1st Finglish trip August 2004 #2
Rocks and bushes and lakes. After driving hundreds of kilometres we reached Sioux Lookout in northwestern Ontario. That was the place where my uncle Eino settled in 1930s after working a couple of years in a gold mine up north in Jackson Manion. In Sioux Lookout he got work as a carpenter with the Canadian National Railway in a B&B känki or Bridge and Building Gang.
The history of SL began over 5,000 years ago when this land was Ojibway territory. The name Sioux Lookout comes from this area's use as a strategic vantage point where guards could see far away canoes approaching on the English River system and is rooted in the legend of a battle between the Ojibway and Sioux First Nations. During the Cold War, Sioux Lookout operated a radar base to monitor any activity from Russia.
Eino met a Finnish girl Hanna and they got married. A modest house was built and life went on, two daughters were born. But then Hanna got ill and died suddenly. Eino had to manage alone with the kids.
The house still stands there...
Next Hibbing Minnesota USA.