We had a wonderful visit with Julia, she fed us a great lunch, gave us access to her internet connection and sent us home with all sorts of goodies. Many, many thanks Julia! Don’t forget the invitation to visit us in Yukon. With some of the afternoon left we decided to trundle out to Fitzroy Harbour to see what the Provincial Park there looked like. Nice little drive, perhaps a bit further out than Rideau River. We have decided to change campgrounds for the rest of the time we have near Ottawa, but we won’t make the move until Tuesday. This way we can go out to Merrickville on Monday. Which is what we have done! Merrickville is on the Rideau Canal and has a set of locks. We missed seeing a small yacht go through by a few minutes. We were busy exploring an old site that included a grist mill, flour mill, woolen mill, foundry, lumber mill and several other industries that have escaped my memory banks. We don’t see ‘ruins’ in Canada very often so I had to take a picture or two! After our picnic lunch by the locks we wander about the town which is very picturesque and quite touristy.
Then we drove due south to the St. Lawrence Seaway at Prescott. This is the location of Fort Wellington famous for being constructed but never attacked. During the War of 1812, this fort was strategic and protected the town of Prescott. It was at this point in the river where the small boats heading up the St. Lawrence reloaded their cargo into larger boats (and vice versa going the other way). So it was a pretty important place. The Americans invaded a few times and us Canucks, with some help from the Brits attacked the US and burned down the corresponding town on the American side. The fort also helped in quelling the rebellions of 1837 and the Fennian Raids. You should all remember this stuff – you covered it in high school history!
What is also of note and not very well known was the Battle of the Windmill. A group of American sympathizers and some disenfranchised Canadians, attacked the town of Prescott believing that everyone in Canada wanted to overthrow the British Government. The long and short of it is that not everyone was wanting rebellion and this American group were forced to hole up in a windmill until they surrendered three days later. There were approximately 55 lives lost between the two sides, with 11 men hung and 60 shipped off to the penal colony in Australia. What a difference a hundred and seventy years make, if the Americans ever came over now, we wouldn’t stand a chance!
