| Show ON nu Q 9 tf af to ne d V N ta A ap nil 4 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON UEN HEN representatives of tile iro quals indians the french the british and the americans join together in the four nation celebration at niagara falls NL T Y during the first week in september they will do more than celebrate the fact that the restoration of old fort niagara after more than seven years labor and the expenditure of half a million dollars Is now complete for one of the highlights of the celebration will be the unveiling at the fort of a new monument to the rush bagot treaty under which tile 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 tills this monument will stand as a symbol of the fact that two nations can live lire in amity side by side without haeng 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 british and the amer leans and in both cases with indian allies playing paying a secondary but nonetheless important part then after this century and a 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 soil boll 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 Us of louis XIV and great britaina Brit ains union jack ot of 1759 with its two crosses above and between these two flags Is the star spangled banner tut but tt it Is one that seems strangely unfamiliar to americans of today who visit the fort for it has 15 stars and 15 stripes the reason being that it Is the american flag of 1 when there were only 15 states in the lie 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 bulit built there a crude wooden fortification to which he be gave the alie name of fort conal like ills ship the gritton griffon the fort was burned within a year after its building through the negligence or treachery of the sergeant and the men whom la salle left in charge A decade later the struggle agle between france and great britain for mastery of the fur trade and control of the interior of north america was under way and in the marquis de Not ivIlle governor general of new france reported that tha the fur for trade will be lost if the english occupy niagara so 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 bonville nonville Non ville was destined to have the same fate as fort conal garrisoned by men all but 12 of them fell victims to the rigors of winter and the ravages of the scurvy so that 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 vaudreuil Vaud 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 his plans to louis XIV vaudreuil Vaud reull did not wait for the kings approval before beginning operations even more important than the french kings kin a sanction of the project was that of the iroquois indians the powerful five nations who held the balance of power between their french and english neighbors they were none too friendly toward the french because of various armed clashes in the past and they were pretty likely to look with suspicion upon the establishment of a permanent post on their lands fortunately tor for vaudreuil Vaud reull a french trader named louis de jonmaire Jon Jonca caire lre who had been adopted into the seneca tribe of the five nations had a trading post at tile the foot of niagara gorge gorge and the governor govern or general made use of jonmaire Jon Jone caire alre to accomplish ills his purpose various stories have been told of tiow how the french tricked the iroquois into gluing their consent to the building of a fort at niagara but the more believable one Is that it was accomplished through jonmaire Jon caire who asked and obtained permission from the indians to substitute a stone house for his bis trading shed of bark and logs under a broad interpretation of the permission n g given iven to jonmaire Jon Jonca caire lre the french transferred the site of the post from the foot of the gorge to the muff bluff at the mouth of the river overlooking lake ontario but they scrupulously observed the letter of the agreement by building a istone stone house the plain straight walled rectangular structure later called the castle which stands there today the plans tor for it were drawn by the french engineer chausse ras de dc lery who 4 1 flag day at old fort niagara when honors are paid to three historic flags the triple golden fleur de lis of la salle who founded t h e f 0 r t I 1 n 16 7 8 ajai left the U n I 1 0 n jack of 1759 the J year the british wrested it from the french right and the 15 starred and 15 striped american national emblem of 1796 when the victorious colonies received the fort under the treaty K of paris center Z french names carved in the dungeon t of the castle 3 an airplane view of the reconstructed H fort poplars 4 the castle and the famous lombardy 5 fort niagara in 1759 from captain Pouch map in the british museum and other sources designed a structure with thick walls well calculated to withstand the fire of any cannon that flint could ever be dragged through the wilderness to be used against the fort incidentally de lorys original plans were discovered in the french archives by the late dr frank 11 II severance of buffalo nearly two centuries later and they aliey have been used in the restoration work which has recently boon been completed work on the fort began in 1725 and when the french kings belated permission for vaudreuil Vaud reull to build such a post arrived in 1726 it was well under way because of the difficulty of supplying the builders with 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 0 north america at the outbreak of the french and indian war when france and england came to grips in their last struggle for mastery of the continent fort niagara became one of the chief objectives of the british tile the first farst plans for the expedition of the ill fated braddock contemplated his capture of niagara after lie he had successfully reduced fort duquesne but the disaster which overtook him on the monongahela changed all that Ilean meanwhile whIle the french engineer Iou chot was strengthening fort niagara and by 1759 it was the last important outpost held by the french accordingly general amherst british com mander in cliplef sent general Irl deaux dead x with it a force of men more than half of them new york provincials and GOO indians under the renowned sir william johnson linson Jo to lay siege to niagara Iou chot hall had only WO wen men but even with this small force lie he held out successfully for awhile against the tie blundering siege tactics of Irl deaux A relief force of indians and courier ill du bola bois from the ohio country was his bis aid but sir william johnson did to them what the french and indians had done to braddock on july 21 24 1759 Iou chot had to give up the struggle and the french lilies were lowered over fort niagara and die british ling hag run up in its place for the next nest 40 years the fort was an important trading center for the british and played a leading role to in colonial frontier history after the end of the pontiac conspiracy more than 2500 indians gathered there at tile the invitation of sir william johnson indian agent for ills bla majesty SI i jesty the king of england and the result of the council was the cession by the indians to the british of a tract of land tour four miles wide on either side of the river and reaching from lake erie to lake ontario at the outbreak of the revolution niagara became the haven tor for hundreds of tories who were forced to flee from their homes and it was also the base of operations for or young walter butler and his rangers and indians who wrote their names lu in red on the map of new york and pennsylvania although several expedit expeditions lous against the fort 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 not until august ll 11 1790 1700 that the british garrison crossed the niagara river to canada the union jack lowered from the flagstaff and old glory given to the breeze in its place an american garrison was maintained there and tile the interval between the revolution and the tha war of 1812 was one of pleasant social intercourse between the officers and their families nt at the american fort niagara and the british fort george now queenstown Queens town ont in december 1813 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 tor for awhile after that the tha signing of the rush bagot treaty in 1818 marked the end of the military career of fort niagara in tile years that followed the historic old fort fell into a gradual decline the waters of lake ontario washing against the sea wall began ts to undermine it and much of the wall tell 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 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 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 tile primitive lifting mechanism of its drawbridge brid ge has been re commissioned the 30 m man an beds in the ancient french barracks are ready for exhausted soldiery the armed french castle 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 the rush bagot treaty two months ago this site was the scene of a dramatic ceremony in the crypt of this memorial were 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 soldiers 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 and to future centuries of peace 0 by western newspaper union |
