Construction Diary XXXIV
Greetings!
Aug. 27th. - Representatives from Cape Breton trail groups came to our Park to see our work and talk about best practices.
Aug. 28th. - Our friends from the Shearwater Military Base installed a culvert and did some trail surfacing along a section of the trail that runs through their Base.
Aug. 30th. - We met with a representative from Taylor Lumber; to look at dealing with the Juan damaged trees still in Cole Harbour Heritage Park before they lose all their market value.
Sept.1st. - A big rain event (60 mm) overwhelmed some of our culverts and ditches; mostly along The Heritage Trail and really torn things up. It even jumped stream banks and ran through the woods, gouging out trails that got in it's way.
Sept. 6th. - We met the Minister of Natural Resources and some of his staff along with our MLA Darrell Dexter who arranged the meeting for us. We toured the Minister through our Park and showed him the Juan damage that was left behind and in our opinion; had never been properly cleaned up.
There were no commitments made other than, the Minister would get back to us.
Sept. 7th. - We brought in a load of gravel and a bobcat to repair some of the worse areas from the Sept. 1st. rain storm.
Sept. 18th. - Vandals tried to burn down our much used and greatly appreciated outhouse on the Salt Marsh Trail. Apparently they were not Scout Canada trained, because they started the fire in the roof and not at the bottom of the outhouse; in which case it would have burned to the ground. It is still going to cost about $400.00 to $500.00 to repair the damage.
Sept.19th. to 24th. - We hired a contractor to mow the shoulders of all our trails in the Park and along the Salt Marsh Trail. They used a ride on mower, an excavator with a flailer head and hand held spacing saws.
Sept. 21st. - We met with DND's Formation Development Engineer at Shearwater to discuss how we can get through their Base and onto the Eastern Passage Road / Pleasant Street which then puts the Woodside Ferry within sight.
Sept. 22/23rd.- Installed four new culverts and ditched 700 feet along The Heritage Trail. Volunteers also limbed overhead trees to make it easier for the dump trucks to put up their boxes and spread their loads.
Sept.24th. to 28th. - We installed several more culverts inside our Park and placed seven (7) loads of crusher dust along various trail surfaces and not a day to soon.
Sept. 29th. - The Cole Harbour Heritage Park was officially opened. The flags were flying and the sun was shining. There were two guided walks before the ceremonies; one ten kilometer walk and a five kilometer walk. Councillor Harry McInroy, Mayor Peter Kelly, MLA Mark Parent and MP Michael Savage all gave short and much appreciated speeches. A reception followed in the big red barn with hot dogs and soft drinks; all in all a grand day, celebrating what a small dedicated group of volunteers can accomplish.
Oct. 1st. - Our friends at HRM Underground Services came to our rescue by placing some very large rocks along a ditch near our Caldwell Road parking lot where 4x4 SUV's were coming off road into a very steep ditch and then accessing The Shearwater Flyer Trail.
Oct. 4th. - As a follow up to the Minister's meeting on the Juan damage to the Park; we met with his Executive Director - Renewable Resources. He was also given a tour of the damaged areas and lobbied to do more clean up.
Oct.5th. & 10th. Work begins at the West Lawrencetown Road end of the Salt Marsh Trail. We have wanted to modify the gate there for sometime and to re-install our sign structures that ATV's had broken off.
After the new posts were in the ground, we had a welder come in and cut off a section of the gate which now allows bicycle to pass through the gate without dismounting but still blocks ATV traffic from coming in. The gate was then sanded down and given a fresh coat of yellow paint. Some vegetation push back was also done and a load of crusher dust was spread in the area.
Oct. 11th. - Met with HRM Trail Staff who have asked us to re-focus our business plan this year to bring up the West Lawrencetown end of the Salt Marsh Trail (2.6 kms) to Active Transportation Standards. To which we have agreed as it will also support our efforts to re-build the Salt Marsh Trail later on.
