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Some Notes on the Rideau Canal, the
Sources of its Water Supply, and its
Early History.

By A. T. Drummond,

[

(

[

" Reprinted from tiie Canadian Record of Science, October, 1893."

Some Notes on the RIdeau Canal, the
Sources of its Water Supply, and its
Early History.

By A. T. Drummonu.

A Homewhat careful investigation into the nature of the
country bordering on the Hideau Canal, as well as of the
lakes on its course and of its water powers — all inconnection
with a line of railway now being surveyed — has led to mv
ascertaining some facts of interest which I desire to here
mention. It has further occurred to me that here also
might be a fitting place for a short resumd of the facts —
almost unknown now in tiii.s country — connected with the
inception and construction of the canal. These facts I have
abbreviated from the extensive manuscript notes — taken
from the Dominion archives and other sources, as well as
from personal recollection — of Mr. Andi-ew Di-ummond of
Ottawa, whose association and close family connection with
two of the leading buildei's of the canal and personal
acquaintance, formed in 1832, with others who planned its
construction, enables him to speak with not only some
interest, but even some authority.

The canal may be divided into the river and the lake
divisions, the former comprising the Eideau Kiver which
was the original outlet to the Ottawa of tne Upper and
Lower Eideau Lakes lying beyond Smith's Falls. The lake
division, besides those two lakes, includes Mud, Clear,
Indian, Opinicon, Sand, Whitefish and Cranberry Lakes, to
which may be added the long artificial lake, known as the
"drowned lands," created between Washburn and Kingston
Mills, by the erection of the Kingston Mill's dam. The
waters of Upper Eideau Lake form the summit level of the
canal system, and are admitted by the locks on either side
of the lake to the Ottawa Eiver slope or to the St. Law-
rence Eiver slope as the traffic on the canal requires. The
immense importance of keeping a sufficient supply of water
in this lake is so obvious that every means should be taken
to husband the waters of its feeders. Clear, Wolfe and Sand
Lakes, which empty into it at Westport. The forest coun-
try around these outer lakes should be kept, as far as pos-

461 Some Notes on the Rideau Canal.

Hiblo, in its vir«fin hIjUo by prolecting it from forest fires
and absolutoly vvitlidniwing it from Hottloinont, in order to
hold back' within those forests the accumulations from the
melted snow and the rain which otherwise will be loo
quickly <lrained otf into the lak'es. Were Upper Eideau
Lake allowed in midsummer to i'all seriously in level at the
locks, the whole canal would be rendered practically use-
less.

The depth of water in the different lakes, according to
old navigators and Hshermen, is not veiy givat. The lakes
on the 8t. Lawrence sloi)o do not, it is said by them, exceed
100 feet in depth. ^Vy own soundinirs in the up|)er half of
of Lowei- itideau Lake at points where our fisherman indi-
cated were the greatest ilcpths, gave 114 feet as the
maximum, but in theliocky Narrows nearer Oliver's Kerry
on the same lake, the lead has, it is asserted, found the b )l-
tom at about 200 feet.

The waters of these in laud lakes are in similar depths con-
Hiderabl3^ colder than those of Lake Ontario. On the 6th
July, 1893, at noon, under the conditions of strong sun,
with a few light clouds and a comparative calm, the ther-
mometer readings, at one half a mile from Grindstone
Island, in Lower Rideau Lake, gave the following tem-
peratures of the water :

1 inch below surface 77° F.

2Jfeet " " 74° F.

102" " " 47-0° F.

Half an hour later, at another locality, a quarter of a mile
farther fromthe island, and with more clouds in the sky, the
record indicated :

1 incli below surface 76° F.

2 feet " " 74-5° F.

<I6 " " <' 45° F.

In the Ontario waters, at this pei-iod, with their temper-
ature raised by constant accessions from Lake Erie, which
not only lies further south but is also very shallow, the
mercur}^ in the main channel oi)posito Kingston stood at
62-25° in 11 fathoms in one locality, and at 53° in 17
fathoms in another.

