The History of the Turkey Trail The east-west water route from Georgian Bay along the North Channel, up the St. Mary’s River to Lake Superior became known as the Turkey Trail. • Mining,
logging, fishing and the building of the CPR required transportation.
Eventually, the route that became known as the “Turkey Trail”
was established. • The
Norgoma was launched at the Collingwood shipyards in 1950. • The
CPR railroad, improved roads, a car bridge to Manitoulin Island,
bus service to the north shore and the rise of the trucking industry
eliminated the need for steamer service. The
Cruise Experience • Cargo
included food, fresh vegetables, soft drinks in wooden cases, fruits,
flour, salt, sugar hardware, farm implements, building supplies,
fuel, coal, kerosene, and gasoline and cars that were lowered into
the ship’s hold by means of an elevator - everything one would
get on a shopping trip in the big cities to the south. • The
whole town would come down to the shore to greet the boat, get their
mail, get a first glimpse of their neighbour’s new car, and
see who had come to town. • The
Norgoma had room for 100 passengers. Most passenger cabins had two
bunks with shared men’s and women’s washrooms. •
During the summer, the staterooms on the Norgoma were booked to
capacity.
The Norgoma Cruise Experience
The Norgoma was launched at the Collingwood Shipyards in the spring of 1950. A steel-hulled vessel, 190 feet in length, she had been built for the express purpose of taking over the passenger and cargo service of the North Shore run from the veteran vessel. The Norgoma was the last of her kind, the sole survivor of hundreds of package freighters who, over a century, had served the needs of a far-flung population. Her name was taken from the prefix “Nor” used by the Owen Sound Transportation Company for ships of her fleet. The prefix was coupled with “Goma”, which refers to the Algoma District of Ontario. Algoma itself is an invented word derived from Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, an American Indian agent, educator, and explorer who was active in the Sault Ste. Marie region in the early 19th century. Schoolcraft coined the word after the Ojibway name for Lake Superior or the “Algomkin”. “Al” is a derivative of Algomkin and “goma” is a variation of “gum-ee,” meaning waters.
In command of the new ship was Captain Robert Morrison who had been
master of the Manitoulin since 1938. Morrison had his start on the
Great Lakes in 1919 as wheelsman on the Manitou. He would remain
with the Norgoma until his retirement in 1972. A complete crew list
for the Norgoma’s maiden voyage reveals that carried a working
team of 26. Nearly all of the crew listed a Grey or Bruce County
address with representation from Own Sound and Wiarton leading the
way. As early as 1951, the Owen Sound Transportation Company was advertising weekend cruises which took passengers from Owen Sound to Killarney, Little Current, Manitowaning, back to Killarney and return to Owen Sound. On these trips, the hostess, whose job it was to make the passengers comfortable, became as important as the ship’s Captain. On these excursions a typical passenger list would include honeymooners, vacationing families, and others seeking a unique weekend experience. Passengers were from Canada, United States and even Europe. As a cruise ship, the Norgoma had room for one hundred passengers who were berthed on two passenger decks, “A” and “B”. A Deck slept 40 while B Deck handled an additional 60 passengers. Although there was no class distinction between the two decks, staterooms 3 and 14 on B Deck were deluxe with a captain’s bed, a small closet and their own bath. The cost for these staterooms for a five day tour in the Norgoma’s later years was $87.50. The majority of passenger cabins had two bunks with shared men and women’s restrooms and showers. These accommodations were $75.00 for the five-day cruise. The staterooms on the Norgoma were always booked to capacity during summer months, giving tourists the opportunity to enjoy a leisurely five-day cruise through some of the finest scenery on the Great Lakes. A typical cruise on the Norgoma began with an 8:00 a.m. boarding in Owen Sound on Monday. After settling in, a buffet lunch would be serviced to the passengers and, in the evening, after a diner of Lake Huron whitefish and fresh, locally grown vegetables, music and dance were offered in the forward lounge. After Monday night, which was spent on Georgian Bay, the first stop on Tuesday would be the fishing village of Killarney, one of the oldest communities on Georgian Bay. Originally known as Shehahonaning or “Straight and Narrow Passage” Killarney had been founded as a fur trading post in the 1820’s. Isolated in the northeast corner of Georgian Bay, the community was not reached by a road until 1962. After Killarney, the Norgoma would steam west. Her next port of call would be Manitowaning on Manitoulin Island. This historic port, originally called Munidowaning or “Den of the Manitou” by the Ojibway, was Manitoulin’s first European settlement. Founded in 1835 by the government of Upper Canada the annual gift-giving site of thousands of Great Lakes Indians, Manitowaning today is home to St. Paul’s. Built in 1848, it is the oldest Anglican Church in northern Ontario. Little Current came next. Known to the Ojibway as Waibejewung or “Where the waters flow back and forth” and to the French as Le Petit Courant, the port was once the site of a Hudson’s Bay Company post. Little Current, which is located