The Lansdowne Letters: A Spin on a Little Ski-Dog

The first time I saw a Ski-Dog, 
it came racing along ice-bound Lake Attawapiskat, veered sharply, 
and roared up the snow-covered hill in front of our school,
stopping abruptly near the steps.
Father Ouimet hopped off and dashed inside the school
to visit my father before recess ended.

Father Maurice Ouimet with My Father Don MacBeath

Photo Probably by Uno Manilla

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

All the Ojibway children on the playground
immediately crowded around the strange object
laughing and chattering, including my siblings and me.
It was an unknown thing to We Five MacBeath Children,
but not to the Ojibway children who had become very familiar
with Father Ouimet’s marvelous machine.

I had no idea at the time, but this strange apparition
was about to take the north by storm.

View from the Edge of the Playground

with Lake Attawapiskat and the Hill in the Background

Photo Probably by Uno Manilla

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Have you ever raced over snow and ice on a Ski-Doo?
Felt that exhilerating rush of cold air and spray of snow?

Rotax powered Bombardier SKI-DOO XRS 800

Wikimedia

I have, and chances are I did it before you!

When Father Ouimet returned outside from visiting my father,

he offered me a chance to ride on his Ski-Doo.

Of course I didn't pass up the chance,

but I'm not sure which made me more nervous,

to ride on a motorcycle with skis

or to wrap my arms around a Roman Catholic priest and hang on tight.

We flew down the hill and made a big, looping circle

out on the frozen lake, bumping over mounds of snow

and throwing up roosters of white.

The snow sparkled in the brilliant sunlight,

and the cold air stung my face and watered my eyes.

I'm sure my siblings and the Ojibwa children watching

from the top of the hill could hear my delighted shrieks

and Father Ouimet's laughter above the growl of the engine.

It was one of the most exhilarating events in my life.

All too soon we flew back up the hill, 

and my brother Roy took his turn behind Father Ouimet. 

Okay, granted the first Ski-Doos were manufactured in 1960,

and I didn't ride on one until early March 1961,

but I rode on the very first Ski-Dog!

"Ski-Dog?" you might ask?

Yes, Ski-Dog.

Were it not for a publisher's error in a sales brochure,

Ski-Doos would have been Ski-Dogs.

Wikipedia

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Joseph-Armand Bombardier invented the Ski-Dog, 

a small, lightweight snowmobile 

designed to replace the dog teams used for transportation 

by hunters and trappers in remote areas of the north.

He had previously developed large tracked vehicles

that could hold up to twelve people.

In fact, Bombardier gave one to Father Ouimet in 1949.

But what was really needed in the north was a machine for one or two people,

something that would make Father Ouimet's work easier in his northern parishes.

Ouimet suggested this to his friend Bombardier,

and from this idea Joseph-Armand created the Ski-Doo. 

This is a late wood-bodied Bombardier B-12 snow bus,

similar to the early one Father Ouimet had and slept in.

Circa 1951

Wikipedia

In 1958 Joseph-Armand built a wooden prototype of a small snowmobile ~

 

You Tube ~ Ostieguy

And in the winter of 1959 Joseph-Armand hand-built the first two Ski-Dogs.

In April, 1959, he personally delivered one of them by bush plane

to his long-time friend Father Ouimet in Lansdowne House.

The Canadian Encyclopedia 

As readers of my northern posts may remember,

my family and I were life-long friends with Father Ouimet.

Little did I know when I rode with him on his Ski-Dog

that I was riding on an invention that would change the north

and launch a new winter recreational sport.

1960's Ski-Doo Clips

Racing in Kirkland Lake, Ontario 

Birth of the Snowmobile

You Tube ~ Leo C.

Father Ouimet reminisced about these vehicles 

in French radio program about his life:  

Here is my rough translation: 

"Imagine I am the first ski-doo owner in the world!

Mr. Armand Bombardier of Valcourt gave me a snow mobile

that could seat 12 people in 1949. 

It was amazing but too heavy and very difficult to transport in our regions. 

I suggested building a device for a passenger of my height. 

This idea caught on ...

... Mr. Bombardier came by plane to bring my snowmobile on April 15, 1959. 

This fast means of transport has impressed the Indians."

(with the help of Google Translator and some dictionaries)

Very Similar to the Large Snowmobile

Father Ouimet Had

You Tube ~ Yvon Beaudet 

This novel form of transportation fascinated the Ojibway community,

and Bombardier presented Father Ouimet with the Ski-Doo

which he went on to thoroughly field-test in Lansdowne House

during the following winters.

A four-stroke Kohler engine powered this first Ski-Doo, 

and a single rubber track as wide as the machine propelled

its steerable wooden skis. 

Facebook

Snowest

In 1960 Bombardier Limited manufactured 225 Ski-Doos in Valcourt, Quebec,

and fourteen years later it produced its one millionth!

Unfortunately Joseph-Armand Bombardier died in 1964

and did not live to see that one millionth machine,

but his wife and Father Ouimet were present

for the celebration of this milestone in August, 1973.

