Show 1 ak ho mo 0 va aeto ve do ir KI 11 AI IT Z W 1 jre km 0 r 0 J ak IV 1 LA lar WN WA K fit j iw it XA 4 5 kid S 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON representatives ot of the iro indians indiana the french the british and the americans join together in the four nation celebration at niagara falls N Y during the first week in september they will nil do more than celebrate the fact that the restoration of old fort niagara Nl asara after more than seven years labor and tile the expenditure of half a million dollars Is now complete for one of the highlights of the celebration will be the uni unveiling elling at the fort of a new monument to the rush bagot treaty under which the canadian american frontier of miles has remained unfortified for years thus in a period of world unrest of smoldering hatreds and suspicions and of increasing armaments both on land and sea this monument will wil stand as a symbol of the fact that two nations can live in amity side by side without having a boundary line bristling with concrete and steel for either defensive or offensive purposes it Is especially appropriate that such a monument should be erected at fort niagara for it was a focal point for nearly years of almost endless conflict first between the french and the british later between the r british and the americans and in both cases with indian allies playing a secondary but nonetheless important part then after this century and a halt half of warfare came the century of peace that still prevails old fort niagara Is not only one of the most historic posts on american sol soil but in one respect it Is unique As a part of the modern fort niagara military reservation it Is the only united states army post over which fly foreign flags it has two of these which memorialize the nations and the periods in history during which they held this post the triple fleur de lis of louis XIV and great britaina Brit ains union jack ol of 1759 with its two crosses above and between these two flags Is the star spangled banner tut but ft 11 Is one that seems strangely unfamiliar to americans of today who nho visit the fort for it has 15 stars and 15 stripes the reason being that it Is the american nag flag of 1700 when nhen there were tere only 13 states in the union the history of fort niagara goes back to 1078 when the french explorer la salle realizing the strategic value of a fort where the niagara river flows into lake ontario to control this gateway to the west built there a crude wooden fortification to which he be gave the name of fort conti like his ship the griffon the fort was burned within a bear ear after its building through the negligence or treachery of the sergeant and d the men whom la salle left in charge A decade later the struggle be between teen france and great britain for mastery of the fur trade and control of the interior of north america was under way and in igsa the marquis de Non bonville nonville ville governor general of new france reported that the fur trade will be lost it if the english occupy niagara so lie he asked the french government for two good battalions and the funds necessary to sustain the movement and occupy the post these were supplied him and within three days there rose a timber stockade with four bastions which bore the official name of fort de bonville nonville Non ville but which was commonly called fort niagara a name that has persisted to this day fort de comille Noal lle was destined to liae baie the same fate as fort conti garrisoned by men lit all but 12 of them fell victims to the rigors of winter and the ravages of the scurvy so that tile the fort was abandoned after 11 months nothing more was done toward holding possession of this vitally important spot until 1724 when the marquis de Vaud vaudreuil reull then governor general of new france alarmed by the threat of the british trading post at oswego decided to build another fort at niagara submitting ills his plans to louis XIV vaudreuil Vaud reull did not wait for the kings approval before beginning operations bi ien en more important than the french kings sanction of the project was that of 0 the iroquois indians the powerful tul five nations who held the balance of power beti between Neen their french and english neighbors they were ere none too friendly toward the french because of various armed clashes in the past and they were pretty likely to look with ith suspicion upon the establishment of a permanent qua tient post on their lands fortunately for vaudreuil Vaud reull a french trader named lou louis Is de Jonca lre who had been adopted into the seneca tribe of the five nations had a trading post at the foot of niagara gorge and the governor general made use of Jonca lre to accomplish ills la purpose various fc hae belli I 1 pen told of how the french tricked the iroquois into giving their consent to the building of a fort at niagara but bat the more believable one Is that it was accomplished through Jonca lre who asked and obtained permission from the indians indiana to substitute a stone house tor for his trading ebed of bark and logs under a broad interpretation of the bermis gon inn given elvce to Jonca lre the french transferred the site of the post from the toot foot of the gorge to tn the bluff at the mouth of the river overlooking take iske ontario but they scrupulously observed the hi letter of the a agreement gre ement by building a stone bouse the plain straight walled rectangular truc structure ture later c called the castle which stands stand there pre today the plans for it were drawn by tile the french engineer Chausa Chauss egras de lery who V r 40 J WA X 1 flag day at old f fort niagara when honors are paid to three historic flags 0 the triple golden ill A fleur de lis of la I 1 salle who founded 0 t h e f 0 rt I 1 n 1678 left the U n I 1 0 n jack of 1759 the Z the british wrested it from the french right and the 15 starred and 15 striped american national emblem of 1796 when the victor victorious lous colonies received the fort under the treaty of paris center 2 french names carved in the dungeon of the castle 3 an airplane view of the reconstructed fort 4 the castle and the famous lombardy poplars 5 fort niagara in 1759 from C captain Pouch map in the british museum and otier other sources designed a structure with thick walls well c calculated al to withstand the fire of any cannon that could ever be dragged through the wilderness