Twelve miles along a barely passable road took them from Lake Ontario to Rice Lake and from there the Otonabee River became the “road access” inland. The flat bottom boat could hold thirty people and make one trip each day from Gore’s Landing to Scott’s Plains (later Peterborough). The newly arrived Irish families resided in huts which they constructed. Here they stayed until being located on their own property in the nearby townships. In the task of settlement, Robinson was assisted by John Smith and Captain Rubidge. Local residents who were older more experienced settlers were hired to construct a shanty on each lot as it was designated to a family. The standard shanty was 20′ by 12′. The roof sloped from a height of 12′ at the front to only four feet at the rear wall. Roads were cut through the bush and other established settlers with horses and oxen were hired to assist the new families in moving their belongings to their identified locations. Each family was supplied with a cow, an auger, an axe, a handsaw, a hammer, one hundred nails, two gimlets, three hoes, one kettle, one frying pot, one iron pot, five bushels of seed potatoes, and eight quarts of Indian corn. The new arrivals were all located upon their lands by the fall of 1825.

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