Ron, Bob and Dave were fishing in a boat when they ran out of bait. Ron got up and walked across the water to get some more bait. After two hours, they ran out of bait again and this time, Bob walked across the water to get some bait. After three hour of fishing they ran out of bait again and Dave said he would get the bait. So he stepped out of the boat and went straight to the bottom. Ron turned to Bob and asked “Should we have told him where the rocks were?”
When you go fishing and you catch something, that’s good. If you are making love and you catch something, that’s bad.
Q. What is the definition of ‘live bait’? A. The biggest fish you will handle all day.
Q. What is the definition of a ‘Fisherman’s Thumb’? A. A temporary hook holder.
A young man and an older man were fishing on a pier. The young man started telling the older one that the night before he had caught a trout that was over 3 1⁄2 feet long. The older man replied, “Oh yeah, well I was here 2 nights ago and I hooked something huge. After a 30 minute fight, I finally got it to the surface and it was an old lantern and the thing was still lit.” The young man said, “You’re lying. I can’t believe that.” Then the older man said, “I’ll tell you what, you knock a couple of feet off your trout and I’ll blow out my lantern.”
Old Dave was walking along a California beach when he came upon two men pulling another man ashore on the end of a rope. “That’s what I like to see,” mused old Dave, “A man helping out his fellow man.”
As he was walking away, one man remarked to the other, “Well, he sure doesn’t know the first thing about shark fishing.”
Maude shared this tidbit with her friend over a cup of tea: “I think the only reason my husband likes to go fishing so much is that it’s the only time he hears someone tell him, “Wow, that’s a big one!”
Ron had an awful day fishing on the lake, sitting in the blazing sun all day without catching a single fish. On his way home, he stopped at the supermarket and ordered four trout fillets. He told the fish salesman, “Pick four large ones out and then throw them at me, will you?”
“Why do you want me to throw them at you?”
“Because I want to tell my wife that I caught them.”
“Okay, but I suggest that you take the orange roughy.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because your wife came in earlier today and said that if you came by, I should tell you to take the orange roughy. That’s what she would like for supper tonight.”
The only time a fisherman tells the truth is when he calls another fisherman a liar
The great thing about fishing is that it gives you something to do while you are not doing anything.
The most awful thing you can say to another angler is:
“That’s a nice fish. May I use it for bait?”
It was a cold winter day. Old Dave walked out onto a frozen lake, cut a hole in the ice, dropped in his fishing line, and patiently waited for a bite.
He was there for almost an hour, without even a nibble, when a young boy walked out onto the ice and cut a hole in the ice next to him. The young boy dropped his fishing line in and a few minutes later pulled out a huge smallmouth bass. Old Dave couldn’t believe his eyes but chalked it up to plain luck.
Shortly thereafter, the young boy pulled in another large catch. The young boy kept catching fish after fish. Finally, Old Dave couldn’t take it any longer.
“Son,” he said, “I’ve been here for over an hour without even a nibble. You’ve been here only a few minutes and have caught over a half dozen fish! How do you do it?” The boy responded, “Roo raf roo reep ra rums rrarm.”
“What was that?” Old Dave asked.
Again the boy responded, “ Roo raf roo reep ra rums rrarm.”
“Look,” said Old Dave, “I can’t understand a word you are saying.”
The boy spat some bait into his hand and said… “You have to keep the worms warm.”
“I didn’t see you in church last Sunday, Thomas. I hear you were out playing football instead.” “That’s just not true, Reverend. And I’ve got the fish to prove it!”
On September 8, 2011, I attended the fall general meeting of the Lake Huron Fishing Club of which I am a member. The guest speaker was Dr. Chris Bunt of Biotactic Inc. who delivered a fascinating presentation about his Biotactic fish and wildlife research services. Due to fact that I listened much of the time instead of writing information down, I am going to mainly use direct quotes from various parts of his website. These excerpts will be noted.
