Bowering, Ian. Cornwall: from Factory Town to Seaway City. Cornwall: The Standard-Freeholder, 1999.

· This book is essentially a photographic history of Cornwall. It is broken down by subject, not chronologically.

· Chapters include:

o Ch. 1 – Introduction

o Ch. 2 – Sports and Recreation

o Ch. 3 – Parks and the Cornwall Waterfront

o Ch. 4 – Crossing the Waterfront

o Ch. 5 – Getting Around : Transportation and the Cornwell Canal

o Ch. 6 – 40 Miles of Cool Water: the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project

o Ch. 7 – Defence

o Ch. 8 – Emergencies

o Ch. 9 – Government

o Ch. 10 – Religion

· Include pictures and brief details of the waterfront improvement strategy in 1988.

· Historic pictures of the bridges crossing the river, including the bridge disaster in 1898 which claimed 15 lives, and the second bridge disaster in 1908.

· Includes historic pictures of the locks, building the locks and the locks in use. The section on River Travel includes some good pictures of some of the old steamers that made their way past Cornwall, including the Britannic and the Rapids Kings.

· The Seaway section includes ‘the Seaway Song.’ It’s not really that good, but could be used in the cultural expressions section. Good pictures of the Moses-Saunders Dam construction and its opening ceremonies.

· This book does not include too much valuable information pertaining to the history of Cornwall aside from the odd note of interest; however, the pictures are valuable and give a good sense of what the time period was like. If any of these images are desired to be include in the study, they are available at the Local History Room of the Cornwall Public Library.

Bowering, Ian. Running Down the Rapids: Boats on the St. Lawrence, 1848 – 1957. Cornwall: Stormont Dundas and Glengarry Historical Society, 2005.

• Briefly describes the history of steamers on the St. Lawrence starting in 1809 when John Molson launched the Accommodation between Montreal and Quebec. The Frontenac was launched from Kingston 3 years later.
• Gives an interesting account of how two Indians were hired to do the inaugural test of the Ontario down the Long Sault rapids in 1842. (pg4)
• The next chapter details the history of Canada Steamship Lines.
• The rest of the book is devoted to the histories of various individual boats that sail the St. Lawrence.

Bowering, Ian. Running Down the Rapids: Boats on the St. Lawrence, 1832 – (Vol. 2). Cornwall: Stormont Dundas and Glengarry Historical Society, 2006.

• Bowering opening starts by making corrections to his previous volume. He cites MacKey`s work on steamer on the St. Lawrence as being more accurate. Given this, it suggested that research by-pass Bowering`s history on the St. Lawrence in favour of MacKey`s comprehensive detailing of steamships on the St. Lawrence.
• Most of the book briefly details the various ship lines that sailed the St. Lawrence. There are some interesting images that may want to be considered in the submittal, such as travel brochures for Canada Steamship Lines.
• The rest of the boat focus mostly on the histories of various river boats.
• Reference list may be of some use.

Good, Mabel. Chevrier: Politician, Statesman, Diplomat and Entrepreneur of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Montreal: Stanke, 1987.

• Chevrier was the MP for Stormont from 1935 to 1954, at which time he was appointed to as President of the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority.
• Much of the book covers his early life and other irrelevant areas of concern. Chapter 7 focuses on his role in the Seaway`s construction. One interesting part of this chapter is the American`s reluctance to commit to the project. It was only after Canada decided to go it alone did the American reconsider their stance
• Chapter 8 deals primarily with the building of the Seaways and the issues that arose from it. One interesting point is that the project attracted grave-diggers from all over Canada once it was discovered that several pioneer grave yards would have to be moved. This chapter also highlights various examples of resistance to the project.
• Chapter 9 describes the aftermath of the project, although much of the chapter deals with the building stage. Interesting point include: that Chevrier believed that the Indians were taught the more they protest the more compensation they would receive. Also the fact that provision were made that should the two American locks in the Seaway system become inoperable because of US hostility, Canada could easily and cheaply build two more locks on the Canada side to make the Seaway entirely Canadian. Covers the disputes with the Americans over the placement of locks. Canada went ahead with their plan to build despite the fact that the US was resolved to build the locks on their side. Details the controversy surrounding the naming of the newly created Lake St. Lawrence above the dam. Chevrier and other locals wanted it named Long Sault Lake.
• Chevrier also wrote his own book on the Seaway in 1959, entitled The St. Lawrence Seaway. This book is available at Queen`s Library – call number: HD1694 .A2 C52

Hamilton, Janice. The St. Lawrence River: History, Highway and Habitat. Montreal: Redlader Publishing, 2006.

