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1800 BC to 800 BC
Many anthropologist believe the Native people of the Americas are the descendants of hunters from Siberia and northern parts of Asia who followed big game, such as bison and woolly mammoths, across the one mile thick ice sheets 15,000 to 4,000 years ago. Once they had crossed the bridge, these people spread out across America.
From 9500 - 8200 B.C., the Laurentide ice sheets began to recede forming many lakes and rivers in southern Ontario such as the Credit River. While much of Canada consisted of tundra, southern Ontario was covered by a Boreal forest. Archeological findings from this time period (arrowheads, hammer stones, sand stone knives), suggest the migration of peoples (Paleoindian) to the south eastern Ontario area around the great lakes. During this time much of the Mississauga land surrounding Lake Ontario was covered by Lake Iroquois. From 4000 -1000 B.C., the ancestors of the Iroquoian and Algonquian people developed separate cultural ideas and divided into different groups. By 800 B.C. there was more growth of their material cultures as evidenced by the findings of manufactured objects in Southern Ontario.


Iroquoian Agriculture
Around 500 A.D. the Iroquoian-speaking peoples, such as the Huron, Petun, Neutral, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida and Mohawk, adopted agriculture, resulting in a major population increase and change in settlement patterns.

Long Houses and Villages
Their villages contained 300 to 400 families living in 50 to 100 longhouses surrounded by a palisade. These villages tended to be permanent for 12 to 15 years.

League of Iroquois
Between 1350 to 1600 the League of Iroquois, consisting of the five tribes: Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk, allied in hope of bringing peace to the five tribes who were, at times, at war.

False Faced Society
The false faced ceremonies were held during healing rituals and festivals. During ceremonies the tribes men would wear different masks which represented the spirits. There were many different types of mask for different purposes. Corn husk masks like this one were used during the thanksgiving festivals.

Native Trade And Warfare in Southern Ontario
Long before the arrival of the European, the natives traded goods such as furs, pigment and shells between different tribes. Warfare, which was common, increased in intensity after European contact.

Distribution of the Eastern Algonquian in the Early 17th Century
In the early 17th century at the moment of European contact, there were two main linguistic families that occupied present-day Ontario, the Algonquians, to which the Mississauga belonged, and the Iroquoians. The Algonquian, whose descendants include the Algonkin, Cree, Ottawa and Ojibwa, lived in the northerly areas while the Iroquoians occupied the southern areas.

Naval Combat on Lake Superior by Captain Seth Eastman
The Iroquois and the Hurons were hostile to each other at the time of European contact (1615). In 1650-1670 the land around the Great Lakes region became Iroquois hunting ground as they pushed out the Hurons and the Neutrals. During the 1670s, Ojibwa tribes, from the Lake Superior region, began a southward migration and among them were some of the Mississauga. From 1680-1700 the Ojibwa tribe, advanced into the region of southern Ontario just north of Lake Ontario, attacked Iroquois villages, and forced the defeat and withdrawal of the Iroquois from the region. In 1701 Ojibwa granted peace in exchange for Iroquois recognition of Ojibwa possession of the region and an "open path" to trade with the British at Albany.

The Ojibwa in Mississauga
The Mississauga or Anishnabe human beings or men as they called themselves belonged to the Great Lakes Algonquian family, whose descendants include the Algonkians, Nipissings, Ojibwa and Ottawa, lived on the Georgian Bay, around Lake Nipissing and in the Ottawa Valley. It is not exactly clear how the Anishinabe tribe got the name Mississauga. History records show that the Jesuits first recorded the name Mississauga, or rather oumisagai, as the name of an Algonquian band near the Mississagi River on the northwestern shore of Lake Huron. The French, and later the English, for unknown reasons applied this name to all the Ojibwa settling on the north shore of Lake Ontario. The name Mississauga is believed to mean river of the north of many mouth. The Ojibwa were a spiritual group. They were influenced by their natural surroundings. They believed in a Great Spirit - a god who was in every aspect of nature - the sun, the moon, the earth and the rain. They called their heaven the happy hunting ground.
The Credit River was one of the main avenues of transport and trade for the Mississaugas. A somewhat wider and deeper river in the days before the surrounding forests were cleared, it provided easy access to many of the surrounding regions. The Mississaugas hunted, fished and travelled along the Credit River.

