Toronto Carrying-Place Trail
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The Toronto Carrying-Place Trail, also known as the Humber Portage and the Toronto Passage, was a major
Route
From Lake Ontario, the trail ran northward along the eastern bank of the
A second route of the trail runs from Lake Ontario at the
Once into Lake Simcoe, known as Ouentironk among the
It is widely stated that the first European to see the Humber arm was Étienne Brûlé, who traveled it with a group of twelve Huron in 1615. However it is now believed that this is in error, and he actually traveled further west, to Lake Erie.[2]
Further French settlement used the Humber portion of the trail primarily. Near the mouth of the Humber and along the Toronto Passage was a trading post called Teiaiagon, where the French and English met with the locals for trading. The site is marked with a plaque, and the ruins of a 19th-century mill stood nearby until the year 2000, when it was demolished and replaced by a new hotel, built in the style of the existing adjacent Tea Room. This included the construction of three forts on or near the trail. The first of these, known as Magasin Royal or Fort Douville, was built in 1720 about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of Lake Ontario on the Humber. The second, Fort Toronto, was built in 1750 only a few hundred metres north of the lake, right on the trail. The final one, Fort Rouillé (but also known widely as Fort Toronto), was built about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the east of the river during 1750 and 1751, and the site lies near the current bandstand at Exhibition Place.
The trail was widely used by both French and English fur traders until Toronto started to be permanently settled in the early 19th century, bringing to a close over a millennium of use. The connection north to Lake Simcoe was then made along Yonge Street, constructed after Simcoe followed the eastern branch into Toronto.
See also
References
- Turner, Glenn (2015). The Toronto Carrying Place. Toronto, Ontario: Dundurn Press. ISBN 9781459730465.
- ISBN 9781459730489.
- ^ "DID ÉTIENNE BRÛLÉ VISIT TORONTO IN 1615?". toronto.ca.
External links
- "Richmond Hill History". - map showing the western arm as it was when Yonge Street was being laid out.
- "The Coming of the French" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2005. - part of a lengthy article on the Humber, this section contains a map of the southern portions of the trail.
- "The real story of how Toronto got its name". Natural Resources Canada. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013.