Fort Niagara

“ Fort Niagara was not only the key to the upper lakes, the base of supplies for Detroit, Michillimackinac and minor posts, but it had long been an important trading post and the principal rendezvous of the Six Nations, upon whose peculiarly efficient services against the American frontiers Sir Frederick relied scarcely less than he did upon the British troops themselves. ”

“ At the other extremity lay Fort Niagara. When the French were establishing this chain of forts or posts through the West and down the Mississippi valley Fort Rouille was founded on a site even then [294] commonly called "Fort Toronto." It does not seem ever to have been a dominant strategic point; the probabilities are there was no force stationed here worth mentioning and, possibly, it was a mere dependency of Fort Niagara. ”

“ The slumberous old town of Niagara has also an air of calm repose. No vulgar din of trade disturbs its quiet grass-grown streets. The dismantled fort, the broken stockade, the empty fosse, and the crumbling ramparts, where wandering sheep crop the herbage and the swallows build their nests in the months of the overturned and rusty cannon, are all the evidence of the long reign of an unbroken peace. ”

“ To the rude transient population—red hunters, trappers, Indianised bush-rangers—starting out from this centre, or returning from their journeys of perhaps hundreds of miles, trooping down the portage to the fort, bearing their loads of peltries, and assisted by Indians who here made a business of carrying packs [214] for hire, Fort Niagara was a business headquarters. There the traders brought their guns and ammunition, their blankets, and cheap jewelry, to be traded for furs ”

“ Spring came at last, unlocking the rivers and the lakes, and the half-wild fur-traders, with their Indian guides, were already preparing to ascend the St. Lawrence, up past Mont Royale, and the Thousand Islands, across the great inland sea called Ontario, to the rude fort of Niagara.
Even here the fatiguing journey would not end, for after a brief respite, they must shoulder their packages, and carry their long birch-bark canoes over the rough portage that led past the mighty, thundering cataract of Niagara, near by the hunting-grounds of the fierce and warlike Senecas. ”

“ More than two hundred men, women, and children were slain in cold blood, or borne away to fates a hundred times more terrible to meet than swift death. The day already breaking upon the terror-stricken colonists was the darkest Canada ever knew.
The result of the expedition, so far as result appears, was effected when the ships bearing his men turned toward the Niagara River and were anchored off the point of land where now stands historic Fort Niagara. ”

“ Fort George, situated on the Canadian, and Fort Niagara on the American side of the river Niagara, at its entrance into Lake Ontario, distant about fourteen, as its outlet from Lake Erie is about twenty miles from the falls. ”

“ The position of Fort Niagara, commanding the route to their series of forts on the lines of the Ohio and Mississippi, was considered by the French as second in importance only to that of Quebec, and consequently great store laid upon its possession. Under Jonquiere they added four bastions to the fort and erected a stone storehouse, called "The Castle," which is still to be seen. ”

“ The important result, however, was the removal of French domination over the warlike Seneca nation in this region and the natural inheritance that came with Niagara, the trade of which it was the centre. Near the site of the destroyed Fort du Portage, at the upper end of the portage, Captain Schlosser erected Fort Schlosser. Fort Niagara itself was improved; the present "bakehouse" was built in 1762. The Niagara of this time has been well described by Mr. Porter:
It was the head centre of the military life of the entire region, the guardian of the great highway and portage to and from the West ”

“ It was composed of three spectacular advances on this curling line of French forts that hemmed in the colonies; one army, under Sir William Johnson, should attack the forts on Lakes George and Champlain; Governor Shirley of Massachusetts should leap at Fort Niagara, and General Braddock, formerly commander of Gibraltar, should lead an army from Virginia across the mountains upon Fort Duquesne, after capturing which he should then join forces with Shirley for the conquest of Niagara if that post had not been previously reduced. ”

“ To arrive at a just idea of conditions hereabouts at this period, we must keep in mind the relation of the fluctuating population, Indians and whites, to the uncertain and often inadequate food supply.
Fort Niagara at this time—the fall of '78—was a fortification 1,100 yards in circumference, with five bastions and two blockhouses. Capt. John Johnson thought 1,000 men were needed to defend it ”

“ The romantic situation of the two ancient towns, Lewiston and Queenston, at the foot of the two escarpments, on opposite sides of the river, is only equalled by the absorbing story of their part in history when they were thriving, bustling frontier outposts. The beauty of the locations of these interesting towns contains in itself sufficient promise of growth and prosperity equal to, or exceeding, that of beautiful Youngstown, near Fort Niagara, or Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Canadian shore. ”

“ The Quebec Government, too, acted. If leaden plates would not hold the Ohio, then forts well guarded and manned would accomplish the end sought; and English spies on watch at Fort Oswego now saw a strange flotilla crossing Lake Ontario and knew something extraordinary was in the air. It was Marin's party on its way to fortify Celoron's route by building a chain of posts from Fort Niagara to the present site of Pittsburg at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. After a rest at Niagara the fort-building party proceeded along Lake Erie to Presqu' Isle, now Erie, Pennsylvania. ”

“ Of Fort Niagara under the American flag I shall be very brief. No loyal American can take pride in telling of its surrender to the British, December 19, 1813. There was neither a gallant defense nor a generous enemy. Cowardice on the one hand and retaliation on the other sum up the episode. The place was restored to the United States March 27, 1815, and with the exception of one brief interim has been maintained as a garrison to this day. The Morgan affair of 1826 need only be alluded to. The last defensive work of consequence—the brick facing of the bastions, fronting east—dates from 1861. ”

