Georgian Bay

Georgian Bay is a great eastern arm of Lake Huron, separated from the main lake by Manitoulin Island and the Bruce Peninsula. Islands crowd its rocky eastern shore, while the southern shore leads to the fertile country of the Wendat and their neighbours, the Petun. Across these waters Indigenous communities exchanged the products of the northern forests and the maize grown farther south.

In 1615 Samuel de Champlain travelled by the Ottawa, Mattawa and French rivers to the bay, following a route already used by Indigenous traders. He visited Wendat country and spent the winter among his allies. The great expanse of fresh water impressed him; he called Lake Huron the “gentle sea.” The bay remained part of a long water route linking the St Lawrence with the upper Great Lakes.