Russel Brothers Limited OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO Steelcraft Boat Builders
| Owandem / Motherlode
Canadian List of Shipping 1956: Owandem [C.174013] registered at Owen Sound; built at Owen Sound in 1942. 25' x 7�5 x 2'9; 4 g.t.; 2 n.t.; 20 hp. Owned by The Ontario, Minnesota Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd., Fort Frances, Ontario. Canadian List of Shipping 1970: Steel tug Owandem [C.174013] registered at Owen Sound. Built at Owen Sound in 1942. 25'; 4 g.t. Canadian List of Ships 1997: Owned by Boise Cascade Canada Ltd., Fort Frances, Ontario. Transport Canada List 2003: Owned by Boise Cascade Ontario. Ltd., Fort Frances, ON. SB notes (Oct. 2007): current owner Arden Erickson Barnes, PO Box 47, Ranier, MN 56668. Arden lives close to the original Russel Fort Frances factory site.
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O.M. 156 "the Owandem". Photo courtesy Fort Frances Museum.
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O. & M. (Ontario-Minnesota Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd.) winch boats from Fort Frances ON.
The ones mentioned in the Russel Vessel list are O. M. 8 [C.188687], O. M. 10 [C.188688], O. M. 235 [C.175053], O. M. 238 [C.175054], O. M. 310 [C.195336, Maffey build, date of reg. closing: 1995-08-16], O. M. 2096 and O. M. 2124 [C.179134] .
Captions (left to right):
1) 987.153.600a - Little Turtle Drive, boom of wood in Turtle lake, June 1947.
2) 987.153.551 - Two men on a bug boat, poling logs for a boom.
3) 987.153.605 - Meat run - Flanders area, crossing Calm Lake by barge, 1947.
4) 987.153.606b - Crossing Calm Lake, October 1949.
Hal Armstrong comments (Mar. 19, 2020): "Here is the pic of the boat in its original colour scheme (Boise Cascade (O&M) colours) when my dad (Bo Armstrong form Fort Frances, Ontario) bought the boat from the mill. The boat was later sold to Arden Barnes of Rainer Minnesota."
Clippings courtesy Hal Armstrong.
Photos courtesy Arden Barnes, Oct. 2007, Rainy Lake, MN. Arden says "my 26-foot winch tug
(Russel Hull No. 448) was built for the Ontario and Minnesota Paper Company in 1942.
O& M designated the tug number 156. I call her "The Motherlode".
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The Motherlode Story: This little steel vessel is one of the oldest functioning inboard boats on Rainy Lake. Tug #156 was built in 1942. It was Hull #448, built by the Russel - Hipwell Engines of Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. She was used by the O & M (Ontario & Minnesota) Paper Co. to shepherd the log booms that floated down Rainy Lake to the paper mill. In addition to its boom sluicing duties, it was used at the sorting gap on Rainy River below Rainier Rapids. The Hallett was the primary towing vessel for the log booms and she is on display at Pither's Point near the Old Fort.When logs were no longer transported by water to the mill, Tug #156 and other boats were sold off.
Tug #156 was originally powered by a 2-cycle 20 hp Capital engine. She is presently powered by a 271 GMC diesel engine which was installed by the late Hammy Martin, retired mechanic and troubleshooter for the O & M Canadian Logging Operations. Captain Alfred Woods of Fort Frances was in charge of this jaunty little ship during her sorting gap years.
Features of Tug #156: 1) A large cable winch allows it to be "amphibious" and enables her to cross short portages. 2) A uniques cooling system allows the vessel to travel on land as the diesel engine powers the cable spool on the winch. 3) A steel winch cage surrounding the propeller prevents logs from damaging the propeller and shaft. 4) A very heavy steel hull and cabin enables the boat to endure rough use and ice. (It carries a number of battle scars). 5) Weight: 5.5 tons Length: 26' Beam: 7'6" Draws: 6' of water Speed: 8mph without a load Fuel Consumption: One gallon of diesel fuel per hour.
The Present Owner: Arden Erickson Barnes of Ranier, Minnesota purchased Tug #156 approx. 15 years ago and renamed the vessel The Motherlode. The Motherlode now plies the waters of Rainy Lake as a pleasure boat. Arden is a coast guard licensed captain with a towing endorsement.
Arden returned home to Rainy Lake after 27 years as chief anesthetist in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. She is the daughter of Rainy Lake pioneers John and Gina Erickson who owned and operated numerous freight and pleasure boats on Rainy Lake during their lifetimes. John was a coast guard licensed operator for inspected gasoline and steam powered freight and passenger boats used on Rainy Lake. As many of the "old timers" and newcomers to the area will attest, "Rainy Lake gets into one's blood!" Enjoy your visit with us!! P.S. If you should ever wish to see a boat like Tug #156, - check a Canadian $1 bill.
