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HOW ANDREW OASTLER SETTLED IN CANADA Grandfather Andrew Oastler came to Canada in 1869 from Dundee, Scotland. He had his effects in a large pine box with iron hinges. This he had made himself at his home in Dundee where he worked as a joiner (carpenter). It is not known how long the voyage took but eventually he got to Bracebridge, Ontario. From there he went by stage coach along the old Colonization trail to the then tiny village of Parry Sound. Part of this old Parry Sound road is still in existance and goes past the Oastler Farm. It was completed in 1869. Andrew's brother, James, a cabinet maker, had preceded him and he took up James' land grant at the south-east end of Mill Lake near Parry Sound. If he could have seen the land from a distance it would have looked like a vast pinery. The forest was magnificent with tall white pines, maple, elm, basswood, beech, ironwood, and some balsam and hemlock. The town of Parry Sound, where the Seguin River empties into the Georgian Bay was at that time one of the main villages of the Ojibways who are now settled on the Indian reservation of Parry Island across the Sound from Parry Sound. Its original Indian name was "Wausakwasene". When Grandfather Oastler arrived at Parry Sound village there were a sawmill, boarding house, blacksmith's shop, seven or eight small shanties of rough logs and a small store, half log and half frame. The Free Grant and Homesteaders Act brought the first group of white settlers and trappers into the district, but pine timber, easily floated, was the real drawing card. 3 The first year, when Grandfather Oastler cleared some of his land and built his log cabin, an experienced Indian helped him. When the Indian left for the winter he asked what he could bring back in the spring, Mr. Oastler said in a joke to bring an Indian girl. In the spring there was the Indian girl. Her Indian companion took her back to a nearby reserve. About a year after Andrew Oastler arrived in Canada, his wife, Helen Raitt, came with their small baby boy, William. There was about an acre of land cleared. The little cabin was furnished with hand-made furniture benches, beds, and a table. Oastler Farm has a pine cupboard and desk handmade from the pioneer era. It was a very lonely life. One day Grandmother Oastler felt it was just too much. She went for a walk in the woods, not caring nor watching where she was going. The farm dog followed her. She sat down on a fallen log, the tears flowing freely and the understanding dog sitting beside her. When she got up to return home she knew she was lost in the big forest. She knew not which way to go. Then she told the dog to go home, shooing him with her hands. When he stopped she told him again to go home. He did and he led her safely back to her log cabin. Close to 1873 a Lumber Company flooded out the Oastler Farm on Mill Lake. This firm then settled Mr. Oastler and his family (wife and twolittle sons William and James) on the shores of Lake Pottah-Kah-Weimana, an Indian name. Here, on the Parry Sound road, the second log cabin was built. It was a rocky farm. He dropped all claims against this company.