Ojibwa Encampment
The Ojibwa, unlike the Iroquois, were a hunting and gathering tribe. They lived in small bands (wigwams) to facilitate their subsistence lifestyle. Their food consisted of fish, game, birds and berries. They would often live in an area until its food sources had been depleted and then they moved on to another area where fish and game were plentiful. In the spring and summer, they tended to meet on waterways to fish and plant very small crops (corn, beans & potatoes). In the fall, they harvested their crops, and gathered nuts and fruits. In the winter, they would migrate to the interior hunting and trapping lands, where they would be protected from the harsh winter.

Gathering Wild Rice in the Fall
In the fall, they harvested their crops, and gathered nuts, fruits and rice. Wild rice was an important cereal food among the natives.

Spearing Muskrats in Winter
In the winter, they would migrate to the interior hunting and trapping lands, where they would be protected from the harsh winter.

Traditional Ojibwa Weapons
Shown in the exhibit are: 1) Ancient axe; 2) Spears; 3) Axe & spear heads; 4) Bows; 5) Arrows; 6) Tomahawk and pipe of Peace; 7) Ornamented war club; 8) Knife; 9) Arrow heads. Since iron was superior to bone, bark and stone, the Indians were eager to accept European weapons.

European Trade and Land Disputes 1700's
In 1763, the British defeated the French in North America and took over trade with the Mississauga. This brought an end to the long standing trade alliance between the Mississaugas and the French. After 1764, the British restricted the right to trade in the interior to traders who had been issued special licenses. The end of the American Revolution of 1775 changed the relationship between the Mississauga and the British. The Crown wanted land in Upper Canada to accommodate nearly 10,000 United Empire Loyalists who had fled there after the Revolution.
By 1794, the Mississaugas had surrendered to the Crown half their territory along the north shore of Lake Ontario, confident that the 1763 pledge of protection for their hunting and fishing rights would be honoured. Settlement proceeded at a steady pace on both sides of the Mississauga Tract. As the number of settlers increased, the need for more land arose. While the British authorities continued to purchase more Indian land in the 1790s, they preferred not to infringe upon the Mississauga Tract. Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe also thought that the Mississauga Tract should be reserved not only for the Natives but also for the Kings Masting. In this, he was referring to the pine and oak forests located there, a vital source of masts for the sailing ships of the Royal Navy upon which Britains military supremacy depended.
The founding of Fort York as the capital of Upper Canada in 1793 and the opening of Dundas Street as a military road made the Mississauga Tract vital for the development of the area. The British needed more land. However, the attainment of the Mississauga tract would prove a difficult task because the relationship between the British and Mississauga had deteriorated over time. The Mississauga had become very bitter about the past treaties which extinguished their title to land, burial grounds, fishing areas and planting grounds, and angry about the racism and violence that had been directed towards them by white settlers. With most of their land now sold to the British, the Mississauga were increasingly alienated and became a marginal portion of the new society that was being developed. They did not share in the prosperity of the Toronto Township; just the opposite occurred as their nomadic way of life clashed with the agricultural frontier.
In 1826, the Mississauga relocated their village near the 200 acres of reserved land. The plight of the Mississaugas along the Credit River became the concern of Methodist missionaries who arrived in the early 1820s. The work of Peter Jones and John Jones convinced the provincial government in 1826 to use the proceeds from the sale of Indian lands to build up to 30 log houses near the remaining Credit Reserve (200 acres of reserved land). The objective of the provincial government policy was to civilize and teach the Mississaugas regular habits. This meant providing the children with a Christian education and teaching the adults the skill of farming. Until 1837 the Credit Mission was a success but it gradually fell upon hard times. This was largely owing to epidemics of contagious diseases which decimated the Mississauga population. Some of the main diseases to plague the Mississauga Indians were small-pox, scarlet fever, consumption (TB), inflammation of the lungs and measles.
With almost all aspect of their traditional way of life (occupation, religious practices, dress and so on) disappearing, the once mighty Mississaugas began to look elsewhere to live. In May of 1847, after numerous sites had been investigated, approximately 266 Mississaugas left their village (Credit Mission) on the Credit and accepted land from their longtime foe, the Iroquois Confederacy of the Grand River near Brantford. Many of their descendants still reside there today calling themselves the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.