• p.23 thousand islands, to Montreal island, are a part of the fluvial section

• p.24 Bostwick Island, site of Half Moon Bay where families would go by boat, skiff, dingy to attend summer church services – possible link to mural in Gananoque
• p.42 Fort Frontenac, 1673, little known, however, of the upper St. Lawrence past Montreal – fur traders favoured the Ottawa route to avoid the hostile Iroquois of the river and the several km portage around the Lachine and Gallop rapids
• p.47 river rat William Johnston, Pirate of the St. Lawrence – burned the steamer Sir Robert Peel in 1838 off of Wellesley Island
• p.58 long, narrow, open-decked batteaux and Durham boats were the modes of transport between Kingston and Montreal
• Batteaux constructed of wood (often cedar) with flat bottoms to avoid being stuck in shallow water, about 20 metres long
• Durham boats, similar to barges, appeared at start of 19^th century – driven by sails, poled through shallow water, or pulled by oxen and horses on the shore, longer and wider than the batteaux, could carry up to 12 to 14 tons of passengers and goods
• estimated by 1835 1,500 batteaux and 500 Durham boats operated above Montreal
• p.59 small side-wheel steamers moved through the rapids of the Upper St. Lawrence – flat-bottomed, wooden-hulled, wood-burning boilers
• 1842 Charles Dickens described his voyage from Kingston to Montreal
• larger steamboats began to shoot the rapids with expert pilots such as Big John from Akwesasne
• late 19^th century saw introduction of the rowboat, St. Lawrence River skiff use as the best means to travel around the Thousand Islands – 5 metres long, narrow, light and stable, used sails, but no rudder; shift weight to steer
• set of relay shipping – Canada Steamship Lines’ (CSL) Great White Fleet – passenger vessels with varying fleets for varying conditions – one for the Great Lakes, second fleet of paddle wheelers from Toronto to Prescott, then board rapid shooters at Long Sault and Lachine – last CSL to make the trip was the Rapids Prince in 1949

Ch.3 Flora and Fauna

• p.64 varied habitat of the Thousand Islands provide shelter for many animals and flora – combo of boreal and deciduous i.e. balsam firs and ground cedars (boreal) and black and silver maples (decid.)
• red fox, flying squirrels, mink and white-tailed deer, black rat snakes (largest snake in Canada, up to 2.5 metres), northern water snakes, spring peepers, 88 species of fish
• p.67 walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, northern leopard frog, snapping turtle, common garter snake, ring-billed gull, muskrat, beaver
• red/white trilliums, anemones, violets, Queen Anne’s lace, orange hawkweed, goldenrod, purple asters
• p.68 80% of the river’s wetlands is in the freshwater fluvial section – the lungs and kidney
• estimated 2/3 of the wetlands of the lower Great Lakes and St. Lawrence have disappeared over the last 400 years
• p.81 first zebra mussels arrived from Europe in 1986 in discharged ballast water in the Great Lakes, can reach densities of 300,000/square metre – only in non-salient fluvial
• altered the ecology of the river, consuming phytoplankton upon which minnows and newly hatched fish depend = crystal clear water, a sign of depleted life
• p.82 invasive round goby – small aggressive fish from Caspian Sea eats small minnows and eggs
• much is positive – freshwater fish populations remain diverse, still many large and healthy wetlands, many fish fit for human consumption
• p.90 William Henry Bartlett painted scenes of the St. Lawrence in 1838

Lefebvre, Roy & Seymour, Norman. The Rivermen: Echoes of Lake St. Francis. Cornwall: Astro Printing, 2007.

