2nd Practice Run – Fort Niagara

From Sampson to Lakeside

After completing our stay at Sampson State Park along Seneca Lake, we began our second practice run. This time to Lakeside State Park in Waterport, NY which is found along Lake Ontario’s beautiful shores. This trip would be my first endeavor at pulling our RV down an interstate highway (NYS Thruway I-90 ). Would I be nervous? I sure was, but I truly felt ready and able to tackle this type of driving and so off we went.

I took my time and drove much slower than I normally would (it’s an odd feeling to be driving 55 MPH on such a road). Although I experienced heightened senses and had a firm grip on the steering wheel, I can honestly say the only time I truly felt anxious was in the stretch between Exits 44 and 45. Anyone familiar with the area would recognize this as the section between the Canandaigua/Victor exits, which includes a rest area. There are three lanes (plus several sets of on/off ramps) and is typically quite busy since I-490 also connects Rochester to the Thruway at Exit 45. We navigated this area and the rest of the Thruway, with the least amount of concern I could muster, and arrived safely at our destination by exiting onto Route 98 in Batavia, NY which runs through Albion, NY. As we entered the state park, we immediately had an amazing view of the smallest of the Great Lakes – there was beautiful Lake Ontario sparkling in the sunshine to greet us.

The Key to the Whole Continent

From Lakeside State Park, we realized we were only about an hour’s easy drive to a very important historical site. With that knowledge, we visited a place I’ve been very eager to see for many years. This site played a major role in the history of North America permanently impacting the future of both the United States and Canada. This site was key to determining that both nations would, in fact, become English-controlled territory and not French. It was also a location I mentioned in my Sampson account near Seneca Lake, for the role it played in the American War for Independence.

Old Fort Niagara was strategically placed where the Niagara River flows into Lake Ontario. In the 1600 and 1700s, this geographical location was the key to connecting French Canada, to the rest of the French-controlled lands throughout the Great Lakes, and down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. Waterways were the highways of this time period, and due to Niagara Falls, transportation of supplies had to be unloaded, moved by land around the falls, and returned to boats near present-day Buffalo (this process is called portage). This need meant Fort Niagara essentially controlled access to the interior of North America.

In a nutshell, the French originally built on the site and the British captured it during the French and Indian War. This success sealed British control over most of North America. I won’t go into the details of these events to prevent anyone from nodding off, but I do wish to share some of our experiences while visiting the fort.

The original structure of the fort is called the “French Castle” (built in 1726) and was constructed intentionally to convince the Native Americans it was intended for peaceful purposes. In truth, it was made from some very forbidding stonework and there are sally ports hidden under the upper floor’s rafters. These could be opened, allowing soldiers to fire straight down on anyone attempting to enter the structure uninvited. It was most assuredly intended for military purposes, should the need arise, but the French were able to convince the Iroquois it wasn’t. Between 1755 and 1757 the French added the typical star structure fortifications of the time period, around the “Castle”, once they realized the British were more than likely going to contest them for control of this site.

Frontier Life at Fort Niagara

 The most interesting highlights to our visit were the living history re-enactors who were on-site the day we visited. We were able to observe musket firing demonstrations, a cannon firing demonstration, a French Catholic chapel, a trading post, colonial period carpentry, French soldiering equipment, colonial laundering, and historically accurate scratch-made foods.

The women involved with the cooking demonstration had examples of the types of prepared food from the 1700s/early 1800s set out for us to view. They went into detail to describe the dishes they made right there on-site, in a nearby kitchen building. The fried hard-boiled eggs with onions did look very appealing. We may just have to see about making this for ourselves some time. There was also a dessert pie and one of the women announced to us she was going to attempt making taffy by hand. If I’m remembering correctly, her ingredients were sugar and oil. What a process that was to behold as she worked the mixture, pulling and kneading it in her hands, in an attempt to tame the mixture into a finished product. A little later, we ran across this brave soul near the bathroom where she had been trying to wash her hands. She declared to us it was not the success she had hoped for and likely wouldn’t be trying it again. We are very appreciative of the extra special effort these women made to enhance our experience at Fort Niagara and make us feel special.

