THOUSAND ISLANDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 December 1941, Page 7

THOUSAND ISLANDS

PICTURESQUE CANADIAN REGION. GREAT PLEASURE RESORT. KINGSTON (Ontario): One of the most picturesque regions on the North American Continent is the fifty-mile stretch of the St. Lawrence River between Kingston and Brockville, Ontario. Along this section of the great inland waterway its blue-green waters are studded with upwards of 1,700 beautiful islands which vary in size from less than an acre to several square miles. Separated by countless channels, these . islands are clothed with 'groves of pine, oak, maple, and birch, which rise above bluffs of granite and limestone to cast shadows of deeper colour across the emerald waters. The Thousand Islands, as they are called, are rich in history, legend and romance. They were favourite camping grounds for the celebrated Iroquois Indians, and some of the most stirring annals of the war of 1812 have their locale there. For nearly three-quarters of a century the “Thousand Islands” have been a paradise for the summer visitor —so much so that most of them are now privately owned. As early as 1904 however, the Canadian Government set aside as national recreational areas a number of these islands, which now form St. Lawrence Islands National Park. At the present time the park is composed of thirteen islands accessible from cities and towns along the St. Lawrence River, and a small mainland reservation. Fine examples of true pitch pine, a tree rare in Canada, are carefully preserved in St. Lawrence Islands National Park. Although its range extends throughout the eastern United States,, the only part of Canada where pitch pine is known to gi'ow naturally is on some of the Thousand Islands in the upper St. Lawrence River, and on limited adjacent mainland areas near Brockville, Ontario. The new Thousand Islands Bridge between Canada and the United States crosses the St. Lawrence River in the heart of the Thousand Islands, and affords magnificent views from its elevated spans. This bridge, which i links Ivy Lea, Ontario, and Collins Landing, New York State, was officially opened on August 18, 1938.