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TALES OF THE RIDEAU
Like all good tales books, this one starts off with a tale of treasure. However, unlike many books of tales, this book only contains (mostly) true stories. Much of the book deals with the truth behind the tales, looking at the back-story, the details that form the basis for each tale.
The 17 stories in Tales of the Rideau fall into three general categories:
THE CLASSICS: Is there a treasure of silver hidden somewhere on the Rideau? Were there really skeletons found at Oliver's Ferry? Who won the last duel in Perth? Who is the ghost of Watson's Mill?
THE LESSER KNOWNS: How did Lt. Colonel By fall from grace? Why did the Hogs Back Dam keep falling down? What really killed two men at Jones Falls in 1869? What happened to the blue edged bowls? Did the Billings family really shoot Hogs Back Falls? How did a large rock interrupt Robert Drummond's lunch at Kingston Mills? How did a Rideau Canal Superintendent get sluiced? Why were skeletons dug up at Jones Falls in the 1950s? What happened when the dam broke on Loughborough Lake? Why did the Rideau River suddenly run dry in August 1831?
FACTUAL INTEREST: How did malaria end up on the Rideau during the construction of the canal? Why is there a lock in the middle of a lake? Who were the surveyors who mapped out the Rideau Route?
The book even answers the question of why there is a puzzled-looking dog on the front cover.
The author, Ken Watson, has spent the last fifteen years exploring the fascinating history of the Rideau Canal. The intent of this book is to make some of the more interesting fact-based Rideau stories readily available to the interested public.
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Comments: send me email: Ken Watson
©1996- Ken W. Watson
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