Chapter IX

History of the Liscomb Game Sanctuary

At that time the Musquodoboit District Line ran east crossing the Beaverdam Lakes and Highway 224, then on to the Guysborough County line. At the head of Anti Dam Flowage is crossed near Hall's Landing on the East River, Sheet Harbour waters.

This description shows the boundary line leaving Long Lake to follow up the Square Lake Brook, around Square Lake and on to Boggy Lake. A great deal of planning was required before the boundary limits were established.

One change in the first plans, of which was that the boundary line was to follow down Moser River from Long Lake to Round Lake, following the northeastern side of Round Lake down to Melopsetketch Brook, then following the brook to the lake and on to Hunting Lake. This, however put Boggy Lake within the limits of the sanctuary. Since there was a moose hunting lodge located on the south side of Boggy Lake, owned and operated by Mr. Herbert Bezanson of Moser River, this was changed to the present location. Complaints from Mr. Bezanson and others resulted in all of the area south and east of Boggy Lake being left out of the sanctuary as a "happy hunting ground."

At the beginning there were four wardens patrolling the sanctuary: Joseph McCarthy on the western side, Robert Lowe on the eastern side, with William (Bill) Jewers in charge. His first two partners were Perry Grant of Meaghers Grant and James H. Lowe of Sheet Harbour. Both retired after a short time. Next in line would be Dougal Cameron of Cameron Settlement, then Arch MacIntosh of Sherbrooke, then John Cameron of Newchester. TO complete the list of Wardens in past years, there were St. Clair MacDonald, Otty Parlee, Fraser Currie, Douglas Jewers, George Bezanson with Merle Jewers and Angus McInnis still on the active list. Bill Jewers was in charge of the sanctuary from 1928 until he retired in 1957. He was off one year in 1932-33, and through illness in the winter of 1948. Victor Burrell took place with Otty Parlee.

When the sanctuary was first established the camps were stocked with supplies for the warden's use. This did not work out since these supplies were tempting to the public. The wardens would arrive at some of the camps, only to find that they had been broken into and the supplies taken. A base camp with a cellar for supplies was arranged at Long Lake on Moser River. A hovel for a horse was provided so that supplies could be transported by horse and wagon from Moser River.

This method was used until 1951. At this time, making use of the highway which had been built through the sanctuary, a new camp was built including a basement at he Fifteen-Mile Stream near the Sloan's Lake Road. This was much better for supplies and was used to store fire equipment.

For about one year, 1931-32, Nova Scotia had a police force. However this was changed on April 1, 1932, when this force amalgamated with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to police the province. For a few years the sanctuary wardens were put in uniform, using the Nova Scotia police clothing -- from cape to boots.

When the sanctuary was first established there were only two canoes purchased. One was used from Cross Lake near Locharber Mines all the way to Liscomb or Rocky Lake on the Sheet Harbour waters. The other was used from Union Dam Flowage to Governor Lake and down the west branch of St. Mary's to Trafalgar where there was a shed at Tom MacDonald's to store the canoe. In summer this would mean travelling in the opposite direction each time because of the location of the canoes. Two replacements were bought in the late 1930s. Also two 16-foot aluminum canoes were purchased in 1950, with two others later. I was with Bill Jewers on a few occasions and helped him carry the canoe. One of the first two canoes which were bought in 1928 was still stored in the Key Hole camp at Liscomb when I retired. I presume it is still there. Bill always said it took a good man to handle that canoe. It was "terribly hare to get along with." Millen MacDonald can confirm this fact after having to swim part way across Rush Lake after being dumped out. Angus MacInnis had a cold bath one day when picking cranberries. Better luck with that old canoe next time, Angus!

When the sanctuary was first being patrolled there were two time clocks,, one for each warden, with a key attached to each clock. This key was to unlock a steel box which contained a key on a chain with the number of the camp on it, fastened to the inside of the camp logs. The camp key, when inserted in the clock, put the number of the camp and the date on a circular record sheet, which, in turn, had to be sent to the Halifax office of the Department of Lands and Forests each month. On weather to have the camps visited within the allotted time. I have one of the steel boxes with the key attached -- a real souvenir.

The first camps were all built of round logs with board or pole bunks, wide enough for three or four people to sleep on. It was not until 1943 that two double-decker steel bunks, complete with matresses and new blankets, were purchased for each camp. At that time Bill Jewers was along because Johnny Cameron was sick and had to retire. Otty Parlee was hired to help Bill with the beds and stayed on as a warden.

