Pierrette McKinley (donor) and Paul O’Connell (interviewer) – Fredericton, April 15, 2026.

An Interview with Pierrette McKinley Regarding the Chestnut Canoe

On April 15 2026, Paul O’Connell and myself sat down with Pierrette McKinley, the original donor of the Fredericton Region Museum’s Chestnut Canoe (1998.33.1). This 18-foot (1st Grade) Cruiser is now proudly displayed at the entrance of the museum, as a feature in the summer exhibition Paddling Through Time: Honouring Fredericton’s Chestnut Canoe.

At 99 years young, Pierrette has generously shared her memories about the many Chestnuts that have graced her life. “There’s a lot of stories of canoes in my life” she explained when we first began her interview.

Pierrette (Olscamp) McKinley and her father, with their Chestnut Canoe, c. 1934.

Her earliest memories of the Chestnut was when she was a child in Quebec. Her father, Joseph Olscamp, was a Forest Ranger in the County of Portneuf, and Pierrette remembers sitting ever so carefully in her father’s canoe, as they explored the many lakes and streams of that region together:

I remember my dad… in the summer, as a representative of the company, he would do exploration. So, each of those beautiful lakes had a little cabin, where he could go, and by that time, I think the idea was he would survey the type of wood that was accessible for sale.

So, we had the nicest spot. There was always a canoe in the little cabins. He would… let me sit in the canoe, and I could go… I think we had a life jacket. Yeah. So, we learned how to canoe early and we were told when we were young to sit and not to rock the boat…That was a Chestnut that I learned [on].

Pierrette reflected fondly upon her youth — and how her experiences with the Chestnut rest central within her memories:

So, dad had access to them. It was owned by this company, and they would provide him with canoes, paddles, and in the winter he was also a Forest Ranger. So, he would scale, they would provide him with the garments and the famous boots that LL Beans were known for…

But the canoe is what we loved. And this, and the last one, was just, I swear it was no more than 14 feet, and this is how I learned to paddle… and we paddled on those beautiful pristine lakes. Nobody had access. All private.

She even showed us a picture of her with her father and their canoe.

Pierrette trained as a nurse, and while working in Shawinigan, met Cecil McKinley (1927 – 1977), a young UNB graduate in Electrical Engineering. Cecil had arrived there to work for the Shawinigan Water & Power Company.

Tom McKinley, fishing at Juniper with his Chestnut Canoe, c. 1945 – 1949.

Born and raised in Woodstock, Cecil’s father was Tom McKinley (1896 – 1967). Tom was the original owner of the Cruiser that is now in the Fredericton Region Museum. Both Tom McKinley and his brother-in-law, Albert E. Babkirk (1884 – 1943), lived in Woodstock (Albert Babkirk owned and operated the A. E. Babkirk Coal Company). The two were avid salmon fishermen, and spent much of their summers on the waters of the Southwest Miramichi, at their private pool near Juniper. There the McKinleys and Babkirks owned a cottage on land rented from the Canadian National Railway. This land later became the property of Irving Woodlands Ltd:

…this is where the canoe was used the most, because they would go fish there… It was a beautiful (not beautiful). it was beautiful to us. It was a two-story house. Well, a cottage, I should say…I know the blueberry patch was wonderful. Those things I remember!

The McKinley/Babkirk cottage at Juniper, built c. 1920 – 1925.

Their portion of the Southwest Miramichi was also a favourite fishing spot for K.C. Irving. As Pierrette recalls: “Mr. Irving… had a pilot who would bring him to Juniper… And he would go, and catch a nice couple of salmon, and go home for his supper.”

Unfortunately, however, their lease was eventually cancelled by Irving Woodlands Ltd, and their cottage destroyed:

Mr. Irving decided that this [area] should be private. So, he ordered everybody who had cottages to be removed within a certain time. And I suppose if he was building the industry of collecting, and he… and he did provide a lot of people with employment…

So the McKinleys and the Babkirks had to [leave]… what the Irvings did, they put the old cottage onto a flat bed [truck] and took it onto the air strip and consumed it in flames.That was upsetting for the locals.

After that, the canoe was given to Pierrette’s husband, Cecil McKinley, and in about 1968 or 1969 they purchased a cottage on Oromocto Lake. There the canoe was enjoyed by many attending the Girl Guide Camp Chiplaquorgan that was located closeby:

… we bought a small cottage in 1969 (68 or 69) that had been built by an engineer who was here to build the Mactaquac [Dam]. He was from Vancouver area, and missed the wilderness, I suppose… He built a very quaint, very primitive A-frame…We would paddle it [the canoe] to the camp in the summer…

The McKinley cottage, Oromocto Lake, c. 1969.

In 1998, Pierrette donated their canoe to the Fredericton Region Museum, but due to it’s size (18 feet in length), it was felt that the museum could not store it in their building. This is when Board member Harry Quinlan approached his good friend Paul O’Connell (both avid canoeists) to store the precious Chestnut Canoe in his barn. There it remained, safe from the elements, until this winter, when arrangements were made to bring the Chestnut Canoe home to the museum.

Pierrette McKinley has nothing but fond memories regarding her many adventures within a Chestnut Canoe; but canoes also occupied a sad component in her father’s life. When Joseph Olscamp was only two years old, his parents drowned in a canoe:

They were pioneers on the north part of the St. Maurice River, and they were quite successful farmers. They had hired help and they had… quite a crew. They… had to, or chose to, canoe on the St. Maurice to have their young child baptized, and they were drowned. When my dad was two years of age, and he had several older siblings; in fact he was brought up by his older sister.

Looking back on her life, and her relationship with canoes, Pierrette confided that she thinks often about what her father taught her, and the principles upon which he lived his life. In her modest way, she also added: “I don’t like to bore people with my stories, but it’s unique.”

Indeed, her life has been unique, and at 99 years of age she continues to enjoy good health. Pierrette McKinley’s full interview is available on the museum’s YouTube site, so be sure to subscribe to us here: https://www.youtube.com/@frederictonregionmuseum7499

Paddling Through Time: Honouring Fredericton’s Chestnut Canoe opens at the Fredericton Region Museum on June 28 (2 pm). Join us as we celebrate the legacy of Fredericton’s world-famous Chestnut Canoe!

Cynthia Wallace-Casey, PhD
Curator Emeritus/ Exhibition Chair, May 2026