Hal Armstrong comments (March 22, 2020): "Just came across this pamphlet (produced by Arden Barnes) on the tug boat that my dad owned at one time in Fort Frances, Ontario and then sold it Mrs Arden Erickson Barnes of Thief River Falls, Mn (later retiring to Rainier, MN).
Russel shop Fort Frances c. 1912. Photo courtesy Dennis Busch and Arden Barnes.
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Aug. 19, 2008:
This front page newspaper article based on Fort Frances Captain Arden Barnes' research profiles early logging practice and the Russel built Hallett and the Russel Brothers company origins in Fort Frances, Ontario.
TEXT VERSION OF ARTICLE HERE
Steve Briggs notes: Arden Barnes' winch boat (now named "The Mother Lode") started out as the "Owandem" (for O & M, or Ontario & Minnesota Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd., a Fort Frances area based company). |
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Oct. 8, 2017. Matthew Carlson supplied this newspaper article from Fort Frances saying the Owandem was donated to the museum there in Dec. 2016, and is in storage awaiting refurbishment, once funds are raised. |
Fort Frances to refurbish second tugboat,
Owandem for its waterfront
Sandblasting and painting to cost $20-30k
Jeff Walters � CBC News � Posted: Oct 31, 2017 7:00 AM ET | Last Updated: October 31, 2017
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/fort-frances-owandem-tug-1.4378906
Another community in northwestern Ontario wants to display a big piece of its history along the waterfront.
The Fort Frances Museum acquired the tugboat Owandem. The town now needs to sandblast and paint the boat, before being put on display along the shore of the Rainy River. The tug was used by the mill to haul logs from the bush to the pulp and paper operation in Fort Frances.
The display of the Owandem is one of a string of boats to be acquired by communities in northwestern Ontario. The Marathon Museum hopes to display the Peninsula, while the Alexander Henry is docked in Thunder Bay.
Fort Frances already has one tugboat on display at the Sorting Gap Marina, the Hallet.
"Certainly it's going to take a bit of work," said Sherry George, the curator at the Fort Frances Museum.
"Just to do the sandblasting and the painting, we'd like to paint it to the colours of the mill, the green and white, it's a big expense."
George estimates it will cost between $20,000-$30,000 to sandblast and paint the boat. She said it also weighs several tons, so moving the boat from one storage facility to another is a big endeavour.
She said the Hallet, which has been on display for years, makes up a big part of the visitation to the Fort Frances Museum.
The Hallet tug is docked along the Rainy River in Fort Frances, Ont. The Fort Frances Museum expects to add another tug to its waterfront collection, the Owandem. (Jeff Walters/CBC)
"It's part of our history. Logging in this area was big, it still is important to a lot of people. These particular boats, the tugs, both the Hallet and this tug that we have now, both were built by the Russell Brothers, who originated in Fort Frances."
"The Russel Brothers company, they started in Fort Frances, they ended up moving to Owen Sound, and that's when the mill bought these boats," she said.
The boat was donated to the museum by its previous owner, who lived across the river in International Falls, MN.
"I think most people are very much in favour of it. We do have a few people who really wish we could have saved one of the Gators, which were boats from an earlier era, that were manoeuvrable across land as well. But, none of those have survived, so this is what we're trying to save now." |
From the Fort Frances Museum Newsletter, August 2017
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From the Fort Frances Museum Newsletter, August 2017
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TOWN OF FORT FRANCES
Community Services Executive Committee
AGENDA - November 7, 2016 10:30 AM
Museum Budget Item � Priority 3 � Accepting the donation of a �bug� for our waterfront display
An American party has offered to give the museum a small logging tugboat that was used alongside the Hallett for the river drive. This boat was built by the Russel Bros. as was the Hallett. Eric Fagerdahl has seen the boat. It is in good shape, but will require sandblasting and painting. Eric has also made inquiries around importing it to Canada, and approached Mark Faragher around refurbishing costs. As museums are given special considerations, there will be no taxes or import duties. Boat can be imported this fall. First estimates are in the amount of $25,000 as boat will have to be moved to Faragher�s workshop. To meet environmental regulations, work has to be completed inside. Once painted, boat will be dry�docked near the Hallett. We are thinking of allowing people on the boat, but simply to walk through; engine will be behind plexiglass. Additional information regarding boat and Customs is attached.
