Muskoka’s abundance of Hemlock trees and soft water prompted the opening of tanneries in Bracebridge and Huntsville. The tanneries offered farmers an additional revenue stream through the collection of hemlock bark.

In 1875 Gravenhurst became a transshipment point for the lower lakes when the railway reached the town. Bracebridge and Huntsville would flourish as the rail pushed north – and offered tourism operators, lumbering interests, and settlers access to the outside world. This chapter discusses the Northern Railway, Fire on the Nipissing, Captain George Marsh, and the Portage Flyer.

The members of The Muskoka Club, who included Bain and Campbell, were keen on ‘roughing it’ in the wilderness. However, the idea of vacationing in the North had taken off and hotels began to appear on the landscape to accommodate those who were looking for more luxury.

In the late 1800’s, during the early days of tourism, many American visitors came to Muskoka’s shores. They fished, hunted, and camped in the wilderness, but it wasn’t long before the area’s visitors began knocking on the doors of settlers, looking for some of the comforts of home.

Immense stands of white pine stretched across the North, and were quickly exploited by the lumber barons of the 1800’s. Settlers who were facing hardship on the farm turned to lumber camps in the winter to supplement their incomes. This chapter discusses how the farmers became lumberjacks, the Georgian Bay Lumber Company, the story of Go Home Lake and the dangers of logging.

The Free Grant and Homesteads Act of the 1860’s lured settlers to the Shield with the promise of hundreds of acres of free farmland – if they could survive on it for 5 years. This chapter discusses the Free Grant and Homesteads Act, the Northern Advocate – Muskoka’s First Paper, Rock Farming, and the allure of the Canadian West.

A.P. Cockburn saw the potential for Muskoka’s lakes, and promised the government steamers for the area’s waters if locks and roads were built. Settlers and commerce were sure to follow.

As available arable land in Southern Ontario began to run out, the government and entrepreneurs began to look to the North. Treaties between the government and the First Nations Peoples who already occupied Northern areas, helped clear the way for settlement. This chapter discusses the Robinson-Huron Treaty, Obajewanung’s (Port Carling’s) beginnings, colonization roads, and A.P. Cockburn’s Introduction to Muskoka.

With the assistance of the area’s First Nations, Europeans – such as fur traders and surveyors - began moving through the Muskoka Wilderness. After the War of 1812, the search was on to find an inland water route to connect the Georgian Bay to Ottawa. This chapter discusses the War of 1812, David Thompson and early surveys and the origins of the name Muskoka.

The Canadian Shield has for thousands of years influenced the movements and lifestyles of the people who have lived on the edge of its rocky terrain. For the peoples who first occupied Muskoka, the waterways quickly became their highways, and were easily navigated by canoe. This chapter discuses the precambrian shield, first peoples, seasonal cycles and movements of the Anishinabek, Beausoleil Island / YMCA Camp Kitchikewana and Chief John Bigwin.