The Country Finds Its Own Path

Carrying on where I left off, this beautiful sleigh is the Cabriolet sleigh, exhibited in London in 1851, and typical of a homegrown industry in the Canadian colonies in making such items.

Also in Montreal, until it transferred to Ottawa later in the century, was the Geological Survey of Canada, doing field work and scientific work. Its public museum is the predecessor of the national museums of the country, seven of which are in the national capital region.

The GSC was led by William Logan, whose mission of documentation, mapping, and learning as much as possible about the country was carried out by the agency. Logan was decorated internationally and earned a knighthood for his work. Canada's highest mountain is named in his honour.

Here we have a crest of the developing country before it was a country.

The 1830s saw rebellions in the Canadas. The response was to forge one legislative entity out of Upper and Lower Canada- today's Ontario and Quebec. An ill-thought out idea, but it brought together two men as co-premiers whose work did much to pave the way for Confederation.

They were Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, and they advocated for responsible government with controls over their own affairs. This enraged the Tory opposition, but won the support of the British governor-general, Lord Elgin.

This is a bust of Lord Elgin.

The country such as it was at the time is seen here. Rupert's Land, to the north and west, was effectively the place of the Hudson's Bay Company and the many indigenous tribes.

Confederation was coming. The work of Baldwin and Lafontaine would pay off what would end up becoming Canada as we know it today.