History of Pontiac

Pontiac is a regional Municipalité of county (MRC) of the administrative area of the Outaouais, Quebec, Canada.

Principal article: Pontiac (regional municipality of county)

Some historical reference marks

Period before 1600

9.000 years ago, the Mer of Champlain (chart), created following the withdrawal of the glaciers, starts to be withdrawn towards the east, thus forming the valleys of Outaouais and the St-Laurent. With its more high level, it occupied the grounds located under 200 m of altitude (compared to the current level of the seas). It extended until the North-West from the Isle-with-Matches with long bays towards north going to the lakes with the Trout (Balsam), Cahill, Moiseau and Galarneau, where today, sand water-splashes are found.

A few thousands of years later, towards 6.000 before J.C the nomads autochtones circulate in the valley of the Outaouais and the Fleuve the St. Lawrence, driving out, gathering and fishing to ensure their subsistence. They work the stone to manufacture gouges for the work of hard wood, the semicircular knives, the weights of fishing net and the weights for engine. They also have knives and arrowheads slate. Copper is used to them to manufacture points of jet, hooks, pointed, harpoons, knives, axes, needles of which some with eye, bracelets, pearls and pendentive. One found towards 1960 a great number of these objects on the islands with the Matches and Morrison (island of Tessouat).

More: ancestors of Algonquins

The communities change gradually, disperse or link themselves with other groups of the south. About the year 1000, the occupation of the territory is more restricted. After a few centuries, the climate changed appreciably and the north of America undergoes a Petit Ice Age . The populations settle more in the south but traverses the territory of north to drive out. A few hundred years later, the groups seems to be reconstituted and starts to settle again more in north, until forming the nations algonquines and iroquoiennes met by the first Europeans who visited the valley of the St-Laurent and that of Outaouais.

At the time of its passage in America in 1534, Jacques Cartier would have met Iroquois, occupying all the valley of the St-Laurent. The second wave of Europeans remained with the beginning of the year 1600 there, meets only In (Montagnais), of Wendats (Huron) and of the Algonquin S. It seems that during XVIe century, the latter, much more, drove out Iroquois towards the south of the Big lakes.

Towards the end of XVIe century, Wendats (Huron) occupy the territory of Outaouais. Rather sedentary, they live several strengthened villages. They cultivate the ground, also live of fishing and trade. A group of approximately 50 individuals lives close to the lake St-Patrice, in the North-West of Fort-Coulonge. The Algonquins, those of the Island to the Matches and those of the Small-Nation, populates wandering, are also present in the valley and the territory a little more at north. They drive out and trappent.

The allied nations Iroquois (Agniers, Onneiouts, Onontagués, Goyogouins, Tsonnontouans) live in the south of the valley. They have a social structure and elaborate policy based on the matriarchy. They cultivate the Maïs, the Citrouille and the Tabac. They are warriors extremely well trained with the defense of their interests. The Outaouais or Hair-Statements, live the area in the north of the Lake Huron, close to the Lac Nipissing. The river inherited their name owing to the fact that it is the road which leads to the Big lakes.

Years 1600 to 1700

The territory located between the Big lakes and the Fleuve the St. Lawrence is distributed between many Amerindian nations, are group Huron-Iroquois or Algonquin-Montagnais group. Several nations algonquines occupy the basin of the Rivière of Outaouais (Kitchesippi or Large River). In north, one finds Kotakoutouemi, in the east, Weskarini, in the south, Kinouchepirini and Matouweskarini.

With the center, Algonquins of the Island to the Matches or the nation Kichesipirini (People of the Large River) permanently holds a station in the Island where they take a right-of-way to the travellers who pass there. Algonquins occupy the island with the Matches and the island Morrison (also called the Island of One-eyed or the Island of Tessouat, of the name of the chief of Kichesipirinis). These Islands are recognized for their strategic position on the road commercial.

June 13rd, 1611
Etienne Brûlé is of return to Quebec in company of a group of Wendats. It spent one year with those in order to learn their language. It will be thus interprets or intermediary, such as one called them then. In the score, Etienne Burned, according to Samuel de Champlain, " who came equipped to the savage, who rented treatment of the Savages, according to their country and made me hear all that he had seen during its hivernement and what he had learned from Sauvages". Etienne Brûlé would be " the first European to have gone up Outaouais". He spent several years with Wendats.

Summer 1611 in spring 1612
Nicolas Vignau, at the request of Champlain, travels by the river of Algoummequins (Algonquins). After having remained some time with the place known as Bearing-of-Extremely the, it would have spent the summer and the autumn 1611 as well as the winter and spring 1612 to the Island-with-Matches, at Kichesipirinis to learn the language there.

