Silly question I know, but what was the first Euregion ship to land on Canada?

S.S. Minnowette with Pierre Trudeau's Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather Captain Salute Trudeau at the helm.

KB

The Vikings (Norse) at L’anse aux meadows in Newfoundland. The very northern tip of Newfoundland. After that the French, English and Basque all came to fish the Grand Banks for cod during the summer months. These were not permanent settlements. Not as clear as the Mayflower settlers.

Nick

I'll put it this way, I'm glad you're all here.

There were Vikings here prior to " L'Anse aux Meadows", but I do not know of specific ship's names. There was also "The Matthew", the vessel of Italian esxplorer Giovanni Caboto, in 1497 and there are claims of Scots, landing in the 1300s......

I do believe that Nick1899 is correct, it was the Vikings that landed here first way earlier than 1497. I was watching a documentary and they found remnants of a Viking village dating back way before 1000 AD, in Newfoundland, if I recall correctly.

Funny story about the Vikings, I was told by my grandmother that we were from Irish decent. I have always been interested in history, so I did a DNA TEST with Ancestry, and found out that I have ZREO Irish blood in me lol. My DNA proves I am 51% Scottish 35% Norwegian and the rest Western European.

I researched this further and discovered that Vikings were always invading Scotland and taking the women prisoners, which accounts for my Norwegian DNA, blue eyes and strapping good looks hehehe :o)

KB

Buddy hunting Alaska got into native areas thru a native friend. He noted blue eyed Eskimo’s and asked. Seems the Norwegian National Guard did some exercises there years ago, left more than equipment.

I asked if they were accepted by the pure ones and he thought they were.

They were referred to as “Coast Guard”.

DF

My father was a Bush pilot, flying in around Hudson Bay back in the 50's, trading furs with the Inuit. He took me aside one day and told me that I have more brothers and sisters than I knew of and they were Eskimos.

Surprised I asked him "how is that possible daddy?". He told me that his plane broke down and he was stranded up there for a few months. He had Blue Eyes and was actually a very handsome man, he told me that all the lady folk were taken back with his blue eyes, and he had sex with most of them because of it, he said he had no choice. lol

God, how I miss my beautiful father. RIP Dad!

KB

Otto1217;
Good afternoon my old cyber friend, I trust the weather is behaving a few valleys east and you're well.

If I'm not mistaken, when I was still in school in the '70's there still wasn't agreement among Canadian archeologists/historians that the Vikings had been here at all. What piqued my personal interest in it was the Farley Mowat paperback "Two Against the North" which had a wee bit about the boys finding some Viking artifact if memory serves.

I've still got that book someplace actually and should re-read it - if the print is big enough that is. I've got an Andy Russell paperback that has some sort of microfiche printing in it and every time I attempt reading it I am forced to stop.

In another book I read somewhere in my misspent youth or misplaced memory, we can take our pick I suppose, I read there were anecdotes that fishermen from places like Ireland and perhaps as far south as Portugal were more than a little miffed when Columbus told everyone about their secret fishing grounds, which is conceivably truth if not totally so I'd guess?

One time in a discussion with a prairie born and raised cousin who turned out to have a passion for sailboats, he opined that sailors the world over had been pretty much everywhere since the beginning of time. I want to say he said leaving port and then getting back to land were generally the most dangerous times for sail boats, but again I might not be correct about that. As stated many times, I prefer a rough horse to a smooth boat any day please and thanks, so things nautical are not personally familiar whatsoever.

It does make for some interesting reading and wondering as to how close history as we're told it today is to what really happened, you know?

All the best to you all.

Dwayne

Hi Dwayne,

I hope you are doing GREAT!

I read "Two Against the North" when I was 14 years old, that book fueled my love for adventure, hunting and fishing!

Great book ~ Cheers

KB

KillerBee;
Good afternoon Darren, I'm well thanks and hope you're the same.

We went for a bit of a look for a whitetail buck that a hunting partner hit yesterday but we were unable to locate after hours of attempting to. It bled very little, then stopped entirely and finally mixed its tracks in with some other deer so even though there was snow, we didn't know which one to follow. Anyways we were up there at first light this morning to see if we could hear any ravens or find new sign, but neither of us did despite getting a good 3 hour hike in.

As they say though, "any day hunting is better than a day not hunting" - well I say that Darren and I might be part of some "them" though in today's nomenclature I don't identify as "them" - I'm a redneck semi-geezer, you know?

I will say before wandering further into the rhubarb, that when I was watching the sun come up, listening to the birds around me and some heavy equipment sounds from miles below echoing off of the canyon walls I was next to, I felt pretty blessed to both still be healthy enough to do that sort of thing and to still live where we're able to.

