The Developers of Steep Rock: M.S. Fotheringham

What follows is the obituary for Morson Scarth 'Pop' Fotheringham
who died March 20, 1973.

"Atikokan Mine Pioneer dies"

Thunder Bay, Ontario.....One of the principal men responsible for the development of the community of Atikokan, Morson S. (Pop) Fotheringham, 63 of 110 Sunset Bay, died Tuesday in hospital.

A former president of the Steep Rock Iron Mines Ltd., Mr. Fotheringham held a degree in mining engineering from the University of Toronto, and began his association with Steep Rock Iron Mines in 1938.

As a young engineer, he undertook responsibility for early development of the propoerty which included an initial attempt to reach the ore body by conventional underground methods and the subsequent diversion of the Seine River and draining and dredging of Steep Rock Lake.

Under his guidance, the town of Atikokan was developed under joint federal and provincial sponsorship into a modern, well-planned town having its own municipal government.

Mr Fotheringham was also responsible for bringing the Algoma Steel and Detroit Steel Corporations into long-termed joint-ventured agreements with Steep Rock at a time when the iron and steel industry was involved in the shift from direct shipping of ore pellets.

"With his retirement in 1967, Mr. Fotheringham brought to a close a story of achievement by a brilliant engineering mind and a will that refused to be daunted by seemingly insurmountable difficulties", Reeve S. G. Hancock of Atikokan stated.

Mr. Fotheringham was a member and former director of the Canadian and American Institutes of Mining and Metallurgy, member of the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Prospectors and Developers Association, Beta Theta Pi, and a trustee of the Quetico Foundation.

He received his permanent miner's license from Resources Minister Leo Bernier in 1971 and was also awarded the International Nickel Company of Canada Ltd. platinum medal for his initiative and enterprise in the successful development of a difficult and unusual iron ore deposit resulting in a valuable contribution to Canada's economy.

Mr. Fotheringham was born in Quebec City and resided in Atikokan from 1937 until his retirement. He was a member of the St. John's Anglican Church.

Surviving are his wife Elizabeth (Betty), a son William of Toronto, daughter, Pauline, Mrs. David Frederickson, 204 Woodside Ave, and three grandchildren.

Source: The Times News, Thursday, March 22, 1973

From From Canoes to Chryslers : A history of Atikokan, 1882-1982 / compiled by Mary Nault. 1983, Volume I

From "Steep Rock: the men and the mines" by Bruce Taylor, 1978

"The collaring of the No. 1 Shaft took place in July of 1939, with M.S. Fotheringham in charge. Morson Scarth (Pop) Fotheringham, a young 29 year old Mining Engineer had arrived at Steep Rock the previous year, and had taken up residence at the mine site. Fotheringham, who was destined to be Steep Rock's third President, was the mastermind behind the tremendous engineering project that finally brought Steep Rock into production in 1944."

...

At the blowing of the plug to begin the drainage of Finlayson Lake:

"Probably the man who had most reason to feel satisfied that July 23, 1943, was the Engineer who planned it all. M.S. (Pop) Fotheringham was watching the first spectacular step in a huge and imaginative engineering project. Those ninety seconds from the ignition of the blast to the first rush of water from the tunnel mouth must have been an eternity for him.

In every engineering project there are safety factors and contingencies that have to be calculated, but in this particular project Fotheringham had more than his share of unknowns to work with; the major ones being the design of the tunnel and the calculation of the amount of explosives required to "blow the plug". He must have had a tremendous feeling of relief and satisfaction when the results were evident."

The blowing of the plug to begin the draining of Finlayson Lake

The water rushing out through the tunnel to lower the level of Finlayson Lake

What the flow of water looks like now

From "Steep Rock: the men and the mines" by Bruce Taylor, 1978

Morson Scarth Fotheringham was born at Quebec City in 1910, the son of James M.S. Fotheringham and Mary (Dickinson) Fotheringham. More commonly known as "Pop", a nickname he picked up during his university days, Fotheringham was destined to become one of Canada's best known mining engineers, and widely acknowledged as the brains behind the Steep Rock development.

At an early age, Pop Fotheringham decided that he would like to become a mining engineer. The Fotheringham family spent their summers at Silver Islet near Thunder Bay, staying in a cottage that was one the blacksmith shop when the silver mine was operating. It appears that it was here that the idea that mining would be a good profession was germinated.

"I think I got the notion to go into mining at Silver Islet where we spend our summers," Pop recalled. "I used to follow Jules Cross around especially when he was working in his assay shop there."

Pop Fotheringham graduated from the University of Toronto in 1931, with a B.Sc. in Mining Engineering. In 1935, he was hired as a mining engineer in Teck Hughes Gold Mine at Kirkland Lake. He was later promoted to manager of the property. In 1937, shortly after marrying his high school sweetheart Elizabeth (Betty), he was fired, following a clash of personalities and technical ideas with the mine's Toronto-based executives. He spent the next eight months pounding the pavement of Toronto looking for a job.

Early in 1938, he was hired by Joseph Errington who was looking for a mining engineer to manage the Steep Rock property and shortly after, the Fotheringhams took up residence at Steep Rock Lake.

... At first, living accommodations for the Fotheringhams and the few others of the staff were somewhat primitive. The first year and a half, they lived in a 12' by 14' "bunkie" which was moved three times during that period. Betty Fotheringham recalls that she didn't have time to become bored with her life in the wilds because she was so busy splitting wood and carrying water from the lake. In fact, Pop even had a wooden yoke made for her so she could haul two pails per trip.

From: "Fortune in iron ore fished out of Canadian Lake Bed" August 3, 1953. Christian Science Monitor. P. 142

Mrs. M. S. Fotheringham.

"I was a University of Toronto graduate who had never had my feet off the pavement when I came up. It was my first wedding anniversary when I came here. I began cooking on a two-burner oil stove. Indians used to paddle round and watch our bonfire on the lovely shore of the lake that is now a mine. We've had to move three times since, because the blasting started and the construction pushed us out. One time we loaded our one-room shack onto a trailer and just hauled it through the woods to a new site.

Sometimes I look at what is left of the lake now, just a deep hole, and I say "Look at what they've done to my lake. Then I think, "But this is progress."

Address delivered to American Institute of Mining Engineers,
at Duluth, MN, January 1952.