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' CAMPING GROUND Another favourite camping ground, of our red brothers was the land now known as the Lip- hardt Farm, and some years ago a splendid collection of relics were brought to light through the excavations there by Mr. Stroh. He knows personally of 12 sites in the county which were at one-ttme occupied by an In- dian encampment and has a col- lection of Indian antiques of which any museum might be proud. ANL INDIAN PARADISE This .county with its magnifi- cent forests, streams and climate was an Indian paradise, just as, The small army of people em- ployed in the Dominion Rubber Tire Plant do not realize as they go about their daily task that 500 years ago the land just be. hind that building was the tav, ourite camping place of a large band of the dusky natives of this country. that the smoke from the factory rmtttrces the smoke of campfires and that 500 years ago “was the war-whoop and not the factory whistle that awoke the echoes in that part of the city. Yet this is the thrilling tale told with a solid foundation of fact try Jacob G. Stroh, the naturalist, archeologist and historian of this district. J. G. sag: Jteminiscenut This ie tt ,n-print‘oi recollect- ions that were printed in the Waterkio ctironrrie,' May w, 1922. which recall the early you; of Kitchener and Waterloo when stately forests stood on the sites lithe two municipalities -- plus egferiences of some of the first so tiers. The "knowing was printed: I 'he1th'eek.e8trmtk'..ttl$-r,h-ae.ar.t9gr Nh/her/Mis/i; "and Wolves Roarnikri1iytjn'ilrrirere Modvrndnv craftsmen are able to H‘prnducc the same stvles taunt were popular 100 years ago in the tnitwtest (it-tall. Using new svnthetic mutt-Ham in the uphol- slerv that Will repoll stains, and new man-proof wood finishes, thew rcvrodovtiorts are far super- 10r m the origmuls. Edward”; mehn'o hasn't been in business for 100 years, but our More ' this furanv style Is vt'ry pnpular today. .und we do swll the best quahty Iurruture you can buy. Whetht'r vou want to furnish vour home with a bit of hmlmy or wnh tire dmxsns of the future . . . you’ll find the Iurmluu- you want at Edwards. 27 Erb West, Waterloo ROSS Skill)“ EDWARD'S FURNITURE is as -. EDWARD'S FURNITURE "Home of Distinctive Furniture" PINE 225 FT. HIGH _ Mr. Stroh well remembers the virgin forest and is sometimes lonesome for the fine old tree friends of his boyhood. He de- scribes the growth as first a sub. forest of oaks, elms, maples, cedars, and hemlocks a typical tree of which would be 32 ft. in circumference, and 80 ft. high; and then towering above them as the historian Humbolt has said "a forest above a forest", the lofty white pines, which were CAME HERE IN 1020 In 1820, shortly after the first deputation of Mennonites, Gau- kel and hit wife travelled four weeks over the blazed trails and settled near Bridgeport. They were both natives of Wurtem- berg, Germany, and having orig- inally settled in Pennsylvania de- cided to go to the new land to the north with their Mennonite neighbors. A daughter born after their arrival became Mrs. H. Stroh, the wife of a later settler from Wurtemberg, and they be, came the parents of Mr. Jacob Stroh. who now because of his studious nature and wonderful memory is one of our strongest links with the great past. when the Indian. retreated fur. ther trom the hunt. of civiliza- tion,' it was viewed as a paradise by the deputation of Mennonites. who in 1810, came from Pennsyl- vania to found a new home. A strange thing it seems that the wild land so recently the hunt. ing ground of the unheeded 1n- dim should so soon fall into the possession of a race of frugle, thrifty farmers, who would tame it into domesticity and replace the lip of the arrow with the lurching of an ox-drawn plough, indeed the old order ehangeth truly. This chair and its accompanying pieces was very popular when Can' la was young. 'lhc matercshs and craftsman- ship used in its construction were the best available at that time. Still Popular After 100 Years the same style... better quality Today, the same is true, but the quality of furniture has improv- ed with the innovation of new machinery and materials. Grand River east of Galt - 800 ft. above sea level. Gait - 900 ft. above sea level. Conestogo - 1,000 ft. above sea level. Junction of Grand and Cones- togo rivers - 1,017 ft. above sea level. known as dangle ping and were o: the very finest kind, These lofty beauties which lived for Mr. Stroh 70 years ago saw in Kitchener a Plank from a nine tree with a width of foo-Meet. and has pictures of some of the last of these giants. He has also in his mansion cuts from some of the largest which were 180 feet tall and measured five feet in circumference. He points out that now not a single Specimun remains'of the towering pine which at one time heird to make the- forests of Waterloo County rarely beautiful. ALTITUDE OF COUNTY During later years Mr. Stroh has found time to take the alti- tude of many parts of the county and is now convinced that the rising altitude for which the county is famous, entailing as it does a wide range in the variety forests wealth. the stronoest of the soil was. next to the reason for the choice by the Mennonites of the then district of Wellington, County of Halton. for a new home, in this connect- ion he has arm-"20d a scale of altitudes which should be inter- esting to residents of the county showing as it does a difCrnnee of between 500 to 600 ft. within the boundaries of the county. St. Jacobs - 1.057 R. above sea level. soo' {tars grew to a height 225 . with a circumference 65 ft. 