• Describes the natural processes and features of Lake St. Francis. Also describes how instream plants such as `wild celery` (Valissineria Americana) is an integral part of the St. Lawrence ecosystem. Also includes a description of the river`s flow. Describes seasonal variation of water levels at different stages of the lake`s history (ie, pre-damming, post-damming but pre-Seaway, and post Seaway).
• The first chapter gives a fairly comprehensive overview of the history of Lake St. Francis, with some unique historical stories, including the mystery behind the naming of the lake and the first settler on the lake being a former slave named Black Bullard, who provided fish to the first settlers without charge.
• Chapter 2 details one of the Lake`s most prominent families – the Senecals.
• Ch. 5 – describes the island mystique. Lake St. Francis contains the largest concentration of islands on the upper St. Lawrence aside from the 1000 islands. Describes the posh Algonquin Hotel that once stood on the island and attract the famous and was known for its hunting and sporting activities.
• Ch. 7 - Gives an interesting account of how most of the river pilots and timber raft crews who navigated the Long Sault were mostly Mohawk. Also details decline of the mighty sturgeon, which can grow up to 2.5 metres in length and live to be 150 years old. Sturgeon fishing has been banned in the Lake and the St. Lawrence since 1992.
• Ch 8 details the history of the eel fisher on Lake St. Francis, including historic catching technique such as night fishing with lanterns, spearing. Also indicates that Mohawks were expert eel fishers. Describes the spawning habits of the eel, which spawn in Bermuda and mature in the St. Lawrence. Also describes the decline of the eel fishery, the effect of power dams and the closure of the eel fishery in Ontario (but not Quebec)
• Ch 9 describes ice fishing on the lake. It was considered a social event. Some interesting stories of people driving cars out on the ice in the spring. 2” was considered safe by some fishermen.
• Ch 11 - describes the Muskie fishery on Lake St. Fancies.
• Ch 12 - highlights the history of the guiding industry.
• Ch 14 – describes the importance of duck hunting to people who lived near the Lake.
• Ch 18 – comprehensive history of the use of decoys on Lake St. Francis
• Ch 20 – describes the use of skiffs on Lake St. Francis, including some versions of the skiff that are unique to Lake St. Francis, such as the Laplante skiff and the Senecal skiff.

Morris, John. Morrises’ History of Prescott, 1800 – 2000. Prescott: St. Lawrence Printing Co., 2001.

