July 5, 2002 Chautauqua

From the Editor's Computer

   “Oh, Canada.  My home and native land…”  In recognition of Canada Day, I would like to share with you some little known tidbits about this great country that we are so very blessed to live in and call our home.

• Canada is the only geographical area with rivers running east (from the Rockies towards Hudson Bay) and west (from the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean).  All other countries in the world have north/south orientated rivers.  This is one reason why the fur trade flourished in Canada as fur traders were able to penetrate deep into our western regions years before the Americans even crossed the Mississippi.
• The longest named place in Canada is Pekwachnamaykoskwaskwaypinwanik Lake in northern Manitoba.
• Manitoulin Island (in Lake Huron) made the 1983 Guinness Book of Records due to  the lake in the island, Manitou Lake, the world’s largest lake within a lake.
• Flin Flon was named after the nickname of a dime novel hero - Professor Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin (aka Flin Flon) from the novel The Sunless City written in 1905 by J.E. Preston-Muddock.
• Sir Charles Tupper was the shortest-serving Prime Minister of Canada - his term in office lasted for 69 days in 1896.
• Francis Jeffery Dickens (1844-1886), son of novelist Charles Dickens, was an inspector with the North West Mounted Police, leading a defence against Big Bear at Fort Pitt in April, 1885.
• One of the greatest sea mysteries in the world is the inexplicable abandonment of the ship the Mary Celeste in December of 1872.  On Spencer’s Island, NS, there is a cairn commemorating the ship as it was built and launched from there in 1861.  It was originally christened the Amazon.
• Tête du Pont Barracks, Kingston, ON was the site of the first hockey game in Canada on December 25, 1855.  Members of the Royal Canadian Rifles regiment cleared snow from the harbour, laced blades to their boots and played field hockey on ice with borrowed field hockey sticks and a lacrosse ball.
• In 1860 one of the names proposed for the new dominion was Tuponia (The United Provinces of North America).  It, along with other suggestions, was rejected in favour of Canada.
• It is possible to see two quarrelling men in the Canadian Flag.  The images are in the white panel at the top of the maple leaf (silhouettes butting heads).  The two men were called Jack and Jacques, or Lester B. Pearson (in favour of the flag) and John D. Diefenbaker (its opponent).
• The national toast for Canada is “Chimo!” (chee-mo)  It is a native term meaning “cheers.”

(most of these tidbits are from the book 1001 questions about Canada by John Robert Colombo)

Beth

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