The Scugog Route
This river and lake formed part of an Indian route from the Kawartha and Algonquin Park areas to Lake Ontario. During the French Regime efforts were made to prevent English traders from the Oswego area bartering with Indians who used such routes. Trading posts were established among the Missisauga by the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1804 the killing on Washburn Island, Lake Scugog, of trader John Sharp, led to the subsequent loss on Lake Ontario of the Schooner Speedy, bearing the accused Missisauga and trial officials. The Scugog, used by settlers seeking land, became fully navigable with the completion of the Purdy Dam at Lindsay in 1830. It is now linked to the Trent-Severn Waterway.
Plaque via Alan L. Brown's site Ontario Plaques. Full page here.