Cover
Acknowledgements
We are all indebted to teacher, historian, and author, Janet Carnochan. “Miss Janet” considered the Commons as important as the Plains of Abraham and the battlefields of Waterloo and Bannockburn. Without her staunch opposition to any encroachment, the Commons would not have survived. She also preserved many artifacts relating to the Commons and her books and published papers by the Niagara Historical Society are a rich source of information. Her contemporary, military officer and historian General E.A. Cruikshank, edited and published a vast collection of correspondence that has been an invaluable reference source. I am also greatly indebted to life-long resident and historian Joseph Masters (1871–1955) for publishing his voluminous recollections in the local newspaper as “Niagara Reminiscences and Neighbourhood News,” which is now available on the internet as Ars Historica Niagara.
The much-esteemed current Town Historian, Joy Ormsby, has been my invaluable mentor for the past twenty years.
Special thanks also to the staff and historians of Mayer Heritage Consultants Inc. who conducted and published hundreds of interviews of veterans of the Canadian Army and militia. Without their efforts many stories would have been lost.
The splendid photographs by Cosmo Condina have added another dimension to the story. I was very fortunate to have access to the private photograph and postcard collections of Jim Smith, John Burtniak, Pat Simon, Joe Solomon, Peter Moogk, Chris Allen, Judith Sayers, and others.
Over the years I have enjoyed many interviews with local townsfolk who welcomed me into their homes and their memories. Many have now passed on.
A sincere thanks to each of the following who has assisted me in a variety of ways. Listed in no particular order: Bill Severin, Clark Bernat, Sarah Maloney, Amy Klassen, Neil Rumble, Jarred Picher, Ron Dale, David Webb, Bob Garcia, Daniel Laroche, Peter Martin, Suzanne Plousos, René Chartrand, Gavin A. Watt, Wes Turner, Pat Simon, Erika and Jim Alexander, Jon Jouppien, Noel Haines, Jim Smith, Peter Moogk, Chris Allen, Terry Boulton, Glen Smith, John Harkness, Marie Webber, Kay Toye, Trudi Watson, Richard West, Margo Fyfe, Hope Bradley, John “Ted” Bradley, George Howse, Doug Hunter, Evelyn Campbell, Penny Coles, Anna Tiedtke, Rosi Zirger, Duncan McLaren, Marilyn and Paul Shepherd, Al Derbyshire, John McLeish, Tony Roberts, Bill Lindsay, Donald Combe, Fred Habermehl, Bob Lewis, Tammy Richardson, Susan Merritt, Cameron Williams, Peter Babcock, John Sinclair, Allen S. Merritt, Jere Brubaker, Donald Harrison, Roger Harrison, Harold and Marjorie Clement, Maggie Parnall, Gerda Molson, Sharon Whittaker, Linda Gula and all the current NOTL library staff, Brian Dunnigan, Alun Hughes, Carl Benn, Robert S. Allen, Paul Fortier, Guy St-Denis, Dave Roth, William Smy, Callie Stacey, Tom Braybrook, Mario Iazzo, Leah Wallace, Cathy MacDonald, Tahir Khan, Nancy Butler, Michael Power, Kathy Powell, Bridget Ker, Debbie Whitehouse, Robert Ritchie, Dennis Schmahl, W. Herbert Crawford, Harry James, Russell Sanderson, Gail and Mike Dietsch, Pat and Ron Balasiuk, Peter Stokes, Gracia Janes, Margherita Howe, Laura Dodson, Judy MacLachlan, Rod and Bev Craig, John Walker, Tony Doyle, David Hemmings, and others whom I have sadly forgotten.
Thanks to my cartographer, Loris Gasparotto, who made it look so easy.
Kirk Howard and Michael Carroll of Dundurn were most patient and helpful as we wended our way through the long publishing process.
Special kudos to my preliminary editor (and dutiful son-in-law) Jonathan Link who gently improved my prose and enlightened me on military culture and terms. The efforts of Dundurn in-house editor Jennifer McKnight are much appreciated.
And finally, a special thank you to my wife Nancy and daughters Tiffany and Susannah who have put up with so many years of repetitive stories, out-of-the-way side trips, library visits, meetings, cluttered dining room and kitchen tables, as well as long walks on the Commons and Paradise Grove in all kinds of weather … and to Tillie the dog, who made it so much fun.
The Parkway, artist R. Martin, watercolour miniature. On Queen’s Parade, under the canopy of Paradise Grove approaching the open Commons.
Courtesy of R. Martin.
Introduction
Today, the most popular approach to the historic town of Niagara-on-the-Lake is from the south along the Niagara River Parkway. As one emerges from the oak bower of Paradise Grove the wide expansive green on both sides of the road invariably impresses the first time visitor; even lifetime residents marvel at the simple beauty of this verdant tranquil plain edged with mature trees. Visitors to Fort George will learn the role of the fort in the pivotal War of 1812 from the guides and interpretive displays. However, on climbing one of the southwestern bastions of the fort and gazing out over the plains beyond, one would have no inkling just how much this view has changed over the past 250 years.
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the Indian Council House stood in the midst of the plain. There thousands of Natives would encamp for their annual presents and for treaty negotiations. For over a century various British and Canadian regiments could be seen marching across those fields along present Otter Trail. Today this “walk into history” is a recreation trail enjoyed by walkers, cyclists, in-line skaters, and dogs alike. Generations of militiamen trained on these fields, including summer encampments “under canvas.” During the two world wars, up to twenty thousand men assembled there at any one time for basic training before shipping out overseas. Many never returned. Despite all this military activity, the local citizens always regarded these open spaces and woodlands as common lands — places to graze their livestock, harvest mushrooms, hunt game, gather firewood, play various games, hold country fairs, and enjoy special events.
The British colonial government and the subsequent Dominion of Canada officially referred to these lands as the Fort George Military Reserve. Locally they were called The Common, The Fort George Common, The Garrison Common, The Commons, Niagara Plain, The Green, and others. It was only after the Department of National Defence decided that there was no longer a need for summer camps that the lands were officially turned over to the present Parks Canada. Although declared a “National Historic Park” in 1969, today the Niagara National Historic Sites comprise a complex of National Historic Sites in and near Niagara-on-the-Lake: Fort George, Fort Mississauga, Navy Hall, Butler’s Barracks, Queenston Heights, Navy Island, and the Battlefield of Fort George. Although considered “a historic place” as part of the significance of both Fort George and Butler’s Barracks, the Commons is not designated on its own merits.
This book traces the evolution (some would say degradation) of the original 444 acres of land referred to as the Fort George Military Reserve to the approximately 285 acres protected today. Included are references to the many perimeter properties and structures because they are very much a part of the story. One chapter is devoted to the Fort Mississauga Commons that was a separate military reserve. A final chapter discusses some of the efforts to protect the fragile Commons, preserving it for future generations.
Through my maternal grandfather I am descended from an early Niagara family. As a young boy I was brought to Niagara on several occasions to visit two great-great aunts and one great-great-uncle still living in the then 150 year-old family home. While munching on scrumptious homemade cookies, I was regaled with exciting stories about the old town and “the war” … not the Korean or the Second World War or even the Great War, but the War of 1812. One story particularly intrigued me: an ancestor was out gathering mushrooms on “The Commons” one clear sunny morning when suddenly it became very dark and much cooler as a massive flock of millions of migrating passenger pigeons flew over.
I was fortunate to be able to practise medicine in the Niagara Region, marry, and raise a family in Niagara-on-the-Lake. I became very involved in the heritage community and increasingly aware of ongoing threats