Cupids Cove Chatter

From  June 15th to September 10th , 2010, the Wooden Boat Museum in Winterton will be engaged in an exciting project. Winterton Master Boat Builder, Jerome Canning, using the tools, techniques, and skills of the 17th century settlers will build a reconstruction of the Indeavour, the 34-ft. bark that John Guy and the colonists built in Cupids to sail to Trinity Bay to attempt to meet and trade with the Beothuk.

Visitors are invited to  be part of the project.  Reaching back in time to 1610 – the visitor can work side by side with John Guy, as he builds the “Indeavour”, a 34-ft. bark, for the historic voyage from Cupids to Trinity Bay. Come spend a day or two working along our Exhibit Builder, as he brings to life the skills & tools of the 17th century. Help erect the keel, stem, counter and main frames of this full sized exhibit. Leave your mark in history by etching your initials on the keel.

Indeavour - 12 ton bark for exploring the island

Then relive the thrill for years to come as you lift the lid of your unique cedar box filled with wood shavings taken from the experience….. The cost is $150.00 per person (Snacks, Lunch & Keepsake Box Included.)

For more information, see the  Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland & Labrador > >

About the Voyage of the Indeavour

Having completed building the Indeavour, in the Fall of 1612, the colonists set sail to explore Trinity Bay to try to make contact with the Beothuk   people and begin a profitable fur trade with them. Beaver furs were extremely valuable in Europe at that time and the settlers wanted to trade with the Beothuk for these furs.

They used two boats they had constructed in Cupids Cove (Cupers Cove). The larger of the two boats, the Indeavour, was a 12 ton vessel. The smaller was a 5 ton shallop. We know a great deal about this voyage because John Guy and Henry Crout describe it in their journals. Henry also talked about the trip in a letter he wrote to Sir Percival Willoughby in England.

On October 7^th 1612, the two boats left Cupers Cove  around 2 o’clock in the afternoon. The Indeavour carried John Guy, Henry Crout, and 12 other men. The shallop carried another five men on board, for a total of 19 men.

At 11 o’clock that night, they arrived at Harbour Grace and anchored their boats close to the pirates’ fort that the notorious pirate, Peter Easton, had built. There they found a 120 ton French ship full of salt. In those days, salt was very important for preserving fish and meat and the settlers spent the next nine days storing the salt in a safe, dry place.

They continued on their journey, reaching the bottom of Bull Arm, where the town of Sunnyside is today, on November 4 and finding  a number of Beothuk houses and a Beothuk canoe hauled up on the beach.  Finally, after more exploration of the region, on November 6th, the colonists met and shared a meal with a group of Beothuk somewhere in Bull Arm.

After a successful meeting with the Beothuk, John Guy and his men began their return trip to Cupers Cove. On the way back, the shallop overturned near Bay de Verde, throwing the men overboard. Fortunately, they were able to get to shore safely. For the next ten days, the men from the shallop walked from Bay de Verde to Carbonear. According to a letter written by one of the men, Bartholomew Pearson, the lives of the explorers were in great danger as they were faced with “great famine and much hunger”. He also stated that they were “like to be starved”. Upon arrival at Carbonear, the men found some “rotten, stinking fish” and “moulix made of mussels” .  Not a great dinner, but it kept them alive long enough to return home. At Carbonear, the men were also lucky enough to find an abandoned boat in which they were able to sail back to the colony at Cupids Cove (Cupers Cove.)

For a complete account of the journey, see Baccalieu: Crossroads for Cultures, “The Journey of the Indeavour”

Voyage of the Indeavour to Meet the Beothuk

Crout's Way (based on a photo by Barry Parsons)

John Guy and his colonists wanted to make contact with the Beothuk people who lived at the bottom of Trinity Bay.  On September 1, 1612, Henry Crout and seven other settlers left Cupids Cove to walk to Trinity Bay. They cut and marked a trail as they went.  Henry described the trip in his diary and in a letter he wrote to Sir Percival Willoughby on September 8, 1612. In 1997 archaeologists from the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation led by William Gilbert retraced the route that Henry Crout and the Colonists followed by reading descriptions in the letter and in Crout’s journal.

