The Anishinaabe also have an extensive history in this area from time immemorial. In the late 1500s – 1650s, they shared the Land running alongside the Niagara Escarpment with the Betan (also known as the Tionontati and Petun) who are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people, closely related to the Huron-Wendat. They lived in many Villages from Craigleith to Creemore for approximate 70 years until they were chased out of their homeland by the Iroquois in the mid-1600s during the Beaver Wars. According to Peter S. Schmalz’s ‘The Ojibwa of Southern Ontario’, the Battle of the Blue Mountains took place in Clearview Township at a former Betan Village location. March 16th, 1696 marks the anniversary date of this battle between the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee Warriors. At sunrise, the Iroquois were surrounded and attacked by the Ojibway. Many Iroquois were killed, but some managed to escape. Others were captured and made to watch as the hundreds of dead were decapitated and the heads stuck on poles that stood along the edge of what would become the ski hills of the Blue Mountains, facing north, toward the land of the Ojibway. The survivors were told to go home and tell of what they saw. To hike here, go to Blue Mountain Section, Bruce Trail Club, Map #23
NIAGARA ESCARPMENT HISTORY & HIKING 