Ottawa Valley
Encyclopedia
Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...
and Western Quebec along the Ottawa River
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands
Saint Lawrence Lowlands
The St. Lawrence Lowlands is an ecoregion of Mixedwood Plains and a physiographic region of Canada and the United States. It is sometimes named the "Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Lowlands", but that name improperly includes the Great Lakes Basin which, while it might drain to the Atlantic Ocean by way...
and the Canadian Shield
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...
. Because of the surrounding shield, the valley is narrow at its western end, then becomes increasingly wide (mainly on the Southern
Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...
Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
side of the river) as it progresses eastward. The underlying geophysical structure is the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben
Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben
The Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben , with its branch the Timiskaming Graben, is an ancient rift valley in the Canadian Shield of Northeastern Ontario and Quebec, Canada. This rift valley was formed when the Earth's crust moved downward about a kilometre between two major fault zones known as the Mattawa...
. Approximately 1.3 million people reside in the valley (and along its tributaries), of these the majority, around 80%, reside in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, the remainder on the north side of the Ottawa River, in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. The total area of the Ottawa Valley is 2.4 million hectares (6 million acres). The National Capital Region
National Capital Region (Canada)
The National Capital Region, also referred to as Canada's Capital Region, is an official federal designation for the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the neighbouring city of Gatineau, Quebec, and surrounding urban and rural communities....
area has just over 1.4 million inhabitants in both provinces.
Near the city of Ottawa, the Ottawa Valley merges with the St. Lawrence Valley to the south to create a delta of flat farmland stretching unbroken from the Ottawa River to the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
as far east as the island of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, where the two rivers meet. This area is sometimes referred to as the "Lower Ottawa Valley", in contrast with the "Upper Ottawa Valley" west of Ottawa, but the name is not common, and most people think of the Ottawa Valley as only the upper portion.
From west to east, the major Ottawa Valley communities are Mattawa
Mattawa, Ontario
Mattawa is a town in northeastern Ontario, Canada, at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers in Nipissing District. Mattawa means "Meeting of the Waters" in Ojibwa...
, Deep River
Deep River, Ontario
Deep River is a town in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. Located along the Ottawa River, it lies about north-west of Ottawa on the Trans-Canada Highway...
(with nearby Chalk River
Chalk River, Ontario
Chalk River is a Canadian rural community part of the Laurentian Hills municipality in Renfrew County, Ontario. It is located in the Upper Ottawa Valley along Highway 17 , 10 km inland from the Ottawa River, approximately 21 km northwest of Petawawa, and 182 km northwest of Ottawa...
, the site of Canada's nuclear reactor program), Petawawa
Petawawa, Ontario
Petawawa is a town located in eastern portion of Southern Ontario. Situated in the Ottawa Valley, with a population of 14,651 . Petawawa is the most populous municipality in Renfrew County.-Geography:...
(a major Canadian military base), Pembroke
Pembroke, Ontario
Pembroke is a city in the province of Ontario, Canada, at the confluence of the Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley...
(where Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
landed briefly), Fort Coulonge, Shawville, Renfrew
Renfrew, Ontario
Renfrew, Ontario, Canada, is a town on the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County. Located one hour west of Ottawa in Eastern Ontario, Renfrew is the third largest town in the county after Petawawa and Pembroke. The town is a small transportation hub connecting Ontario Highway 60 and Highway 132 with...
, Quyon
Quyon, Quebec
Quyon is a village in Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. It is located within the Pontiac Municipality.-Geography:...
, Arnprior
Arnprior, Ontario
Arnprior is a town in Renfrew County, in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located at the mouth of the Madawaska River, as it enters the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley...
, Ottawa (the nation's capital), Rockland
Rockland, Ontario
Rockland is a bilingual community located about east of downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Clarence–Rockland. Rockland has a population of 9,210.-History:...
, L'Orignal
L'Orignal, Ontario
L'Orignal is a village and former municipality, now part of Champlain Township in eastern Ontario, Canada. It likely took its name from its location on the Ottawa River once known as Pointe à l'Orignal , where moose crossed the river.-History:The Seigniory of L'Orignal , was granted by the Company...
