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| History
Bites |
Vigneau's
Veracity
Samuel de Champlain's first voyage on
the Ottawa in 1613 was based on the
tales of his deputy, Vigneau, who claimed
that the river was a route to the northern
sea. |
| Fishy
Facts |
Muskie
for a Moment
Snap that photo fast! Ottawa River muskie
are growing big and strong, thanks to
sports fishing catch-and-release practices.
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Ottawa River
Kitche-sippi, La Grande Rivière, The Grand
River…the Algonquin First Nations and French
explorers of long ago used simple eloquence to describe
the supremacy of the waterway that connected them
to the people and riches of the interior. They knew
the river was long, that it plunged down from the
deep, cold sliver of the lake Temiskaming, that
it met a lesser river that led to the shores of
Nipissing, and on to the epic inland seas. But only
those with the keenest sense of geography and the
greatest appreciation for the vastness of the land
-Champlain, for one - could have realized that the
mighty river has its source deep in the wilderness,
far beyond the reaches of human habitation. Today,
we know that the Ottawa River - named for the First
Nations traders that made it their highway to the
east - is 1,271 kilometres in length and drains
an area of 146,300 square kilometres. We know that
it is the 2nd longest river in Canada, after the
St. Lawrence, to flow to the Atlantic Ocean. We
know that it begins deep within the province of
Quebec and scribbles its way west through a chain
of lakes to Temiskaming before turning south and
southeast toward its St. Lawrence confluence. We
know that it gave life to the ancient Algonquin
tribes that lived on its banks and tributaries -
and that it gave birth to a nation's capital. On
today's Ottawa River, the songs of lumberjacks have
been replaced by the shouts of thrill-seeking river
runners. Birch bark canoes have given way to pleasure
boats, cruising the 500 kilometre course of the
Temiskawa Waterway. The rocky, brush-strewn footpaths
of portaging fur traders have been turned into riverside
trails and parks, and the bays and inlets of aboriginal
campsites have become waterfront centres and modern
marinas. In the 21st century, the Ottawa is a different
river than the one first mapped by Samuel de Champlain,
but it is still deserving of it original name -
the magnificent grande rivière. |
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