Toronto's Cartographic Birth Certificate

Document generated on 09/29/2021 8:10 a.m. Ontario History Toronto’s Cartographic Birth Certificate Hiding in Plain Sight for 350 Years Rick Laprairie Volume 110, Number 2, Fall 2018 Article abstract This article posits that the earliest map to have ever used the name Toronto as a URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1053510ar place is uncovered. Previously unnoticed, the name “Tarontos Lac,” for today’s DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1053510ar Lake Simcoe, is on a 1678 map by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin. His map, “Carte pour servir a l’eclaircissement du Papier Terrier de la Nouvelle France,” is See table of contents now recognized as Toronto’s cartographic birth certificate. The article describes the map, discusses how the discovery came about and why the name may have gone unnoticed until now. This cartographic study is set in the history of the Publisher(s) exploration of the Great Lakes region and the Mississippi River. Three other unsigned and undated period maps, often claimed as “Toronto” firsts, are also The Ontario Historical Society examined. These claims are dismissed, as revised attributions show them to have been by different cartographers and dated later than originally thought, making ISSN Franquelin’s map the oldest. The cartographic genealogy of the name Toronto is traced back through three and a half centuries to its initial appearance on 0030-2953 (print) Franquelin’s map. 2371-4654 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Laprairie, R. (2018). Toronto’s Cartographic Birth Certificate: Hiding in Plain Sight for 350 Years. Ontario History, 110(2), 152–175. https://doi.org/10.7202/1053510ar Copyright © The Ontario Historical Society, 2018 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ 152 ONTARIO HISTORY oronto’s Cartographic TBirth Certificate Hiding in Plain Sight for 350 Years By Rick Laprairie recent find has uncovered the might serve to illustrate the cartographic first map to use the name To- evolution of Toronto’s appearance on A ronto, in any of its various early maps. This particular map was of interest spellings, as a place name. The map is an since part of it covered the geography in unusual, but not unknown, 1678 work by question, and its date of production co- Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin, which incided with other maps thought to be serves as a land titles record. It is entitled, among the earliest to include the name. Carte pour servir a l’eclaircissement du Pa- Unfortunately, no readily available pier Terrier de la Nouvelle France, [Map copies of this map were of sufficient reso- serving to clarify the Land Registry in lution to accurately decipher all the place New France], (Map 1). Surprisingly, the names on it. Attempts to magnify images name “Tarontos Lac” on the map, for to- of it proved unsuccessful. The best results day’s Lake Simcoe, has gone unnoticed showed blurred text which looked like it and undocumented for almost three and might be the name Toronto, but were a half centuries (Map Segment 1). insufficient to allow for confirmation. Franquelin, born in France in 1651, Finally, succumbing to curiosity, a high was a cartographer in New France who resolution electronic copy of the original was commissioned in 1687 as the King’s map was ordered from its Parisian reposi- hydrographer at Quebec. His map plots tory. Within a few days, a message con- names of landowners whose properties taining the requested map was received, were arranged in long narrow strips of and from the downloaded image there land called “seigneureries” or fiefs, front- appeared on the monitor a piece of To- ing the St. Lawrence River. “Tarontos ronto’s history that amazingly had been Lac” appears quite unassumingly in the overlooked for more than three centu- south-western corner of the map. The au- ries. thor made this find while compiling a list But how is it that the name which of early maps of the Great Lakes which this map carries, despite being under our Ontario History / Volume CX, No. 2 / Autumn 2018 t0r0nto’s cartographic birth certificate 153 noses for so long, has escaped us until now? And what of other ear- Abstract lier maps commonly This article posits that the earliest map to have ever used the name cited as the first ones Toronto as a place is uncovered. Previously unnoticed, the name “Tarontos Lac,” for today’s Lake Simcoe, is on a 1678 map by on which the name Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin. His map, “Carte pour servir a To r o nt o a p p e a r s ? To l’eclaircissement du Papier Terrier de la Nouvelle France,” is now shed some light on