The first sanctuary camps were built at Fifteen-Mile, Sand Island and Governor Lake, by Bay Rutledge and Fred Chittick. The camp first used on the western side of the Union Dam flowage was a remodeled building which had been left by the contractor cutting logs for the Power Commission to build the Union Dam. I believe that Frank Owen helped to make this shelter livable. In 1932 a new log cabin was built near the same location by Bay Rutledge and Bill Jewers. The Long Lake camp was built by Archibald Pye of Moser River. Hunting Lake, Key Hole and Trafalgar camps were built by Dougal Cameron and others from Cameron Settlement. All camps were replaced in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with the exception of the Key Hole camp which was replaced in 1939.

In the late fall of 1939 three pregnant doe caribou were purchased from Newfoundland and brought to Pictou by boat, destined for the sanctuary, When the boat docked, the caribou were loaded on a truck which headed for the sanctuary via caribou at the Fifteen-Mile diggings, which represented roughly the centre of the sanctuary.

When the truck arrived at Trafalgar (the month was December) there was snow on the Old Tote Road to the Fifteen-Mile diggings. Since the old road was in poor shape the truck got stuck in the vicinity of Fraser Lake, about one half mile into the sanctuary. The caribou were unloaded at this point and headed in an easterly direction.

F.A. Harrison, who was deputy minister at the time, contacted Head Warden Bill Jewers, who knew nothing of this "caribou caper," and gave him the story. Bill picked up and followed the tracks of the three caribou. He found a dead calf where the three had bedded down the first night. The following night a second calf was born where they bedded down the first night. It too was dead. Bill followed the tracks to the granite-barren northwest of Rush Lake, where he lost them.

There were no further reports of these caribou until 1943 when a lone caribou was seen at Bog Island lake by Colin Gammel. There have been no reports of caribou since that time.

Concerning other game on the sanctuary, moose, up until the early 1940s, were plentiful. By then the moose were dying off but the deer were getting more plentiful. In 1948 a census was taken by Dennis Benson, the wildlife biologist, of the deer population along the road, from the board camp to Trafalgar. On three trips, morning, noon, and evening, we counted an average of 22 deer. IN 1949 it was reported to the department that deer wer being shot withing the sanctuary boundary, especially along the highway, in considerable numbers. The meat was being sold as veal. A short time previous to this the sanctuary administration was changed from the Halifax office to the New Glasgow office of the department. Mr. Robert R. Murray was in charge and I was working with him at the time. I reported this complaint to Mr. Murray and we definitely found the number of deer had decreased. They were also much wilder along the highway. This in turn was reported to Mr. C.W.I. Creighton, the deputy minister, who in turn recommended to the Department of Lands and Forests that the sanctuary road from Trafalgar to the south gate should have temporary gates erected so as that a check could be made for firearms entering the sanctuary. The gate attendants were put on for the 1949 hunting season and were kept on until the end of December. The first gate he retired in 1970. William (Little Bill) Dunbar, was the first attendant at the south gate for one season only, then Chadwick Malay was gate attendant until his death in 1961.

The public accepted the gates very well with very few complaints. In 1950 we built a grounded telephone line from gate to gate, with a unit in the woodshed at Fifteen-Mile camp and one in a building at Grassy Lake. These two were in case of fire as the Grassy Lake saw mill was running at the time. This gave us communications to Sheet Harbour as the south gate attendant had access to the Power Commission's telephone at the Board camp bridge at the south gate. From here he could give a message to the operator at the power house and he in turn passed it on to me at Sheet Harbour. This worked very well. Two or three small fires were reported in this manner.

After Chadwick Malay's death, Robert Boutilier replaced him for a few years until his death in a car accident. Thomas Smith replaced Mr. Boutilier and he was there a few years until retirement. Because the number of company roads within the sanctuary boundaries had increased, the gates were of little value and after David Sharpe and Thomas Smith retired, the gate attendants were not replaced.

It should be pointed out that the sanctuary permit system is good management. In the space of 29 ½ years, we had only three small fires, one mill yard fire and the Old Dam at Anti Dam burned. To my knowledge there have been no forest fires within the boundary of the sanctuary. We have had the fire patrol plane on several occasions in the past report as many as 18 to 20 boats with fishermen on Anti Dam Flowage, Sloan's Lake and Rock Lake on a 24^th of May weekend.

Coming back to the foresters, who have looked after the administration of the sanctuary from the New Glasgow office, Millan MacDonald took over from Robert Murray, followed briefly by John Semple. Ralph Hale is now in charge. After I retired, David Sweet took over for a short time but went with G.D.A. and Donald Hurst, Supervisor, Forest Resources in St. Mary's, with two Wardens -- Merle Jewers (Bill's Son) and Angus McInnis, on the sanctuary with Mr. Hurst in charge.