https://fortfrances.civicweb.net/document/61428
Eric Fagerdahl watched the delivery of the logging tug boat, �Owandem,� at the Public Works yard back on Dec. 22, 2016. The boat was donated to the Fort Frances Museum by the late Arden Erickson Barnes of Ranier, Mn.
http://www.fftimes.com/news/local/photos/boat-arrives
Former tug owner shares his memories
Wednesday, Mar 1, 2017. Fort Frances Times.
http://www.fftimes.com/news/local/news/former-tug-owner-shares-his-memories
The �Owandem,� a small tug donated to the Fort Frances Museum by the late Arden Erickson Barnes of Ranier, Mn., sits at the Public Works yard here awaiting future refurbishing.
But before Barnes owned the boat, which she had renamed �The Motherlode," it was owned by former Fort Frances resident Harold "Bo� Armstrong, who now lives in Gravenhurst, Ont.
Armstrong's son, Hal, recently took some time to sit down with his dad�still �alive and kicking� at 84�to record the following recollections of the boat.
The �Owandem" was one of the oldest functioning inboard boats on Rainy Lake. Tug #156, registered as the "Owandem,� was built in 1942 by the Russel-Hipwell Engines of Owen Sound, Ont.
It was used by the Ontario & Minnesota Paper Co. to help move the log booms that floated down Rainy Lake to the paper mill. In addition to its boom sluicing duties, it was used at the sorting gap on the Rainy River below Ranier rapids.
The �Hallett" was the primary towing vessel for hauling log booms until 1974. During an average year, the "Hallett� made 20 round trips of 100 miles each, hauling 70,000-90,000 cords of wood a year in average tows of 4,000-5,000 cords of wood a mile in size.
But the modernization of woodland operations and environmental concerns led to the demise of the lake drive. It became more economical to use a pulp truck, carrying 40 cords per load to bring logs for paper production.
When logs no longer were transported by water to the mill, Tug #156 and other boats were sold off or scrapped.
It was in the mid-1970s that Bo Armstrong purchased the �Owandem.�
Armstrong had spent years guiding on Lake of the Woods in the 1950s and had moved back to Fort Frances from Winnipeg in 1972. He always prided himself of knowing Rainy Lake's numerous channels, bays, islands, and waterways �like the back of his hand.�
His own cruiser aptly was named after his wife. �The Lady Marlene� was his pride and joy that he cruised around on Rainy Lake for 25-plus years.
While �The Lady Marlene� was a great recreation boat, Armstrong had dreams of owning one of these tugs that he watched as a kid and put it to work repairing docks and pulling logs and trees out of the water for cottage owners on Rainy Lake.
But to do that, he would need a workboat and that boat�Tug #156 (Owandem)�was up for auction by Boise Cascade in the mid-'70s.
Armstrong, having known many of the operators of the O&M woodlands fleet (such as the Hallett's legendary captain, William Martin), came to know some of the history of the boat.
Hal Armstrong recalled that when he first saw the tug sitting in dry dock, with the steel roof caved in on one side, he knew this boat was going to be a project requiring a lot of work before it would go back in the water.
�The damage was the result of a collision when it was hit 'broad-side' by the Hallett while working in the Brule Narrows," Bo Armstrong noted. �No one was hurt but the Owandem rolled over and sunk.
�The little tug was raised from the bottom of the lake and towed back behind the Hallett for repairs,� he added.
The late George �Hammy� Martin, a mechanic and troubleshooter for O&M's Canadian logging operations, replaced the original two-cycle, 20 h.p. Capital engine with a two-cylinder Model 271 GMC diesel engine.
Armstrong put a $200 bid on the Owandem, which turned out to be successful and saved the boat from the scrap yard.
This 26-foot tug with a relatively new engine, and a winch drum with half-a-mile of 9/16" steel cable, would be perfect for working on the lake repairing docks and doing odd jobs.
Armstrong spent a summer working part-time on the tug using a �Jackall� Jack to straighten out the damaged roof and cleaning it up.
The boat was launched at the wood yard where the kraft mill still stands today into the river. Armstrong was smiling from ear to ear.
He was living the dream he had as a kid watching these tugs ply the waters of Rainy Lake. He used the boat to help repair friends' docks that had slid off their cribs and raise them back onto their cribs that had been damaged by the winter ice.
Armstrong explained how he eventually came to sell the boat to Barnes.
�I stored the tug at George Finstad's machine shop in Ranier, Mn. When George passed away in 1975, I would keep the boat at Rainy Lake Houseboats in Ranier and dock it at Arden Barnes in the summer,� he recalled.
