Road to Prosperity Leads Through Canal, Friday, August 31, 2007

2007 marks the 170th anniversary of the Aug. 16, 1837, opening of the Desjardins Canal, the navigational waterway connecting Dundas to Lake Ontario.

This is an abridged version of a chapter on the canal that will be included in a book being compiled by Clare Crozier on the history of Dundas.

It was the vision of Richard Hatt of Ancaster who arrived in Coote’s Paradise, Dundas, in October 1800 that led to the building of the Desjardins Canal. Recognizing the valley was rich in milling sites, he began purchasing land along Morden’s (Spencer) Creek, eventually owning nearly all the water rights and mill sites from Websters Falls to Main Street. Hatt’s chief clerk, Pierre Desjardins, managed his business interests while Hatt was away securing markets for his goods and fulfilling his military and political obligations.

Hatt realized, in order to develop export markets for his mills, he needed to open a waterway to Lake Ontario. In 1804, Hatt provided financing to clear Morden’s Creek and the marsh so that Bateaux and later Durham boats could be poled up the creek. The Durham boats, 80-by-10 feet with a keel, centre board and sail, were capable of carrying 30 tons of merchandise.

Sadly, Hatt died before realizing his dream. In 1814, during the bloody Battle of Lundy’s Lane, Hatt, a major in the 5th Regiment of Lincoln Militia, was severely wounded. He died Sept.26, 1819, at the age of 50. Upon Hatt’s death, his interest in improving navigation was carried on by Desjardins. When he finished his Dundas canal, Desjardins envisioned a second canal connecting the town to Lake Huron. In a letter to investors, dated February 1826, he describes his ambitious plan of forming a company to cut a canal for boat navigation to Lake Huron. Shares in the venture were to be sold at 12 pounds 10 shillings each, payable at five percent every 90 days. Desjardins expected land along the proposed canal would double in value. As we know, this dream never came to pass.

The canal was doomed from the start. As work progressed and more funds were required, investors were called upon for additional payments. Desjardins sold his home and two-acre estate. Tragedy struck when Desjardins died on Sept. 7, 1827, while in Forty Mile Creek, today’s Grimsby, raising funds and collecting installments for the canal. The 52-year old was found dead of natural causes. Early records indicate Desjardins died as a result of “a visitation from God.”

After Desjardins’ death, Edward Lesslie was appointed administrator of his estate. But just over a year after Desjardins’ death, he, too, died. In 1833, armed with power of attorney, Alexis Fidele Begue, Desjardins’ sister’s son, arrived from France to sort out Desjardins’ estate.

Begue was a natural to head the Canal Company as the Picardie District in France relied heavily on its river and canal system to transport goods to and from market. But over the next couple of years, the Canal Company blundered from one financial crisis to another.

When the work finally resumed, contractor David Gibb was hired to complete the project. He arrived with a crew of 60 men and advertised for 200 more. It was extremely hard work. Many of the labourers died in the cholera epidemic that swept Upper Canada in 1832, and again in 1834.

In November 1950, 18 bodies were discovered when a contractor was excavating to build apartments on York Road and Hunter Street. The bodies were removed and reburied in Grove Cemetery.

The grand opening of the Desjardins Canal finally arrived on Aug. 16, 1837. Cannons fired and bands played while the paddle steamers Experiment and Britannia carried eager passengers back and forth to Burlington Bay. Just after noon, three more steamboats arrived, bedecked with flags and loaded with visitors from Toronto, Niagara and Kingston. There were flags and pennants everywhere. A band played all day and into the evening as citizens celebrated with a street dance and grand fireworks.

With the opening of the canal bringing immediate prosperity, Dundas entered its Golden Years. For many of its citizens, they had money in their pockets for the first time since coming to Canada. Land values increased, new roads were built and old ones improved, land was cleared and planted with cash crops. Grist, flour and sawmills increased their capacities as cash goods could be shipped cheaply and quickly. Recognized as head of the lake with direct routes to Lower Canada, the United States, Europe and Great Britain, Dundas attracted skilled industrialists and businessmen.

In the first 10 years of the canal’s existence, 4,727 vessels visited the Port of Dundas. Records of 1840 show 628 vessels arriving. It was not unusual to see 12 to 15 ships anchored in the canal basin waiting to load and unload their cargo. Thirty years after the canal opened 5,315, 920 feet of lumber, 2,235,450 wooden shingles, 32,650 cords of wood and huge quantities of timber, staves, cedar posts, wheat, flour, oatmeal, potatoes, apples and malt were exported. Imports included items such as coal, pig iron, burr blocks, hardware, dry goods, salt and fish. Three times a week, passenger ships made the two-day return voyage to Toronto. The cost of a return ticket to Toronto was 75 cents.

Dundas continued to enjoy great prosperity until the Great Western Railway began to take traffic away from the canal. Where the canal was an improvement on the primitive roads of an earlier time, the railway, which became the backbone of the new economy, singled the start of another era. The coming of the Iron Horse was the beginning of the end for the canal.

During the latter part of the 20th century, the canal was used for recreational pleasure. Boating and fishing were summer pursuits. In the winter months it was always great fun to skate from the canal basin to the High Level Bridge and back. The Reynolds family, which ran the Boat House at the canal basin, were operators of passenger boats and a marine livery business until 1921. On moonlit summer evenings the old Argyle would tow a wooden planted scow on which passengers danced to the music of the Lomas Family Orchestra. The canal basin was always a popular spot, particularly on winter weekends when members of the 77th Dundas Regimental Band played for the enjoyment of the skaters. Lights were strung around the basin allowing people to skate on winter evenings. Skating at the basin continued until 1949 when the Dundas Arena opened on Market Street.

In 1966, Dundas Town Council granted permission for the basin at the canal to be filled in. On July 1, 1967, as part of Canada’s centennial celebration, Mrs. J.J. (Sarah) Grafton and her daughter Mary, Mayor Leslie Couldrey and centennial committee John Southall officially dedicated Dundas Centennial Park.

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