Editing Dryden, Ontario (section)

==History==
[[File:John Dryden.png|thumb|left|upright|The city is named for [[John Dryden (Ontario politician)|John Dryden]]]]
Before settlement by Europeans, the Dryden area was inhabited by the [[Anishinaabe]]. They used the shore by the Wabigoon River as a camping site, calling it Paawidigong ("the place of rapids" in [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]]).<ref name="history">{{Cite web|date=2018-02-08|title=History|url=https://www.dryden.ca/en/community/history.aspx|access-date=2021-04-29|website=www.dryden.ca|language=en}}</ref> The settlement was founded as an agricultural community by [[John Dryden (Ontario politician)|John Dryden]],  Ontario's [[Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Ontario)|Minister of Agriculture]] in 1895. While his train was stopped at what was then known as Barclay Tank to re-water, he noticed [[clover]] growing and decided to found an experimental farm the following year. The farm's success brought settlers from [[southern Ontario]] and the community came to be known as New Prospect. In 1886, gold was discovered near the area, also attracting people. In 1897, the community was renamed to Dryden to honour the minister of agriculture. It incorporated as a town in 1910 and as a city in 1998 after merging with the neighbouring township of Barclay.<ref name="history"/><ref name="cityhistory">{{cite web|author=Gerrie Noble |title=History of Dryden : A Chronology of Events at Dryden (from 1875 to 1945) |url=http://www.cityofdryden.on.ca/history.shtml |publisher=Dryden District Chamber of Commerce |date=2001-02-16 |access-date=2007-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608152256/http://www.cityofdryden.on.ca/history.shtml |archive-date=2007-06-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bray|first=Matt|date=2012-10-18|title=Dryden|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dryden|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-29|website=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508052418/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca:80/en/article/dryden/ |archive-date=2017-05-08 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2019-08-22|title=Putting the 'town' back into Dryden, Ont.|work=[[CBC News]]|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/dryden-name-change-1.5255037|access-date=2021-04-25}}</ref>

One of the earliest industries in the area was [[Pulp and paper industry|pulp and paper]]. A paper mill was built in the town in 1910 because of the abundance of wood suitable for [[kraft pulping]] as well as energy from the [[Wabigoon River]]. The town came into national consciousness because of [[mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows, Ontario, Canada|mercury contamination]]. In the 1970s, it became known that the Dryden pulp and paper operations discharged ten tons of mercury directly into the Wabigoon River over a span of eight years. The mercury caused persistent environmental damage, poisoned river systems and lakes, and led to members of the [[Asubpeeschoseewagong|Grassy Narrows]] community suffering severe [[mercury poisoning]] known as [[Ontario Minamata disease|Minamata disease]].<ref name="cityhistory" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Johnston|first=Gwen|date=June 2014|title=100 years and beyond – Dryden Mill|journal=The Forestry Chronicle|volume=90|issue=3|pages=338–346|doi=10.5558/tfc2014-067|issn=0015-7546|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-26|title=Canada, Ontario Need to Address Toxic Legacy|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/26/canada-ontario-need-address-toxic-legacy|access-date=2021-04-29|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-06-12|title=Canada's Minamata disease problem|url=https://www.hilltimes.com/2017/06/12/canadas-minamata-disease-problem/109526|access-date=2021-04-29|website=The Hill Times|language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-11-11|title=Ontario knew about Grassy Narrows mercury site for decades, but kept it secret|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/11/11/ontario-knew-about-mercury-site-near-grassy-narrows-for-decades-but-kept-it-secret.html|access-date=2021-04-29|website=thestar.com|language=en}}</ref>

The town was also the site of the March 10, 1989 crash of [[Air Ontario Flight 1363]] from [[Thunder Bay International Airport|Thunder Bay]] to [[Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport|Winnipeg]], which killed 24 people.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Walters|first=Jeff|date=2019-03-11|title=Dryden Air Crash still raw in rescuer's minds thirty years later|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/dryden-air-crash-30-years-later-1.5050597|url-status=live|access-date=2021-04-29|website=CBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311114908/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/dryden-air-crash-30-years-later-1.5050597 |archive-date=2019-03-11 }}</ref>