A VOICE FROM THE PAST

With the massacres of 1649 and 1650, the Hurons vanish from these parts, and the events therein occurring, for more than a century afterward, are less known. When we begin to hear of the region again the Indians are all Ojibways. Some writers have asserted that these Algonquin tribes came from the north shore of Georgian Bay and spread over the abandoned country of the Hurons; but onw should not forget the populous tribes of Algonquins who, in the days when the early Jesuits had a mission among them, lived in the Townships of North and South Orillia. There are no existing records to show that these tribes were ever completely displaced from their ancient possessions, although it is natural to suppose the massacre perpetrated by the Iroquois in their neighborhood would inspire them with fear and cause them to retreat for at least a brief period.

One writer on the traditional history of the Ojibways, George Copway, has asserted that some Iroquois did take up their abode in the land from which they had driven the Hurons, and maintained settlements, of which the principal one was near Orillia; but the tradition is yet unconfirmed by actual history. The regions has teemed with traditions of battles in various places between the Ojibways and their hereditary enemies, the unrelenting Iroquois; and indeed every burial pit of the Huron tribes brought to light has been accounted for as the result of some battle, by those unacquainted with Huron burial practices. Another writer asserts that soon after the massacres of the Hurons there was a migration, in 1653, to this country and other parts of Southern Ontario of Mississagas who had been inhabiting the banks of a river of that name in Algoma, and after them the Ojibways, from near Sult Ste. Marie. (Canadian Journal, Vol. 3, old series, p. 209). Whatever may be the value of these traditions, the first travellers, after the beginning of British rule in the eighteenth century, found Ojibways in the district now comprised within our county.

Some remarkable names have from time to time been given to Lake Simcoe, more especially by the Ojibways; and it may be of present interest to review the circumstances under which they have been applied, more especially as there are some fragments of history in them. The earliest term by which Lake Simcoe was known was "Ouentaron," or "Ouentironk," which signified in the language of the Huron Indians who applied it, "Beautiful Lake," from which we would infer that Huron taste was aesthetic. Lahontan, in 1687, called it Lake Toronto, signifying, "gateway," or "pass," in the Huron language; and many subsequent map-makers adopted this name for it.

The later French traders gave it the name of "Aux Claies," which referred to hurdles, or latticework, employed in the taking of fish. May not the explanation of this term be found in the rows of stakes, of the fence at the Narrows, whose identification with the contrivance seen by Champlain, and described in his journal, was due to the late Joseph Wallace, sen., of Orillia? It is within the range of possibilities that he ancient collection of stakes or fish-weir at the Narrows, had some connection with this name. Lac aux Claies, frequently becoming corrupted into Le Clie, continued to be the name given for many years.

The Ojibways of this district in the eighteenth century knew it by the name "Ashuniong," or, as it is sometimes given- Shain-e-ong, Sheniong, or Sinion. The Rev. Dr. Scadding in a note to his paper on "The Toronto Landing," says this word, Sinion, or Sheniong is interpreted by some to mean "Silver Lake." For another account of the meaning and origin of this name we are indebted to Dr. A.F. Chamberlain, formerly of Toronto. As stated to him, in 1888, by an aged member of the Mississaga band at Lake Scugog, which formerly dwelt at Lake Simcoe, "Ashuniong" means "The place of the dog-call," and is derived from the Algonquin word, Ashuniun, "To call a dog." Various words in the Algonquin vocabulary are but the early French words Indianized, and this name of Lake Simcoe is so suspiciously like the French "chien" for "dog" as to suggest some connection with it. The French "chien" enters into other geographical names, as in "Prairie du Chien," so it might be in this. Be that as it may, Dr. Chamberlain obtained the Mississage tradition of the naming of Lake Simcoe thus: "Early one calm day an Indian beside the lake thought he heard some one calling a dog, Ashuniun! Ashuniun! The voice could be heard plainly, but there was nobody to be seen. So our people call the lake Ashuniong, the place of the dog-call."

In the manuscript notebook compiled at Mr. St. George's trading post at the Narrows, which bears the date 1802, and is preserved in the Toronto Public Library, Lake Simcoe appears to be called "Tepanignon," but the meaning of the term is not clear.

Again, in Cobway's "Traditional History of the Ojibway Nation," the writer of which once belonged to the Rice and Mud Lake bands, he calls Lake Simcoe, "Wahweyagahmah." This name occurs fequently throughout parts of Canada where Algonquins have been settled, and means in their language "Round Lake." It is an appropriate one for this lake, as without the bays at the south and west, its shape is quite round.

In 1793 Governor Simcoe gave it the name by which it has ever since been known, not in honor of himself, but of his father, Capt. Simcoe, R.N.

The official document which attests the purchase of the land at Penetanguishene from the Indians, has some curiosities in the way of orthography, for the Indian chiefs seemed to have possessed names which no ordinary linguist can be expected to articulate without a good deal of practice:

Chabondasheam...............................Reinder
Aasance............................................ Otter
Wabininquone.................................. Pike
Ningawson........................................ Reindeer
Omassanahsqutawah...................... Reindeer

The Treaty, which bore these formidable signatures, was made at York, May 22, 1798 and was signed by Wm. Claus, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on behalf of the British Government, and by George Cowan, Indian iterpreter.

The bargain was for a tract of land adjacent to the harbor of Penetanguishene. For £101, Quebec currency, those five chiefs "gave, granted, etc., that tract butted and bounded as follows:-

"Beginning at the head southwesternmost angle of a bay situated above certain French ruins, (i.e., the head of Mud Lake, at the lower end of which is the ruin of Ste. Marie on the Wye, as shown on the sketch of the purchase accompanying the treaty) the head or southwesternmost angle of the said bay being called by the Indians Opetikuoyawsing; thence north 70 degrees west to a bay of Lake Huron, called by the Indians Nottoway Sague Bay; thence around the shore to the place of beginning, containing all the land therein, together with the islands in the Harbour of Penetanguishene."

In the subsequent treaty of 1815, the length of the line from Opetiguoyawsing, which was near Wyebridge of the present time, to Nottawasaga Bay, is said to be seven and a half miles. The tract of land purchased by this treaty of 1798 was all included in the Townships of Tiny and Tay.

Previous to this treaty of 1798, there had been a surrender in 1795 of the land adjacent to Penetanguishene harbor, which was intended as a camping place for the traders. But this earlier transaction was an "agreement to purchase," as it appears, the actual treaty not having been made till 1798.

After the visit of Governor Simcoe to Matchedash Bay in 1793, the harbor at Penetanguishene, which he had the sagacity to recognize as a desirable place for a fort, had continually been coveted by the Government. And the negotiations leading up to the final surrender of the harbor by the Indians in 1798, all had their origin in his choice.

A few years later another preliminary treaty with the Ojibways agreed for the purchase of the tract of land between Kempenfeldt Bay and the Penetanguishene purchase. And in connection with the boundaries of this new purchase, Samuel S. Wilmot made an exploration of the territory in March, 1808. A stone mark at the water edge, twenty chains west of Kempenfeldt Sand Point, as described in various Indian treaties of this period, was the starting point for this measurement of their boundaries. From this important spot, Wilmot surveyed the Penetanguishene Road in 1811, and it thus became the southerly end of the Oro-Vespra townline, as well as the point of departure of the military highway. The object in buying this tract from the Indians at this time appears to be to open a road by which the North-West Company could transport their furs from Lake Huron to York (Toronto), thereby avoiding the circuitous route of Lake Erie and the inconvenience of passing along the American frontier. At any rate, this was the object alleged in Smyth's Gazetteer, published in 1813.