In Cataraqui Bay, whore the waters of the canal join
Lake Ontario, there is what old navigators call "a tide" of

Canadian Record of Science. 462

ton inches to ono foot, caused evidently by the fre([uent
westerly winds on Lake Ontai-io forcing the water to a
higher level in the gradually contracted area forming the
bay. Capt. Fleming, of the steamer James Swift, informs
me that it comes and goes, and is so well known that when
his boat happens to ground, through missing the channel,
he simply waits for the " tile" to agairi float it. During a
continuous calm of two or moi-o days the rise and fall cease.

It is an interesting fact that the summit levels of the dif-
ferent systems of lakes which are the soui'ces of the water
supply of the Rideau Catuil lie chiefly in the townships of
IJedford and Loughborough, and within a very modei-ate
distance of Lake Ontai'io. The headwaters of the Lough-
borough Lake system are within seven miles of Kingston ;
Knowlton, the uppermost of those lakes which find an out-
let on the canal at Mud Lake, is within thirteen miles of
the same place; whilst Bobb's Lake (a corruption, perhaps,
of liobb's Lake), the most important of the higher levels of
the River Tay system, whose waters eventually reach the
Ottawa, is also situated within twenty five miles of Kings-
ton. The low, broad ridge of gneiss which connects the
Laurentian rocks of New York State with the main range
in Canada, forms the watershed here of the streams falling
into the Ottawa, on the one hand, and the St. Lawrence
and Lake Ontario, on the othei*. The strata are, however,
thrown up into very immorous subordinate ridges, which
lie here in directions generally north-east and south-west,
and somewhat parallel to each other. These ridges, pro-
longed far to the south-west towards Kifjgston, have led to
the formation and extension of lake basins in that direction.
Those who plaimed the Rideau Canal, notably Col. \\y,
showed their engineering skill in taking advantage of the
number and different levels of these h'ke '■jiqs to procure
an adequate supply of water for navigatic.i on the summit
level as well as on both slopes, causing the waters some-
times, as in the Loughborough Lake and the Devil's Lake
systems, to almost double on themselves.

This groat water system, including in it fifty-three lakes
which are from one to fifteen miles long, has another pecu-
liarity, that these lakes lie, with only four unimportant

Some Notes on the Rideau Canal.

exceptioii!^, on the west ami north-west side of the canal.
Between Kingston Mills and the mouth of the Tny the
canal lies, as it wore, on the side of a gentle slope fi-om the
south-west, the lakes thus on that side discharging into it,
whilst those on the other find their outlet chiefly through
the Gananoquo River to the St. Lawrence.

We ai*e apt to regard the townships of Htorrington,
Loughborough and Bedford and the east half of the town-
ship of llinchinhrooke, all in the county of Frontonac, as
unattractive for settlement, and to assume that when the
pine and spruce are removed from their forests there will
be nothing loft in this somewhat rugged country but the
possibility of minerals. It is consoling, however, to think
that all the lakes which, wallod in by heights of verdure-
clad gneiss,, picturesquely stud these townships in every
direction, arc the great lesorvoirs from which chietly is
drawn the supply of water needed to keep the Eideau Canal
navigable as well in its course to Ottawa as in its course to
Kingston. Had the great forces of nature not placed these
Laurentian ridges in positions to form lake basins between
them, and left the country rugged and unattractive, so that
the virgin foi-osts might largel}' remain and in tlieir depths
hold back the waters from being too quickly drained away,
it would be hopeless to maintain uninterrupted navigation
on tlie canal.

The more that considoi-ation is given to the subject, the
more reasonable does it seem to be to regard these Lauren-
tian lidges as having long preceded the ice age, and to view
the lakes, scattered over this archffian area here in such
apparent, picturesque confusion, as in reality occupying
still older lake basins whose position and general direction
was due to the presence of the ridges, and through which
guided in their course by the lie of the ridges, the glaciers
during the ice age flowed. These ancient ridges have suf-
fered from the decomposing forces of perhaps centuries of
the growth and decay upon their surfaces of plant life, of
the extremes of heat in summer and cold in winter, and of

Canadian Record of Science.

