Kenora in Kenora District, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)

The James McMillan Tug Boat

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 13, 2022

1. The James McMillan Tug Boat Marker

Inscription. Who Was James McMillan?The namesake of the James McMillan tug boat — Mr. James A. McMillan — was a popular logging superintendent with the Ontario-Minnesota Pulp and Paper Company who died unexpectedly in 1942. McMillan was well liked, so his fellow managers named this tug boat in his honour.

The Beginning and the End The James McMillan was built by Maffey Steel Boats of Fort Frances, Ontario in 1952 for the J.A. Mathieu Ltd saw mill on Rainy Lake. She was purchased by the Ontario-Minnesota Pulp and Paper Company (later renamed Boise Cascade) in 1955. The James MacMillan worked on the Lake of the Woods for 30 years, pulling millions of cords of wood to this bay. From this site it was collected for use in the Kenora paper mill. The last log booms on the Lake of the Woods were pulled into this bay by the James McMillan in the spring of 1985.

The Logging IndustryLogging and forestry has long been a major industry on the Lake of the Woods. The wood that was cut on the lake was used in Kenora's saw mills, and later its pulp and paper mill. Logging and forestry remains a major employer in the area. Before roads and highways logs

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

were delivered to Kenora on the water, pulled by tug boats just like this one.

How Did it Work?Lumberjacks cut down trees in the winter and dragged the logs onto the thick lake ice. In spring the ice melted, and the logs were gathered together as they floated on the water. When the wood was gathered together it was called a "log boom" or a "boomer." Tug boats like the James McMillan pulled log booms from the southern end of the lake to the paper and lumber mills in Kenora.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Horticulture & Forestry • Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1952.

Location. 49° 46.227′ N, 94° 29.929′ W. Marker is in Kenora, Ontario, in Kenora District. It can be reached from Lakeview Drive (Trans-Canada Highway) (Provincial Highway 17) 0.6 kilometers west of Bernier Drive (Veterans Drive), on the right when traveling west. The marker is located on the west side of McLeod Park, beside the subject vessel exhibit. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Kenora ON P9N 1S4, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 13, 2022

2. The James McMillan Tug Boat Marker

Looking northeast from the tugboat across McLeod Park. Oddly, the marker overlooks the park rather than the vessel.

is in Northern Ontario

and specifically in Northwest Ontario.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Great North Woods,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Rat Portage Post (within shouting distance of this marker); A 1920 View of Today's McLeod Park (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); Town of Kenora Waterfront History (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); Governor General's Arrival (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); The Boundary Dispute (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); The Hudson's Bay Company Fort at Rat Portage on Old Fort Island, 1857 (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); Transportation (approx. 0.6 kilometers away); Early Exploration (approx. 0.6 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Kenora.

Also see . . . James McMillan (1877-1942) (Find A Grave). Excerpt:

(Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Kenora District, Ontario, Canada)
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 13, 2022

3. The James McMillan Tug Boat
James McMillan was born in Poltimore, Quebec. By 1901 James had left the family farm and moved to the Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) area in northwestern Ontario. At the time of the census he was working as a lumberman at the Beaudro Fishery at the south end of the Lake of the Woods. He worked for a number of years with the Rat Portage Lumber Company as camp and drive foreman and then started working for the Keewatin Lumber Company as Logging Superintendent on 1 August 1913.
James McMillan has a very unique commemoration of his life. Across the road from McLeod Park in Kenora sits in dry dock a tugboat that has been restored and is open for both tourists and locals to visit to learn a bit of the history of logging and the use of tugboats in the area. The name of the tugboat is the James McMillan.

(Submitted on April 21, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

The James McMillan Tug Boat image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 13, 2022

4. The James McMillan Tug Boat

Looking west; the Trans-Canada Highway crosses Kenora Bay in the left background.

Credits. This page was last revised on April 21, 2024. It was originally submitted on April 20, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 566 times since then and 79 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 21, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.