The name Ontario is derived from the Huron word ''Ontarí'io'', which is often translated as "great lake". The first archaeologically evidence of humans in the Lake Ontario region dates to circa 11,000 BP. These peoples were mobile foragers who based much of their movement and settlement on the seasonal migrations of caribou, but who also used smaller animals and plant resources. These early settlers likely inhabited the lake margins, but those early lake shores are now either far from the current lake representing earlier, higher waters, or submerged under the modern lake, representing periods of lower lake levels. Lake Ontario reached its modern level circa 4000 BP. The lake was a border between the
Huron people and the
Iroquois Confederacy in the
pre-Columbian era. In the 17th century, the Iroquois committed genocide against the Huron in southern Ontario and
settled the northern shores of Lake Ontario. When the Iroquois withdrew and the
Anishinaabe moved in from the north to southern Ontario, they retained the Iroquois name. during the late-17th century. It is believed the first European to reach the lake was
Étienne Brûlé in 1615. European colonization of Lake Ontario was slow and uneven due to the power and organization of the Haudenosaunee, Wendat, and Ojibwe nations. From 1688 to 1694 the Haudenosaunee largely excluded the French from Lake Ontario. As was their practice, the French explorers introduced other names for the lake. In 1632 and 1656, the lake was referred to as Lac de St. Louis or Lake St. Louis by
Samuel de Champlain and cartographer
Nicolas Sanson respectively. In 1660,
Jesuit historian
Francis Creuxius coined the name
Lacus Ontarius. In a map drawn in the
Relation des Jésuites (1662–1663), the lake bears the legend "Lac Ontario ou des Iroquois" with the name "Ondiara" in smaller type. A French map produced in 1712 (currently in the
Canadian Museum of History), created by military engineer
Jean-Baptiste de Couagne, identified Lake Ontario as "Lac Frontenac" named after Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau. He was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of
New France from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698. In the 17th century, reports of an alleged creature named
Gaasyendietha, similar to the so-called
Loch Ness Monster, being sighted in the lake. The creature is described as large with a long neck, green in colour, and generally causes a break in the surface waves. A series of trading posts were established by both the British and French, such as
Fort Frontenac in 1673,
Fort Oswego in 1722, and
Fort Rouillé in 1750. As the easternmost and nearest lake to the Atlantic seaboard of Canada and the United States, population centres here are among the oldest in the Great Lakes basin, with
Kingston, Ontario, formerly the
capital of Canada, dating to the establishment of Fort Frontenac in 1673. during the
War of 1812. After the
French and Indian War, all forts around the lake were under British control. During the
American Revolution, the British controlled Lake Ontario from their bases at
Carleton Island,
Navy Hall, and
Oswego, allowing them to largely excluded the Americans from the lake. The United States took possession of the forts along the American side of the lake at the signing of the
Jay Treaty in 1794. Permanent, non-military European settlement began during the
American Revolution with the influx of
Loyalist settlers. Following the American Revolution, sailing commerce slowly returned to Lake Ontario. There was one private commercial vessel, the
Good Intent, on the lake in 1788. Several more vessels were launched prior to 1800, primarily by Canadian merchants. Commerce continued to expand until the
Embargo of 1807. There was significant smuggling across Lake Ontario during the embargo. During the War of 1812, the Royal Navy and US Navy operated substantial shipyards at Kingston, Ontario and
Sackets Harbor, New York, respectively, and
fought in several engagements for control of Lake Ontario. The Great Lakes, including Lake Ontario, were largely demilitarized after the
Rush–Bagot Treaty was ratified in 1818. As a result, most of the naval vessels were sold or abandoned. The lake became a hub of commercial activity following the
War of 1812 with canal building on both sides of the border and significant sailing and steamer commerce. Sailing commerce on Lake Ontario was initially significant but declined relative to the other Great Lakes after the mid-19th century as the centers of colonialist agriculture, timbering, and mining moved farther west. After the
Erie Canal opened, much of the movement of people and commodities between the East Coast and the Great Lakes circumvented Lake Ontario.
Oswego remained an important port on Lake Ontario during this time because the
Oswego Canal allowed shippers to connect to the Erie Canal while avoiding bottlenecks at Buffalo, New York.
Kingston,
Clayton, and
Oswego were major 19th century wooden shipbuilding centers on Lake Ontario. Oil and coal were important commodities shipped on Lake Ontario through the early 20th century. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a type of scow known as a
stone hooker was in operation on the northwest shore, particularly around
Port Credit and
Bronte.
Stonehooking was the practice of raking flat fragments of Dundas
shale from the shallow lake floor of the area for use in construction, particularly in the growing city of Toronto. The
Frontenac was the first steamer on Lake Ontario and the Great Lakes. This ship was launched in September 1816 from Finkle's Point (now
Bath) near Kingston, ON.
Frontenac was constructed by two shipbuilders who had worked for the Americans during the War of 1812 and captained by a former Royal Navy sailing master. The Americans at Sackets Harbor launched a smaller steamship, the
Ontario, in March 1817. As bulk cargoes became increasingly important in Great lakes commerce and the number of improved harbors increased, so did propeller ships. The number of propeller ships exceed the number of side-wheel steamers by circa 1857. The
Vandalia was the first propeller ship on the Great Lakes and the second in the United States. Launched at Oswego in 1841,
Vandalias propeller was designed by
John Ericsson. Iron hull construction developed on Lake Ontario during the mid-19th century but did not become widespread until the early 20th century. The first iron-hulled ship on the Great Lakes, the British paddle-wheel gunboat HMS
Mohawk, was launched at Kingston in 1843. The
Passport and the
Magnet, both built for the Royal Mail Line, were launched at Kingston in 1846 and at Niagara in 1847, respectively.
Swims across the lake , the first person to swim across the lake. , nearly 50 people have successfully swum across the lake. The first person who accomplished the feat was a Canadian long distance swimmer
Marilyn Bell, who did it in 1954 at age 16. Toronto's Marilyn Bell Park is named in her honour. The park opened in 1984 and is east of the spot where Bell completed her swim. In 1974,
Diana Nyad became the first person who swam across the lake against the current (from north to south). On August 28, 2007, 14-year-old Natalie Lambert from Kingston, Ontario, made the swim, leaving Sackets Harbor, New York, and reaching Kingston's Confederation basin less than 24 hours after she entered the lake. On August 19, 2012, 14-year-old
Annaleise Carr became the youngest person to swim across the lake. She completed the 32-mile (52-km) crossing from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Marilyn Bell Park in just under 27 hours. ==Settlements==