464

the wearing eft'ecf, of wtorms and floods, and possibly may
have felt the force of even former ice peiiods, and their
woi-n Hhapes must not be altogether 'ittributed to po'^t-piio-
ceno timo.s.

On its western and northwestern su'es the canal is fed by
seven systems of VaVq*. Two of the-;e, the River Tay and
Black Lake systems, supply Lower RideauLake, and event-
ually through the liideau River, reach the River Ottawa.
One system, the Wolfe Lake system, Joins Upper Ridoau
Lake, the summit lake, and is therefore tributary to buLh
the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa slope. The other four
systems turnish the supply of water for the St. Lawrence
slope, and also are thi-ough the outlet, in rcalit}' now a
great waste weii-, at Morton, the actual headwaters of the
Gananof|UO River. On the easterly side of the canal, three
01- four small lakes form soui-ces of supply, but of these only
Lish, Otter and Jiass Lakes have any impoitance.

The comparative fi-eedom from water courses is a singular
feature of the country bordering on the Rideau River after
it leaves the lake systems. With the exception of the River
(jroodwood (or Jock), [i-ish Creek and the south bi-anch of
the Rideau River, not one of which has pretensions to being
more than a eretk, the Rideau has practically no tributai-ics
in this length of about 70 miles.

(Jonsidtrable confusion appears to exist on the maps as to
the locality, name and outlet of many of the lakes in Fron.
tenac county, and it is therefore desirable to briefly refer to
the lakes forming each system, my authority being one of
the original charts on Hie in the Department of Railway's
and Oanf*l8 at Ottawa, which Mr, F. A. Wise, the superin-
tending engineer has kindly allowed me to consult.

River Tay S/jstem. — Long, Eagle and Elbow Lakes in the
townships of llinchinbrooke and Olden, are at the head-
waters of this system. In Bedford, it is joined by Bobs,
(probably, originally, Robb's), (.'rown or Crow) and Green
Lakes. Entering South Sheibrooke as the River 'fay, it
has, added to it, the waters of Farrensund Silver Lakes, and

465

Some Notes on the Rideau Canal.

then widens into Ciiristie'H Lal<o. Grunt's Oeok connects
it near Perth with Pike, Second and Third Lake>< and near
its outlet into Lower Hideaii Lake, it receives the waters
of Otty Lake.

Black Lake System. — Black Lake in North Burtjossand a
small lake beyond it in North Cro.«»by. constitute an inde-
pendent system which is also tributary to Lower Rideau
Lake.

Wolfe Lake System — ( 'loar Lake (No. 2) in Bedf'.- ,1 forms
the summit, but Wolfe Luke and Sand Lake, the latter wholly
in North (Jrosby, are the principal reservoirs and supply
Upper Eideau Lake at Westport.

Devils Lake Systim. — Knowlton, Mud, Otter and Desert
Lakes in the township of Loughborough arc at the head-
waters of this system. Desert Lake is joined fiom Bedford
by the waters of (Jarter (or Garter), Canoe and Elbow (No.
2) Lakea and ihe system then expands into Birch Lake
which also receives the outflow from Long Salmon Lake in
the township of Loughborough. Mud (No. 2) and Devil
Lakes in Bedford are further expansions of the system,
which, after including Loon Lake in North Grosby, even-
tually reaches the (Janal system at Mud Lake proper.

Buck Lake System. — Draper is the largest of a small group
of lakes in the township of Loughborough at the source of
this systom. These along with Clear Lake (No. .'{) and four
smaller sheets of water are tributary to Buck Lake, which
lies partly in Bedford, and whence the waters flow by the
Mississagua Kivor to Mosquito Lake in South Crosby, from
which they reach Mud and Indian Lake on the Canal route.

Mock Jjake System. — This system takes its rise in the
township of Loughborough but its larger sheets of water.
Expedition, Upper Rock nnd Rock Lakes, aie in Storring-
ton. It is ti'ibutary to the Canal system at Opinicon Lake.

