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Following the second world war, Red Lake experienced a wave of immigration. Between the late 1940s and the 1960s, Red Lake mines recruited workers from war torn countries, such as Poland, the Ukraine, Estonia, Italy and Portugal. These young immigrants faced overwhelming challenges, but they embraced their new land with enthusiasm. They were hard-working and fun-loving people, and although they missed their homelands, they adapted quickly to the new life.2
This is the story of one Italian man who was searching for a better life for himself and his family.Assuring his wife and his four boys that he would send for them as soon as he established proper housing, he left his family and boarded a ship for North America. There he met a fellow countryman who tempted him with stories of gold mining and prosperity on McKenzie Island.
Naturally, he was intrigued, but decided to meet up with his brother who was already living in Newmarket, Ontario, near Toronto. He landed a job at a meat packing plant but soon discovered the smell that accompanied this job was too much to bear.
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Meanwhile, the Italian miner he met on the ship wrote and told him there was a job at the mine for him if he wanted it. Well, that was just the push that he needed.By this time, it was 1960, and wages had increased significantly - up to about $1.35 an hour, plus bonuses. With this in mind, he hopped a plane to Cochenour in October, armed with one English phrase: "I'm going to McKenzie Island. I don't speak English."
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Things were quite different from what he had imagined. Not only was the weather colder and duller from what he was used to in Italy, but there were no paved roads, women were carrying water back to their homes in buckets to do laundry and the buildings at the mine were large wooden structures, rather than sleek, modern facilities, as he had imagined.He thought, "Oh my god, this is the mine. It can't be." He remembers it was like going back in time.
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For the first while, he called the rowdy bunkhouse home. But he worked hard as a mechanic and soon had enough money to buy a house in Finntown, a neighbouring community on McKenzie Island, for $1,000. This meant it was finally time to send for his family.6
It was November, 1962, by the time his family journeyed to McKenzie Island. They got off the train at Red Lake Road in a blinding snow storm and his wife thought they were surely lost.It was a difficult adjustment for her: it was challenging to talk to her neighbours because of the language barrier, hauling water was trying, and going to the outhouse in the middle of the night was always a frightening experience.
It wasn't until the following summer that she understood why this beautiful location would be her home. This was a time when she could enjoy the beautiful scenery and enjoy the favourable climate.
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They lived on the Island until McKenzie Mine closed down in 1965. Then, as many others did, the man found work at Campbell Mine in Balmertown. The family moved to that community and the man spent the next 23 years working there.Although it was tough getting started, the couple have only fond memories of Finntown and McKenzie Island and continue to reside in Balmertown. Three of their children still live in the area.
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