Facebook 

Newspapers,com

Joseph-Armand Bombardier (1907-1964): 

Getting Around in the Winter [philatelic record]:

 Joseph-Armand Bombardier: vision et détermination

Library and Archives Canada

Online MIKAN no. 2266912

Terms of Use

Flickr   License

Father Ouimet's personal Ski-Doos were important to his priestly
and missionary duties in the remote Oji-Cree villages west of James Bay.
He and I corresponded over the years, 
and sometimes he mentioned his Ski-Doos.


On December 18, 1982
Father Ouimet wrote to me:

"Well, I am still in this world.  
Still in good shape, but getting older every day ~
Pretty near 71 years old.
Should be retired ~ but no way ~ nobody to relieve me.

I am alone in charge of 5 missions:  Lansdowne House,
Fort Hope, Ogoki, Webique, and Summer Beaver.

Travelling a lot.
Last winter I covered 8,258 miles by snowmobile.
That's a lot of fresh air."


On January 11, 1986
Father Ouimet wrote to Terry and me:

"Still living, only 74 years old, still a young man.  
Like ever, I am running on a snowmobile.
I have a very nice machine in fact,
a Christmas gift from my friend ... Bombardier."



Father Ouimet's first Ski-Doo, the one I rode on,
was obtained by the The Museum of Ingenuity J. Armand Bombardier in 1969.
Sled Magazine 

Father Ouimet was honored for his role in the history of the Ski-Doo
by carrying the Olympic Torch for the 1988 Calgary Winter Games
on a 1988 Bombardier Ski-Doo.

Calgary Herald
Sled Magazine 

This was the first time the Olympic Torch was carried by snowmobile.
Father Ouimet led off the snowmobile contingent near Shanty Bay, Ontario on its 1,740 mile snowmobile journey from Shanty Bay to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

For a photo:  click here 

No Snowmobile for My Father,

Only His Trusty Snowshoes

Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario, 1961

Photo Probably by Duncan McCrae

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

The last time I rode with Father Ouimet,

it was under much different conditions.

My sister Barbie and I had braved a frigid night

to cross the ice to the Father's Island 

to watch the Saturday night movies in the rec hall.

When it was time to leave, the temperature had plummeted way below zero,

the Indian dogs were howling in the bitter cold,

and the wolves were answering from the ice.

Father Ouimet stopped Barbie and me on our way out

and told us that he thought he should run us home on his Ski-Doo,

the night was so cold, and it was too dangerous

for the two of us to cross the ice alone.

So we waited and watched as Father Ouimet,

in his black cassock with a roped Crucifix hanging from his waist,

rewound the film reels and slipped them into their metal shipping cases,

banked the fire in the stove, and tidied the hall.

The Ojibway were long gone by the time he was finished,

and we followed Father Ouimet over to the Mission

under a sky filled with bright stars and weaving, dancing lights.

The sounds of the dogs and wolves were primal,

and Barbie and I were glad of the ride home.

Barbie clung to Father Ouimet, I held on to both of them,

as the little Ski-Doo left the Mission and roared across the ice to the Mainland.

We all were wrapped against the bone-gnawing cold,

but the frozen air burned our lungs and eyes.

Yet again, all too quickly, our ride was over,

and we hustled into our toasty kitchen with Father Ouimet.

Our appreciative parents fortified him with a cup of hot tea

before he disappeared into the northern night.

As long as I live I will not forget Father's Ouimet's wonderful Ski-Dog!

Weaving Dancing Lights

Flickr:  Emmaneul Milou  ~ License

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue


Bay of Fundy out of Westport, Brier Island
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Notes:  

1.  Transcript of an unidentified, undated radio show:
     Mémoires du Père Maurice Ouimet o.m.i. 
     (Monastère des Pères Oblats Cap-de-la Madeleine)
     Thanks Jean-Claude Gilbert O.M.I. Superior

2.  Miles to Kilometers:
     8,258 miles = 13,290 kilometers
     1,740 miles =   2,800 kilometers

3.  Joseph-Armand Bombardier:
     For more information about the inventor of the Ski-Doo and other machines check out this link:
     Musee Bombardier
   


For Map Lovers Like Me:

Lansdowne House

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Lansdowne House, Ontario

Wikimedia

Original French Transcript:

"Imaginez que je suis le premier propriétaire de ski-doo au monde.  M. Armand Bombardier de Valcourt m’a fait cadeau d’une snow mobile

qui pouvait asseoir 12 personnes, en 1949.

C'était épatant mais trop lourd et très difficile à transporter dans nos régions.

Je lui ai suggéré de construire un appareil pour un passager de ma heuteur.  

Cette idée a fait son chemin ... (omitted sentence below.)

... M. Bombardier est venu par avion me porter ma moto-neigge le 15 avril 1959.  

Ce rapide moyen de transport a épaté les Indiens."

(Mémoires du Père Maurice Ouimet o.m.i.)

Omitted Sentence:

Le 28 mars 1949 je couchais an arrière de mon ski-doo.

(On March 28, 1949, I slept in the back of my Ski-Doo.)