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Mattawa is a town in northeastern Ontario, Canada, at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers in Nipissing District. Mattawa means "Meeting of the Waters" in Algonquin language. Etienne Brulé and Samuel de Champlain were the first Europeans to pass through this area. ==History== The area was first inhabited by native peoples who used the Mattawa River as an important transportation corridor for many centuries. In 1610, Étienne Brûlé〔Canadian Heritage Rivers System: Mattawa River fact sheet, Ministry of Natural Resources ((Online version ))〕 and in 1615, Samuel de Champlain were the first Europeans to travel through the Mattawa area.〔Archeological and Historic Sites Board of Canada〕 For some 200 years thereafter, it was a link in the important water route leading from Montreal west to Lake Superior. Canoes travelling west up the Ottawa turned left at "the Forks" (the mouth of the Mattawa) to enter the "''Petite Rivière''" ("Small River", as compared to the Ottawa), before continuing on to Lake Nipissing.〔Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada〕 Other notable travellers who passed by Mattawa include: Jean Nicolet in 1620, Jean de Brébeuf in 1626, Gabriel Lallemant in 1648, Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard des Groseilliers in 1658, La Verendrye in 1731, Alexander MacKenzie in 1794, and David Thompson in 1812.〔 ''Mattawa House'' was established by the Northwest Company in 1784. In the 1820s and 1830s, the Hudson's Bay Company (after it had merged with the Northwest Company) sent canoe brigades from their Fort Coulonge Post to the Mattawa River junction in order to trade furs. In 1837, a permanent post was established, but was moved to a new site in the centre of present-day Mattawa in 1843. It was subordinate to Fort Témiscamingue and Fort Coulonge, but after the arrival of the telegraph in 1871 and the railroad in 1880, it became the headquarters of the Timiskaming District. As the fur trade diminished and the population grew, the post became a general store, trading merchandise to supply lumbermen. It closed in the early 20th century (1908 or 1912, depending on source).〔Ontario Archaeological and Historic Sites Board〕〔Elizabeth Browne Losey, "''Let Them be Remembered:The Story of the Fur Trade Forts''", 1999. ISBN 0-533-12572-3〕 In the 19th century, Mattawa became a hub for the logging industry, which would harvest large untouched stands of white pine in the area and use the Mattawa River to transport logs to sawmills. In 1881, the railroad was built to Mattawa.〔 It was mostly built by French Canadian labourers. After the railroad's completion, some of these labourers and their families settled in Mattawa (and surrounding areas), bringing with them their culture and heritage.〔Government of Ontario - Ontario Heritage Trust〕 Logging is still an important industry in this region, and nearby provincial parks and wilderness support the camping/hunting/fishing tourism industry in Mattawa today. Mattawa is located on the Canadian Pacific Railway Chalk River subdivision, connecting Smiths Falls and North Bay, with an additional connection to Témiscaming, Quebec. Mattawa elected Canada's first-ever Black mayor, Firmin Monestime, in 1963. Monestime served as mayor until his death in 1977.〔("Mattawa's Dr. Firmin Monestime Remembered" ), ''North Bay Nugget'', October 26, 2007.〕 In April 2010, the old Mattawa hospital (visible as the red building in the image to the right) was demolished amid controversy, since the building was a local landmark for which heritage status was considered. A new Mattawa Hospital had been in service for about a year. The area will be further served by a new regional hospital in nearby North Bay, expected to be completed in January 2011. The old hospital site is expected to be used for the construction of a new secondary school, funded by the Province of Ontario through the Conseil Scolaire de District Catholique Franco-Nord.〔'North Bay Nugget'.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mattawa, Ontario」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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