“ Father Crespel was stationed at Fort Niagara for about three years from 1729, interrupting his ministrations there with a journey to Detroit, where his order—the Society of Jesus—had established a mission. Of Fort Niagara at this time he says: "I found the place [Pg 33] very agreeable; hunting and fishing were very productive; the woods in their greatest beauty, and full of walnut and chestnut trees, oaks, elms and some others, far superior to any we see in France." ”

“ But let the reader beware of forming hasty conclusions as to the cruelty or brutality of the British at Fort Niagara. In the first place, remember that harshness or kindness in the treatment of the helpless depends in good degree—and always has depended—upon the temperament and mood of the individual custodian. There were those in command at Fort Niagara who appear to have been capable of almost any iniquity. Others gave frequent and conspicuous proofs of their humanity. Remember, secondly, that the prisoners primarily belonged to the Indians who captured them. ”

“ The first picket wall was falling down by 1739, when it was repaired. At this time Niagara was fast losing its hold on western trade because of the enforcing of the policy of not selling the Indians liquor; however, in 1741, the Governor of New York affirmed that he held the Six Nations only by presents and that Fort Niagara must be captured. In 1745, when the French policy regarding the Indians was changed, Fort [202] Niagara contained only a hundred men and four guns. ”

“ The little town of Niagara was like a camp. The long, low barracks on the broad campus were crowded with troops, and the snowy gleams of tents dotted the greensward. The wide grass-grown streets were gay with the constant marching and counter-marching of red-coats, and the air was vocal with the shrill bugle-call or the frequent roll of the drums. Drill, parade, and inspection, artillery and musket practice, filled the hours of the day. Fort George had been strengthened, victualled, and armed. ”

“ Bolton's life at Fort Niagara was one of infinite care. Besides the routine of the garrison, he was constantly harrassed by the demands of the Indians, whom the British did not wish to feed, but whom they dared [Pg 80] not offend. The old fort, which now sleeps so quietly at the mouth of the river, was a busy place in those days. There was constant coming and going. Schooners, snows [12] and batteaux with provisions from Quebec, or with munitions of war or detachments of troops for Detroit or Michillimackinac, were constantly arriving. ”

“ Most of the troops had been withdrawn from the fort in the early winter, leaving only about sixty men within its walls; news was being continually received of forces marching to the Niagara region and, fearful of losing the fort, McClure, its commander, determined to destroy it and retreat to Fort Niagara. The fort was partially demolished, December 10th, but Newark was wantonly fired, leaving hundreds of people homeless in the severest weather and rousing the British to a revenge which they now visited on the Americans. ”

“ About one-third of the whole work is occupied with military operations on the Niagara frontier. Nothing from Fort Erie to Fort Niagara escapes this meter-machine. The Doctor's poetic feet stretch out to miles and leagues, but not a single verse do I find that prompts to quotation ”

“ Niagara at the time, also took passage. There was the full complement of officers and crew. Several passengers—licensed Indian traders and fur merchants, probably—crowded aboard; and among those who sailed away from Fort Niagara that last October day, was Col. Bolton. It was the Ontario's first voyage; and we may be sure that there was no lack of speculation and wise opinion in the throng of spectators who watched her round the bar at the mouth of the river and take her course down the lake. ”

“ The British force on the Niagara frontier consisted at this time of 1800 regular troops, 500 militia, and 40 Indians, under Major General Vincent. On 27th May, the U.S. force, numbering 6000 to 7000 men, under General Dearborn, crossed under cover of the guns of the flotilla and of Fort Niagara. After a stubborn contest, in which they suffered a loss of 445 killed and wounded, the British troops evacuated Fort George, and retired to Burlington Heights at the head of Lake Ontario. ”

“ There was no effort to reinforce the garrison, although at the time ten thousand American troops were idle in winter quarters. Fort Niagara, on the American side, still flew the Stars and Stripes, but on the night of the 18th of December Colonel Murray with five hundred and fifty British regulars rushed the fort, surprised the sentries, and lost only eight men in capturing this stronghold and its three hundred and fifty defenders. It was more like a massacre. Sixty-seven Americans were killed by the bayonet. ”

“ The children, whose home was in a hill-country, and who valued a mountain as much as a New-Englander does a ‘water [Page 86] privilege,’ rambled over the heights, and gazed delighted on the green Niagara, which, escaped from its rocky prison, rejoices in its freedom, sweeps freely and gracefully around the bluff promontories that indent its course, flows past the headland, where Fort Niagara guards the American shore, and enters Lake Ontario, which stretches, sparkling in the distance ”

“ Niagara, meaning thereby the Niagara Frontier, or, more properly, that portion thereof which extended from Lake Ontario to about two miles above the Falls (which included Fort Niagara, and the whole of the famous Portage around the Cataract) even in Aboriginal days, before the first Fort Niagara was built, when the Indians applied the word Onguiaahra to the same territory, by reason of its accessibility, its central location, its Portage and its "Erie Stones," was widely known as a "Center of Trade." When the French became the masters of this region its main importance lay in its portage ”

“ The events of Sullivan's expedition are well known. Few episodes of the Revolution are more fully recorded. But what is the reverse of the picture? What lay at the other side of this Western New York wilderness which Sullivan failed to penetrate? What was going on, up and down the Niagara, and on Buffalo Creek, during those momentous years? We know that the region was British, that old Fort Niagara was its garrison, the principal rendezvous of the Indians and the base from which scalping parties set out to harry the frontier settlements. ”

“ Niagara Falls were first used as a source of power in 1725, when a primitive saw-mill was built just opposite Goat Island to saw lumber for the construction of Fort Niagara. For years men have made many attempts to use some of the power to be had here for the taking, and in a very small way have been successful. A number of establishments for several decades have been making use of power developed by the Falls by means of the Hydraulic Canal on the American side. This canal was begun in 1853 and passes through the city of Niagara Falls, terminating on the cliff half a mile below the cataract ”