It's true. I'm back after a seven year absence. Wow, talk about writer's block! That was more like writer's great barrier reef.
Those who are familiar with my blog will notice a slight difference in tone for this post. Yes, I'm the same old wacky smart-ass, but this entry will deal more with truths and setting the record straight, rather than my usual facetious and frivolous fare. At any rate, this particular issue has been bugging me to the max and I really needed to get this off my chest.
The subject matter may not, well, matter to most. After all, who knows or cares what goes on in the relatively unknown environs of a relatively unknown snow shoveler, right? It's not as if this blog will grab the attention of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (we might just see about that). On the other hand, who doesn't need a little geography lesson now and then? You never know if "Grand Bend Watershed" might come up as a "Jeopardy" category.
My home is located within a 2 minute walk to the shore of Lake Huron. The closest notable town is Grand Bend, which is technically a community within the municipality of Lambton Shores.
One of the picturesque features of Grand Bend is the lovely watercourse which meanders through the village before flowing into the harbor and finally emptying into Lake Huron. Surprisingly, a good many area residents do not know the name of the flow nor do they seek the name of the creek. Parkhill Creek it is.
However, if you do a Google search and query what river runs through Grand Bend, you will see a resulting snippet for the Ausable River. This should be startling news to anyone alive today. Why? Because the Ausable has not snaked its way into Grand Bend since 1875!
In fact, there are plenty of websites that still make the claim that Grand Bend is situated on the Ausable River. I’ve taken it upon myself to set the record straight, even if I have to surf the entire Internet for any site mentioning both Grand Bend and the Ausable River. Already I’ve convinced two or three to make corrections, including a Government of Ontario travel site. I’ve sent emails to another half dozen or so.
Many of these websites have not responded which leads me to believe one of three things:
One, they don’t care what the dammed (in Parkhill) waterway is called;
Two, they stubbornly and defiantly hang on to the belief it’s still the Ausable despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary;
Three, and most likely, these are old sites which no longer have a working or caring web administrator.
Another website I’ve called upon to make changes is one for a U.S. federal agency; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. I’ll keep you posted as to how it turns out (and I’m not holding my oceanic or atmospheric breath on this one).
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Oddly enough, you can tell this map is from an American agency since the outline of that circuitous course looks suspiciously like a map of the contiguous U.S. states. It’s a sloppy cartographic effort to say the least.
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However, there are many such maps to be found on the web (not like the one above. I sure as heck hope you wouldn't find too many like that! I'm referring to the one above that one). Are these remnants from the 18th or 19th century which were discovered by someone who dusted them off and decided to trust them as graphic gospel truth? Could they have been purchased from “Ye Olde Mappe Shoppe?" I’m half expecting to see an “X marks the spot” label on these charts to show where old pirate treasures are buried. I truly don’t know where they are digging these up (pun intended).
To the disbelievers and doubting Thomases who remain unconvinced that the mouth of the Ausable is at Port Franks and only at Port Franks, I urge them to take a virtual canoe trip via Google Maps. Start upriver at a point well-known for being home to the Ausable — say Arkona — and follow the river down until you reach County Road 18 (Bog Line/Parkhill Drive). At this point, switch to satellite view and zoom in. Then continue on your "voyage" until you come to an old bridge spanning the river. That is the River Road Bridge.
This is the point where a channel was cut to allow the Ausable to outlet at Port Franks. From here it is a rather direct route to the harbor at Port Franks and then on to Lake Huron.
There is no way you can get to Grand Bend from the Ausable. Well, you conceivably could, but you would practically have to be Lewis or Clark to do so. First you would navigate down the Ausable to River Road Bridge. There you would pull your craft out of the water and then make an arduous five kilometer portage along the dried up old Ausable river bed until you reach a point known as Devil's Elbow; the point at which the Ausable River and Parkhill Creek used to meet (I remind you, that was before 1875). Then you would put your canoe into Parkhill Creek and continue on your journey, about fifteen kilometers downstream, until you and your aching bones finally float into Grand Bend. From here you can make your way into the town's charming harbor thanks to another channel which was cut in 1893 allowing Parkhill Creek to run into Lake Huron.
Now some people might ask me why I care so much. Let met put it to you this way: What if you told St. Louisters, uh St. Louisees, I mean St. Louisites, that is to say the good people of St. Louis that the river that runs by their city was the Rio Grande? You know what they would say? "Show me." And, of course, you would not be able to show them as you would not find any evidence that the city's magnificent Gateway Arch overlooks any river other than the Mississippi.
Therefore, if there is anyone out there that still believes the Ausable River runs through Grand Bend, then we should adopt a little Missouri (state, not river) attitude and say to them, "Show me."
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