The preliminary treaty just mentioned was an "agreement to purchase," and this appears to be the tenure during the time of the war, when the road was hastily opened for military and naval purposes. It was not until Nov. 17th, 1815, that the actual treaty was agreed to, and signed. The three chiefs who ceded the new territory were Kinaybicoinini, Aisaince and Misquuckkey- names perhaps all frightful enough, yet in which we have no difficulty in recognizing the more familiar Snake, Aisance and Yellowhead. These three chiefs granted the tract of land bounded as follows:-

"Beginning at a stone boundary, 20 chains N., 81 degrees W. from the base of Kempenfeldt Sand Point, (which is projecting about five and a half chains into Kempenfeldt Bay), thence (i.e., from the stone boundary), N. 40 degrees W., thirty-six miles and a quarter, more or less, to Lake Huron; then along the shore to the bottom of Nottawaysague Bay, at the N.W. angle of the Penetanguishene purchase; thence along its S.W. boundary seven and a half miles to a small bay called Opetequoyawsing; thence northerly out the bay, (i.e., out of Mud Lake), to Glocester or Sturgeon Bay and following the shore of Matchedash Bay easterly, southerly and northerly until it intersects a line at or near the mouth of a small lake, being the western boundary of a purchase said to have been made in 1785, thence south along the westerly limits of the said purchase, eleven miles, more or less, until it intersects a line produced N. 78 degrees W. from the waters of Lake Simcoe near the carrying place hereinafter mentioned; then S. 78 degrees E. along the S. boundary line of the said last mentioned purchase to the waters of Lake Simcoe, near to a carrying place leading to a small lake, distant about three miles westerly; and then southwesterly along the northwestern shore of Lake Simcoe and Kempenfeldt Bay, to the place of beginning, containing about 250,000 acres of land."

The consideration the chiefs recieved for this tract was £4,000. A line from the stone boundary at Kempenfeldt, projected at the angle mentioned in the treaty, would reach the shore of Tiny Township somewhere in the vicinity of Six Mile Point, according to our modern maps.

The treaty of Oct. 17th, 1818, completed the surrender of the territory from Lake Ontario to the Georgian Bay (then called Lake Huron unreservedly) and was the most extensive of all. Four chiefs, or principal men of the Ojibway nation, took part in the negotiations, viz.:-

Musquakie, or Yellow Head..................Reindeer.
Kaqueticum, or Snake.......................Cat Fish.
Maskigouce, or Swamp.......................Otter.
Manitonobe, or Male Devil..................Pike.

And a fifth, named, Manitobinince, or Devil's Bird, with some kind of fish as his totem, apparently the pike, also describes his "devilish" name to the treaty, although he does not figure in the text itself. These chiefs for the yearly sum of £1,200, granted the tract thus bounded:-

by the District of London on the west,
by Lake Huron (i.e., Georgian Bay) on the north
by the Penetanguishene purchase (made in 1815) on the east, and
by the south shore of Kempenfeldt Bay, the western shore of Lake Simcoe, and Cook's Bay and the Holland River to the N.W. angle of the Township of King.
This large tract contained 1,592,000 acres by computation.

The reader has, perhaps, already observed how the process of buying the several parts of Simcoe County from the Indians took place from north to south, a direction quite the reverse of what we might expect.

The annual distribution of presents for these and other land surrenders took place at Holland Landing in 1827 and 1828, as well as in previous years; then at Orillia and at Present Island near Penetanguishene and Midland until 1835; then at Manitoulin Island for the first time in 1836, and afterward always there. Thus the busiest theatre of Indian life at the dawn of white settlement was just where, in the seventeenth century, Champlain and the early French missionaries had found so many Hurons. But it was now shifting northward before the advancing tide of civilization not to return.

The most prominent or best known of the Ojibway chiefs who signed the treaties for the cessions of the different parts of the county was Musquakie, or Yellowhead. For many years he was the head chief over all the Ojibway chiefs in the district, and was a famous man in his day, his memory being still kept green in the name of "Muskoka." The Government built, in 1831, a residence in Orillia for Yellowhead; the building afterwards became the first St. James' parsonage, and still exists, though in a much changed conditioned, as a private residence, having being moved to another street some years ago from its original position near the present parsonage on Neywash Street. In the Council House, also built about the same time, the early missionaries of all denominations of religion held services. It thus became known also as the Old Mission House, and as the Anglican Church was the first to send a regular clergyman to Orillia, in 1841, it was the first church of that denomination in the town, the accompanying illustration of that historic building, having been drawn by the Rev. Canon Greene from plans and descriptions. It was moved to another site, bricked over, and, like the first parsonage, exists at the present day in a modified shape.

Musquakie, or William Yellowhead had his jaw shatterd by a ball in the war of 1812, and the wound ever afterwards during his life showed as a defect in the side of his face. He died at an advanced age, the burial taking place on January 14th, 1864. The register of St. James, in Orillia, gives his age at death at 95 years, yet many persons believed at the time of his death that his age exceeded 100 years, and Thomas McMurray gives this current belief in his book on Muskoka and Parry Sound. (Bracebridge, 1871). At page 36, Mr. McMurray says:-

"Old Chief Yellowhead died in 1865 (1864) aged 106 years. He was an honest Indian, much respected by all who knew him, and he continued to frequent his hunting grounds (in Muskoka) till a few days before his death. On his last trip he called at the residence of the writer (in Draper Township), and remained over night."

His body lies in St. James' Churchyard at Orillia. In his will he professed faith in the Christian doctrines.

In the days of the pioneers the Indians were much more numerous throughout this county than they are on the reserves to-day, and in view of thier numbers were of more importance in the life of the new country. In their system for governing themselves, the Ojibways had at least some well defined notions of land-holding and proprietary rights, when the first white settlers arrived and found them in occupation of the soil. They had divided off the land among different familes or bands for hunting grounds, and observed these bounds quite strictly. Thus, John Jack and his brother Jonas had from the lake which bears his name (Jack's Lake) westward to the Blue Mountains; the band or sub-band, at Snake's Island, had a portion of the adjacent Township of Innisfil; Musquakie, or Yellowhead, had his own lake now spelled Muskoka Lake; and so on.

The first Indian Agent in this district was Capt. Thos. Gummersall Anderson, who had been a fur trader on the Mississippi and its tributaries till the war of 1812-15. After the war he was placed on the staff of the Indian Department, and lived at Drummond Island. In 1828, when that station passed into the hands of the United States, he came to Penetanguishene, and two years later moved with his family to Coldwater. In 1837 he moved to Manitoulin Island, and on the death of Col. Jarvis (1845) he was promoted to the position of Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He finally moved his family to Cobourg in 1847, in and near which place he spent the remainder of his life. He died in 1875 in his 97th year. A sketch of his career, with illustrations, appears in the Sixth volume of the Papers and Records of the Ontario Historical Society, along with some reminiscences of his times.

Prior to 1830, the Indians had wandered indiscriminately about the Lake Simcoe region; but in that year, Sir John Colborne, the Lieut-Governor, collected them on a reserve of 9,800 acres, stretching from the Narrows to Coldwater. They consisted for the most part of three bands of Ojibways under Chiefs Yellowhead, Aisance, and Snake, besides a band of Pottawatamies, lately from Drummond Island, or Michigan. They numbered in all about 500, and were placed under the superitendence of Capt. T.G. Anderson. The headquarters of Chief Snake's band was the island named after him; Yellowhead's band, which afterward removed to Rama, was then located at Orillia and the Narrows; while that of Chief Aisance was setteled at Coldwater, the other extremity of the reserve. A road was at once cleared from the Narrows to Coldwater along the famous trail; and during 1831 a line of houses was built by the Government at a distance of a mile apart over a portion of the route. Shortly afterward the Government also erected, at Coldwater, a store, a school, and a grist mill, the latter of which began operations in 1833.

This reserve was on different occasions visited by Rev. Peter Jones, and many are the interesting references to it in his published works. Mrs. Anna Jameson, the distinguished authoress, passed that way in 1837, and records her observations and experiences in Winter Studies and Summer Rambles (Vol. 3). She also recounts at considerable length her visit to the Indians of Manitoulin Island with Capt. Anderson. Other travellers have also left accounts of this early Reserve. John Carruthers, in his Retrospect, has also preserved a glimpse of the locality and its inhabitants as they appeared in 1833.

The Indians on this reserve made rapid progress in the peaceful arts of the white men, according to the extant report for 1835 of Mr. Andreson, the Superintendent. There was a threatened outbreak of cholera among them in 1832, as we learn from the following letter, but fortunately it passed over without serious trouble.

Dear Sir,- The Lieutenant-Governor has just sent me a communication from Mr. Darling, a surgeon, recently arrived at the Indian settlement at Coldwater, stating that a decided case of cholera had mades its appearance among the Indians, and remarking that from the exposure the settlers are subject to, for want of shelter, the disease would most probably spread amongst them. I beg, therefore, that you will, if circumstances should make it necessary, have erected such accommodation for them as you may judge their numbers and situations require and afford them all the relief in your power. However, as the disease does not appear to spread at Newmarket or any other country place, I am inclined to think the settlers will, in a great measure, escape.