Jjoughborough Lake System. — This system is ti-ibaJary to
the Canal near Brewer's Mills, and includes Troy, Little Cran-
berry and Dog Lakes, all in Storrington, and Loughborough
Lake which is situated partly in the township of Lough bor-

Canadian Record of Science.

460

oiigh and partly in Storrington, and is the largest of the
Rldeau Canal foedern.

As. orii^inally, Cranberry Lake — then known as Cran-
berry Marsh — appears to have had a connection with White-
fish Lake, the waters of this systom may, in times of flood,
have been also tributary to the (lananoquo River and have
roachcd the St. Jiawi'onco at (Tananoquo as well as Tiako
Ontario at Kingston.

The duplication of names should l>o avoided by the (Jov-
ernment renaming some of these lakes, the scanty popula-
lation and small interests prosonti}'' involved, readily
admitting of this being done. Other defects in nomenchi-
ture also need pressing attention.

EARLY III8T0RV OF THE CANAL.

At the close of the war between K«-anceand Gieat Britain
which resulted in French Canada becoming a British Crown
Colony, the Ottawa valley had u few settlements as far up
the river as (-aril Ion on the north side, but the south side
was still an almost unbroken wilderne'*s. In J783, the
Bi'itisl. Government, in pursuance of its policy of settling
the United Empire Loyalists from the Uiiitec] States, and
the disbanded soldiers, upon free gracit lands in Canada, sent
Lieutenants French and Jones to explore the country, on
either side of the Eiver Ottawa. Lieuienant Fi-onch pro-
ceeded up the I'iver as fai' as ino Kideau Fulls and then
diverging inland, followed the Jii leau River to the Rideau
Lakes. (Joursing his way through the net-woik of lakes
met with beyond this, he at lengtii reached the Gananoque
Rivei', down which ho went to tlio St. Liiwrence. Lieu-
tenant Jones pushed through the country bordering the
River Ottawa, along its norlhorM b:iMks. until he reached the
Chaudiore Falls, where he crossed to the other side and re-
turned to Montreal by the south hank. Both officers found
a large amount of land available foi- settlement. No special
official action appears, however, to have been taken, at the
time^ on these reports, and the course of settlement for

461

Some Notes on the Rideau Canal.

years; afterwards continued rather to bo directed to the
valley Qf the St. Lawrence.

The construction of a canal to conne-^t the River Ottawa
with Lake Ontario formed the subject of discussion fiorn
time to time after this, but it was not until the breaking
outof the war between the United States and Great Britain,
in June, 1812, that the urgent necessity for such a canal
became apparent both to the British Government and to
the Canadian leaders. The transportation of ai-nis and
supplies from Quebec and Montreal to the upper lakes by
way of the St. Lawrence liiver involved gi-eat exposure to
the enemy along the extended frontier of New York State.
The expense arising from the Government's endeavor to
avoid this exposure was enormous. The transportation of
a 24-pounder cannon from Quebec to Kingston alone cost
nearly one thousand dollars. The earliest official document
dealing practically with the subject of a canal appeared on
the 29th December, 1814, in the shape of a letter from Sir
George Prevost, in command in Upper Canada, to Lieut.-
Gen. Sir Gordon Drummond, at Kingston, enclosing some
plans and reports, and asking for opinions thereon and for
further information. Sir Gordon's reply, transmitting le-
poi-ts from three of the local officers, gave his own opinion
that the difficulties would be immense and the expense
enormous.

On the restoration of peace, however, Sir Gordon Drum-
mond was instructed by Lord Bathurst, under date of lOlh
October, 1815, to get " estimates of the expense of the La-
chine Canal, and of the Ottawa and Eideau being made
Tiavigable, in order that His Majesty's Government may
decide as to the propriety of undertaking these works,
either separately or simultaneously." According!}' Li^^ut.
Jel Ii was, early in 1810, directed to ascend tne Cataraqui
Eiver to the chain of lakes and thence continue down the
Eideau River to the Ottawa, and to return by the same
route, reporting on the land available for military settle-
ments and on the navigation for batteaux. His report

Canadian Record of Science.