Government Inn
Government House was built in 1798 at the mouth of the Credit River. It was built for the accommodation of travelers passing to and from the seat of government through the Mississauga Tract of Land.

The Mississauga Tract
The Mississauga Tract was a twenty-six mile stretch of wilderness that ran along the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario from Etobicoke Creek west to Burlington Bay. It was the private domain of the Mississauga Indians until the British government persuaded them to sell it in a series of land treaties.

Chief Joseph Brant
Joseph Brant was a powerful Mohawk Chief who acted on behalf of the Mississaugas to ensure that they received a fair price for their land and that their hunting and fishing rights were protected. For nearly 10 years, negotiations had dragged on because Chief Joseph Brant, was against any further land purchases by the British. In 1796, Joseph Brant prevented the Mississaugas from attacking British garrisons in response to the murder of Wabakinine, head chief of the Credit River Mississaugas. By the time the Treaty of 1805 was signed Chief Joseph Brant had retired due to Six Nations problems.

Mississauga Surrender Their Land
With the 1805 treaty signing the Mississaugas agreed to transfer over 70,000 acres of land to the Crown in return for about $8500. In addition the Mississaugas reserved a strip of land extending one mile on each side of the Credit River. The Mississauga also had complete control over the salmon fisheries in all the waterways within the territory.
With the "Second Purchase", on February 28, 1820, the Mississaugas ceded the remainder of their land. This area, referred to as Block D, excluded a 200-acre reserve on the northeast bank of the Credit River, about 1/4 mile north of Port Credit. The proceeds of any sale or surrender of lands in this block were intended to go toward the provision of some buildings and some religious and educational instruction.

Mississauga Signatories of the Treaty of 1805
Shown are the names and totems of the four Mississauga delegates who signed the 1805 treaty. Chechalk, Queneppenon, Wabukenyne, and Okemapenesse. Every Ojibwa, upon birth, inherited his clan or totem from his father. Each clan, with a few rare exceptions bore the name of a bird, fish, or animal. On the northeastern shore of Lake Ontario the dominant totem was the eagle to which Peter Jones grandfathers, Chechalk and Okemapenesse, both belonged. In contrast Quenepenon, who led the band at the Bronte Creek, was a member of the otter totem.

Early European Settlers
Many of the settlers who eventually cultivated the lands within the Toronto Township were men and women who were leaving their homeland to escape war, famine and/or persecution. While migration to Upper Canada (now Ontario) occurred steadily from 1775, significant migration activity occurred during and after the American Revolution, the War of 1812 which ended in 1815, the Napoleonic Wars and the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-1850.

Settlement Duties - Clearing the Land
Terms of settlement decreed that a cabin of at least 16 feet by 20 feet had to be built in the clear and occupied for one year. Five acres of land had to be cleared, fenced and planted and half of the road allowance along the front of the lot had to cleared from the roadway, with the stumps cut low enough for a wagon to pass over. All settlers given free grants of Crown land had to complete their settler's duties within eighteen months before they could get title to their land. Failure to comply with the order could result in the land being granted to another settler.

Building a Log Cabin
A pioneers first home was usually a log, slab, or crude shanty with no amenities. Since the area was heavily forested in pioneer times, the settlers had ample building materials to construct their homes.

Corduroy Road
Travel on land was long, tiring and sometimes impossible. The roads were dangerous and it was not unusual if there were no roads. Early roads were either dirt or corduroy the latter being a road made up of logs lined up in a row. Such roads were very uncomfortable to travel on and would often break the legs of animals and wagon wheels.

Early Farming
Early farming in Toronto Township remained largely subsistent because of the slow pace of clearing the land. A pioneer settler could only clear an acre or two a year. As a result, the early farmers of Toronto Township were restricted to producing for family consumption and to bartering with neighbours who did not grow the same crops. Wheat was the staple crop of Toronto Township. As time went on the farmers would plant patches of potatoes, corn, peas, and flax. Flax was initially used to supply the familys clothing needs.