on an island, has one of the best and most protected harbours along the North Shore. It was also one of the few ports to be reached by a railroad, but only after a railway bridge linking Manitoulin to the North Shore became a reality in 1913. Automobile owners, however, would have to wait until 1945 to drive to the mainland and only after the old swing bridge was modified to permit car traffic. The last two stops for the Norgoma on the second day of her weekly run were Kagawong and Gore Bay. Kagawong was a lumber town that once had two dozen lumber mills operating in the area. Here, while freight was being unloaded, passengers could follow the walkway to the beautiful Bridal Veil Falls. And then it was on to Gore Bay, the judicial seat of the District of Manitoulin. Nicknames the “Tin Horn town” after its famous brass band, which often entertained the Norgoma’s passengers. Gore Bay, with its genteel old houses and tree lined streets was a favourite stop along the Turkey Trail. The first ports of call on Wednesday were at the western end of Manitoulin where the Norgoma visited Meldrum Bay and Cockburn Island. Named for a market town in his native Scotland by a homesick Queen’s Surveyor, Meldrum Bay was once a prosperous fishing village complete with a mill that made fish-packing boxes. A highlight of the Norgoma’s stop at what was once known as “Fish Box Bay” was the Net Shed Museum. Built in 1907 and one of Manitoulin Island’s oldest museums, it was filled with fishing, logging, and pioneer artefacts. Today, Cockburn Island is a summer haven for cottagers. But when the Norgoma made it a brief stop, the Island still had a few farmers and fishermen, a post office and general store. Next the Norgoma would cross the North Channel to visit the ports of Thessalon on the North Shore and Hilton Beach and Richards Landing on St. Joseph Island. The site of a 17th century Indian encampment. Thessalon was originally called Pointe aux Thessalons by early French explorers. Founded in the 1870’s. Thessalon become one of the earliest ports of call on the Turkey Trail. Known for its mills that produced square-cut timbers, it was regularly visited by schooners and steamers. Historic St. Joseph’s Island at the mouth of the St. Mary’s River provided the final two stops before the Sault. Originally the site of a British fort, constructed in 1794, St. Joseph’s was home to Richards Landing, a farming and lumber village that was, for many years, an important shipping centre along the Turkey Trail. At 6:30 on Wednesday evening the Norgoma would arrive at the dock in Sault Ste. Marie. Founded in 1796, the “Soo” was a fur-trading post and a major transportation gateway to the west. Here, passengers could tour the city and take in an evening movie. On Thursday, the Norgoma proceeded through the “Soo Locks” to Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior and then back to the Sault. By 2:00 p.m. she was on her homeward cruise. Friday saw the steamer repeat her outward voyage with a 10:00 a.m. stop at Kagawong where passengers and crew could attend a special church service regularly conducted for the Norgoma at the Church of St. John the Evangelist. By Saturday, the Norgoma was back in Owen Sound where she discharged her passengers. Two days later, with a new manifest of freight and a full load of new passengers, the five-day cruise would be repeated. Food services on the Norgoma included a tuck shop where passengers could purchase candy, popcorn, soft drinks, local newspapers, post cards and stamps, and magazines. The well-appointed dining room seated fifty passengers at a time, necessitating two sitting for every meal. A typical meal included salads, Lake Huron whitefish, fresh vegetables, dinner rolls, fruit pies, milk, tea, and coffee. Even though the Norgoma, the last cruise ship to sail the North Channel, was popular with tourists, by 1960 her days were numbered. Subsidized with government funds, she had outlived her usefulness. The people and ports along the Turkey Trail no longer needed a costal shipping service. The last run of the S.S. Norgoma (steam ship) on the Turkey Trail from Owen Sound to the Sault took place on September 12, 1963. A total of eighty passengers occupied the Norgoma’s staterooms on her final voyage, including a large contingent that had arrived by bus from New York State. Her final cargo was an assignment of fifty-three tons of newsprint for the Owen Sound Sun Times, a newspaper reporter, and two cars. When she finally returned to the docks in Owen Sound, it was the end of an era along the Turkey Trail. Following the completion of the Trans-Canada Highway in 1963, the Norgoma was converted from steam to diesel and remodelled as a car ferry. Carrying twenty-five cars on one deck and a dozen on the lower deck, the M.S. Norgoma (motor ship) ran twice daily on the ferry run from Tobermory to South Bay mouth from 1964 to 1974. Retired to make way for the chi-Cheemaun, with a capacity of 140 vehicles, the Norgoma was brought to Sault Ste. Marie, in 1975.
The
Norgoma’s net freight tonnage for 1951, the first full year
she was in service, amounted to 14,000 tons. By 1962 it had dropped
to 4,000 tons. The Vessel
The Norgoma was built
in 1950 in Collingwood Ontario,it was the last passenger vessel
built and to travel on the Great Lakes. From 1950 to 1963, the vessel
made five round trips weekly from Owen Sound to Sault Ste Marie. |
The Turkey Trail played an essential role in the economic development
and settlement of this area of the Great Lakes coast.
