Thunder Bay in Thunder Bay District, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)

Rosvall and Voutilainen

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 14, 2024

1. Rosvall and Voutilainen
(marker south side • English)

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

[English] On November 18, 1929, Finnish-Canadians Viljo Rosvall and Janne Voutilainen left the Port Arthur-area for Onion Lake, 20 kilometres upstream from here, to recruit bushworkers for a strike. Their bodies were found at Onion Lake the following spring. Local unionists and many Finnish-Canadians suspected foul play, but coroner's juries ruled the deaths accidental drownings. The two men's funeral on April 28, 1930, is remembered as the largest ever held in Port Arthur. As thousands of mourners marched to Riverside Cemetery, an eclipse of the sun darkened the sky. The mystery surrounding the deaths of Rosvall and Voutilainen endures, sustaining them in the public memory as martyrs to the cause of organized labour.

[Français] Le 18 novembre 1929, les Finno-canadiens Viljo Rosvall et Janne Voutilainen quittent la région de Port Arthur pour Lac Onion, à vingt kilomètres en amont. Ils veulent mobiliser les bûcherons pour une grève. Au printemps suivant, on retrouve leurs corps à Lac Onion. Des syndicalistes locaux et de nombreux Canadiens d’origine finlandaise pensent à coup fourré, mais les jurys de coroners confirment un décès accidentel par noyade. Les obsèques des deux hommes ont lieu le 28 avril 1930 à Port Arthur qui n’en a jamais connu de si imposantes. Alors que des milliers de personnes suivent le convoi jusqu’au cimetière Riverside, une éclipse du soleil assombrit le ciel. Le mystère entourant la mort de Rosvall et de Voutilainen subsiste et en fait des martyrs pour la cause du syndicalisme.

Erected by Ontario

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Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Immigration • Industry & Commerce • Labor Unions. In addition, it is included in the Canada, Ontario Heritage Trust series list. A significant historical date for this entry is April 28, 1930.

Location. 48° 28.611′ N, 89° 11.45′ W. Marker is in Thunder Bay, Ontario, in Thunder Bay District. It can be reached from Centennial Park Road 1.2 kilometers north of Arundel Street. The marker is located in front of the Logging Museum in Centennial Park. Access is via footbridge, and about 120 meters northwest of the Centennial Park River Loop Trailhead parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 751 Centennial Park Road, Thunder Bay ON P7A 7K9, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Northern Ontario

and specifically in Northwest Ontario.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in North America,

in the Great North Woods,

on the Great Lakes,

on Lake Superior’s North Shore,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically,

Rosvall et Voutilainen<br>(<i>marker north side • Français</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 14, 2024

2. Rosvall et Voutilainen
(marker north side • Français)

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 6 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Centennial of Confederation (within shouting distance of this marker); Black Bay Bridge (approx. 1.1 kilometers away); Terrance Stanley Fox (approx. 1.9 kilometers away); Terry Fox (approx. 1.9 kilometers away); Historic Tyndall Stone (approx. 4.6 kilometers away); C.D. Howe (approx. 4.6 kilometers away); Sir William C. Van Horne (approx. 5 kilometers away); Whalen Building (approx. 5 kilometers away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Thunder Bay.

Also see . . .
1. Rosvall and Voutilainen (Wikipedia).

Excerpt: Viljo Rosvall and Janne Voutilainen were members of the Lumber Workers Industrial Union of Canada. The official cause of death was ruled to be accidental drownings; however, the Finnish community in Thunder Bay suspected that the two were murdered by thugs employed by the bushcamp boss. Evidence that the two men had struggled before their deaths
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 14, 2024

3. Rosvall and Voutilainen Marker
Looking north through Centennial Park; the logging museum is in the background.
as well as the questionable matter that two experienced bushworkers had drowned in shallow water added to the feeling that foul play was involved. Furthermore, some community members claimed that they had gained knowledge that the hired thugs were in Finland, where they had been shipped after the murder.
The case of Rosvall and Voutilainen continues to be controversial. An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected by the province to commemorate Rosvall and Voutilainen's role in Ontario's heritage. The plaque was erected in the memory of the two men in Centennial Park which has a small logging museum and is located approximately 20 kilometres downstream on Current River which flows out of Onion Lake where the bodies were found.

(Submitted on November 17, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

2. Viljo Rosvall (Dictionary of Canadian Biography).

(by Peter Raffo) Excerpt: On 19 April 1930 the body of Voutilainen was discovered, floating in shallow water at the north end of Onion Lake. Rosvall was found on the 23rd, half a mile away, in a stream described as no more than four feet deep. Rumours spread that both bodies
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 14, 2024

4. Rosvall et Voutilainen Marker
Looking south; the Centennial Park footbridge is in the left background.
bore marks of violence, and that one or both of them had bullet holes in the head. Autopsies were performed and inquests resulted in similar verdicts: accidental death by drowning. Cohen, who represented the union at Rosvall’s inquest, on 5 May, concluded that “there seemed to be an inclination on the part of the public and official witnesses to minimize any facts which would tend to cause any doubts as to the findings on the doctor’s post mortem.” Whatever the truth, there can be no doubt that the official verdicts were reached with haste and despite circumstantial evidence that suggests, if it does not prove, foul play.
Their deaths came to be seen as a defining moment in the history of the Finnish community at the Lakehead, a symbol of the deep ideological division with that group. Though the Lumber Workers’ Industrial Union of Canada, and the Finnish Canadian left in general, slid into a period of decline, Rosvall and Voutilainen continued to be hailed as martyrs. In 1992 they were inducted into the Canadian Labour Congress Hall of Fame in North York, Ont.

(Submitted on November 17, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

3. Rosvall and Voutilainen: Two Union Men Who Never Died.

Centennial Park Logging Museum image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 14, 2024

5. Centennial Park Logging Museum

(Submitted on November 17, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on November 18, 2024. It was originally submitted on November 16, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 208 times since then and 44 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on November 17, 2024, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.