Cow Island (Ontario)
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Rice Lake |
| Coordinates | 44°8′43″N 78°14′58″W / 44.14528°N 78.24944°WCoordinates: 44°8′43″N 78°14′58″W / 44.14528°N 78.24944°W |
| Administration | |
|
Canada
|
|
| Province | Ontario |
| Township | Otonabee-South Monaghan |
Cow Island is an island on Rice Lake in Ontario, Canada, just west of the mouth of the Otonabee River.
There are approximately 50 privately owned lots of land on the island. The majority of settlements on Cow are located on the north and west parts of the island, as much of the east is marsh, and cannot be easily accessed by boat.
Cow Island was once a marshy peninsula. In 1819, the southern section was called Fothergill Point. It was the location of Charles Fothergill's hunting lodge, Castle Fothergill. It was renamed Jubilee Point in 1887, by steamboat entrepreneur Henry Calcutt, to honour the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign. The island was named for the Cow (now Cowie) family of Hiawatha. Other places in Peterborough County have been named for members of this family, such as Jack's Lake near Apsley, named for "Handsome" Jack Cow, and Polly Cow Island below Young's Point, named for his daughter. In 1867, part of Cow Island, along with others mentioned, was purchased by Alfred Harris. It has always been a popular spot to trap muskrats. It is said that Rice Lake muskrats possess the finest skins in the world. Victor Harris, a great-great grandson of Alfred Harris carries on the operation of the Rice Lake Fur Company at this location.
The early Mississauga name for Rice Lake was Pem-e-dash-cou-tay-ang or Lake of the Burning Plains. This refers to the hunting grounds on the southern shore where native peoples burned the vegetation each spring to encourage the growth of a type of grass relished by deer. The Mississaugas, according to records "by a provisional treaty signed on November 5, 1818, and later confirmed, surrendered a large tract of land to the British Crown, including the Otonabee region." When the native settlements of the Rice Lake Indian Village (later Hiawatha) and Alderville (named for the Rev. Robert Alder, English secretary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society) were established in 1829 and 1837, respectively, the colonial government referred to the Rice Lake islands by number. The Mississauga's influence, however, is evident in some of the names of the islands such as Cow, Paudash and Sugar, named by and for native people. Most retain these names today.
...
Wikipedia