DEH CHO
Descendents of the late Charles Camsell, commissioner of the NWT from 1936 to 1946, journeyed North this summer to explore their family's historical connection to the territory.

The Camsell family includes Joe Evenson, left, Pam Houwing, Rene McGuffin, Clare McGuffin, Lynne McGuffin, Graham McGuffin, David McGuffin and Lynne Evenson. - April Hudson/NNSL photo

Camsell's granddaughter, Lynne McGuffin of Ottawa, brought her three adult children and their families, including her four grandchildren, to Fort Providence, Fort Simpson, Fort Liard and now Hay River to visit the places where the pioneering public servant spent his childhood and later career.

Born in Fort Liard in 1876 and raised in Fort Simpson alongside 10 siblings, Camsell entered the Canadian Public Service as deputy minister of Mines in 1920 and then served as deputy minister of Mines and Resources from 1936 until 1946.

"He was a wonderful grandfather. He had five departments under him -- he had a few things on his mind -- but every night he had a story to tell me about the North" McGuffin recalled. "Sometimes, it was a corny story or a funny thing, and at the end you'd realize you were being had. Other times, it was really about living in the area, trapping, going for the gold. He was full of good stories."

Camsell's adventures began early in life. At age seven he went off to boarding school in the City of Winnipeg, which was then celebrating its 10th anniversary of incorporation.

That trip, much of it by boat, took months. Along the way, the young Camsell met a man charged with cannibalism at the close of a tough winter and once he arrived in the Manitoba capital he had to sleep in a single cot with his older brother Ned.

"He used to tell me there were some nights when it was pretty rough. But when winter came, he was so glad to have a body beside him," said McGuffin with a laugh.

He returned home to Fort Simpson at age 18, where he tried his hand at dog sledding and prospecting before dedicating the rest of his life to public service.

"When he came back, his father designated what they were going to do, and he said, 'You will be the clergyman.' My grandfather thought, 'I'm not made to be a clergyman,' so for two years he delivered mail by doglsed trying to figure out what he was going to do with his life," McGuffin said.

Her grandfather ran a postal route through Northern British Columbia

"He said it was quite the experience - wide open, and lots of space to think," she said.

Her son, David McGuffin, who inherited his great-grandfather's adventurous spirit, brought his family up from Washington D.C for the trip. David has lived in Russia, China and Africa - to name a few past addresses - but grew up in his great-grandfather's former house in Ottawa.

"It's neat to see the place where he was born," he said. "There are still a couple outbuildings from the Hudson Bay post - the old storehouse is still there, and we were talking to someone who told us people still remember going to that store when the manager lived upstairs."

Studying his great-grandfather's account of Northern life was illuminating, he added.

"We've sort of complained about driving around in cars and how long the trips are, and we were reading his memoir - he's talking about how he had a nice, pleasant 200-mile snowshoe from Fort Simpson to Fort Liard," he said. "It puts things in perspective."

The McGuffins spent the first few days of August roaming the Deh Cho, stopping for a night in Fort Providence and travelling out to Fort Liard for a day. They took in Virginia Falls and Little Doctor Lake.

Before they head back out east, the family is spending time in Hay River, where they will be meeting with some other members of the Camsell family who are distant relatives.

As a first-time Fort Simpson visitor, Lynne said she was been taken by surprise by how friendly residents are.

"They see you coming and they say hello - that really is the nicest part," she said.

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