• Ch. 1 – Covers war, commerce and politics. Details the building of Fort Wellington. The original assessment of the building was very poor. It was originally built as a blockhouse, but later fortified with wall after the raid on Ogdensburg because of a fear of retaliation. Ft. Wellington was abandoned in 1832. The 1837 caused the British to build a better fort on the remains of the old fort starting in the summer of 1838. Was later abandoned in 1870 when British troops were withdrawn from Canada and the Royal Canadian Regiment was disbanded.
• Ch. 1 also covers the capture of Ogdensburg. The author contends that battle occurred because most of the soldiers stationed at the garrison were trained to fight and had likely seen battle in other parts of the world. Consequently they welcomed a fight with an enemy inferior in numbers and power. This is in addition to seeking revenge for the American raid on Elizabethtown (Brockville), which the author also covers. Interestingly, American farmers were supplying the British with supplies in return for gold and to get cross-border trade back to normal. Also mentions an unsuccessful raid on Ogdensburg by the Stormont Flankers in 1812.
• Ch 1, pg. 39 – Prescott: Cradle of Commerce in Upper Canada – Imports included china, furniture, cloth, metal, spices and other household needs. Exports include potash, pickled sturgeon, maple sugar and syrup, pork in barrels, raw hides, flour grains, furs and seeds. The forwarding trade continued successfully until the completion of the St. Lawrence canals in 1847. Captain William Gilkinson was the first forwarder to establish a thriving business in Prescott in 1811. Other forwarders soon followed including McPherson and Crane, which became the dominant forwarder in Canada as well as Hooker and Holton.
• Pg. 45 – Political Turmoil of the 1830s – Sir John Simcoe Graves, the architect of the 1791 Constitution Act which divided Upper and Lower Canada, was out of step with the times by being an ardent monarchist, supporter of the aristocracy and rigid class structure. He sowed the seeds for the 1830s rebellion in which new settlers were determined to have a roll in forming the government. Lieutenant Governor had a lot of power in deciding who was elected to the Legislative Council by means of jerry mongering. This section describes the local events and sentiment that contributed to the rebellion in 1837.
• Ch. 2 – pg 49 to 62 covers the Battle of the Windmill in great detail. Also includes the ‘Windmill Fighting Song’ that was used by Militiamen at the Windmill as they hauled prisoners to jail.
• Pg 63 to 65 – covers the Fenian Threat between 1865 to 1870.
• Ch 3 – pg 71 to 74 covers the Founding Fathers, the Jessups.
• Pg. 75 – the Town’s namesake, General Robert Prescott.
• Pg. 95 – covers the cholera epidemic of 1834.
• Pg. 98 – emigrants arrive sick and destitute
• Ch 5 - Transportation Hub of Upper Canada, Ferries Predate Settlers - Pg. 155 to 160. The first ferry service started in the 1770s between Ogdensburg and Prescott on a sailboat called the River Girl, although Prescott was largely unpopulated at the time.
• Pg. 155 The British garrisoned at Fort La Presentation in Ogdensburg until 1796 in order to guarantee free trade and fee movement of good.
• After the War of 1812, a horse boat operated between Prescott and Ogdensburg until 1832 when a steamer called Lady of the Lake started service. The Plumb family operated this ferry service from 1815 to 1909.
• In 1914, the ferry service, now under different ownership started the running the Miss Vandenberg, which was the first internal combustion engine ship in North America.
• The ferry service to Ogdensburg ceased in 1960, when the Ogdensburg International Bridge opened.
• Pg. 167 Speeding Silk Trains – The completion of the CPR ion 1885 opened eastern NA to trade with the Orient. The silk train consisted of 4 to 8 cars which transported bails of silk originating in Japan, through Vancouver and across Canada to Prescott where they crossed on the train ferry and continued on to New York. The Prescott travel cut off almost a full day of travel. The entire journey from Vancouver to NYC took 84 hours because silk was given priority over other freight. The silk trains ran from the 1890’s to the 1930’s. The trade ended in part because the of the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914.
• Pg. 169 International Railway Ferry – The route has been in operation since 1888. In the later years it operated 365 days a year with the help of an ice breaking tug. Operated until 1970 when a fire damaged the Ogdensburg dock, which proved to be too costly to rebuild.
• A grain elevator was built in 1895 to take advantage of its strategic location on the St. Lawrence.
• Pg. 184 – A Bridge Too Far – The bridge lacked support from both US and Canadian communities. It was largely built on the well-meaning whim of one-term NY state governor W. Averll Harriman. Awkwardly located 58km from the nearest interstate, the bridge does not bring in enough revenue to remain profitable. Fractured much of the kinship between Prescott and Ogdensburg. Many women in Prescott used to rush to Ogdensburg to give birth since it was the closest hospital. This would result in many Prescott males receiving draft letters during times of war. Cross-border shopping was essential to both communities, particularly Ogdensburg, which was also known as the New Orleans of the North because of its plentiful bars that attracted many Canadians.
• Ch. 8, pg 257 – 292, Bear, Whiskey, Prosperity: Part of a Developing Nation
• Pg 257 – McCarthy’s Brewery – There were three prominent distilleries in Prescott during the 19^th century and into the 20^th. McCarthy’s Distilery was established in 1869 by John McCarthy. Most of the barley used came by way of sailing schooners which carried between 2000 and 3000 bushels a day. One train-car load of beer would be delivered to Ottawa weekly. The business was closed in 1916 because of Prohibition
• Pg. 264 – Labatt’s Brewery – originally owned by John Smith from Virginia, who sold it to Robert and Ephraim Labatt under financial distress
• Pg. 267. Wiser’s Distillery Dominated Prescott Economy in the 19^th Century – JP Wiser was an American by birth, was a highly ambitious man who ran a distillery for James G Averell in Prescott. By 1862 Wiser bought out his partners share in the distillery. Between 1864 and 1880, the distillery employed 60 men and paid the government $2000 a day in excise duty. There is an extensive essay detailing the Wiser family and operation on pages 267 - 292. The information contained within this essay is too in depth for this brief summary.
• Pg. 337 – Imperial Starch Company a Failure – The Imperial Starch Co. established in 1900, the plant was never really a success because of a series of bad business decisions. It sits on the property where the present day Canada Coast Guard Centre sits. It was torn down in 1986. It was absorbed into Edwardsburgh Starch Co. , which closed the plant in 1906. The property was bought by the federal government in 1913.
• Pg. 345 – Coast Guard service started in 1903. One of 11 facilities located across Canada responsible for maintaining the Marine Transportation System. Responsible for monitoring the waterway for oil and chemical pollution. Also responsible for ensuring the cleanup of any pollutants as well as identifying polluters.
• Pg. 358 – Knapp’s Roller Boat – Perhaps the most comprehensive history of the roller boat. It details Frederick Augustus Knapp’s personal life and his quest to transform the ship industry, mostly on a hunch that his roller boat would revolutionize the industry. Details the fate of the prototype which Knapp worked on for years in an effort to get it working, which it ultimately did not.

