Rideau Canal — John By's Lost Cipher

Your quest to decipher Colonel By's lost cipher begins at the Château Laurier, designated a National Historic Site in 1980. This 430-room hotel, located at 1 Rideau Street, served as a gathering point for dignitaries like Winston Churchill in 1943. As an engineer, you examine the initial plans for the Rideau Canal, designed to connect Ottawa to Kingston. The first sketch of the city of Ottawa, then Bytown, takes shape before your eyes, a city born of military necessity and the development of waterways in Ontario. It's the ideal starting point to explore Canadian heritage.

As you head towards the Ottawa Locks, you gaze upon the 8 flight locks built between 1826 and 1832 under the direction of Colonel John By. These locks, designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1929, represent a 7.9-meter drop over 1.6 kilometers. They were first used in 1832 for navigation between Ottawa and Kingston. Your mission is to understand the technical challenges of this engineering feat, observing the dimensions of 41 meters long and 10 meters wide for each lock. The Rideau Canal stands as a testament to its founder's genius.

Your journey then takes you to Sappers Bridge, a stone bridge built in 1827 by the Royal Sappers and Miners. 28 meters long, it is named in honor of the military sappers who built it. This bridge is an integral part of the post-War of 1812 defensive system and was restored in 1970 to preserve its original architecture. Along the way, you pass through Commissioners' Park, developed in 1830 on canal land, and the former site of the Royal Engineers' barracks (1826-1834). This park, designated part of the UNESCO Rideau Canal site in 2007, offers breathtaking views of the locks and the canal, less than a kilometer from the Château Laurier.

Continuing your Ottawa visit, you reach the Bytown Museum, the city's oldest surviving building, dating back to 1826. Located at 332 Beckwith Street, near the locks, it initially served as an administrative office for the Rideau Canal Commissariat under John By. Converted into a museum in 1953, it documents the history of Bytown, Ottawa's ancestor. It is here that you decipher Colonel By's archives and plans. He was controversially recalled to London in 1832, despite founding Bytown in 1826, which was renamed Ottawa in 1855. This historic site is essential for understanding the roots of Canada's capital.

Finally, your investigation leads you to the Monument to Colonel John By, erected in 1982 in Major's Hill Park, 500 meters from the locks. This statue commemorates the chief engineer of the Rideau Canal (1826-1832) and founder of Bytown. By completing this Ottawa scavenger hunt, you will have not only solved the mystery of the lost cipher but also explored the origins of the Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2007, and the transformation of Bytown into the vibrant capital we know today. This interactive visit allows you to grasp the importance of Ontario's heritage and the crucial role of this man in the region's history.