Bourassa Tribute

Canada's heroic Olympic cross-country ski champion, Beckie Scott, hails from an Alberta town, Vermilion, that reminds me of my maternal grandfather, Louis Bourassa. He was the recipient of the "Order of the British Empire" [see bottom of page] for delivering the Royal Mail in the 1920s and 1930s, by dog sled, on the nation's toughest mail route between the northern towns of Peace River and Fort Vermilion. Click images twice to enlarge.

The 1981 newspaper sketch above describes how in 1928, when a diptheria epidemic threatened to wipe out Fort Vermilion, Louis Bourassa raced along the blizzard-ravaged trail to Peace River (370 kms south) in 12 days to telegraph for help. The following poem was written in 1988 for centennial celebrations of Louis Bourassa's birth:

Tribute to
LOUIE BOURASSA, O.B.E.
by Florence Letts-Sutherland

In the year of 1888,
in ancient town "The Fort",
a blessed event of late,
was Louie's birth report.

His home was in the trapper's shack,
his father standing by.
Brothers and sisters he did not lack.
They heard his very first cry.

He grew up on the banks of the mighty Peace.
His father's footsteps he did follow.
For 19 years he never did cease,
up and down hills and every hollow.

This year of 1988,
the mail will come I'm told,
by dog sled like days of old,
with river ice the road.

Delivering the Northland's royal mail,
down the river on the "Old Fort Trail",
his sled loaded with bundles, many a bale,
he mushed his huskies through the snow,
in frosty air at seventy below.

On snowshoes breaking the trail ahead,
for horses, huskies and the sled,
he would camp at night to make a bed,
from spruce boughs where he laid his head.

With his huskies beside him fast asleep,
in boughs of spruce in snow so deep.
Tired from pulling the royal mail sled,
next day the mail must forge ahead.

On the trail for 30 days,
the round trip going both ways.
He travelled by day and into the night,
under the dancing Northern Light.

I was told many a tale,
down the shutes he did sail.
The "D.A. Thomas" was king of the North,
down the Mighty Peace, 1930, June the fourth.

For every Northern pioneer,
"The Fort" will honour this hero dear,
who did his duty with many a tear.
We celebrate now the 100th year.

In "Peace River Town" pioneers say,
the angels came and took him away,
on a sunny 1935 day,
in the beautiful month of May.

Today on the banks of the Mighty Peace,
under the medal, "O.B.E.", he sleeps.
His friends laid him down to rest.
He was their hero - the one they loved best.

Louis Bourassa was also the pilot of a famous steamship: The queen of the river craft, the "D. A. Thomas" began as an independent vessel...built to order in 1915 by the Askew Company of Vancouver for the Peace River Development Company...During her days of honorable service she burned wood like all other steamers. Besides winter trapping, settlers near the river now had all-year employment -- cutting and stacking the immense piles of logs at every place the steamer could berth...Besides immaculate staterooms, white linen tablecloths and proper cutlery and crockery in her dining salon, the D.A. Thomas was lauded for good service. The fresh meat provisioning service, said the traveler-author Lewis Freeman, was unique. In hunting season and out, the captain had a rifle ready on the pilothouse table, to pick off any swimming moose or even one pawing the earth ashore in case it should attack the boat... Louis Bourassa, the pilot, was almost as distinguished in his way as the vessel he piloted. He was later awarded the King’s Order of the British Empire for his exploits and contributions to the north. His grandfather, Vital Bourassa, had been apprenticed to the Company at St. Mary’s Fort in 1820. His father, John Bourassa, carried the company’s mail from Fort Dunvegan to Fort Chipewyan by dog-team and canoe.

The page above is taken from the book entitled "Where the Boats Go...Navigation on the Peace 1792-1952". The top photo shows the D.A. Thomas steamship after its drop over the Vermilion Chutes on the way to Fort Fitzgerald. The photo on the left is of Louis Bourassa, who piloted the D.A. Thomas when the steamer "ran the chutes" in June 1930.

GEORGE THE FIFTH by the Grace of God of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India and Sovereign of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire to Our trusty and well beloved Louis Bourassa Esquire. GREETING.

Whereas We have thought fit to nominate and appoint you to be a Member of the Civil Division of Our said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. We do by these presents grant unto you the Dignity of a Member of Our said Order and hereby authorise you to have hold and enjoy the said Dignity and Rank of a Member of Our aforesaid Order together with all and singular the privileges thereunto belonging or appertaining.

Given at Our Court at Saint James under Our Sign Manual and the Seal of Our said Order, this First day of January 1935 in the Twenty fifth year of Our Reign.