We also found the washerwomen performing the laundering to be particularly interesting. One of the main points impressed upon us is the fact that washing laundry 200-300 years ago was basically no different than today. You see, soap is soap. Made from lye and fats, the technology has not changed, only the addition of ingredients has. They didn’t use perfumes, dyes, aloe, etc., just the lye and fats (animal fats to be exact). We also learned the best way to remove blood stains from fabric. It requires an enzyme to chemically break the stain down and the best source for this is saliva. Yes, that’s right, spit will help remove blood from your clothing. The rest of the process for washing clothing required boiling water in a large pot over a wood fire to soak the clothing (along with the soap), squeezing out the water by hand, and laying them out in the grass to dry. We may not follow these exact practices today, but really, is our laundering process fundamentally different from this? The woman speaking to us about the colonial period’s laundering process was quite knowledgeable and very intelligent. She knew her science well. We wish we could’ve spent more time learning from her, but the day was winding down and we were being called to the cannon firing.

Two Wars for Independence and Defense of the Border

Fort Niagara did not play a direct role in the American Revolution however the British did use it as a supply center and staging area for military campaigns against the American’s especially regarding their activities in New York.

In my account of Sampson State Park, this is in fact, the location many of the Seneca fled to due to the ravages of the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign through the Finger Lakes Region. Many American Loyalists also took refuge here. It was much easier to arrive by truck (a combined three hours or so) than it would have been for entire Seneca villages to do so on foot, through the wilderness, with children and elderly among them. My physical experience of the distance was humbling to me. In the 1783 Treaty of Paris at the end of the war, Fort Niagara was ceded to the new United States although it would be several years before the British actually turned it over to American forces. This would set the stage for the second conflict between the United States and the British.

Looking across the river into British-held Canada, Fort Niagara played a significant role during the War of 1812. Fort George across the river in Ontario, CA fired its cannon at Fort Niagara. As a result of the damaging advantage Fort George had in elevation, the American forces removed the roof of the French Castle and other structures to turn them into platforms for canon. This gave the Americans the advantage in elevation turning the destruction back onto Fort George. Ultimately, however, Fort Niagara was captured by the British only to be returned to the U.S. at the end of the war.

During the American Civil War, the U.S. re-activated the fort as a defense against a possible entry into the war by Great Britain, should they have decided to support the Confederacy. Fortunately, it was never needed beyond being a training facility for Union Troops and a supply depot. The addition of brick fortifications was added at this time, but it was never necessary for them to be armed.

Into the 20^th Century

Beyond the Civil War, Fort Niagara’s role did change under much improved relations with Great Britain, however, it was used for training and housing purposes during the Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection, and specifically officer’s training during World War I.

Today the American and British flags along with a French Colonial flag, fly over Old Fort Niagara out of respect to its rich historical roots. The white flag is the flag that would have been flown by the French during their tenure in the mid-1700s and is not a signal for surrender. I overheard the response from a re-enactor to this very question by a gentleman as confused as I was by that very flag.

Additional Interesting Facts About Fort Niagara

1. There is a large 22-foot x 28-foot American flag containing a unique 15 stars and 15 stripes, on display in the Old Fort Niagara museum. Interesting fact, the dark spots on the flag are the sections of the original flag. The balance had to be restored due to fire. This flag is the older sister to the flag flown at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, which is the “Star-Spangled Banner” that inspired our national anthem. The displayed flag was flown over Fort Niagara as early as 1809, captured by the British in 1813, taken to London as a trophy, and forgotten about until being returned to the U.S. in 1994.
2. The Catholic chapel is in fact, a restored and rededicated church, able to be used for Mass. It is occasionally used to perform Catholic weddings.
3. There is an active Coast Guard station on the Niagara River right next to the park grounds. We were able to observe the personnel on duty to protect and serve.
4. There is a lighthouse on the property built in 1872 (the upper section is brick, rather than stone like the foundation, due to an error – it originally wasn’t built tall enough).
5. Next to the lighthouse is a beautiful home overlooking the Niagara River. We were informed by our guide that it’s the home of the Commissioner overseeing the entire New York State Parks System.
6. At 28 miles away across Lake Ontario, you can in fact see, the city of Toronto. Even though it was a partially overcast day, we easily saw the skyline from the fort through the haze. Now that was cool.