Evolution in the Mapping of Canada and Southern Ontario by A

Evolution in the Mapping of Canada and Southern Ontario By A. Wayne Caston, M.Se.» P.Geo. Introduction tier municipalities such as the The first printed map showing a signif 'new’ Counties of Haldimand icant portion of what is now southern and Norfolk emerging from the Ontario was published in 1632. Since former Regional Municipality. then, the mapping of Ontario as a dis The intent of this article is to tinct physiographic region evolved provide a brief and somewhat with increased exploration and more selective introduction to the evolution Initial Mapping of Canada accurate surveying methods. Since in mapping the Ontario peninsula from and the Ontario Peninsula much of southern Ontario is bounded the mid 1600’s to the early 1900’s, and by Lakes Huron (including Georgian to trace the evolution of one particular John Cabot was the first European Bay), Erie and Ontario, not to mention administrative district - Wellington recorded to have made landfall in what the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers, County, and one prominent topograph is now Canada, likely near or on Cape some (mainly older) geographers refer ic feature - the Niagara Escarpment - Breton Island, in June of 1497. Cabot to the region as the ‘Ontario over this period of significant explo apparently then sailed north to the Peninsula’, but is generally identified ration and development. This evolu northern tip of Newfoundland before as southern Ontario. tion can be divided into two distinct returning to England. The earliest Later, as settlement increased in the phases - French exploration and map known cartographic depiction of the interior, geographic Townships were ping until 1763, and the British colo New World was a manuscript sea chart surveyed and administrative districts nization until Confederation. Evolution or portolan by de la Cosa, dated 1500 and their boundaries evolved as well. of distinct administrative districts took (Burden, 1996), which illustrated This administrative evolution, despite place in this latter phase. In addition, Cabot's findings from his first voyage. an interval of about one hundred years, some comments about antique maps This chart can be considered the earli re-emerged in the 1970fs with the des and surveying, with selected local est known map, based on actual explo ignation of Regional Municipalities examples, will be made. rations, of any part of Canada. and several other new municipal struc The first known printed map to tures. This evolution has continued NOTE : This article follows the stan depict America was published in 1506 into the late 1990's with many munici dard mapping convention of using by Contarini - Roselli, and the first to pal amalgamations such as Toronto’s diagonals (/) to indicate a new line o f use the name ‘America’ was published new ‘mega city’, and now into the the map's name as inscribed in the car a year later by Waldseemuller (Burden, twenty-first century with new single touche or title block of the map itself 1996). The first map devoted to the New World appeared in 1511 (Burden, 1996). One of the earliest maps to depict the name ‘Canada’ was pub lished in 1582 by Lok (Kershaw, 1993). For the remainder of the 16th century, the eastern coast of Canada and the St. Lawrence River, as well as the Arctic, were actively explored and mapped. The first European to explore the interior of the Ontario peninsula was Samuel de Champlain in 1615 - 16. In 1632, Champlain published a map (no title) based on his explorations; the first to delineate, however crudely, the lands north of Lakes Erie and Ontario, east of Lake Huron, south of Georgian FIG U R E 1 Bay and west of the Ottawa River. The 4 The Ontario Land Surveyor, Summer 2003 River. The Bressani map also included and establishment of the French repub an inset map of the south shore of lic in 1792. Georgian Bay and the Bruce Peninsula, Jacques-Nicolas Beilin's maps of the showing the location of Ste-Marie Great Lakes (‘PARTIE OCCIDEN Among the Hurons. Also shown is an TALE / de la / NOUVELLE FRANCE engraving of the martyrdom of / ou du /CANADA /...’