Boyd’s Cove – Stronghold of the Beothuk

The sheltered inlet of Boyd’s Cove (and the twin settlement of Boyd’s Harbour), due east of Chapel Island in central Notre Dame Bay, forms the junction between Route 340 and the Reach Run causeway. The town’s name supposedly honours a New World Island logger by the name of Boyd who harvested timber in the area. Although its history as a European-settled community is relatively recent, the area was inhabited for centuries by a number of Aboriginal groups, the last being the Beothuk. Today, an award-winning interpretation centre celebrating this people’s culture is located in Boyd’s Cove (see below).

The community first appeared, officially, in the census of 1891. It was thought to have been settled first by John Claire and later John Donahue, both of whom were Roman Catholics from Carbonear. Another tradition holds that Boyd’s Cove’s original settlers were Joseph Newman and his wife Margaret (nee Donahue), who arrived from Joe Batts Arm in the 1800s. The first Church of England settlers were Levi, George, John and William Freake, formerly of Fogo Island.

Boyd’s Cove residents were mainly fishers, and the settlement grew quickly based on both the inshore and Labrador fisheries. In the period 1891-3 three vessels from Boyd’s Cove were active in the Labrador fishery. Residents also relied on a fair amount of agriculture. By the 1940s Boyd’s Cove had grown into one of Notre Dame Bay’s biggest producers of hay, turnip, potato and cabbage. From the early 1900s onward there was a strong demand for lumber; as of 1940 three sawmills operated in the area. Wood harvesting, along with the traditional fishery, were the community’s largest employers. Farming remained important and some residents worked full-time at agriculture as early as 1921.

The first recorded Church of England service at Boyd’s Cove/Harbour was in a school-chapel on 26 November 1892. Reverend G. S. Chamberlain, Incumbent of the Mission of Herring Neck, officiated. The school-chapel, which may have been of log construction, was west of the present St. George’s Church. This building and all of its records was burned in a forest fire of May 1912. As of 1911 Boyd’s Cove had a pair of church schools, one Roman Catholic and one Church of England. A new Church of England school was built during 1920-21. These schools were small one and two room affairs that remained in use until 1969. From that point on students were bussed to schools in other communities.

Like many communities in the interior of Notre Dame Bay, Boyd’s Cove was relatively isolated for most of its history, but this changed with the coming of the highways and causeways in the 1960s. In fact, the area’s best-known motel, restaurant and lounge is named “the Causeway” in honour of this transportation linkage. Today Boyd’s Cove has its own fire department and ambulance service. For a number of years a drive-in movie theatre was operated in the town, with the drive-in site now housing a cold storage warehouse.

Around 1911 the population stood at 114, a number that rose to 300 in 1935. Population numbers in Boyd’s Cove/Harbour peaked in 1976 with a total of 422 residents. With the economic downturn of recent years this number has dropped significantly, and stood at 296 in the 1996 census.

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As noted, the European occupation of Boyd’s Cove is only the latest phase of human habitation in the area, stretching back thousands of years. For many centuries before Europeans arrived on these shores, the island of Newfoundland was home to the Beothuk Indians. Speaking an Algonkian dialect, the Beothuk were noted for the extensive use of red ochre to cover their bodies and their goods. Although there is some evidence to the contrary, many people believe that the Beothuk became extinct in 1829 when the last-known member of their nation, a woman named Shanawdithit, died in St. John’s. For decades prior to this the Beothuk had been in retreat, abandoning their familiar hunting grounds to avoid contact with English settlers. This strategy was never totally effective, and may even have contributed to the Beothuks’ decline.