Nelson, Gordon (ed.) The Great River: A Heritage Landscape Guide to the Upper St. Lawrence Corridor. Waterloo: Environmental Publications, 2005.

• p.4 over past two centuries, as book highlights, natural and cultural history of St. Lawrence have become very much intertwined
• p.6 abiotic (non-living – climate, soil, weather, geology, landforms, rhythms of waters or hydrology), biotic (plants and animals and their habitats), and cultural (human learning expressed in land and resources uses, technology, planning policies, and religious or other beliefs that influence the change and use of the landscape).

Natural Heritage

Part 2: The Abiotic Domain

• p.8 bedrock and landforms important to understanding the types of settlements – limestone and sedimentary erosion gives way to pseudo-plains
• p.13 glacial features within the region such as glacial-fluvial, or sand, deposits, limestone, clay, muck and till plains, crystalline rocks, undulating plains, drumlins

Part 3: The Biotic Domain

• p.15 Deciduous forest only penetrates the western edge of the St. Lawrence corridor (small oak – hickory forest on mainland and islands of Kingston)
• Great Lakes – St. Lawrence is a mixed wood forest between Boreal and Deciduous
• Contains spruce, balsam fir and other needle-leaf evergreen coniferous (cone-bearing), oak, maple and other broad-leaf trees
• Over 275 bird species i.e. Cardinal, downy woodpecker, wood duck, screech owl, Caspian tern , and American bittern
• Mammals include white tailed deer, coyotes, occasional cougar and panther
• P.18 Of importance is the Frontenac Axis and St. Lawrence Lowlands ecoregions
• p.21 degradation of water due to pollution; high amounts of mirex, PCBs, DDT, mercury, lead, copper and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and its derivatives; p.22 pollution list such as industrial discharges and its impact
• p.23 Endangered species of the St. Lawrence
• p.26 Over 160, as of 2005, ANSIs (Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest) or “red flags” have been identified in the Upper St. Lawrence region

