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A Short History of the Township of Niagara : Touching Upon Transportation, Education and Municipal Affairs from 1793-1893, 1943, 4-5

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turned east through Lot 86 to Lot 52, then turned south through the west end of Lot 52 to Lots 88 and 89, entering the foothills near where the Presbyterian Church at St. Davids now stands on Lot 89. Lot 52 was low and wet and it was necessary to build a corduroy road through that lot. Sixty years ago some of the old logs were still visible. Traces of the beaver dams on Lots 85 and 86 can yet be seen. Very few changes were ever made in the Four Mile Creek Road from the Lake Road to the middle of Lot 79. In 1816, from said Lot to St. Davids, a survey was made and the present road constructed. The Township was fortunate to have a good Highway constructed by the Niagara Parks Commission from the Stamford Line to the Government lands at the north end of the Municipality. When the settlers from the States of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, many of whom were Loyalists, but had not been in arms during the American war, poured into our Provinces, the great difficulty was to transport them to their new homes. Most of those settling in the Southern part of Ontario landed at Niagara and Queenston. Although a great many came by boat from Kingston and Oswego. For some years the portage past the Niagara Falls was carried on by an organization on the United States side "of the River. The Loyalists in 1791 complained to the British authorities that any portage on this side of the River should be handled by Loyalists in the District. After consideration the privil¬ege to transport settlers and goods was granted to several Loyalists who agreed to carry on the work. The earliest record we have of a boat landing at Queenston was the "Sophia" from Kingston in 1793. In 1795 the following description appeared in a Philadelphia paper: "At the lower landing, Queenston, the vessels discharge their cargoes and take on furs brought from 300 to 1500 miles back. I have seen four vessels of 60 to 100 tons unloading at once and 60 wagons loaded in a day for the upper landing at Chippawa. Each wagon was drawn by two yoke of oxen and carried from 2000 to 3000 pounds. This portage is a source of wealth to the farmers, who carry from 20 to 30 hundred weight at Is. 8 pence, N.Y. Currency per hundred weight and load back from Chippawa with furs. Their goods they transfer to a batteau which carries them to Fort Erie. The batteau consisted of a rowboat fitted with oars, poles and sail. Four men rowed and a fifth steered. Thirty-five barrels of Flour made a cargo. The batteau was used from Chippawa to Fort Erie for protection of the sailing' vessel, which very easily might lose control in the River during a storm. Many have seen the stranded boats above the Falls.99 The first British boat to sail the upper lakes was built at the mouth of the Cayuga Creek in 1797. Today we would say Dunnville at the mouth of the Grand River. This boat made a trip to Lake Michigan loaded with pelts, and sailed for home, but was never again heard from. Most of us know the first steamboat was built by Fulton on the Hudson River. It was, of course, a side-wheeler. The portage was carried on with a certain amount of success until the year 1812 when the war broke out. This practically prohibited transportation. In fact, as was learned during the war, too many people had been helped to a western home. That is, among the Loyalists were persons wTho went there not of patriotic impulse, but rather to get a grant of land. Four years of war saw little transportation at Queen¬ston. After the war the portage was slow picking up business and remained so until 1837, when a company was formed to operate a horse-drawn railway from Queenston to Chippawa. Persons travelling from the M.C.R.R. along Highway No. 8 to Queenston, when the foliage is off, can easily see the grade of the old railway up the side of the mountain. The cars were drawn by horses. The rails were made of wood with metal covering. It was not a success and in 1852 the Company bad its Charter amended and built the present road from Chippawa to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Later the road was com¬pleted from Chippawa to Fort Erie and eventually absorbed by the Michigan Central Railway. After the war of 1812-15, Lake Ontario for ten years made very little headway in shipping. It seemed to be iso¬lated from the eastern Provinces, which were older and better established, and from communication with the Upper Lakes, being hampered by lack of transportation. However, though time was required for her advance, when it came she went ahead with success. Gradually she was building boats that plied between the east and west of her bounds. The boats plying between Queenston, Niagara, Hamilton, Toronto and Kingston had stage connection from Prescott to Montreal. This, of course, was due to the St. Lawrence River rapids. The forests were being cleared away and roads construct¬ed for stages to carry passengers, mail and freight from the east to the west. Following are some advertisements which are of interest:

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