Viola (Huggard) MacMillanViola Rita (Huggard) MacMillan was born at DeeBank, near Windermere, in Ontario's Muskoka Lakes district. Growing up, she knew poverty in that rocky, unfertile land where winters are long and cold and the summers were a paradise only for the prosperous. As a child she was fascinated by the mining stories told to her by her older brother Joe, who worked in the silver mines at Cobalt. Although her parents tried to discourage her, she was determined to obatin a good education and make something of herself. In 1919 she went to North Bay to live with her married sister in order to continue her education. When her father could no longer provide financial support for her education, she went to Windsor to look for work. She saved enough money to put herself through business school and then obtained a position as a secretary in a lawyer's office. She met and married George MacMillan, a broker in 1923. Four years later, while spnding their summer holidays in northern Ontario, they met several prospectors who regaled then with mining stories. This was the beginning of a life long interest in that industry.
About 1928, George went into the real estate business. However, the crash of 1929 put an end to this and some hard times had to be faced. In 1931 the Mac Millans headed once more into the north country to put their dreams on mine exploration into reality. A few years later, while visiting a sick friend in Kirkland Lake, they heard a rumour about a rush to Hislop township. They immediately took to the bush and in the dark hours of the morning, staked some clains by flashlight. They then traded these claims for others which later became a large gold producing mine, bringing success and fortune to them.
In June 1933 they formed MacMillan enterprises and began putting their knowledge and enthusiasm into gambling on claims staked by others, claims on which they sparked development to the mine-making stage. Succeeding in an industry dominated by men, for two decades following WWII, Viola MacMillan was known as the "Queen Bee" of Canada's prospectors. She served 21 years as president of the Prospectors' and Developers' Association and in 1991 was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. In March 1992 the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa opened a new mining exhibit named in her honour. Herein is contained the "Pinch Collection", an exhibit of over 16,000 mineral specimens. In April of 1993, Viola was presented with the Order of Canada. Suffering from heart problems for several years, she died some four months later.
