This is called a dawn redwood tree. In 2015, it was voted as the most unique tree in the Great Toronto Tree Hunt. Unfortunately this is now 404 on the site and I could not find the photographs of the winning, or nominated trees. This is a very strange looking tree. I hope it is still standing and lasts a very long time.

This type of tree has been around from the ages of dinosaurs and it can grow in zone 5 but likes lots of sun and water. I looked for more photographs of this tree. Not all were as red as this. It might depend on the lighting at the time the photograph was taken, or the conditions may have been just right for it where this tree is planted.

Interested in growing one in Ontario? I found a post about growing dawn redwoods, a variety called gold rush, for Ontario gardeners at Canada's Local Gardener magazine: Dawn Redwood.

Near the Children’s Centre and Teaching Garden sits a massive and rare find – a dawn redwood (aka metasequoia), believed to be one of the oldest deciduous conifers in Toronto. It was a winner in the uniqueness category of LEAF’s Great Toronto Tree Hunt, submitted by author Jason Ramsay-Brown. It’s said to have been planted in 1960 on a plot bathed in early-morning sunlight on June 20 each year – the birthday of the wife of the gardener who planted it.

Source: Hidden Toronto: a growing list of the city's best-kept secrets

What, or who, were the giants, old or prehistoric skeletons found, which are at least seven feet tall? I've heard they were redheaded or blonde and described as white/ pale skinned by the native Indians who encountered them in their history.

Could they have been Vikings, certainly we know Vikings did make it to (what is now) Newfoundland in Canada. Or, could they have been Neanderthals? They were also known to be taller than average people and have red hair. Could they have been here before the native Indians and could the people we call native Indians now have caused their extinction? People have found many of the Indian mounds to have skeletons and bones from taller than average people, giants.

Could the burial mounds have been created to dispose of remains and items after a battle with these giant people? I don't see why they would need to hide the evidence, but who knows what was going on hundreds of years ago. We can only speculate. Still, what else would they have done with bodies after a battle? Dumping dirt over them would have prevented predators and scavengers (animals) from gathering and maybe attacking the people in the area. There are good reasons for burying bodies, especially if there were several of them.

Some of the skeletons have been found to be much older than the people we think of as our ancestors, or those we call native to North America. Also, early explorers to North America have reported seeing and dealing with giants. I've read about giants from around the world but I especially would like to know about those who might have been right here in Ontario. When, and how did they get here and what happened to them? How did they live, what was their culture and technology? Are we related to them, some of us? Has anyone looked into what might be left from them in our modern DNA? They have researched this for Neanderthals, has anyone found DNA for giants to research this? Or, would it be the same DNA as the Neanderthals. It would be nice to know they were here, maybe survived as ancestors for people still around.

I think there is too much interesting evidence to call this a myth. But, there are so many great theories about who these giants may have been.

Research and evidence about giants has been hampered by religion and science. Proof of giants messes with accepted theories about evolution, either side for or against the theory. But, maybe they are just a missing link, or a part of history we haven't found enough proof to validate them enough to give them acceptance and further research. One problem are the Indian mounds themselves, they are not allowed to be excavated any longer.

But, what I wanted to know - Do we have evidence of giants found here in Ontario?

A few years ago an article appeared in the Toronto Telegraph stating that in the township of Cayuga in the Grand River, on the farm of Daniel Fredenburg, five or six feet below the surface, were found two hundred skeletons nearly perfect, nine foot tall in a string of beads around the neck of each, stone pipes in the jaws of several of them, and many stone axes and skinners scattered around in the dirt. The skeletons were gigantic, some of them measuring nine feet, and few of them less than seven.

Some of the thigh bones were six inches longer that any now known. The farm had been cultivated a century and was originally covered with a growth of pine. There was evidence from the crushed bones that a battled had been fought and these were some of the slain… Were these the remains of Indians or some other race? Who filled this ghastly pit?

“On Wednesday last, Rev. Nathaniel Wardell, Messers. Orin Wardell (of Toronto), and Daniel Fredenburg, were digging on the farm of the latter gentleman, which is on the banks of the Grand River, in the township of Cayuga.

When they got to five or six feet below the surface, a strange sight met them. Piled in layers, one upon top of the other, some two hundred skeletons of human beings nearly perfect — around the neck of each one being a string of beads.

“There were also deposited in this pit a number of axes and skimmers made of stone. In the jaws of several of the skeletons were large stone pipes — one of which Mr. O. Wardell took with him to Toronto a day or two after this Golgotha was unearthed.”

These skeletons are those of men of gigantic stature, some of them measuring nine feet, very few of them being less than seven feet.

Some of the thigh bones were found to be at least a foot longer than those at present known, and one of the skulls being examined completely covered the head of an ordinary person.

These skeletons are supposed to belong to those of a race of people anterior to the Indians.

“Some three years ago, the bones of a mastodon were found embedded in the earth about six miles from this spot. The pit and its ghastly occupants are now open to the view of any who may wish to make a visit there.

“Later: Dunnville, August 22,

“There is not the slightest doubt that the remains of a lost city are on this farm. At various times within the past years, the remains of mud houses with their chimneys had been found: and there are dozens of pits of a similar kind to that just unearthed, though much smaller, in the place which has been discovered before, though the fact has not been made public hitherto.

The remains of a blacksmith’s shop, containing two tons of charcoal and various implements, were turned up a few months ago.

