Russell's Point

You can see it waaaaaaaaaaaay in the back there.

So this was definitely a funny discovery. This morning I got up and had to drive into town, since I was out of town for the weekend. I stop at an Ultramar to gas up before making the long drive. I stopped at this Ultramar dozens of times. It's right next to where my dad lives, but this time I notice a sign next to it with an arrow, pointing to a "Beothuk Site". I've driven up and down this road (at least) hundreds of times and I've never noticed this sign until this morning. I ask the lady at the counter what this Beothuk site was all about and she tells me that it's literally right behind the Ultramar and that they share a parking lot. This is a site of great Newfoundland history that I have driven by hundreds of times and only find it by accident.

This site is called Russell's Point (although some places call it Sandy's Point). In 1612, John Guy, who was the Governor of Cuper's Cove at the time, ventured into the Trinity area in hopes of  establishing friendly relations with the Beothuk of the area. Lucky for us historians, Guy as well ass a couple of his companions kept very detailed logs of where they travelled, establishing an approximate area of where they came.


The site was rediscovered in 1988 but was not excavated by archaeologists until 1994. For three years the site was excavated and studied, digging up around 15
00 artifacts. Luckily for the researchers, Memorial University was less than an hour's drive away and provided researchers and resources to study them. These artifacts have included arrow heads, fire pits, bones, and the remnants of hearths, suggesting that the are was not only travelled but populated by Beothuk at some point.

I appreciate that the fine is $50,000.
This is a very special site and is made
publicly available 24/7.

The artifacts from Russell's Point do not only tell us information about the Beothuk but also paint a story about them. Some of the artifacts were iron nails, a key, a knife, as well as other European products. While John Guy's intentions were good, as we all know from history the Europeans were not always out to make friends with the aboriginal peoples, and the artifacts paint a story of the Beothuk culture being oppressed and slowly taken over by Europeans.

This is a panorama shot so it's not actually that straight across. The part in the centre is actually a peak, but I was just entranced by the beautiful view. If it wasn't such a historically rich site, I would camp there in a heartbeat.

The site itself is very simple nowadays. It looks like a small field on the pond and a couple of heritage signs, but the view is stunning as it is a point out into a large pond so if you stand on the end of it you're surrounded by about 230 degrees of water. If you would like to go and see the site yourself, it is in Blaketown. If you drive on the TCH until you hit the exit for Whitbourne - New Harbour and then drive towards New Harbour for about 6-7 minutes. Just look for the Ultramar, that's how I found it!