The Hourde Family Story | stevens-tomes

The Hourde Family and the Story of Richard Nash Hourde

The Hourde Family story, as it pertains to this family tree, is actually quite limited, almost exclusively revolving around a single figure: Richard Nash Hourde, my first cousin twice removed. His is an exciting and tragic tale that I shall attempt to share here as faithfully as possible. Almost all of what we know about Richard--or as he was more commonly known, Dick--comes from his various letters to his mother and his many drawings, photographs, and articles he wrote. Note: We are spelling the surname with an "e" at the end, though it was arbitrarily spelled without it on occasion, even by the family.

Edith and Wilbert Together

Our small little branch of the Hourde family springs from the Nash branch. Edith Warrine Nash, daughter of Clara Blanchard Nash and Benjamin James Nash (and little sister to my great-grandmother, Ada Nash) was raised in London, Ontario where she met a young man named Wilbert Hourde. The two wed on June 17, 1916.

Just a couple months later, the fanciful and imaginative Edith was expecting their first child. She gave birth to their first and only child, Richard Nash Hourde, on May 14, 1915. Why no more children followed is unknown, as Edith clearly relished the chance to be a mother, and greatly doted on her young boy.

Edith Nash Hourde

During World War I, the young family lived in Lambeth, Ontario, just outside of London. Wilbert served in the war as part of the Royal Army Service Corps. While Wilbert was away, Edith and son Dick stayed close with their family.

Dick's cousin, Dorothea "Dot" Earle, remembers that she used to play with her little cousin, Dick, even once traumatizing the little lad inadvertently. When Dick was about 5, 10-year old cousin Dot found a wagon-flattened dead snake in the road and convinced him to take it to his mother's front door, knock, and then throw it at her. Edith apparently carried on so dramatically that it scarred the poor tyke, and for the rest of his days he was terrified of snakes.

Dick Hourde at his grandmother's house, 1921

Moving to Michigan

For reasons that are not entirely clear, the Hourdes made the move away from Edith's family in Ontario to settle in Detroit, Michigan in early 1920. Edith moved first, presumably joining her husband Wilbert. Then almost two months later the couple sent for young Dick, who had been living with his grandmother Clara Nash-Blanchard during the transition. The family of three lived in Detroit for the next thirteen years, but Dick ended up spending much of his adolescence staying with his grandmother, Clara, back in Ontario. The reason is somewhat unclear, though the family was aware of a significant marital incompatibility between Edith and Wilbert, and this was probably a factor.

As Dick grew, it became clear that he had a natural artistic gift and a knack for writing and he began to pursue work in the artistic and writing fields around the Ontario area.

Dick Hourde

Striking Out on His Own

By 1934, we have a record of 19 year-old Dick writing to his mother frequently to check in with her, update her, and usually ask for money or supplies. In September of that year he began working for Merchants Portrait Co. of Toronto (Limited), selling orders for hand-painted pictures in oils. He would earn $2.00 per picture and had hoped to start paying his grandmother $4.00 a week for board.

However, an artist cannot be tied down to one job so easily! He soon met a "peach of a fellow" who was a fellow freelance writer and moved to the fellow's hometown of Toronto just two weeks after working for Merchants Portrait to pursue a new endeavor.

An Explorer Heads North: Dick and the Hudson Bay Company

Not so surprisingly, the Toronto detour lasted less than a month, and Dick found himself back at home with his grandparents. Soon the young artist found himself inspired by a book called Go North, Young Man by Courtney Ryley Cooper. And so the young man decided to go north,

contracting with the Hudson Bay Company to go to work in North Bay, Ontario. In order to make the trek by train and get settled well, his grandmother loaned him $150.00 (at 10% interest, of course). He used the funds to buy himself a sleeping bag, pure wool trousers, a pair of sheep-skin lined moccasins, a pair of wool socks, a pair of leather wool-lined gloves, a pair of heavy fur mits with high cuffs, and snowshoes with leather harness--all for just over $20.00.

