Up Snake Creek Without a Paddle

The official news came through in 1948 .The section at Snake Creek was being closed down . A dam was being built at the LaCave Rapids . The River was going to rise so the railway from the dam site upriver to Temiscaming would have to be rebuilt . That meant rail traffic would be stopped on that run until the new rail line was built .
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The lines that ran hugging the shore of the River since 1891 were to be moved further up from the River . They would turn north at Snake Creek to a  higher valley that gave a route past Lac Bangs and beyond- a 38 mile diversion-and would not return to the River until it reached Temiscaming . Peacock and McQuigge Ltd were building the Mattawa end because of the specialized work required blasting a way through the granite/gneiss hills . The Temiscaming end was being built by Therrien Construction .

Highway 533

Across the Ottawa River from the CPR line Runs Hwy 533 . The history of this road has a significant bearing on this part of my True Tales .

Julian Ralph gives an accurate account of what the road was like in 1889 in his Harper's article ' Antoine's Moose-yard' . The initial part of the road he describes was in good form because it was continually used by horse drawn wagons and sleds between Mattawa and the portage at LaCave .

Firewood

 The Steam boats only operated part of the year . Winter ( determined by snow and ice , not the calendar ) and high Spring melt waters prevented forwarding on the River so a regular well maintained road existed . Horse-drawn sleds regularly hauled small logs for local use - firewood and building projects . Larger logs stacked along the banks of the River during winter by lumbermen