The Ottawa Valley is the Eastern Ontario valley surrounding the Ottawa River for the west-east portion of its path through the Canadian Shield from Mattawa to Hawkesbury. Because of the surrounding shield, the valley is narrow at its western end, then becomes increasingly wide (mainly on the Southern Ontario side of the river) as it progresses eastward. The underlying geophysical structure is the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben. Approximately 1.3 million people reside in the valley (and along its tributaries), of these the majority, around 80%, reside in Ottawa, the remainder on the north side of the Ottawa river, in Quebec. The National Capital Region area has just over 1.4 million inhabitants in both provinces.

Near the city of Ottawa, the Ottawa Valley merges with the St. Lawrence Valley to the south to create a delta of flat farmland stretching unbroken from the Ottawa River to the Saint Lawrence River as far east as the island of Montreal, where the two rivers meet. This area is sometimes referred to as the "Lower Ottawa Valley", in contrast with the "Upper Ottawa Valley" west of Ottawa, but the name is not common, and most people think of the Ottawa Valley as only the upper portion.

Because the Canadian Shield comes nearly to the Ottawa River on the north (Quebec) side of the valley, most settlements and transportation routes are on the southern Ontario side. From west to east, the major Ottawa Valley communities are Mattawa, Deep River (with nearby Chalk River, the site of Canada's nuclear reactor program), Petawawa (a major Canadian military base), Pembroke (where Samuel de Champlain landed briefly), Renfrew, Arnprior, Ottawa (the nation's capital), Rockland, L'Orignal, Hawkesbury and Rigaud.

History

entire Ottawa Valley is Algonquin traditional territory and, like most populated areas of Canada, is presently under Land Claim. As a relatively recent adaptation resulting from the economic pressures of the encroachment of non-native settling of the valley, the Algonquin First Nation is unevenly distributed within their territory. A majority of Algonquins reside on the Quebec side of the border, where all but two Algonquin communities are located. However, there are many Algonquin communities and individuals not recognized as such by the Government of Canada under the Indian Act. These individuals are referred to as 'Non-Status Indians'. Ardoch Algonquin First Nation is one such community located in the Ottawa Valley fighting for the return of their land.

After the arrival of European settlers in North America, the first major industry of the Ottawa Valley was fur trading. The valley was part of the major cross-country route for French-Canadian Voyageurs, who would paddle canoes up the Ottawa River as far as Mattawa and then portage west through various rivers and lakes to Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. Later, lumber became the valley's major industry, and it is still important in the far western part where the valley is narrow and little farmland is available. Today, the vast majority of the valley's residents live at its eastern end in Ottawa and its suburbs, where government and technology are major industries.

Language

English and French are both commonly spoken throughout the Ottawa Valley on both sides of the river. Regional English accents are rare in Canada, but because of its isolation (before the arrival of the railways) and also through the mixture of the dominant French, Irish and Scottish populations, the valley at one time developed a distinctive dialect referred to as the Ottawa Valley Twang. Many traces of it can still be heard today, especially in the valley's more isolated western portions.

Tourism

Tourism has become one of the main industries of the Ottawa Valley, after the bust in the timber industry. Pursuits such as skydiving, tree-to-tree zip lining, whitewater rafting,camping, biking, canoeing, driving, hot air ballooning, ATV'ing, golfing and hiking draw visitors from all over Canada and abroad. (Source: Canadian Geographic)

Facts

Famous People

Among the well-known people who hail from the Ottawa Valley, are former governor-general and broadcaser Adrienne Clarkson, Alanis Morissette, Margaret Atwood, Lorne Greene, Bruce Cockburn, Peter Jennings, Matthew Perry, Dan Aykroyd, Jason Hodgson, Mark Redman, Tom Green, Rich Little, Paul Anka and Princess Margriet, sister of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

Many Ottawa natives have excelled in the athletic world, particularly winter sports. Barbara Ann Scott was world figure skating champion and won the gold medal at St. Moritz, Switzerland in 1948. Skier Ann Heggtveit won a gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. Elizabeth Manley won the silver medal for women's figure skating at the Calgary Winter Olympics in 1988. The Clifford Family has long been associated with skiing in the Ottawa area.

Linda Thom won Olympic gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Francis Amyott, from the Britannia Club, won the single canoeing event when it was held for the first time at the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936.

