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They call it Eagle’s Nest, a sacred place once worshipped by those who paddled the York River and lived in harmony with nature. The land was clothed in pine, the ground covered in a rich brown carpet of needles that felt only the soft tread of a moccasined foot. The passage of time gave witness to the loss of peace once found here, at this eagle’s cliff, as the settlers’ axes hewed the town of Bancroft.

In the northern part of Hastings County at the junction of Highway 28 and 62, approximately 104 kilometres (65 miles) northeast of Peterborough and 20 kilometres (12 miles) northwest of Belleville, is the town of Bancroft. It was originally named York Mills, because of the potential of the river, and then York River when the first post office was opened, May 1, 1861.

Although the history of the district of Bancroft does not start until the 1850s, Hastings County was in the news as far back as 1792. It was Governor Simcoe who proclaimed that Upper Canada would be divided into 19 counties; the 11th one was Hastings. This name was chosen in honour of the family of Francis Rawdon-Hastings (1754–1826), a military leader and distinguished soldier during the American Revolution. His family took their name from the town of Hastings in Sussex, England. Francis Rawdon-Hastings became the marquis of Hastings in 1817.

In order to settle Hastings County, officials needed to negotiate the right to the ownership of the land with the Natives. On November 5, 1818, Chief Pahtosh, the leader of the Chippewas in the area, along with other Native leaders, met with government officials to discuss the surrender of their territory. They agreed to surrender 1,951,000 acres of land to the government.

The main street of Bancroft circa 1915.

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For the sale of this land the treaty read, “Every Native man, woman and child will receive the amount of 10 dollars in goods at the Montreal prices, so long as such man, woman or child shall live, but such annuity will cease and be discounted to be paid in right of any individual who may have died between the respective periods of payment, and the several individuals then living, only, shall be considered as entitled to receive the yearly payment of 10 dollars in goods as above stated.”

The Native families diminished over the years until their paths in the forest were no longer visible and their sacred sites were lost to view.

The first white settlers to arrive in the area were the Clarks, in 1853. Tragedy knocked at their door when the wife and daughter drowned in the river at the mouth of the creek that now flows under Highway 62. This creek was later named Clark Creek in honour of Bancroft’s first family of settlers.

In the spring of 1855, hard on the heels of the first surveyor, two young Englishmen arrived, James Cleak and Alfred Barker. They were educated men, ready and willing to test their skills in this harsh new country. Cleak opened a store and became the first postmaster, but Barker’s fate remains unrecorded. Other early settlers included Henry Gaebel, Philip Harding, Thomas Sparrow, Patrick Kavanagh, the Vances, the Siddons, and the Sweets.

The construction of Monck Road, named in honour of Governor-General Lord Monck, began in 1866. The road started at Lake Couchiching and proceeded east to the Rideau Lakes. Although it was primarily built to open up the back woods of Upper Canada, it also served as a military trail. The Monck Road played a very strategic role in the settlement of York River, since it, along with the Hastings and the Mississippi Colonization roads, brought more settlers to the northern townships of the country. By 1868 York River’s population had swelled to 89 families.

It wasn’t long before the lumberjacks arrived to harvest the large stands of virgin forest. A lumber company, named Bronson and Weston, set up headquarters just east of present-day Bancroft. This company brought in hundreds of teams of horses to draw logs. In time, the Gilmour Lumber Company, the Rathburn Company, and the Eddy Company all worked limits in the area. The crews often worked together on the drives which started as the ice broke up. Many a man was drowned. One such river driver was laid to rest where the traffic lights now blink at the junction of Hastings and Bridge Streets and, as was the custom of the day, his boots marked the spot.

When rival lumber crews converged in Bancroft, the “fur” would fly. Each group had a champion strongman and, of course, a fight was always in order. The rules were simple. Each man carried a large stone to be tossed, like a gauntlet, to begin the fight. Once begun, anything went, and they fought till one lay helpless on the ground. It was then the privilege, or perhaps the obligation, of the victor to rake the fallen man’s face with his spiked boots and mark him for life as the beaten warrior. One assumes that the drink consumed during this revelry provided some anaesthetic benefits. Louie Brisette was one such river driver of long ago, who lost to a younger man, and was said to sport a heavy beard for the rest of his life.

By 1872, York River was beginning to take on the appearance of a permanent settlement, albeit a rowdy one, and often likened to the wild west. However rough, the lumber industry did assist the growth of the village and the commerce that came to support the necessities of life. A Methodist Church opened for worship, a doctor arrived in 1888, and Sarah Cooper arrived to offer her services as a teacher.

On October 15, 1879, the leading businessman of the community, Senator Billa Flint, changed the name of York River to Bancroft to honour his wife, Phoebe Bancroft.

Although gold was discovered by Marcus Herbert Powell south of the town on August 15, 1866, on John Richardson’s farm in Eldorado, it wasn’t until 1897 that Bancroft gained attention and fame for its mineral deposits. In October of that year, R. Bradshaw discovered free-surface gold and gold fever struck Bancroft. One of the biggest winners in the draw was Mrs. J.B. Cleak’s chicken. One fine day in 1902 the bird was escorted to the chopping block and, strange as it seems, Mrs. Cleak discovered a gold nugget in the pullet’s crop.

Bancroft became famous for its earth minerals. Because ancient glaciers had moved soil and rock to gradually expose the very heart of volcanic mountains, Bancroft was set to become the mineral capital of Canada. Approximately 1,600 minerals have been identified to date.

In 1960 a mineral society was formed and the first rock show was held. An annual Rockhound Gemboree was the result, and Canada’s largest mineral and gem show is still held each year from Thursday to Sunday before the civic holiday Monday in August. People can discover minerals firsthand in the countryside by way of a guided mineral trip any Tuesday or Thursday during July and August.

Nevertheless, for many, the most historic and sacred site in Bancroft remains Eagle’s Nest. It is a place of mystery and beauty. It was here that the great eagles nested and here that the Natives prayed. No one is quite sure when the eagles left. What is recorded is the incident of 1883. Screams from outdoors brought Mr. and Mrs. Gaebel outside to witness a great eagle trying to carry off a small child who had been playing. They attacked the eagle with a broom and rake before it finally gave up its prey. A decision was made by the Gaebels and their neighbours to rid the village of eagles. Eggs were removed from the nest, the eagles disappeared temporarily, and there were no sightings again until 1902. In January 1918, the Bancroft Times recorded that a young man named Sararas had shot an eagle measuring two metres (six feet) from wing tip to wing tip. He displayed it at the butcher shop of the game warden, James McCaw, who attempted to sell it. In the 1930s the tree in which the eagles had nested toppled to the ground.

Nature is as rugged as ever in Bancroft and, with or without eagles at Eagle’s Nest, the vista is beautiful and the minerals are as abundant as ever.