Samuel de Champlain Portaged from Cameron to Sturgeon Lake or Did He? - 1615
Samuel de Champlain is somewhat of a mysterious historical figure. Though he is a very memorable personality in Canadian history, there are a great many things that are not known about him—including the fact that there is no authentic portrait. In the centuries since Champlain passed, a great many people have filled in the blanks in his story with their own interpretations.
For much of the twentieth century, many people sought to elevate Champlain as one of the great founding figures of the Canadian nation. In other places, notably Orillia, statues were erected (of a man that there was no authentic image of!), and many people took pride in saying that such a famous person once passed through their place. Fenelon Falls was no exception. Local residents took pride in the fact that he once walked across their lawn as he portaged around the Falls—assuming that he must have portaged alongside the canal, which did not then exist! Others told stories about how he carved his initials in the Fenelon Gorge—just no one ever definitively identified the remains of his markings. Over the years, there have been a great many people who have told widely ranging stories of how he travelled through the Kawarthas, and what happened along the way.
As sensibilities have changed over the years, so have the stories. Champlain’s famous statute in Orillia has been taken down, as the very notion of celebrating him as a great founder of the Canadian nation has become something that many people find disagreeable. More recently, he has been called a murderer and gigolo. Today, it would not be so fashionable to tell stories of how the great Champlain once walked across your lawn.
As people have constructed memories of the great or terrible Champlain, the inconclusive historical record is often overlooked. For all of the talk over the years of how Champlain came to Fenelon Falls, it is not clear whether or not this ever happened. His accounts indicate that he travelled from what is now called Lake Simcoe to Lake Ontario through a waterway, that he describes. It seems that many people have assumed that because boats travel from Balsam to Cameron to Sturgeon as they navigate the Trent-Severn Waterway, that the same route must have been used then (centuries before the waterway was constructed.) By the eighteenth century, there were two routes from Sturgeon Lake to Lake Simcoe. One was via Goose Lake (near Cambray), the other via Cameron, Balsam and the Talbot River. Before Mitchell and Canal Lakes were created, both involved lengthy portages. Champlain’s description of the waterway does not match either historical route—could it be that he recorded it from memory after the fact?
So Champlain may have portaged around Fenelon Falls, or maybe not. He likely passed through what is now Fenelon Township. But probably we will never know for sure exactly where he travelled. But since no one knows what really happened, he will probably continue to inspire creative minds to fill in the details.
