become home to so many? The story begins in the late


1840s. The government of Upper Canada started surveying and developing a series of colonization roads in response to a growing demand by pioneers for access to land through the land granting process. Before lots could be


surveyed, cleared and settled, access to the interior had to be established through a network of roads. These roads were required because the best agricultural land situated in townships along the northern shores of Lake Ontario were already granted to United Emperor Loyalists by the end of the War of 1812–1814. Since these lands were no longer available to new migrants except through purchase and sale, new settlers were pushed into the Ontario wilderness in the search of cheap land. In 1853, the province set


aside funds to build these roads. Afterward, free land grants of 100 acres were given to settlers 18 years of age and older on the condition that within four years they cleared 12 acres, built a house, and promised to maintain the section of road running across their land. For many who were unaware of the hardships that were about to befall them, this was an offer too generous to refuse. In the Ottawa Valley,


the origins of the Lavant, Mississippi, Pembroke and Mattawan, Peterson, Scotch Line and Snow roads were constructed on this premise. I believe the most significant colonization road to be surveyed and built in the eastern Ontario region was the Ottawa and Opeongo Road, which stretched westward from the town of Renfrew, and was supposed to


continued on page 33 www.bounder.ca BOUNDER MAGAZINE 15


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