A paddle down the Petawawa in memory of Blair Fraser
Blair Fraser was an accomplished journalist and recreational canoe enthusiast when he was thrown from his canoe on May 12, 1968. Now, 45 years after his death, his family made the same 40-km paddle down the Petawawa river
On May 12, 1968, Maclean’s editor and recreational canoe enthusiast Blair Fraser was paddling down the Petawawa when he was thrown from his canoe near the Rollway rapids. He died at the age of 59. This photo appeared in Maclean’s after Blair Fraser’s death, and has been re-published with the family’s permission.
Fellow canoeists left a cross in the woods as a quiet memorial to Blair Fraser. The family held a simple ceremony, and the cross remained in the same spot for 40 years. The cross reads, “In Memory of Blair Fraser, 1909-1968, Erected by his Fellow Voyageurs”Roy MacGregor/The Globe and Mail
Graham Fraser (left) and grandson Owen (right) clean the cross left in memory of Graham’s father Blair. In 2008, the cross was removed from its spot by the Rollway rapids. The perpetrator claimed he had done so in the name of the environment, and moved the cross to another location. It was later discovered that he tossed the cross into the river. Graham’s sons and grandson saw the cross for the first time on their trip down the Petawawa.Roy MacGregor/The Globe and Mail
Phil Chester, a whitewater specialist, went in search of the Blair Fraser cross, unaware that it had already been found. It had been tossed in the river by the person who claimed to have moved it from its original location. Members of the Ontario Wilderness Adventurers had passed through the area, saw a glint in the water, and investigated.Roy MacGregor/The Globe and Mail
The Frasers decided to embark on the same 40-km paddle down the Petawawa that Blair Fraser did 45 years ago. Son Graham Fraser went on the three-day journey with his sons and grandson. He and his eldest son Malcolm were thrown from their canoe- a moment when Graham worried he would suffer the same fate as his father 45 years ago.Roy MacGregor/The Globe and Mail
Blair’s son, Graham Fraser, embarked on the same 40-kim paddle down the Petawawa as his father. He and his eldest son Malcolm were thrown from their canoe during his three-day journey, a moment Graham said was when his father’s life flashed before his eyes.Roy MacGregor/The Globe and Mail
Graham Fraser and his eldest son Malcolm embarked on the same journey as Blair Fraser did 45 years earlier.Roy MacGregor/The Globe and Mail
Guides Dan Caldwell and Nick Fraser navigate through the Petawawa rapidsRoy MacGregor/The Globe and Mail
Graham Fraser and his eldest son Malcolm embarked on the same journey as Blair Fraser did 45 years earlier.Roy MacGregor/The Globe and Mail