Dorval Island, a small community of summer homes in Lac St. Louis west of Montreal, was originally used as a 'pipe stop' by fur traders rowing goods-laden boats upriver from Lachine for the Hudson's Bay Company. Company rules stipulated rowers were allowed a stop every 45 minutes to rest and to smoke their pipes, a respite from the grueling work of bringing boats upstream in the heavy currents of the St. Lawrence River.
A plan to construct an amusement park on the virtually uninhabited island at the end of the 19th Century came to naught in the face of strong opposition from residents along the shoreline in Dorval, who were concerned about the area being invaded by 'riff-raff' from Montreal.
