Editing Ottawa River (section)

== History ==
{{see also|Ottawa River timber trade}}
As it does to this day, the river played a vital role in life of the [[Algonquin people]], who lived throughout its watershed at contact.  The river is called ''Kichisìpi'', meaning "Great River" in [[Algonquin language|Anicinàbemowin]], the Algonquin language. The Algonquin define themselves in terms of their position on the river, referring to themselves as the Omàmiwinini, 'down-river people'.  Although a majority of the Algonquin First Nation lives in Quebec, the entire Ottawa Valley is Algonquin traditional territory.  Present settlement is a result of adaptations made as a result of settler pressures.<ref name="Algonquin Ontario Land Claim">{{cite web |url=http://www.aboriginalaffairs.gov.on.ca/english/negotiate/algonquin/algonquin.asp |title=Algonquin Land Claim with Ontario |publisher=Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs |access-date=2009-06-30 |archive-date=2013-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606064851/http://www.aboriginalaffairs.gov.on.ca/english/negotiate/algonquin/algonquin.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:ottawarivermattawa.jpg|thumb|right|A railway bridge over the Ottawa River in [[Mattawa, Ontario]].]]Some early European explorers, possibly considering the Ottawa River to be more significant than the Upper St. Lawrence River, applied the name ''River Canada'' to the Ottawa River and the St. Lawrence River below the confluence at Montreal. As the extent of the [[Great Lakes]] became clear and the river began to be regarded as a tributary, it was variously known as the ''Grand River'', "Great River" or ''Grand River of the Algonquins'' before the present name was settled upon. This name change resulted from the [[Ottawa (tribe)|Ottawa people]]s' control of the river circa 1685. However, only one band of Ottawa, the Kinouncherpirini or Keinouch, ever inhabited the [[Ottawa Valley]].

In 1615, [[Samuel de Champlain]] and [[Étienne Brûlé]], assisted by Algonquin guides, were the first Europeans to travel up the Ottawa River and follow the water route west along the Mattawa and French Rivers to the Great Lakes. See [[Canadian Canoe Routes (early)]]. For the following two centuries, this route was used by [[France|French]] [[fur trade]]rs, [[voyageurs]] and [[coureurs des bois]] to Canada's interior. The river posed serious hazards to these travellers. The section near [[Head, Clara and Maria, Ontario|Deux Rivières]] used to have spectacular and wild rapids, namely the ''Rapide de la Veillée'', the ''Trou'', the ''Rapide des Deux Rivières'', and the ''Rapide de la Roche Capitaine''. (These rapids are now submerged under the reservoir of Holden Lake.) In 1800, explorer Daniel Harmon reported 14 crosses marking the deaths of voyageurs who had drowned in the dangerous waters along this section of the Ottawa.<ref name="OHF">Ontario Heritage Foundation, Ministry of Culture and Communications</ref>

The main trading posts along the river were: [[The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site|Lachine]], [[Fort-Coulonge, Quebec|Fort Coulonge]], [[Sheenboro, Quebec|Lac des Allumettes]], [[Mattawa, Ontario|Mattawa House]], where west-bound canoes left the river and [[Fort Témiscamingue]]. From Lake Timiskaming a portage led north to the [[Abitibi River]] and James Bay.

In the early 19th century, the Ottawa River and its tributaries were used to gain access to large virgin forests of [[Eastern White Pine|white pine]]. A booming [[Lumber industry on the Ottawa River|trade in timber]] developed, and large [[timber rafting|rafts of logs]] were floated down the river. A scattering of small subsistence farming communities developed along the shores of the river to provide manpower for the [[lumber camp]]s in winter. In 1832, following the [[War of 1812]], the Ottawa River gained strategic importance when the [[Carillon Canal]] was completed. Together with the [[Rideau Canal]], the Carillon Canal was constructed to provide an alternate military supply route to [[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]] and [[Lake Ontario]], bypassing the route along the [[Saint Lawrence River]].<ref name="PC-carillon">{{cite web |url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/qc/canalcarillon/natcul/natcul2_E.asp |title=Carillon Canal National Historic Site of Canada, Cultural Heritage |publisher=Parks Canada |access-date=2009-02-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070506161717/http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/qc/canalcarillon/natcul/natcul2_e.asp |archive-date=2007-05-06 }}</ref>