According to Henry, nobody had ever walked overland from Conception Bay to Trinity Bay before.  The following account, based on Henry Crout’s writings describes their original walk.

September 1st, 1612
September 1st was a nice day. The wind blew from the west all day and the sun was shining. First the settlers climbed the hill on the western side of Cupids Harbour. Then they walked down into Salmon Cove. From there they hiked along the south side of South River to where Drogheda is today.

Then they followed the river that flows into South River up unto the ridge between South River and North River. Today this ridge is called the Whale’s Back. From high on the Whale’s Back the explorers could see all the way to Trinity Bay. They set their course to the northwest and continued on.

Henry was really impressed. In his letter he wrote: “We found very fair and large trees especially birch trees in the valleys. I assure you that it will be very good farm land for the earth is excellent good but it needs some men to manure it.” The explorers went six miles the first day and spent their first night somewhere near The-Pond-That-Feeds-The-Brook.

September 2nd, 1612
The next day a cold wind blew from the southeast and the rain poured down. Henry wrote that the sun did not show itself all day. The men kept dry by staying under a tree all day and night. The bread they had brought with them got wet and was ruined.

September 3rd, 1612

Grassy Gullies (Photo by the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation)

There were a few showers the next morning but the explorers continued on. Later the weather cleared up. They traveled northwest past where Country Road and Shearstown Road are today. Then they climbed a hill and came to a barren with a pond in it. This is probably the pond we call Frainey’s Pond today.

Frainey’s Pond is on the high ground between Conception Bay and Trinity Bay. East of Frainey’s Pond all the rivers flow into Conception Bay and west of it all the rivers flow into Trinity Bay. Henry and his men kept walking.

After they passed Frainey’s Pond they came to the place we call the Grassy Gullies. At the Grassy Gullies Henry saw a trail made by herds of caribou moving between the New Harbour Barrens and St. Mary’s Bay. He said that they would have stopped to do some hunting but they were in too much of a hurry.

Once again Henry was impressed with what he saw. He wrote: “It will do a man good to view the forest and woods and see the passage of deer and ducks and geese in great store in every pond.” He also talked about all the beaver houses he saw along the way and said: “A man may very easily travel through the country without any danger at all having but a hatchet in his hand.”

Henry and his men kept on going and before dark they came to a pond that was about three or four miles from Trinity Bay. In the pond were some ducks. They shot some of the ducks for their supper and camped on the side of the pond for the night. Henry says in his diary that there were four beaver houses in the pond. We don’t know exactly where they camped but it was probably somewhere around Loo Pond on the New Harbour Barrens.

September 4th, 1612
The next morning Henry and his men continued walking towards Trinity Bay. Around 10 o’clock in the morning they came to a group of ponds about three miles from Trinity Bay. We know from what Henry wrote that these were Denny’s Pond, Island Pond and Sutton’s Pond on the New Harbour Barrens. They could not find a way around the ponds and all their food had been ruined by the rain so they decided to go back to Cupids Cove.

They turned around and went back to the place where they had camped the night before. They spent the night camped there.

September 5th, 1612
The next day they made it to another pond about six miles from Trinity Bay and spent the night there.

September 6th, 1612
They arrived back in Cupids Cove after dark on September 6th.

September 9th, 1612
On September 9th another group of settlers left Cupers Cove. They were going to finish the trail and cut it wide enough for two men to walk it together. We do not know exactly what happened on this second trip. Henry Crout could not go this time because he had hurt his leg on the first trip but we know that the trail was cut all the way to Trinity Bay.

October 22nd, 1612
On October 22, 1612 John Guy and Henry Crout sailed into Hopeall harbour aboard the Indeavour. John called Hopeall Mount Eagle Bay. He wrote in his journal that Mount Eagle Bay was the place where the trail from Conception Bay entered Trinity Bay.

