Lawrence, through Prescott. At the northern end of the proposed route, the natural location for the terminus would be just upstream of the Chaudière Falls, where logs could be loaded directly off the river onto trains. Only a few hundred meters upstream the river widened considerably on the southern bank, forming a wide area of calm water with the small inlet of Nepean Bay in the southeastern corner. On the eastern side of the bay was a large area of flat land known as LeBreton Flats (now the name of the entire area), perfect for a railway yard. This area had originally been selected for the Rideau Canal, but a land swindle led to it being moved to a far less advantageous location downstream from the Chaudière Falls. Former Bytown mayor and cabinet minister Richard William Scott recalled that in early 1850, he and Edward McGillivray (Ottawa's second mayor) discussed the need for a rail connection of Bytown with the "contemplated trunk which was to unite Montreal and Toronto". This compelled Scott to prepare a petition asking for an act incorporating a company to construct a railway between Bytown and Prescott. The charter was obtained the following month in August 1850, and a meeting of the promoters was held in the Town Hall at the Lower Town Market, where Robert Bell, later to become secretary of the company, was meeting secretary. John McKinnon was chosen as president, and Walter Shanly was appointed engineer. Bell was the owner of what would become the Ottawa Citizen. Initial purchases of stock were slow, far too small to pay for construction. Thomas McKay offered to buy a considerable proportion of the shares in exchange for moving the northern terminus to industrial land he owned in New Edinburgh, further down the Ottawa River. This location was not nearly as practical for logging, as it required logs to be formed into booms to transit a timber slide at the Chaudière Falls, moved only a few kilometres, and then un-boomed and hoisted up to the top of the hills near where the French embassy stands today. Even with this infusion of cash there was not enough money; further funds were eventually raised from the towns along the proposed routes, which would be paid to the railway as a bonus on completion. These bonuses were highly controversial, as they were raised by local taxes. These bonuses were used