Anyway, we ate and retired early for we knew that the contractors train from here to the Chutes is an uncertain quantity, and liable to be a day or two getting through.” Between the burr of her Scotch brogue and the dental difficulty one didn’t know whether we’d get lobster a la Newburg or hash, so when she would shoot off some vocal roman candles, we’d just grunt and she’d bring in whatever she thought would do us the most good. The waitress was a new Scotch importation who had just been fixed up with a set of false teeth which did not fit and which she nearly lost when she tried to speak. for Englehart where we put up for the night at the King Edward Hotel. With the family’s permission, here are some excerpts from the Auer family archives we catch up with Charles Auer as he and Charles Reynolds, his new partner, leave Haileybury on Monday July 22, 1907: Luckily for us, he kept a detailed diary of time spent in the bush in Northern Ontario, and his grandson, Charley Auer, took the time to transcribe the original works, preserving a first-hand account of what life was like in the area at the turn of the last century.

Auer found time to write to his wife May who was still living in Detroit with their boys Frederick (“Fritz”) and Karl. In between the adventures and the work, Mr. Criss-crossing the area with different partners, the men set up camp at Nighthawk and started staking claims. Charles Melchior Auer was one of those early prospectors who explored Northeastern Ontario in 19.

Mini diary packs