Biotactic Incorporated – Dr. Christopher Bunt, Founder Biotactic’s mission statement: “We strive to develop and provide holistic, realistic solutions and strategies for fish protection and conservation based on experience and cooperative understandings: Biotactic services and specialties include but are by no means limited to the following fields of scientific research, outreach, and ecological conservation in relation to conservation of fishes, their habitat, and everything that affects them worldwide:” Please see their website for further explanation. However, in the case of Denny’s Dam, I think most of the research will be directed at fish migration and passage studies, underwater fish monitoring, fish ways or fish ladders in the areas of design and operation, and remote fish passage monitoring/ research. To be more explicit, “We have seventeen years of experience monitoring fish passage and the effects of dams and weirs on fish and other wildlife. We use remote monitoring techniques such as radio telemetry, acoustic telemetry, physiological telemetry as well as overhead and advanced underwater videography to unobtrusively observe animals.” In addition to studying fish, “we design and install wildlife safety rafts that allow animals such as frogs, turtles, raccoon, squirrels, skunks, groundhogs, deer, and other small to medium-sized vertebrates to escape from drowning in steep-walled reservoirs, and leave an area of danger by their own volition.” Demands for this technology have been worldwide. The company did research monitoring and recording spawning behaviour of fish on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The data that was collected will help design and locate marine protected areas. Korea is currently investigating this technology for use in their country. In North America, 10 sites are currently being studied. They are referred to as BRAVO node 1- 10. The Denny’s Dam site will be called BRAVO node 11. BRAVO nodes 12-18 are currently being developed but their locations have not been announced. Please check their website for a map of the specific areas being monitored and researched. Each site is host “for a combination of streaming and archived video, fish movement and water temperature data.” On some sites, the rate of flow of the water is also noted. The closest spot to the Saugeen River is on the Beaver River at Thornbury, Ontario. At that site, the researchers are monitoring rainbow trout and salmon and are doing fish counts. It has been online since April 4, 2011. Available to anglers online (at the Thornberry fish ladder) are the total fish passing through, the number of Chinook salmon passing through, the peak time, the peak passage rate (fish per hour), the peak passage rate (salmon per hour), and the water temperature. This information is updated daily. As of September 8, 2011, three Chinook salmon passed up the Thornbury fish ladder at a peak time of 7 a.m. However, as Dr. Bunt noted, the time it takes a fish to go up the fish ladder will vary. It depends on many conditions like water flow, temperature, how long it rests in the staging area, how long it takes the fish to actually find the fish ladder, etc. The recording units that Biotactic Inc. uses are called BRAVO and are basically “underwater fish monitoring systems for fishways and open habitats.” The website states that they “are ideal for monitoring fishways and any other artificial or natural underwater habitat. These units are self-cleaning and designed for long-term, semi-permanent or permanent installation in freshwater and marine environments. Typical hardware and software configurations consist of 1-4 live underwater streaming video camera/ sensor pack systems that automatically filter, collect and transfer novel and interesting fish activity for outreach, education and research.” Video of the fish are as clear at night as in the day due to an infra-red lighting system that does not disturb the fish
The video collected by the BRAVO system is particularly useful for long-term research objectives related to inter- annual variation in fish migrations pattern, migration patterns, migration timing and habitat utilization and reproductive behaviour. The system has also been proven to be useful for monitoring and observing behaviour of benthic organisms such as mussels, crayfish, diving ducks, turtles, various spawning behaviour and a wide range of fish and aquatic mammals such as otters.” Please see the website for more information. The BRAVO camera system can actually sense the difference between fish species. It can also recognize individual fish as they swim past the camera so that they are not counted twice (or more) as the fish passes the camera. The data recorder also notes whether the fish are of small, medium or large size. The camera is a little larger both round and longer than a can of pop. So, what does that mean for those anglers who fish at Denny’s Dam or below the dam? Well, it means that from your home, wherever that is, you can check the water temperature, the daily history of the days before, and the live- feed videos from the fishway at Denny’s Dam and then decide whether to drive to Denny’s Dam to go fishing. If you are camping at the park and have access to a computer and the internet, you can check the website and then decide whether to go fishing or stay in bed. Going fishing is always the best option. I think… It takes some concentration and interpretive watching when the river water is turbid but most videos are clear from what I have seen. BRAVO node 11 (Denny’s Dam) is not up and working as yet but Dr. Bunt is hopeful that we can see what is going on in the fish ladder by the end of September. The BRAVO system that Biotactic Inc. uses was created and developed by them and it is a world-wide industry leader. The Ontario Steelheaders and all anglers should be overjoyed to have this system installed at Denny’s Dam. I am sure that it will be beneficial to our fishery.
