Toronto - Origins of One of the Great Cities of the World

The cosmopolitan Canadian city of Toronto nowformalized in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris.During
has a population of more than three million andthe following decades the fate of Toronto was
the most ethnically diverse culture in the world.largely decided by events taking place south of
But three hundred years ago it was little morethe great lakes in the American Colonies. In the
than a portage where the Humber River flowslate 1770s and throughout the 1780s much of
into Lake Ontario. It was known only to localsouthern Ontario was settled by United Empire
natives and a few French voyageurs.White ManLoyalists who were forced to flee from the
Meets IndianThe first settlers in the Toronto areanewly independent American authorities. And,
were native North American Indians. Differentalong with British settlers, missionaries, and
tribes had inhabited the area around Lake Ontariogoverning elite the population and culture of the
for at least ten thousand years. By the timeToronto region slowly developed and grew.The
Europeans first started exploring the region, thethreat from an openly antagonistic United States
predominant Indian tribes were the Hurons andwas foremost on the minds of most residents of
Petuns.During the 1600s the Indian populations ofthe British colonies to the north, and as a result,
much of this part of North America wereToronto and the rest of southern Ontario
devastated by diseases brought to the new worldexperienced only slow growth for a number of
by European explorers and settlers. As Indiandecades.In 1793 the Lieutenant-Governor of
tribes were reduced by disease, tribes feudedUpper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, moved the
with each other for their very survival. Indeed,capital of the province from Newark
some tribes did not survive.This was the state of(Niagara-on-the-Lake) to Toronto and renamed
affairs in the southern Ontario region for much ofthe town York. At that time it was still a very
the 1600s as Iroquois battled with Hurons. Bysmall town consisting of only about 50 families. In
1688 however the Iroguois, who had moved into1813 one of the most decisive events of the War
the Toronto area, were in turn displaced by theof 1812 with the U.S. saw York captured by the
French, and gradually the southern Ontario regionAmericans and many of its major buildings burned
was dominated by the white man.The Earlyto the ground.But in spite of the damage done to
French PeriodThe first European to reach theYork, the War of 1812-14 represented the end of
Toronto area is thought to have been Etiennehostilities between the U.S. and British North
Brule, who had served under Samuel deAmerica. As a result the Toronto and southern
Champlain. Tradition has it that Brule "discovered"Ontario regions experienced accelerated
the Toronto site in 1615, but other scholarsimmigration and much more rapid development
question whether Brule ever reached Lakethroughout the 1800s.Toronto Develops Along
Ontario at Toronto.The first verifiable evidence ofWith CanadaIn 1834 the name of York was
European presence in the area came with Romanchanged back to Toronto, and in 1841 Toronto
Catholic missionaries working with the local nativesbecame the capital of the newly minted Canada
in the 1660s and 1670s. Seasonal traders alsoWest region of the United Province of Canada.In
regularly passed through the area by this time,1867 when the Canadian confederation was
the most famous of whom was the explorerreformed and expanded, Toronto carried on as
Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle.By 1720 thethe capital city of the new provice of
French had established a trading post on theOntario.Toronto's population grew rapidly in the
Humber River at the base of what was known aslate 1800s, with the population going from 30,000
the "Toronto Passage." And in 1750-51, the Frenchin 1851 to 181,000 in 1891. This rapid population
built Fort Rouille to protect French interests in thegrowth was almost completely the result of
area against the British.Fort Rouille, or Fortimmigration. The 1891 population figure also
Toronto as it was more commonly known, wasincluded recent annexations of many smaller,
used as a trading post until 1759. At that time theoutlying towns such as Parkdale, Brockton Village,
French were locked in a protracted war with theWest Toronto, East Toronto, and many
British to decide which imperial power would haveothers.Most of the immigration in the early and
the upper hand in dividing up world wide colonialmid 1800s was from Britain and Ireland. As a
interests. The French were forced to retreatresult Toronto became a thoroughly
from much of inland North America in 1759.English-Scottish-Irish town and remained that way
Before retreating from Fort Rouille they burneduntil immigration patterns changed in the late
the fort to the ground rather than having it fall1800s.Rick Hendershot publishes the Canada
into English hands.The British Take OverThisTravel Network. This article is adapted from Visit
marked the end of French control of the regionsToronto where you can find extensive Toronto
we now know as Toronto and Ontario, and thetravel information, including information about
beginning of English domination, which wasToronto wedding photographers.