Skookum Jim Sparks the Klondike Gold Rush

Skookum Jim circa 1898 courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keish.

Born to a Tahitan mother and Native Indian father, James Mason grew up in the Yukon Territory.  In the 1880's, he worked as a packer, carrying supplies for miners, earning him the nickname "Skookum", a Chinook term for incredible strength.  On August 17, 1896, four prospectors, Skookum Jim, his sister Kate Carmack,her husband, George Charmack and their nephew, Dawson Charlie were travelling along a tributary of the Klondike River, called Rabbit Creek.  Stopping to rest on the banks of the creek, one of the party saw a shiny object in the water.  It was gold, pure gold.  While it might have been Skookum Jim who spotted the precious object, it was George Carmack who took credit for the discovery, possibly because the former was a Native Indian.

Ascending the Chilkoot Pass circa 1898 courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klondike_Gold_Rush.

Word spread quickly as thousands of prospectors stampeded to what is now "Discovery Pass".  Climbing the white capped mountains, their figures looked like ants on an anthill.    The Canadian government required each "stampeder" to pack a year's supply of food to avoid starvation.  As a result, each prospector's gear weighing close to a ton, had to be carried in stages.  Nearby Dawson City, with a population of 500, swelled to 30,000 by 1898.  To accommodate the new arrivals, locals built dozens of wooden structures, susceptible to fire.  Unsanitary conditions made epidemics spread quickly.  Yet, successful prospectors sunk their fortunes into the local saloons where they gambled and drank every night.

Miners wait to register claims in Dawson City circa 1899 courtesy https://www.pinterest.com/pin/99008891782654405/.

Rabbit Creek was renamed Bonanza Creek by the miners who discovered millions of dollars worth of gold beneath its waters.  Skookum Jim passed away in Whitehorse, Yukon in 1916, leaving a daughter, Daisy Mason.  Discovery Claim was declared a National Historic Site in 1998.  Canada Post issued a Klondike Gold Rush series in 1996, on the Centennial of Skookum Jim's discovery.

Klondike Gold Rush series courtesy http://slippdesign.ca/klondike-gold-rush.shtml.

Canadian Prairie Street Scene

In 1978, 75% of Canadians lived in or near cities.  Projections indicated that the figure would rise to 90% by 2000.  Communities were changing as they were being designed to accommodate cars rather than people.  Concrete was replacing grass.  Glass was replacing wood.  Air and water pollution were on the rise.  Solid waste disposal was an issue.  Canada was losing its traditional landscape.  Canada Post issued a series of stamps devoted to the communities of the past.  Arthur Ponting and Yves Baril engraved a Prairie town scene which harkens back to a simpler time.

http://data2.archives.ca/ap/s/s000776k.jpg

Champlain Statue in Old Quebec

Sculpture honouring "The Father of New France", with Chateau Frontenac in the background, courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_de_Champlain.

French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608.  Near the present day Chateau Frontenac, he built the Habitation, consisting of a Compagnie des Marchands (trading post) and a wooden building, Fort Saint Louis, where he resided and built a successful settlement.  Champlain established a good relationship with the local Native tribes including the Huron, Algonquin and Montagnais.  For all intents and purposes, the explorer became the first governor of New France.  Champlain went on to explore and map the Great Lakes, the first European to do so.

In a political move, Champlain married a 12 year old bride Helen Boulle, whose father Nicolas Boulle had influence in the royal court.  While the couple did not have any biological children, Champlain adopted three Montagnais girls named Faith, Hope and Charity.

In the 1850's, the St. Jean Baptiste Society of Quebec talked about erecting a monument of Champlain, but did not have the funds to do so.  Finally, in 1890, the group decided to act.  Out of 11 designs and 14 models, a jury chose the one created by the young French sculptor Paul-Romain Chevre.  To the tune of $30,000 Chevre designed a 16 metre high sculpture of Champlain which was erected in 1896.  One Quebec newspaper said it resembled "un gros mousquetaire triste".

Canada Post issued Champlain Statue stamp in 1935 courtesy https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_de_Samuel_de_Champlain.

