Grand River (Ontario)
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- For other rivers of the same name, please see Grand River.
The Grand River is a large river in southwestern Ontario, Canada. From its source, it flows south through Grand Valley, Fergus, Elora, Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, Paris, Brantford, Caledonia, and Cayuga before emptying into the north shore of Lake Erie south of Dunnville at Port Maitland. One of the scenic and spectacular features of the river is the falls and gorge at Elora.
The Grand River is the largest river entirely within southern Ontario's boundaries. The river owes its size to the unusual fact that it has its source relatively close to the base of the Bruce Peninsula, yet flows southwards to Lake Erie, rather than to central Lake Huron or Georgian Bay (most southern Ontario rivers flow into the nearest Great Lake, which is why most of them are small), thus giving it more distance to take in more water from tributaries.
The river's rural character, ease of access and lack of portages make it a desirable canoeing location, especially the stretch between West Montrose and Paris, Ontario. A number of conservation areas exist in the area of the river, managed by the Grand River Conservation Authority.
The Grand Valley Trail stretches 275 km along the river's valley between the town of Alton and Lake Erie.
The river was named "Grande Rivière" by the French during the 18th century. It was later renamed Ouse River by John Graves Simcoe for the River Great Ouse near his childhood home, although the anglicized form of the French name has remained in common use.
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[edit] Watershed
The Grand River watershed consists of all the land that drains into the Grand River through tributary creeks and rivers such as the Conestogo, Speed, Eramosa and Nith rivers. The Grand River has Southern Ontario's largest watershed.
Because a watershed is an ecosystem with natural borders, it includes and crosses many municipal boundaries. Its headwaters are near Dundalk in the north. The Grand River flows south south east.
Luther Marsh, a 52 square kilometre wetland on the upper Grand, is one of the largest inland wetlands in southern Ontario and provides habitat for waterfowl, including Least Bittern and Black Tern, and amphibians. It is also an important staging area during migration.
The watershed (7000 square kilometers or 2600 square miles) has been recognized by the designation of the Grand as a Canadian Heritage River.
[edit] Pre-Laurentide hydrology
Prior to the most recent glaciation -- the Laurentide -- an earlier river flowed through a gorge roughly parallel to the current Grand River.[1] Evidence of the "buried gorge" of the previous river has been found when wells have been dug. Rather than finding water bearing bedrock at a depth of a dozen metres or less the path of the buried gorge can be found with overburden of dozens of metres.
[edit] History
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Grand River valley was inhabited by the Iroquoian speaking Attawandaron nation. They were later given the name Neutrals by the European explorers due to their refusal to side with either the French or the English.
The Wyandot who resided northeast of the Grand River valley were bitter enemies of the Iroquois Confederacy of the present New York state area. Caught in between, the Neutrals eventually paid dearly for their refusal to ally. Historical accounts differ on exactly how the Neutral tribe was wiped out, but it is generally agreed that the Seneca and the Mohawk tribes of the Six Nations destroyed the smaller Neutral tribe while severely crippling the Huron in the 17th century. It was during this time the famous Canadian “Sainte Marie Among the Hurons’ Jesuit outpost was abandoned.
When many of The Neutral tribe were made uncomfortable enough they left the Iroquois homeland in 1667 and moved to La Prairie (Caughnawaga or Kahnawake) just south of Montreal.[citation needed] In later wars between Britain and France, the Caughnawaga Iroquois were allies of the French while the Iroquois League was neutral or sided with the British. Because they were on different sides, it was difficult for the Iroquois to adhere to the Great Law of Peace not to kill each other, but they somehow managed to avoid this until the American Revolution (1775-83). Many of those who went to Caughnawaga were Neutrals, and in 1674 there were still identifiable groups of Neutrals among its population.[citation needed] It can be presumed that many of their descendents are still living there today. Other descendents of the Neutrals may have joined the Mingo who began leaving the Iroquois homeland during the 1720s and settling in Ohio. The Mingo later fought the Americans in the wars for the Ohio Valley (1774-95) and were removed to Oklahoma during the 1840s. Some of the blood of the Neutrals still flows in the veins of the Seneca in Oklahoma.
After the desolation of the Neutral tribes the Grand River Valley was utilized as a hunting and trapping territory by the neighboring Iroquois Confederacy . Though the Six Nations conquered the territory, it wasn’t practical to expand their settlements into the area now comprising southern Ontario, apart from a limited presence on the northern and western shores of Lake Ontario.
When the French explorers and Courier de Bois came to the region in search of fur and other items of value to Europeans, the Grand River Valley was among the last areas of Ontario to be explored. Since the French worked closely with their Native allies in the acquisition of fur, they only went where the natives resided. Even after the English conquered New France in 1760 the Grand River Valley remained unoccupied[citation needed] and still largely uncharted.
[edit] Six Nations of the Grand River
The Six Nations Confederacy sided with the British during the American War of Independence making them unwelcome in the newly created nation. After the war the Six Nations leader, Joseph Brant, appealed the British crown for help. In gratitude for their assistance during the war and to aid their flight from the Americans, the Iroquois were given land in Upper Canada which had remained loyal to the crown. Conveniently, there was one large swath of land unclaimed[citation needed] by any native or European settlers that made for a perfect resettlement of the Six Nations, the Grand River Valley which the Six Nations forefathers had previously cleared.
The Six Nations were given the Haldimand Tract, six miles on either side of the entire Grand River Valley. Not all of members of the Six Nations moved North and remnants of the past confederacy remain today throughout New York state.
Joseph Brant lead those who journeyed to Upper Canada and first settled at what is present day Brantford, where Brant crossed, or ‘forded’ the river.
After the American War of Independence, Upper Canada saw a flood of loyalist refugees also looking for land and opportunity. In addition, vast amounts of settlers were pouring into Upper Canada. Settlements were popping up all over Southern Ontario and many had their eye on the prize Grand River Valley.
Since the Six Nations of the Grand River then had more land then they could possibly use[citation needed] themselves, they saw it fit to sell off portions of their grant in order to secure their financial future in a quickly changing economic world. Much contention today is over how these deals transpired. Some were legitimate, other’s much deception was involved. Especially the defaulting on land payments, and the unethical European brokering. In several cases, native funds were controlled in trust by white government officials who wasted the money on unsuccessful ventures such as the Grand River Navigation Company. This company attempted to open up the Grand River for barge shipping using a series of locks and canals just as rail was taking over making canal transport obsolete. On such projects their land sales income was wasted though they never had any role or say in the matter.
Eventually the Haldimand Tract was chiseled down to what is now the Six Nations reserve south of Brantford, Ontario. Throughout the 17th century many European settlements appeared along the Grand within former Six Nations territory including Waterloo, Berlin (now Kitchener), Cambridge, Paris, Brantford, Caledonia, Dunnville and Port Maitland.
In 1784 the British Crown awarded to the Six Nations the "Haldimand Tract" [2], a tract of land for 6 miles in either direction along the Grand River from its head to Lake Erie. Much of this land was later sold or otherwise lost to the Six Nations; however, a portion of this tract near Caledonia, Ontario is the basis for the 2006 Caledonia land dispute.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ John P. Greenhouse. "The other Elora Gorge - Ancient gorge causes frustrations for well diggers", University of Waterloo. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
- ^ A Map the Six Nations opinion of the location of the disputed 1784 Haldimand Tract, reclamationinfo.com