Bill Jewers, in my opinion, was one of the better woodsmen of his time. He was also really talented -- a good carpenter, good brick layer and could make a perfect violin and a perfect snowshoe. On one occasion, after Aubrey Brown and I had a problem hauling a toboggan to transport our sleeping bags and supplies for a few day's cruising, we finally had to leave it along the trail. Bill advised me: "My boy, anything you cannot carry on your back, leave," which is good anything you cannot carry on your back, leave," which is good advice. It was a pleasure to travel with him.

He told me about two of his close calls, using Bill's own words, "with his Maker." On one trip he was making around words, "with his Maker." On one trip he was making around the sanctuary along when Arch MacIntosh was on leave in Sherbrooke. He was coming down Governor Lake in the canoe which had a hardwood paddle made of ash, and one of fir softwood, which can look alike. When putting the canoe in the water at the head of the lake, one paddle was put on the forward portion of the canoe under his pack. In choosing the one to use, it happened to be the fir paddle. The lake was rough with quite a wind. When he was approximately half down the lake, the unfortunate happened. The paddle broke under the heavy strain, leaving him with no alternative but to try to reach the other paddle. At times he felt it was going to be impossible to keep the canoe from upsetting, however the old man made it -- but no more fir paddles for Bill Jewers!

One summer, again alone, coming down Liscomb on the sanctuary trail, he had trouble with a fully-grown bear. He hesitated using his revolver, which he always carried, and which he used only if it were absolutely necessary. This time he back tracked and mad a large circle and the bear left. In visiting the area at a later date he found the bear had killed a small moose near the trail and apparently was not at that time gong to allow Bill Jewers to have any portion of it. This of course was put in his diary which had to be kept up to date after the time clocks were outdated. It was not long before the Wardens had a permit to carry a 30-30 rifle on the sanctuary for the spring, summer and fall seasons, also having permission to trap bears.

Another of Bill's experiences should not go without mention. He and his partner John Cameron were on their was down Liscomb on snowshoes. They were held up at the Key Note Sanctuary camp for a day or two due to a rain storm. When the weather cleared sufficiently to allow travelling, they started for Hunting Lake, then on the Loon Lake. When they arrived at Hunting Lake there was no problem getting onto the ice as there was no meadow along the shoreline. It was a different story when they arrived at where the trail went off the main part of the Lake had risen with the water, but the area where they had to go ashore was flooded due to the ice being frozen in the meadow. The water came up over it and was three feet deep in places. It was five to six hundred feet to shore. They stopped and looked over the situation. John Cameron said: "You are not going in there are you Bill?" Said Bill: "No other choice my friend. The only place we have a bite to eat is at Long Lake." Bill said that he was in the camp and had half his wet clothes off before John got courage enough for the cold bath! They dried they clothes as best they could, put on their snowshoes, and stuck out for Long Lake.

The Deputy Ministers of the Department of Lands and Forests:

Mr. Fred A. Harrison

Mr. G.W.I. Creighton

Mr. Robert H. Burgess

Mr. J.S. McTavish

Mr. Donald Eldridge

When the two men arrived at Lochaber, where they were going to leave their car, they noticed that Mr. George Dickie's car as parked there. At this time the Liscomb Game Sanctuary was partly in the Musquodoboit School District. This gave Mr. Dickie an interest in the sanctuary.

Bay knew that George usually had a bottle of Black Diamond rum under the seat of his car. Perhaps the thought of a relaxing drink later on in the camp gave him an idea. As the car was locked it was necessary to crawl under the vehicle. This was not too difficult as the cars in those days were much higher than the present models. By pushing up the hatch in the plywood floor and feeling around, his hand came in contact with just what Bay was looking for -- the bottle was there. After replacing the mat and floor board he tucked the bottle in his pack. Bay and Perry continued on to the Sandy Island Sanctuary Camp. They would stay there for the night and go on the next day to Anti Dam and the Fifteen Mile Camp .

A considerable amount of the rum was enjoyed that night. Knowing that George Dickie, accompanied by Clarence Mason, would be staying at the same camp when their work was finished at the Twelve Mile, they left a drink for them. This was really appreciated by these men when they arrived there a day or two later.

It was not until Mr. Dickie was on his way home and stopped at Sprott's Spring to have a bit of refreshment did he discover the Black Diamond was gone. One can't help but wonder if the drink back at the camp suddenly last a bit of its savor.

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