The Full Story - Napoleon Bonaparte
Mossie Boyd’s Buffalo Experiment
In the late 19th century, a remarkable arrival in Bobcaygeon quickly became the talk of the village. The excitement wasn’t over a visiting dignitary—though some joked it rivaled the return of the fallen French emperor—but over the arrival of a buffalo purchased by Mossom M. “Mossie” Boyd.
Boyd had acquired the animal while travelling on the Pacific Coast. At a time when bison had nearly disappeared from the continent, securing a large, purebred specimen was no small feat. The buffalo was shipped east, arriving first in Sarnia, where it was held in quarantine before finally reaching “Little Bob,” as Bobcaygeon was often called. Once in town, the animal was settled into specially prepared quarters and quickly became a local curiosity.
A March 9 report in the Victoria Warder described the scene with humour, noting that the buffalo appeared calm but that villagers had been practising their lasso skills just in case. The paper joked that visitors to Little Bob were in greater danger of being roped by an enthusiastic young cowboy than from the buffalo itself. Nicknamed “Old Boney,” the new arrival also became an ideal demonstration for the Page Wire Fence Company. At the time, wire fencing was just beginning to replace traditional split cedar rails, and Boyd’s powerful buffalo served as the perfect test. If a fence could contain a buffalo bull, surely it could hold ordinary cattle. But Boyd’s intentions were more ambitious than simply attracting attention. Like many wealthy men of the era who hoped to advance agricultural science, he believed livestock breeding could improve farming for everyone. Boyd set out to combine the strengths of domestic cattle and bison, hoping to create a hardier and more productive beef animal. He called the resulting hybrid “cattalo,” a crossbreed that would later become known as beefalo. The experiment met with mixed success. Many of the animals produced were sterile, and losses were significant. The original buffalo, named Napoleon, died of dysentery in 1896. His mounted head was preserved by the Boyd family and displayed for many years in the Bobcaygeon Council Chamber, now at the Boyd Heritage Museum. Following Mossie Boyd’s death, his son Cust encouraged the Dominion Government to continue the work. In 1915 the government purchased the Boyd cattalo herd and transported the animals to the northern plains near Wainwright, Alberta, where they were intended to help repopulate buffalo herds around Buffalo National Park. While the cattalo experiment ultimately had limited success, another Boyd breeding effort—the development of the Polled Hereford—proved far more enduring. Today the story of Mossie Boyd’s buffalo remains one of the most unusual and memorable chapters in Bobcaygeon’s agricultural history.
The Full Story - The Lumber King of the Trent
The Boyd Lumber Company and the Rise of Bobcaygeon
In the late nineteenth century, no company shaped the economy of the Burnt River and the surrounding Kawartha region more than the Boyd Lumber Company of Bobcaygeon. At its peak, the Boyd enterprise was the largest lumber operation in the watershed and employed more local residents than any other business in the area.
The company’s founder, Mossom Boyd Sr., arrived in Bobcaygeon in 1834 at just nineteen years of age. Born into an Irish military family, Boyd decided his prospects were better farming in Upper Canada than pursuing a career in the British Army.
Although he arrived with little money, he possessed determination and ambition. He purchased 100 acres in Verulam Township, which at the time was still considered frontier settlement. Bobcaygeon itself was only beginning to take shape. A few years earlier, Thomas Need, an English entrepreneur, had established a sawmill on the rapids between Sturgeon and Pigeon Lakes. Need soon realized that life as a lumberman did not suit him, and in 1837 he left Bobcaygeon temporarily, placing the young Mossom Boyd in charge of the operation. Boyd quickly discovered that lumbering, rather than farming, held the greater opportunity. Even after Need returned, Boyd continued to run the sawmill while Need focused on developing the village. Over the following decades Bobcaygeon grew into a busy community and an important transportation hub. Locks, bridges, and a dam were constructed, strengthening its role as a centre of trade and travel. Boyd’s early mill, located near the locks, eventually created problems for navigation when sawdust and milling debris clogged the channel. In 1879 Boyd faced court proceedings over the obstruction, and although he was acquitted, he soon relocated the operation to a much larger mill at the opposite end of Bobcaygeon Island. The impressive new facility reflected both the growth of the business and Boyd’s increasing prominence in the region. Expanding the Lumber Empire In its early years the Boyd company harvested timber from nearby townships including Verulam, Somerville, and Harvey. The region’s lakes provided easy access to stands of towering white pine. As local supplies declined, Boyd pushed northward. With the construction of the Bobcaygeon Road in the mid-nineteenth century, operations expanded into Haliburton County, where vast reserves of pine still remained. Logging camps—known as “shanties”—were established throughout the forests of Lutterworth, Snowdon, and Glamorgan townships. Each winter between five and ten camps operated simultaneously. In the spring, as the ice melted, thousands of logs were driven down the Burnt River toward Bobcaygeon. In a typical season between 20,000 and 50,000 logs might pass through Kinmount before continuing south to the mill. Supplying these remote camps required a remarkable logistical effort. Every autumn wagon teams hauled provisions north along the Bobcaygeon Road. Kinmount