Did you know, in the 18th century, the third largest port city in North America was in Cape Breton? And that it was the most expensive and extensive fort built by the French, as well as the second most important city in New France (after Québec)? The Fortress of Louisbourg was a bustling fortified town in the 1700s. Today, it is the largest historical reconstruction in North America, having been one-quarter rebuilt (there are some differing accounts on whether it’s one-quarter or one-fifth; regardless, it’s a small portion of what was once a mighty fortress). It is a national historical site, with museums, restaurants, and reenactors. The original fortress was founded in 1713, was first captured by the British in 1745, returned to France in 1748, and captured again by the British in 1758, who dismantled it this time so the French wouldn’t come back. The reconstruction has now stood longer than the original fortress ever did.
I’ve been to the fortress a handful of times. The earliest, I was 7, and I bought a necklace with a blue-patterned metal feather pendant. The second time I remember, I was 12, and I wore a pair of pink capris which had been made from a too-short pair of pants. The third time was in 2017, when I went with my sibling and their then-girlfriend, and we had a very jolly time exploring the fort. The most recent time was last weekend, and I finally brought my partner, because I was positive it would be something he would enjoy.
He did, of course. He gave it a 9/10, they should reconstruct the whole original town. And it is quite an impressive reconstruction: it takes the better part of a day to wander around, there are both museum areas and faithful reconstructions. There are parts now where you can walk out to other parts, not reconstructed, to see the ruins and learn more about the different uses of the land. We had lunch in a tavern, and in keeping with the theme of the day, ordered off the period menu (my partner had mushroom risotto, made with local mushrooms and barley, while I had pain perdu, which is French toast), at with only a spoon since forks weren’t a thing at that point and we don’t often go around with knives on our persons. We listened and learned. We heard traditional Mi’kmaq songs, from a Mi’kmaq woman who was working her first summer at the fortress. We saw cannons being fired and musket demonstrations. We watched the ocean crash and hoped the rain would hold off while we were there (it did).
Of my visits to the fortress, this was the first one where I really felt they were trying to navigate the tension of being a nationalist project, as the national historical sites are, being a literal colonial monument, and also respecting the reality that these are unceded lands. The fortress was built in the 1960s and 1970s, by unemployed coal miners, in a project to both create an attraction and provide labour for those (largely) men. And yet, doing so once again required the displacement of people, something which still lingers in the shadows of the fortress. Parks Canada has a difficult history with expropriating land, as I well know: I live forty minutes up the road from Kouchibouguac National Park, which has been in a battle for decades over its expropriation. One of the regular bus drivers on my bus to work was a child when the land was expropriated and his family left the soon-to-be park lands. This is not that long ago. There is still work to be done in examining the ways we have harmed others by setting up these sites, even if they have been generally positive experiences for people who come to visit.
This is going to go out on August 15th, which is National Acadian Day. This is a day of celebration, a day where we make noise (the tintamarre!) and take joy in the fact that we are still here, as well as celebrate the long, difficult history of Acadie. People who lived in the original fortress were displaced numerous times, not only when the fortress was invaded and ultimately dismantled, but in Le Grand Dérangement, the deportation of Acadians in 1755. It seems fitting to talk about the fortress on this day, and also, allows me to share a final anecdote from our visit:
We stopped into a tavern, where we spoke with an interpreter, who was dressed as a proprietor of the tavern. We chatted with him about the original tavern, who had owned it and run it, and what the drinks and atmosphere would have been like. Once a couple of other people who were with us, listening, left, we spoke some more with this man. It came about that we all had connections to Moncton - and he had played with the band 1755. There we were, in 2023, in a reconstructed version of Fortress Louisbourg, almost 300 years after it had been dismantled, talking about modern Acadie. Imagine that.
Loved this!
Serendipitous moment. I’ve never been to the Louisbourg fortress, but I grew up next to Fort Henry in Kingston, so I am somewhat familiar with the time period. Kouchibouguac’s story is a sad one, to be sure. Thanks for sharing a moment with us, Alison.