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" It seems reasonable to suppose that the presence of a sandy height overlooking ... the River Rouge, would be an invitation for primitive settlement to ancient man " Excerpted Ontario History -Vol LII, No 1 March 1960  Fishing ... Used with permission
The (Iroquois) occupied the village marked on Joliet's 1673 Map called Ganatsekwyagon In 1669 the French trader Pere` and explorer Joliet set off; cross country; from Ganatsekwyagon for Lake Huron in search of a legendary copper mine.  Typical Sawmill Operation
Many of the early explorers must have seen or perhaps traveled the Rouge, including Champlain .. (1607 Map), Joliet, La Salle, Galinee, Dollier de Casson, Governor Frontenac, and Governor de Courcelles. Suplican Missionary Francois de Salignac de Fenelon (Fenelon Falls) spent time along the Rouge.  Steam Train Crossing The Rouge
By the mid 1700's the First Nations people were gone. Driven out
by a combination of the decline of the fur trade, an increase in
logging, settlement and the battles between the French and
English. River Name Games ..... I chose Simcoe's name River Nen; changing it to Rivernen for this web site so there would be no confusion with other Rouge River Web Sites .....   
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Riviere Rouge was the name French fur traders gave the River because of the ruddy colored sand banks on either side of the river. The Iroquois named the river
Katabokokonk; which meant river of easy entrance
The Mississauga's called the river CHE
SIPPI; which meant Large Creek. There may be a connection between a River Nen in Cambridge shire England and Lieutenant Governor Col. John Graves Simcoe. When he arrived in 1791, he named the river .. River Nen because he could not pronounce; and did not like; Aboriginal names. One of Governor Simcoe's surveyors; Augustus Jones; called it Keitchee Sepee .... Great River. The current name Rouge River was adopted in the middle 1800's; a durative of the Neutral Iroquois 'Rihogea' and means royal... ref C. Amos
Critique of Asa Danforth's road by William Chewett Inspector 1802 " The hill on the east side of the River Nen which is the most difficult to pass on ... it is too steep ... The east end of the bridge over the River Nen, the string pieces having failed, will soon be impassable ... The eastern hill of the aforesaid bridge, the upper part or the log work having been burnt the late fire in the woods, will in a short time be impassable "  River Nen Toll Road
Source The Pickering Story
William A. McKay Text © and Sketches Courtesy Pickering Library  Typical 1800's Grits Mill
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