June 6th, 1613
Samuel de Champlain remains with Bearing-of-Extremely the. From there, it goes to the Island-with-Matches while passing by the lake of Rat-musky (lake Musrat, Ontario) to meet Algoummequins. It had left on May 27th the Co.-Helene island, close to what will be one day City-Marie (Montreal) in company of an Indian guide and four French companions, of which Nicolas Vignau.

1615
Le récollet Joseph Charon passes by the river to go to the country of Wendats (Huronie). The same year, Champlain goes up the river of Outaouais, passes by the lake Coulonge, the island with the Matches, then Mattawa and goes in Huronie.

1618-1620
Jean Nicolet, of the Company of the Merchants of Rouen and St-Malo, lives with Algonquins of the Island to the Matches to learn the language there and for better knowing the territory.

1632
Champlain makes engrave in France in 1632 a chart of its way carried out in 1616 on which it indicates using figures, certain visited sites, of the saults (fast) important or the Indian campings.

position 77 and 91 corresponds respectively to the current site of the town of Ottawa and to the Rideau river.
position 80 of this chart indicates the place of large the rapids located at the south of the Island of the Large-Peace pipe.
position 81 indicates the site of the Island-with-Matches, inhabited by Algonquins.
position 82 corresponds roughly to the site of Fort-Coulonge and a camping algonquin indicates to it.
A little in north, one notes the symbols of the mountains and the trees undoubtedly indicating the presence of forests of large pines.

Hiver 1635-1636
François Marguerie of $the Hague spends the winter with Algonquins of the Island-with-Matches. It is called by those man doubles because " he is the white man best adapted to their habits and their idioms ".

1645
La company of the Inhabitants encourages the runners of wood to go to the Indians to bring back the furs of them. The road of the countries of In-High (Big lakes) passes by the river of Outaouais.

1650
Le Jésuite Paul Ragueneau, guided by Nicolas Perrot goes up Outaouais and goes in Huronie. Iroquois are baited to disperse or destroy the Wendats, the Neutres and the Algonquins.

The Ragueneau father returns towards Quebec, crosses the country of Algonquins and makes the following report:

" When I assembled this large river, it has there only thirteen years, I saw it bordered of quantity of people of language algonkine, which did not know God, and which in the middle of their inaccuracy estimated the gods of the ground, indicator that they missed nothing, in the abundance of their fishings. their huntings. and of the trade which they had with their allied nations, and with that, they were the terror of their enemies. Since cross of Christ put them in prey at miseries, with the torments and with cruel deaths, in a word, it is unobtrusive people of top the ground. "
(Relations of the Jesuits, vol. XXXV, 1649-1650 p. 204)

After this date and until the end of the century, the south and the north of Outaouais become the hunting ground of the nations allied iroquoises.

1654
Starting from the middle of the XVIIe century, the road of Outaouais, named name of the Outaouais Indians or Outouaks living the Countries of in Top, becomes the road of the West and the draft of the furs.

1657
Sur the chart reporting its voyage from 1645 in Huronie, the father Francesco-Giuseppe Bressani indicates the position of several sites of which:

the Rock Split (12)
rapids and falls in the west of the island of the Large-Peace pipe (13)
the mouth of the river Coulonge (14)
rapids located around what will be the island of Rapid-of-Joachims the.

Starting from 1658
La war begins again between Iroquois on the one hand and the French, Algonquins and Wendats on the other hand. The road of Outaouais is then not very sure what compromait particularly the trade of the furs coming from the Big lakes.

In 1670
Les sulpicians Rene Bréhant de Galinée and François Dollier de Casson returns from forwarding in the Countries of in-High while passing by the river of Outaouais. Bréhant de Galinée makes the statement of the latitudes using measuring instruments such as the stick of Jacob and the Sextant. It will produce the same year, the first chart of the Large River and of the Rivière Digs .

Towards 1675
Louis d' Ailleboust of Coulonge would have established with Bearing-of-Extremely the, a store for the furs which it gets in the area.

Printemps 1686
Les English establishments of the Hudson Bay constitute a threat for the News-France. The French make the draft of the furs with the Indians of this territory. The governor and general lieutenant in Canada, Acadie, Newfoundland and other countries of septentrional France, the marquis Jacques-Rene de Brisay de Denonville authorizes that a group leaves to drive out the Compagnie of Hudson Bay north and west of News-France. Pierre de Troyes says Chevalier of Troyes orders the mission. Its group is composed of a hundred people. The departure takes place of Montreal, in March 1686.