, Hawkesbury
Hawkesbury, Ontario
Hawkesbury is a town in the Eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada, on the Ottawa River, near the Quebec-Ontario border.It lies on the south shore of the Ottawa River about halfway between Downtown Ottawa and Downtown Montreal in Prescott and Russell Counties. The Long-Sault Bridge links it...
, and Rigaud
Rigaud, Quebec
Rigaud is a municipality in southwestern Quebec, Canada in the county of Vaudreuil-Soulanges at the junction of the Ottawa River and the Rigaud River. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 6,780...
.
History
Indian Act
The Indian Act , R.S., 1951, c. I-5, is a Canadian statute that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves...
. These individuals are referred to as 'Non-Status Indians'
Non-Status Indian
In Canada, a Non-Status Indian is a legal term referring to any First Nations individual who for whatever reason is not registered with the Federal government, and/or is not registered to a band which signed a Treaty with the Crown....
. Ardoch Algonquin First Nation
Ardoch Algonquin First Nation
Ardoch Algonguin First Nation is a non-status Algonquin community that is located around the Madawaska, Mississippi and Rideau watersheds, north of Kingston, Ontario-History:...
is one such community located in the Ottawa Valley fighting for the return of their land.
After the arrival of European settlers in North America, the first major industry of the Ottawa Valley was fur trading. The valley was part of the major cross-country route for French-Canadian Voyageurs, who would paddle canoes up the Ottawa River as far as Mattawa and then portage west through various rivers and lakes to Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
on Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
. Later, lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
became the valley's major industry, and it is still important in the far western part where the valley is narrow and little farmland is available. Today, the vast majority of the valley's residents live at its eastern end in Ottawa and its suburbs, where government and technology are major industries.
In the areas of Morrison’s Island and the Allumette Island there were many archaeological sites found from the earlier years of the Algonquin First Nations tribes. Many of these sites were found by the late Clyde C. Kennedy, who was a student of history; he was very interested in history and worked hard while researching the sites. The items found on the different sites are dated from about five thousand years ago to about two thousand years ago, and are a range of different things from native copper, to spear heads.
Major cities in the Upper Ottawa Valley
Petawawa is a city located in Renfrew County, in the Ottawa Valley. It was thought to have been first settled by the Agolkin Natives and the name comes from their language meaning "where one hears the noise of the water". Samuel de ChamplainSamuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
visited this town and it was used as an important location for the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
. Many of the first settlers were of Irish, Scottish, and later German origin. In 1865 the township of Petawawa was incorporated because of its rich natural resources and it's important military role. It wasn't until Canada Day 1997 that it was recognized as the Town of Petawawa. Today it is the home of one of the largest Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
Land Force Command bases in Canada CFB Petawawa
CFB Petawawa
Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, commonly referred to as CFB Petawawa, or simply "Pet", is a Canadian Forces Base located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by Canadian Forces Land Force Command.-Base facts:...
.
Pembroke
Pembroke, Ontario
Pembroke is a city in the province of Ontario, Canada, at the confluence of the Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley...
is located in Renfrew County on the Ottawa River. It is known as “the heart of the Ottawa Valley”. It was established in 1858 by pioneers and became a centre for the logging industry. Today, it is the largest regional service centre between Ottawa and North Bay. It is a nice little community with many activities such as Farmer’s Markets, Santa Claus Parade, Pembroke Waterfront Festival, and much more.
Historical notes
Samuel de ChamplainSamuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
spent the years between 1613 and 1615 traveling the Ottawa River with Algonquin and Huron guides. He was the first documented European to see the Ottawa Valley. When Champlain first arrived there the Huron, Algonquin, Iroquois, and Outaouais tribes were living in the Valley. In charting the new land Champlain inaugurated the route that would be used by French fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
rs for the next 200 years.*Between 1847 and 1879 a "horse railway
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
" was used to portage passengers from the Ottawa River steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
in a horse-drawn car for 5.5 kilometres along the wooded shore, around the Chats Falls, on the Quebec side of the river between the ghost villages of Pontiac Village and Union Village, near Quyon Quebec, to another steamboat to continue their journey upriver.
