The Lake Simcoe–Lake Huron Purchase, registered as Crown Treaty Number Sixteen, was signed November 18, 1815 between the Ojibwa and the government of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

. It purchased a large portion of the lands between

Lake Simcoe Lake Simcoe is a lake in southern Ontario, Canada, the fourth-largest lake wholly within the province, after Lake Nipigon, Lac Seul, and Lake Nipissing. At the time of the first European contact in the 17th century, the lake was called ''Ouentir ...

and

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

, including all of the territory upon which the Penetanguishene Road had recently been cut. The Penetanguishene Road was cut from Kempenfelt Bay on Lake Simcoe to Penetanguishene Bay on Lake Huron at the end of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

for purposes of providing a military communication route. The land that it occupied was purchased in this treaty for the sum of £4,000 sterling. The territory included a quantity of land that later became parts of the townships of Oro, Vespra, Medonte, Flos, Tay and Tiny in

Simcoe County Simcoe County is a county and census division located in the central region of Ontario, Canada. The county is located north of the Greater Toronto Area, and forms the north western edge of the Golden Horseshoe. The county seat is located in Mi ...

. The total area purchased was approximately . The signees of the treaty on the side of the British included Provincial Commissioners Elisha Beman and Henry Proctor,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

W. M. Cochrane (commander of light infantry),

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

Alexander Ferguson of the Indian Department, interpreter William Gruet and James Givins on behalf of the Crown. The signees of the treaty on the side of the Chippeway Chiefs included Kinaybicoinini, Aisance and Misquuckkey. (Chief Misquuckkey in the treaty may be the same chief whom Muskoka was named after.) The text of the treaty is found in the holdings at the Simcoe County Archives in Barrie, Ontario, Canada.

References

* Hunter, Andrew F. A History of Simcoe County. Mackinaw Productions (Oshawa: 1998). {{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Simcoe-Lake Huron Purchase Treaties of Indigenous peoples in Canada First Nations history in Ontario 1815 treaties Treaties of Upper Canada 1815 in Upper Canada Lake Huron