May 1st, the group is of passage opposite the current site of the village of Fort-Coulonge and installs its camping there. Pierre de Troyes holds a rigorous travel diary on its mission. It does not announce any establishment to this place. Continuing its voyage, it installs a camping on the lake of the Matches, in current Baie Lamure, close to Petawawa, Ontario. At this time, the valley of Outaouais is only one crossing point of the runners of wood towards the Big lakes and Hudson Bay.

Winter 1694-1695
Louis d' Ailleboust, Sieur of the Madeleine and Coulonge , runner of wood and tradesman of furs, occupies in company of about thirty men, a fort located at the mouth of the river which one named Coulonge. They spend there the winter 1694 -95, to drive out and with trapper. Some said that they were blocked by Iroquois. At that time, the latter are passably weakened, especially because of the punitive forwardings organized against them by the Canadians and the other Amerindians. In spring, they set out again in direction of City-Marie to sell what they collected.

Years 1700 to 1800

The threat iroquoise night considerably with the delivery of the furs to the establishments located on the edges of the St-Laurent river. This threat will disappear quickly with the Grande Peace from Montreal from 1701.

The area located along the river of Outaouais is not colonized during the French mode in order to maintain it treacherous of the furs with the Amerindians who live there. The French maintain a garrison military in several forts along Outaouais of which strong Coulonge. The furs are delivered there, then one forward them under escort to the great centers of the colony. After 1763, the British have the same concern of discouraging the installation of colonists.

May 1709
Jean Cadieux, born in Boucherville on March 12th, 1671, wire junior by Jean Cadieux and Marie Valade, dies of wounds and exhaustion while wanting to save his/her travelling companions of the attacks of Iroquois. Rowers come from Oka found its body, in top of the Seven Falls of the Large Peace pipe, holding in its hands a text written on a birch bark, reporting its death, at the origin of the legend the lament of Cadieux.

Here an extract of the text of the Lament of Cadieux:

" Small rock of the high mountain, I come here to finish this countryside!

Ah! soft echoes, hear my sighs while languishing, I soon will die. "

Cadieux, engages since 1695, to lead boats in the area of the Big lakes to bring back furs of them. He marries on May 30th, 1695 with Boucherville, Marie Bourdon, born on August 11th, 1675 at the same place. One says the latter which it is algonquine. His/her parents, possibly adoptive, are Jacques Bourdon (1650-1724) and Marie Ménard (1658-1726), both born in France. After the death of Jean Cadieux, she marries Antoine Quenneville on May 26th, 1710 with Longueuil.

1763
Pontiac (Obwondiag, Pondiag or Pondiac), the Big boss of Odawas (Outaouais) of the area of the lake Nipissing and Supreme leader of the Confederation of Algonquins of the Big lakes, starts a war against the British. It tries to convince all the Amerindian tribes to make face with him. Thomas Guarantees, Gouverneur of Montreal prohibits the trade with the countries of In-High. Pontiac leaves its name to the immense territory located around strong Coulonge.

Towards 1777
L' industry of wood-cutting is organized little by little. One carries out the damming up of the channel located on the northern side of the Island of the Grand Peace pipe, them (Seven-Fall) in order to allow the passage of the balls of squared pines.

1784
Sous the British occupation, the trade continues accoître. The company of the North-West rebuilds strong Coulonge in 1784. One believes that the strong original was located at the mouth of the river, of the west coast, at the place occupied at present by the factory of sawing of Tembec or opposite, of the east coast of the river, close to the current Bryson beach.

The new strong one is built a little upstream, close to a point and a sand beach, with approximately a kilometer in the west of the mouth. A bridge close to the probable site always bears the name of Bridge of the Fort. Having absorbed the Company of the North-West, the Compagnie of Hudson Bay maintains there a station of draft important until 1855.

1786
Joseph Mondion, originating in the Seigniory of Vaudreuil, settles with the rapids with the Cats, the western end of the lake Deschênes. In 1686, the knight of Troyes there passes and names the site because " of the rocks of which the river is filled, and who scratching, by manner of speaking, the boats of the travellers, gave them place to impose this nickname " to him;. For others, it is rather about the abundance of the raccoon (wildcat) in the area since the first falls would have been called the " Sault-of-cats-sauvages".

1793
Le government proposes to set up the canton of Clarendon. One octroye of the batches to the first 15 applicants in 1826, all english-speaking.

1795
Les majors Gale and Duberger carry out a chart indicating the site and the name of 17 new cantons (townships) for what will be named Comté of Pontiac.

1800
Joseph Mondion sells the station and the farm which it installed with the Cats at a formed company montréalaise of Thomas and John Forsyth and John Richardson.

Years 1800 to 1900

At the beginning of this century, the area of Outaouais is inhabited always little by the population of European origin. The government does not support the settlement leaving more freedom to the trade of the furs. Several French families live there all the same and trade there with the autochtones.