(Sgd.) PETER ROBINSON.

Mr. Wellesly Richie, Medonte.

In 1836 the Indians surrendered this Reserve to the Government. Yellowhead's band removed, in 1838, from Orillia and the Narrows to Rama, where they made a purchase of 1,600 acres of land for £800- paid out of their annuities. According to the surveyor, Chas. Rankin, quoted in Lord Durham's Report (p. 174, edn. 1902), the settlers of Rama Township, after a trial of three years, had abandoned their farms on which they had made improvements. They had met with such serious difficulties from being separated by lands in the midst of their settlements owned by speculators, who had no intention of settling them, that they had not made the necessary roads. In this way Rama had become available for the Indians in 1838. Aisance's band settled at Coldwater, removed to Beausoliel and Christian Islands, where they have resided ever since.

With the Reserve thus broken up in 1836-38, were connected the names of several teachers and missionaries: Law, Currie, Sawyer, Mulkins, Moffatt, Miss Manwaring, besides Rev. Messrs. Case, Miller, Stinson, Allison, Belton, and Scott. Mr. Anderson, the Superintendent, visited Manitoulin Island in 1835, and shortly afterwards removed there to take charge of the extensive Indian establishment formed upon the island at that time.

In Sir. F.B. Head's first year (1836), he removed from this county the annual delivery of presents, and held it at Manitoulin Island, to induce the Indians to retreat before "the accursed progress of civilization," and to retire upon the islands, as far as possible from white men- a course which Sir John Colborne had also strongly recommended. Yet, from the very despatch (No. 95), in which Sir Francis B. Head advocated this humane service for the red men, it appears he also possessed a knowledge of the fact that many Indians were living on rich lands, with white neighbours execrating their indolence, drunkenness, etc., without making a single effort to improve them. The plan advocated and introduced by Elder Case and his co-workers, viz., to have Indian schools to overcome the degenerating surroundings the natives were living amidst, was obviously not that of Sir F.B. Head. Nowadays, the Government Indian schools everywhere, but more especially in the newer provinces, show that a vast change has taken place in the policy of the Government.

Evidences of a different state of affairs in those times where everywhere plainly to be seen. For example, we read in the Journal of the Rev. Peter Jones, in June, 1827, when the distribution of presents was annually held at Holland Landing, how that Chief W. Snake complained of Mr. Borland and Philemon Squires, threatening to flog him if he did not leave off attending the Methodist meetings, and how that the traders were exasperated generally at the Indians becoming a sober people. Restriction of a few traders would have been easier than moving the entire Indian nations, yet such was the remedy proposed and partly carried into effect.

Placing the Indians on islands and tracts of worthless land was really a practice copied from Maine, New York, and other border states, at that day. And although Head execrated everything republican, or what he was pleased to call "the low, grovelling principles of democracy," he copied really more from the United States than he thought he did. If in such barren, desert places, Indians failed to prosper as farmers, it does little credit to the white men to find fault with them for it.

The question of removing the Indians remained a live one for some years. A General Council of Indian Chiefs and Principal Men was held at Orillia, on July 30th and 31st, 1846, on the proposed removal of the smaller communities, and the establishment of manual labor schools. The minutes of this council were printed in a pamphlet at Montreal, the same year, from notes taken in shorthand, and otherwise, by Henry Baldwin, barrister-at-law, of Peterborough, secretary to the chiefs in council. A number of clergymen, residing in the district, were present at this council, of which the place of meeting is named in the pamphlet as the "Lake Simcoe Narrows."

Across the water of Matchedash Bay, from the village of Fesserton, or more precisely, opposite Bush's Point, are the remains of buildings known among the settlers there as "The Chimneys." On the shore at that place you could see, as the name indicates, an assemblage of old stone chimneys, which marked the dwelling place in the eighteenth century of an Indian trader and his family. About forty acres of a clearing were to been seen before the settlers came, and the stone foundations of some houses, while quite near the shore were the remains of a larger building, and beside it a stone well. It was near this trading fort- the habitation of an early trader named Cowan- that Governor Simcoe encamped when on his memorable expedition to Matchedash Bay in 1793; and although his Excellency visited Penetanguishene Bay at the time, this was the remotest camp pitched during the expedition. The volume of Transactions of the Canadian Institute for October, 1890, contains the diary of Sheriff Macdonell, who accompanied General Simcoe and party on that occasion. It gives an extended sketch of this trader, from which we extract a few sentences:
"Mr. Cowan is much liked by the Indians. He was taken prisoner by the French at Fort Pitt, during the war of 1758 and '59, when a boy. He has adopted all the customs and manners of the Canadians and speaks much better French than English. He has been settled at Matchedash upwards of fifteen years without once going to Lower Canada. he makes an annual trip to Michilimackinac to meet his supplies there and forward his furs to Montreal. He has in general six Canadians engaged with him, and is well known to that class of people by the name of Constant." He lived at that spot for many years, and brought up a family, all educated and respected. A century has elapsed since this historic figure passed from the scene of his labours.

A grandson of his died on March 23rd, 1892, near Penetanguishene, at the ripe age of 86 years. Wm. Cowan was born at Richmond Hill, May 15th, 1806, became one of the earliest settlers of Simcoe County, and saw a large share of its pioneer life. His father was killed by some unknown parties when he was four years old, and he was brought up by his maternal grandmother, who kept a wayside hostelry at Hogg's Hollow, (now York Mills), at the time of the war of 1812. One of this woman's sons, James Remi Vallieres, became a distinguished lawyer and rose to the Chief Justiceship of Lower Canada. This boy and Cowan were playmates, in youth, at their home on Yonge Street. With his grandmother, young Cowan came to the military post at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River, in June, 1816, where they stayed for two years and kept a canteen for the sale of cookery, whiskey, etc., to the soldiers. (The name of her second husband was Asher Mundy, an American and their only son, Israel Mundy, was lighthouse keeper near Penetanguishene for many years, surviving till December, 1888.) When the soldiers removed to Penetanguishene from Nottawasaga, in 1818, she also removed her canteen. She was a noted person in her day and lived to be more than a centenarian. Young Cowan went, when sixteen years old, with the survey party of Captains Bayfield and Collins, then engaged in making a hydrographic survey of Georgian Bay and the other upper lakes. He was subsequently two years with the Hudson's Bay Company, at Nipissing, and three years fur trading at Fort William; always, however, making his headquarters at Penetanguishene. He received a grant of land south of that place, and with his wife, a woman of Indian blood, settled upon it about 1865, where he remained till the time of his death. He was a most agreeable and mild-tempered man, not given to chasing for notoriety in the slightest degree, and as a result he was unknown to fame; but the eventful times he had seen, and the experiences he had passed through, entitle him to receive a notice in the chronicles of the district.

During the early years of the nineteenth century, the region at the south end of Georgian Bay, and the route by way of Lake Simcoe and the lakes to the east, held among fur traders a favorite position, both as regards their traffic and as a place for development with a view to making it a base for supplies. For instance, we find John Johnston, of Sault Ste. Marie, writing in 1809 in his Account of Lake Superior (in Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest, by L.R. Mason, Vol. 2), in these words:-
"A sure market for provisions could easily be accomplished by opening a communication with the Bay of Matchedash, from whence to the island of St. Joseph the distance is only ninety leagues."
He then compares this route with the Detroit route. Johnston did not doubt but that Matchedash, under this scheme, "would soon become the most thriving place in Upper Canada, and the centre of provisions and transport trade for the fur countries."

The early traders had used the Ottawa and Lake Nipissing route, because, as one writer says, "this (travelling in canoes), was found to be both a quicker and cheaper mode of transportation than in sailing vessels on the lakes." It is recorded that one of the partners of the Mackinac Trading Company of 1778 lived at Matchedash (probably the Mr. Cowan above-mentioned). Since he did not use the Trent or the Toronto route the reason for the disuse of Lake Simcoe as the highway of the fur trade in the eighteenth century is perhaps to be found in the canoes travelling by another route.

As early as 1785 Lieut.-Gov. Hamilton instructed John Collins, the Deputy Surveyor-General, to make a survey of the communication between the Bay of Quinte and Lake Huron, by way of Lake La Clie (i.e. Lake Simcoe). A copy of the instruction appears in Mr. J.J. Murphy's paper on the first surveys in Ontario, printed in Proceedings of the O.L. Surveyors, 1898, page 230.

