Now You Know Canada's Heroes
By Doug Lennox
()
About this ebook
When it comes to Q&A trivia, Doug Lennox has no peer. Sir Isaac Brock, Tecumseh, Laura Secord, Norman Bethune, Terry Fox, and Roberta Bondar are all Canadian icons we’ve come to cherish. Doug gives the dope on all those famous heroes and many more, but you’ll also discover the amazing courage, pluck, and accomplishments of Upper Canada Rebellion heroine Elizabeth Barnett, privateer Joseph Barss, the Angel of Long Point Abigail Becker, the First Lady of Labrador Mina Hubbard, and Second World War pilot Charley Fox - genuine heroes all!
- Who was the "musketeer in petticoats"?
- Who was the "Laura Secord of Gananoque"?
- What War of 1812 privateer was the founder of a major Canadian bank?
- How did an aristocratic French girl become a Canadian Robinson Crusoe?
- Who was the first Canadian firefighter to die in the line of duty?
- How did Tom Longboat astound the world in 1907?
- Who was the first Black woman electedt o Canada’s Parliament?
- How did a dog named Gander become a Canadian war hero?
Doug Lennox
Doug Lennox was an internationally acclaimed broadcaster, a veteran character actor, a commercial voice artist, and a bestselling author. He has appeared in more than 60 films and television features, including X-Men, Police Academy, Lonesome Dove, and Against the Ropes, and shared screen time with Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman, Burt Reynolds, Holly Hunter, Eric McCormack, Gary Oldman, and a myriad of others.
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Now You Know Canada's Heroes - Doug Lennox
NOW YOU
KNOW
CANADA’S HEROES
NOW YOU
KNOW
CANADA’S
HEROES
Doug Lennox
DUNDURN PRESS
TORONTO
Copyright © Dundurn Press Limited, 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.
Editor: Edward Butts
Copy Editor: Allison Hirst
Design: Courtney Horner
Printer: Webcom
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Lennox, Doug
Now you know Canada’s heroes / by Doug Lennox.
ISBN 978-1-55488-444-5
1. Heroes--Canada--Biography. 2. Canada--Biography.
I. Title.
FC25.L46 2009 971.009’9 C2009-902994-4
1 2 3 4 5 13 12 11 10 09
We acknowledge the support of The Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.
J. Kirk Howard, President
Printed and bound in Canada.
Printed on recycled paper.
www.dundurn.com
contents
Preface
Courage in Battle
To Serve and Protect
Larger-Than-Life Legends
Valiant Women
Prodigies of Science, Invention, and Medicine
Brave Young Canadians
In the Line of Duty
Civilian Heroes
Intrepid Explorers
Native Icons
Paragons of Politics
Canada’s Rebels
Champions of Sport
Martyrs and Marchers
Marathon Men and Women
Amazing Animals
Question and Feature List
preface
Most Canadians are well aware that our country has many heroes: men, women, and even children who have excelled in various endeavours or shown bravery or resourcefulness in war, disaster, and other trying situations. We learn about some of our heroes in school, people such as Sir Isaac Brock, Laura Secord, Tecumseh, William Lyon Mackenzie, and Louis-Joseph Papineau. Many of our heroes have been athletes who, in both amateur and professional competition, consistently perform far above the average. Canadian heroes are honoured with statues, monuments, and plaques. Their names have been given to rivers, mountains, highways, and public buildings. Their images have appeared on stamps, their life stories have been written by biographers, and some have been the subjects of television documentaries and feature films.
Many of Canada’s heroes haven’t been soldiers, police officers, renowned explorers, or hockey stars, but ordinary people who found it within themselves to do something extraordinary in a life-or-death situation: a railroad worker who prevented a train wreck after a disastrous land slide, a wounded child who dragged an unconscious parent out of a shattered house following a devastating explosion, a movie projectionist whose quick thinking saved children from a killer fire. And, of course, we have had heroes like Terry Fox who gave themselves unselfishly to a noble cause.
For every Canadian hero whose name is well remembered, there are many more who, over the years, have become obscure. They fought in wars, won medals, charted unknown wilderness, made spectacular scientific discoveries, and helped people in need. At one time they were headline news, but now they are largely forgotten.
This thoroughly researched volume contains hundreds of stories about Canadian heroes. Readers will find fascinating facts about great Canadians they thought they already knew, and learn the thrilling stories of brave Canadians of whom they were previously unfamiliar. Read on, and spend some time with these remarkable heroes of Canada.
courage in battle
What is the Valiants Memorial (Monument aux Valereux)?