served as an important stopping point where drivers and their horses rested before continuing deeper into the bush. Lumbermen heading to the camps also passed through the village, travelling by stagecoach, wagon, or on foot as they made the seasonal journey between the forests and the southern settlements. In 1869 Boyd significantly expanded his operations by purchasing timber limits covering nine townships in Haliburton County from the Canada Land and Emigration Company. These lands contained some of the finest remaining pine in Ontario and were largely drained by the Burnt River system, making them ideal for log drives. The acquisition ensured decades of work for the Boyd company. Timber Rafts and Global Markets In addition to sawn lumber, Mossom Boyd participated in the square timber trade. In this industry massive, carefully squared logs were exported for shipbuilding and heavy construction. The British Royal Navy was a major buyer, using Canadian pine as masts and spars for its sailing ships. To reach international markets, the enormous timbers were assembled into rafts and floated from the Kawartha Lakes through the Trent River system to Trenton, then across Lake Ontario and down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City. The journey could take an entire season, from spring until autumn. Boyd personally commanded the Bobcaygeon timber raft for many years between 1848 and 1882. Known for his attention to quality, he insisted that only the finest logs be sold overseas. The reputation of Kawartha pine grew accordingly, commanding premium prices in Quebec and ultimately sailing around the world aboard Royal Navy vessels. The Big Mill and the American Market The most profitable part of the Boyd operation, however, was the sawn lumber produced at the large Bobcaygeon mill. Rapid urban expansion in cities such as Boston and New York created enormous demand for building materials during the nineteenth century. To take advantage of this market, the Boyd company established a warehouse in Albany, New York, which served as a distribution centre for lumber shipped south from the Kawarthas. Boyd’s insistence on quality helped build a reputation for Haliburton pine, and much of the best lumber produced at Bobcaygeon was exported to the United States. Transportation, however, remained a challenge. Lumber was often loaded onto barges or scows and towed across the Kawartha Lakes to ports such as Lindsay, where railway connections allowed it to reach larger markets. Boyd strongly supported plans to extend the railway to Bobcaygeon, but when the Victoria Railway chose a route through Fenelon Falls instead, the decision dealt a serious economic blow to the community. Fenelon Falls prospered as a rail hub, while Bobcaygeon—so heavily tied to the lumber trade—gradually declined in population. Steamships and the Kawartha Lakes Because lumbermen relied so heavily on waterways, Boyd also played a key role in developing infrastructure such as dams and log slides to assist the movement of timber through the Trent Canal system. Transport across the lakes presented another challenge. Once logs reached open water, the current disappeared and the drives stalled. Early methods relied on horses turning capstans to haul log booms across the lakes, but this slow and costly process was eventually replaced by steam-powered tugboats. Recognizing the potential of steam navigation, the Boyd family expanded into passenger and freight service. In 1883 the Trent Valley Navigation Company was formed, and the family soon operated a fleet of steamboats that carried goods, lumber, and passengers throughout the Kawartha Lakes. Excursion cruises became a popular pastime and helped usher in the golden age of steam travel on the Kawarthas. Agriculture and New Experiments After Mossom Boyd Sr. died in 1883, his sons Mossom Martin Boyd and William Boyd took over the business. Mossom Jr., however, had a deep interest in farming and livestock breeding. One of his most notable achievements was the development of Canada’s first herd of Polled Hereford cattle. At a time when hornless cattle were considered unusual, Boyd recognized their advantages and began assembling animals from across North America. His herd travelled the agricultural fair circuit, winning prizes and helping popularize polled cattle among Canadian farmers. The Boyds also experimented with crossing cattle and bison to create a hybrid they called “cattalo.” A buffalo purchased in 1893—nicknamed Napoleon Bonaparte—became a local celebrity and often led the Bobcaygeon fair parade. Although the experiment attracted considerable attention, cattalo never replaced traditional beef cattle. Decline of the Boyd Enterprises By the early twentieth century the region’s once-abundant white pine forests had largely been depleted. The Bobcaygeon sawmill eventually closed, and logging operations shifted westward to British Columbia where large timber stands remained. The family’s steamboat operations also came to an end in 1915. World War I dealt a further blow to the Boyd family, with several members lost in the conflict and key leaders passing away during the same period. Although some Boyd family members remained in Bobcaygeon after the war, the great era of the Boyd enterprises had come to an end. Legacy Today only a few physical reminders remain from the height of the Boyd lumber empire, including the former business office and the Boyd farm south of Bobcaygeon. The family residence, once known as the “Big House,” was destroyed by fire in 1990. The company’s extensive records—meticulously preserved by the Boyd family—are now housed at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa. These documents continue to provide historians with valuable insight into the development of the lumber industry and the growth of the Kawartha Lakes region.