Oct. 13th. - Another trail group attended our Park for a tour, to take advantage of best practices and to learn from our mistakes.
Oct.15th. - Our consultant who is working on the Bissett Brook Project provided an update on his work so far.
Oct 16th. - We put the ride on mower and excavator with the flailer head to work on the West Lawrencetown end of the SMT to push the vegetation back along the shoulders of the trail.
Oct.17th. to 22nd. - Another contractor started cutting trees that are growing in the ditches along the trail and then chipping them; in order to not to impede the proper ditching that must take place before we can surface the trail with crusher dust.
30 students from NSCC - Environmental Engineering Technology - Water Resources class asked to come to our Salt Marsh Trail and do a clean up; to which we readily agreed. We supplied them with garbage bags and work gloves.
The following day, CHPTA volunteers took our trailer out to the SMT and brought out to two big loads of refuse that the students had gathered up along the trail shoulders.
Sept.19th. - We received a letter from Base Commander - Canadian Forces Base Halifax that offers us a corridor across DND property; provided that we satisfy a couple of conditions. This has been a long coming and finally opens things up for the next link towards the Woodside Ferry.
Finally: The Weekly News is running a contest for your favorite park and has listed four parks to choose from. Your are invited to vote on-line at http://www.dartmouthcoleharbournews.ca/ We all know who has the best park; so please get your friends and relatives to tell The Weekly News, what we already know.
Happy Trails
Aug. 27th. - Representatives from Cape Breton trail groups came to our Park to see our work and talk about best practices.
Aug. 28th. - Our friends from the Shearwater Military Base installed a culvert and did some trail surfacing along a section of the trail that runs through their Base.
Aug. 30th. - We met with a representative from Taylor Lumber; to look at dealing with the Juan damaged trees still in Cole Harbour Heritage Park before they lose all their market value.
Sept.1st. - A big rain event (60 mm) overwhelmed some of our culverts and ditches; mostly along The Heritage Trail and really torn things up. It even jumped stream banks and ran through the woods, gouging out trails that got in it's way.
Sept. 6th. - We met the Minister of Natural Resources and some of his staff along with our MLA Darrell Dexter who arranged the meeting for us. We toured the Minister through our Park and showed him the Juan damage that was left behind and in our opinion; had never been properly cleaned up.
There were no commitments made other than, the Minister would get back to us.
Sept. 7th. - We brought in a load of gravel and a bobcat to repair some of the worse areas from the Sept. 1st. rain storm.
Sept. 18th. - Vandals tried to burn down our much used and greatly appreciated outhouse on the Salt Marsh Trail. Apparently they were not Scout Canada trained, because they started the fire in the roof and not at the bottom of the outhouse; in which case it would have burned to the ground. It is still going to cost about $400.00 to $500.00 to repair the damage.
Sept.19th. to 24th. - We hired a contractor to mow the shoulders of all our trails in the Park and along the Salt Marsh Trail. They used a ride on mower, an excavator with a flailer head and hand held spacing saws.
Sept. 21st. - We met with DND's Formation Development Engineer at Shearwater to discuss how we can get through their Base and onto the Eastern Passage Road / Pleasant Street which then puts the Woodside Ferry within sight.
Sept. 22/23rd.- Installed four new culverts and ditched 700 feet along The Heritage Trail. Volunteers also limbed overhead trees to make it easier for the dump trucks to put up their boxes and spread their loads.
Sept.24th. to 28th. - We installed several more culverts inside our Park and placed seven (7) loads of crusher dust along various trail surfaces and not a day to soon.
Sept. 29th. - The Cole Harbour Heritage Park was officially opened. The flags were flying and the sun was shining. There were two guided walks before the ceremonies; one ten kilometer walk and a five kilometer walk. Councillor Harry McInroy, Mayor Peter Kelly, MLA Mark Parent and MP Michael Savage all gave short and much appreciated speeches. A reception followed in the big red barn with hot dogs and soft drinks; all in all a grand day, celebrating what a small dedicated group of volunteers can accomplish.