Human Heritage

Part 4: The Cultural Domain

• p.32 Ancient site at Brockville archaeological evidence for Archaic stage, the second major stage of human occupancy in North America
• site at Brockville dates from approx. 3500 to 2500 B.C.E., discovered and reported upon in 1856 – ground stone, copper tools, burials, human bones (middle Archaic or Laurentian people
• in summer, large groups gathered at open waterways to hunt and fish, socialize
• p.33 large groups broke into smaller ones for winter, located in the interior
• Third major stage was the Woodland, from 800 B.C.E. to approx. 1,000 C.E.
• similar seasonal operations to that of Archaic
• p.34 St. Lawrence an area of contention between warring peoples – Ontario Iroquois (including Huron), another group was the Seneca, Cayuga and other New York Iroquois and a third was the Northern Algonquins
• p.36 Early movement, as a result of the difficult Long Sault rapids near Cornwall, was deflected up the Ottawa, into Georgian Bay and the Upper Great Lakes
• some forerunners of the fur trade began to push further up the St. Lawrence by mid 1600s, but little evidence remains of their passing
• early group to ascend the St. Lawrence led by Governor of New France, Remy de Courcelle, in 1670, a specific and newly designed boat designed to shoot rapids, the bateau(x)p.37
• 1673, Governor Frontenac traveled up the river with a group of habitants, building Fort Cataraqui along which the Rideau Canal was built in the 1820s and 1830s
• p.37 La Salle, working in the area, renamed it Fort Frontenac. Madeleine de Roybon came to Frontenac approx. 1679, built house and barns, grew crops and grazed cattle on land granted by La Salle – first known female landholder in present-day Ontario
• p.38 Frontenac became major centre for trade in Lake Ontario region
• by 1715, according to maps, the French knew the rivers and landscape in the area quite well
• 1748, French build mission at Ogdensburg, N.Y., across from Prescott
• p.39 Seven Years War, 1756. English attach Fort Frontenac and take it in 1758, from points along the St. Lawrence, posts such as Fort Oswego and Lake Ontario
• during the war, the French built a ship-building operation at Pointe de Baril, near present day Maitland and Prescott, became known as New Oswegatchie – the star-shaped fort built by French there is now a National Historic site
• p.40 Many of the Loyalists fleeing the U.S. went to Montreal and were sent to settle the Upper St. Lawrence, between Cornwall and Kingston
• of mixed background – English Protestant from New England, English, Scots Germans, and others from New York,
• p.41 in 1783, after land acquisitions from the natives, settlement began, two ranges of townships making 14 townships were laid out
• settlement patterns described here, broken into groups by region of emigration and led by officers of Loyalist army brigades who generally received large land grants
• i.e. Sir John Johnson settled along the Upper St. Lawrence in July of 1784 with the largest group of 1568 men, 626 women, 1492 children and 90 servants
• p.44 Settlers began to spread into the interior along tributaries establishing mill sites, particularly grist mills, for grounding grain etc. – built after government monopoly on mills collapsed
• mills owned and operated by entrepreneurs, popping up at Gananoque, Elizabethtown (later Brockville) and Williamstown
• Johnstown an important early site (located between Cornwall and Brockville), named after Sir John Johnson, founder – sawmill and grist mill
• some major events had a great impact on the settlement and agricultural development
• 1)The Quebec Act of 1791
• - made Upper and Lower Canada, Simcoe made Lieutenant Governor
• p.46 –
• 2) Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812-1814
• - ship battles near Ogdensburg and Brockville
• - stockade constructed at Prescott (became Fort Wellington, a National Historic site) as main base of defense between Montreal and Kingston
• following war of 1812, many British army regulars settled in the region
• p.47 just before building of the Rideau, three broad settlement zones had developed; two were populated – Loyalist Township along St. Lawrence, and area north of the Rideau including Military Settlement (1810s) and Lanark(1820); the third zone, Empty Frontier, was held by early Loyalist and left empty for speculation – broke open by rising tide of European migration
• major decline of native population, located at Mohawk Reserves of St. Regis Akwesasne and Tyendinaga (west of Kingston)
• p.50 Upper Canada rebels launch raids from Hunters Lodges in U.S., 1838, landing just below Prescott at Windmill Point (now a Historic Site), battle lasting several days – leader and ten others hanged, 60 exile to Australia
• much of the water shipment that came up and down the canal and into the river ended with the emergence of the train and then automobile – last of the “cheese boats” came in the late 1930s
• p.51 dairying an important enterprise in 19^th
• p.54 1840s and 50s increase in population made towns such as Gananoque, Brockville, Prescott, and Cornwall emerge as leading commercial and manufacturing centers, relying on their advantageous location along the St. Lawrence between Montreal and Kingston
• p.55 these towns were sites for transport, fishing, ship building, and docks for the new steam driven passenger ships, shipment of timber and log rafts along St. Lawrence
• 1843 Cornwall canal built to bypass Long Sault and Galop Rapids opening up the river to big boats
• p.58 major growth in shipping along St. Lawrence – by turn of twentieth century, great Canadian route
• railway merely transported to the waterway and transferred to boat, but struggling to compete with growth of canals and railways, especially in the states
• 1960’s completion of the Seaway drastically reduced the use of local shipping, undermining the economies of towns such as Cornwall, Prescott, Brockville, and Kingston
• p.62 by 1879, at least 21 saw mills in Glengarry County – huge rafts topped with huts were constructed for the log-drivers
• drives of approx. 10,000 logs last took place in 1925 – end of logging
• p.64 By 1850’s, fishing in the 1000 Islands was becoming a major attraction for locals and tourists
• led many wealthy residents on both sides of the river to buy islands and summer homes
• by 1870’s local pressures led many towns such as Brockville to begin advertising for tourism in newspapers
• thanks much to the work of American George M. Pullman who bought an island in the 1860s and had President Ulysses Grant come for a vacation in 1872, making the 1000 Islands a select and fashionable location for affluent tourists
• boom in camping, and introduction of automobile made it more accessible to people
• resulted in urge for conservation and creation of St. Lawrence Islands National Park 1904
• p.67 Prescott a major breakpoint in the river traffic, western tip of rapids leading to Lachine – transfer point in 1820s-40s from steamboat to bateaux and canoes or sometimes to wagons and carriages – known as forwarding, became a business for p.68 Prescott – history highlighted in the Founders Museum of Prescott
• 24 active hotels in Prescott at this time
• p.69 Increase in canals meant a decline in the river towns such as Brockville sailing ships and stream-driven paddle wheelers gradually gave way to large steel propeller-driven cargo ships and passenger liners, tugs and barges
• prompted construction of wider canals in 1870s and introduction of the ship “canallers” which were loaded at Prescott
• p.72 Brockville area offered easy access for flow of contraband, particularly during the prohibition, the maze of islands making it difficult to detect
• Thousand Islands Parkway built during Depression providing jobs
• first local modern hydroelectric power plant built in 1901 by diverting canal water near the town of Iroquois
• p.73 1950s St. Lawrence Seaway meant larger canal for the growing ships, opened in 1958
• severe dislocation and social costs for the towns along the river
• seven villages flooded
• declining use of the seaway due to it’s already small canals and opposition to its widening