1805
Inauguration of the canton of Onslow, located at the west of the mission of Aylmer.

towards 1810
Deux chiefs algonquin present themselves at Philemon Wright to Hull to ask him of which right il

" cut their wood and takes possession of their territory " ,

explaining that they " has peaceful and quiet possession these grounds since generations ".

1819
Début of the Irish emigration in the Valley of Outaouais, particularly around Hull.

1820
Premier permanent establishment on the Island of the Large-Peace pipe.

1823
John McLean establishes a station of draft on the Island-with-Matches. A little later in the year, it establishes of them another for the Company of the North-West, the station of the lake of the Matches, on the current site of Extremely-William, in the North-West of the island. The counter of draft is located in edge of the lake of the Matches, just beside that of Aenas MacDonell, a former employee of the Company. One opens there a post office in 1848.

1820 to 1850
La majority of the grounds is conceded with Irish or British Protestants. The Canadian-French and the Mongrels, the majority runners of wood, travellers, loggers and employees of companies, have the possibility of settling that on the Island of the Grand Peace pipe. The site of strong Coulonge and the adjacent territory also accommodate several families but at this place, no ground is still conceded.

1821
Étienne Bessette occupies a station of draft (Besset station) to the site of the village of Bryson. The site bears the name of Havelock later then it is famous Bryson in 1872.

1831
Établissement of the Irishmen mainly in the cantons of Eardley, Onslow, Bristol-board, Litchfield, Mansfield and Sheen.

1833
Inauguration on January 17th, of the canton of Clarendon. The canton is " réservé" with Protestant and anglophone immigrants. In spite of this fact (according to the Father Gravel), Benjamin the Rider settles there in 1834, the widow Lydia Lebeau and his 6 children in 1841, Henri Lemeunier (Lemonnier) in 1846, Olivier St-Louis, Antoine Benjamin, Francis Bergin, Edouard Carrier, Maxime-William Deschamps and Pierre Dubeau about 1851, Basile Robitaille in 1854 and, Alexandre Bourgau and Joseph Julien in 1864 like 2 other families of the name of Robitaille.

1834
Inauguration of the cantons of Litchfield and Bristol-board.

1843
Construction of a wood vault to the Large-Peace pipe.

November 5th, 1846
Creation of the municipality of the canton of the Large-Peace pipe. The same year, the opening of the Catholic church Co.-Anne of the Large-Peace pipe and that of the church St-Alphonse of the Island to the Matches (Catholic), located at Hat.

1848
Ouverture of the Co.-Marie Catholic church of Quyon.

1851
Ouverture of the catholic parish St-Alexandre of Clarendon, located at Bearing-of-Extremely the.

1854
Le steamer Pontiac is brought into service between Pembroke, Extremely-William, Point Alexander and Rapid-Of-Joachims.

March 1869
Le ground and the buildings of the station of draft of Extremely-William are sold to John Poupore of Chichester, logger and politician, member of the legislative Parliament of Quebec. The grandson of John McLean, Lewes Miller will operate the store and the hotel during several years.

1872
Ouverture of the catholic parish of St-Paul of Sheenboro.

1875
Ouverture of the catholic parish Co.-Elisabeth of Vinton.

1876
Débuté in 1873, one finishes in this year the locks of the Chenal of Collapses, located at 8 km in the North-West of the village of Chapeau.

The rapids of Culbute could not be crossed without bearing and thus blocked the passage of the boats of transport of the lake Coulonge to the lake of the Matches. The locks are made up of two sections of 200 feet length (60 m) and 45 feet (14 m) broad. They will be used until 1889 then left with the abandonment. Transport by boat périclite. One counts from now on on the railroad to accelerate the development of the areas.

1885
Le section of the railroad of Luskville to Quyon is inaugurated on December 24th.

January 27th, 1886
Le railroad goes until Shawville. October 10th, one inaugurates the Shawville section in Bryson. The railroad goes to the village of Fort-Coulonge on December 15th.

1892
L' Île of the Large-Peace pipe account 1400 inhabitants divided into 200 families is 144 French-speaking people, 40 Irish and 16 mongrel.

1893
La telephone call is now possible between Fort-Coulonge, Campbell' S Bay, Large-Peace pipe, Bryson and Portage of the Fort.

Years 1900 and more

1902
Parution of the newspaper the Voice of Outaouais de Bryson.

1914
Le fire destroys the villages of Bearing-of-Extremely the and Bryson. In this last, more than 94 houses are destroyed.

1968
Inauguration of the new bridge, Bridge Mgr Martel, between Bryson and the Island of the Large-Peace pipe.

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