Oct. 1st. - Our friends at HRM Underground Services came to our rescue by placing some very large rocks along a ditch near our Caldwell Road parking lot where 4x4 SUV's were coming off road into a very steep ditch and then accessing The Shearwater Flyer Trail.
Oct. 4th. - As a follow up to the Minister's meeting on the Juan damage to the Park; we met with his Executive Director - Renewable Resources. He was also given a tour of the damaged areas and lobbied to do more clean up.
Oct.5th. & 10th. Work begins at the West Lawrencetown Road end of the Salt Marsh Trail. We have wanted to modify the gate there for sometime and to re-install our sign structures that ATV's had broken off.
After the new posts were in the ground, we had a welder come in and cut off a section of the gate which now allows bicycle to pass through the gate without dismounting but still blocks ATV traffic from coming in. The gate was then sanded down and given a fresh coat of yellow paint. Some vegetation push back was also done and a load of crusher dust was spread in the area.
Oct. 11th. - Met with HRM Trail Staff who have asked us to re-focus our business plan this year to bring up the West Lawrencetown end of the Salt Marsh Trail (2.6 kms) to Active Transportation Standards. To which we have agreed as it will also support our efforts to re-build the Salt Marsh Trail later on.
Oct. 13th. - Another trail group attended our Park for a tour, to take advantage of best practices and to learn from our mistakes.
Oct.15th. - Our consultant who is working on the Bissett Brook Project provided an update on his work so far.
Oct 16th. - We put the ride on mower and excavator with the flailer head to work on the West Lawrencetown end of the SMT to push the vegetation back along the shoulders of the trail.
Oct.17th. to 22nd. - Another contractor started cutting trees that are growing in the ditches along the trail and then chipping them; in order to not to impede the proper ditching that must take place before we can surface the trail with crusher dust.
30 students from NSCC - Environmental Engineering Technology - Water Resources class asked to come to our Salt Marsh Trail and do a clean up; to which we readily agreed. We supplied them with garbage bags and work gloves.
The following day, CHPTA volunteers took our trailer out to the SMT and brought out to two big loads of refuse that the students had gathered up along the trail shoulders.
Sept.19th. - We received a letter from Base Commander - Canadian Forces Base Halifax that offers us a corridor across DND property; provided that we satisfy a couple of conditions. This has been a long coming and finally opens things up for the next link towards the Woodside Ferry.
Finally: The Weekly News is running a contest for your favorite park and has listed four parks to choose from. Your are invited to vote on-line at http://www.dartmouthcoleharbournews.ca/ We all know who has the best park; so please get your friends and relatives to tell The Weekly News, what we already know.
Happy Trails
Construction Diary XXXIII
Greetings!
A warm welcome to Fred Madore, Gary & Coleen Lewis, Sean Wood and Tersesa Givovannetti.
June 20th. - Reports of a dirt bike being ridden on the Jersey Jack Trail come to our attention. Working with the parents of the rider and DNR enforcement personnel the situation has been resolved and the riding has stopped inside the Park.
June 23rd. - We start plans to modify the gate to allow for an easier flow of walkers and cyclists, at the West Lawrencetown Road end of the Salt Marsh Trail. At the same time old signage will be re-installed and some trail surfacing will be completed.
June 27th. - Our painters start work on the barn, power washing, hand scrapping, applying one coat of grey primer and two coats of red paint. All the new windows, corner boards and doors are painted white. The barn was originally red in color and we believe that we are close to the same old red color.
June 28th. - The brochures for the Cole Harbour Heritage Park and Salt Marsh Trail / Shearwater Flyer are printed and ready for release. Anyone wishing one please just let us know, or they can be picked up at the Cole Harbour Library, Cole Harbour Heritage Farm, Eastern Passage information center, Eastern Passage Community Office.