The Valiants Memorial is a monument in Ottawa, commemorating 14 representative figures from Canada’s military history. There are nine busts and five full statues, all life-sized, by artists John McEwen and Marlene Hilton Moore. The work is located around the Sappers Staircase, adjacent to the National War Memorial. On the wall of the staircase is a quotation from the Roman poet Virgil’s The Aeneid — Nulla dies umquam memori vos eximet aevo. (No day will ever erase you from the memory of time). The monument was dedicated on November 5, 2006, by Governor General Michaëlle Jean. The heroes represented in the monument are:
From the French Regime
• Le Comte de Frontenac
• Pierre le Moyne d’Iberville
From the American Revolution
• Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant)
• John Butler
From the War of 1812
• Major General Sir Isaac Brock, KB
• Laura Secord
• Charles de Salaberry
From the First World War
• Georgina Pope
• General Sir Arthur Currie, GCMB, KCB
• Corporal Joseph Kaeble, VC, MM
From the Second World War
• Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray, VC, DSC
• Captain John Wallace Thomas, CBE
• Major Paul Triquet, VC, CD
• Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski, VC
Where was Canada’s Thermopylae
?
On the banks of the Ottawa River’s Long Sault Rapids, in May of 1660, a band of 17 Frenchmen led by a young adventurer named Adam Dollard, with the assistance of about 40 Native allies, stood off an Iroquois force of hundreds that was en route to attack Montreal. The siege at the Long Sault lasted for a week before the Iroquois finally forced their way into the small stockade and massacred the defenders. However, because of the heavy casualties they had suffered in overpowering Dollard’s men, the Iroquois abandoned the plan to attack Montreal. This conflict in the Canadian wilderness has been compared to the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, in which 300 Spartan warriors held off a mighty Persian army for three days.
Quickies
Did you know …
• that during both world wars, the Canadian government used the story of Adam Dollard’s heroism as a recruiting aid to encourage young men to join the armed forces?
Who were Butler’s Rangers?
They were a company of Loyalist militia commanded by Colonel John Butler during the Revolutionary War. They operated mostly out of Fort Niagara, usually in the company of Native Allies. Butler’s Rangers proved to be a very effective fighting force in the western theatre of the war. After the war the Rangers disbanded and most of the men settled in Upper Canada. Many people today who are of United Empire Loyalist stock proudly trace their ancestry back to members of Butler’s Rangers.
Quickies
Did you know …
• that a little-known hero of the Revolutionary War Battle of Quebec was a riverman named Jean Baptiste Bouchette, known to his colleagues as La Tourte (Wild Pigeon)? He smuggled the governor of Quebec, Guy Carleton, who had been in Montreal, past American lines so he could get into Quebec City to take command.
Why are the Loyalists remembered as heroes in Canada?
Some Loyalists, like John Butler and John Graves Simcoe, the founder of Toronto, were war heroes. Most of the Loyalists were farmers, tradesmen, and businessmen who were persecuted in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War and after it because they had refused to join what they believed was a treasonous rebellion. After losing everything they owned in the Revolution and its aftermath, they became the pioneers who established the new British colonies of Upper Canada and New Brunswick.
Who were the Canadian Rangers?
During the Revolutionary War, Captain William Caldwell, an Irishborn British officer, led a Loyalist militia unit that became known as the Canadian Rangers. Operating out of Detroit and Niagara, the Rangers were one of the most effective fighting forces in the western theatre of the war, and Caldwell was among the most daring and successful of commanders. The Rangers and their Native allies struck deep into enemy territory and won major victories at Sandusky (Ohio) and Blue Licks (Kentucky). After the war, Caldwell moved to Upper Canada, but was one of the British agents who encouraged the Natives to fight American expansion. In the War of 1812, the aging Caldwell commanded a ranger force again. At the Battle of Moraviantown, when General Henry Proctor’s British troops broke and ran, Captain Caldwell and his Rangers stayed to fight a rearguard action alongside Tecumseh and his warriors. Caldwell died in 1822. In American histories he and his Canadian Rangers are bloodthirsty villains. In Canada they are Loyalist heroes.
Why is Sir Isaac Brock called
the Saviour of Upper Canada?
When the United States declared war on Great Britain in June of 1812, its main goal was the seizure of the British colonies of Upper and Lower Canada. Major General Isaac Brock, the military commander of Upper Canada, had a long frontier to defend with relatively few troops. Morale among the civilian population was low. In fact, the confident Americans had boasted that the conquest of Canada would be a mere matter of marching.
In spite of the seemingly impossible odds against him, Brock stopped a numerically superior American army in its tracks, and gave the people of Upper Canada reason to believe that they actually could defeat the Americans.
What were the circumstances of Brock’s
death at Queenston Heights?