Although I'm cognizant that politically Farley Mowat and I could not possibly be further apart, as well as "Two Against the North" I enjoyed, "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be" and his personal memoirs of Canadian forces in Italy, "And No Birds Sang". They are about as opposite in content as one can get in books, one being quite funny - I thought anyways, and the war stories being quite grim really.

All the best to you my cyber friend.

Dwayne

Hello again Dwayne,

I must agree at my age every day I get to walk the earth is a blessing, especially if I am knee deep in Moose territory, or sitting in a tree stand bow hunting deer or fishing for the elusive jumbo sturgeon here on the North Saskatchewan.

Too bad you did not find that deer, experience tells me that with a little blood and then no blood at all, the hit was off target and the deer will survive his close encounter with death! It's amazing me how tough wild critters are, I can recount many stories of animals I had killed or seen with serious injuries that were surviving quit well.

Farley Mowat is definitely a Canadian Icon; he actually reminds me in many ways of Earnest Hemmingway.

Cheers my friend ~ Darren

Farley, used to come out to a private bookstore run by ba friend of mine in Coquitlam, some 30 years ago, when I lived there. He was an obnoxious, loudmouthed drunk and was not re-invited. His writings do not compare with those of Hemingway and his war reminices are worthwhile, but, the rest of it is crap.

There are several sites in northern and eastern Canada, some dating from the 9thC which prove the Viking presence in this land prior to any other Euro. peoples. The legend the Scots Earl who landed before the Cabot's or Henry Hudson, has been largely discounted, however, work is still being done on these questions.

It would have to be a French vessel . Quebec goes back a long ways.

My brother did a bunch of ancestor research. Much to my amusement , we had an ancestor on the Mayflower.

I was not specifically talking about their writing styles.

The comparison I am drawing between Hemmingway and Farley, is the fact that they were both writers, both worked in Canada, both had wartime experiences, both were severely depressed people, both were heavy duty alcoholics, and both were successful writers albeit Hemmingway was way more successful than Farley.

The major difference is that Hemmingway blew his brains out with his favorite shotgun when he was 61, Farley lived until he was 92.

Cheers ~ KB

Always puzzling to me why arriving by boat gets so much attention on the east coast, when you can just walk here to the west coast from Asia LOL.

Didn't any boats land on the west coast? probably many boats, but it is unfortunate that history is shelved.

Admiral James Cook landed on Vancouver Island in 1778, he made a big mistake by going to Hawaii later and was Hacked to death on the beach.

Apparently North American Indians are more welcoming than Hawaiians lol

KB

Good friend Walter Usalic stowaway on a cattle boat, spent a year in jail, worked his way to Wabigoon in Western Canada

Genghis Khan had lots of People running away to North America.

Free in Canada??? Nope, it's over for us.

Canada has already auger'ed in, we are cooked. I hope I am wrong, but I doubt it.

I just hope the USA pulls out of their tailspin; they are on the brink, we will see in 2024.

God Bless the USA and Canada.

KB

"Never give up"!

Columbus was the first government sponsored voyage—the Portuguese where fishing Cod off the Grand Banks within site of Newfoundland in the 1450’s.
Champlain was the first French settler 15 years before the Mayflower but 40 years after the Spanish at St Augustine in Florida

I can only image the number of fish they saw and caught back in them days, must have been something to behold!

Lots of Viking artifacts have been found in the Arctic, and there's still some red-headed Innuit descendants.

Columbus discovered "the new world" due to learning that the Basques had been fishing here for years, and he approached the Queen for funding since a "discovery" was certain, ..... making his rewards certain!

Reader's Digest had a documented story way back, about the Eskimo that arrived on Irish shores in a Kayak, and more stories have since been discovered.

Spend enough time on the ground and you'll discover lots that the pros don't know about!

That is awesome hey?

Our planet has been spinning around the Sun for millions of years, so may stories we do not know.

Thank you for your insight Barryt!

Was “2 against the North written by Murray (Margaret or Adolf ?). I read Margaret Murray’s book “Two in the Far North” about her time spent with her naturalist husband in the arctic? If I recall correctly Frank Glaser did some work with the Murray brothers helping them with their caribou/reindeer studies back in the 1920’s or 30’s.

Margaret became (iirc) a founding member of the Sierra club but I don’t hold that against her.

Hi AcesNeights, I hope your day is going great, I am just getting ready to watch the Tampa vs. Cleveland game :o)

"Two Against the North" was written by Farley Mowat. Book Overview:

Awasin and Jamie, brothers in courage, meet a challenge many mountain men could not endure. When their canoe is destroyed by the fury of the rapids, they must face the wilderness with no food and no hope of rescue. To survive, they build an igloo, battle a towering grizzly bear, track several wolves, slaughter caribou for food and clothing. Two lost huskies they tame bring companionship--and maybe a way home from their dangerous adventure.

Cheers ~ KB