recognized as Toronto’s cartographic birth certificate. The article these questions this ar- describes the map, discusses how the discovery came about and why ticle looks at the very the name may have gone unnoticed until now. This cartographic study is set in the history of the exploration of the Great Lakes convoluted histories region and the Mississippi River. Three other unsigned and un- behind the earliest car- dated period maps, often claimed as “Toronto” firsts, are also ex- tographic appearances amined. These claims are dismissed, as revised attributions show of the name Toronto. them to have been by different cartographers and dated later than originally thought, making Franquelin’s map the oldest. The carto- Most importantly, it graphic genealogy of the name Toronto is traced back through three will validate the recent- and a half centuries to its initial appearance on Franquelin’s map. ly found map as the Résumé: one which ought to be Dans cet article, nous révélons la première carte où apparaît le nom de Toronto. “Tarontos Lac”, actuellement le rightfully recognized as lac Simcoe, figure sur la Carte pour servir à l’éclaircissement Toronto’s cartographic du Papier Terrier de la Nouvelle France (1678) de Jean-Bap- birth certificate. tiste-Louis Franquelin. Ce document est aujourd’hui reconnu The Toronto comme le certificat de naissance cartographique de Toronto. Nous allons décrire cette carte, discuter de cette découverte Maps Muddle et essayer d’expliquer pourquoi ce nom est si longtemps passé here is presently inaperçu. Cette étude cartographique s’inscrit dans l’histoire considerable con- des Grands Lacs et du fleuve du Mississippi. Nous allons aussi T examiner trois autres cartes - ni signées ni datées - qui sont fusing and conflict- souvent proclamées les premières en ce qui concerne “Toronto”. ing information about Cependant, nous allons réfuter ces spéculations car la carte which map is the first de Franquelin est la plus ancienne. L’arbre généalogique car- map to carry the name tographique du nom de Toronto sera reconstitué en retraçant Toronto. This is to a les derniers 350 ans et en remontant jusqu’à son apparition sur degree understand- la carte de Franquelin. able. Many early maps are unsigned, undated and without title heading. Ascertaining early drafts or later copies of other maps, the provenance of anonymous centuries considering the repository in which they old maps relies on expert interpretation, are found, as well as dating names and handwriting analysis, references to maps places which are, or are not, on the maps. in correspondence, comparison to simi- In some cases scholars have given differ- lar maps, determining whether they are ent titles to the same map, often using 154 ONTARIO HISTORY Map 1: Carte… du Papier Terrier de la Nouvelle France... / Joannes Ludovicus Franquelin pinxit, 1678.1 obtuse and meaningless names, further decades of the seventeenth century into confusing identification. the eighteenth, the name imprinted it- Toronto, acording to the prevail- self across the entire landscape between ing theory, got its name from the Mo- Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay. The hawk word “Tkaranto,” meaning “where area came to be known as the “Passage there are trees standing in the water,” af- de Taronto” or the Toronto Portage, a ter the ancient fish weirs at the present well used trail with pre-recorded history day Atherley Narrows between Lake origins. There were two main branches; Simcoe and Lake Couchiching.2 Origi- an eastern branch, following the Rouge nally applied to Lake Simcoe on maps, River, and a western one following the French translations have variously called Humber River. The latter eventually be- it “Lac Taronto,” “Lac de Taronto,” and come the primary portage route to the “Lac Taronteau,” among other spellings. upper Great Lakes. Southern Georgian Bay was also called At least three different maps have “Baye de Taronto” and the name was ap- been claimed to be the first to use the plied at different times to both the Sev- name Toronto. Two are currently refer- ern and Humber Rivers. From the last enced on the City of Toronto web site. 1 Louis Franquelin, Carte pour servir à l’éclaircissement du papier terrier de la Nouvelle-France, 1678, Man- uscrit, Bibliotèque Nationale de France BnF, département des Cartes et Plans, CPL GE SH ARCH-23 B. 2 Alan Rayburn, “The Real Story of How Toronto got its Name,”Canadian Geographic -September/ October 1994, Ottawa, 68-70. t0r0nto’s cartographic birth certificate 155 Map Segment 1: Tarontos Lac, from Carte…du Papier Terrier de la Nouvelle France, Jean-Baptiste Franquelin, 1678.

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