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by Barbara Irvine Thousands of urbanites visit the upper Bruce Peninv sula each year to enjoy its beautiful scenery. clean water and sweet-smelling air. One of the host at its rural attractions is often overlooked. however. and that is the local people themselves. Many at them are grandchildren of the pioneers who settled here shortly after the land was first opened up tor sale in 1856. It is reasonable to suppose that their descen- dants today must rellect something oi their an- cestors' ideas about getting along in this world. By listening to the stories they tell ol the early days at roughing it in the Bruce, one can easily discover their survival secrets. and the kind at soctely the pioneers developed in this area This essay will attempt to reveal. through Interwews With two elderly. lifelong restdents, how thetr families were able to succeed in making a good life lor themselves on thisisolaled peninsula. The Bruce is surrounded by water on three sides On- CE the bottom oi an inland coral sea. its eastern edge, the Niagara Escarpment. was pushed up by a 3 km. thick glacrer which left drumlins. eskers. erratics. and billions of small stones in its wake when it retreated. Small pockets of terms soil are scattered here and there On the stony limestone surlace. These pockets could be farmed ai- ler the settler removed the trees, the stones and the boulders "It you have nothing to do, go pick stones." is 3 Bruce ex- pression. The low-lying far- ms on the lists in the centre are always wet and need drainage ditches to clear them tor pasturage. From December to the and at February, terrilying winter Storms rage across the land. making It impossible to move outside the house. "Streamers" ol wlnddriven snow. twenty miles wide, will often suddenly appear. moving in from Lake Huron. They make the air as thick and white as a glass of milk. Yet the local people like the winter and believe It is “healthy” The poor land and the hard winters were accepted by the settlers as a challenge. and besides, that was how things were. Driving past fields with huge piles oi rocks in the centre. looking at the aban- doned farmhouses. and walking through meadows covered with wildflowers, and the scrutiin growth that has replaced a tarmer's ploughed acreage, in 1537 one becomes sensitive to how hard the work must have been. and how close many at the pioneers must have existed to a bare sur vival level. In 1900. over 4.700 people lived in the up- per Bruce Penisnula, twice the number at permanent residents living here today. Minnie Hepburn. whose grandparents came to Puple Valley, is an outstanding woman who has made the Bruce a better place because at her life in it. I have transcribed part of her story as follows: This is the story of some of the happenings in the life ol Minnie Hepburn who was born the 5th of January. 1903. in a little log house on the farm where the parents had lived all their married lilo. My lather was Henry Pruder who was born In Germany and came to Canada May 3rd, 1565 with his parents. They settled in Bentick Township near Chesley. My mother was Margaret Eilzabeth Char- bonneau. She was born near Londsborough. near wingham. on September 16, 1863. My parents were married around 1538 and went to a farm on Con. 14. Albemarle Township. on the border oi the Indian Lands, to take up farming. The only building on the farm was a small. rough house. a set- tlor‘s cabin on the only clearing noarthe road. My parents added a gar- den and a place for the animals. I will describe that house. The house was made of tags, hewed by hand and put together with a plaster substance. The cabin had one large room on the main ltoor that was used as a living room and kitchen and a smaller room that served as my parents' bedroom. The upstairs was one large room that was curtained oil with bleached llour bags that separated it into rooms for our family of ten children, seven girls and three boys. A ladder was used to get up to the upper floor. The Inside walls were always whitewashed. and the floors were bare wide boards that had to be scrubbed. The house was heated by wood stove. and coal oil lamps were used tor the 1ight.We did our laundry in wooden tubs with a metal washboard. Water was heated on the stove In a boiler, and badly soiled ciothes were always bolted to removed stains. Water was pumped by hand with a wooden pump outside. 9. our turnitif‘re was made mostly by hand; wooden beds with stats and hand- sawn flour bags. They made the mattresses which we titled with straw. They never were very salt. but we used them for many years. We did a lot ot‘sewlng: clothes. straw links” to sleep on. remodelling hand-me- downs. We want baretoot most at the time. In the summer, we even went to school baretoot. walking the 2% miles to Purple Valley. We did not have flower gardens. had no thought of them because we had too many other things to do. A large hole was dug un- der the house. and milk and butter. potatoes and vegetables. as wall as can- ned fruit and pickles were stored there in the winter. in the fall. a large hole was duh outside, Clean straw was put In the bottom of the hole and potatoes and apples and vegetables were stored there with more straw on the top. Earth was piled up on It to keep out the frost. in the spring, this hole was opened up and we shared the crisp vegetables with out neighbours. We had a real treat. We never went hungry. even with ten children. Wild plums and berries could be picked and canned. We had venison. chicken, Ilsh and eggs. We liked to pick wild berries. strawberries, blackberries, raspberries. to put away for the winter. We also sold them for spending money, Our favourite spot was down under the clllfs. The Bruce Trail now runs along the top there. Short ladders made of wood were wedged into the rocks. and other steps were chipped out to help us make our way to the bottom where there were always good berries. We carried our pickings back up the iaddes in pails. There also was a wide slide made of heavy boards built to carry the logs from the top right down to the lake. From there they were taken to the sawmills. There Is no evidence at this device left. It Is just a memory. (Giant decaying stumps of the white pine trees logged out. remain. however, to suggest past glories of the forest cover as wall as man's rapaclousness.) We had no books in our house. Nobody did much reading. just the school books and the Bible. There was no such thing as a library in those days. We never travelled anywhere. 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