As early as 1802, Mr. Quetton St. George had a trading post at the Narrows of Lake Simcoe and Couchiching for the purpose of bartering with the Indians, who had from time immemorial made that point a favorite rendezvous. This distinguished French gentleman, along with others, had emigrated to Canada in 1798, and acquired an estate in the "Oak Ridges" on Yonge Street; but finding this speculation rather profitless, as Dr. Scadding informs us, he resorted to trading with the Indians in the remoter parts of the province. For this purpose he established several trading posts in various parts of the country, one of which was near Atherley, at the Narrows. In the Public Library of Toronto there is preserved a manuscript note book which did service at this early trading post. It bears the date 1802, and contains a short vocabulary of Indian words, evidently the work of a clerk who, in order to master the words that he was obliged to make use of every day, wrote them down with their English meanings.

Mr. St. George carried on a prosperous trade with the Indians, with whom he was very popular. They called him Wau-be-way-quon, which means "white hat," as it was his custom to wear a white hat in the summer season. Just how long he continued his trading post, it is not easy to say; but he gave up business, it is supposed, some time previous to 1820, and returned to France, having amassed a fortune in his enterprises.

The well-known firm of Indian traders, Borland, Laughton & Roe, of Newmarket and Holland Landing, had a trading post at the Narrows at an early date, and maintained it for some years. Owing to its being frequented by the Indians in considerable numbers from the earliest times, Orillia, as well as the Narrows, made a favorite point for the operations of the traders. In 1862-63, the Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post at Orillia, and continued it for about seventeen years, with Thomas Goffatt in charge. At about the same period (1866, etc.), Dr. J. Mitchell was the agent of the Hudson's Bay Company at Penetanguishene.

To a considerable degree, the old Nor'-Westers, who were mostly Highlanders, and their employees chiefly French-Canadians, were crowded out by the union of the two fur companies in 1821. The influence of the original Hudson's Bay Company men became paramount in the new concern, as did the name of he new company itself. Many faithful servants of the late North-West Company were left without a job, as the combined staffs were more than the work required. Many others became dissatisfied and left of their own accord.

It was from some such cause as the foregoing that John McDonald, the chief factor of the North-West Company, in the early twenties, betook himself to the life of a civilian, and settled on lot 5, on the east side of the Penetanguishene Road, a mile north of the Kempenfeldt town lot. Here James Soules, of Big Bay Point, built a shanty for him; and, as McDonald had a good library, Soules received in part payment for the work some of his books, including such books as Plutarch's Lives, and Jane Porter's Scottish Chiefs.

Like many a fur trader of those days, McDonald's wife was a squaw who had (like Pocahontas and Capt. John Smith), saved his life when the warriors of her tribe in the far west were going to end his days abruptly. There was no priest anywhere near them to perform the marriage ceremony, so they were not married except by Indian custon. In the course of time more than half a dozen children were born, and when they came to the Kempenfeldt neighborhood to live, it was a noted sight to see the little half-breed children playing on the mud floor of their shanty with the leather-bound volumes of Plutarch or others, and the gold coins of their father.

Just before the birth of another child, McDonald began to realize the need for a legal marriage, and, as their was a priest in the country by this time, at Penetanguishene, perhaps temporarily, they became regularly married, the priest having been called to their home for the purpose. After this belated ceremony, one child was born, (Catherine), who was the last one born; and, as McDonald died without leaving a will a year or two after her birth, she became the sole heiress of all his property.

According to the gravestone in the old Church of England cemetery at Newmarket, his wife died Jan. 15th, 1828, and he died a month later, Feb. 17th, 1828. On account of the fact that McDonald had befriended Sir John Franklin in 1825 on his overland trip, and perhaps also in 1822 and earlier, Lady Franklin sent out this gravestone in after years from England, to mark their resting places.

The nature of McDonald's estate which he left was, for the most part, like this. The Hon. Wm. McGillivray, for the North-West Company, had applied as far back as the year 1811 for a grant of 6,000 acres of land along the then newly-surveyed road from Kempenfeldt to Penetanguishene. There was much delay, as usual, on the part of the Government officials in granting this request. But in 1829, by an Order-in-Council, the land was appropriated to the Hon. Wm. McGillivray, who had assigned his claim to John McDonald, now deceased. In this way, Catherine McDonald, the only legitimate child and heiress-at-law of her deceased father, inherited the property. She was then about three years of age, without father or mother, yet her relatives gave her a good education in Glengarry County, whither they had returned from Simcoe County. When she grew up she became the wife of Angus Grant, and they returned to this county to reside at Wyebridge, where he kept a store for some years.

The first English-speaking traveller to pass this way after Canada became part of the British possessions was Alexander Henry, who, as a captive among the Indians of the Sault Ste. Marie, accompanied them in 1764 to Niagara. In the narrative of his adventures, which has become a classic work in Canadian history, he mentions their passage through Lake Simcoe (then called Lake La Clie). A Canadian edition of this book appeared in 1901, under the editorship of the late Dr. James Bain, Librarian of the Toronto Public Library.

Governor Simcoe made a passage through Lake Simcoe in 1793 on his famous journey from Humber Bay to Penetanguishene, and return. In Macdonnell's Diary of that trip, mentioned in an earlier part of this chapter, there are several particulars of interest, especially the details of his visits and meetings with some of the numerous bands of Indians on Lake Simcoe in that day.

Of the early travellers, not connected with military affairs, there was John Goldie, who visited Holland Landing in 1819 as a travelling botanist. The manuscript of his Diary was in the possession of his son-in-law, Principal Caven, of Knox College, Toronto, and his grandson, Dr. James Caven, published it in 1897. The object of the tour made by Mr. Goldie is briefly set forth in the opening words of his Diary:

"On June 4th, 1819, I commenced my long-talked of journey to examine the natural but more particularly the botanical productions of Upper Canada and of the States in the vicinity of the Lakes."

After travelling from Montreal to York (Toronto), along the lake shore road, he made a digression at the latter place, on June 26th, 1819, to Holland Landing, which he reached on the 27th. His arrival is thus recorded in his Diary:

"Having gone on slowly I arrived in the evening at what is called the Upper Landing Place, which is about nine miles by water from Lake Simcoe. I stopped at the farthest house upon this road, and have bespoken a week's lodging here, as I expect that it is a spot very interesting for the botanist."

His entry for July 3rd, is interesting, as it furnishes us with information regarding the troops stationed at Drummond Island:

"This evening a company of the 70th Regiment from Drummond Island, in Lake Huron, arrived here. They have been up the country for two years, and have been exchanged for two companies of the 68th."

On July 4th he made the following remarks, which will be of considerable interest to readers in this district:

"This being the last day of my abode here, I shall mention a few things more concerning this part of the country. Lake Simcoe is beteween thirty and forty miles lomg, and of considerable breadth, but I could not ascertain accurately how many miles. On the south side there is what is called a river (the Holland), which, although of no great breadth, has yet sufficient depth to allow schooners to come to the Upper Landing Place, which is nine mile from the lake and thirty-six from York. The river apparently is stagnant, and the water has more the appearance of flowing in a retrograde motion, from the lake, than the contrary.
After crossing the lake there is nine miles of a portage, (this evidently refers to the Nine Mile Portage from the head of Kempenfeldt Bay), and then there is water carriage all the way to Lake Huron. It is very probable that at no very distant period this will become the most frequented of all the routes to the North West. At the present time there are no houses nor stores on the north side of Simcoe at the portage, which makes it very troublesome, and also much of the goods transported are liable to be injured by the weather. Since the steamship boat has commenced to sail on Lake Erie, the cheapest and most expeditious mode of sending down the furs from the interior is by that route, although it is four hundred miles longer than by Simcoe. There is nothing but one schooner upon the lake (Lake Simcoe), which is sufficient for all the trade at present. Since I came here I have seen a number of rare plants, and some of them are nondescripts."

