McNaughton

(from Settlers)

Robert McNaughton (1849–) was a month old when his parents bought their 100 acre farm on the fourth Line of Warwick for $500 in 1849.

From age 20 to 30, Robert spent his winters drawing lumber for a lumber company in Toronto. This company shipped oak timbers to Glasgow to make ships. The early settlers in Canada did not altogether realize the value of the forest they lived in, but the Glasgow shipbuilders apparently did, and took advantage of it. To the seasoned shipbuilder in Europe the Canadian forest was a mine of untapped wealth to be exploited as soon as possible.

In 1879, Robert went west to help in the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway from Winnipeg to the coast.

The year after the railway was completed, the Saskatchewan Rebellion of 1885 broke out and Robert McNaughton went through that. He was drawing supplies for the soldiers from Swift Current to the Saskatchewan River when he was captured by the Indians. Robert and the others that were captured were exchanged and returned to Ontario in the fall.

Chapter 24 of 25 - McNaughton Family

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