New Liskeard Heritage

I come from Northern Ontario stock
Hardy folk
Willing to carve out a life
In wilds of northern forest...
Canadian Shield.
Where winters were cold and bitter;
And black flies and mosquitoes unyielding.
Wilderness refused to give up ground,
yet through back breaking perseverance
Farms were forged
And mines were carved
Into harsh terrain.
I remember my Grandfather calling it
God's Country.
Pure and rugged,
Yet beautiful in all its majesty.
These people were not celebrities.
They were hard working
Beard toting men.
Ordinary folk.
Their strength of character
Determination and perseverance
Allowed them to carve out
New homes for their families.
Their women were just as strong
They matched their men
In a resilience that could weaken a moose.
Their souls were mighty
Their tales tall and hardy
Their music heard on wafting breeze
Even today.
I am proud to call these great men and women
My forebearers.

33 lines.


Prompt for: Jan 6, 2016 (fyn) ▼

Subject or Theme: Something, anything, that might have happened in your area during the 1800s. (any month of the year is okay.) A place you might have gone, like the General Store, or a journey by stagecoach or covered wagon, perhaps. Maybe there was a battle specific to where you live or a discovery made. Or a simple day to day thing that might have occurred.

Word(s) to Include: beard, soul, match (or any derivatives of these words)
Forbidden Word(s): the (or any derivatives, compound or hyphenations of these words)
Additional Parameters: Let us know where you are, ie; state or province, nearby city...(for example)
At least 24 lines or a form that is 24 lines or more. Rhyming or not. Please include a link if you use a form.
Remember, do not use forbidden words ANYWHERE, including title or the brief description.

Notes ▼

There were no major historical events that shaped the early history of the town of New Liskeard. No battles were fought at, or near, the town. No prime ministers or other national or international celebrities have called the town home. No natural disasters occurred in the 112-year history of the town; the closest exception is the Great Fire of 1922, which affected only the periphery of the town, but devastated the rest of the district.

What makes the history interesting are the men and women who were attracted to the Lake Timiskaming area in the last decade of the 1800s and the first few years of the 1900s. Ordinary people for the most part, but people with the strength of character, determination, and perseverance to carve out a new home for themselves in the wilderness of Northern Ontario. There were some colourful and interesting characters who made their homes in the north.

It was definitely not easy homesteading in Temiskaming before the turn of the century, and the pioneers had to be strong-willed, stubborn, resourceful people to make a go of it. Some, faced with the back-breaking work, the numbing cold of winter, the encroaching wilderness and the relentless black flies and mosquitoes, gave up. Many others stuck with it, and made lives for themselves and their families here in what locals like to call "God's Country". This history is as much about these pioneers and builders as it is about the land itself and the events that shaped the history of Temiskaming

Source: http://www.highwaybooks.ca/109.htm