Language
EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
are both commonly spoken throughout the Ottawa Valley on both sides of the river. Regional English accents are rare in Canada, but because of its isolation (before the arrival of the railways) and also through the mixture of the dominant French, Irish and Scottish populations, the valley at one time developed a distinctive dialect referred to as the Ottawa Valley Twang
Ottawa Valley Twang
Ottawa Valley Twang is the accent, sometimes referred to as a dialect of English, that is spoken in the Ottawa Valley, in Ontario, Canada. The Ottawa Valley is considered to be a linguistic enclave within Ontario, in the same manner that Lunenburg, Nova Scotia is within the Maritime Provinces...
. Many traces of it can still be heard today, especially in the valley's more isolated western portions.
The Counties of Prescott and Russell County
Prescott and Russell United Counties, Ontario
The United Counties of Prescott and Russell are consolidated counties located in the Canadian province of Ontario. As of 2006, the population is 80,184. Its county seat is L'Orignal, Ontario. It was created as a result of a merger between Russell County and Prescott County in 1820...
, in the Ottawa Valley, has the highest concentration of francophones in Canada, living west of Quebec.
Valley twang
The mixture of the accents of the Valley’s French, Irish and Scottish populations created a regional dialect that came to be called the Ottawa Valley TwangOttawa Valley Twang
Ottawa Valley Twang is the accent, sometimes referred to as a dialect of English, that is spoken in the Ottawa Valley, in Ontario, Canada. The Ottawa Valley is considered to be a linguistic enclave within Ontario, in the same manner that Lunenburg, Nova Scotia is within the Maritime Provinces...
, still evident among the inhabitants of the Valley.
Music and musical heritage
The Ottawa Valley has rich musical heritage that finds its roots in the music traditions of Irish and French immigrants. The music and traditions continued and developed in the lumber camps that are storied part of the Ottawa River lumber industry. Traditions continued in the Valley's festivals and hotels. Of these, Lennox Gavan's Hotel in Quyon, QuebecQuyon, Quebec
Quyon is a village in Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. It is located within the Pontiac Municipality.-Geography:...
and Fred Meilleur's Chapeau Hotel on L'Ile aux Allumettes (now burned down), Quebec were particularly influential. Legendary performer and songwriter Mac Beattie and the Melodiers were also large influences on keeping the Ottawa Valley's musical culture vibrant and living. Today, many performers keep the musical traditions alive, including Gail Gavan, April Verch
April Verch
April Verch is a Canadian fiddler and step dancer born and raised in the small community of Rankin, Ontario, located approximately 15 km southwest from Pembroke, Ontario. She attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston before embarking on her professional career...
and Trevor Grahl
Trevor Grahl
Trevor Grahl is a Canadian composer and organist.Trevor Grahl is winner of the McGill-CBC composition competition and of the in Apeldoorn 2010. Grahl's works include Le violon extraordinaire de Fifi Labranche , Urquitaqtuq , Symphony No. 1 and The Village Blacksmith on a text by Henry Wadsworth...
.
Food
The Ottawa Valley has a rich beef and corn farming community. There are a great many local breweries spread about the valley and of course potatoes are common. It's like Ireland but with food; however without heritage or focus.Transportation
There are two 400 series highways which service the Ottawa Valley region on the southern side (Ontario side) of the Ottawa River, Highway 417 (The Queensway) which runs east-west through Ottawa and Highway 416 (The Veterans Memorial Highway) which runs north-south. To the west of Ottawa Highway 417 eventually ends near Amprior, where it continues westward as the two-lane Highway 17. In Ottawa there is a split in the Queensway near Cyrville and Pineview where Highway 174 branches off from Highway 417 and runs further north. East of Ottawa Highway 174 eventually ends and becomes County Road 17 again and both it and Highway 416 continue eastwards to eventually merge near the Quebec border. At its northernmost point Highway 416 connects to Highway 417 in Ottawa near Nepean and at its southernmost point it connects with Highway 401 near PrescottPrescott, Ontario
Prescott is a town of approximately 4,180 people on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Leeds and Grenville United Counties, Ontario, Canada. The Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge, 5 km east of Prescott in Johnstown, connects it with Ogdensburg, New York...