468

recommended corlain dams to be constructed and certain
channels on the Eideau Eivei- to be cleared of obstructions.
It was immediately subsequent to this that the military
settlements of Perth and Richmond were laid out, but not
until 1819 that construction of canals was actively under-
taken, by the Imperial Government, In this year the Gren-
ville Canal was beurun b}-- the Royal Stall' Corps, although
not completed until 1833. In 1821 the Carillon Canal was
similarly commenced by the Slatf Corps and completed in
1834; whilst the Lachine Canal was undertaken by the
Lower Pi'ovince, with some aid from the Imperial Govern-
ment, and finished in 1824.

In 1821 the interest of the people of the Upper Province
was thoroughly aroused, and a commission under the pre-
sidency of Hon. John Macaulay of Kingston, was appointed
to consider the improvement of the internal navigation of
the Province. The commission reported on the Rideau
Canal on the 5th October, 1825, giving three estimates of
cost ; that for a canal 5 feet deep, and with locks 80 feet
long by 15 wide, being £145,802 stg. This report was
apparently at once transmitted to the British Government,
which in the same year sent out a commission, composed
of Sir J. C. Smyth, Sir G. Hoste and Major Harris, C.E., to
enquire into the cost of construction of a canal on the same
scale as the Lachine Canal, which had been made 5 feet
deep, and with locks 108 feet long by 20 feet wide. This
commission in its report estimated the cost at £169,000
stg., and on this report being received by the Homo Gov-
ernment the construction of the Rideau Canal was deter-
mitiod on.

On 30th May, 1826, Lieut.-Col. By, R.E., arrived at Que-
bec from England, with instructions from Gen. Mann,
inspector of fortifications, to superintend the building of
the canal on the lines laid down by the Imperial commis-
sion. Foieseeing the p().>^8ibiIitios of steam on the great
river systems of Canada, and its importance on the canal
as a motive power instead of horses, as contemplated by the

469

Some Notes on the Ridean Canal.

commiasion, ho, on the 13lh July, 1826, ui'ged Gen. Mann
to adapt the woi-k to the use of Hteam power, inchiding the
enhirgement of the locks to admit vessels of 130 feet in
length. This was vigoi-ously opposed by Sir J. C. Smyth,
with the result that Ct)l. By was directed to commence
construction oii the original lines.

About the middle of September, 183(5, Col. By and his
assistant, Lieut. Pooloy, reached Hull, and shortly aftei--
wards inaugttrated the work hy laying out the entrance of
the canal at "Sleigh Bay," its present locatior under the
shadow of the eastern block of the parliamentary build-
ings. The importance of the occasion was signalized by
the arrival, a few days aftci-wards, of the (rovernor, Karl
Balhousie, who formally approved of the location selected.

The first steps taken in actual constiuction consisted in
the building of a bridge across the Ottawa Rivci* fronting
the (Jhaudiiire Falls, on the site of the present iron bridge,
in order to get in material and supplies, the erection of
barracks for the men and magazines for stores, and the
construction of a road from the Chaudiere Falls to Long
r>^land, on the Eideau River. These works were completed
by the close of 1827, excepting the bridge, which was not
opened until a year later. In the construction of these
works we first meet with the names of the men who built
the more important structures of the canal — the Hon. Thos.
iVtcKay of Bytown, John Redpath of Montreal, and Robei-t
Drummond of Kingston.

In 1827 the chief contracts were given out — Mr. Penny-
father taking the excavation for the first eight locks at the
Ottawa River end, Mr. McKay the construction of these
eight locks, as well as those at llartweli's and Hogsback,
Mr. Redpath the great works at Jones Falls, Messrs. Feno-
lon & Henderson the earth excavation and grading from
the entrance locks to Dow's Swamp and thence to Hogs-
back, whilst Mr. Robert Drummond had the Kingston Mills
locks and the extensive dykes and dam near there.

