Following a
tour of Upper Canada in early 1793, Governor Simcoe foresaw
a series of town sites linked by a military road in the
system of rivers and canals, providing inland access during
an era when commerce and settlement depended on water transport.
The provincial capital would be located at the lower forks
of the Thames with the name London.
Further down the river would be the town of Chattam, and
at the upper forks where the native path known as the Detroit
Trail first struck the Thames would be another town, to be
known as Oxford. Through these centres the potential of the
only major river flowing through the peninsula would be fully
realized. |
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