One of the Natives’ last secure refuges was at Boyd’s Cove. The Boyd’s Cove site was occupied from around the years 1650 to 1730 by a band of thirty to forty Beothuk who lived in eleven separate dwellings; they also maintained a presence on nearby Inspector Island. Behind a screen of islands and shoals, the site was ideal for small Native canoes, but dangerous for larger European craft. Evidence suggests Boyd’s Cove was a safe haven for many years. The situation changed with the foundation of Fogo and Twillingate, the latter only twelve kilometres (7.5 miles) away by sea. The Beothuk were now exposed and vulnerable. The European presence also had a direct impact on Native food resources, especially salmon. With English competition for essential riverine salmon stocks, the Beothuk position in the area became precarious at best. The Beothuk killed a number of salmon fishers, but could not drive settlers out of the area. In time competition for this resource, vital to the Natives, became fierce amongst the English themselves. Eventually the stocks were almost wiped out. The establishment of an English salmon station at Dog Bay, just east of Boyd’s Cove, may have been the last straw. It is no coincidence that English settlement of the region and the Beothuk retreat occurred at almost the same time.

The Boyd’s Cove site is located in a clearing on a high glacial moraine, just behind a beach. There is a good stream flowing to the sea nearby. The area was used by Newfoundland Natives for many generations. Before the Beothuk habitation Palaeo-Eskimos of the Groswater Phase (after Groswater Bay, Labrador), who liked to make their homes on sheltered beaches, used Boyd’s Cove. These people lived on the island of Newfoundland from about 850-150 BC. There is also evidence of occasional prehistoric Indian visits to the area. Occupation of the site was sporadic for many years, as it is not the best location for obtaining certain food resources. In prehistoric times harp seal herds arriving off Newfoundland in the Spring would have been an important dietary component. Located far from headlands and the open sea, Boyd’s Cove was not well suited to this hunt.

The Beothuk settlement at Boyd’s Cove was rediscovered in 1981, and first excavated from 1982-5 by archaeologist Ralph Pastore. The area has provided some of the best artifactual evidence for the relationship of the historic Beothuk to the prehistoric Little Passage People, who were their direct ancestors. There is also evidence of the Natives’ dietary habits, with the remains of caribou, seals, birds, bears, fish and shellfish being found. During one’s year’s excavation at Boyd’s Cove 2,900 bones and teeth, along with twelve kilograms (about twenty-six pounds) of shells, were uncovered. None of this material was gnawed by animals, indicating that at Boyd’s Cove at least, the Beothuk did not keep domesticated dogs. The faunal material excavated at the site indicate that the camp was mainly used from early Spring through to the late Fall. The Beothuk normally migrated to the interior, especially the Exploits River and Red Indian Lake areas, to hunt and trap during the depths of Winter. Boyd’s Cove would have been especially convenient for this annual trek, being situated fairly near the Exploits River caribou migration route.

Other material remains discovered at Boyd’s Cove include 1,700 metal items, particularly nails, which the Beothuk were quite skilled at turning into arrowheads. Pastore cites this, and the presence of items like fish hooks, as evidence that the historic Beothuk acquired much of their European material through pilferage – especially of fishing premises – rather than trade. Beothuk sites occupied later than Boyd’s Cove contain far fewer European metal items as the overwintering of settlers had by then made stealing from fishing premises more difficult.

There were also about 700 dark blue and translucent white trade beads found at Boyd’s Cove. These may have had spiritual significance for the Beothuk. Although conclusive evidence linking the beads to trade has not been found, they may have been left by Europeans trying unsuccessfully to establish friendly relations. It is also possible the beads were traded to the Beothuk by Montagnais Indians (Innu) who visited Newfoundland as late as 1788, trading furs to the French. There are records of the French employing the Montagnais as intermediaries in trade with the Beothuk ­ as Francois Martel de Brouage did in 1718 ­ but no definite indications of success. Shanawdithit spoke of “good Indians” living on Newfoundland’s other (West?) Coast. This is not conclusive, but it could indicate contact between the two groups. There may be no firm evidence, but it is interesting to think that ancestors of today’s Labrador Innu may have visited the Beothuk at Boyd’s Cove.

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