The deal to sell the boat to Barnes occurred at the Thunderbird Lodge in the early 1990s.
�She purchased the boat from me, gave it a new paint job, and turned it from a workboat into a fun boat,� Armstrong noted.
�She built a table over the winch and cable drum, and would put a red-and-white tablecloth over it for picnic lunches,� he added.
"The windows were dressed up with red-and-white checkered curtains and she renamed her the 'Motherlode.'
�She loved that little tug and I could not have sold it to a better home,� Armstrong said.
�Now that it is back home in Fort Frances, Tug #156 has come full circle and I hope it is placed beside the Hallett, which it worked beside for more than 30 years.�
The Fort Frances Museum and a local group of volunteers are planning a �Canada 150� transportation exhibit focusing on modes of travel from local history, including boats.
Stories like Armstrong's will be a part of the exhibit, which is expected to open in April and run through September.
HAROLD 'BO' ARMSTRONG OBITUARY
Wednesday, Jan 31, 2018. Fort Frances Times.
http://www.fftimes.com/obituaries/harold-bo-armstrong
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Harold �Bo� Armstrong on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018 at his home in Elora, Ont.
Bo was 85 going on 25. He lived life to the fullest. Growing up in Fort Frances in the 1940s was a great time for him.
Leaving school in Grade 8 to work in the lumber camps instilled a great work ethic in him and that, combined with his outgoing personality, led him to many adventures in life. From a golden gloves boxing champ in the 1950s to a guide on Lake of the Woods, becoming a licensed electrician, and then setting up the Arctic Cat clothing plant in Rainy River and selling Polaris snowmobiles, he did it all.
Bobo's Cycle and Marine was a great venture into retail, followed by his last years working in the paper mill in Fort Frances, retiring in 1996.
He loved Rainy Lake and his boat, the �Lady Marlene.� He always said he knew every island and bay like the back of his hand.
Bo also was the kind of guy that could fix and build anything. He always had passion for whatever he did.
He was tough and you didn't want to mess with him. His career as a bouncer in Winnipeg is legendary. But he also was very compassionate and proud of all his sisters and brothers.
Bo and Marlene moved from Fort Frances to Gravenhurst, Ont., and recently relocated to Elora to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
A memorial service was held in Fergus on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018 at the Graham Giddy Funeral Home.
From the Fort Frances Museum Newsletter, October 2017
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Moving boat... Wednesday, Oct 4, 2017
The �Owandem" was relocated from the Public Works yard here to Mark Faragher's BodyWorks shop in Devlin on Sept. 20 so he can begin refurbishing the vintage vessel. A crane from George Armstrong Co. Ltd. lifted the boat onto a trailer provided by CJ Contracting. Claude Joidin then transported it to Devlin, where Erwin Hughes helped Faragher unload it. The cost to completely refurbish the boat is estimated to be $25,000 and while about $4,300 has been donated so far, the Fort Frances Museum and "Friends of the Museum" continue to raise money. The public can support the cause by bidding on the items in the "Keep It Hanging Around" silent auction ongoing at the museum from now until the end of the month, as well as by attending the "Novemberfest� gala there Nov. 2. http://www.fftimes.com/news/local/photos/moving-boat
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From the Fort Frances Museum Newsletter, Winter 2016-2017
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From the Fort Frances Museum Newsletter, May 2018
Nov. 23, 2018: Fort Frances Museum says the Owandem (O.M. 156) restoration "is coming along! It is all painted now, and hopefully next summer we can place it next to the Hallett in the Marina!" It was sandblasted and painted after being moved to Mark Faragher's BodyWorks shop in Devlin last Sept. 20, 2017, where it will remain for this coming winter. Aug. 29, 2019: Fort Frances Museum: "We are hoping to have the Owandem on display next season. Work has yet to be started for the dry land berth, including all of the footings, railings etc. The restoration work has been completed; however, we don't have any pictures of it. I do what I can to get one, and follow up with you about it."
It will be displayed close to the Hallett on the Rainy River, in Fort Frances Ontario.
From the Fort Frances Times Oct. 23, 2019. Note the article incorrectly states the boats on the back of the dollar bill are the Hallett and the Owandem. They are not. The Missinabi and the Ancaster are on the dollar bill.
Images courtesy Eric Fagerdahl March 8, 2020.
Images courtesy Doug, July 26, 2020.
For more Russel exhibits visit Owen Sound Marine & Rail Museum 1165 1st Ave West, Owen Sound, ON N4K 4K8
(519) 371-3333  http://marinerail.com |