By October 25, 1934, Dick reached North Bay with all of his gear and his "Company"-issued Hudson Bay blanket coat. During his journey and first days in North Bay, Dick brags of living on a diet of only milk and oranges, believing it to be supremely healthy and very budget conscious.

A Rough Winter in Kapuskasing: 1934-1935

Within a week of his big journey, Dick had already departed North Bay to head much farther north to Kapuskasing, Ontario. The young man had a plan to write articles for magazines and photograph the wilderness to earn money. He reportedly settled in nicely, making lots of friends, attending local dances, and going bowling.

Excited to embrace the northern wilderness, Dick quickly set out to make camp by himself about five miles out of Kapuskasing with a little tent and heating stove. He planned to stay busy hunting moose and deer for meat, and bought himself a dog for company. To his mother, he sent a long list of article ideas about the people, industries, and cultures of the area. Unfortunately, both his writing ideas and photography plans apparently required a heavy snowfall, and nature did not provide sufficiently by mid-November. The young man wrote home in embarrassment requesting additional funds and begging his mother not to confess to his grandmother that his money had been so mismanaged. Still, he was determined to stick it out and wait for the big snow.

By mid-December, the snow had picked up very little, and the mighty hunter had failed to bag a moose, though he frequently wrote about going out moose and wolf hunting. Early on, he had had hopes of returning home to his grandparents by Christmas, if his mission was complete. But weeks before Christmas, it became evident that he would be in the wild north throughout the entire winter. He spent Christmas Day at a boarding house where he had made friends.

What transpired during the rest of the winter, we know not. By April 3, Dick had made his way back to his grandparents in London, Ontario and was manically submitting articles and photos to various newspapers and magazines. Though he had some small successes, mostly he exclaimed that he could paper his study in rejection slips. Overall, his first major foray into the northern Canadian wilderness was not successful, but seems to have captured his heart nonetheless.

New Years Eve, 1935

Dick's cousin Dot Earle recalled spending a memorable New Years Eve with him in 1935. Cousin Jack Cooper had invited Dick, Dot, and Dot's sister Helen Earle out to a YMCA dance. The group of four rode in Dot's 1931 Ford "Deluxe" Coupe with a rumble seat. Jack had snagged a gallon of cheap wine, and the group had quite a glow on. Dick was said to be an excellent dancer. The foursome had a jolly time until Aunt Grace Harper started calling the Y demanding they all return home posthaste.

On the Road to Winnipeg: 1936

By spring of 1936, Dick had a new idea for an article series and another yen to travel. So he made contact with the Hudson Bay Company and was encouraged to meet with them in Winnipeg in May to discuss opportunities for photographic work--particularly for their magazine, The Beaver.

So the 21 year-old set out on May 14 from London, Ontario, headed northwest to Winnipeg. He primarily made the journey by hitchhiking, which included time spent on a horse and wagon, and in the back of a truck with two pigs for companions. His route took him from London, Ontario, up through North Bay, Ontario, and then due west to Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan.

Heading farther west, he passed through Calumet and Ironwood, Michigan, Duluth and International Falls, Minnesota, and then north, cutting across the corner of Ontario toward Winnipeg, Manitoba. The trip, which was funded almost exclusively by contributions his mother mailed to him frequently, took him twelve days to complete. Dick arrived in Winnipeg on May 26, 1936.

Dick's hitchhiking route from London to Winnipeg, May, 1936

Once he arrived and was settled, negotiations with a Mr. Douglas MacKay of the Hudson Bay Company and his staff took over a week, during which Dick easily may friends and borrowed an office typewriter frequently.

After over a week of phone calls and meetings, on June 5, 1936, the HBC and Canadian Fur Trade Department jointly offered him a roving commission to photograph Eskimo scenes in the Arctic, salmon fishing scenes in Labrador, and mountain trail riding scenes in British Columbia. This was Dick's first big break; he earned $125.00 per month plus expenses, and the HBC would provide him with all the photographic equipment he needed. Plus, this was his first big shot to forge a true career for himself as a photographer. He was the first ever staff photographer for The Beaver.