On the 26th October, 1827, Col. By, with the experience

Canadian Record of Science.

470

of more than a your to guide him, as well as a personal
acquaintance with the details of the work, made up for the
Ordnance Department in London his own estimate of the
cost of the canal. It reached the sum of £463,899 stg.
This vast increase over the estimate of the commission of
1826 created an intense stir in the department, and resulted
in orders being sent out to Col. By for the immediate stop-
page of all woi'k wherever practicable, and in the appoint-
ment of a commission, composed of Sir .Tas. Kempt, Col.
Edw. Fanshaw and Col. Lewis, to investigate the character
of the work and the cause of the extraordinary expend-
iture. This committee, on the 28th .lune, 1828, reported,
on the whole veiy favorable to Col. By, and recommended
the canal to have a depth of 5 fee', at the lowest water and
the locks to be of a si/.e to admit a steamer 10,8 feet long
and 30 feet wide. On this report the size of the locks was
fixed at 134 feet by 33 feel, and the work pressed on with
Col. By's accustomed vigor.

After much difficulty and repeated failures at the works
at Hogsback and Dow's Swamp, near Bytown, and great
loss of life at some points, particularly Kingston Mills, where
about 500 laborers died fi-om malaria, necessitating the
raising of the dams in order to flood the extensive swamps
of the Cataraqui Eiver, the Canal was ready for opening in
August, 1831. Another delay however took place. Mr.
Merrick, of Merri(^kville, cut off the water at that point by
a dam in order to make repairs to his mills. This act
raised very serious legal questions which were not settled
before the winter set in. In consequence, it was not until
the 29th May, 1832, that the first steamboat the " Pumper "
with Co!. By and his family on board, passed through from
Ottawa to Kingston, and the Canal was formally opened to
traffic.

On the 8th January, 1831, in writing to Col. Grlogg, for
the information of the Commander of the Forces, Col. By
mentions that his estimate of the cost of the work as pre-
sented to the Imperial Commission in June, 1828, was

^.'

4tl

/Some Notes on the Rideau Canal.

£693,449 st^. All of the oiticiul jiiipeivs connected with the
Canal do not ajjpear to have been printed as parliamentary
returns, but the last estimate published brought up the cost
to nearly £800,000 stg.

As the city of Ottawa owes its inception to the construc-
tion of the Jiidoau Caiuil, it is interesting here to note that
the first settler at Hull was Philemon Wright, the founder
of the Wright family there, who on the 3rd January, 1806,
obtained a crown patent coveiing lot 2 in the 3i-d range
including the water privileges at the Chaudiere Falls on
that side of the river. The original locatee of the corres-
ponding lot and water pi'ivilege on the Ontario side was
liobert Kandall, whose rights were however in 1820, bought
at sheriffs sale bv Lieutenant Le Bieton, from whom, and
from the large exposed areas here of level, Trenton lime-
stone, the locality acquired the name of " Le IJreton Flats."
In 1820, Earl Dalhousie bought for the government, the
Fraser property, lying between the S rks and Besserer
properties on the one side, and the Ottawa River on the
other, and on instructions from him in the end of Septem-
ber, 1826, ('Ol. By, laid out in town lots the upper part of
this, and Dr. A. J. Christie became apparently, the first
locatee of a lot upon the site. In 1827, the swamp then
covering a considerable area oast of the Canal entrance, was
drained, divided into lots, and became known as Lower
Town, to distinguish it from the part surveyed during the
previous year which was called Upper Town. The name
of Bytown — in honor of Col. By — was then given to the two
settlements, which were separated not only by the Canal
but also by what was known as Barrack Hill, now the site
of the Parliament Buildings. The name Bytown, soon
became thoroughly established. Reference is made to it in
the Imperial Commissioner's report of the 28th .June, 1828,
and on the 18th July, 1829, a petition from "some of the
inhabitants of Bytown " was forwarded to Sir James Kempt,
complaining about the conditions on which town lots had
been sold. Thus originated the present city of Ottawa^