Carruthers Creek (Canada)
The Carruthers Creek is a stream in the Durham Region of Ontario, Canada. Its watershed lies within the boundaries of Pickering and Ajax. Etymology The stream is named after Richard Carruthers (1819-1887), an English immigrant from Cumberland, whose family owned 202 acres along the banks of the Creek. Carruthers, a farmer, purchased Lots 4 and 5 on Concession Road 1 in January 1856 and September 1862, and the land remained in his family until at least the 1940s. It is remarkable that the stream is named after him, because his family was not the earliest, the wealthiest or the most prominent landowner in the region. History The Carruthers Creek watershed includes 32 archaeological sites, 24 of which are identified with indigenous peoples, 7 with European settlers, and 1 of uncertain origin. Of the indigenous sites, 5 belong to Archaic period, 2 belong to Woodland period, and 17 are of undetermined date. The five Archaic period sites, dated 7000-1000 BCE, are all located inland, and are marked by discovery of chert (flint) tools and flakes. The discoveries do not provide much information other than suggesting that the indigenous people hunted and camped in the Carruthers Creek watershed. It was common for indigenous groups to engage in seasonal activities such as fishing at the mouth of various streams and rivers on the Lake Ontario shore. However, if any site providing evidence of such activities near the mouth of Carruthers Creek existed, it would now be under water, as the Creek's mouth met Lake Ontario at a location 10-20 m below the present surface level at the end of the Last Glacial Period. The watershed contains two sites from the early and middle Woodland period, dated to 1000 BCE-700 CE. Not much research has been done on these sites, but they appear to be short-term campsites. In the mid-17th century, the Iroquois people displaced the Petun and the Wendat (Huron) from what is now southern Ontario. The Iroquois Seneca people established river-side villages in nearby areas, such as Ganatsekwyagon on Rouge and Teiaiagon on Humber. However, the Carruthers Creek watershed does not show evidence of any settlement similar in size or importance. Nevertheless, it is likely that the indigenous people used the mouth of the creek for hunting and fishing. The Sulpician missionaries who settled in neighbouring areas were aware of the stream's existence in the late 17th century, although early French maps (such as Louis Jolliet's 1673 map) do not show the Carruthers Creek. By the end of the 18th century, much of the land in the Carruthers Creek watershed was owned by Smith family through land patents, or was held as Crown and Clergy reserves. The Smiths were absentee landlords: Major John Smith (d. 1795) of 5th Regiment of Foot served at Detroit, while his son David W. Smith (1764-1837) served at Detroit and Niagara. The Smith family held 20,000 acres of land in Upper Canada, including 7,800 acres in the Pickering Township that included the Carruthers Creek. The earliest permanent