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KETTLE ISLAND

Kettle Island is the biggest Island situated on the Ottawa river, between the cities of Gatineau and Ottawa. Currently the island is a Nature Preserve. But in the past, it was very different. More than one hundred years ago, there was an amusement park frequently visited by the people of Ottawa, and was accessible by ferry from the neighbourhood of Rockcliffe. There were many amusements on the west side of the island, such as a theatre and a restaurant. On the other part of the island, there were farms.

A few years ago, we met a historian (Name???) who had done a university thesis on Kettle Island. We also met with an archeologist group that had done some research on the island. We organized a meeting with all of these people at the same time and together the experts with different information were able to discuss and compare notes.

Later on, we invited the historian and one of the archeologists with a group of cadets to visit the island. With GPS on the Pogo's tablet in hand loaded with the historian's maps, we were able to find the exact locations of various features that had once existed. We were able to find many, many small objects from that time, such as broken pieces of ceramic, nails, glass, etc.