The Last of the Wild Rivers
Wallace Schaber (Burnstown Publishing)
Subtitled The Past, Present and
Future of the Rivière du Moine Watershed, this is a meticulously documented account of the history of the Du Moine River – the last wild, un-damned river of nine flowing into the Ottawa River. Author Wally Schaber is the perfect
man to tell the story of the Du Moine. It has been a constant throughout his life: first as a youth attending camp on a lake within its drainage, then as a counselor setting up a new location for the camp and finally as one who has run the majestic river literally thousands of times as an integral experience of his adventure businesses, for personal pleasure, and nature retreat. There is a deep connection
between this river and Schaber, the founder and owner until 2012, of the
popular outfitting shop Trailhead. Respect, reverence, concern and an abiding love of the Du Moine are apparent throughout his telling of the river’s history, exploitation, and potential salvation and preservation as an aquatic reserve protected by provincial law. We’re not there yet though, so
Schaber’s book is both a historical overview and a plea for the preservation and conservation of this watershed, recently featured in The Globe and Mail’s August 27th weekend edition. He writes admiringly of the first
peoples of the region – the Algonquin - and the importance the Du Moine held for them historically (and still does today), as a means of transport, trade, socializing and food source. He tells of the fur traders, the
explorers, the priests and other Europeans who slowly infiltrated the traditional First Nations territory, opening up the region to commerce but also bringing disease and forcing relocation and retreat by the original peoples. This first wave of whites
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was followed by industry in the form of loggers, who decimated the pine forests, merchants and entrepreneurs utilizing the watershed for personal and financial gain. The turn of the century saw well to
do members of private clubs – “sports” they were called - and American socialites create private fiefdoms for recreating, hunting and fishing in the area. Quebec nationalism and the election of the Parti Québécois in 1976 put an end to that and saw the creation of ZEC’s (zone d’exploitation contrôlée) and some conservation measures enacted. Currently, it is guide/outfitters, private landowners and the public – hunters, anglers, canoeists, ATV’ers, - who predominate, although industry, mining and hydro primarily, is an omnipresent threat. Schaber conveys the history of the
Du Moine in a personal way, with asides about his encounters with it. The remains of old cabins, names scratched in rock at portages, remnants of old log flumes, the
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BOUNDER MAGAZINE 13
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