portaged via Lake Abitibi and Lake Timiskaming to the Abitibi River, the expedition passed by here early in June. Using scouts, shrewd planning and surprise tactics, the Chevalier de Troyes easily took possesion of Moose Factory on June 21, Rupert House on July 3, and Fort Albany on July 26. The three posts remained in French control until 1693.

At this point the 49th parallel of latitude north of the equator crosses the highway. This line forms the southern boundary of the western provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and most of British Columbia. In 1818 a treaty between Great Britain and the United States designated it as the international boundary from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. Further west in the Oregon Territory a bitter dispute arose which almost precipitated war between these two nations before they agreed in 1846 to extend the boundary to the shore of the Pacific along this parallel.

A Hudson's Bay Company post named after a son of George III, Frederick House was established in 1785 to prevent Canadian fur traders in the Abitibi region from intercepting the passage of furs to Moose Fort (Moose Factory) on James Bay. Throughout its operation it encountered intense, occasionally violent competition, particularly from a rival concern on nearby Devil's Island. As a result it never flourished. After its manager, two labourers and a number of native people were murdered during the winter of 1812-13, Frederick House declined further and was no longer permanently staffed. The post was finally abandoned in 1821 when the merger of the Hudson's Bay and North West companies effectively ended the struggle for control of trade in the area.

In 1930 a handful of Slovak immigrants settled eleven kilometres south of Hearst near present-day Highway 583. They helped each other build log houses, clear land and sell wood to pulp and paper mills. Soon other Slovaks were attracted to the community. By the middle of the depression, Bradlo boasted 150 people, a public school, Catholic church, store, post-office and meeting hall. After their pulpwood was harvested, residents realized that their land would not support commercial farming. By 1950, most had left for better opportunities elsewhere. Although few traces of Bradlo survive today, its brief history illustrates the hard work, resourcefulness and communal aid that have distinguished the immigrant experience in northern Ontario.

The first French-language radio station in Ontario, CFCL-Timmins, began broadcasting in December 1951. The event was greeted with enthusiasm by Franco- Ontarians who until then had heard limited programming in French over the airwaves. The station reached listeners from Kirkland Lake to Hearst, showcasing local talent and creating a sense of community among the widely dispersed francophone population of northern Ontario. Daily features on French life in the region taught cultural pride, the love of one's maternal language, the importance of sending children to French schools, and of furthering their education. The creation of CFCL by the station's owner and founder, Conrad Lavigne, was a landmark in the cultural development of the northern Franco-Ontarian communities.

When the First World War began, Canada established internment camps to detain persons viewed as security risks. Prejudice and wartime paranoia led to the needless internment of several thousand recent immigrants. The majority were Ukrainians whose homeland was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. One of the largest camps was built across the river from here at a remote railway siding. Despite harsh conditions, some 1,300 internees constructed buildings and cleared hundreds of hectares of spruce forest for a government experimental farm. In 1917 most were paroled to help relieve wartime labour shortages. Thereafter the camp held prisoners of war and political radicals, including leaders of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.

The second oldest post of the Hudson's Bay Company was built at the mouth of the Moose River by Governor Charles Bayly in 1673. That early fortified establishment was captured in June 1686 by a French expedition from Montreal under the Chevalier de Troyes and renamed St. Louis. Though restored to Britain in 1713 by the Treaty of Utrecht, the post was not re-established until 1730-32. Largely destroyed by fire in December 1735, it was rebuilt over the following two years. Long the Company's principal establishment on James Bay, its isolation was ended in 1932 by the completion of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway to Moosonee.

This is the site of one of the bloodiest clashes in Canadian labour history. In January 1963, a contract dispute led to a strike by members of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers' Union who cut pulpwood for the paper mill in Kapuskasing. They tried to shut down the mill by blockading pulpwood shipments from independent contractors. Just after midnight on February 11, over 400 strikers arrived at Reesor Siding to dump logs stockpiled by a local woodcutters' cooperative. As they approached the woodpiles, 20 armed woodcutters began shooting. Three of the strikers were killed, another eight wounded. The tragedy prompted the provincial government to intervene and settle the strike by arbitration.