Red Bay
View of Red Bay from Tracy Hill
The Strait of Belle Isle is a watery funnel through which migrations of sea mammals have passed since the last ice age retreat. Red Bay’s location at the eastern end of the Strait was ideal for 16thand 17th century Basque whalers hunting bowhead and right whales. Red Bay’s sheltered harbour was a good place for transport ships and smaller catch boats, called chaloupes, to moor. There was also plenty of room around the shore and small islands to set up stations for rendering the whale blubber. The tryworks and other rough buildings were often roofed with Mediterranean ceramic tiles, brought over as ship ballast, now an important clue to the presence of Basque whaling stations along the coastline.
The success of the Basque whalers guaranteed the relatively short life of the industry in the Strait. It is estimated that 20,000 right and bowhead whales were killed between 1530 and 1600, severely depleting the supply. After 50 years of heavy exploitation, it became no long profitable for the Basque whalers to continue the industry on the shores of Labrador. After the early years of the 17th century, they ceased to come.
Almost 100 years went by before Red Bay once again became the focus of European industry. In the early 18th century, as part of the colony of New France, the French built a post at Red Bay and traded with the Inuit for furs. They also established a seal fishing industry that lasted until the British took over Labrador at the end of the Seven Years War. An English migratory cod fishery was an annual event until the 1840s, when Newfoundland and Channel Island fishermen began moving into the area and settling.
By the end of the century, the town was a booming fishing port. Dr. Wilfred Grenfell set up his first co-operative in 1896 to provide a better marketing system for fishermen. He also established an arm of his famous craft industrial at Red Bay. Some of most valuable Grenfell hooked mats had their origin in the bins of used stockings used by the women of Red Bay to produce the hooked rugs and wall hangings.
Red Bay Photos : ( Click each for full size )
This engraving of whaling was made in the 16th century, at the same time Basques were hunting whales along the Strait of Belle Isle.
Red Bay : Uncovering the History of Basque Whaling
The re-discovery of Red Bay’s history of Basque whaling on North American shores was made far away in the libraries of Spain by historian Selma Barkham who mined archives to discover the names and places of one of North America’s first commercial ventures. She also found records that listed the 1565 shipwreck of a Basque sailing vessel, the San Juan, at the bottom of Red Bay harbour. Loaded and ready for a return trip to Europe, the ship when excavated helped researchers piece together to story of the station and the life of the whalers who spent up to 8 months on the Labrador coast.
Today Red Bay is a Parks Canada National Historic Site with a museum and interpreted outdoor trail at Saddle Island.
Photos : ( Click each for full size )
Ships and gear lost during the dangerous business of whaling now provide archeologists with artefacts that help to describe the life of Labrador's Basque whalers.