OTTAWA

Parliament Buildings (background centre) rise above the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. capital of Canada, southeastern Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa, Gatineau, and Rideau rivers. Its metropolitan area lies astride the Ontario-Quebec border. The first descriptions of Ottawa's future site were written by the founder of New France, Samuel de Champlain, in 1613. The rivers served as passageways for explorers and traders over the following two centuries. The Napoleonic Wars increased Britain's need for shipbuilding timber, and the Ottawa River valley offered just such resources. In 1800 an American, Philemon Wright, had begun timbering across the Ottawa River in what became the city of Hull. During the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States, the Rideau provided the British with a safe shipping route from the Ottawa River to Kingston, on Lake Ontario, thus spurring settlement of Ottawa. It was hastened by the arrival in 1826 of Lieutenant Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers to work on canalizing the river, and the town became Bytown. Ottawa might still be a modest city had not political quarrels between Quebec city and Toronto and between Montreal and Kingston induced leaders to call upon Queen Victoria to designate a capital for United Canada. In 1855 Bytown was incorporated and rechristened Ottawa, named for the Ottawa Indians. It became the fastest-growing metropolis in eastern Canada, a development due largely to the presence of the national government. In 1937 Prime Minister William L. Mackenzie King brought the architect Jacques Grber from France to begin the redevelopment of the national capital district. The fur trade and lumbering have diminished in favour of tourism and computer-related industries. The federal government is the major employer. Many commercial and financial associations from around the country as well as embassies and trade associations are also located there. Ottawa is served by both of Canada's major railroads and several airlines. There is bus service throughout the city. Navigation on the Ottawa and Rideau rivers, except for pleasure craft, is a thing of the past. The major cultural centres remain the city's three universities. The University of Ottawa and St. Paul University are bilingual institutions, whereas instruction at Carleton University is entirely in English. A large community college, Algonquin, provides technical training. Ottawa also houses the National Arts Centre, which includes an opera house and two theatres, the National Library and Public Archives Building, the National Museum of Science and Technology, and the National Gallery of Canada. Pop. (1991) city, 313,987; Ottawa-Hull metropolitan area, 920,857; (1996) Ottawa-Hull metropolitan area, 1,010,498. Algonkian-speaking Indians whose territory included what is now part of the Ottawa River, the French River, Georgian Bay, northern Michigan, and adjacent areas. According to tradition, the Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi (qq.v.) were formerly one tribe, having migrated from the northwest and separated at what is now Mackinaw, Mich. The earliest known location of the Ottawa was on Manitoulin Island. They were widely known as traders, their location enabling them to become middlemen in intertribal commerce; their canoes traveled as far west as Green Bay, Wis., and as far east as Quebec to buy and sell such merchandise as cornmeal, furs, sunflower oil, mats, tobacco, and medicinal herbs. The Ottawa were semisedentary, living in agricultural villages in summer and separating into family groups for winter hunts. Planting and harvesting crops were female occupations; hunting and fishing were the responsibility of men. Ottawa villages were sometimes palisaded for protection. In the late 17th century the tribe comprised four, or possibly five, major divisions, which were subdivided into local bands; they are believed to have had several clans distributed among the bands. Attacked by the Iroquois, the Ottawa fled, some joining the Potawatomi at Green Bay, others finally scattering throughout the lower peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin, and northern Illinois. city, seat (1864) of Franklin county, eastern Kansas, U.S., on the Marais des Cygnes River. It was founded in 1864 near the Ottawa Indian Baptist Mission, which had been established in 1837 on lands given (1832) to the Ottawa Indians in exchange for their Ohio lands. When the Indians were moved to Oklahoma in 1867, settlers rushed to the site; prosperity followed construction of railroad machine shops in 1872. Ottawa is now the trading centre for a grain, poultry, and livestock area; manufactures include textiles and plastic and metal products. Inc. 1866. Pop. (1990) 10,667. city, seat (1831) of La Salle county, north central Illinois, U.S., at the confluence of the Fox and Illinois rivers. The site was visited by French explorers and missionaries in the 17th century; the town was laid out in 1830. Originally called Carbonia, from coal deposits nearby, it was renamed Ottawa for the Indian tribe. Situated in a rich agricultural area, it developed as a grain and trading centre. Growth was stimulated by completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal (1848) and the arrival of the Rock Island Railroad (1853). The opening of the Illinois Waterway (1933) increased navigation to Chicago. Local industries depend on nearby deposits of silica sand, clay, coal, and gravel. Chief products are glass and plastic materials. Inc. town, 1837; city, 1853. Pop. (1990) 17,451.