The Devil's Half Acre

Thistle

Always in life there needs to be a "Plan B" and today was one of those days. The original plan was to travel to Luther Lake Conservation Area to obtain a plant specimen that John Muir had collected in the "Luther Wood" in 1864. The specimen was obviously a Water Lily but had the curious label of Dirca palustris and a local name of Wicopy. I contacted the writer Bonnie Gisel of the book Nature's Beloved Son to ask her about this. She had recognized that in fact it was mis-identified but kept it in as a historical oddity. So off I went in the search for a Nymphaeaceae - a generic water lily.

Luther Lake on a hot summer day.

This was to be another day of kayaking, this time on Luther Lake during a rare hot and humid day in southern Ontario. When I arrived at the Conservation Area it was closed since it functions as a major bird sanctuary until the end of July. As I cruised the perimeter roads I was able to see that with a short walk along a dike I could get access to a patch of water lilies just a few feet off shore. No problem to wade in up to my thighs and snip off a leaf. Easily done but as I was putting my socks and shoes back on after the 30 seconds of submersion I freaked out on the fact that I had numerous leeches attached to my feet! Sixteen of them!! The adrenalin rush that you get from that kind of submarine assault propels you to mad action and in seconds they had all been flicked off. Ahhh the risks of being a Victorian plant collector!

LEECH!

Before I had gone to the Luther Lake area I had done some backgrounding on the area. It was hilarious to discover that this swamp was named after Martin Luther the Protestant reformer from Germany. Why? Because the surveyor of this area (now the township of Luther) was a Catholic and he so hated this area that his only revenge was to name this hell hole (his words) after the man who had created so many problems for the Catholic church! The next township adjacent to Luther is called Melancton and is named after one of the reformers who supported Martin Luther! So here we are 400 years down the road using a name of a controversial religious leader and his buddy for two rural townships, who would have known? Would Muir have known? Most likely.

Luther Township used to look like this.

The day to be spent at Luther Lake was finished and I moved into Plan B which was to look for the location of another collected specimen which had its' Biblical connection as well! Muir collected a Wild Calla (Aracae) from a location that was called "The Devil's Half Acre". The designation stated that it was 40 miles north and east of Hamilton Canada. When I did the calculation on a map I could see that it would intersect on the Niagara Escarpment in an area now called the Forks of the Credit. This is (and was) an absolutely beautiful area where two branches of the Credit River come together deep in a valley of the escarpment.

This is the actual "Forks of the Credit"

Having cruised through the area many times as a teenager I knew that somewhere here was a striking rock promontory called the Devil's Pulpit. Also nearby was a village called Brimstone, most likely named after the "Fire and Brimstone of Hell". With those clues to the presence of the Devil in the area I am quite sure that somewhere nearby is a feature that was called the "Devil's Half Acre"! Again I go back to the Biblical thoughts of the early pioneers. God couldn't have possibly allowed any piece of land to be so destroyed and useless, so it must have been the work of the Devil. Obviously a very present and powerful dude! But on the other hand in the Mono Cliffs area a stunning rock feature had the positive and uplifting name of Jacob's Ladder. Curious times!

Could this be the "Devil's Half Acre"?
(on the Credit River below Belfountain Conservation Area)

So off I go to Belfountain and the Forks of the Credit to hunt down the Wild Calla or a hint of The Devil's Half Acre.
The conservation area at Belfountain had always intrigued me because of its ornate ness. This was not a big sprawling park with a lake and picnic grounds and boat rentals. Actually Google told me that it was founded as a Victorian style park built by an eccentric millionaire in the early 1900's. A certain Mr. Mack had invented a self-inking rubber stamp and made his fortune on that one product.

The "Bell - Fountain"

This park was his playground with fountains, walkways, a dam, elaborate stonework fences and even a Grotto called Yellowstone Cave complete with stalactites hanging from the ceiling! Certainly not the work of the Devil! Although it has been ravaged by time and countless tourists it still is a magical place.

100 years of moss buildup
on the fountain.

The Grotto at Belfountain Conservation Area

The plant that I was looking for was a Wild Calla Lily or in Latin a Calla palustris. It is a plant that exists in a moist environment so I left the Bruce trail and followed the river downstream looking for the plant and/or the Devil! As I was doing this I realized that finding this plant would make me rethink my whole concept of the route that Muir took after he left Orangeville. If he had already been to Luther Lake on his first ramble out of Bradford during May and June then he wouldn't most likely have gone back there since it is indeed a swamp and not easy to traverse. A local historian suggested that he would have headed west from Orangeville to meet up with Trafalgar Road (which was one of the major settlement roads of the time) and then followed it south to Lake Ontario. 

The original road through the Forks of the Credit
that travelled from Cataract to Brimstone.

No instead now I can imagine Muir being told to walk south to see this gorgeous little valley of the Credit River. He would have walked through a few small villages in the process; Orangeville to Alton to Cataract and possibly through Brimstone to Belfountain. These villages are all about 5 to 10 miles apart so it would have been easy travel for him on a well travelled road. I believe at this time of his Summer of Glorious Freedom he now had a firm direction and deadline to meet. He was on his way to Hamilton to meet his brother Danny who had already spent a year in Meaford working in the Trout Hollow mill. The two Muir boys were in touch by now via letters and were ready to visit Niagara Falls together. Since there are very few specimens from the time period of August 1864 I can surmise John Muir moving very quickly and walking up to 30 miles in a day.

The Cataract Inn dating to 1855

Alton storefront - 1840's

Geologically the area south from Orangeville is the western end of the Oak Ridges Moraine where the Escarpment is buried under gravel hillocks. At the village of Cataract the valley of the Credit begins with a jaw dropping view where the river drops over a hundred feet into a limestone canyon. Was this the half acre? Eventually a very successful mill was built here that existed until 1949. The biologist for the Conservation Authority has told me that she has specimens of the Calla from this river valley. Since it is a moisture loving plant, there is a good chance that the plant was found here in the valley bottom and not on a rocky promontory or collapsed cliff face that would fit the name of the Half Acre. The search will continue . . .

Ancient cedar tree that would predate Muir's time
(at Belfountain Conservation Area)

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One last thing, when you Google the name; The Devil's Half Acre, what you will be shown is the location of a notorious slave market in Richmond Virginia. Is there a connection here to the turbulent times in the south? Remember Muir was in Canada because of the Civil War which was basically being fought on the issue of slavery. Maybe that name was on the tips of everyone's tongues at the time?

Sunset on lilies, a fitting end to this day.

© Robert Burcher 2017