Conclusion

On this tour, you have travelled almost 500 kilometers over an elevation change of 125 meters.  Those are just three dimensions  More importantly, you have travelled more than 250 years in time, the fourth dimension.  

Along the way you have met the people who populated the land from the depths of time including the Mississaugas and the Iroquois.  You have seen the coming of the French including Samuel de Champlain and others.  You have encountered the refugees from the American Revolutionary War such as John Johnson and Molly Brant.  

You have seen the communities be established.  Some, like Kingston, have grown into important cities.  Some, like LaRue Mills have faded from existence.  They started as nothing, then a few homes, then a church, possibly a mill and, for some, courthouses, hospitals and schools.

The impact of technology has been evident.   For the first people, transportation was by foot or small boat.  Then came rude roads allowing horse-drawn vehicles including stage coaches.  River transportation was improved with canals, shortening time and reducing hazards.  That was followed by the railroads which revolutionized the world in ways not seen again until the internet of our own time.  And, of course, the automobile made its presence felt and changed the landscape in the 20th century.

With the success of these communities, others came.  You ahve met  English, French, First Peoples, Americans, Scots, Irish, Welsh, Canadiens, Germans and others.  They have been of many religions and they have spanned the economic scale from the noble and wealthy to the desperate and poor.  

This unplanned, diverse and energetic group, starting with the refugees we now know as the United Empire Loyalists, creatd the province of Ontario and had a major role in the development of Canada.  

With all of this, you now have a wider knowledge of how the land you are in came to be what it is.  These people of the past shaped our world of today.  They were not perfect and the world we live in is not perfect.  But Ontario remains one of the best places on earth to live.  And every year, tens of thousands more people come to live here.

Like those of the past, they are quite diverse.  They represent more countries, more languages and more religions than the original settlers.  Some are rich.  Some are poor.  Some, like the 18th century settlers of Ontario, are refugees.  All are seeking a better life and a hopeful future for their families.

You have travelled through the first few chapters of the story of Ontario.  Now it is for you, and those around you, to write the next chapters.  And hopefully, you will take the time to erect an historical plaque or two to commemorate the people of today who are making the Ontario of tomorrow.