Biotactic Inc.’s website is www.Biotactic.com . Please visit the site and see what is going on at the other BRAVO node sites too. Be sure to check out the online live-time videos of all sites
What do you know about where you are fishing on the Saugeen River?
You know there is Denny‟s Dam and that there was and old bridge nearby. You even know about Thorncrest Outfitters with all their canoes and kayaks stored beside their house. You especially know that the fishing is very good. But what else do you know about where you fish? Maybe this brief history will help you understand and appreciate the area. Bruce County was shaped by the ice ages, semitropical seas, and weathering created the Bruce Peninsula with its distinctive limestone rock formations. Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre houses a large 9 inch tooth from a wooly mammoth found in Arran Township. The name „Saugeen‟ is a corrupted form of a Native word meaning „the entrance or mouth of the river‟. Oral history from the Saugeen and Nawash First Nations suggests their ancestors have been living in the area as early as 7500 years ago. Hunters and gatherers of the Middle Woodland culture lived in the area from about 700 B.C. to about 800 A.D. The Huron Indian nation was in the area when the first French Jesuit priests arrived. Fur traders from the Hudson‟s Bay Company then arrived and set up a trading post along the Saugeen River at what was to be the village of Saugeen (Southampton). Norman Robertson, author of The History of Bruce County, states that there was a fur trader who settled at the south side of the Saugeen River mouth in 1818. Other sources put the date around 1812 and that the trader was a Frenchman by the name of Pierre Piche. In the mid 1600‟s, the Ojibway (Chippawas) sent trading parties through the area and the Iroquois (Mohawk) often attacked them. The Ojibway and other native groups forced the Iroquois out and settled here for many generations. Paul Kane, a famous artist, who lived from 1810- 1871, visited the area in the 1840‟s and wrote “The Indian village of Saugeen contains about two hundred Objiways. It is a former battleground between the Objiways and the Mohawks. Of this, the mounds erected of the slain afford abundant evidence in the protrusion of the ones through the surface of the ground.” He also writes of the abundance of fish and deer in the area. At the Treaty of Manitotwaning in 1836, 1,500,000 acres were surrendered by the Objiway to British control to allow the influx of Canadian and European settlers. From this came The Queen‟s Bush or the Huron Tract. Queen‟s Bush was the title given to this area to distinguish it from the lands belonging to the Canada Company, the German Company and others that owned large tracts of land. The present counties of Perth, Huron and Bruce were created in 1849 from The Queen‟s Bush. The remaining land of what is Bruce County became the Indian Peninsula and was deemed to be located above a line drawn from the mouth of the Saugeen River to the mouth of the Sydenham River. This land was primarily comprised of primeval forest. Later on, there were more land treaties that incorporated the lands of the peninsula into Bruce County. At present, there are two First Nation reserves. The Saugeen First Nation is near the mouth of the Saugeen and the other, the Cape Croker First Nation, is on the east side of the Bruce peninsula. In the early 1800‟s, few explorers and settlers had visited the area. Unfortunately, records were few and the settlers‟ presence was not noted very well. They came from many areas in Upper Canada, Lower Canada and the Maritimes. Many came from across the Atlantic Ocean, from Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland, according to census records. In 1851 there were 499 families (2,837 people) located in and around Saugeen and by 1861, there were 4,665 families 27,499 people) according to the Bruce Genealogical Society – County History. However, another source (saugeenshores.ca – Saugeen Township)) states that there were only 200 people in 1851 with 130 people over the age of 20 and another 30 per cent under the age of 10. The Bruce County Museum and Cultural Center – Archives also says that there were 2,837 people in the area. I cannot explain the difference in the numbers. Before the land was officially surveyed, the first settlers arrived.
