Toronto [antikvár]

IntroductionThe story of the city of Toronto began in 1610 when Etienne Brule, a young French explorer, made a trip from the Ottawa River to Lake Huron. Five years later, in the company of the great explorer Samuel de Champlain, Brule was sent with a detachment of Huron guides to the Andaste nation. The route they took after crossing what is today, Lake Simcoe, was past the present day location of Toronto.The name 'Toronto' is said to be derived from the native Huron word 'otoronton' or 'place of meeting'. This cannot be verified, since the word "Toronto" comes to the English language from the French.In 1680, the explorer La Salle is recorded as staying at a Seneca village called 'Teiaiagan', which was situated at the mouth of the Humber River, and in 1720 the French established a trading post at this location.To protect their interests the traders' at the post built a fort named Fort Rouille in honour of France's Minister of Marine. The fort was built in 1750, and a second fort, which was much larger, appeared in 1751. Today nothing remains of the two forts, but a plaque marking the second fort can be seen in the present day grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition.By 1763 the war which commenced in 1756 between the French and the English was over. England emerged victorious, but the victory was assured three years earlier when in October of 1760, Quebec City fell after the defeat of Montcalm's troops by the English army under General Wolfe.The English created Upper Canada, which is the area known as Southern Ontario today, and in 1791 Colonel John Simcoe was appointed govenor. Simcoe's capital was originally located at Niagara-on-the-Lake, but moved his administration first to London, Ontario, and then to Toronto. The provincial government has maintained it's parliament in Toronto to the present day.Simcoe named his new capital York, and the name remained until the incorporation of the city in 1834 when York reverted back to it's original name Toronto.All remained peaceful until 1813, when during the war between the infant United States, and the powerful British Empire, the Americans attacked York from across Lake Ontario.