http://www.fepl.ca/localhistory/files/original/2534f7b30c971dd9d2b0f0484ee03014.pdf d6814dea85e8d23d00a01985ed3969da PDF Text Text Old Fort Erie By MARGUERITE A. RAYMOND ITH THE OBSERVA:--ICE of the 200th anniversary by the Fort .Erie Historical So­ ciety of the establishment of old Fort Eric, to be held on the fort grounds at four o'clock on Sc1i:urday afternoon, July 11, a short account of its history might not W come amiss. Foll<nving the end of the French rule in Canada, France relinquished Fort Niagara and the British immediately garrisoned it, esublishing l i n e s of communication with Detroit, and there was much travel up the lakes in transporting troops, supplies and provisions. In the spring of 1764, Col . Bradstreet, with m army of 1,200 on h i s way to subdue the western Indian uprisings, stopped off at Niagara, where Capt. John Montresor was entrusted with the task of building the chain of forts along the Carrying Place. He had em b arked from Fort Ontario with 300 "Canadian Volunteers," "without- tepts,. kettle or tomahawk," and but a scanty supply of ammunition. They left in 20 boats and with five days' provisions, and were five days c ro s s i ng Lake Ontario, enlivened by The men were rircd, falling sick and running s hort a duel between two of the officers. of food; but, with these, augmented with about 300 regubrs from Fort Niagara, Mon­ tresor built his line of fortifications, and on June 4, after two weeks' work, the job was completed and a royal celebration ensued, \\;ith rockets and salvos from th e field artil­ lery, bonfires and songs, and much drinking of toasts to the king. One month bter, Capt. John Montrcsor was handed orders by Col. Bradstreet: ''You will proceed tomorrow at daylight to the outlet of Lake Eric: make examinations of the discharge above the rapids ·and· select a proper place for fortifications. It must com­ mand an anchorage where vessels ma v lie while being' proYisioned for Detroit, in all re­ spects a p rope r cntrepot. You shall have one of the assistant cngirieers to aid you in the. work." This was the beginning of the history of Fort Erie. Montrcsor left early the next morn ing , after receiving his ordc1-, but didn't rc:icb Lake Eric until late that night. The next day, with a reconnoitering party, he explored Buffalo Creek on the cast shore, loo k ing for J su i tab l e site for a po st , but the ground was low and loc a t io n unfavorable. He therefore crossed the river on July 9, 1764, and here "on the northwest side, just at the discharge," after some survey he marked out a spot where the vessels might load. Returning to Fort Niagara the following day, he laid before Col. Bradstreet a sketch of the place, showing how it could be f o r tifi e d and the advantages. it possessed for a wharf. Col. Bradstreet approved and ordered that work be started irnrn\:diatcly. However, there was some delay, and it was not until -the 17th of July that Montresor could return to Lake Erie. On that day, with a l l plans and work approved, Capt. Montresor, with J fo rc e of 500 men, journeyed over the Carrying Place, crossed over the river with a flotilb of 12 hrgc boats :md four lnttcaux, to encamp on Navy Island for the night in the midst of "prodigious rains." It r�1incd all the next day, but the detachment travelled on, with (ools, supplies and 176 barrels of provisions, to the place dcsigrutcd, where they made camp, "the ground," says Capt. 252 �Montrcsor's journal, "being extremely rich, c ov er e d with beach, hickory and walnut, and the s i tu a t i on answering expectation in every respect for my fort, provision store and wharf." Men at once were set to work felling timber and clearing the ground, and the sound of the axe reverberated along the shore, while smoke in the clearing heralded the com­ ing of the British to occupy the western side of the Niagara. On: Jul y 19, the schooner Gladwin arrived from Detroit in quest of provisions, the new harbor. On the 20th, the assistant engineer with 14 carpe nt ers began to put up the stockades, and on the 24th, four companies of light infantry ar­ rived from the ea1t side of the river to encamp at the new fort. Artificers were squar­ ing timbers for the barracks and storehouses and the masons were putting in the stone revetments for the poiygon of the fort, which was built n ea r the shore, north of the present site and below the hill; and on July 31, Capt. Montresor wrote "the post now becom�s defcncible." first boat in the were sent to haul out timbers for the p iers and wharf and the foundations for the officers' quarters and the sol d ier s ' barracks and a provision store next the wharf; and, also , a par.lde ground was l e v elled off. The place tee m ed with carpenters, masons, brickrnakcrs, lime burners, sh in gle makers and sawyers. On August 4, Col. Oxteams laid Bradstreet sent dispatches ordering that the name of the post should be known as "Fort Erie," the first a ppe a rance of the name in history. Constructive work progressed, although interrupted by m uc h rain, and fever , ague and the "fluxes" (dysentery) were suffered by the me n . Vessels bega n arriving from Detroit to load on all the impcdimen ta of an advancing ar m y , and boats of war w e r e coming from down the river with troops. All preparations completed, Col. Bradstreet set sail for Detroit from his encampment at Fort Erie on August 9, 1764, and Fort Eric had truly become a military post, where, four short weeks before, there were only f o rest . rock and dune. For 50 years Fort Eric was the end of the line for the lake traffic and international commerce until, after the war of 1812-1814, the building of Buffalo H:ir­ bor and the Eric Canal diverted bu si ne ss to Buffalo and Fort Erie was passed by and neglecte d for a while in the busy march of progress. The first fo rt was a rectangular enclosure, a loopholed stockade, without ditch or moat. It was composed of four bastions with connecting walls of moderate height and was built primarily as d e fenc e against hostile Indians to p ro t e c t the trade route w es t lake shipping port . The log barracks, officers' quarters :111d storehouse were erected within the enclosure with the levelled plo t for a p u a de ,ground. It s tood for nearly I 5 years on the roc ks near the shore, when a furi ou s storm drove great blocks of and as a ice against it during the spring of 1799, damaging the front portion very badly and undermining the walls. It was therefore necessary to r ebuil d the fort more substantially with s to n e and mortar and in a more southerly position, but still below continuously occ u pi ed as a garrison ·with a few w o r kmen 's the hill. It was cottJges nc.irby. rise until blo w n up in t h e War of 1 812. The ruins remained for over a hundred years, with its w a t er less moats and crumbling walls, a favo rit e resort of picnic parries f rom both sides of the river, until restored by the On­ Again, in 1803, it \Vas damaged in the spring ice floe :ind then rebuilt upon the of ground at the rear, '"here ir stood tario Provincial and Canadian Federal Governments an d officially opened July 1, 19 39, with commemorative festivities as a nation a l historic site, just as we sec it today. Thf Times Record (Fort Erie, Ontario) July 9, 1964 253 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Louis McDermott Collection Subject The topic of the resource Local history, Fort Erie and surrounding area. Description An account of the resource A collection of historical documents, photos, news clippings, letters, and writings, assembled by local historian, Louis McDermott, and donated to the Fort Erie Public Library. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Louis McDermott Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived FEPL-LH -Louis McDermott Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Included in this collection are writings, historical documents, news clippings, images, maps, and more. They were written and compiled by Louis McDermott into a series of binders. The digital collection has been scanned from these physical copies. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fort Erie Public Library and Louis McDermott Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Old Fort Erie (article) Description An account of the resource Listed here is a document titled, Old Fort Erie, by Marguerite A Raymond published in The Times Record Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Louis McDermott Collection Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 9, 1964 1960s Fort Erie Louis Mcdermott Collection