They arrived overland by walking on poor trails, by schooners on Lake Huron, and by rafts/ barges/ scows floating down the Saugeen River. The rafts were frequently heavy and unwieldy with one or two pairs of oars, and a long sweep oar at the stern. Settlers started off from Hanover or Walkerton to make the dangerous trek downriver. A selection from the Paisley Advocate many years later (April 28, 1876) states: “On one occasion, early in the morning, a commodious raft passed where this village now is (ed. Note – Paisley). On one end was a cow with her calf, on the other along with considerable baggage was a cooking stove, in which was a good fire, and while the enterprising settler was attending to the navigation of his vessel, the good wife was busy at the stove getting breakfast ready. The smoke which streamed from the elevated pipe, gave the moving raft the appearance of a rustic steamer in motion.” In 1844, the Government sent out a party to explore the Saugeen River. Travelling along the Garafraxa Road, they reached the Saugeen River. They then travelled down the river by canoe and mapped the Saugeen River and its surrounding lands. (History of Bruce County; Robertson) By 1851, the area had been surveyed and the Crown land was officially available to those who could make it here by land or water. Land cost two dollars an acre on July 30, 1852. Somewhere it was stated in my reading that a peculiarity about the survey being worked on in 1850 was a „Marine Allowance‟ along both sides of the river. A “Marine Allowance‟ was not included in any other survey. Probably, fishing was the first industry and the most important in Saugeen for many years. The first manufacturing industry in Southampton was a steam sawmill owned by Messrs. Line and Hamilton. It unfortunately burned down but was rebuilt by William Bondy in the form of a steam grist mill and distillery. According to the edition of the Paisley Advocate of April 28, 1876, there was an article about navigating the Saugeen River: “When the first steam sawmill built in this county, was to be erected in Southampton, about 25 years ago, it became a question of how large a boiler could be brought to its destination, as there was no road through the county. The boiler was conveyed to Hanover, if we remember rightly, and left by the side of the Saugeen to wait the turning up of some genius who would invent some method of taking it further. It was decided to make an ironclad of it and float it down the river. All the openings were tightly plugged, and with levers and handspikes, the huge boiler was started rolling at a very rapid rate down the steep bank into the deep river at the foot. The boiler, being very heavy, and going down with great force, it at once disappeared with a tremendous splash. The experiment was deemed a failure and the costly concern was supposed to be lost, but while the disappointed navigators looked on with blank faces where their craft had disappeared, it came slowly to the surface, raising its black shape high above the water. The boiler,which had started its way north without waiting for anyone to take command, was at once captured and a dry cedar log lashed to each side, oars were rigged and away went the strangest craft that ever navigated the Saugeen. The boiler was taken to Southampton.” Mill privileges at the Indian Rapids (the area where we fish) were owned by Messrs. Lines and Hamilton in 1852 or 1853. The rights were transferred in 1854 to Messrs. Dalton and McNabb of Toronto who started to build a mill race in 1855. They also started to build a grist mill.
During 1856, the two men sold the mill privileges and the improvements to John Denny. It has been reported that Mr. Denny was a descendent of the Denny‟s of Dumbarton, Scotland who were famous ship builders.
A map dated 1857 shows a grist mill (Denny‟s Mill) up and working at Indian Rapids. He also built 2 other mills – a saw mill by 1859 and a woolen mill by 1865. Together they produced flour, lumber, woolens and barrels. John Denny also cut a road through the forest during this time to bring his family to live on the site. To obtain power to run the mills, John Denny built a partial dam which went across about mid-stream and funneled much of the water flowing in the river enough of a distance down a mill race to get the required flow to power the mills. While this was being constructed, labourers stayed/ boarded at the hotel.
