Dundas Square/ Yonge Street

• Indigenous celebrations at Dundas Square, Toronto (July 1st, 2021).

Johnson, J. (May 2018). First Story Toronto: Exploring the Indigenous History of
Toronto Walking Tour.

• John Grave Simcoe was the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada during the colonial regime.
• Simcoe wanted a road from the newly planned settlement of York, Upper Canada to Lake Simcoe.
• He was looking for a route to St. Lawrence, many of these routes were already established by Indigenous people.
• The Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe portage route was used for 2,000 years as it was the fastest route, so Simcoe believed it would be a good route for the new highway.
• When Simcoe met a group of Mississauga’s along the route, they informed him about a faster route.
• Simcoe decided to build a colonial road as straight as possible at all costs and named it after Young, an Official back in Britain.
• Simcoe had a survey dilemma as he wanted it to be a straight road so he hired Augustus Jones as the surveyor and constructor of the new road.
• Augustus Jones was assisted by a Chief from the Mississauga’s, Wabakinine, to help him lay the compass line 30 miles north to Lake Simcoe.
• In the 1790s, Chief Wasbasi created the route 200 yards from the exact point they wanted to be at.
• You can see the 200-yard difference in one spot along Yonge St. where it seems to bend off the path a bit.

Bonikowsky, L. (2012 February). Yonge Street- Governor Simcoe’s Military Road.
Historica Canada. Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/yonge-street-governor-simcoes-military-road-feature

• Simcoe proposed the ‘military street’ as a strategic route to help protect Upper Canada from American invasion.
• Yonge Street was known as “the longest street in the world” when it was completed on February 20, 1796.
• The town of York was created by Loyalists moving northward along the upper St. Lawrence River and lower Great Lakes which led to the creation of Upper Canada and York, known today as Toronto.
• When war broke out between England and France in 1793, Simcoe realized that the capital Newark (Niagara on the lake) and its Lake Erie trade route would be vulnerable to attack if America decided to support its French allies.
• Simcoe transferred the capital to Toronto Bay and founded York as the capital 25.
• Simcoe planned major roads, knowing their value for defense and for expanding development.
• Governor’s Road (Dundas Street) ran west to the Detroit River and Yonge Street ran north to the Holland River, creating a link with Georgian Bay on Lake Huron and Michilimackinac.
• Simcoe set off on September 25, 1793, with a group of soldiers and native guides to explore north of Lake Ontario, following the Carrying Place Trail, a portage route running 45 km from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe, following the Humber and Holland Rivers. The trail was a necessary route since the Humber’s shallow water was often difficult to navigate, it froze solid in the winter and its steep banks offered little defense against attack.
• Simcoe’s strategic route did not follow the natural contours of the land. It was truly a military road, running as straight as an arrow from York to Holland landing. Simcoe named the road Yonge Street, after Sir George Yonge, secretary of war in the British Cabinet and a family friend.
• Today, the habour front shore plains remain Toronto’s downtown core and Simcoe’s military street stretches around 1,900 km.

Robinson, K. (2017 June). Toronto tour takes a walk through the city’s Indigenous history. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/toronto-tour-takes-a-walk-through-the-citys-indigenous-history/article35270967/

• “The area of Yonge and Dundas that most Torontonians have come to know as a central part of the city was once part of a major portage route used by Indigenous people. The Toronto Carrying Place was the most important First Nations trail in Southern Ontario and the main route connecting Lake Ontario with Lake Simcoe and the northern Great Lakes. The Carrying Place Trail was a vital trade route for the First Nations and also later by the French and English settlers” (Robinson 2017).