Revolutionary War when then United Empire Loyalists were given land around the province, but mostly in Prince Edward County, near Kingston, Ontario. In August 1825, Peter Robinson brought 2,024 Irish immigrants to Canada and decamped them at Cobourg in tents. The immigrants were moved north and started settlements across the area between Cobourg and Rice Lake. Over time the settlements extended northward past the lake, and the town of Peterborough formed in this newly opened area. James Gray Bethune opens transport James Gray Bethune arrived in Cobourg in 1816 and started several enterprises before settling on running a combined general store and post office. He also became the local cashier for the Bank of Upper Canada. By the late 1820s it was becoming clear that Peterborough was going to be a success, and there was a definite need to provide markets for the burgeoning lumber mills and farms springing up in the area. Port Hope was opening a port for this trade, but construction was hopelessly mired in local politics. Bethune took advantage of this by building a small streamer on Rice Lake, the Pemedash, later known as the Otonabee. The Otonabee docked at the town of Sully (today known as Harwood) on the southern shore of the lake, and ran north through the Otonabee River to downtown Peterborough. To serve markets further north, a second steamer was built in Peterborough, sawn in half, and transported overland to Lake Chemong, where it ran as far north as Bobcaygeon. For services north of Bobcaygeon, Bethune proposed building a lock system to bypass a set of rapids. Bethune spent liberally on construction, only to find it didn't have enough water to operate year-round. In 1834 directors of the Bank of Upper Canada arrived to check the books. Bethune appears to have staged a robbery to upset the investigation, and while nothing was proven, 9,000 pounds of loans were put on Bethune personally. Bethune attempted to sell everything he owned to pay the debt, but failed, and died impoverished in Rochester, New York a few years later. Cobourg Rail Road Bethune's steamer network was hampered by the lack of any ability to reach Lake Ontario, a problem for any of the ports in the area. While Bethune was busy setting up the locks, he was also engaged with local businessmen in an effort to build a railway from the Sully dockyard to the