Snake Hill dig findings topic of speakers engagement
Niagara Parks Commission will host another speaker series event Wednesday, focusing on archeological findings from the 1987 excavation of Snake Hill in Fort Erie, as well as other archeological discoveries from the past five years.
This year marks the 30-year anniversary of the excavation at Snake Hill, where the bodies of 28 U.S. soldiers who died in 1814 were found on private property.
Robert MacDonald, who played a key role in the excavation, will speak to the findings and the impact they have had on our understanding of one of the major events of the War of 1812.
John Triggs, a professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, will also speak to the findings uncovered by his teams of students during archaeological excavations in Fort Erie, as part of their fieldwork, since 2012, where his students have and will continue to search for remnants of the original British fort constructed at this location.
The fort is considered to have been the oldest British military fort built in Ontario, dating back to 1760.
According to Niagara Parks, such discoveries as soldiers’ bodies have led to monumental breakthroughs in our interpretation and understanding of the War of 1812 and its impacts on the development of the Niagara region and Canada.
“The cultural heritage stories that characterize the lands along the 56-kilometre Niagara River corridor, which Niagara Parks has been mandated to protect, represent a truly unique chapter of the broader Canadian narrative that we are all celebrating in 2017, the sesquicentennial anniversary of Confederation and the founding of Ontario,” says the parks commission.
Wednesday’s speakers event runs 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Old Fort Erie Welcome Centre Theatre at 350 Lakeshore Rd.
Admission is free. For more information, visit www.niagaraparks.com/heritage.