Two Ontario premiers came from the Ottawa Valley - Premier Howard Ferguson (Kemptville) in the 1920s and Premier Dalton McGuinty (Ottawa), who became premier in 2003.

Hockey Country

The Ottawa Senators public relations office call Ottawa and the Valley "hockey country". Indeed it is the home not only of the once mighty Senators, which folded in 1934 and came back in the 1990s, but also of such famous NHL builders as Tommy Gorman and Ambrose O'Brien. With the Senators' arena Scotiabank Place located near Highway 417, which links Ottawa with the Valley, residents of the Upper Ottawa Valley can easily access the games.

The Ottawa Valley's Renfrew Millionaires, the creation of lumber baron O'Brien, was a small-town professional hockey team that won the league championship in 1910. Ottawa and the valley are also the home of such outstanding players as Aurel Joliat, Frank "King" Clancy, Frank Boucher and Denis Potvin; the latter was the star defenceman of the New York Islanders dynasty of the late 1970s. Ottawa's Brian Kilrea holds the record as the Ontario Hockey League's longest-serving coach with a record number of games behind the bench of the Ottawa 67's junior hockey team. The 67's themselves are something of a legend, having a loyal following that results in sellout games almost every time they step on the ice.

Geography

The Ottawa Valley covers over 7,645 square kilometres. Some 12,800 years ago, glaciers retreated from what is now the Ottawa Valley region, leaving the area covered by the by the Champlain Sea for thousands of years. Ten thousand years ago the water retreated and land emerged. More than half of the Ottawa Valley is now wilderness. Renfrew County, located in the heart of the Ottawa Valley, is the largest county in Ontario. (outside of "districts", administrative regions in Northern Ontario). There are over 900 lakes and four major river systems in the Ottawa Valley. Ottawa itself is at the confluence of three rivers. These are the Ottawa, Gatineau and Rideau rivers.

The River

The Ottawa River is 1,271 kilometres long. Its source is Lac Capimitchigama in Quebec. The Ottawa River was first navigated and settled by the Huron, Algonquin, Iroquois and Outaouais people. The Algonquin people called the Ottawa River "Kitchissippi", which means “Great River”. The Algonquin word Kichesippirini means "Big River People". The name Petawawa comes from the Algonquin language meaning “where one hears a noise like this.”

Valley Twang

The mixture of the accents of the Valley’s French, Irish and Scottish populations created a regional dialect that came to be called the Ottawa Valley Twang, still evident among the inhabitants of the Valley.

Flora and Fauna

More than 400 species of animals live in the Ottawa Valley. The white trillium, which grows throughout the Ottawa Valley, has been Ontario's provincial floral emblem since 1937. Its white blossom is associated with peace and hope. White pine, the Ontario provincial tree, was the most commercially important tree during the heyday of the logging industry in the 19th century. It was exported to Europe and used for building the masts of sailing ships. Winter was the best season for cutting timber as trees fell more easily when their sap wasn’t running and ice and snow made it easier to drag the timber. Spring was the season when the loggers would “drive” the logs downriver.

Historical Notes

Samuel de Champlain spent the years between 1613 and 1615 traveling the Ottawa River with Algonquin and Huron guides. In charting the new land Champlain inaugurated the route that would be used by French fur traders for the next 200 years.*Between 1847 and 1879 a "horse railway" was used to portage passengers from the Ottawa River steamboat in a horse-drawn car for 5.5 kilometres along the wooded shore, around the Chats Falls, near Fitzroy Harbour, to another steamboat to continue their journey upriver.

Other Facts

• The Counties of Prescott and Russell County, in the Ottawa Valley, has the highest concentration of francophones in Canada, living west of Quebec.
• The small town of Perth, located in Lanark County, has been called one of the 'prettiest towns in Ontario'and is famous for its crafts and artistic community.
• The town of Almonte is the hometown of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. It is also the home of renowned scupltor,Tait MacKenzie. Kent Huskins, who played with the 2007 Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks, is from Almonte. Huskins brought the Stanley Cup to Almonte in the off-season.

• For more facts, visit Canadian Geographic Online

External links

• Welcome to the Ottawa Valley, a Canadian Geographic article about the valley
• Ottawa River article at Great Canadian Rivers
• [51766]The preview of the Canadian Geographic article, G'Day G'Day and Welcome to the Valley