June 29th. - The grass around the second cemetery, near Bissett Road, gets mowed in preparation for painting the cemetery fence. Lake City Paint donates three gallons of paint for the project.
June 30th. - Our friends from the Church of Jesus Christ show up with a large group of youths who paint the entire cemetery fence white.
June 4th to 29th. - Saint Mary's University Department of Archeology under the supervision and direction of Professor Heather MacLeod-Leslie start work on the Poor's Farm Cemetery and Poor's Farm residential foundations. She has thirteen students, one assistant and from time to time other professors join her.
Their first three weeks on the job were quite challenging, with lots of rain and cold temperatures but preserver they did. They and we were rewarded with numerous artifacts being found and interpreted. The good news for us, is that this project will continue into the future which in turns allows us to share this local history with everyone.
Their story caught the interest of the local media, via newspaper, radio and television.
July 5th. - The painters finish the barn today, 22 gals. grey primer and 87 gals. of red paint.
July 11, 18 & 19th. - Our contractor starts maintenance work inside the Park. We replace three culverts and re-ditch a number of areas that suffered erosion during the winter months; we also surface and a number of areas.
July 13th. - We meet with our chosen consultant on the Bissett Brook project and walk out the project on the ground.
July 14th. - Gus Reed spends a full day doing a survey of park users at the barn parking lot.
July 16th. - The Heritage Farm loans us a 1945 aerial map of the Cole Harbour area which will be useful on the Bissett Brook project.
July 17 & 18th. - We hire a contractor to push the vegetation back along some of trails using a large ride on type mower. We are feeling our way on the issue of maintenance, trying to find the right balance for vegetation control and cost efficiencies.
Atlantic Lotto shoots it's latest advertisement in the first big field beyond the barn parking lot. It's the one with the swarm of bees chasing a person through the field.
July 20th. - Our friends from Cole Harbour's Petworks have agreed to sponsor all eight our doggy bag dispensers which means the boxes will be self sufficient in bags for the foreseeable future.
Happy Trails
A warm welcome to Fred Madore, Gary & Coleen Lewis, Sean Wood and Tersesa Givovannetti.
June 20th. - Reports of a dirt bike being ridden on the Jersey Jack Trail come to our attention. Working with the parents of the rider and DNR enforcement personnel the situation has been resolved and the riding has stopped inside the Park.
June 23rd. - We start plans to modify the gate to allow for an easier flow of walkers and cyclists, at the West Lawrencetown Road end of the Salt Marsh Trail. At the same time old signage will be re-installed and some trail surfacing will be completed.
June 27th. - Our painters start work on the barn, power washing, hand scrapping, applying one coat of grey primer and two coats of red paint. All the new windows, corner boards and doors are painted white. The barn was originally red in color and we believe that we are close to the same old red color.
June 28th. - The brochures for the Cole Harbour Heritage Park and Salt Marsh Trail / Shearwater Flyer are printed and ready for release. Anyone wishing one please just let us know, or they can be picked up at the Cole Harbour Library, Cole Harbour Heritage Farm, Eastern Passage information center, Eastern Passage Community Office.
June 29th. - The grass around the second cemetery, near Bissett Road, gets mowed in preparation for painting the cemetery fence. Lake City Paint donates three gallons of paint for the project.
June 30th. - Our friends from the Church of Jesus Christ show up with a large group of youths who paint the entire cemetery fence white.
June 4th to 29th. - Saint Mary's University Department of Archeology under the supervision and direction of Professor Heather MacLeod-Leslie start work on the Poor's Farm Cemetery and Poor's Farm residential foundations. She has thirteen students, one assistant and from time to time other professors join her.
Their first three weeks on the job were quite challenging, with lots of rain and cold temperatures but preserver they did. They and we were rewarded with numerous artifacts being found and interpreted. The good news for us, is that this project will continue into the future which in turns allows us to share this local history with everyone.
Their story caught the interest of the local media, via newspaper, radio and television.
July 5th. - The painters finish the barn today, 22 gals. grey primer and 87 gals. of red paint.