Few distinguished visitors to this section of Ontario left so deep an impression upon the settlers, as Sir John Franklin did, when, in April, 1825, he passed through on his second overland expedition to the Arctic Sea. Recollections of this event, which was rendered still more notable by the subsequent fate of the Arctic hero, remained with the early settlers down even to recent years. And on this account, the following brief description of his visit, gathered partly from the pioneers, who resided in the neighborhood at the time, and partly from Franklin's published travels (now rare), may not be without interest to the present inhabitants:-

In 1824, he received instructions from the British Government to find a northern passage by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He immediately sent out orders to Canada for two large canoes, with necessary equipment and stores, to be deposited at Penetanguishene the naval depot of Lake Huron, in the autumn of that year, to await his arrival in the following spring. Acting in accordance with the instructions he had received, he embarked at Liverpool, 16th Feb., 1825, with Lieut. Back, Dr. Richardson, Mr. Kendall, Mr. Drummond and four marines, and in due course of time the party landed at New York CIty. From that point they at once set out on their journey to Upper Canada, traversing the State of New York on the way. The rest of their journey hither is recorded by Franklin himself in the following words:-

"We next crossed Lake Ontario in a sailing boat, and came to York, (now Toronto), the capital of Upper Canada, where we were kindly received by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland, and by Colonel Cockburn, and the Commissioners then employed on an inquiry respecting the value of the Crown Lands. From York we passed on to Lake Simcoe, in carts and other conveyances, halting for the night at the hospitable house of Mr. Robinson, of Newmarket.

We crossed Lake Simcoe in canoes and boats, and landed near the upper part of Kempenfeldt Bay, but not without being obliged to break our way through the ice for a short distance. A journey of nine miles, performed on foot, brought us to the River Nottawasaga, which we descended in a boat; and, passing through a part of Lake Huron, arrived at Penetanguishene. At this place we were hospitably entertained by Lieutenant (now Captain), Douglas, during eight days that we waited for the arrival of our Canadian voyageurs from Montreal."

From the Head of Kempenfeldt Bay, which Franklin mentions, they proceeded across the "Nine Mile Portage," to Willow Creek, which was then an important highway. In making this portage, they were assisted by David Soules, with his ox-team, from Big Bay Point, where, for a long time, he was the central figure. Franklin had, at this point of the journey, some French-Canadian voyageurs with him, and these were reinforced at Penetanguishene by others from Montreal, as he relates.

Franklin and his party reached Great Bear Lake in the autumn, and spent two years in exploring the Arctic coast line of Canada; his travels on this occasion, having been described in his "Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shore of the Polar Sea, in the years 1825-6-7." He returned from the Arctic region by way of the Ottawa River, which he descended in a canoe paddeled by fourteen voyageurs. The party reached Ottawa City- then a village called Bytown- on the 15th of August, 1827. While at Ottawa, he fell in with Capt. Basil Hall, the distinguished traveller, who has preserved in his rare volume of etchings, portraits of three Canadian voyageurs of Franklin's party- Francois Forcier, Enfant Lavallee and Malouin, the latter of whom was with Franklin during the whole of his journey, as steersman.

One of Franklin's Canadian colleagues and helpers about this time was John McDonald, chief factor of the North-West Company, who was mentioned on a former page, and who died in February, 1828. Over the grave of this man and his wife, in the Church of England cemetery, at Newmarket, is a headstone sent out from England by Lady Franklin, in memory of the man who had given so many services during these overland journeys. After Franklin's last voyage, in 1845-6, from which neither he nor his crew ever returned, some residents of this county took part in the searching expeditions sent out to find him, receiving adequate land grants for their services.

So frequently does the name of Michilimackinac occur in this country's history in connection with the important early route thither by way of Lake Simcoe, that they are entitled to separate mention. Although, in 1761, the British where the first to build a regular fort at Michilimackinac, the French had maintained a palisaded post there from 1687, when Denonville, the Viceroy of Canada, completed his comprehensive arrangements for the defence of the country. And even from the time of its discovery, in 1610, the place had been the chief resort in the west for the early French bush-rangers (coureurs des bois) and traders who roved about in that immense wilderness amongst the Indians. There were three routes thither, which were, in the order of their importance as well as position, as follows: By the Ottawa River; by Toronto and Lake Simcoe; and by Detroit. As early as 1686, Denonville writes that he had given orders to fortify the two western passages leading to Mackinaw. "Sieur du Lhu," (Duluth), he says, "is at that of the Detroit of Lake Erie, and Sieur de la Durantaye at that of the portage of Toronto. These two posts will block the passage against the English, if they undertake to go again to Michilimaquina." From that time onward the pass to Michilimackinac, by Lake Simcoe, figures more or less extensively in Canadian history, and especially prominent does it become after the establishment of Fort Rouille on the site of the present Toronto, 1749. The important part which this famous pass afterwards played in the war of 1812-15 must be sketched at some length.
The following correction was sent in by John Korchok: One small correction might be made near the end of the first paragraph of chapter 4: Fort Rouillé was built in 1750. The fort operated in 1749 was a temporary structure operated by the Sieur de Portneuf. You can refer to Percy J. Robinson's "Toronto During the French Régime 1615-1793" for more details.

On July 17th, of the opening year of he war, Michilimackinac was captured from the Americans, who fully realized their loss, and towards the end of 1813, their generals began to make preparations for its recapture. News of this design reaching the small British garrison at the place, there was great alarm, and a despatch was sent immediately to the Canadian military headquarters at Kingston, appealing for aid to ward off the coming attack.

A relief expedition accordingly left Kingston in February, 1814, consisting of ten officers and two hundred picked men, with twenty artillerymen, and twenty men of the Royal Navy, all under the command of Lieut.-Col. Robert McDouall, of the Glengarry Light Infantry. A large part of the route lay through territory then but little known. To this must be added another hardship--the severity of the weather in which the march was made. From Kingston they proceeded to "Little" York, which was still suffering from the grim experiences of its capture. They next advanced northward by Yonge Street to Holland Landing, after which they passed entirely out of the settlements, and crossed the frozen surface of Lake Simcoe. Beyond this lake the forest was then unbroken, except by an Indian portage, which for the passage of their supplies, they widened as they advanced. This road, leading from the head of Kempenfeldt Bay to Willow Creek, a branch of the Nottawasaga River, was called the "Nine Mile Portage," and afterwards became an important colinization road. At its northwesterly end, near Willow Creek, a wooden fort was subsequently erected, and a hamlet flourished there for several years, but it has long since disappeared, and its site is marked by only a few hillocks of earth and stones.

Proceeding on their course, the party halted on the banks of the Nottawasaga River, fully thirty miles from its outlet, and erected for themselves a number of temporary wooden huts. Here they cut down pine timber, hewed and prepared it on the spot, and constructed twenty-nine large batteaux, in which they completed the journey to Michilimackinac. On the Nottawasaga, a short way below where it is joined by Marl Creek, between Minesing and Edenvale, is the place where the expedition halted. It is known as the "Glengarry Landing," and was a familiar landmark for a long time, on account of the clearing they had made; but the trees of second growth which cover it are now so tall as to make it almost indistinguishable from the surrounding forest. From the journal of Captain Bulger, who accompanied the expedition, one gets an interesting glimpse of their departure from this place, and passage across Georgian Bay:-

"We embarked on the 22nd of April, having previously loaded the flotilla with provisions and stores, descending the Nottawasaga River-- the ice in the upper part of which being still firm, we opened a channel through it-- encamped on the night of the 24th of April in a dismal spot upon the north-eastern shore of Lake Huron (Georgian Bay), and on the following morning entered upon the attempt to cross that lake, covered as it was, as far as the eye could reach, by fields of ice, through which, in almost constant, and, at times, terrific storms, we succeeded, with the loss of only one boat in effecting a passage of nearly three hundred miles, arriving at Michilimackinac on the 18th of May. The expedition had occupied upwards of one hundred days, including our passage over the lake."

Taking into consideration the time of the year, the comparitive severity of the season, and the distance to be travelled, one may safely say that an expedition, more hazardous than this, is seldom undertaken. It was almost a continual struggle for nineteen days with the waves of the Georgian Bay, and the floating masses of ice. The commander of the expedition wrote in high terms of the abilities and perseverance of the officers, as well as the endurance of the men.

It was not until the 28th of July that Captain Sinclair, the American commander, made an attack upon Michilimackinac-- an attack, however, which resulted in failure. Had not the relief expedition arrived, as it did, some weeks before, the result would doubtless have been very different. But the meditated recapture had been forstalled, and thus was saved the chief post on the upper lakes.