Along the MacKenzie River

On June 8, 1936, Dick set out on his big odyssey, leaving Winnipeg, Manitoba and heading west to Edmonton, Alberta where he stopped for a day. From Edmonton, he made his way north to the "waterways" and hopped aboard the HBC Margaret supply boat to sail up the MacKenzie River toward Aklavik, NWT.

Dick Hourde's photo of some RCMP traveling companions out of Alberta

Along the way he made several stops, the first of which was at Fort Chipewyan at 11:45pm on June 14. By that point he had boarded the ship Athabasca River--a paddlewheeler built in 1922--which took him as far as Smith Portage (Fort Smith) before turning around and heading back (and taking the mail with it). His companions aboard the Athabasca River were some military men and Anglican missionaries, many of whom did not continue as far north as our young traveler.

After deboarding the Athabasca River on June 15, 1936, Dick immediately transferred to a ship called the SS Distributor, another

massive paddlewheeler run by the HBC. The SS Distributor was charted for a 2-week run that took its passengers from Fort Smith all the

way to Aklavik.

Along the way, they stopped off at Fort Norman for 48 hours to clean the boilers. Dick was able to paddle up the Great Bear River in a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) canoe for a bit during his layover. However, a storm swept in quickly, and after paddling back madly toward Fort Norman, Dick went tromping up the river bank straight into a pack of huskies that almost tore him apart. He noted that the "Indians" were much delighted with his close call.

Greetings From the Northwest Territories

Dick arrived in Aklavik aboard the SS Distributor on June 28, 1936. He remarked how the inhabitants were quite excited to greet them, as they had had virtually no contact with the outside world since the end of the previous summer. The Indians and Eskimos were also quite excited to purchase goods from the vessel--oranges were selling for $1.00 per dozen, and fresh eggs were $1.25.

Dick wrote to his mother about how modern this group of Eskimos was, given that they had learned English quite well from missionaries and traveled quite easily in their schooners--naming one of them the "Henry Ford", though he was curious how they had heard that name before. He also bragged that Aklavik was literally a one-horse town with the distinction of having the horse that was the "farthest north" in all of Canada.

After his brief stay of perhaps a week in Aklavik, the Captain of the SS Distributor planned to push it farther north to Kittigazuit, NWT, providing that the ice and wind did not hamper them. Their stay in Kittigazuit lasted for about a week before the group was able to depart aboard the ship Dease Lake on about July 13.

The travelers pushed on from Kittigazuit to Tuktoyaktuk, NWT for a two-week stay, during which time Dick was able to continue with his photography and gather story ideas. By the end of those two weeks, the group was ready to head back south, and boarded the Ft. James. Dick was excited to know that Bishop Fleming, Bishop of the Arctic was going to be on-board for some of his travels, and enjoyed his company, having previously met him.

Dick Hourde's photo of Bishop Fleming (center)

Ice Blocks the Path Home

Returning to Edmonton proved to be no easy feat. The long trek was delayed greatly by grievously icy conditions in the Western Arctic, which stranded Dick and his new District Manager on Baillie Island for four weeks in August, awaiting the arrival of a ship called Audrey.

The ice floes made it so perilous for the ships, though, that Dick was forced to hop aboard the Shumigin to escape Baillie Island, hoping to meet up with the Audrey at the next port (Herschel Island). He stayed on Herschel Island for another two days before impatience got the better of him, and he and another fellow made for Aklavik via schooner.

The schooner might have been a successful plan, but for the walls of ice barring their way. During this first week of September, the small schooner struggled between grounded ice floes and the shore. During one of those early fall nights, the ice closed in on them and the two men made camp on the beach between fires. The ice had completely hemmed them in, including from the way they came. The snow was flying furiously and they briefly wondered if plane rescue would be required once the snow let up.

