Duffins Creek
Duffins Creek is a waterway that runs within York Region and Durham Region in the eastern end of the Greater Toronto Area.
| Duffins Creek | |
|---|---|
 Headwaters of the West Duffins Creek, Rouge National Urban Park | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| Region | Greater Toronto Area |
| Municipalities | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Confluence of several branches of Duffins Creek and tributaries |
| • location | Uxbridge (Goodwood and Glen Major) Stouffville (Bloomington and Lincolnville) |
| Mouth | Duffins Marsh at Lake Ontario |
• location | Ajax |
• coordinates | 43°49′00″N 79°02′05″W / 43.8167°N 79.0348°W |
| Basin size | 287 km2 (111 sq mi)[2] |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 1.38 m3/s (49 cu ft/s)[1] |
| • minimum | 0.51 m3/s (18 cu ft/s) |
| • maximum | 3.67 m3/s (130 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Great Lakes Basin |
History
Little is known about the history of the indigenous peoples in the Duffins Creek area. At least one Ojibwe family resided in the area, as attested by Arthur Field. This family lived at the east edge of the Duffins Creek marshes until the mid-19th century.[3] Augustus Jones, who surveyed the area for the Government of Upper Canada in 1791, states that the native (Mississauga Anishinaabek) name for the river was Sin-qua-trik-de-que-onk, meaning "pine wood on side".[4] The Ojibwe Mississauga name of the creek in modern orthography is Zhingwaatigotigweyaa-ziibi.[5]
In 1670, French missionaries from the Iroquois village of Ganatsekwyagon reached the stream, and called it Riviere au Saumon, meaning the "Salmon River", because of a large number of salmon fish that spawned there.[6]
In the 1770s, Mike Duffin, an Irish fur trader became the first person of European descent to settle in the Duffins Creek area. Jones named the Duffins Creek after this trader. Duffin's cabin was located on the east side of the Creek, north of a trail that later became the Kingston Road.[7][3]
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Duffins Creek was navigable for small ships as far up as Kingston Road.[8] Later, the water flow decreased as a result of construction of mill dams and clearing of forests for farming. The dams also cut off the salmon from their spawning grounds.[6] Pickering Village, a settlement initially known as "Duffins Creek", developed along the river. The first mill in the new settlement was built in 1810 by Timothy Rogers on the banks of Duffins Creek. At the time of Rogers's arrival, thousands of lake salmon came to the Duffins Creek. By the time of his death in 1827, the salmon had practically disappeared from the river.[9]
List of tributaries of the Duffins Creek
Although Duffins Creek is a single waterway entering Lake Ontario at Duffins Marsh in Ajax, there are 12 other waterways that branches off Duffins towards the Oak Ridges Moraine.[10]
A list of tributaries of the main Duffins Creek:
- Stouffville Creek - name for the town for which the creek runs course off Duffins
- Reesor Creek - named for Reesor family that resides in the area in north Pickering and Markham
- West Duffins Creek - branch of main creek near Pickering Village and runs northwest towards Stouffville
- Wixon Creek
- Mitchell Creek
- East Duffins Creek
- Major Creek
- Whitevale Creek
- Urfé Creek
- Brougham Creek
- Ganatsekagon Creek
- Millers Creek
See also
- Pickering Village, Ontario - a neighbourhood in Ajax, Ontario, which at one point, was called Duffins Creek
- Seaton, Ontario - a planned community in Pickering, Ontario
References
- ^ Technical Reports in Support of the Duffins Creek and Carruthers Creek Watershed Plan
- ^ "Duffins Creek Watershed - Report Card 2013" (PDF). Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). 2013. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
- ^ a b Rob Nisbet 1995, p. 18.
- ^ TRCA 2003, p. 36.
- ^ "Zhingwaatigotigweyaa-ziibi". Ojibwe - English Dictionary. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
- ^ a b Ken Smith 1995, p. 115.
- ^ Ken Smith 1995, pp. 115–116.
- ^ Ken Smith 1995, p. 130.
- ^ Ken Smith 1995, p. 118.
- ^ "Duffins Creek: State of the Watershed Report" (PDF). Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). 2002. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
Bibliography
- Harold H. Harvey (2011). Betty Roots; et al. (eds.). Special Places: The Changing Ecosystems of the Toronto Region. UBC Press. ISBN 9780774841818.
{{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|editor=(help) - Ken Smith (1995). "The Village of Pickering". In Archie MacDonald (ed.). A Town Called Ajax. The Ajax Historical Board. pp. 115–138. ISBN 0-9699465-0-3.
- Rob Nisbet (1995). "The Town Site of Ajax". In Archie MacDonald (ed.). A Town Called Ajax. The Ajax Historical Board. pp. 13–20. ISBN 0-9699465-0-3.
- "The Duffins and Carruthers Creek Watersheds - Past". A Watershed Plan for Duffins Creek and Carruthers Creek (PDF). Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). 2003. ISBN 0-9732764-0-1.