The North-West Company had a vessel on Georgian Bay called the Nancy, which was employed in the fur trade, then so extensive in the district. Having learned that Lieut. Miller Worsley, of the British Navy, with the Nancy, was at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River, Sinclair next turned his attention in this direction. But here also he was doomed to meet with disappointment. Lieut. Worsley had been informed, by a messenger, of the blockade at Mackinaw, and in anticipation of an attack on his own position, began to erect a block-house, about two miles up the river. In a few days the American captain and his vessels arrived at the Nottawasaga, and attacked the small party of British at the place. The brief account of the engagement, by James, in his Naval History of Great Britain, will suffice to show what took place:-

"The Nancy was lying about two miles up the Nottawasaga, under the protection of a block-house, situated on the south-east side of the river, which here runs parallel to, and forms a narrow peninsula with the shore of Gloucester Bay (Nottawasaga Bay). This enabled Captain Sinclair to anchor his vessels within good battering distance of the block-house. A spirited cannonade was kept up between them and the block-house, where, besides two 24-pounder carronades on the ground, a six pounder was mounted. The three American vessels outside, composed of the Niagara, mounted 18 carronades, (thirty-two pounders), and two long twelve pounders, and the Tigress and the Scorpion mounted between them one long twelve, and two long twenty-four pounders. In addition to this force, a five-and-a-half inch howitzer, with a suitable detachment of artillery, had been landed on the peninsula. Against these 24 pieces of cannon, and upwards of 500 men, were opposed one piece of cannon and twenty-three officers and seamen.
Further resistance was in vain; and just as Lieut. Worsley had prepared a train, leading to the Nancy from the block-house, one of the enemy's shells burst in the latter, and both the block-house and the vessel were presently blown up. Lieut. Worsley and his men escaped in their boat up the river; and fortunately, the whole of tbe North-West Company's richly laden canoes, bound across the lake, escaped also into French River. Having thus led to the destruction of a vessel which the Amercian commander had the modesty to describe "His Britannic Majesty's schooner Nancy,' Captain Sinclair departed for Lake Erie, leaving the Tigress and the Scorpion to blockade the Nottawasaga, and, as that was the only route by which supplies could be readily forwarded, to starve the garrison of Michilimackinac into a surrender. After remaining at their station for a few days, the two American schooners took a trip to the neighborhood of St. Joseph's. Here they were discoverd, on the 25th August, by some Indians on the way to Michilimackinac."

A few days later these two vessels were captured by the British, and all the men on board taken prisoners to Kingston.

Old soldiers used to tell how Lieut. Worsley and his men, in the retreat up the river, were pursued by several boatloads of the enemy. They went on until they came to a bend in the river where it was unusally narrow. On the east side the bank arose high above the water, while on the west side it was low and swampy. Here the retreating party felled trees into the river to obstruct their pursuers. These came up about dusk, having been detained by scouts, who fired a few shots upon them according to design, at long distances and from safe hiding-places. No sooner had they reached the fallen trees than they became entangled in the branches. The muskets of the small British party in ambush on the shore gave them volley after volley, and compelled them to make a hasty retreat down the river with their killed and wounded.

After the close of war, in 1816, the British officers, recognizing the strategic position of the place, gave orders for the erection of a fort. The site chosen was a more sheltered spot, and two miles higher up the river than the place where the Nancy was blown up. A garrison occupied it for two years, and where then removed to Penetanguishene.

Aug. Porter relates that in 1803 a small sloop, called the Niagara, of 30 tons, was built a Cayuga Creek, on the Niagara River by the U.S. Government, but not put in commission. Porter, Barton & Co. purchased her in 1806, and changed her name to the Nancy, and she was sailed by Capt. Richard O'Meil. It is not improbable that this was the same Nancy owned by the North-West Company in 1814.

It is stated, however, in a paper by Lieut.-Col. E. Cruikshank on this episode of the war, (the manuscript of which was presented to the Ontario Historical Society, and the article itself printed in the Collingwood Bulletin of Nov. 19th and 26th, 1908), that the Nancy was built in 1789 by other merchants. This may be correct, although the identity of the vessel is not clearly established, owing to several changes of ownership.

In view of the extensive forests hereabout, filled with good timber, which might easily have been kiln-dried in a short time or otherwise seasoned, it is a little amusing that the Lords of the Admiralty gave orders to prepare (in England) the frames of "two sloops" to be shipped to Montreal with materials for rigging and equipping them to sail on Georgian Bay. Their Lordships had previously refused to prepare the frames of "a frigate and two brigs," as they were not aware that it would be practicable to transport from Montreal to Matchedash Bay such large timbers. (Can. Archives, 1896, Lower Canada State Papers, p. 46).

David Soules, of Big Bay Point, assisted in building a number of batteaux for Drummond Island, on the Nottawasaga River-- perhaps on the very occasion mentioned above, when the relief expedition halted on the banks of the river for that purpose. When the two American frigates, or armed schooners, came to blockade the Nottawasaga, an Indian runner was dispatched to Penetanguishene, where a naval depot had just been located, to announce the arrival of the American boats. Their subsequent capture was chiefly made by a band of French Canadians in small boats. These stealthily boarded the frigates, and found on one of them the Amercians asleep, whereupon they took them prisoners--sixty men in all, thirty from each frigate--handcuffed them, and led them to Kingston. Soules used to describe these captives, whom he helped to lead away, as a "band of cutthroats."

It was soon after this time that Fort Nottawasaga, four miles from the mouth of the river, was projected and built. It was established to form a supply depot for Michilimackinac, and prevent the Americans from cutting off communications with headquarters.

The establishment of these Georgian Bay posts, as well as that on Willow Creek at the terminus of the "Nine Mile Portage," are mentioned in the diary of Sir George Head, who was sent hither in that connection. Under date of April 14th, 1815, at which time he was living temporarily in a cabin on the north shore of Kempenfeldt Bay, he writes in his Forest Scenes.

"I had it in contemplation, some days past, to make my way through the forest to the head of the Nottawasaga River on ojects connected with the duty on which I was engaged. A road had been cut, but it was in a rude state, being a mere track where the trees had been partially felled by the axe, and the stumps, even of these, very imperfectly removed. This road led from the end of Kempenfeldt Bay, straight to the Nottawasaga River, making a portage of eight miles. Keeping along the shore of the bay, till we reached the track, we tben pursued it to the head of the Nottawasaga River. We walked a good pace till we reached the point of our destination, and having remained there a short time, so as to satisfy myself as to the objects I had in view, we commenced our return."

Although Head does not say as much here, this tour of inspection is likely to have been the one which resulted in the establishment of the Willow Fort.

At the close of the war, as already stated, the military authorities of Canada decided upon establishing a fort near the mouth of the Nottawasaga River. This was accordingly done in June, 1816, or perhaps a few months earlier. The fort was built about four miles up stream, near the end of the well-known tongue of land; so that, although difficult to reach, it was near enough the shore to spy the approach of danger on the lake, or command the position in case of a naval attack. Judging from the artificial mound which remains at the place to this day, the fort stood upon an elevated position in order that danger could be seen at a great distance.

About a dozen sailors in command of a naval officer, and some twenty men of the regular marine service, under Lieutenant Caldwell, comprised the garrison of that post. Of cilvilians there were a few, conspicuous amongst whom was a widow Vallieres, originally from the old French settlement at the Oak Ridges on Yonge Street. During the war of 1812 she kept a hostelry at Hogg's Hollow, near Toronto. A son of hers, James Remi Vallieires, gained admission to the Bar of Lower Canada, in 1812, practiced his profession with success for many years in the ancient city of Quebec, became a member of the Legislative Assembly, Speaker of the Lower Canadian Parliament in 1828, and was finally appointed Chief Justice of Montreal in 1842, dying in 1847, universally respected for his amiable and benevolent career. (See Morgan's Sketches of Celebrated Canadians). Widow Vallieres, his mother, married again to Asher Mundy, and when Fort Nottawasaga was established, they removed thither from Yonge Street, and kept a litle store or "canteen," for the sale of baker's goods and whiskey, their chief patrons being the occupants of the fort.

Amongst the historical mementos of the war time at the Nottawasaga are the remains of the sunken vessel in the river between the fort and the outlet. It is a current tradition of the place that the marks of the cannon balls amongst the tops of the trees could be seen for many years afterwards. Some people living in the neighborhood have found cannon balls amongst the sand-hills near the site of the fort. Owing to the bad harbour the post at Nottawasaga was not kept up for more than about two years, and in 1818 the garrison was permanently removed to Penetanguishene.

