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Vintage Photos: Boyne River
The Boyne River is a major feature of the Carman/Dufferin landscape. It also is one of the common threads running through our local history. With its heavily forested banks, the river was a source for fresh water, fuel, wild fruit and small game for early indigenous camps. Later, as the Riviére aux Îlets-de-Bois, it became an oasis where hunters and fur-traders following the Missouri Trail repaired their Red River carts or come in springtime to harvest the syrup of maple trees. After 1870, the river and its environs became a prime destination for an influx of Anglophone homesteaders who renamed it the ‘Boyne’.
In more recent history, the river has powered a flour and lumber mill, served as a source for town water and as a popular, well-used swimming hole. Until a diversion was built around the Town of Carman, floods periodically devastated the town. In the process, flood waters destroyed many early records; they also provided striking images of the power of Mother Nature.
The swimming hole site now has a commemorative sign, and local groups are working to restore recreational use of the river.
1. Early Boyne Swimming Hole - near Art (‘Beaver’) Hand’s home. Note the height of the diving board on the right.
2. Swinging Rope - The thrill and terror of jumping off the swinging rope into the Boyne.
3. Hiking along the Boyne – a great place for exploring nature
4. Boating on the Boyne – sisters Allie & Mabel Clark boating ca. 1900
5. Spring Floods on the S. Boyne (1933) tore out rail lines as water from the escarpment drained into the Boyne.
6. Spring flood in Carman 1893. Villard Ave. looking north. Flooding was common before the diversion was constructed.