NIPIGON TO FORT HOPE 1910 - 1913, part four

Written by L.M. "Buzz" Lein in 1979 from note of a nine year correspondence with Corrine Franche.

Buzz wrote in the first person so it reads as her story.

FORT HOPE : THE POST

The manager was another Donald McDonald, but nicknamed Long Mac because he was tall and thin. it's no wonder he was thin after eating his own cooking for four years. He was originally from Antigonish in Nova Scotia.

He had been working in the Post Office in Ottawa where he met a fur buyer who told him about Fort Hope. There was no post at Fort Hope (Revillon Post, L.M.L.) at the time - just a tent. Long Mac and the Indians built the post.

The store was built of squared timber. It was a storey and a half with the store on the main floor with living quarters above. At the back was a small shed used for a warehouse. It was kept locked. At the front, across he full width was a balcony to which we had access by a door from our living quarters over the store. There was a staircase from the balcony to the ground, and this is how we came and went to the living quarters on the second floor.

There was a permanent ladder on the roof, leading from the eave to the chimney. This was for quick access to the chimney in case of a chimney fire, a constant hazard when softwood is being used for fuel. (or birch. L.M.L.)

The area around the store was flat and there was a fenced off patch beside the post for gardening purposes.

The store itself had been built around 1909. The living quarters over consisted of a large living and dining room combined; a small kitchen and two bedrooms, one of which was Long Mac's. There was a small wood stove in the kitchen and a small wood-fired heater in the living room. There was a back door which opened out onto the roof of the shed. This was an emergency exit in case of fire.

There was a bookcase in the living room; a long dining room table; a couch;and  two chairs.This is where we had a gramophone with cylindrical records and a hand operated sewing machine. There was a typewriter and lots of good books and magazines. And I had my White House Cookbook.