Scugog

Scugog lies north of Lake Ontario, in a basin of wetlands and winding waterways used by the Mississaugas. Wild rice grew in its marshes, and a carrying-place route connected the inland waters with the shore at Oshawa. In the early nineteenth century William Purdy built a dam on the Scugog River to power his mills. The rising water flooded extensive marsh and forest, enlarging Lake Scugog and changing a landscape on which local families depended.