Fort Niagara
Aug 26 2007 | Views 273 |
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Tags: Rush-Magot Memorial New York Fort Niagara
Tags: Rush-Magot Memorial New York Fort Niagara
Fort Niagara
FROM the car park, it looked like a rather unimpressive, but medium-sized, chalet more like a farm than a historic fort that was occupied by the British, French and Americans.
The main entrance to Old Fort Niagara in Upper New York State, a fortification used from the early 17th Century until 1963, was closed as it was winter. Ice had formed in patches on the concrete and we walked carefully to get to the back..
The closer we got, the more farm-like it seemed to become. A couple of cannons sat serenely in front of what resembled a barn, like oversized farmyard cats hoping to catch a little winter sun. With grassy banks and wooden fences on one side and the Niagara river on the other, even in the biting cold it was hard to believe this peaceful spot was once a strategic and fiercely battled-for outpost.
The area at the outlet of the Niagara river into Lake Ontario was recognised early on by the French as a strategic point to control the route into the Great Lakes region and the heart of the continent. Though it is uncertain when the first Europeans came to the area, the earliest documented visit of the French is in 1669. The French erected temporary fortifications in 1679 and 1687 and in 1726, finally built the chateau-like structure with massive stone walls that came to be known as the "French Castle". This is the oldest building in the Great Lakes area and contains storerooms, a bakery, a powder magazine, a trade area, guardhouse, living quarters and a chapel. The attic level has positions for muskets and light cannons.
The Castle was built to resemble a huge trading house to lull the suspicions of the Iroquois Indians, who believed the French were there to take over their territory. The castle served primarily as a trading post for the French until they went to war with the British. The 1740s saw the British and the French vying to control this route to the west, and after a 19-day siege, the British captured Fort Niagara in 1759, made some improvements and used it for fur trade.
On display on the ground floor of the well-preserved premises are colourful beads and stones, rolls of fur and skins, tomahawks and axes that Indians traded for bales of cloth, guns and other manufactured goods from Europe. On the first floor we walk through barracks rooms and officers' bed chambers with hats, coats, drums and muskets lying around as if they're waiting for long-dead soldiers to grab them, and rush out to repel the latest attack by Indian, British or American troops.
During the American Revolution, the British made the fort their base to raid New York. They ceded it under a treaty to the U.S. in 1796. In the War of 1812, when the U.S. invaded Canada, the British recaptured it but gave it up three years later, at the end of the war.
That ended Fort Niagara's active participation in combat but it continued to be used on and off as a barracks and training station for U.S. troops throughout the Civil War, and the two World Wars. The last Army units were withdrawn in 1963.
At the Rush-Bagot Memorial, which marks an early armaments agreement between the U.S. and Britain, we peer across Lake Ontario without much hope. The guidebook assures us that you can see Canada on a clear day. A freezing drizzle has begun to fall from the gloomy sky; there's no chance of seeing the skyline of Toronto across the 43-km of the lake.
In summer, the British, French and U.S. flags to commemorate the three nations that occupied the fort fly from posts in the central courtyard.
The sky is getting gloomier and the rain is freezing. It's time to leave behind the fort that has stories of sieges, surrenders, trading and treaties to tell. It's time to get into the car and head back down the highway towards Pittsburgh.
© jayakumar shetty., all rights reserved.
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