Part 5: Landscapes and Sites of the Upper St. Lawrence Region

Places of Particular Interest

• Wolfe Island, p.80
• Howe Island, p.80
• in Kingston, the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes, p.82
• Gananoque, p.90
• p.91 Ivy Lea
• p.92 Mallorytown Landing and St. Lawrence Islands National Park library
• Brockville p.94 – Brockville Museum in the historic Beecker House; Blockhouse Island, a hospice for victims of the 1832 Cholera epidemic
• p.97 Matiland, close to the former sites of Pointe au Baril where the last 2 warships of the Great Lakes were built, the Outaouaise and Iroquoise
• p.98 Prescott, forwarding area, founded by Colonel Edward Jessup – until 1950s, only deep water port between Montreal and Kingston – Forwarders Museum, nearby Fort Wellington (reconstructed), Battle of Windmill Site
• p.102 Cardinal, a campsite for early First Nation’s people 400-500 years ago and resting area for French voyageurs at Galop rapids and site of old canal that bypassed these rapids – Seaway ended Cardinal as an island, filling in the old canal and rapids
• p.103 Iroquois
• p.104 Morrisburg, another old river settlement, site of 1844-1856 Williamsburg Canals
• p.105 St. Lawrence Parks and the Lost Villages – building of the damn on each side and flooding, compensated with a series of parks on the north shore – 7 small historic hamlets were flooded
• p.106 Upper Canada Village, constructed to compensate for the flooding, site to interpret and preserve the flooded heritage, many historic structures were moved here i.e. Union Cheese Factory, Bellamy’s Steam Flour Mill, Beach’s Sawmill, Willard’s Hotel
• p.108 Battle of Crysler’s Farm – 1813 attacked by 4000 American troops
• p.109 Cornwall – Inverarden House, National Historic Site, Cornwall Community Museum, archives of the Local History Room at the new Public Library
• p.114 Williamstown, founded by Sir John Johnson, son of William Johnson, Manor House, owned by Parks Canada has archives, Nor’Westers Loyalist Museum

Summerskill, Karen (ed.) Life on the Edge: The Cultural Landscape of the Thousand Islands Area. Gananoque: Thousand Island Publishers, 2004.

Osborne, Huitema, Ripmeester, “Shared Places, Shifting Spaces: The First Nations of The Thousand Islands

• p.14 a “shared homeland” of many First Nations groups
• p.15 post-1650’s after displacing the Huron, the Iroquois became the dominant group in the area
• by 1720’s the Mississauga had returned to the fertile hunting grounds as far East as Brockville
• area of Frontenac Axis became a buffer zone between the Mississauga and Algonquin and Nipissing
• p.17 British forms of territory and ownership altered the relationship with the land
• p.18 Royal Proclamation of 1763 designated lands along Upper St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario front was “Indian Hunting Grounds”
• 1783 Captain William Crawford and Loyalists organized the purchase of land (Crawford Purchase) along the water from the Mississauga, creating, in effect, Kingston (formerly Frontenac under the French and Cataraqui under the British)
• p.21 June 1856, Mississauga formally ceded the last rights of the Islands in Surrender No. 77 to the Indian Branch of the Department of the Interior, marking the end of native presence in the Thousand Islands
• p.22 advent of tourism and a new ethic

Burtch, “The First Clearing of the Land: Making a Community”

