Me and Isaac Together Again

I JUST KNOW you want to see this again!!

It's me and Sir Isaac Brock

as we appeared last June!!!!

Are you SWOONING??

I am. Totally.

And I have good reason!


I JUST FOUND OUT THAT THERE IS ANOTHER LAURA SECORD WALK THIS YEAR!


The things they don't tell you in history class, eh!

Who knew she went twice?!?!

Mind you, if I knew he looked this good I'd be racing through the American lines six times a day.  I'd be taking cows, roosters, guppies - whatever I could get my hands on to get through the Yankee lines.


Sometimes a woman's gotta sacrifice to save her country.

:) :) :)

Revealed at last! Why Laura Secord Walked

**

It's the 200th anniversary of Laura Secord's famous walk
through American lines to warn Lieutenant FitzGibbon of
the impending attack!!

My friend Jane and I decided to follow Laura's trail. 

We've been friends since we were 8 years old and we are
both descended from people who lived through the turbulent
War of 1812 and the occupation of Niagara.

The trek started out at Laura's homestead. 

This was where she and her husband overheard the American
officers discussing the attack.

Laura's husband had been wounded in the battle of Queenston
Heights and could barely hobble so they decided Laura would
have to warn FitzGibbon who was camped about 30 km away.

Uh oh.

We noticed Yankee tents are set up on Laura's yard. 

Niagara is occupied!



We set out on the trail.

When Laura started out right about here she would have
been fairly safe.

The danger came after curfew when she would have been shot
if she had been captured.

It was a hot muggy day, much like the day 200 years ago.

The trail is very lush because of all of the rain.

Laura would likely have had an eye out for snakes but
the last rattler was seen in these parts in the 1940s
so we didn't  have that problem.

Our greatest worry is the fearsome tick!

Getting up and down the Niagara Escarpment couldn't have been easy
for a woman in a long dress, flimsy shoes and no map or signs to show
the way.

Here I am using a rope to come down a steep incline.



***

This is the point where I lost my camera.  Missing a whole bunch of shots
here, especially when we met up with Isabel, our old school mate, who was
posted at one of the check points.  The next few shots are from my cell phone.
Fortunately someone found it and I got it back at the end of the day.
***

Holy cow!  (Laura Secord joke intended)


WE MADE IT!

These two descendants of some of the men who actually
fought there met us just outside DeCou House.

That's when I discovered the real reason Laura Secord went
to DeCou House.

Be still my beating heart!!

Lieutenant Fitzgibbon met all of us and thanked us for coming to warn them
of the attack.

I was 200 years too late but jeesh!  He was worth the wait!

And this is how we ended our journey through time.

With Laura Secord ice cream!

Related articles

• Laura Secord's Bravery & Self-Sacrifice!

A Bite of History

200 years ago Niagara was occupied by American troops.

And they weren't happy camper-occupiers either.
 

Most were farm boys doing their stint in the militia

and not happy to be away from mom and home

AND in a foreign land.

 

And the Canadians weren't happy about being occupied.

So the whole thing made for some nasty business.

 

But out of  the smoke of battle a heroine arose

and this week the people of Niagara are honouring

her!

 

Saturday is the 200th anniversary of Laura

Secord's walk through enemy lines to warn

Lieutenant Fitzgibbon  of the impending attack

by the Americans. 

You can read about her here.

 

I'm going to be retracing her route with an awful

lot of other people on Saturday and I thought I'd

take this opportunity to show off my swag bag.

 

Okay, forget the bag - I really wanted to show you

the big fricken Laura Secord chocolate bar that was

in the bag!!!!  (Black rectangle, bottom left).

I know, I know. 

Laura didn't have a chocolate bar to give her energy

on her long trek through a wilderness filled with

rattlesnakes, bears and enemies.

 

But hey, I won't either!

 

I already ate it.