Point Pelee Sits on Same Latitude as Rome

http://www.shengnuo.ca/html/en/pointpelee2days.htm

It's on the latitude of Rome, Italy.  It grows trees native to Florida.  It contains swamps and marshes.  It boasts 27 species of reptiles and 50 species of amphibians.  Acadian flycatchers, Carolina wrens and red-bellied woodpeckers are at the northern limit of their habitat.  Monarch butterflies stop here on their fall migration to Mexico (http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/pelee/natcul/natcul1.aspx).

During peak season, as many as 10,000 monarch butterflies per day land at Point Pelee courtesy http://www.learner.org/jnorth/www/critters/monarch/833382137.html.

You might think it's a tropical area.  Yet, come autumn, the trees lose their leaves.  The lake freezes over.  The clouds open up and the snow falls.  After all, it's Canada -- the southernmost point, Point Pelee.  Unlike Rome, which is surrounded by the moderating effect of the Mediterranean Sea, Point Pelee sits on Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes which freezes over in the winter.  Unlike Rome, which is protected by the mountains, Point Pelee gets the full brunt of the westerly winds.

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The Point Pelee boardwalk in winter courtesy http://pointpeleenationalpark5.weebly.com/climate.html.

Point Pelee is one of Canada's treasures, commemorated by Canada Post in 1983 by a stamp.  For more information, visit http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/09/point-pelee.html or http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2014/08/preserving-point-pelee.html.

http://www.catawiki.com/catalog/stamps/countries-regions-territories/canada-can/1724835-point-pelee

A. Y. Jackson: Alaska Highway Between Watson Lake and Nelson

"Schools and 'isms' do not trouble us -- individual expression is our chief concern." (A. Y. Jackson)

http://stampbears.net/thread/186/canada-queen-elizabeth-ii-centennial?page=3

The Group of Seven, or the Algonquin School, was a group of Canadian landscape painters who was active from 1920 to 1933.   They included Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald and Frederick Varley.  Thom Thomson, also associated with the movement, died in Algonquin Park shortly before the group was formed.

 As a young man, A. Y. Jackson, from Montreal, Quebec, stowed away on a cattle boat heading to Europe.  The boat returned via Chicago where the stow away took classes at the Chicago Art Institute.  Two years later, A. Y. Jackson travelled again to Europe where he settled in Paris, studying Impressionism at the Academie Julian.  One of his early paintings, Paysage Embrumee was accepted by the Paris Salon.  After returning to Canada, A. Y. Jackson's Autumn in Picardy was purchased by the Art Gallery of Canada in 1913.

Autumn in Picardy courtesy https://www.gallery.ca/en/see/collections/artwork.php?mkey=4011.

Jackson returned to Europe to fight in the First World War in 1915.  Injured at the Battle of sanctuary Wood in 1916, Jackson convalesced at a hospital in Etaples.  It was there that he was discovered by Lord Beaverbrook who secured for him the assignment of official war artist, a job lasting from 1917 to 1919.

After the war, Jackson relocated from Montreal to Toronto where he took up residence in the Studio Building, financed by Massey Harris heir and fellow artist, Lawren Harris, and Dr. James MacCallum.  The latter agreed to buy all of Jackson's paintings for the first year to make the move worthwhile.  The Group of Seven officially came into being.

A. Y. Jackson at work in the Studio Building courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Y._Jackson#/media/File:Alexander_Young_Jackson.jpg.

In 1920, to complement the Group of Seven, the Beaver Hall Group was formed in Montreal with A. Y. Jackson as the president.  Jackson encouraged the artists to paint "with utter disregard with what has hitherto been considered requisite to the acceptance of the work at the recognized art exhibitions in Canadian centres.  Schools and 'isms' do not trouble us -- individual expression is our chief concern." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Y._Jackson)

In 1955, Jackson moved out of the Studio Building.  In 1967, on the occasion of Canada's Centennial, Canada Post issued a series of stamps commemorating Canadian paintings including four completed by the Group of Seven.  The 8 cent stamp features The Alaska Highway Between Watson Lake and Nelson (1943), painted by A. Y. Jackson.  The same year, the painter received the Companion of the Order of Canada.

http://wayback.archive-it.org/2217/20101208160337/http://alaskahighway.albertasource.ca/painting_highway/ay_jackson.html

Halifax Citadel & Old Town Clock

Halifax Old Town clock in 1949 courtesy http://www.toromagazine.com/nytimes-canadian-photo-archive/photo-of-the-day/gallery/555445a8-f8bd-6a54-2d3a-7350b67e2fae/May-1949-Halifax-Town-Clock.

