Memorial Park

Memorial Park. Native and European Settlement. , The native Mississaugas (of the Ojibway nation) had long recognized the mouth of the Credit River as a meeting place. Up river was an important hunting and fishing ground. After 1750, British traders were guided to this area in the spring and fall to trade for furs. The British provided trade goods in advance for furs promised in the next season. This custom of trading on credit led to the name "Credit River"., A land treaty was signed on August 2nd, 1805 at the Credit River. This acquisition of land by the British Crown opened a six-mile strip of land along Lake Ontario from Etobicoke Creek to Burlington Bay for settlement. A one-mile strip on either side of the Credit River, as well as sole fishing and hunting rights to the Sixteen Mile Creek and Twelve Mile Creek, was reserved for the Mississaugas., In 1796 Governor John Grave Simeoe ordered a "Government House" to be constructed at the mouth of the Credit River. It was to provide accommodation for travelling government officials. It was later converted to a tavern. One of the early proprietors of the inn was Major Thomas Ingersoll, the father of Laura Secord., Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby) was a man from both Native and European worlds. He was the son of British surveyor Augustus Jones and his Mississauga partner, Tuhbenahneequay. In his early twenties Peter became a Methodist minister devoted to helping his people reconcile the Native and European lifestyles in the area. European settlement and disease put pressure on the Native Mississaugas and in 1826 the remaining members were resettled in a village where the Mississauga Golf Course is now situated. In 1847, a majority of Mississaugas relocated near the Six Nations reserve at Brantford; Peter Jones died ten years later. ,