<P> Walt Whitman, "A Song of Joys", from Leaves of Grass (1855) </P> <P> Prior to European colonization, the Thousand Islands region was home to, or visited by, members of the Iroquois Confederacy and Ojibwa people . Their name for the islands was Manitouana or the "Garden of the Great Spirit". </P> <P> The region was a part of the War of 1812 between the British Empire and the United States . Many sites from the war can be found, such as Fort Wellington in Prescott, Ontario and the garrison on Chimney Island, Mallorytown, Ontario . Museums about the war can be found on both the Canadian and American side of the river . </P> <P> In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many distinguished visitors made the region widely known as a summer resort . During the half century (1874--1912) of the resort's greatest prominence, most wealthy vacationers came from New York City, joined by prominent families from Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and other cities of the United States and Canada . Several grand hotels provided luxurious accommodations while steamboats offered extensive tours among the islands . Wealthy and middle - class summer residents built summer homes, and the region retains a historically important collection of vacation homes from this time . </P>

Which country is called land of thousand islands