July 11, 18 & 19th. - Our contractor starts maintenance work inside the Park. We replace three culverts and re-ditch a number of areas that suffered erosion during the winter months; we also surface and a number of areas.
July 13th. - We meet with our chosen consultant on the Bissett Brook project and walk out the project on the ground.
July 14th. - Gus Reed spends a full day doing a survey of park users at the barn parking lot.
July 16th. - The Heritage Farm loans us a 1945 aerial map of the Cole Harbour area which will be useful on the Bissett Brook project.
July 17 & 18th. - We hire a contractor to push the vegetation back along some of trails using a large ride on type mower. We are feeling our way on the issue of maintenance, trying to find the right balance for vegetation control and cost efficiencies.
Atlantic Lotto shoots it's latest advertisement in the first big field beyond the barn parking lot. It's the one with the swarm of bees chasing a person through the field.
July 20th. - Our friends from Cole Harbour's Petworks have agreed to sponsor all eight our doggy bag dispensers which means the boxes will be self sufficient in bags for the foreseeable future.
Happy Trails
Dr. Jerry Lonecloud
Jeremiah Bartlett Alexis (Jerry Lonecloud) Halifax
Photograph: Clara DennisNova Scotia Museum, Halifax
This is the first in a series to bring you details of persons, places, and things whose names grace our park trails. – Ed.
Jerry Lonecloud (1854-1930) was a familiar sight to Cole Harbour residents in the early part of the last century. He gathered sweet grass in the area which he used to make coiled baskets for sale in the Halifax market.
There is some uncertainty about the details of his full and fabulous life. He was born in Belfast, Maine, the son of Abram and Mary Anne, reported to be Mi’kmaq from Nova Scotia. Mi’kmaq are part of a larger Algonquian/Wabanaki culture which traveled freely in parts of present day New England and Eastern Canada.
Lonecloud’s father, Abram, had something of an exciting life himself, having participated in the capture of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln. On April 26, 1865, Company H of the 16th New York Cavalry shot and killed Booth, who was hiding in a barn in Virginia.
After the capture of Booth, the story goes, Abram went to claim his share of the $100,000 reward and was never heard from again. He is presumed to have been murdered.
Prior to his military service, Abram was connected with Morse’s Indian Root Pills Co., of Morristown in upstate New York.
Shortly after his father’s disappearance, Lonecloud’s mother died and the orphaned 11 year old made his way to Nova Scotia, probably crossing the Bay of Fundy by canoe – once a frequent route - with three younger siblings on an epic two-year journey. Until the 1880s, Lonecloud made his living by hunting, trapping and guiding. He was a member of the Millbrook Mi’kmaq band, which summered in the Cole Harbour area, traveling along the Shubenacadaie River and through the present-day Dartmouth. lakes.
In the 1880s, at the height of a patent medicine craze, there was a famous and outlandish traveling extravaganza called Healy & Bigelow’s Kickapoo Indian Medicine Show. At any one time there were up to seventy-five H&B shows touring the east, and in their winter quarters in Connecticut lived several hundred Indians. Lonecloud joined one of the shows and traveled extensively, perhaps to New Brunswick, where he married Elizabeth Paul.
Although patent medicines are sometimes dismissed as quackery, they are often based on careful formulations of herbal remedies. Perhaps Dr. Lonecloud, with his wide knowledge of traditional Indian remedies, made a contribution to the recipes used by Healy & Bigelow.
It is thought that Lonecloud also traveled with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show and had an interest in The Kiowa Medicine Show, along with Louis Newell – “Chief Rolling Thunder”, from Old Town, Maine, center of the Penobscot culture.
Returning to Nova Scotia, Lonecloud, Elizabeth and their family of seven children made a living selling handicrafts. Lonecloud became chief medicine man of the Mi’kmaq.
