The Legal and Property files in this fonds are an important set of records that includes a complete legal record of the company's timber leases, property holdings, and supply contracts in the province of Quebec. The documentation for Ontario, however, is restricted to timber leases and property records. This series also includes company's formal patent records. These records supply much more than a dry legal accounting of the company's rights and responsibilities; a careful reading of them illustrates the company's development policy on the Lower North Shore, particularly for the early years at Shelter Bay and Franquelin.
This series should be used in conjunction with the records of other series in the fonds, particularly the 'Records related to early development of the company Series" and 'Controller's Office' Series. These records are essential for the history of the company's early development in Quebec. Note the logging contracts entitled '[Cancelled/Expired] Contracts' from vol. 25421 file 16 to vol. 25422 file 27, which illustrate well the difficulties of running lumber camps in the wilderness of the Lower North Shore; for feeding and supplying the camps specifically see vol. 25421 files 21 and 38. The contracts with Captain Heppell and the Heppell Transportation Company for the forwarding of supplies from Matane and Rimouski to Shelter Bay are also of note, vol. 25421 files 35, and 40-41. In the 1920s the company learned by doing. This can be seen in the growth of Shelter Bay from a rude logging camp to a village of 800 people (note the records on housing construction in vol. 25421 file 26). This simple approach can be compared with the detailed plans developed for the building of Baie Comeau outlined in the first Series. The legal agreements for the Lower North Shore in this series show the complexities involved in assembling the company's property and timber rights. While the forests themselves were mostly virgin limits, much of the territory was already controlled by private interests, see vol. 25384 file 12 to vol. 25387 file 7, and vol. 25824 files 3-12.
This series also includes much detail on the development of the Manicouagan River and the town of Baie Comeau. For the all-important assessment of the timber limits on the east branch of the Manicouagan River, see Boisvert's "Report of Survey of Timber Limits Bought by Ontario Paper Co. on the East Branch of the Manicougan River" [c. 1926] in vol. 25386 file 13. As with all the timber cruise reports in the collection, this document will be of interest to historians. Manuscript material relating to the early planning stages for Baie Comeau can be found in the document entitled "Quebec and Manicouagan Paper Mills. Comparative Costs" file, vol. 25410 file 4. The "Baie Comeau Industrial Development" files, 1928-1935 , are also notable, vol. 25388, files 19 and 24; vol. 25389 files 10, 18, 20-22, 28-29, 31-33, 35-36, 40-41; and vol. 25841 file 1.
The details of the company's land holdings and timber rights in Ontario can be found in vol. 25380 to vol. 25384 file 11. Specific records on the company's Heron Bay Division are in vol. 25398 file 17 to vol. 25403 file 43, the Manitoulin Division are in vol. 25405 file 6 to vol. 25407 file 15; for Thorold in vol. 25410 to file 5 to vol. 25413 file 21. Of particular significance are records of the company's attempts to rehabilitate its land holdings on Manitoulin Island from the 1970s on see, vol. 25426 to vol. 25427 file 12. Particularly note the files related to the "Management & Valuation Study Recreation Lands, Manitoulin & Cockburn Islands" vol. 25426 file 2, and the "Master Plan", vol. 25426 files 14-18. Taken all together this series goes well beyond establishing the legal underpinning of company's activities in Quebec and Ontario. As legal records, these documents establish the company's right to do what it did and form the basis for all of its activities in Canada. These records also provide much detailed information on the company's development of the Lower North Shore. They are an essential complement to the documents in first Series.
Cartographic, technical and architectural drawings consists of the oldest records in this Series. They are related to initials grants of lands and the expansion of timber limits. They provide an overview of the development of the company's industrial complexes on the shores of Lake Superior and Manitoulin Island and on the Quebec North Shores.