- large format, Brebeuf and Lalement. Sanson and and CARTE DES / LACS DU CANA Bressani were among the first cartog DA I ... - small format), first published FIG U R E 2 raphers to use descriptions of mission in 1744, were among the first larger aries and traders, most frequently the scale maps of the Ontario Peninsula. only inland waterways depicted were Jesuit Relations or annual reports, to Beilin's large format of the map (the those we know as the Trent - Severn update and improve their maps of 1755 version is shown on the cover system, on which Champlain travelled Canada's interior. and adjacent to the title of this article) during his return trip to Quebec. With the exception of Coronelli's is particularly notable because it is Nicolas Sanson’s famous map of map (‘PARTIE OCCIDENTALE / du believed to be the first to identify the 1656, ‘LE CANADA, ou / NOU- CANADA / ...’) first published in Grand River (‘R. d’Urse ou la Grande VELLE FRANCE, &c./ ...,’ in both cl685, Guillaume del’Isle’s ‘CARTE / Riviere’). On this map, Beilin identi large and small (1657) formats, was DU CANADA (first published in fied Lake Simcoe as ‘Lac Taronto’ and the first to depict all six of the Great 1703) was the first to show enclosed indicated the location of an indian vil Lakes (although the shorelines of shorelines of the Great Lakes, and to lage (‘Tejajagon’ or ‘Tejaiagon’) on Lakes Superior and Michigan were not position them correctly in their geo the site of Toronto. In 1757, Beilin enclosed). Sanson's map also identified graphic relation to one another published the first maps to identify ‘Ft. Lakes ‘Ontario’ (‘ou Lac de St. (Kershaw, 1993). Del'Isle’s map of Toronto’ in its present location. Refer Louis’), ‘Erie’ (‘ou du Chat’) and Canada, which evolved through nine to FIGURE 3. Superior (‘Superieur’) for the first separate states over a period of 130 Persistent cartographic errors form time. Several inland waterways within years, is generally considered to be one an intriguing insight, not only into nav- the Ontario Peninsula were also delin of the outstanding eated but not identified (FIGURE 1 - maps of Canada in the this particular example is the Dutch 18th century. FIG ’piracy’ version of 1683). However, URE 2 is the ninth several settlements were identified - and final state St. Pierre, St. Francois, St. Michel, St. (c l798) of del'Isle's Joseph, Alexis and so on. Sanson was map; notable is the Lasermap Image Plus/GPR is pleased to announce its acquisition of an the Royal Geographer to Louis XIII. removal of all traces Franceso Guiseppe Bressani's map of of royalty (crown, 1657 (‘Novae Franciae Accurata / fleurs-de-lis, and Delineatio 1657’), also made an del'Isle's title of The latest generation of Optech's airborne attempt to delineate, but did not identi ‘Premier Geographe lidai equipment provides up to 50,000 real fy, several major inland watersheds, du Roy’) as a result of elevation data points every second, and one of which was likely the Grand the French revolution, incorporates all of the most up-to-date features, including first and last returns and intensity. The system, currently the first of its kind in North America, has completed field trials and is already in production. BIG REPUTATION LASERMGP ~^Z-mnBcnus MEMBER OF THE GPR GROUP www.lasermap.com • E-mail: [email protected] Tel/Fax: 819-647-3085 FIGURE 3 (1757 version of small format) 6 The Ontario Land Surveyor, Summer 2003 al prominent and persistent errors in Admiral was alleged to have discov the mapping of Canada as well. ered the “Western Sea” (‘Mer de In the early 1740fs, for example, l'Ouest’) in what is now central British Jacques - Nicolas Beilin interpreted the Columbia / Alberta, and at least one reports of two Jesuit missionaries north-west passage from the Pacific describing the same two islands in Ocean, through what is now the Alaska Lake Superior (Isle Royale and Isle panhandle towards the north-east and Maurepas, now called Michipicoten on to the Arctic Ocean. De la Fuente's Island) with sufficient variation that he notes were apparently rediscovered in concluded that there were four larger the 1740's. While some cartographers islands in Lake Superior, and included accepted these ‘discoveries’ with little them in his maps. Refer, for question, and added them to their example, to FIGURE 3. The maps, others noted the ‘discoveries’ 'phantom' islands were named but questioned their authenticity las Tmm jmmtixRekf dxm m SupfA&ieirt s m l » jWeoiiTeife atfriiii&s* a im,sbnanl'Mj'peffml m m m eJ te Isle Philippeaux [Isle Minong] (Didier Robert de Vaugondy, for exam Fmiie m Belhtm xtg J$&w L vavm t intern?tityvw hC trfe and Isle Pontchartrain. Given ple - refer to FIGURE 4). It appears deM-Jwph Jh*E?k puHtih' miySS, ^epandmt l& Beilin's stature as a cartogra that Admiral de la Fuente was a fig wkffer, kmmm ymdam Ta strife eff<& /## Sum m it * pher, and particularly as the ment of someone's imagination, since MilftmiifiM?, King's 'First Geographer’, the Spanish government had no record FIG U R E 4 other cartographers (Bonne, of the Admiral's voyage or even of the Robert Vaugondy, et al) accepted his Admiral himself! igational and mapping accuracy, but error without question, and included With the defeat of the French and also into politics and competition. the phantom islands on their own maps the signing of the Treaty of Paris in Some antique map collectors base their for several decades afterwards.

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