 It was founded on the north shore of the Ottawa River in 1800 by Philemon Wright at the portage around the Chaudière Falls just upstream (or west) from where the Gatineau and Rideau Rivers flow into the Ottawa.Wright brought his family, five other families and twenty-five labourers and a plan to establish an agriculturally based community to what was a mosquito-infested wilderness.But soon after, Wright and his family took advantage of the large lumber stands and became involved in the timber trade.