History of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Mississauga, Ont, incorporated as a city in 1974... The City of Mississauga is located west of TORONTO on Lake ONTARIO. Originally called Toronto Township, its present name is derived from the original inhabitants, the Mississauga, a band of the OJIBWA, who had migrated from the upper GREAT LAKES region by the early 18th century.

The Mississauga developed a partnership with unlicensed French fur traders at the mouth of a waterway known as Rivière du Crédit. The lower Credit River valley remained the domain of the Mississauga until British authorities purchased the surrounding land in 1805. In the following year, LOYALISTS as well as American and British immigrants began to settle along Dundas Street and along the lakeshore west of the Credit River. The steady influx of farmers into the area by 1818 prompted the colonial administration to purchase the remainder of the Mississauga Tract, which included the northern part of Toronto Township. By 1826 the Mississauga had been resettled on a reserve N of the mouth of the Credit where they remained until 1847 when the provincial government moved them to the Grand River Reserve.