to be used against the fort ln incidentally cl dentally de lorys original plans were disco discovered ered in the french archives by we the late dr frank 11 II severance ot of buffalo nearly two centuries later and they have been used in the restoration work which has recently been completed work on tile the fort began in 1725 1723 and when the french kings belated permission for Vaud vaudreuil reull to build such a post arrived in it was well under way because of the difficulty of supplying the builders with nith stone and timber the work dragged along slowly and the fort was not completed until late in 1727 for the next three decades fort niagara was an important link in the chain of forts which the french were building to control the interior of north america at the outbreak of the french and indian war when france and ED england land came to grips in their last struggle for mastery of the continent fort niagara became one of the chief objectives of the british the first plans for the expedition of 0 the ill fated braddock contemplated his capture of niagara after lie he had bad successfully reduced fort duquesne but the disaster which overtook him on the monongahela changed all that meanwhile the french engineer Pou cliot was vms strengthening fort niagara and by 1759 jt it was the last important outpost held by the french accordingly general amherst british com mander ln in chief sent general with a force of men more than halt of them new york provincials and COO indians under the renowned sir william johnson to lay siege to niagara Pou cliot had only men but even with this small force he held out successfully tor for awhile against the blundering siege tactics of A relief force of indians and courter courier du bols from the ohio country was sent to his aid but sir william johnson did to them what the french and indians indiana had done to braddock on july 24 1759 Pou cliot had to give up the struggle and the french lilies were ere lowered over fort niagara and the british lag flag run up in its place for the next 40 years the fort was an important trading center for the british and played a leading role in colonial frontier history after the end of the pontiac conspiracy more than 2500 indians gathered there at the invitation of sir william johnson indian agent tor for ills his majesty the king of r Cn ng gland land and the result of the council was the cession by the indians to the british of a tract of land four miles wide on either cither side of the river and reaching from lake erie to lake ontario at the outbreak of the revolution niagara became the haven for hundreds of tories who were forced to flee from their homes and it was also the lase base of operations for young walter butler and hla his rangers kangers and indians who wrote their names in red on the map of new york and penisi ivanca although several expeditions against the fort bere were planned by the americans none of them ever developed and the british held the post until the close of the war far beyond it in fact for it was wag not until august 11 1708 1796 that the british garrison crossed the 4 fir I 1 I 1 niagara river to canada the union jack low ered cred from the flagstaff and old glory given to the breeze in its place an american garrison was maintained there thera and the interval beti between een the revolution and the tha war of 1812 was one of pleasant social intercourse between the officers and their families at the american fort niagara and the british fort george now queenstown Queens town ont in december the british captured fort niagara and held it until the close of the war but by the treaty of ghent it was restored to the united states and since that time it has been under the american flag although a garrison was maintained there for awhile after that the signing of the rush cagot bagot treaty in 1818 marked the end of the military career of fort niagara in the years that followed the historic old fort fell into a gradual decline the waters of lake ontario washing against the sea wall began 0 undermine it and much of the wall fell into the lake then the castle began to settle and it became apparent that it too would soon disappear then the old fort niagara association composed of representatives of various patriotic and civic organizations of the niagara frontier country came into being it secured appropriations from congress for restoration of the old tort fort and that restoration under the direction of the war department has gone forward steadily since that time today from the boated porte des cinq nations straddling the entrance to the british blockhouse block house which Is its northeastern corner the old fort stands precisely as it was at the stage of its most advanced physical development twenty frown again from its barbettes barrettes bar bettes and re doubts imperishably reconstructed near the famous lombardy poplars on the parade ground Is the IS 18 foot cross father pierre billet raised in the hot shot oven from which heroic fanny doyle snatched her incandescent cannonballs cannon balls Is once more in operating condition the primitive lifting mechanism of its drawbridge has been re commissioned the soman SO 30 man beds in the ancient french barracks are ready for exhausted soldiery the armed french castle tort fort within a fort has been restored in detail from its subterranean dungeons grotesque with the chipped names of military and political prisoners to its interior well stocked trade room and covered gundeck gun deck on the roof and on the rampart which tops the sea wall on the lake ontario side there will be unveiled during the celebration in september the imposing sandstone monument to thi the rush bagot treaty two months ago this site was the scene of a dramatic ceremony in the crypt of this memorial ivere placed the bones of a number of unknown warriors which had been unearthed during the reconstruction work whether they were the remains of french british or american sold soldiers lerp or indian warriors no one could tell but they found a common grave there and over them were held burial rites by a tuscarora indian chief a catholic priest and an episcopal clergyman enemies they were once perhaps during a century of warfare which centered around old fort niagara but now their dust mingles in a sepulchre beneath a monument dedicated to a century of friendly neighborliness lad and to future centuries of peace 6 0 by western buslow |