April 27, 2008:

In contrast with the area to the west of the city of Ottawa which is mainly part of the Precambrian Shield and consists of deep lakes 
and rocky terrain, the area east of the city, including Prescott and Russell County is mainly flat agricultural land.

The Casselman, Plantagenet and Riceville area consists of meandering rivers, not
fast-flowing waters as are found for example in Renfrew County.

The South Nation Watershed encompasses many townships to the east and south of the city of Ottawa:

Map Source: Reflections of the South Nation Watershed / Histoire Illustrée de la Nation Sud



 March 14, 2012
The above map names are transcribed here.

South Nation River Watershed
Townships:
Alfred, Longueil, Caledonia, North Plantagenet, South Plantagenet, Clarence, Cumberland, Ottawa, Gloucester, Osgoode, Russell,
Cambridge, Kenyon, Roxborough, Finch, Winchester, Mountain, Oxford on Rideau, South Gower, Brockville (name partly obscured), 
Augusta, Edwardsburgh, Matilda, Williamsburgh, Osnabruck and Cornwall.

Place Names:
Plantagenet in North Plantagenet
St. Isidore in South Plantagenet
Greely and Metcalfe in Osgoode
Russell, Embrun in Russell
Casselman and St. Albert in Cambridge
Maxville in Kenyon
Crysler, Berwick and Finch in Finch
Winchester and Chesterville in Winchester
South Mountain in Mountain
Cornwall in Cornwall
Spencerville iin Edwardsburgh
Elizabethtown in Brockville

Rivers:
Ottawa / Outaouais
South Nation / Nation sud
St. Lawrence / St-Laurent

On the 1879 map below, the North Castor and South Castor Rivers flow into the Nation River which empties into the Ottawa River at 
the village of Plantagenet. I think that the North Castor river originates in the Manotick Station area of Osgoode Township. In the
early days, the Castor Rivers served as feeders to the Nation River during the spring log drives. Due to changing topography, 
namely farm irrigation systems in the 1800's,these rivers have lost most of their capacity.

The main town in Cambridge Township is Casselman. It is a mixture of French-Canadians and English speaking Canadians. The French 
settlers came to the area beginning in the 1870's. They came mainly from the Quebec side of the Ottawa River where they had
lived on the seigneuries for generations.

  



Part of Cambridge Township in the 1870's
Map Source: McGill University Digital Maps


April 3, 2010 (photo)
        




Rivers shown on the above map are:
Wolf, Nation River, Castor River, Little Castor River, Butternut Creek

May 4, 2008:
The Nation River at Casselman, May 2008.
The old bridge is in the background.
Photo taken above High Falls.

March 8, 2010:

Watch a You Tube video showing Casselman and area from the air. It gives a nice view of the farmland there.

... Al

 
E-mail Al Lewis



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