September 23, 2005:


  

 

    Horseshoe Falls at Chats Lake 
    before the dam was built 
    Source: National Archives                           Chats Falls Dam
    Photo # PA-009337                                   Photo: Al Lewis
 

 
This page is the beginning of a new project and a good excuse to go canoeing.
It's about the changing topography in the Fitzroy Harbour area during a 150 year period.
The Ottawa River area between Arnprior, Ontario and Quyon, Quebec was important during
this period as part of the fur trade, lumber industry, agriculture and transportation
businesses. 

This area was wilderness before 1820 when Joseph Mondoux opened a fur trading post 
at Quyon. There was a major set of rapids (Chats Falls) opposite the present village 
of Fitzroy Harbour. The rapids stretched from the Quebec side to the Ontario side, 
necessitating portages for the early River travellers, including Samuel de Champlain
and the voyageurs. John Egan, lumber baron from Aylmer, attempted to have a canal
built in the 1850's, to bypass the rapids, on the Quebec side.

During the early 1900's, mining -- Bristol Mines and Kingdon Mines -- and hydro-electricity 
became important in the area. Lately, environtalism and recreation has led to the 
creation of the Morris Island Conservation Area (above the dam) and Fitzroy Provincial 
Park (below the dam).

Michel Forand is researching lighthouses along this stretch of the river (on Map 2, 
below, you can see the lighthouses shown opposite the town of Arnprior and also the lighthouse 
at Morris Island -- in Lavergne Bay).

Thanks to Wendy Millar for assistance in scanning the maps. There are three or four
more maps to come.

Map 1
Source: part of Belden's 1879 map of Fitzroy Township
Features of Map 1
1. The map is scaled according to the surveyor's measurements, i.e. 50 chains per inch.
2. Individual names of landholders are shown -- the settlers have arrived.
3. The thriving village of Fitzroy Harbour is shown on the Ontario side. Commercial
   activity included a mill on the Carp River, operated by the Learmonth / Learmoth family.
   The original grinding wheel from the Learmoth Mill is on display in the park in Fitzroy Harbour.
   At Galetta, just to the west, there were sawmills, a grist mill and a carding mill.
   Today there is a hydroelectric generating station here.
4. The chain of islands stretching from Quebec to Ontario would later form the
   foundation for the Chats Falls Dam and Generating Station. Each passage between
   the islands was a log chute. Each chute was named for timber dealers, e.g. Conroy,
   Mohr and O'Connor
5. A "Government Timber Slide" exists at the north end of Victoria Island at Fitzroy Harbour.
6. The landing for the ferry between Quyon and Ontario is about a mile west of the
   present landing. I think it was originally called Mohr's Landing. 
7. The landholders listed on Map 1 are Willis, Elliott, Cowley and Murphy, Carr (Carrs),
   Rowan, Stanton, Kyle, Moran, John Egan, McHale, Copps, Kelly, Fulford, Tripp, Lavan / Lavin
   Henderson, Mohr, Craig, McFarlane or Macfarlane, Atkinson, Aylwin, Wilson and McDermott.



Map 2
part of Topographic Map "Arnprior"
Scale 1:50,000, Map Number 31 F/8
Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, 1965
Features of Map 2
1. On the Ontario side, the name for the general area above the dam is now called
   Morris Island. Who was this Mr. Morris?
2. The scale is shown as 1:50,000.
3. There is a railway and a railway bridge running through the Morris Island area.

                              

Map 3
Sand Point to Arnprior
part of Topographic Map "Arnprior"
Scale 1:50,000, Map Number 31 F/8
Canada, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, 1965

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