NAVY ISLAND

A granite block opposite Navy Island, upstream from the Falls on Niagara Park Boulevard, identifies the Island. A 1928 plaque had referred to the occupiers as “a band of invaders”, but this was later replaced in the 1970s with one that referred to a “Patriot” army from Buffalo led by William Lyon Mackenzie

Navy Island comprises 128.2 hectares situated in the Upper Niagara River. It has a rich undisturbed deposit of prehistoric archaeological material. It has also been known to history because the first British decked vessels to sail the upper Great Lakes were built here; shortly after the Conquest of New France, they were essential to maintaining the British supply lines westward during Pontiac’s uprising (1763-64).

Mackenzie landed on this Canadian island from the United States and proclaimed “The Provisional Government of the State of Upper Canada” on 13 December 1837. It was a declaration of independence from the British Crown, spelling out a republican form of government. The Patriot flag with twin stars representing the two Canadas (Upper and Lower) were hoisted over the Island. Besides the twin stars, the great seal showed a new moon breaking through the surrounding darkness, with the words “Liberty – Equality”. Members of the provisional government included Mackenzie as chairman pro tem, and Samuel Lount, Silas Fletcher, Jesse Lloyd, A.G.W.G. Van Egmond, Charles Duncombe and others.

When Mackenzie landed on the island following defeat in Toronto, he faced possible arrest in the United States and a forced return to Upper Canada, as demanded by Upper Canada’s Francis Bond Head of the governor of New York State. Mackenzie’s proclamation included a reward of 500 pounds for the capture of Bond Head by way of ridiculing Head’s offer of reward for the capture of Mackenzie. On 19 December a second proclamation was issued promising 300 acres of land and $100 in silver to every volunteer joining the Patriot forces, and a third proclamation on 21 December added an additional $100. Mackenzie is reported to have rowed over to mainland Canada to distribute the first proclamation. According to Charles Lindsey, Mackenzie’s biographer, the original band of 26 volunteers rose to about 600 from by the end of December. Most were British subjects, but after this date American volunteers joined and became the majority. The occupation of the Island was intended as a place from which to launch a return to the mainland, but the plan was abandoned when the schooner Caroline which had been supplying the island, was set on fire and forced over the Falls by British forces.