Don River (Ontario)
| Don River | |
| River | |
 The river as it runs beneath the Bloor Viaduct
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| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Province | Ontario |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Castle Frank Brook, Taylor-Massey Creek |
| - right | German Mills Creek |
| Cities | Toronto, Markham, Vaughan, Richmond Hill |
| Source | Oak Ridges Moraine |
| - coordinates | 43°59′20″N 79°23′57″W / 43.98889°N 79.39917°W |
| Mouth | Keating Channel |
| - elevation | 75 m (246 ft) |
| - coordinates | 43°39′4″N 79°20′51″W / 43.65111°N 79.34750°WCoordinates: 43°39′4″N 79°20′51″W / 43.65111°N 79.34750°W |
| Length | 38 km (24 mi) |
| Basin | 360 km2 (139 sq mi) |
| Discharge | for Keating Channel in the Toronto Harbour |
| - average | 4 m3/s (141 cu ft/s) |
  Location of the mouth of the river in Toronto
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The Don River is a watercourse in southern Ontario, that empties into Lake Ontario, at Toronto Harbour. Its mouth was just east of the street grid of the town of York, Upper Canada, the municipality that evolved into Toronto, Ontario. Of the various watercourses that drained Toronto, the Don, the Humber River, and the Rouge River have headwaters in the Oak Ridges Moraine.
The Don is formed from two rivers, the East and West Branches, that meet about 7 kilometres (4 mi) north of Lake Ontario while flowing southward into the lake. The area below the confluence is known as the lower Don, and the areas above as the upper Don. The Don is also joined at the confluence by a third major branch, Taylor-Massey Creek. The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is responsible for managing the river and its surrounding watershed.
Humans first arrived in the Don approximately 12,500 years BP, most likely as nomadic hunters. While there is little archaeological evidence in the Don valley itself, regional finds in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence area have revealed that permanent settlements started to occur about 6000 BP. The most significant recorded find is known as the Withrow Site. It was discovered in 1886 during road building just east of Riverdale Park. It contained human remains and other artifacts dating back to about 5000 years BP.
It is unclear whether the Don River had a native Canadian name. In 1788, Alexander Aitkin, an English surveyor who worked in southern Ontario, referred to the Don River as Ne cheng qua kekonk.Elizabeth Simcoe, wife of Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe, reported in her diary that another name used was Wonscotanach. This is an Anishnaabe phrase meaning the river coming from the back burnt grounds which could refer to an earlier forest fire in the poplar plains to the north. The name Don River was given by Lt. Gov. Simcoe because the wide valley reminded him of the River Don in Yorkshire, England.
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Wikipedia