On April 13,1837 the Government of Upper Canada commissioned Charles Rankin P.L.S. [later of Owen Sound] to lay out the Garafraxa Colonization Road from Oakville to Owen Sound [then called Sydenham] under direction of Surveyor General John McAuley. The British wanted to open a Colonization Road to allow access to the Queen's Bush by newly arriving immigrants. This land had been acquired through Indian Treaties in 1830's. Rankin's team proceeded as far as Garafraxa Township at which time the Rebellion of Upper Canada brought the venture to a halt. The government felt that Rankin's course was too long and set about to make some adjustments. Finally in 1841 the government sent John McDonald P.L.S. [later of Goderich] to rework the earlier survey. The route was straightened somewhat and was moved eastward in its course through Normanby. Rankin's intial course had moved west almost as far as Concession 3 in order to by pass the Long Swamp. About thirty 150 acre Lots were set out and each was divided into 50 acre Divisions and numbered from the north end of the township. Beginning in 1841 the settlers were permitted to take out their location ticket on one fifty acre parcel and the next lot was reserved for them for later purchase. This scheme of Free Land Grant was experimental. It was highly successful in populating the new settlement area. However the government misjudged the capability of the early settlers to finance the purchase of their reserved lot. About 1845 Robert W. Kerr P.L.S. added the two backlines north of Mount Forest in Normanby and Egremont. Lots on the the backlines [Concession 2-3] were divided into 100 acre lots; sometimes divided into an east and west part. In all there were approximately two hundred 100 acre Free Grant Lots west of the Garafraxa Trail in Normanby. The Crown Land Agent Captain Andrew Montague Isaacson Durnford II of Arthur administrated the first allocation of land in Egremont.
By 1841 pioneers were settling in Egremont along the Garafraxa Trail. One interesting group of settlers [Rawns, Hiltz] had migrated out of the Mohawk Valley of New York State. Originally of German background they were caught in the middle of the Indian Wars of the ? and came to Upper Canada. They later settled near Holstein. Another family of note were the Orchards who settled where the Beatty Saugeen crosses the Garafraxa Trail. A small settlement grew up north of the mill-site. Holstein and South Bend were significant communities on the backline in early times.
Earliest Locatees East of The Garafraxa Trail in Egremont
Agnew, Armstrong, Atcheson, Avery, Barnak, Beatty [Batey], Black, Blaney, Bradley, Briggs, Brock, Brown, Bryans, Cameron, Campbell, Casey, Chapman, Chesnut, Cleaver, Cochrane, Cowan, Crittenden, Dawson, Donovan,Doyle, Fitzpatrick, Fleming, Foster, Gardiner, Gordon, Grey, Heath, Hendershott, Hike, Hill, Hilts [Hiltz], Hulley, Hunt, Irvine, Johnston, Kenny, Kidd, Kirk, Kirkland, LaLonde, Langan, LaRose, Leppard, Lindell, Loyer, Lucas, Malloy, Marville, McAnalty, McAuley, McCallum, McDermid, McGrath, McGregor, McIntee, McLellan, McNab, McTavish, Morrison, Muir, Murphy, Neal, Neilson, O'Hara, Orchard, Paget, Parish, Pollock, Pinder, Quigley, Rawn, Ray, Reddick, Reid, Rogers, Schell, Scott, Sharpe, Shearer, Sirr, Smith, Spence, Squires, Stevenson, Stinson, Sturritt, Swanston, Taylor, Traynor, Vollett, Watt, Weaver, Weir, Williams, Wilson , Wright