Early Contact History of Toronto: Carrying Place to 2010

The first contact between Indigenous peoples and Europeans on the site of Toronto was shaped by one route: the Toronto Carrying Place, a portage up the Humber valley that linked Lake Ontario to the northern lakes. French traders built Fort Rouillé on the lakeshore in 1750-51, and in 1787 the Crown made the first of two agreements that became the Toronto Purchase, which the Mississaugas of the Credit disputed until a $145 million settlement was announced on January 25, 2010.

Indigenous presence and the Carrying Place

People lived along the Humber for thousands of years before any French or British post. The Canadian Heritage Rivers System, which designated the Humber in 1999, states that settlement there spans almost 10,000 years and that 473 archaeological sites are registered. The Humber route is the best documented trail, and its history, including disagreements about its age, is set out in The Toronto Carrying Place.

Wendat communities lived on rivers north of the lake between about A.D. 1300 and 1600, per an ASI Heritage summary, and the Parsons site, dated to about 1450, is a village excavated near the Humber. In the 1670s the Haudenosaunee village of Teiaiagon stood at Baby Point, and Parks Canada recognizes Bead Hill as the only known intact 17th-century Seneca site in Canada. These are accounts from archaeology and heritage bodies. Statements about what the nations themselves believed or intended are best taken from their own communities. Place names and their Indigenous origins are covered in Indigenous place names in Toronto.

The French posts

The Ontario Heritage Trust plaque says Fort Rouillé, also called Fort Toronto, was built in 1750-51 on the spot now marked within Exhibition Place. The Governor of New France ordered it to strengthen French control of the Great Lakes and to draw trade from Indigenous travelers. It was a palisaded post with four bastions and five main buildings. After other French posts on Lake Ontario fell to the British, the garrison destroyed it in July 1759. The Canadian Encyclopedia dates the first French post on the route to 1720. Sources differ on whether the posts of 1750 and 1751 were one or two, so the plaque’s combined date is used here.

The Mississaugas and the land agreements

By the early 1700s Mississauga people lived on the north shore of Lake Ontario, and the City of Toronto dates a Mississauga village across the Humber to 1702. Their history is told in Mississaugas of the Credit: history to 1847.

Date	Event	Source
1750-51	Fort Rouillé built	Ontario Heritage Trust
July 1759	Fort destroyed by its garrison	Ontario Heritage Trust
September 23, 1787	Agreement dated at the Carrying Place at the head of the Bay of Quinte	1805 deed text, Government of Canada
August 1, 1805	Indenture at the River Credit for 250,808 acres	Government of Canada
1998	Claim filed by the Mississaugas	Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation
January 25, 2010	Offer of $145 million for two claims	Government of Canada

The 1805 indenture recites an earlier 1787 agreement with Sir John Johnson and records a payment of ten shillings by William Claus. The Mississaugas of the Credit say that in 1787 goods worth 1,700 pounds were given as a reward for loyalty, that nothing was sold, and that the deed was left blank. The Crown’s 1805 document and the Mississaugas’ account therefore differ. The acreage differs too: the 1805 deed text gives 250,808 acres, and the First Nation’s page gives 250,830. The full dispute is in Toronto Purchase 1787 and the 2010 settlement.

The 2010 settlement

Canada announced on January 25, 2010 an offer of $145 million in compensation for the Toronto Purchase and Brant Tract claims. The release says the claims were for financial compensation only and that current land ownership was not in question. Ratification took place on May 29, 2010, with a celebration on October 29, 2010, per the federal news releases. The nation has been named Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation since 2018.

Common questions

What was the Toronto Carrying Place?

A portage route from Lake Ontario up the Humber River toward Lake Simcoe, used by Indigenous peoples long before Europeans arrived. Its documented history is in the Carrying Place article.

When was Fort Rouillé built, and what happened to it?

It was built in 1750-51 and destroyed by its own garrison in July 1759, per the Ontario Heritage Trust. The site is within Exhibition Place.

Did the Mississaugas sell Toronto in 1787?

Canada and the Mississaugas of the Credit give different accounts. The Crown relies on the 1805 indenture that recites the 1787 agreement. The First Nation says nothing was sold in 1787.

Did the 2010 settlement return land?

No. The federal release states the settlement was financial compensation only.

Last verified: October 2026

Sources

Ontario Heritage Trust, Fort Rouillé plaque
Government of Canada, Crown-Indigenous Relations, Toronto Purchase 1805 deed text
Government of Canada, news release, January 25, 2010
Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, The Toronto Purchase, Treaty No. 13
Canadian Heritage Rivers System, Humber River
Parks Canada, Bead Hill National Historic Site

Cite this page

APA: History of Toronto. (2026, October 27). Early contact at Toronto: the Carrying Place to 2010. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-fascinating-history-of-toronto-contact-and-how-it-has-shaped-the-citys-evolution

MLA: “Early contact at Toronto: the Carrying Place to 2010.” History of Toronto, 27 Oct. 2026, https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-fascinating-history-of-toronto-contact-and-how-it-has-shaped-the-citys-evolution. Accessed .

Chicago: History of Toronto. “Early contact at Toronto: the Carrying Place to 2010.” Last modified October 27, 2026. https://historyoftoronto.ca/blog/the-fascinating-history-of-toronto-contact-and-how-it-has-shaped-the-citys-evolution.

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