The parade left from the post office on St. Jacques Street in old Montréal at 10 a.m. As reported in the Opinion Publique, a newspaper of the period, the procession set off in no particular order and stopped for a while on Bleury Street, where three volunteer regiments, escorted by their musical bands, momentarily blocked traffic.

The procession then turned onto the newly paved St. Catherine Road and made its way to the summit of the mountain along the magnificent thoroughfare.

Citizens came out to the mountain in their thousands to await the arrival of the parade and the inauguration ceremonies, laden with provisions for “a pantagruelic picnic seasoned with a great deal of gaiety,” according to the Opinion Publique.

SPEECHES
A few minutes before noon, Dr. Wolfred Nelson, Councillor, and Chair of the Mount Royal Park Commission, invited the Mayor of Montréal, William H. Hingston, to open the day’s proceedings.

But it was Mayor Aldis Bernard who had been the prime mover behind the creation of the park. At City Hall from 1873 to 1875, Aldis Bernard was nicknamed the mayor of parks. It was under his administration that three major park projects were undertaken. Besides Mount Royal Park, Montrealers were given two other public green spaces: Île Sainte-Hélène and Lafontaine Park (Logan farm).

Shortly before Mayor Hingston ended his address, the four cannons of Colonel Stevenson’s battery fired the first salvo of the royal salute, which was responded to by the artillery of Île Sainte-Hélène.

This was not the first time that Colonel Stevenson had fired his cannon from the mountain. In response to those who claimed that the mountain was inaccessible, he climbed Mount Royal with his battery twice, in 1862 and 1863, and fired the cannon from the summit. His gesture did not go unnoticed and Colonel Stevenson thus contributed in his own way to the creation of Mount Royal Park.

The opening ceremony featured other speakers besides Councillor Nelson and Mayor Hingston. One of them was Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of Mount Royal Park. This famous landscape architect, the creator of New York’s Central Park, had been mandated by the city of Montréal to plan the park.

Olmsted wished to preserve the natural charm of the mountain. The winding path he laid out, which today bears his name, was designed to allow people to discover the beauty of this natural space. He wanted the park to be accessible to everyone, regardless of social class or physical condition. His wish was to be fulfilled.

When the speeches ended, Colonel Stevenson began the hundred-gun salute marking the occasion. Mount Royal Park’s opening day would be fondly remembered by the thousands of Montrealers who attended the festivities.