A HISTORIC SITE WORTH DEFENDING
Fort Chambly brings your family to war in the 17th century. Here are four things to know about the fort and what goes on within its walls
When workers removed the stone plaque from an outside wall of Fort Chambly, they found a message in a bottle.
It was a love letter written by the historic site’s first curator, journalist Joseph-Octave Dion, and the object of his affection was the fortification itself.
It’s not hard to fall in love with this high-walled, watchtowered square that stands straight-backed against the Chambly Rapids. There are more than 300 years of stories in this fort, and thousands more on the land. And though the history runs deep, the animators go out of their way to make Fort Chambly accessible in every way, especially for children. They hope to double the number of visitors they see annually, to 50,000, as Parks Canada celebrates the nation’s 150th birthday with free 2017 Discovery Passes.
“Are you a princess?” heritage presenter Philippe Gougeon asks a young visitor who is wearing a long dress. “Is this your castle?” Later, more conspiratorially: “Do you want to see all of it?”
It’s because of the rapids
The rapids are the backbone of Chambly.
“This was one of the first fortifications in New France, because we were protecting the rapids,” Gougeon says. “Once they reached this spot, people who were travelling by boat were obliged to go to ground and portage — that’s why the fort was here.”
Traditionally, it was the hunting and fishing ground of the Iroquois and Algonquin, who also had to stop here because of the rapids.
“When we talk about the French and the aboriginals, we always talk about how they were living in peace and how they were trading,” Gougeon says. He adds that it’s important to remember that the first wooden fort was built in 1665 to “pacify” the indigenous people, “but technically it was just a war” that happened before the Great Peace of Montreal in 1701.
“It can be touchy to talk about this, but we must. We must talk about it. It’s important to say it wasn’t just peace and treaties. These are Canada’s indigenous people.
“After that, it becomes more important to talk about the wars between the French and the British, because that would determine our history as a country.”
This is the fourth fortification built here over centuries of war
Two little boys are clamouring up the stairs. They are wearing French tricorn hats and have energy to burn. To keep them engaged and allow them to live the history, children are invited to try on 17th-century French navy uniforms and wear them throughout their tour.
The first two wooden forts built overlooking the rapids were destroyed by fire, and the third was replaced with stone in the early part of the 1700s, to protect against a more fearful enemy.
“The English are coming down,” Gougeon says. He speaks in the present tense, keeping visitors in the moment.
“We don’t know if they will come this far, but we want to protect with something better than wood, because they have cannons, they have rifles, so we have to make a fortification that is bigger and stronger.”
Though the fort was never directly attacked, it was occupied by Americans just before the Revolution, who then set fire to it on their way out of the country. Nevertheless, most the damage to the fort has been caused by nature and time.
“It was let go, and just fell into the river.”
3 Technology made it obsolete
Once through the courtyard, one of the first things visitors see is the remains of an old stone oven. This was a bakery, Gougeon says, then tilts his head toward a child. “Does it look like a bakery now?” “Noooo. What happened to it?” “Well, time.”
The main event after the American occupation was the War of 1812, Gougeon says. “The fort was quite useful and there was a regiment here, but mainly the battles were on the other side of the border. There were soldiers in every fortification we had back then, because we had to protect the territory and we didn’t know what would happen. We feared the return of the Americans, and the 1812-1814 war was the starting point of Confederation — it was the beginning of talk to create a country.”
“It’s like this place never stopped,” a guest remarks.
“There were always, always people here to protect it,” Gougeon agrees, but the fort started to outlive its usefulness as technology caught up with battle. Weapons were improving, and a canal and roads were built that circumvented the rapids. In the 1850s, rail would arrive.
4 It was rescued by a journalist
“Mom, mom! She said I’m a good soldier!” The little girl proudly displayed her little blue “medal” — children can collect these by completing Xplorer activities at all Parks Canada sites in 2017 — and seemed to have forgotten she started out as a princess. It was that sort of excitement Joseph-Octave Dion must have felt when he was within the fort’s walls.
He had worked for various newspapers in Montreal, but his hometown called him back. He had a deep affection for Fort Chambly, and the place was in shambles by the time he returned. Locals were making off with the stonework to build their own homes.
He petitioned the government for funding and Chambly residents for physical help to start the massive job of reparation and restoration.
Eventually, he moved into the fort itself, which is where one imagines he sat by candlelight and composed the message he would put in the bottle and build into Fort Chambly’s very walls.