After the cession of the south part of the county by the Indians, Oct. 17th, 1818, the Government lost no time in staking it out into townships for settlement. In those days there were some wise rules in use for governing the survey of a township into lots with roads at regular intervals. If the township was beside a navigable river or body of water, the concession lines (being more numerous than the "side roads"), ran to the front bordering upon the water. Hence arose so much variety in the directions taken by the concession lines throughout our county, lying, as it does, beside various lakes and bays.

A number of surveyors took part in the surveys of the townships in the county, more than half of whom lived in the older settlements down Yonge Street. For the survey of a township, each received in part payment, or, perhaps, sometimes in full payment, a number of farm lots in the township, and thus, as the surveyor had the best chance to see the quality of the land and make a selection, it so happened that surveyor's script was the best kind of purchase to make, for any imcoming settler who had to buy.

Samuel S. Wilmot received instructions, August, 1811, to survey a road of communication between Kempenfeldt Bay and Penetanguishene harbour, and lay off lots for settlement along the road. His instructions were to proceed to the north side of Kempenfeldt Bay, near to the place at the head of the bay where, in June, 1808, his examination of a line for a road commenced, and there select and choose the most suitable position for a town and harbour. He was then to survey the outline of a town plot of one mile and length by half a mile and breadth; then, a road direct to the south side of Penetanguishene harbour, and within half a mile of that harbour he was to begin to survey the outlines of another town plot. Wilmot's first exploration, mentioned above, had been in March, 1808, in connection with the boundaries of the tract agreed to be purchased in the late preliminary treaty with the Chippewa (Ojibways) Indians. In accordance with the instructions he now received, he surveyed the outlines of the first town plot on Kempenfeldt Bay, as directed, and allowed half a mile for its depth. This subsequently became a village, and after it began to receive inhabitants, was known as Kempenfeldt, but at no time did it develop much beyond the hamlet stage. He then surveyed the road, thirty miles in length (except a small fraction), and finally the outlines of the original town plot of Penetanguishene.

A sketch of Col. S. Wilmot, the surveyor of the Penetanguishene Road in 1811, appeared in William Harrison's "Sketches of Richmond Hill and Vicinity," published in the "Richmond Hill Liberal" in 1888. At the time of the survey under review, he lived on lot. No. 47, Yonge Street, (near Thornhill), and afterwards resided near Newcastle, Ont. Rev. Thomas Williams (Memories of a pioneer, in the concluding "Memory", states that Birdsall made a survey of the Penetanguishene Road in 1813 or 1814.

In Wilmot's survey during the later summer of 1811, as above described, he merely reported on the suitability of town plots at Kempenfeldt Bay and Penetanguishene Harbour, and marked their outlines. Accordingly, on Jan. 28th, 1812, he received instructions to lay out a town plot on Kempenfeldt Bay (i.e. at Kempenfeldt), at the place which he had reported as suitable for that purpose, and on the following day he also received instructions to lay out the Penetanguishene town plot. In this way the line of communication between the two lakes and its two terminals came into existence.

In Wilmot's survey of the lots along the Penetanguishene Road in 1811, every farm lot was made to contain 200 acres, with a frontage of 80 rods on the road, and a depth of 400, according to the mode of survey in vogue at that time. But by the time the Indian cessions set free all the land in the county, in 1818, for settlement, a new fashion had come in. A township was then laid out into lots, each having a frontage of 120 rods on the concession line. The result of this change in fashion was that the six townships along the Penetanguishene Road each have the two kinds of surveys within their borders, from which much perplexity arises.

The later class of survey just mentioned, having frontages of 120 rods, needed a depth of 266 2/3 rods to make a lot of 200 acres. In connection with this dimension a singular popular delusion prevails. If you ask any settler how many rods frontage his land has, he will tell you correctly, 120. But if you ask him what is the distance between one concession line and another, he will tell you seven-eighths of a mile. The actual depth of 266 2/3 rods, by vulgar fractions, is five-sixths of a mile, and yet the odd selection of one fraction for another has become almost universal.

This is the mode of survey throughout nearly the whole of the county. Yet, still another system came into use in the latest surveys, viz., those of Sunnidale and Nottawasaga, in 1832 and 1833, where a sideroad was placed at every third lot, and the alternate concession lines, called "blind lines," have been usually left unopened.

It may be interesting to scan the list of those who obtained the patents on surveyor's script, apparently for the surveys of the different townships, and the number of acres received:-

The table shows how small was the market value of land at the time of the surveys, the best lands in the townships having been, of course selected.

George and Samuel Lount surveyed the Township of West Gwillimbury in the summer of 1819. The nominal contractor for the survey was their father, Gabriel Lount, but the actual work devolved upon the sons, especially George, who had the qualifications of a surveyor, but in whose name contracts were not made until he came of age. His older brother, Samuel, on account of his skill in the woods, was a useful helper in the work.

The instructions to Gabriel Lount, June 15th, 1819, for the survey of the Township of Tecumseth were elaborate. This was described as a township in the rear of the Townships of King and Albion. He was instructed to measure the distance of nine miles from Yonge Street along the northern boundary of King, to determine the S.E. angle of the township he was to survey. Minute details then follow as to the staking out of the roads and lots. Some uncompleted portions of the township were attended to by George Lount in 1832, who had, with his brother, Samuel, as in the case of West Gwillimbury, made the original survey for their father in 1819.

For the survey of Innisfil, the Governor-in-Council, on Oct. 23rd, 1819, approved of the proposals of James Pearson, yeoman of Whitchurch. Mr. Pearson was a son-in-law of Gabriel Lount, and thus became the nominal contractor for the work for the Lount brothers. The township was surveyed between the first of February and March 15th, 1820, and Richard Birdsall's map of it, in the Department of Lands, at Toronto, is dated, Newmarket, March 24th, 1820. Mr. Pearson, the contractor, received in part payment the patents for nineteen lots (3,800 acres), on May 2nd, 1820.

A circumstance, which is worthy of note, occured in connection with the survey of Innisfil, according to the narrative of an early settler. The surveyor, named Richard Birdsall, who then lived in "Little" York, (Toronto), was an Englishman by birth, as well as by training in his profession; and, if he was thorough, he was also slow in his methods. He and the Lount brothers came to an understanding and went into partnership in the contract, he to receive half of the pay if he did the "compassing," and they to chain and receive the other half, by which arrangement they would divide the pay into two equal parts. Their camp was at the Essa line, and the Lounts expected to survey across one concession line to Lake Simcoe in a day, and return next day along the next concession line to their camp, thus being out two days at a time. When the work began, Birdsall demanded that all trees and other obstructions should be cut out of the line of sight for his compass, and he would make no offsets either to the right or the left. Being of the old school everything had to come out of his way. This used up three or four days on every trip, and instead of being out two days, they spent double that number. The Lounts soon objected to this, as they would lose money by their contract. In the altercation which followed, Mr. Birdsall told the spokesman that if he was not satisfied he had better do it himself. So George Lount took the compass, and after this Mr. Birdsall merely tallied for the chainers, and made the field notes. In this way they carried out the survey so as to lose nothing by the contract. The field notes in the Department of Lands are by Mr. Birdsall. When "proving" the survey of this township, Mr. Lount proceeded along the line between lots 25 and 26 across the township from the south side to near Big Bay Point, , reckoned the position of the last stake, and probing with his staff in the snow said it ought to be there. Sure enough, he struck the stake at the first trial, showing the accuracy of the survey.

James G. Chewett, the surveyor of Oro, Medonte, Tay, Orillia and part of Vespra, in 1820, was the man who made the first survey for the Welland Canal in 1818, although his canal route was afterwards deemed impracticable, and was superseded by another.

Samuel Richardson, who surveyed Matchedash in 1830, was a native of Wales, and resided in Penetanguishene for some years. He surveyed part of the Penetanguishene town plot in 1829-30, the Orilla town plot in 1839, part of Eldon Township in 1841, and other lands at various times. On the breaking up of the Establishment at Penetanguishene, he moved to lot 5, a mile north of Kempenfeldt, on the Oro side, and soon afterwards died there, (Mar. 2nd, 1843), at the age of 47 years. He was Treasurer of Simcoe County at the time of his death.

It is worthy of note that the town line of Flos and Tiny, also that between Tay and Medonte, were surveyed by an officer of the Royal Engineers when this part of the county was blocked out into townships. (District Council Minutes, 1848, p. 94).