• Colonel Joel Stone, 1791 sawmill, 1792 gristmill at mouth of Gananoque River, also rafting timber and selling lumber that came from the hinterland down the G. River to Kingston and as far as Montreal
• p.32 old farms along the parkway that had once been granted to loyalists are being converted into country housing estates
• protected Landon Bay provides habitat for many species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and a critical spawning area for fish supporting a commercial fishery for 150 years
• p. 33 Landon Bay named after Loyalist Oliver Landon – first settlers in the Thousand Islands, operated a cooperage, potashery and gristmill
• the bay would have been filled with timber waiting to be formed into drams to be floated to Quebec City by teams of men who lived on bard in bark huts
• p.34 much of the produce from Upper Canada was floated on these rafts to Montreal and even local people – boom during Napoleonic blockade of the Baltic
• p.37 Rockport, in early years, a point of entry with its deep waters for schooners and steamers, the original families involved in the timber trade, mercantile business and farming
• p.38 eventually a cheese factory here which would take milk from all the local farmers and ship cheese and butter to Montreal via the steamers
• after 1809, freight travelled by raft, bateaux, and Durham boats (most common for shipping)
• p.39 Darlingside National Historic Site
• p.40 Thomas Darling and his sons important to the commerce of the river, the middlemen between the river and the hinterland – shipping raw materials and bringing back goods to the frontier
• at the Canadian Palisades and Canadian Steam Boat Channel – point of portage just before the rapids, landing
• p.42 ran a store here and wharf where wood was stacked temporarily until loading
• businesses like this were the lifeblood of the economy that linked to Montreal
• p.43 grew into a vital depot (pre-railroad, that is)
• p.47 selling wood to mercantile businesses who owned their own steamships (small cordwood for fuel)
• deals with steamships to stop at Darlingside wharf to refuel ex.
• p.49 most of the Darlingside documents went to Queen’s University Archives and the Leeds and the Thousand Islands Historical Society

Heaton, “Potash Manufacture in the Upper St. Lawrence River Region 1780 – 1880”

• p.101 landscape of Upper St. Lawrence region was rugged and roads were few and far between and rough at best – waterway was vital to transport for such commodities as timber and the thriving potash industry
• ashes just second to lumber in the value generated for the local farmer, even greater than wheat and flour

Snetsinger, “Forgotten Lights: Nineteenth Century Lighthouses of the Canadian Thousand Islands”

• p.107 the “workhorses” of the river, most have not survived into the 21^st century
• p.111 often constructed of wood thus most have disappeared
• p.115 by mid-1900s most lighthouses were listed as “unwatched” – with introduction of electricity, Keepers were no longer needed
• p.117 care of a lighthouse generally stayed in one family

Summerskill, “A Brief History of St. Lawrence Islands National Park”

• p.169 1904, Canada’s first national park to the east of the Rocky Mountains
• intent to preserve native flora and fauna and allowing visitors to enjoy the natural beauty of the islands
• advent of the train brought tourism post-Am. Civil War
• p.170 by 1870’s thousands coming to enjoy steamer excursions
• locals were alarmed as islands that they had used for generations were now being bought up
• led to two petitions in 1874 to Gov. General from Prescott and Brockville, but with no luck – the islands were held in trust by gov. Canada for native people who had ceded them – money from sales used to benefit native people
• p.171 great eel fishery for Onondaga Iroquois at Mallorytown Landing – the islands were known as “Manitouana”, Garden of the Great Spirit
• area of sustenance, summer camps, basket weaving from sweetgrass
• p.172 Thadeus Leavitt, editor of the Brockville Recorder a driving force in renewing the call for a National Park
• p.173 the 9 islands reserved in 1904; Burnt or Aubrey, Pine or Mermaid, Buck or Beau Rivage, Hog or Camelot, Johnson or Endymion, Citron or Gordon, Deer or Georgina, Bowes or Constance, No. 116 or Adelaide, Part of Grenadier, Refugee or Stovin
• p.174 three of the original 7 pavillions constructed on the islands remain; Gordon, West Grenadier and Mallorytown Landing
• Mallorytown Landing a busy steamer shop, point for agricultural goods to be shipped down the river – the Mallory family donated a piece of front land to allow for public access
• p.175, causeway constructed from this point to Adelaide island
• creation of the Parkway filled many small streams and wetlands, vital spawning grounds for pike; also split the National Park into two parts
• Mallorytown Landing was a community park for those who did not live on the river – place for swimming, picnics, family reunions
• p.176 by 1950’s, area began to change from a farming community to a recreational area – campground, boat rentals, cabin rentals
• p.178 further acquisitions for the National Park