Prince Edward, the Commander in Chief of the British military, was obsessed with punctuality.  As a parting gift to the people of Halifax, he gave them the Old Town Clock in 1800.  The timepiece was built in 1801 in London England by the royal clock makers at the House of Vulliamy.  The clock is a three tier octagonal shaped tower sitting on a Palladium-style building.  Inside, three weights on drums suspended by cables power the clock.  The landmark was installed on Brunswick Street in 1803, sitting high atop a hill overlooking Halifax Harbour (http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ns/halifax/natcul/natcul2.aspx).

Halifax Explosion of 1917 courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion.

The clock has witnessed many events in Halifax's history including the aftermath of the Titanic tragedy in 1912 and the Halifax Explosion in 1917 and the Halifax Riot on V-E Day in 1945 (the latter not in keeping with staid Halifax).  The clock has been keeping time for Haligonians for over two centuries (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL2y87PoB3M).

Note:  Perhaps Prince Edward's biggest claim to fame is he is the father of Queen Victoria.

Canadian stamp courtesy http://www.nsstampclub.ca/NSStamps/halifax.htm.

Winston Churchill: Only Thing to Fear are German U-boats

"Winston Churchill once wrote that the only thing that ever 'really frightened him' during the Second World War was the threat presented by Germany's U-boats." (Canada Post)

German U-boats in Loch Ryan circa 1945 courtesy http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3072281/Wartime-navy-captain-blamed-letting-Nazi-U-boat-away-failed-attack-hailed-hero-oceanographer-Titanic-locates-wreck-discovers-DID-hit-all.html.

England and France owe a great debt to Canada and the United States for the supplies that they sent overseas during the Second World War.  Lend Lease, an "Act to Promote the defense of the United States", provided the Allies with warships, warplanes, trucks, material, oil and food from 1941 to 1945.  While Canada did not have a Lend Lease program, it did give Britain "gifts totalling $3.5 million during the war" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lend-Lease).

Lend Lease Convoy circa 1941 courtesy https://seanmunger.com/2015/09/03/the-winds-of-war-live-blogged-8-honeymoon-in-lisbon-wine-in-boston/.

The problem for Canada and the United States was not producing the goods, but transporting them across the Atlantic.  "Winston Churchill once wrote that the only thing that ever 'really frightened him' during the Second World War was the threat presented by Germany's U-boats." (http://www.communitywire.ca/en/2005-04-28/longest-battle-second-world-war-honoured-new-canadian-postage-stamp)  The Battle of the Atlantic, according to Winston Churchill, "was the dominating factor all through the  war.  Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the air, depended ultimately on its outcome."  It remains the longest continuous battle of the Second World War, lasting from 1939 to 1945 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_AtlanticT).

Allied tanker Dixie Arrow torpedoed in 1942 courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Atlantic.

Canadian forces played a crucial role in protecting Allied merchant ships as they crossed the Atlantic in convoys.  Marauding German U-boats were often lurking beneath the depths of the ocean, ready to strike.  By V-E Day, 22 Canadian ships had been lost and more than 4,000 Canadians had died, including 2,000 sailors,750 airmen and 650 seamen from the merchant fleet.  

http://www.legion.ca/article/legion-marks-battle-of-the-atlantic-with-ceremonies-across-canada/

Canadian artist Sarty assembled several images to create a stamp design honouring The Battle of the Atlantic including a convoy of vessels, a torpedoed supply ship, a Canadian navy corvette and a German U-boat.

http://www.communitywire.ca/en/2005-04-28/longest-battle-second-world-war-honoured-new-canadian-postage-stamp