“The farm, which consists of 150 acres, has been cultivated for nearly a century, and was covered with a thick growth of pine, so that it must have been ages ago since the remains were deposited there.

The skulls of the skeletons are of an enormous size and all manner of shapes, about half as large again as are now to be seen.

The teeth in most of them are still in almost perfect state of preservation, though they soon fall out when exposed to the air.

“It is supposed that there is gold or silver in large quantities to be found in the premises, as mineral rods have invariably, when tested, pointed to a certain spot and a few yards from where the last batch of skeletons was found directly under the apple tree.

Some large shells, supposed to have been used for holding water, which were also found in the pit, were almost petrified. There is no doubt that were a scheme of exploration carried on thoroughly the result would be highly interesting.

A good deal of excitement exists in the neighborhood, and many visitors call at the farm daily.

“The skulls and bones of the giants are fast disappearing, being taken away by curiosity hunters. It is the intention of Mr. Fredinburg to cover the pit up very soon. The pit is ghastly in the extreme.

The farm is skirted on the north by the Grand River. The pit is close to the banks, but marks are there to show where the gold or silver treasure is supposed to be under.

From the appearance of the skulls, it would seem that their possessors died a violent death, as many of them were broken and dented.

“The axes are shaped like tomahawks, small, but keen, instruments. The beads are all of stone and of all sizes and shapes. The pipes are not unlike in shape the cutty pipe, and several of them are engraved with dogs’ heads. They have not lost their virtue for smoking.

Some people profess to believe that the locality of Fredinburg farm was formally an Indian burial place, but the enormous stature of the skeletons and the fact that pine trees of centuries growth covered the spot goes far to disprove this idea.

Source - ”Ancient American Volume 6, Issue 41, p. 9. Researched and submitted by Benoit Crevier. Originally published in The Daily Telegraph (Toronto, Ontario), Wednesday, August 23, 1871, page 1.

Source - Greater Ancestors World Museum - 200 seven to nine foot tall Skeletons Cayuga Canada

I found this right away when I looked for giant skeletons in Ontario. Then the search drifted into Halloween costumes, etc. So I will see if I can find more and post about it later.

The odd thing about this is that Hugh Cochrane has been reported as deceased and also to never have existed at all. Not the first time someone who has written about the mysterious and unexplained has been a fake name, or something like that.

Dubbed the Marysburgh Vortex, or alternatively “The Graveyard of Lake Ontario,” the small stretch of water off the shores of Prince Edward County has for centuries played host to shipwrecks, airplane mishaps, strange sightings and mysterious disappearances.

Global News has identified at least 270, and as many as 500, ships that met their watery end in this part of the lake. And at least 40 planes have met a similar grisly fate in and around these shores — a far higher concentration of shipwrecks and plane crashes than can be found in the famous Bermuda Triangle in the North Atlantic Ocean.

...mysterious tales from the eastern shores of Lake Ontario that are documented in Hugh F. Cochrane’s 1980 book Gateway to Oblivion.

“The locals were aware of the strange stories that came out of this area,” says Picton-based storyteller and author Janet Kellough.

But it was Cochrane who came up with the name: the Marysburgh Vortex.

The Vortex is generally thought to encompass the eastern part of Lake Ontario, bounded by Prince Edward County on the west, Kingston to the east, and Oswego, N.Y. to the south.

Global News - ‘Strange things out there’: Inside Lake Ontario’s ‘Bermuda Triangle’

Few people haven't heard and considered an opinion about the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland. So far there isn't any concrete evidence, not enough that I fully believe there is something in that very deep lake. But, I don't not believe either. After all, why couldn't there be something not yet found or not yet proved.

What about all the lakes in Ontario? What might be in those lakes, other than the usual fish and plant life.

Fast forward a couple of years to 2010. Brian Smith of Indiana was in Olcott filming the Lake Ontario Pro-Am Salmon Team Tournament Series for his program “Angling the Great Lakes.” After filming out of Wilson and Olcott, it was time to relax at the cabin he was staying at in Olcott. It was going to be a beautiful sunset as he sipped on a beverage in the back yard, next to the lake. There was no wind. As he looked to the north, he could see a small wake being made by something in the water. He spotted a serpent-like head sticking up with a long body trailing as it maneuvered through the water. Whatever it was, it was more than 10 feet in length. It took a moment to register as he wondered what the heck it was. ...

As he told the story while visiting with communities along the lake, there was one secondhand account that was told when he was in Oswego. Apparently, there was a diver who was inspecting large water intakes off a power plant there – a task that must be performed regularly. On one inspection, the diver witnessed something too scary to describe. A huge creature that startled him and created a personal panic. He vowed never to enter the waters of Lake Ontario again with his scuba gear on.Could there be unexplained animals lurking in Lake Ontario? It does have direct access to the ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway and through the Hudson River and the Erie Canal.

Source: What lurks beneath the waters of Lake Ontario? - Outdoornews

The S.S. Keewatin in Port McNicoll, Ontario.

If you are looking for a local ghost tour you don't need to drive as far as Toronto.

My sister-in-law's Father was a part of the group who keep this ship in good repair and run the tours and other public events around it. I haven't visited it yet so the photograph here is not my own.

Photo Source: Older than the titanic with more ghosts & spirits than anywhere in the world - Barrie 360