VTT Series: #2 Mufferaw's Catfish Traditional Cache
VTT Series: #2 Mufferaw's Catfish
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This series of caches highlight a few of the tall tales of Big Joe Mufferaw and the lumbering days on the Ottawa and Madawaska Rivers. The caches are relatively easy P & Gs along rural roads in Renfrew County. Cell phone reception is not always reliable.
Valley Tall Tales Series: #2 -Mufferaw's Catfish There are some mighty big catfish in Chats Lake near Arnprior and one of the biggest was caught by Mufferaw Joe. It is said he used a steel cable for a line and baited a cant hook with a side of beef. Soon a big one came along and gobbled up the bait. Now the story goes, that catfish dragged Joe around Chats Lake for 3 days and 2 nights before he ran into land and the force of that impact flipped him a half mile inland, creating the mouth of the Dochart Creek. Part of the backbone of that fish was used for a fence around a prison and another section became a comb for Big Joe. It took 10 farmers 5 days to bury the entrails from that catfish and the next spring the hay grew so tall they had to cut it with cross-cut saws. Beware the catfish in Chats Lake! The Big Joe Mufferaw Tall Tales are based on the life of Joseph Montferrand (1802-1864), a French Canadian of outstanding strength and athletic prowess. He was well respected as a skilled foreman bringing squared timber rafts and booms down the Ottawa River to Quebec City. Details of his exploits are recorded in Joan Finnigan's book "Giants of the Ottawa Valley". The tall tales in this series are based on the story telling gifts of the shantymen who worked alongside this giant and anglicized his name to "Joe Mufferaw". Arnprior storyteller, Bernie Bedore grew up hearing these tall tales and published many tall tales of Big Joe's adventures such as "Mythical Mufferaw", "Tall Tales of Joe Mufferaw", and "The Shanty". Musician Stompin' Tom Connors has also helped to immortalize these tales in his recording of Big Joe Mufferaw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy3knGGzZr8
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