Simon James Dawson
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Source: Library and Archives Canada
Simon James Dawson (June 13, 1818 – October 30, 1902) was a Canadian civil engineer and politician.
Born in Redhaven, Banffshire, Scotland, Dawson emigrated to Canada as a young man and began his career as an engineer. In 1857, as a member of a Canadian government expedition, he surveyed a line of road from Prince Arthur’s Landing (later Port Arthur, now part of Thunder Bay, Ontario) to Fort Garry and further explored that area in 1858 and 1859. His report greatly stimulated Canadian interest in the West. In 1868, he began construction of a wagon and water route following his earlier survey. The Dawson road was traversed in 1870 by the Wolseley Expedition under the command of Colonel Garnet Wolseley sent to preserve order during the first Riel uprising, the Red River Rebellion.
Dawson represented Algoma in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1875 to 1878 and in the Canadian House of Commons from 1878 to 1891. He died in Ottawa in 1902.
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Categories: 1818 births | 1902 deaths | Natives of Aberdeenshire | Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Ontario | Historical Conservative Party of Canada MPs | Historical Ontario MPPs | Civil engineers | People from Thunder Bay, Ontario | People from Ottawa | Liberal Party of Ontario MPPs | Pre-Confederation Ontario people | Scottish immigrants to Canada