Our brave explorer made it safely, though, all the way back south to Edmonton by September 30, 1936. The return trip had included 700 miles by Eskimo schooner, 300 miles on an Alaskan supply ship, 200 miles aboard an JBC Western Arctic ship, 2,600 miles by river steamer, and then 600 miles by air.

Dick finally arrived back home in London to develop his photos and comb through all of this materials.

Dick Hourde (center)

Making Big Plans During Winter, 1936-1937

As winter set in, Dick was scarcely content to bide his time until the next assignment came through, and was sure to make new contacts in the publishing industry. He was quite excited to be in talks with Ken Armstrong, a reporter from the London Free Press who had many industry contacts. Over pints of ale, the two concocted many schemes for creating photographic features in several newspapers, including the Detroit Free Press, and planned a trip down the coast of Nova Scotia for the summer to scout out more work.

In the meantime, Dick was getting restless wondering when/if the next HBC assignment might come in and began cooking up yet another scheme. This time he planned to strike a deal with Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company to photograph their operations and sell large artistic prints to the general public, and perhaps to newspapers.

Convinced this was the next step to his success, he borrowed some money from his father and, after making sure his grandmother received the polar bear skin rug he ordered for her parlor, he set off to northern Ontario for the wide world of photographic opportunity.

Pulp Wood Photos in Ontario

Dick headed back to his old haunt of Kapuskasing, where he had camped for many months about two years prior. He arrived on about Valentine's Day, 1937 to find that the whole area was blanketed in about six feet of snow. By February 20, Dick had managed to head farther north to Cochrane, Ontario, very near to the Moose Factory area where he intended to shoot. Bad luck for Dick, though, the Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company denied him permission to photograph their property (why didn't he check this out first?).

What's an artist to do? Well, apparently not give up! He ended up just south of Kapuskasing in Smooth Rock Falls where he was able to contract with the Abitibi Power and Paper Company. In his last letter home to his mother that we know of, he wrote from Kapuskasing on February 20, 1937 that he was cooling his heels very briefly before making another trek on February 23, first via train from Kapuskasing to Cochrane, and then by train again from Cochrane out to Moosonee (the Moose Factory area). Afterwards he planned to work on his photography in Smooth Rock.

Sadly, he was never able to get that far.

A Sudden Illness

Somewhere along his travels, probably while still in the Kapuskasing or Cochrane areas, Dick took ill on February 25. He developed a viral infection that quickly turned to pneumonia.

He was treated and Kapuskasing Hospital, where he died on March 3, 1937 at the age of 21.

His grandmother Clara Nash-Blanchard had gone up to the hospital to stay and complained bitterly about the inadequate care he received. Apparently the windows were constantly open in his room, leaving the space quite cold. She also griped that the nurses were incompetent. Clara brought her grandson's body back to 34 Stanley Street in London, Ontario (her home) and he was buried from there.

My grandfather, Robert A. Stevens, who was Dick's younger cousin, was eleven years old at the time of Dick's passing. He remembers Dick's body being laid out in the parlor for the wake. Dick had been his hero. How could he not have been? Here was an eleven year-old boy hearing wild tales of his dashing older cousin, barely more than a teenager, exploring the arctic, meeting with eskimos, riding great trains and ships, and working as a photographer. He was practically a superhero! And there was his hero laid out with women weeping all around his body. Until the end of his days, that day haunted my grandfather and forever changed him. It changed the whole family.

The Aftermath

Dick's mother and father were understandably devastated, having lost their only child. The two, who never found each other very agreeable in the first place, decided to divorce in the very beginning of 1947 (ten short months before Wilbert remarried).

Remembering Dick Hourde

He was described by his older cousin, Dot Earle, as friendly, good-looking, and charismatic with "piercing blue 'Nash' eyes" that she remarked were referred to as "eyes that 'feared neither man nor devil'". We never got to see what that adventurous spirit could have accomplished given more time, but his photographs and writings endure and are historically and artistically remarkable.