The Coolidge examiner., 1934-09-07

NIagara river 20 Canada the Union Jack low
cred from the nagstAn and old Glory given to
the breeze In It's place
An American garrison was maintained thers
and the interval between the Revolution and the
War OF 1872 was one OF pleasant social inter-
course between the officers and their families
At the American Fort Niagara and the British
Fort George tnow Queenstown. ont). In De-
cember 1si3 the British captured Fort NiagAra
and held II until the close of the war. but by
the Treaty OF Ghent Il was restored to the
United States and since that time II has been
under the American flag. Although a garrison
was maintained there for awhile after that the
signing OF the Rush-B -Bagot treaty In 1918 marked
the end OF the military career OF Fort Niagara.
In the years that followed the historic old
fort fell into a gradual decline. The waters OF
Lake Ontario. washing against the sea wall. be
gan 20 undermine IL and much OF the wall fell
into the lake. Then "The Castle began 10 settle
and II became apparent that II. too. would soon
disappear Then the Old Fort Niagara assoca-
tion composed OF representatives OF various pa
triotic and civic organizations OF the Niagara
Frontier country. came into being 1t secured
appropriations from congress for restoration OF
the old fort and that restoration, under the d.
rection OF the War department, has gone for
ward steadily since that time
Today from the moated "Porte des Cinq Ma
tions." straddling the entrance, TO the British
bock-house which is It's northeastern corner, the
old fort stands precisely as IL at the stage
of Its most advanced physical development
Twenty-pounders frown again from its barbettes
and wattled redoubts; imperishably reconstructed
near the famous Lombardy poplars on the parade
ground is the 1S-foot cross Father Pierre Milet
raised In 1888; the hot-shot oven from which
heroic Fanny Doyle snatched her incandescent
cannonballs is once more In operating condition;
the primitive lifting mechanism OF its draw
bridge has been recommissioned; the 30-man
beds In the ancient French barracks are ready
for exhausted soldiery; the armed French castle,
fort within fort. has been restored In detail
from its subterranean dungeons. grotesque with
the clipped names OF military and political pri-
soners to It's interior well, stocked trade room
and covered gun-deck on the roof
And on the rampant which tops the sea wall
on the Lake Ontario side, there will be unveiled
during the celebration In September the impos
Ing sandstone monument to the Rush -Bagot
treaty. Two months ago this site the scene
OF a dramatic ceremony. In the crypt of this
memorial were placed the bones OF number OF
Unknown Warriors" which had been unearthed
during the reconstruction work. Whether they
were the remains Of French British or American
soldiers or Indian warriors no one could tell
But they found a common grave there and over
them were held burial rites by a Tuscarora In
dian chief, a Catholic priest and an Episcopal
clergyman Enemies they were once. perhaps, dur
ing century Of warfare which centered around
Old Fort Niagara but now their dust mlngles
In a sepulchre beneath a monument dedicated
to a century Of friendly neighborlIness and to
future centuries Of peace.
cby western Nswspapsr UaIoa