Ottawa River - History

Canadian river, the largest tributary of the St Lawrence; rises in the Canadian Shield, flows W, then S and SE to the St Lawrence SW of Montreal; length 1270 km/780 mi; forms the Ontario–Quebec border for most of its course; hydroelectric power; connected to L Ontario via the Rideau Canal; its river valley was an important early travel route.

The Ottawa River (French: Rivière des Outaouais) defines for most of its length the border between the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

The Ottawa River drains into the Lake of Two Mountains and the Saint Lawrence River at Montreal. The total length of the river is 1,271 km and it drains an area of 146,000 km², 65% in Quebec and the rest in Ontario.

Major tributaries include the:

Bonnechere River Coulonge River Gatineau River Kipawa River du Lièvre River Madawaska River Mattawa River Mississippi River Montreal River Rivière du Nord Petawawa River Rideau River Rouge River South Nation River

Following the retreat of the glaciers from this area at the end of the last ice age, the Ottawa River valley was flooded by an arm of the Atlantic Ocean known as the Champlain Sea.

Large numbers of Canada Geese, ducks, gulls and shorebirds take advantage of spring flooding and wetlands in the Ottawa River valley during migration.

History

This river was an important trade route for the Algonquin people, who called it Kitchissippi, "Great River". Some early European explorers, possibly considering the Ottawa River to be more significant than the Upper Saint Lawrence, applied the name River Canada to the Ottawa River and the Saint Lawrence River below the confluence at Montreal. As the extent of the Great Lakes became clear and the river began to be regarded as a tributary, it was variously known as the Grand River, "Great River" or Grand River of the Algonquins before the present name was settled upon.

In 1615, Samuel de Champlain and Étienne Brûlé, assisted by Algonquin guides, were the first Europeans to travel up the Ottawa River and follow the water route west to Georgian Bay that would be used by French fur traders for the next two centuries.

In the early 19th century, the Ottawa River and its tributaries were used to gain access to large untouched forests of white pine. In 1832, the Ottawa River was connected to Lake Ontario via the construction of the Rideau Canal.

Communities along the Ottawa River include in down-stream order:

Notre-Dame-du-Nord, Quebec Ville-Marie, Quebec Témiscaming, Quebec Mattawa, Ontario Deep River, Ontario Petawawa, Ontario Pembroke, Ontario Waltham, Quebec Fort-Coulonge, Quebec Portage-du-Fort, Quebec Braeside, Ontario Arnprior, Ontario Quyon, Quebec Aylmer, Quebec Hull, Quebec Ottawa, Ontario Gatineau, Quebec Orleans, Ontario Angers, Quebec Masson, Quebec Rockland, Ontario Thurso, Quebec Plasance, Quebec Papineauville, Quebec Montebello, Quebec Fassett, Quebec L'Orignal, Ontario Grenville, Quebec Hawkesbury, Ontario Saint-André-Est, Quebec Rigaud, Quebec Saint-Placide, Quebec Hudson, Quebec Oka, Quebec Vaudreuil-sur-le-lac, Quebec Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec Pincourt, Quebec Pointe-des-Cascades, Quebec