The Lore and Legends of Waterhen Lodge
by
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Lake Winnipegosis is the eleventh largest lake in Canada. The lake covers an area of about 2,065 square miles and has a maximum depth of 40 feet. The lake is 120 miles long and has a target level of 831.5 feet above sea level. Winnipegosis drains more than 19,000 square miles, from Riding Mountain, the Pasquia Hills and the Porcupine Hills. The name is derived from Cree "win-nipi," for murky waters, and "osis," for little.
Long Island Bay springs from the south end of Lake Winnipegosis. Waterhen Lodge is situated at the head of Long Island Bay where it narrows to form the source of the West Waterhen River. After a short northern run of approximately 10 miles, the river enters Waterhen Lake at the settlement of Skownan on the Waterhen Indian Reserve. Skownan is a Cree name meaning "to turn around the point," which is exactly what the voyagers did as they headed their canoes back south down the Waterhen River to Lake Manitoba.
Careful examination of a map shows that the lodge is actually located on an island. The island is bounded on the south and southwest by Lake Winnipegosis, on the west by the West Waterhen River, on the east by the Little Waterhen River, and on the north by the Cross River, which flows between the "West" and "Small" rivers.
Gabrielle Roy, in 1947, wrote "La Petite Poule d'Eau" or "Where Nests the Water Hen." It is the story of a family living on this very island, tending sheep and raising a family. Miss Roy had taught school in the area in the late 1930's. The remains of the schoolhouse's stone fireplace are visible south of the Leo Campbell farm on the west side of the lane to the lodge. This novel is her portrayal of life in "...the uncivilized wilderness of the Water Hen." The island was referred to as "Bessette's Island," after the man who operated the general store in Portage des Pres (Meadow Portage) and who used the island to graze sheep.
The Manitoba Department of Natural Resources publishes a series of canoe route charts. These maps are well annotated with historical facts. "The Waterhen Country" version points out that the island is the former site of a Hudson Bay Company post.
Long Island Bay is approximately 12 miles long and averages two miles wide. It is punctuated by a narrow four-mile-long island. The bay is separated from the main body of Lake Winnipegosis by a peninsula known as Salt Point. The water is shallow, which is both good and bad for waterfowlers. During times of low water it is difficult to reach some favored hunting locations by boat. The tradeoff is that a low level is ideal for the growth of aquatic vegetation that is so attractive to diving ducks (and coots, or water hens).
The land around the bay is sparsely settled with little private ownership. Most land is leased from the Crown, with the open native grassland being used for grazing cattle and hay production. There is little cultivated ground in the immediate area. The woodlands are comprised mainly of birch, poplar and oak, with a few pines mixed in. Ruffed and sharptailed grouse can be abundant, but their population levels fluctuate in distinct cycles. The remoteness and seclusion no doubt made the area an attractive hunting ground.
Francis H. Kortright wrote his classic work, The Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America, in 1942. Kortright created a series of range maps for all species, showing breeding and wintering areas. Based on these maps, Long Island Bay is well positioned to host the key diver species: canvasback, redhead and scaup. A map produced by Ducks Unlimited Canada in 1941, and published in Albert Hochbaum's The Canvasback on a Prairie Marsh, shows the Lake Waterhen area to be one of the continent's most important canvasback breeding areas.
A number of factors combine to make Long Island Bay a perfect spot for a shooting lodge.
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About the Book
Waterhen Lodge is a delightful shooting club located in Manitoba, Canada. It is situated on Long Island Bay of Lake Winnipegosis, which is, as the duck flies, one-hundred-seventy-five miles north/northwest of Winnipeg. Today the lodge can be reached by automobile after a two-hundred-mile drive, which takes about four hours. It has not always been this easy.
The club was formed in 1948 with ten members, all of whom were Americans. The membership has grown to a level of twenty-five today, including fourteen Canadians, ten Americans and one Puerto Rican. In all, seventy-four gentlemen have enjoyed membership. This list includes a rich diversity of corporate executives, military officers, family physicians and small businessmen. These members have invited some equally fascinating guests to share with them the Waterhen experience. In its fifty-two years of existence, the lodge has had only three managers/caretakers. Nine distinguished individuals have served as club president.
The facilities are relatively modest, if not Spartan. Situated on approximately thirty acres, the main lodge has a spacious living/dining room, kitchen, seven guest bedrooms and minimal staff quarters. A separate guesthouse nearby sleeps seven. There are several outbuildings serving useful support functions. These structures remain much the same as they were originally constructed, although there have been a few additions and renovations over the years.
The lodge has been open each fall for the waterfowl shooting enjoyment of its members and guests almost continuously since it's founding. Only two years, in 1963 and 1970, was the club not open. The first party of members and guests usually arrives in late September at the beginning of duck season. The length of time the lodge remained open over the years has varied from one to four weeks. Duck hunting takes place on the public waters of the bay and the connecting rivers. Grouse are pursued in the nearby woodlands and bluffs. More recently, goose hunting has become attractive, which sometimes involves considerable travel to previously scouted agricultural fields. Success for both waterfowl and upland birds has been quite variable over the years.
In this work we will explore The Lore and Legends of Waterhen Lodge.
About the Author
Jeff Churan is an avid duck hunter. He frequently begins pursuit in early September on the western shores of Hudson Bay, where he shares a primitive camp with some friends. He often follows the flight all the way to Mexico, with numerous stops along the migration route. He has developed a family duck hunting area in Missouri, "The Bottoms" and belongs to two other clubs, Waterhen Lodge in Manitoba and Mad Dux Lodge in Arkansas.
After earning a civil engineering degree from the University of Missouri in 1963, Jeff moved to Chillicothe, Missouri to join Irvinbilt Company, the general contracting firm that he heads today. Chillicothe is the hometown of his wife Janet; but no doubt the decision to locate in rural north Missouri was influenced by the duck hunting prospects at nearby Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Fountain Grove State Waterfowl Area. In addition to his construction and farming interests, Jeff has been active in conservation. He was elected to the Board of Directors of Ducks Unlimited in 1982 and has held numerous offices in the organization. He is currently serving his second term as Senior Vice President-Conservation Programs. He also served as Chairman of DU's Institute for Waterfowl and Wetlands Research (IWWR) and as their National Secretary. In Missouri, the Governor appointed him in 1983 to the four-man Conservation Commission. During his six-year term he twice was elected Chairman. He serves on the University of Missouri School of Natural Resources Advisory Committee and presently heads the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation Board.
Jeff was honored for his service on the Missouri Conservation Commission when the Department named a four thousand acre portion of Fountain Grove Conservation Area the "Jeff Churan Wetland Complex". He was named the Budweiser Outdoorsman Of The Year in 1997 in recognition of his conservation activities.
Janet and Jeff have three grown children and five grandchildren. He can't wait to share a duck blind with his grandsons, Riley, Luke and Cal.