INDIANS AT QUEENSTON HEIGHTS - 13 OCTOBER 1812

Plaque bearing this title is  mounted on a granite rock in an open area between the Mackenzie Heritage Printery and the village of Queenston

This memorial was erected by the Niagara Parks Commission and the Queenston Community Association with the assistance of the Ontario Minister of Culture and Recreation, 12 October 1980.

Warriors of the Six Nations of Iroquois (Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, Tuscaroras), many from the Grand River, fought as allies of the British in the historic battle against the Americans at Queenston Heights. They were led by John Norton, a resourceful and courageous commander, a man of Cherokee and Scottish ancestry, who was a Mohawk (Teyoninhokarawen) by adoption.

His tactical decision to ascend the escarpment at a considerable distance along the road west of Queenston gave his forces a climb easier than that attempted by Major-General Sir Isaac Brock on the cliff close to the Niagara River. The woods on the right flank of the American force moving westward along the heights gave Norton and his followers cover as they pinned down the enemy’s advance until the troops came up to sweep the Americans off the Heights. He was commended in dispatches for the “judicious position which Norton and the Indians with him” had taken.

Norton also fought with his Indians at Fort George, and pursued the retreating American forces after their thrust was stopped at Stoney Creek. The Iroquois warriors fought for their own survival as a people and in support of the British in the War of 1812.