.
On the Northern side (Quebec side) of the Ottawa river Autoroute 5
Quebec Autoroute 5
Autoroute 5 is a short Autoroute in the Outaouais region of western Quebec. It connects the central urban area of Gatineau with the recreational areas of Gatineau Park and the exurban rural areas of Chelsea and La Pêche...
runs primarily North-South through Gatineau starting from the Macdonald Cartier Bridge. It eventually becomes Quebec Route 115 further north. Route 148
Quebec route 148
Route 148 is a major east-west highway in Quebec, Canada. It runs from Autoroute 25 in Laval in the Montreal region to the Ontario-Quebec border in L'Isle-aux-Allumettes in western Quebec. For most of its length, Route 148 follows the north shore of the Ottawa River where it acts as the principal...
runs primarily east-west through Gatineau and Hull
Hull, Quebec
Hull is the central and oldest part of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadian National Capital Region, it contains offices for twenty thousand...
, however to the west of Hull it goes north-westward to south-eastern in order to follow the direction of the Ottawa River.
There are five major road bridges which cross the Ottawa River in the Ottawa area. There are also three road bridges to the west of the city and one to the east, all along Country Road 17 and Route 148. There are also a number of ferries at various points along the river which can transport people and vehicles across.
Part of the Trans Canada Railway passes through the Ottawa Valley. Via Rail operates passenger trains to and from Ottawa and other towns in the Ottawa Valley. The main passenger runs which operate from the region are Ottawa to Montreal and Ottawa to Toronto. The closest cities along the rail line to Ottawa are Montreal to the east of Ottawa and Brockville
Brockville, Ontario
Brockville is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Though it serves as the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, Brockville is politically independent and is grouped with Leeds and Grenville for census purposes only.Known as the "City of the 1000...
to the South. Freight trains also operate on the railway and Ottawa has a sizable train yard. A new commuter rail line between Ottawa and Pembroke is in the planning stages, along the Beachburg spur line.
The Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport, ICAO Code CYOW operates both flights to other major Canadian cities and other international airports. The airport is also a major hub for diplomats and international figures to come into Canada. Major airlines such as Air Canada, West jet, American Airlines and First Air use the airport consistently. The airport is also home to two flight training colleges on the north side of the field. It is Canada's 7th busiest airport.
Notable people
Among the well-known people who hail from the Ottawa Valley, are former governor-general and broadcaser Adrienne ClarksonAdrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation....
, Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
, Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
, Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene
Lorne Greene , was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green, OC, a Canadian actor.His television roles include Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica...
, Bryan Murray, Terry Murray
Terry Murray
Terry Rodney Murray is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player, and current head coach of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings...
, Frank Finnegan, Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
, Peter Jennings
Peter Jennings
Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM was a Canadian American journalist and news anchor. He was the sole anchor of ABC's World News Tonight from 1983 until his death in 2005 of complications from lung cancer...
, Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry is Canadian-American television and film actor.Matthew Perry or Matt Perry may also refer to:*Matthew C. Perry , American naval officer who forcibly opened Japan to trade with the West...
, Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
, Mark Redman
Mark Redman
Mark Allen Redman is a retired Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher.-Early career:...
, Tom Green
Tom Green
Michael Thomas "Tom" Green is a Canadian actor, rapper, writer, comedian, talk show host and media personality. Best known for his shock humour brand of comedy, Green found mainstream prominence via his MTV television show The Tom Green Show...
, Rich Little
Rich Little
Richard Caruthers "Rich" Little is a Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor. He has long been known throughout the world as a top impersonator of famous people, resulting in his nickname, "The Man of a Thousand Voices"....
, Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
, Alan Verch and Princess Margriet, sister of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
Many Ottawa natives have excelled in the athletic world, particularly winter sports. Barbara Ann Scott was world figure skating champion and won the gold medal at St. Moritz
St. Moritz
St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in 1948. Skier Ann Heggtveit won a gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics
1960 Winter Olympics
The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held between February 18 and 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States. In 1955 at the 50th IOC meeting, the organizing committee made the surprise choice to award Squaw Valley as...
in Squaw Valley, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Elizabeth Manley
Elizabeth Manley
Elizabeth Ann Manley, CM is a Canadian figure skater. She is the 1988 Olympic silver medalist, 1988 World silver medalist, and three-time Canadian champion.-Early life and training:...
won the silver medal for women's figure skating at the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988. Michel James Heney a famous railway building in the Yukon. The Clifford Family has long been associated with skiing in the Ottawa area.
Linda Thom
Linda Thom
Linda Mary Alice Thom, CM, née Malcolm, is a Canadian Olympic gold medal-winning shooter.Born in Hamilton, Ontario, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967 from Carleton University....
won Olympic gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
in Los Angeles. Francis Amyott, from the Britannia Club, won the single canoeing event when it was held for the first time at the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936.
Two Ontario premiers came from the Ottawa Valley - Premier Howard Ferguson
Howard Ferguson
George Howard Ferguson, PC was a Conservative politician and the ninth Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1923 to 1930.-Background:He was the son of Charles Frederick Ferguson who served in the Canadian House of Commons...
(Kemptville) in the 1920s and Premier Dalton McGuinty
Dalton McGuinty
Dalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr., MPP is a Canadian lawyer, politician and, since October 23, 2003, the 24th and current Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario....
(Ottawa), who became premier in 2003.
"Hockey Country"
The Ottawa Senators public relations office call Ottawa and the Valley "hockey country". Indeed it is the home not only of the once mighty Senators, which folded in 1934 and came back in the 1990s, but also of such famous NHL builders as Tommy Gorman and Ambrose O'Brien. With the Senators' arena Scotiabank Place which used to be known as the Corel Centre, located in Kanata, Ontario, which links Ottawa with the Valley, residents of the Upper Ottawa Valley can easily access the games. The Scotiabank Place is the home of the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, several restaurants, a fitness complex and several businesses. The Scotiabank place including the standing room, has a capacity of holding 20,500 people for any event. Many of the members of the Senator's coaching and management staff in 2010 hail from or have strong connections to, the town of Shawville.The Ottawa Valley's Renfrew Millionaires, the creation of lumber baron O'Brien, was a small-town professional hockey team that won the league championship in 1910. Ottawa and the valley are also the home of such outstanding players as Aurel Joliat, Frank "King" Clancy, Frank Boucher and Denis Potvin; the latter was the star defenceman of the New York Islanders dynasty of the late 1970s. Ottawa's Brian Kilrea holds the record as the Ontario Hockey League's longest-serving coach with a record number of games behind the bench of the Ottawa 67's junior hockey team. The 67's themselves are something of a legend, having a loyal following that results in sellout games almost every time they step on the ice. The Ottawa 67's play hockey at Lansdowne Park which used to be home to the Ottawa Senators. Lansdowne has a capacity of over 9,682 seats. The Ottawa 67's have won only two memorial cups (1984, 1999) since they first started in 1967.
Geography
The Ottawa Valley covers over 7,645 square kilometres. Some 12,800 years ago, glaciers retreated from what is now the Ottawa Valley region, leaving the area covered by the Champlain SeaChamplain Sea
The Champlain Sea was a temporary inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, a paratropical subsea or epeiric sea created by the retreating glaciers during the close of the last ice age...
for thousands of years. Ten thousand years ago the water retreated and land emerged, exposing fossils preserved in limestone, particularly in Eganville
Eganville, Ontario
Eganville is a small community occupying a deep limestone valley carved at the Fifth Chute of the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. It is in the township of Bonnechere Valley. This village also has two of the most popular restaurants in the upper Ottawa Valley: The Granary and...
along the Bonnechere River and the historical site of the Bonnechere Caves and it's subterranean river caverns.