 

 

 

Laura's Bridge - Secnarf Speaks

English: Laura Secord warning Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon of an impending American attack, June 1813. Français : Rencontre entre Laura Secord et le lieutenant Fitzgibbon, juin 1813 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Part 2 - The Present

June 22 will be the 199th anniversary of Laura Secord's walk.

The big celebration is next year.

By 'big' celebration I mean big in an understated Canadian kind of way, i.e., there will be a commemorative walk.

But nobody can figure out how we are going to cross Twelve Mile Creek.

That's when I knew I had to find Secnarf.

Francie: Thanks for seeing me, Secnarf.  I know you don't usually dabble in municipal politics but we've got a serious problem.

Secnarf: The Rhinoceros Party is interested in serious problems at the local level.

Francie: Well good, because I'm afraid to say the move is afoot to build a bridge over the Twelve Mile Creek so the hikers commemorating Laura Secord's walk can cross safely.

Secnarf: Ridiculous! Laura Secord shinnied across the creek on a fallen log.

In the dark.

Without shoes.

Hungry.

And she had her period!

Francie: Laura Secord had her period?

Secnarf: It's Secnarf's Law.  Anytime a woman has to go somewhere where it would be totally inconvenient she gets her period.

Francie: Holy cow!

Secnarf: Yes, cow is the key word when we speak of Laura Secord. The people of Niagara don't need a permanent bridge.

Too expensive.  If you elect me

Secnarf,

the only politician who looks

like a cabinet minister,

The Rhinoceros Party of Canada promises to bring a herd of cows down to the creek and you ladies can swim across on their backs.

Totally Laura Secord.

And we'll throw in a box of those Laura Secord Chocolate Miniatures to anybody who makes it across alive.  

 Francie: Wow! Thanks, Secnarf!

Secnarf: No problem:  Don't forget -

Vote Secnarf,

the last remaining member

of the Rhinoceros Party of Canada

and the only politician who looks

like a cabinet minister.

***

Francie: When are you going to update your picture?

Secnarf:  When Bev Oda quits smoking.  Now get lost, will ya.  I gotta rent some cows.

Laura's Bridge

Laura Secord statue, Valiants Memorial, Ottawa (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Part 1 The Past

Laura Secord's husband James was wounded at the battle of Queenston Heights in 1812.

When he didn't turn up after the fighting was over she went to the battlefield and, as we say now - dragged his sorry ass home. 

He was still recovering in May of 1813 when the Americans pushed the British forces, their Indian allies and the Canadian militia to Stoney Creek, (near Hamilton) after the Battle of Fort George.

The Yankee scoundrels then proceeded to occupy Niagara!

In late June the Secords overhead several American officers talking about an upcoming attack.

James Secord had taken a musket ball to the knee at Queenston Heights and still couldn't walk.

 They decided that Laura would have to get the message to the British commander, Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon who was camped at Beaverdams, (near present day Thorold).

Early the next morning, June 22, 1813, Laura kissed her young children, (and probably her own ass), good-bye, pulled on a brown dress with an orange flower print and headed out. 

She stayed off the main roads.

She knew that if the Americans caught her out after curfew she would be shot.

She passed through 30 km filled with wolves, rattlesnakes, disgruntled beavers and a variety of other interesting critters.

Somehow,  she crossed Twelve Mile Creek which, although it isn't the mighty St. Lawrence River, isn't exactly a babbling brook either .

Eventually, tired, dirty and shoeless, she stumbled into an Indian camp.

She spoke enough Iroquois to make herself understood and the surprised warriors led her to Lieutenant Fitzgibbon.

Thanks to her, Fitzgibbon and his men were ready when the attack came.

 The Americans retreated to their side of the Niagara River.

But they didn't take it well.

In retaliation they spent the next 200 years building really cool shopping malls all along the border.

 Next: Part 2 The Present

Related articles

• Battle of Queenston Heights

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• Been there, won that: Inglorious battles of 1812

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• Brock and Tecumseh reunited on 1812 commemorative stamps

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• New Exhibit Opening at Huronia Museum

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