John Goessman, the surveyor of Flos and Tiny, was a native of Hanover, and had gone through many hardships in the wars of Napoleon Bonaparte. At a later time (1835), he did some work to complete the survey of Vespra; so also did Robert Ross, who was a resident surveyor in Barrie during the early days. In one of these later surveys of Vespra, it is said the surveying party were too much inclined to hang around some low groggeries on the Penetanguishene Road, and did their work badly. At all events, the survey of the township was not good. Some of the half-lots have twenty or thirty acres more than their due, while others are short. In some of these cases the Government, at a later period, had to give the short ones script for land in other places to make up the deficiencies.

It appears the original survey between part of the third and fourth concessions of Vespra had never been made, or, if so, it became so obliterated by 1872 that the landholders were subject to great inconvenience. In order to have it made right, several of them applied to the County Council, which sent a memorial to the Lieut.-Governor-in-Council to have it done, recommending Henry Creswicke, P.L.S., to make and complete the survey. There is a considerable "jog" at lot 9 on the fifth line, which appears to have arisen out of the same complication in the original survey.

At one time there was also projected, and partly made, a second survey of Flos by Henry Creswicke, to correct its inaccuracies, just as in the case of Vespra and Sunnidale. But this re-survey was stopped at the instance of Dr. J.C. Tache, the Deputy-Minister of Agriculture, (whose term of office lasted from 1864 till 1888), as he foresaw a heap of difficulties arising out of any attempt to change the lines of the original survey.

In the original survey of Sunnidale by Thomas Kelly (1832 and 1833), the portion lying between the Sunnidale Road and the eastern boundary of the township, in the first eight concessions, was either not surveyed or the survey was obliterated. Rev. Thomas Williams, in his "Memories," says Robert Ross also made a survey of Sunnidale in the early days. About the year 1861, a surveyor, William Sanders, also made a private survey of part of the eastern section for some of the inhabitants. But is seemed desirable that there should be an official survey of it; accordingly, the Township Council, in 1868, urged the Government to make a survey of this whole easterly part, and the Commissioner of Crown Lands accordingly appointed Henry Creswicke, jun., to make this survey. The gore shape of Sunnidale, the intrusive survey of lots facing the Sunnidale Road passing northward through the township diagonally across the ranges of lots which ran east and west, and the presence of different surveyors at the staking out of this part of the township, all inevitably led to what might be expected, viz., woeful confusion. At a public meeting in New Lowell, Oct. 27th, 1881, sixty owners of land, all interested in the tract in question, attended. Their differences were afterwards satisfactorily settled, so that each settler might receive the land he had cleared, and an Act of the Ontario Legislature was passed in 1887 to confirm Creswicke's survey and allotment of the lands in dispute. The survey of Ripon town plot on lots 22 and 23, concession 1, was also done away with by this act.

Nowadays, the surveyors can define their lines with permanent stone or iron stakes. In the early days, the perishable wooden stakes they planted rotted off or where burnt off, in so many cases, that subsequent surveyors often had to travel for miles to find one. In other cases, especially where there was swampy land, it is too true that in some instances no survey was made by the original surveyor.

Thomas Kelly made a survey of the Township of Nottawasaga in 1832, and completed a map of it, Feb. 27th, 1833, as far north as lot 22 (inclusive) in the first eleven concessions, the last, or twelfth, concession being omitted. There has been a tradition among the older settlers of the township itself, how that a whiskey bottle bore a conspicuous part in the survey on this occasion, so that, if not the surveyor himself, at least some of the axemen or helpers were to much addicted to the flowing bowl to make a good job of staking out the lots. The map he left for posterity to ponder looks all right, yet we are reminded to be causious about what we see on paper. Be the circumstances what they may, Charles Rankin, under instructions from the Surveyor-General, dated March 23rd, 1833, re-surveyed parts and completed the survey of it, more especially the northern end and the western parts, in the ensuing summer.

Mr. Rankin's instructions included also a re-survey of Sunnidale. He was furnished from the Surveyor-General's office with copies of those portions of Sunnidale and Merlin already surveyed by Mr. Kelly. And his Excellency's pleasure was also stated to be that Merlin and Java should in future be called and considered as one township to be named Nottawasaga (Java having been the north part, and Merlin the south part).

Accordingly, at Penetanguishene, May 21st, 1833, Chas. Rankin, for the survey of Nottawasaga engaged (as his Diary relates) Ezekiel Solomon, Cuthbert Amiotte, Thomas LeDuc and Martin Ploof as axemen at two shillings and sixpence per day. Mr. Commissary Wickens supplied the party with a small quantity of flour and pork for the journey, and they set out by boat for their destination on the opposite shore of Nottawasaga Bay. Mr. Rankin completed the survey of the township by Aug. 15th of that year.

In the practical results of the surveyor's work, generally, this county, like others, shows some wild surveying, and a large volume would not contain all the records of agitations and fierce lawsuits arising out of blunders in the surveys. There is not a township in it but has an abundance of "jogs" and irregularities of various kinds. Notwithstanding the good intentions of the Government and surveyors themselves, some owners of hundred acre lots actually have only ninety acres, while others have a hundred and ten. The Act of the Ontario Legislature, in 1874, for the limitations of actions by which any disputed line fence which had stood unmoved for ten years became a legal boundary, put an end to a large amount of profitless litigation.

It is easy now for us to find faults and see crooked lines, but it was difficult in the woods to run perfectly straight lines and measure distances accurately. In all the townships there were "jogs" in the middle of the concessions, causing obstructions and deviations on the side roads, or "cross roads," as they are called in some localities. These were a grievance, and tbe District Council in Oct., 1848, petitioned the Governor-in-Council to remove them. Following this agitation, William Gibbard, the surveyor, was engaged in a portion of 1851-2, in running middle lines (in the Township of Innisfil at least, and probably in some other townships). This Mr. Gibbard was brutally murdered on board of the steamer "Ploughboy," while on her downward trip from Sault Ste. Marie to Collingwood in August, 1863, and the County Council offered a reward of $200 for the apprehension of the muderer.

These sketches of the early surveys would be incomplete without some reference to the numerous town plots which were laid out and named, but which failed to receive any inhabitants. A few of these may be mentioned:-

Hythe, near the mouth of the Nottawasaga River, 1833.
Ripon, on the Nottawasaga River, near Angus, 1833.
Innisfallen, on Shingle Bay, near Orillia, 1834.
Amsterdam, on the Holland River, near Bradford, 1836.
Port Powell, on lots 9 and 10, con. 9, Tay, on Sturgeno Bay, 1846,
Leith, beside Allandale, on the south side of Kempenfeldt Bay.
Everton, on lot 111, con. 1, Tay, W. of Midland Bay, 1853.
Bristol, on lot 24, con. 6, Vespra, W. of Barrie.
Sudbury, near Collingwood, Feb. 1856.
Drumlanrig, on lot 24, con. 12, Medonte, etc., near Coldwater, 1856.

Plans of all these town plots were prepared and registered at the times mentioned, but only in two or three instances did any actual settlers take up their abode in these paper towns.

As most of the published maps of the county were first prepared by the early surveyors, this will be a convenient place for referring to some of them.

The Canada Company issued an atlas of township diagrams of Upper Canada (including a number in our county) in two volumes, on a scale of about a mile and half to an inch. No date is attached to this atlas, but it is understood to be about 1836. These township maps did not contain many details, but have a value as showing the Company's lots in each township, with a goodly number of rivers and streams traced from the maps of the original surveys.

A map of the Home and Simcoe Districts, on one sheet, by Chas. Rankin, Esq., the surveyor, is dated March 1st, 1841, and has a number of interesting features.

A map of the county, on a scale of two miles and a half to an inch, by Wm. Gibbard, P.L.S., 1853, shows the towns and villages, mills, travelled roads, and other features, as they existed in that time, and has a special value for anyone interested in the history of the county for the sake of comparisons with our more modern topography.

John Hogg's large map of the county, 1871, giving all the names of the owners of lands at that time, was an expensive undertaking, from which the publisher never realized its cost.

The map compiled and published by John Dickinson, C.E., 1878, on a scale of two miles to an inch, following the extensive railway development of the seventies, showed the new railways then constructed.

The latest is that of the Times Publishing Company, Orillia, and it supplies many modern features not to be found in the older ones. Two or three editions of it have already appeared.