It was a matter of public record by the tax collector of 1859, that the “total real and personal property or income” of John Denny was $1354.00. Eventually, John Denny owned the estate at the top of the hill, farmland, the store, the grist mill, the woolen mill, the saw mill, two houses for the managers of the mills and the Denny‟s Bridge Hotel. Denny operated the mills before retiring to Toronto.
After John Denny left, his farm was purchased by Andrew Ruxton in 1883, and then in 1910, Mrs. Joel Eby purchased the land. Dr. Chambers held ownership briefly before being sold to William and Ida Donaldson. In 1926 the farm was eventually purchased by William Donaldson‟s son who lived there with his family for 47 years. It is reported by Jean Mills that the house was sold in 1973. It was during this time (1897) that the mill/water privileges were taken over by the Saugeen Electric Light and Power Company to produce Southampton‟s first electricity. Apparently, the idea of having electricity made people worry that it would cost too much so they voted the town council out of office but the machinery still arrived to be installed at Indian Rapids/ Denny‟s Mills.
It was in the early 1900‟s that a cement dam and race was built for producing hydroelectric power. The power produced serviced the electrical needs of Southampton, Port Elgin and Walkerton. Ontario Hydro took over as the main power supplier in the late 1920‟s. According to Gordon Kidd, who wrote an article titled „Old Powerhouse Humming in the 1920‟s”, when Ontario Hydro took over, all the machinery for the creation of electricity was taken out as Ontario Hydro‟s mandate was to eliminate all small power houses. He also states that the dam was “blasted out of existence”.
The Saugeen River Conservation Authority built the present dam in the early 1970‟s as part of controlling the water flow, controlling sea lampreys, and for a fish ladder. John Denny‟s hotel/ inn was a stop- over for stagecoaches and travellers and was sold to John Buckley about 1860. The Buckley family kept travellers‟ horses in their stables to be looked after and to rest for the next day‟s journey.
The Denny‟s Bridge hotel became known as The Bull‟s Head Hotel due to William Buckley‟s family‟s coat of arms which had Saxon origins. The coat of arms had a bull‟s head on the upper part of the crest and three bull‟s heads on the main body of the shield; thus, the Bull‟s Head Hotel name.
Of course, the Inn keepers were gregarious people and entertained their guests with music and good food. The popular inn also had a bar for those who were in the mind to partake in some libations. Rooms were heated by wood stoves and water was obtained from a spring at the bottom of the hill. Water was also piped to the stable (not far from the hotel and by the road-side) and into a watering trough for the horses.
William and his brother Richard Buckley owned and operated the hotel until 1883. After William died, Richard took over until James Johns took over ownership of the Bull‟s Head Inn in the late 1890‟s. He also “owned Denny‟s dam and water power rights, and did milling at the dam.” (John Weichel) The Bull‟s Head Hotel was used for many years as a family home by a family called the Mathesons before being purchased by Tim and Janette Thorne. The couple own and operate Thorncrest Outfitters in downtown Southampton. It continues to be private residence since the Thornes began living there in 2003. There are plans for it to become a bed and breakfast once all renovations are completed. Since it is a private residence, no tours of the house are given.
