LACHINE IN THE XIX CENTURY

The construction of a public work, gave a bound to the trade (| of Lachine. The Cascades and Coteau lock, which had been | commenced in 1779, were terminated in 1784. The result was | a great impetus to inter-provincial trade, by which Lachine bene- | fited. Montreal merchants erected warehouses for the storage | of their Upper Canadian goods or of the consignments for H this Province and Europ-. The necessity of a more direct and convenient road betwren Montreal ard Lachine was soon felt, About 1805, the Upper road or Chemin des Côteaux was straightened, levelled, and ballasted or macadamised. Æeport of the Commissioner of Public Works for 1867, page 447. Bouchette Topographical Description, page 135, states that ‘this road was “ formerly so bad, winding and int-rrupted by large ma+ses of “ rock, that it was nearly a day’s journey for the loaded carts “ to go from one place to the other.” He adds that during the season of navigation, boats to and from Kingston or els-:where in Upper Canada were constantly arriving or departing Steam navigation secured the future of Lachine, followed as it was by the construction of the railroad b-tween Lachine and Montreal, in 1847, the oldest in the country with the exception of the Laprairie and St. John railway, built in 1839. But the most important lement of all, as regards the future, was the construction of the Lachine Canal in 1821-25, its enlargement in 1843-48 and 1877-80, that of the Beauharnoiïs Canal in 1842 43, and the St.

ne om ee ge I on me

(1) About one hundred and ffifty years previously, in 1669, Mr. de Gallinée, \ priest of the Seminary of St. Sulpice, wrote a somewhat similar description of the bark canoe, in his narrative of the most remarkable events of the voyage of MM. Dollier and Gallinée. Margry, vol. 1, pp. 117, 118 On the 6th of August, 1669, they started with de La Salle from Lachine, then known as ‘La Côte St. Sulpice ”, for the Indian territories of the West. Les Anciens Forts de Lachine, p.19. Mr. de Gallinée says that: the only good bark canoe is the birch canoe made by the Algonquins. it took five dollars worth of clothing to purchase one from them. The white men charged a much higher price, and, according to Mr. de Gallinée, his own cost 80 livres. These canoes generally lasted five or six years. He adds that the Iroquois canoes, which were made of bark of every description, were too weighty and only lasted about one month. The modern pleasure canoe is entirely made of wood, although nearly as light and undoubtedly stronger and safer than the birch canoe.

es 98

Lawrence Canals in 1843. In Bouchette’s time, 1815, passenger traffic between Montreal and Toronto, was carried on by ordinary vehicles, a matter of from twelve to fifteen days by a road called Montreal Rond, along the north shore of the St. Lawrence, Long after Bouchette, and until the opening of the St. Lawrence Canals, winter transportation was effected by land, whilst in summer steamers were running on the lakes, at first on Lake St Louis, from Lachine to Cascades, and on Lake St, François from Coteau to Cornwall. The rapids were overcome by means of portages in stages drawn by four or six horses. I can very well remember, when only six or seven years of age, having seen one of these stages bowling along the planked roadbed of the Chemin des Cèdres. Should the reader desire to become acquainted with the mode of travelling of those days, I would refer him to the narrative of a journey made in 1839 by Mr. James S. Buckingham, from Toronto to Montreal and Quebec, “Canada, Nova Scotia, etc, pp. 88 93 (1).

I believe the steamer ‘ Union” to have been the first, or at all events one of the first steamboa!s afloat on the Ottawa river. She ran between Long Sault and Chaudière, in 1824, and was owned by the firm of Shephard (Win) and Campbe'l (Chs), of Quebec, Philemon Wright and Sons, of Hull, Thomas Mears and William Grant, of Hawkesbury. Grant was her captain with one James Cochrane as Engineer. Greffe of Griffin, 25th March,

In 1812, Mr. Molson had two stean.ers plying between Montreal and Quebec, time 48 hours with the current, and somewhat more on the return trip. The fare was 810 going down and $12 on the upward voyage. Bouchette, p. 473.

(1) Since the printing of the French version, I have received the following information: ‘Ottawa, 17th November, 1892. SIR,—In answer to your letter of the 20th ult., asking date of the first steam navigation between Jachine and the Cascades, I am to say that the Lachine canal was completed in 1824, the first vessels passed through in 1825. The first steamer on the St. Lawrence was the ‘“ Accommodation ” built for and owned by Hon. J. Molson. Her first trip was from Montreal to Three Rivers. It is described in the ‘Quebec Mercury”, Monday, 6th November, 1809 The boat left Montreal the saturday previous, The first locks at the Cascades were built from 1779-1783.

“Captain Twiss, R, E, reports to his superior officer, that in 1781 260 bateaux passed the first lock, built then, and that the tolls for that season were £132.5s.64.

‘On the 3rd November, 1838, the steamer ‘Henry Brougham ” was on the route from the ‘ Cascades to Lachine ”, and was seized on that date, in the rebellion troubles, I have the honor, etc.

“TT, TRUDEAU, Acting Secretary."

br

Te

Finally, Lachine has benefited perhaps in a greater measure than any other small town by the protective tariff, inaugurated by the Canadian Government in 1879 ; whilst on the one hand Canadian Pacific Railway magnates, merchants and manufacturers of Montreal, fostered by the protective policy, erected magnificent dwelling houses on the Lake St. Louis shores, on the other, work shops clustered, as if by magic, in the central part of the town of Lachine. A splendid system of water and electric light

works speak volumes for the rapid development of the locality. .

Twenty thousand dollars is the estimate of the yearly civic revenue. The population of 2406 in 1881 has swelled to 3761 in 1891. In 1881, $158,659 was the figure of the total manufactured products, as against $1,358,325 in 1891 ; and during the same period invested capital increased from $260,125 te $1,004,- 600. There were 105 employees in 1881, 696 in 1891, whilst the wages for the corresponding periods are represented by the

figures 862,020 and $310,016.