TVO The Shield

Rooted in Stone: Part 1 (2x1)

Ausstrahlung: Feb 06, 2010

In 1870, the Little family found a French bronze apothecary mortar dated 1636 on the homestead at Trout Lake. Champlain explored the district in 1632 but found it of no value because there was no direct route through it by land or water. Eventually, historians found that Father Brebeuf and a companion, possibly a doctor, had stayed in the area in 1645, marking the beginning of European habitation. The Anishinabe trace their beginnings there to before the last Ice Age. Artefacts from the time of their return, after the glaciers receded, can be dated to about six thousand years ago. After the 1812 war, the area was seen as strategic and mapping began. Naval officer Henry Bayfield named many places after important men in the navy, few if any of whom were ever present. The first important tourist was British author Anna Jameson, who wrote about her time there in 1837. When the district was regarded as commercially viable because of timber, the government signed treaties with the First Nations, taking lumber and mineral rights for the Crown, and leaving reserves in places seen as valueless for the Indians. In 1863 William Beatty and his sons, William and James, bought the timber lands in the Parry Sound district and built a mill at the mouth of the Segwun River. The site became the town of Parry Sound. William the younger became a member of Parliament in 1867 and helped pass the Free Lands and Homestead Act to encourage settlement. Colonization roads were built and steamboat service was extended. Those trying to farm quickly found that the Shield was unsuitable for cultivation. Many moved on. Those who remained diversified into other pursuits. Steamboats were necessary but hazardous. The sinking of the Waubuno in 1879 was a disaster but no legislation was passed to improve safety until the Asia sank in 1882. This lead to a proper hydrological survey that produced accurate charts showing the thousands of rocks and shoals in Georgian Bay and other waterways.