About the Book
Excerpt from Landmarks on the Niagara Frontier: A Chronology He wanted Great Britain to have a record title to all this territory from lake to lake. At its northern end Was situated the famous Fort Niagara, the key to the entrance to the western country. Near its center was that indispensable portage around the Cataract. Along the seven miles Of that portage and for its proper protection, the army had just completed eleven blockhouses, and had also built a blockhouse at the brow Of the mountain; while for the defense respectively Of its upper and lower terminals it had built, but three years before, Fort Schlosser and a new fort just below the mountain. The Niagara portage, in the fall of 1764, was the best protected highway in all America. At the source Of the river, without even the formality Of asking the permission of the Senecas who owned the soil, a depot Of supplies (the first Fort Erie) had just been built by the British army, and was now defensible, though not fully completed. That he might have a legal title to this territory, where he had just built so many forts, and the specific legal, as well as martial, right to maintain them, was the white man' S reason for demanding that the red man publicly deed away the Niagara Frontier, and for compelling him to do 80. In this article I make reference to some places, not included within the boundaries Of the above designated Niagara Frontier, but not far beyond them, because Of their direct connection with our Frontier History. Along that Frontier, for over 150 years before Sir William Johnson held that great treaty, and during the century and ahalf that has elapsed since, there have been many wars and rumors Of wars, and in those wars four great nations, namely the Indians, the French, the British, and the United States, have borne their parts. And in preparation for, during, and as a result Of those wars, each Of these nations have, in turn, erected forts and fortifications within its boundaries. Of at least one fort that there is good reason to believe the Neuters erected on this Frontier, about 1600, no vestige remains; of two other Indian forts, traces exist; while of the many forts built by the white man on the river, or along the portage, only two (third Niagara and Mississauga) remain perfect. Five Others still exist, three of them In ruins (fifth Erie, third George, Drummond). The exact site of one portage blockhouse ls recognizable. Fort Porter 18 still maintained as a garrisoned post, but all its works have been leveled to the ground. Of these seven forts, one (niagara) was built by the French; four (portage Blockhouse, third George, Mississauga, Drummond) by the British; and two (fifth Erie and Porter) by the United States; and Of them Niagara, the Portage Blockhouse, and part of George ante-date 1800. Niagara, the most famous Of them all, the last of Six difterent forts on the same site, was owned by France for thirty-four years, then captured by the British and held for thirty - seven years, and then surrendered peaceably to the United States, who have held it, with the brief exception of fifteen months during the War Of 1812, ever since. Over Fort Porter no flag save that Of the stars and stripes, and that always in peace, has ever floated. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