'r.. BRUCE snmu Phone 576-4290 of It was then the duty of the boys of the family to assist the father to recapture the honey store and Mr. Stroh has vivid re- collections of such adventures. Sometimes, good woodsmen tho' they ‘were. they got lost in the depths of the forest. Sometimes, when about to grasp the trees- trouble and one time in a tree behind the present House of Refuge. Mr. Stroh remembers his urem they were stung for their father securing a pail of honey and about 25 pounds of beeswax from the 13 ft. hollow of a pine HONEY MAKING Among the other industries carried on by the pioneers was that of honey making. In 1820-30 bees were brought in by the settlers and honey was provided as a sweetmeat to the hardier fare of bush days. In connection with the trees a strange thing happened. Many of the domestic bees escaped and swarmed in high trees where they gradually became what is known " wild bees; in reality only eadaped NATURAL DRAtNAGE The county has an admirable natural drainage system with mr merous creeks and springs. and two large rivers the Grand and Conestogo, and several small lakes, notable amona which were the Paradise and Sunfish. The latter, which is the ori"in of the Waterloo creek is 1,850 x 800 feet and its greatest depth is 64 feet. These waters were not only of importance for the drainage but were useful for power " well and in the earlv days were srtr:rttv utilized for this mimose by the settlers so that Mr. Stroll well remembers that there were in existnnce in the county IS grist mills. and as manv woollen mills and saw mills hv the dozen. Seagram's mn - 1,256 ft. above sea level. West of Bombers - 1,367 ft. above sea level. Crosshill - 1,400 ft. itrove sea level. Baden Hill - 1,450 feet above sea level. Kitchener nation - 1,100 ft. above to. level. above sea level. Waterloo Bridge - (Ertr St.) 1.156 ft. above Sea level. 1967: 1867: Collegian: hilt - 1.10070 feet 92 King South, Waterloo GETTING HONEY Dunlap Fabric Centre In Canada's earliest days, the industrious seamstress not only sewed much of the fanuly's clothing, she also loomed the material herself. And happy was the (lay when factory-loomed yard goods began to appear in bolts at the General Store. Today. tho handloom is a prized antique. And there Is no end to the selection of beautiful fabrics of (wow weight and shade. This " particularly true at Dunlap Fabrics, where they also feature fine drapery materials. They've been catering to Twin City home- makers Since 1958! . come. His wife had died on ship- board and the fatigue of the jour- ney and the attention which in had to give his wailing mother- less baby had been too much for him and he had fallen in the woods a stones throw tirom his destination. "rt the days when the railway east a finger of steel of civiliu- tion into the forest of .Waterloo county Mr Stroh was often sent by his mother with a basket of provisions among the wearied new arrivals at the station, and just to show that a kindly art lives a long time, Mr. Stroh de- clared that some of the descend- tree, This would be led to the tamebe.esath?measithada somewhat woody taste. and the production 91 the. tame bees was sold at " cent; a pound while the beeswax brought the splendid price of do cent; ' pound. THE WONDERFUL MAPLE While Mr. Stroh's father I. still a led in Germany he heard in amazement of the wonderful tree in Canada which produced sugar. soap and firewood; of course the reference was made to our own stately maple and Mr. Stroh recounted in graphic manner the primitive method in which the settlers went about collecting the sap and making the maple sugar. He still has in his possession one of the up troughs used in those early days, almost the only one left of thow sands which were once to be seen throughout the county. A HosPITABLE HOME Mr. Stroh was born in a cabin opposite the present site of the Star Theatre. He still remembers when 31 stumps were removed from that property with the usual difficulties attended upon that kind of work. His Grand, father Gaukel was the host of the tavern across the road where the Walper House now stands, and many were the settlers ill from their ocean voyage, and sick at heart from the seemingly interminable journey through the trees who found shelter and hospitality in the Gaukel home. One nieht, Mr. Stroh remembers to have heard his grandmother tell of hearing a baby cry in the woods just across the trail from her home. She aroused her hus- band and upon investigation he found a poor immiorant, lying beside a tree completely over- the warp and weft of days gone by 745-6681