Ontario History, A province with a history as fierce as Niagara Falls!!

One cannot talk about Canada and its history without mentioning Ontario History. Ontario history is unique; how many places could be called “lower” while on the northern side?

It has witnessed indigenous people, their wars, Europeans, their settlements, their fights over its land, etc. Many famous names and figures in Canada’s history have been to Ontario or lived there. Here in this article, we take a look at Ontario history and talk about some of its finest historical sites.

Looking into Ontario history, events, and dates

Ontario history takes us back to thousands of years ago when indigenous people occupied the land. It was not any sooner than the 17th century that Europeans started exploring the area we know today as Ontario. Samuel Hudson, Samuel de Champlain, etc., all had trips inside Ontario, discovering the area.

Although areas inside New Brunswick, Newfoundland, etc. were discovered sooner, in 1639, the first French settlement inside Canada was erected in Ontario, named Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. In 1649 the settlers who were missionaries decided to burn the settlement, so the hostile natives could not use it.

In 1763, fate held a significant turn for Ontario history, the British seized all of the new French after the Seven Years’ War, and in the following decades, Ontario was host to many fleeing Loyalists from the US. The Loyalists were people who wanted to be the Crown subjects rather than Americans.

Remember in the introduction we talked about being in the north, but called Lower Canada? It happened in 1791 when Canada was torn into two pieces. The point is, the names were according to the St Louis River, which flows from south to north. So Upper Canada is closer to the origin of the river, which is in the south, and Lower Canada is farther from the river origins, into the north!!