Crout’s Way Today

Crout's Way sign in Hopeall

Crout’s Way is one of the oldest European trails anywhere in North America. The Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation has been working to develop it as an historic hiking trail since it was rediscovered in 1997.

From William Gilbert on Baccalieu Digs:

The trail can now be followed from Drogheda in Conception Bay all the way to Hopeall in Trinity Bay. The part of the trail between Drogheda and Hopeall has been cleared and marked, some signage has been erected and some basic improvements have been made. However, since the beginning, it has been our intention to leave as little mark on the landscape as possible so that anyone who chooses to retrace the route of these early explorers will have a true wilderness experience. To walk the entire trail takes about two days and it is definitely intended for the experienced hiker.

William Gilbert’s detailed description of Crout’s Way on the Baccalieu Digs website > >

Transcript of Henry Crout’s “Weather Journal” from Baccalieu Digs website > >

Transcript of Henry Crout’s letter to Sir Percival Willoughby on September 8, 1612 from Baccalieu Digs website.

Photos of Crout’s Way, mainly  taken by William Gilbert and his team > >

Beothuk in Trinity Bay. Illustration for Baccalieu: Crossroads for Cultures by Pamela Williams

John Guy and Henry Crout observed Dildo Island when they travelled to Trinity Bay to meet and trade with the Beothuk people.   On July 2, 1613, Henry Crout said that they sailed into Dildo Arm just as the sun was rising.  As they sailed past one of the islands, they saw a Beothuk canoe and a Beothuk house. They went ashore to examine the house, a wigwam covered in hides. Inside they discovered a bed made by laying down ‘long green grass’ and covering it with furs.    There was a fireplace with sticks for roasting meat. They left presents at the house for the Beothuk.

Drawing of a Beothuk canoe by John Guy.

The next morning, they found that the Beothuk had gone from the island but had left behind “spits of their roast meat”. This Crout took to be a gift left in exchange for the presents he had placed there the previous day. See the transcript of a letter by Henry Crout to Sir Percival Willoughby in the summer 1613,  from Baccalieu: Crossroads for Cultures > >

The Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation decided to conduct excavations on Dildo Island to search for evidence of Beothuk habitation.  As of yet, they have not found significant Beothuk artifacts, but they have found that the island had a history of human settlement of more than 2500 years.

Dildo Island – “A Place of Provincial Significance”

Dildo Island, Place of Provincial Significance - Award Presented

On March 3, 2010 the government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced the province’s first ever historic commemorations designations. Under the Historic Commemorations Program, Dildo Island was commemorated as a place of provincial significance because of its 2,500 years of occupation by various cultures.

Photo at left: Françoise Enguehard, Chair of the Historic Commemorations Board and The Honourable Shawn Skinner, Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development present award for Dildo Island as a “Place of Provincial Significance” to Gerald Smith, representing the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation, accompanied by Calvin Peach – MHA for District of Bellevue

2500 Years of Human Settlement – Different Cultures

Purple Rhyolite - Recent Indians Used to Make Tools.

Archaeologists working on the island have found evidence of different cultures which had lived there over a very long time period. One camp that they found on the island was used by Native American people who may be the ancestors of the Beothuk.  They are known as Recent Indians.  Carbon dating of pieces from a fireplace found at this camp, revealed they inhabited the camp about 1200 years ago. See description of these finding by William Gilbert, chief archaeologist with the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corportation in Baccalieu Digs.

They found the remains of two houses that were built by Dorset Eskimo. Carbon samples found in these houses were analyzed. This carbon dating revealed that the Dorset people lived on Dildo Island for about 600 years and that they first arrived on the island over 1900 years ago. In addition, there is older Groswater Eskimo material on the Island that could be as old as 800BC.  See description of these findings by William Gilbert.

For more photos see Dildo Island a Place of Provincial Significance on Flickr > >