It’s a common story in Muskoka. Free land grants brought settlers to the area in the 1860s with a promise of independence and plenty. But the minds that envisioned farmland on the Canadian Shield were fooled by the abundance of greenery on display. Once the trees were removed, what little topsoil there was blew away.  Nothing but hard, cold rock and nutrient poor land  was left and the area wasn’t at all suitable for growing crops.

So it was with the village of Vankoughnet  which you can find today by travelling along Highway 118 east of Bracebridge. James Johnston came from Ireland to settle here in 1865, and others soon followed. By 1870 a post office had been opened near Wood Lake, started by Levi Miller. Miller named the village after Phillip Vankoughnet, the commissioner of Crown land for Canada West.

But farming on the shield was an exercise in heartbreak and often, starvation. Many hardworking and hopeful families were forced to leave their land when they simply could not make a living.

Those who stayed, the residents of a fledgling Vankoughnet, were made of stern stuff and their proximity to the Black River was a saving grace. Muskoka’s giant pine was in great demand for the shipping industry and soon numerous logging camps were established along the banks of the river.

Resident Graydon Boyes’ great-grandfather Thomas was the first Boyes to settle in Vankoughnet, moving from the Ottawa Valley in 1877 to take advantage of the land grants. He was a lumberman who yearned to try his hand at farming. However, when he was offered the position of mill foreman in Gravenhurst his farming dream was put on hold. To qualify for the free 200-acre land grant he assumed the responsibility of clearing five acres in five years. He did not manage this until 1885 but no one seemed to mind. The original homestead is long gone, but Boyes’ great-grandson still lives on the property.

By the late 1880s there was a thriving community in Vankoughnet with names likeThompson, McCutcheon, Chrysler, Tingey, Cook and Grier. A one-room log schoolhouse was erected on Peterson Road, the old colonization road. The structure also acted as a place of worship for Presbyterian, Anglican and Methodist congregations.

Local stories speak of the short tenure of many a school teacher. The bustling logging town was full of eligible young men and each new woman who came to teach the children of the village was quickly swept off her feet by one of the strapping loggers. Only unmarried women could teach, so come fall a new teacher would arrive, and the cycle would continue.

Fire destroyed the first school building and a timber-framed model replaced it. This also burned down. Boyes said his grandfather recalled walking to school one morning only to be met by a group of men who had been battling the blaze. There would be no school that day. They rebuilt the school and S. S. #1 Oakley remains in the village today. It’s currently being renovated into a private residence. A more modern two-room schoolhouse was erected in the 1960s.

As with other small communities that counted on their proximity to trees and to rivers used to transport logs, once roads came in and logs were carried by truck rather than water, logging slowed down.

Still, the last of the mills were open until a few years ago. The mills of Vankoughnet were family run and lasted, when larger mills had to close down, because they didn’t need as much business to be profitable.

“It’s hard to find anyone of my generation who did not have a stint working at a mill,” says Boyes.

Vankoughnet may have made its reputation as a hard-working village but fun was not far off. The annual July 1 picnic was famous and all the locals came out for games and square dancing. A tug-of-war between the Boyes and Thompson mill workers was a highlight, even if not enjoyed by all.

“Dad always dreaded that match,” said Boyes. “He said it took more out of him than a week working at the mill.”

Muskoka is dotted with ghost towns where communities disappeared when logging dried up. But Vankoughnet endured. Ladders replaced saws as the building of homes replaced the cutting down of trees. New families moved into the village and the population now hovers around 600.

An example of the young blood in the village is Boyes’ nephew Matthew Sitler who returned to the area in 2003 to renovate the family cottage with his wife Cheryl. After travelling from Montreal to cottage in the village every year of his childhood, Sitler was enamoured of Vankoughnet and all it has to offer.

“My family has always lived here, so I bought the family cottage and converted it into a home. I love the total peace and privacy the village offers and the natural surroundings. I always looked forward to going up to the cottage,” says Sitler. “We would go for four weeks and it would be over like that (snap). I liked visiting. We had a huge family with tons of cousins; mom had eight brothers and sisters so there were always tons of kids to play with.”

Sometimes Sitler’s personal history with the property jumps into view at the strangest of times.

“I own nine acres and I’m finding buried toys in the sandpit that I played with 30 years ago,” he says. “They’re mixed in with all these bullet shells, because people used to do target practice in the pit back then.”

For Sitler the village was always a great place for treasure hunting.

“I recall through the years, people finding Indian flints in the woods,” he says. “And there are small burial mounds throughout properties in the village with small piles of stones. You have to look hard to find them, but they’re there.”

Like other young people who have chosen to build their lives in the small community, the Sitlers aren’t there for nostalgia alone. They love the landscape of the place: the Black River with its waterfalls and rapids, perfect for floating down on a raft on an idyllic, lazy Sunday afternoon and the woods.

“We go for hikes and walks,” Sitler says. “There are great places to photograph. It’s amazing in the autumn with the leaves changing. And everybody knows everybody; you talk at the mailbox, wave when you go by. One of the greatest things is to sit under the stars at night, just pure stars … it’s amazing that way. In the pitch dark in the middle of nowhere you sit and hear the owls hoot. When I look back on living in town there’s no comparison; it’s 10 million times better than living in the city.”

Patti Thompson is the Oakley Ward councilor for the Town of Bracebridge and she can trace her Vankoughnet lineage back to early settler families, the Johnstons and the McCutcheons. She may have been born in Mississauga but Vankoughnet called Thompson back during her high school years and she returned for good in 1997.

Passionate about the village, she’s thrilled to be part of this thriving community. Thompson was very involved in the recent town square project that has breathed new life into the two-room school house.

“This project is like the phoenix rising from the ashes,” says Thompson. “Although we fought hard to keep the school open – several times successfully – the school board finally decommissioned it in 2002. The Town of Bracebridge leased the building for the community and in 2006 bought the building from the board for $55,000.”

Thompson is the town council liaison to the community management board that struck a deal agreeing to raise money for operational expenses if the town would cover capital expenditures. The building is now called the Village Square.

“It has been a real success,” says Thompson. “There are several functions and events held at the Village Square. Many are fundraising dinners and it’s a rental facility for things like family reunions and association meetings. There are lots of volunteers; I can’t emphasize how the community has rallied. There are people who do so much work at the place.”

It’s one of the things residents of small communities are known for: supporting each other.

“I see our village continuing to grow as Bracebridge expands,” she says. “People will find the peace and tranquility of a rural lifestyle about a half hour away from town.”

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