On the night of October 12–13, a large American force crossed the Niagara River and landed near the village of Queenston. In the morning, when Brock arrived from Fort George, about 7.5 miles away, he found that American soldiers had taken a strategic position atop the heights overlooking Queenston and the river. Without waiting for reinforcements that were on the way, Brock rallied some troops behind him and led a charge uphill toward the American position. His general’s uniform made him a tempting target, and he was shot twice; first in the hand, and then through the breast. The Americans were eventually driven back across the river, but Brock’s death was a severe blow to the British and Canadians. For the remainder of the war the British would be unable to find another general of his calibre.
What were Brock’s dying words?
At least three supposed dying statements have been attributed to Brock.
The one most quoted is Push on, brave York volunteers.
He is also alleged to have said, My fall must not be noticed or impede my brave companions from advancing to victory.
If that seems a bit wordy for a dying man, another account has him uttering a single word in Latin, Surgite, which could be interpreted as Press on.
Actually, Brock most likely died without saying a word. George Jarvis, a 15-year-old militiaman was just a few feet from Brock when he was shot. He saw Brock fall and later reported, Running up to him, I enquired, ‘Are you much hurt, Sir?’ He placed his hand on his breast and made no reply, and slowly sunk down.
How have Canadians honoured Sir Isaac Brock?
On October 16, 1812, Brock was buried at Fort George with full military honours, along with Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonell, who was also killed in the battle. The remains of both soldiers are now in Brock’s Monument, a 184-foot tower at Queenston. The city of Brockville, Ontario, was named in his honour. There is a Brock Township in Ontario and a Village of Brock in Saskatchewan. St. Catharines, Ontario, has Brock University. In Ontario, several roads and schools have been named after Brock. In Britain, Isaac Brock was made a Knight of the Bath.
Quickies
Did you know …
• that Isaac Brock never knew that he had been knighted? On the very day he died, the church bells in London were ringing in celebration of his victory at Detroit. News travelled slowly in 1812.
Why is Laura Secord called
the Heroine of Upper Canada?
Legend has it that Laura Secord was a Canadian girl who overheard some drunken American soldiers discussing a planned attack on the small force of Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon, and walked through the woods with a cow so she could bluff her way past American patrols, and warn the lieutenant. Actually, Laura Secord was the American-born wife of a Canadian militiaman, and was 38 years old at the time of her famous walk through the woods. She did not have a cow with her. No one is certain just how she learned of the American attack. There are several versions of the story.
How dangerous was Laura Secord’s mission?
It was a very dangerous undertaking. She had to travel on foot about 20 miles through rough country full of wolves and rattlesnakes. If she’d been caught by an American army patrol, she might have been shot as a spy. There were also gangs of men who passed themselves off as militia fighting for the Americans, but who were in fact little more than ruffians and bandits; not the sort of characters a woman travelling alone would have wanted to encounter. By the time Laura reached Lieutenant Fitzgibbon’s camp, her shoes were in tatters and her feet were bleeding and blistered. Quite likely Fitzgibbon’s Native scouts had already told him of the approaching Americans, but that takes nothing away from Laura Secord’s heroic act. The Americans were completely routed at the Battle of Beaver Dams on June 24, 1813.
Who knew of Laura’s heroism?
At the time, very few people knew of it. She herself did not boast of it. In 1820, 1827, and 1837, Fitzgibbon wrote letters confirming that she had indeed made the perilous journey. In 1845, her son Charles wrote a letter about it to a Cobourg periodical. In 1853, Laura wrote a narrative for a Toronto publication. But these accounts drew scant attention. Then, in 1860, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) was in Niagara Falls to officiate at a ceremony honouring Sir Isaac Brock. He heard the story of Laura Secord’s walk through the woods, and was fascinated by it. He gave the 85-year-old woman an honorarium of 100 pounds in gold. This brought Laura national attention, and she was on her way to becoming a Canadian icon. She died in 1868 at the age of 93.
How did Tecumseh die?
On October 5, 1813, an American army led by General William Henry Harrison attacked a retreating British army commanded by General Henry Proctor near Moraviantown on the Thames River in the southwestern part of Upper Canada. The British troops broke rank and ran, but their Native allies, led by Tecumseh, stayed and fought. Tecumseh was shot and killed. His warriors carried the body off and buried it secretly. Several different Americans, including future vice president Richard Mentor Johnson would claim the honour
of having shot Tecumseh, but none would be able to satisfactorily prove the claim.
Quickies
Did you know …
• that Enos Collins of Halifax was the owner of the schooner Black Joke, the most successful privateering vessel on either side in the War of 1812? He made a fortune in the sale