The Church
After home and food, the next major preoccupation was religion. No matter what denomination, each pioneer church began with services held in homes until a building could be put up to serve as Gods House.

The Late 1800's - "Toronto Township"
During the first half of the 19th century several local villages formed throughout Toronto Township. Between Etobicoke Creek and the Credit River, four villages were distinguishable by the early 1830s: Summerville, Dixie, Cooksville and Erindale. By 1865 several smaller communities had also developed Port Credit, Clarkson, Malton, Meadowvale and Streetsville. Late 19th-century politics and community developments were characterized largely by the presence of transportation and communication links and, in some cases, debate over the county seat, which Brampton won in 1867.
As a result of the increased population and changes in technology, many occupations were created, forming early networks of business and markets. General merchants were of prime importance in the villages, for they sold manufactured goods and keenly understood the local economy. Stone quarrying, brick and pottery industries all began to flourish in the 1820s, as did the tanneries, carding mills, saw mills, and lodging establishments. Industrial development in Toronto Township had its consequences. The lumber industry began to decline after reaching its peak in the 1850s, when the best lumber in the Credit Valley had been harvested and lumber was only available farther afield. Sawdust from lumber mills destroyed fishing on the Credit since it polluted the salmon run. The pottery industry's output became all but obsolete as more advanced technology produced better wares for better food storage. Cooksville, once the centre of the shingle-making industry, ceased its massive production of shingles in the 1890s also due to the exhaustion of resources.

Grist Mill
Like most early Ontario communities, Streetsville relied heavily on its proximity to water for the power to operate its grist, saw, and carding mills. Water power remained the key factor in Mississauga's early industrial development of the 19th century, particularly in Streetsville.

General Store
The first general store was most likely opened in 1818. The general store was often a place where people met to hear the latest village news, political talk and gossip in addition to purchasing and trading goods. The general store was a very important building in the community. In the early days, a general store tried to sell everything the villagers needed including shoes, clothing, coal and wood for a stove, seeds and farm machinery. The general store, in most cases was also the post office.

Blacksmith at Work
Blacksmiths had a fundamental role in the development of the farming community by providing sufficient tools to work the land.

Flour/grist Mill
This is a grist mill, which means it mills flour from wheat. The settlers would grow the wheat, mill it into flour and then make bread from it. In the 1840's the Irish potato famine increased demand and price for wheat.

Clarkson Railway Station
In 1855 the Great Western Railway was completed though Port Credit and Clarkson on its way to Hamilton. As a faster and more efficient form of transportation, railways such these were responsible for the economic development of export industries in the 1850's and 1860's. The railway allowed farmers and millers who were situated along the railroad to send their produce to Toronto and beyond resulting in the expansion of business. Two other railways were built through Toronto Township. The Grand Trunk Railway in 1856 which allowed Malton to become a major wheat exporting centre, and the Credit Valley Railway, which was built through Erindale and Streetsville in 1878, was not as successful due to the invention of the automobile.

1900 to 1950's Industrial Development

Cooksville Brick and Tile Company
Improvements in technology and transportation also brought about the development of larger industries. For most of the 1900s, bricks were made on the building site, both because the technology did not exist to mass produce them and because they were heavy to haul by horse. The railway and new manufacturing techniques allowed large brick making plants to be built. The clay soil found primarily in the north half of Toronto Township was also excellent material for making bricks. This is Cooksville Brick and Tile, once the largest brick making plant in Ontario which closed down in 1970.

Auto Polo at the Cooksville Fair
The invention of the automobile in the 1900's was quickly embraced as it served the needs of business and personal transport.

St. Lawrence Starch 1900
St. Lawrence Starch was one the earliest big industries to locate in the area, opening in 1889 in Port Credit. In 1897 the company introduced laundry starch, the precursor to laundry powder, and in 1898-99 Bee Hive corn syrup. You can still buy Bee Hive corn syrup in the grocery store.

1904 Pasteurized Milk
Mississauga was one of first communities to produce pasturized milk, which quickly became popular. Up until the 1950's, the majority of Mississaugas farms raised dairy cows.

