Heritage: Simcoe Walk 2009

Walk leader Madeleine McDowell (at left) and a local resident portraying Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe (at right) introduced the re-enactment of the first day of Simcoe's 1793 walk up the Toronto Carrying Place on 26-September-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - On 25-September-1793, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, started a trip up the Toronto Carrying Place, the main route from Lake Ontario northward to the Georgian Bay and a longtime aboriginal trading roue. On 26-September-2009, more than two hundred years later, a re-enactment of that first day, following as closely as possible to the original, was led by historian Madeleine McDowell. McDowell grew up and currently lives right on the route of the Toronto Carrying Place.


The marshes of the Humber River, which was named by Simcoe, was observed near the beginning of the Toronto Carrying Place in what is now the Swansea neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario on 26-September-2009

The walk began at the "Rousseaux site," which is the surprisingly little-known location of the 1750 French Fort Toronto and the also site of the first permanent settlement in what is today Toronto, built by Jean-Baptiste Rousseaux in the late 1780's. Located not far from Lake Ontario and overlooking the Humber River in what today is the Swansea neighbourhood of Toronto, it marked the southern end of the Toronto Carrying Place, which headed up the eastern side of the river.


A private monument to the poet Robert Burns was found along the route of the Toronto Carrying Place in the Swansea neighbourhood of Toronto on 26-September-2009

I had never traveled the Toronto Carrying Place before, and did not know exactly where it had been in most locations. While the path starts out along the Humber River, it pretty rapidly takes to the highlands above the ravine farther to the east, crossing Bloor Street (for example) at what today is Armadale Avenue. Quite a number of interesting sights--most of them not there in 1793--exist today along the route, including the former home of author Lucy Maud Montgomery, a private monument to poet Robert Burns, a street named after hockey star Phil Esposito, and many oak trees that were standing when Simcoe took his walk. Small detours led to historical locations like the Iroquian village of Teiaiagon or modern overlooks of the Humber River.


During a small detour, the Simcoe walk visited the former site of the Iroquian village of Teiaiagon on 26-September-2009

The location where Simcoe stopped for lunch is today in Smythe Park north of St. Clair Avenue west, right along Black Creek. From there, it was a surprisingly short walk to where the party stopped for the day, near what today is Eglinton Avenue. By the time we arrived there, only five of us remained to contemplate the exact location of the campground and discuss the relative imbalance of Simcoe's day.


The most dedicated participants in the Simcoe walk discussed the location of the first camp site near the Humber River at Eglinton Avenue in Toronto, Ontario on 26-September-2009

The Simcoe Walk re-enactment took about five hours to re-trace what had taken Simcoe a day, easily the longest organized walk I had taken in Toronto this year. Connecting most of the historical locations within walking distance of my residence, it was a learning experience that really meant something to me.

Margin Notes: Birds, Bees, Simcoe Cats

A bumble bee enjoyed a flower near The Junction in Toronto, Ontario on 24-September-2009

TORONTO, ONTARIO - I wore a jacket for the first time since a late July shower on Friday. It was a sure sign that summer has indeed ended in the last week. Summer may be over, but there are still a lot of flowers around Toronto inviting insects to pollinate them. At times this week, I almost thought it was spring--for example when catching the above bumble bee near The Junction or when walking with Governor Simcoe along the Humber River.

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Governor John Graves Simcoe came out of the forest near the Humber River in Toronto, Ontario on 26-September-2009

At least, it sure looked like I was walking with Simcoe. On Saturday, a "Simcoe Walk" was held re-enacting the first day of a 1793 walk that the Governor took north from Fort Toronto along the aboriginal Toronto Carrying Place to his first campsite located near what is now near Eglinton Avenue and the Humber River in Toronto. A local--and I mean local; he lives in Swansea not far from the Carrying Place--historical actor played the role of Simcoe during the walk.

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Walk leader Madeleine McDowell did not miss a beat as a cat decided to steal everyone's attention early in the Simcoe Walk on 26-September-2009

During the Simcoe walk, people came and went (mostly went as the walk was over five hours), but the most amusing moment may have come when a cat decided to check out what was happening and crashed one of the talks along the Humber River. The feline soaked up a lot of attention during that stop, but didn't follow along the Carrying Place.

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One of the largest groups of birds I have ever seen in Toronto was noted above the Humber River near the Eglinton Flats on 26-September-2009

If the cat had stayed with the group to the end, she might have scared away all the birds encountered near the camp site. It may be migration season, but the sounds and sights of the sheer number of birds encountered north of Eglinton Avenue along the Humber River was something I had personally never experienced in the city.

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The birds may have been high, but the CN Tower at 553 metres is higher and still resides in the Guinness Book of World Records. Recently, Guinness recognized the CN Tower as the tallest communication tower in the world, since it is no longer the tallest free-standing structure. However, as communication towers in China and Japan are planned to exceed 600 metres, it won't be long until the CN Tower is only the tallest concrete communications tower in the world.