Mrs. Thorne described the house/ former hotel as having two foot thick walls. The upper portion of the house had been closed up for many years before they moved in. The upstairs of the building has 11 bedrooms and there are 27 windows in the house to let in lots of light. The back part of the house has an upper servants‟ quarters and kitchen with the lower part being the owner‟s bedroom and kitchen. Water for the house is supplied by an artesian spring/well that came out at a spot higher that the house. The house was in need of repairs when the Thornes moved in with many parts of the house being original, except for minor upgrades over the years like painting the wooden floors and wire electric wiring. During the mid-1950‟s a bathroom was installed in the house and used water from the spring. (Jean Mills) Mrs. Thorne also said that she believes that the house is definitely haunted. Visions and sounds of a cat have been seen and heard by both of the Thornes. (They do not have a cat.) Also, the sound of a foot dragging was heard in their first few years of residence but stopped after the downstairs renovations were completed. John Benner took over the mill privileges around 1880 and set up another woolen mill a little upstream from Southampton where he manufactured blankets. He had bad luck with flooding on the Saugeen River and was forced to relocate the mill to Inglis Falls in 1884. By 1888, Denny‟s Mills were owned by the Routh brothers and employed 15 people. Unfortunately in October 1888, a fire destroyed the woolen mills and everyone was put out of work. Going back to October 1865, before the Upper Canada government built a timber bridge over the Saugeen River at Denny‟s Mills or Indian Rapids (at an approximate cost of four thousand dollars including road improvements), there was a small, one-man ferry lower down on the river. According to an excerpt from one of John Weichel‟s books, Forgotten Lives: Early History of a Coastal Town, “The tariff for ferry use is as follows: Each passenger, 2 cents; Each vehicle with two horses or other animals, 6 cents; Each bag, barrel, or package with a team, 2 cents; Freight without a team, over 100 pounds, 2 cents; Freight under 100 pounds without passenger, 2 cents; freight with passenger, free; Each vehicle having paid twice in the same day to pay at half the cost.” Unfortunately, the ferryman was out of a job when the bridge was completed as were his two daughters who also ferried people across the river.
After the bridge was built, the people of Saugeen did not like having to go so far out of town to cross the river. Also, the southern part of Saugeen was growing slowly while the north side was only accessible only by boat. After Denny‟s Mills Bridge was built, businesses in Saugeen discovered that many people who crossed the bridge continued on to Port Elgin instead of stopping in Southampton. This started a movement to have another bridge built closer to the mouth of the river. The town council of Saugeen at the time decided that “the sum of five pounds be given to any person who can furnish the best and most satisfactory plan of a bridge to be built over the Saugeen River somewhere between the Steam Saw Mill and the mouth of the Saugeen River at the most suitable place, for the least possible expense.” The founder of the town of Saugeen, Captain John Spence, received the contract but due to lack of money, the project was cancelled.
The Saugeen River has been crossed by bridges ever since 1865 except for one period of three months. The bridge at Denny‟s Mills was built in 1865 but the spring flood damaged it numerous times. For example, it was washed out in 1907 and rebuilt in 1908. In 1909, an abutment was washed away so that closed the bridge. While it was being repaired in 1909, two workers repairing the bridge fell into the river and drowned.
During 1889, a second attempt to build a bridge at Victoria Street in Saugeen was started. This bridge became to be longest bridge in the county at a length of 430 feet. In 1891, the bridge was found to be unsafe and was ordered to be taken down and rebuilt. Alas, in 1909, the Victoria Street Bridge was again deemed unsafe to be used so once again an attempt to fix it was started.
During the building of the Victoria Street Bridge, a Cross of Lorraine was found and is believed to be from 1773 – 1809. These crosses were made in Montreal and distributed to the North West Company and other fur traders. Spring floods in 1912 took out both the Denny‟s Dam bridge and the Victoria Street bridge at the same time. Travellers and townspeople needed a boat to cross the river from April to June while a temporary bridge was put into place. In late 1912, Denny‟s Mills bridge was reopened to traffic.
Southampton was incorporated as a town in 1858, but remained being called “Saugeen” or “The Mouth” or “Sahgeeng” for many years. It was actually named after Southampton, Hampshire, England. At one point in its history, it vied for becoming the county seat with Walkerton.
Port Elgin was incorporated in 1874 but was originally known as Normanton. During Southampton‟s first year of incorporation reports show that there were thirty houses, three businesses and weekly mail. The Chantry Lighthouse was completed in 1859. Bruce County was named after James Bruce Earl of Elgin who was Governor General in 1849 when the Queens Bush was divided up into Perth, Huron and Bruce.
When Bruce County was finally incorporated in 1867, a Bruce County tartan was announced, registered in Edinburgh and patented in Canada. The archive section of Bruce Museum and Cultural Center says that the tartan is “Steeped in history, the red, yellow and green depict not only the Bruce clan tartan but the beautiful foliage of millions of trees that cover the area. The white and deep blues represent the glistening waves washing the 367 miles of shoreline bordering Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, as well as the many fresh water streams throughout the area.”
