Frank Brown
| Frank Brown | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Trapper, farmer |
Frank Brown was a pioneer trapper and farmer in the Port Arthur area, notable as the owner of the only house on the original site of Port Arthur around 1860.[1]
Early settlement
- Owned the only house on the old site of Port Arthur, a log building situated near where the Mariagei Hotel later stood.[1]
- The only other building in the locality at the time was that of Capt. Robert McVicar, which stood on the north side of McVicar Creek, near its mouth.[1]
The Great Ice Shove
- Around 1860, Brown witnessed the Port Arthur ice shove, described by old-timers as occurring on a calm spring day when a land breeze drove ice off the bay, followed by an easterly wind that drove it back to shore with great force.[1]
- The ice, described as approximately three feet thick and miles in extent, broke down trees, moved rocks, and piled into mounds along the shore.[1]
- Brown's log house was shifted back on its foundation by the force of the ice shove.[1]
- A large boulder that had previously stood yards from shore, with enough space for canoes and small boats to pass inside it, was lifted out of the lake entirely and left on dry shore; both the house and the boulder stood for many years afterward as landmarks of the event.[1]
- Brown was greatly alarmed by the ice shove and afterward entertained visitors for many years with accounts of it.[1]
Later life
- Following the ice shove, Brown relocated to the Ice Lake trail, where he cleared a farm and built a home.[1]
- As of the time of writing (1908–1909), Brown was still living at that farm.[1]