For more on Jerry Lonecloud, read the 2002 biography and memoir - Tracking Doctor Lonecloud: Showman to Legend Keeper by Ruth Holmes Whitehead. It is taken from notes and interviews done in the 1920s by Halifax journalist Clare Dennis.
The book covers the details of Lonecloud’s history, as well as his reminiscences, observations and contemplations, gleaned from a remarkable existence. Because Dr. Jerry Lonecloud was a born and practiced showman, the line between myth and reality is sometimes unclear, but there are many lessons to be taken from his extraordinary life.
Welcome
About the park
This 400 acre provincial park was built and is maintained by the Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association, an all volunteer, not for profit community group. The park depends on private and public funding, often in the form of donation of materials and time.
Trail Descriptions
Difficulty
This 400 acre provincial park was built and is maintained by the Cole Harbour Parks and Trails Association, an all volunteer, not for profit community group. The park depends on private and public funding, often in the form of donation of materials and time.
Trail Descriptions
Difficulty
- wheelchair/bike
- easy
- medium
Main Trails
Heritage Trail 2.5 km
Running the length of the park, this trail is accessible from many points. It is the only trail within the park where bikes are permitted. Because it is relatively flat, it is a good choice for wheelchairs or strollers.
Panorama Trail
The gentle hills in the park are typical of numerous drumlins that dot the coast, providing magnificent views. Drumlins are whale-shaped hills of clay and stones formed by retreating glaciers 15,000 years ago. (In Gaelic druim means the crest of a hill.). These natural barriers protect large shallow estuaries, allowing salt marshes to develop.
Poor’s Farm Road
This follows the abandoned access road to the Poor’s Farm, crossing brooks and skirting fields.
Brook Trail 0.3 km
A short loop off the Panorama Trail along a rushing stream.
Jerry Lonecloud Trail 1.0 km
Jerry Lonecloud (1854-1930) was a familiar sight to Cole Harbour residents in the early part of the last century. He was a member of the Millbrook Mi’kmaq band, which summered in the Cole Harbour area, traveling along the Shubenacadaie River and through the present-day Dartmouth. lakes.
He gathered sweet grass in the area which he used to make coiled baskets for sale in the Halifax market.
Front Country Trails
Jersey Jack Trail 1.0 km
Jaques Levesconte from the Isle of Jersey jumped ship from a grounded vessel in the 1870s , married a Cole Harbour girl, and was a notable and colourful character in the area for 75 years.
Costley Farm Trail 1.3km
In 1865, John Costley was the fisheries inspector in Cole Harbour. The open fields are the only remaining evidence of his farm. This trail transects a large block of more or less undisturbed terrain.
Points of Interest
Poor’s Farm Cemetery
Nearly 300 residents died over the 42 years of the Poor’s Farm existence. Most were returned to relatives in home communities, but it is thought perhaps 16 are buried here. This cemetery is being inventoried, cataloged and restored by a field archaeology program at Saint Mary’s University.
Poor’s farm
Beginning in 1887, this was the site for Halifax county’s residence for the ‘harmless insane”. A complex of several buildings was used until a fire forced closing in 1929.
Poor’s farm Reservoir
A rock-lined reservoir, part of the water supply system for the farm
George Bissett House
George Bissett held several prominent positions in Cole Harbour. For some time he was a Justice of the Peace. In 1890 he became the first county Councillor in Cole Harbour. He was also referred to as Squire. George Bissett died in 1916.
Costley Farm
The midpoint of this front country trail
Ware (Weir) Inn
A roadhouse that catered to visitors, travelers and affluent sportsmen. King George V may have stayed here on a hunting trip to Cole Harbour marsh. If you can add to our sketchy knowledge, please let us know.
Support your Community Park by joining or volunteering
Cole Harbour Parks & Trails Association
51 Forest Hills Parkway, # 13
Dartmouth, NS
B2W 6C6
(902) 462-5706
chpta@ns.sympatico.ca
Emergencies
911
Civic address 666 Bissett Rd., Cole Harbour
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