There have been several archaeological excavations/ digs in the area of Denny‟s Dam. Pieces of broken pottery, flint projectile points and bone fragments have been found. Even some evidence has been discovered of an ancient cemetery according to Jean Mills in an article titled “Life by the River”. During a dig in 1960, archaeologists found evidence of inhabitants for both Spring and Summer fishing encampments. This dig was formally called „The Donaldson Site‟ and further study of the artifacts in 1971 show that this site dated back to 500 B.C. Jean Mills goes on to say, “At the present time, the riverside property where the archaeological explorations took place is managed by the Ontario Steelheaders Association, allowing fishermen to camp there, for a minimal fee. The rest of the property grows weeds.” An internet site posted by the Saugeen First Nation about the well-known amphitheater states that “On the far shore of the Saugeen, the bones of warriors lie on the ancient battlefield known as “The Mound of Skulls”. The church is the site of the signing of an Indian treaty. The footpath running alongside the amphitheater was used by long-ago hunters to travel from the hilltops to the traditional river hunting grounds. Close to today‟s parking lot lays an ancient burial ground.” According to the Ontario Steelheaders – Saugeen River website, “In 1996, the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority (ed. note. – who own the property) announced that Denny‟s Dam Park would be closed to the public. The possibility existed that the park may even be sold”.
The Ontario Steelheaders approached the Authority with an offer to lease the park. The offer was accepted with the Ontario Steelheaders at a cost of $8,000 a year with the Ontario Steelheaders paying for the lease, insurance, maintenance of the washroom facilities, garbage disposal grass cutting, and signage. Due to these costs, a modest day use fee and camping fees (daily or seasonal) are in place. Many anglers use this park for camping. The Saugeen River Conservation Authority says on its website that “Denny‟s Dam Conservation Area is located 5 km north of Southampton. The area is accessible via Denny‟s Dam road just off Highway 21, north of Southampton. This conservation area is roughly 1.5 km upstream from the mouth of the Saugeen River. The property includes approximately 1.5 km of river frontage and is well known for its fabulous fishing. Fish species include salmon and trout.This park is maintained and looked after by the Ontario Steelheaders Association. Facilities include privies, parking, and a picnic shelter. Some camping is permitted at this park and fees do apply”. For those interested in camping at this park, there is no source of water (river excluded) and there is no electricity available. Across the river is Denny‟s Dam which is owned and operated by the Ministry of Natural Resources. There is no cost to use this area daily. There is no camping allowed at this site. It is an excellent place to use as a canoe/ kayak drop or pick-up for the upper Saugeen River. Boundaries of this area are unclear from the last report I could find.
Also, near Denny‟s Dam is the original cemetery for Southampton and area. It is on top of the hill near the present day cemetery. Over the years, it has become overgrown so a memorial area was created to honour the early settlers. Here, some of the headstones have been collected from the original cemetery (1200 feet deep and 500 feet wide) and installed in a fenced in area to preserve the stones.
To the north of Denny‟s Dam and along highway 21, a small park and Saugeen River access point for fishermen, a plaque was erected to the memory of Grant Ferris, in honour of a great fisherman, conservationist, environmentalist, educator, and mentor to many fishermen. This was done by members of the Grey-Bruce Outdoors on April 16, 2008. Today, the Ontario Steelheaders and the Lake Huron Fishing Club have joined together in a joint fish stocking effort to have the Saugeen River become the premier fishing destination for salmon and rainbow trout in Ontario. This ongoing project is already showing good results as the result of the many volunteers who help with the egg harvesting, work at the two hatcheries, and those who help with the stocking.
And there you have it – some area history in a nut shell. Some dates etc. are conflicting and may be argued but are as accurate as I can find in books and in the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre in Southampton. Various authors often do not agree on dates, but I would be happy to share my research sources on request.