More than half of the Ottawa Valley is now wilderness. Renfrew
Renfrew, Ontario
Renfrew, Ontario, Canada, is a town on the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County. Located one hour west of Ottawa in Eastern Ontario, Renfrew is the third largest town in the county after Petawawa and Pembroke. The town is a small transportation hub connecting Ontario Highway 60 and Highway 132 with...
County, located in the heart of the Ottawa Valley, is the largest county in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. (outside of "districts", administrative regions in Northern Ontario). There are over 900 lakes and four major river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
systems in the Ottawa Valley. Ottawa itself is at the confluence of three rivers. These are the Ottawa, Gatineau and Rideau rivers.
The river
The Ottawa RiverOttawa River
The Ottawa River is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it now defines the border between these two provinces.-Geography:...
is 1,130 kilometres long with a watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
of 140 000 km squared. Its source is Lac Capimitchigama in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. The Ottawa River was first navigated and settled by the Huron, Algonquin, Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
and Outaouais people. The Ottawa River bears the name of an aboriginal tribe that traded on the waterway; the "Outaouais" which is French for Ottawa. The Ottawa River provided the means for entrepreneurs to start up their logging business. The River watershed had unlimited resources, loose regulations, and cheap labour pools which allowed the entrepreneurs to quickly increase control over the timber trade. Many people invovled in the logging industry took advantage of the waterway and built their empires because of the fast-moving waters and forests along the River. These loggers played a crucial role in the development of the valley community as they guided logs downriver http://ottawariver.org/pdf/09-ch2-7.pdf this boost is what led to the development of major towns and cities such as Ottawa and Gatineau.
The Algonquin people called the Ottawa River "Kitchissippi", which means “Great River”. The Algonquin word Kichesippirini means "Big River People". The name Petawawa comes from the Algonquin language meaning “where one hears a noise like this.”
Flora and fauna
More than 400 species of animals live in the Ottawa Valley. The white trilliumTrillium
Trillium is a genus of about 40–50 species of spring ephemeral perennials, native to temperate regions of North America and Asia....
, which grows throughout the Ottawa Valley, has been Ontario's provincial floral emblem
Emblem
An emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...
since 1937. Its white blossom is associated with peace and hope. White pine
Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...
, the Ontario provincial tree, was the most commercially important tree during the heyday of the logging industry in the 19th century. It was exported to Europe and used for building the masts of sailing ships. Winter was the best season for cutting timber as trees fell more easily when their sap wasn’t running and ice and snow made it easier to drag the timber. Spring was the season when the loggers would “drive” the logs downriver.
See also
- National Capital RegionNational Capital Region (Canada)The National Capital Region, also referred to as Canada's Capital Region, is an official federal designation for the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the neighbouring city of Gatineau, Quebec, and surrounding urban and rural communities....
- Eastern OntarioEastern OntarioEastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...
- Southern OntarioSouthern OntarioSouthern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...
- Ottawa Valley TwangOttawa Valley TwangOttawa Valley Twang is the accent, sometimes referred to as a dialect of English, that is spoken in the Ottawa Valley, in Ontario, Canada. The Ottawa Valley is considered to be a linguistic enclave within Ontario, in the same manner that Lunenburg, Nova Scotia is within the Maritime Provinces...
External links
- http://www.petawawa.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=461&Itemid=88, a History of Petawawa
- Welcome to the Ottawa Valley, a Canadian Geographic article about the valley
- Ottawa Valley Forums, a Canadian Discussion Board for all valley members
- Ottawa River article at Great Canadian Rivers
- http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/Magazine/SO05/feature.asp The preview of the Canadian Geographic article, G'Day G'Day and Welcome to the Valley
- http://www.bonnecherecaves.com The official site of the Bonnechere Caves]
- http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924028900864/cu31924028900864_djvu.txt History of the Ottawa Valley by J.L Gourlay