Dam at Erindale Power Works
Built between 1904 and 1910, Erindale Hydro Dam was an early, but ultimately not a very successful, attempt at local power generation. Once completed the dam created the 125 acre Erindale lake in what is now Erindale Park. In 1940 Erindale Lake was drained to look for the bodies of drowning victims. In 1941 the dam was dynamited and the lake permanently drained. Most of the power dam was removed in 1977 though remnants remain.

Employees at the T.W. Hand Fire Works Plant
World War I and II brought about changes in the attitudes towards women. With the departure of men during times of war, women needed to leave their home work to work in factories such as the T. W. Hand and Fire Works plant which produced military pyrotechnics. Most of Toronto Township was farmland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was not until the huge postwar influx, which began in the 1940s, that this pattern changed significantly.

Queen Elizabeth Way (Q.E.W.), 1939
In 1939 Canadas first super highway was completed. Running between Toronto and Niagara, the Queen Elizabeth Way or Q.E.W. set the stage for all future controlled access highways built in Canada and was a significant improvement over the single lane Middle Road which it replaced.

Malton Airport, 1939
In 1937 a major change came to Toronto Township that highlighted its move from a farming economy to a large scale industrial and commercial economy. Pearson International Airport (as the airport is now called) is Canadas largest and busiest airport.

Avro Arrow Unveiling, 1959
A.V. Roe also built the Avro Arrow perhaps one of the most hotly debated topics in Canadian industrial history. The Arrow was designed to be Canadas first supersonic interceptor aircraft in 1957. The Arrow first flew in 1958 but the program was canceled and all the planes were destroyed by the federal government.

Mississauga
In 1968 The villages of Toronto Township amalgamated to became the "Town of Mississauga", excluding the Towns of Port Credit and Streetsville. In 1974, Mississauga incorporated as a city, this time including Port Credit and Streetsville.

Xerox Building at Sheridan Research Park
One the first industrial parks in Mississauga was the Sheridan Park Research Community. In 1965 the Sheridan Park Research Community was officially opened by HRH Prince Phillip. Originally the park was 360 acres and its tenants included the Ontario Research Foundation, the Dunlop Research Centre, the Mallory Battery Company of Canada and Atomic Energy of Canada. The total value of buildings built by 1966 was $31,000,000.00. Since then more companies have moved into Sheridan Park including the IMAX Corporation and Xerox. Many other industrial parks have been built.

Square One Shopping Centre
As the population increased, the Mississauga we know today began to develop. One of the best indicators of development is large scale commerce, the largest in Mississauga being Square One Shopping Centre in the city centre. First built in 1973, Square One has since grown tremendously to the 330 stores, 1.4 million square foot mega-complex it is today. More than just a shopping centre Square One also contains a seniors centre, a youth centre, a church, a health club and is connected to the citys main bus terminal.

Canadian Pacific Railway Derailment
In 1979, twenty three train cars derailed at Mavis and Dundas spilling toxic chemicals which caught fire and forced the evacuation of 218,384 residents of Mississauga.

Sega Citys Playdium and Famous Players Coliseum
Entertainment centres such as these provide indoor activities for central Mississauga.

City Centre
Canada's fifth largest city, nestled along the banks of the Credit River in Peel Region, has been described as a "city of communities trying to grow from the outside in." Behind its modern facade, Mississauga is a community whose civic identity and character has been shaped by the histories of its constituent communities. Where most cities develop around a focal point or key industry, Mississauga evolved from the marriage of several towns, villages, and hamlets into an urban centre with a diverse economy.

Living Arts Centre
In 1997 the living Arts centre opened with the intent of promoting drama, music, dance and visual arts in the Mississauga area. With the construction of industrial parks, major commercial centres and large suburban housing developments, a modern city has taken shape. Mississauga (formerly Toronto Township) has changed a lot since it was first settled almost 200 years ago with no roads or railways and only a small rural population. Now companies in Mississauga make everything from medicine to computer hardware for international purposes. As well, many of the products bought for the home are imported from around to world. The city is the fifth largest in Canada and one of the most dynamic and fastest growing.