Drawing Out Memories From The Past

My post last week about Oscar Peterson had me looking at the plaque behind the sculpture. It also made me think of the plaques for The Valiants, the series of statues I showed you not long ago. Click on it in the tags below if you haven't seen it. I photographed the plaques as a reference for myself at the time, leaving them in my folders. 

Looking at these photos again, it got me thinking of just how many historical plaques and markers there might be out there. It must be countless. I remembered from childhood driving up to see my grandparents regularly with my mother, a trip of under an hour up to Guelph. There was a historical marker along the route we usually took, and I would ask that question from time to time- how many of those do you think are out there? A whole lot, no doubt, and if you tried to stop and see every single one of them, you'd never get where you were going. It's odd how a photograph can draw such memories back to the surface. 

I like the plaques that are incorporated into these memorials. With the first, Frontenac's quote is one for the ages. Brant's Mohawk name spelled out is a good touch for the man who had quite a reputation among his people, not to mention among the British, the Canadian Loyalists, and the Americans. And Brock's plaque mentioning the capture of Detroit makes me wonder what the general would make of what has become of that city today.

Into The Mists Of Time

I last showed you some of the sculptures here in winter. I thought I would go through these statues and busts at Plaza Bridge, called The Valiants, for a few days. They stand between the National War Memorial, the Chateau Laurier, and the Government Conference Centre, and represent figures in Canadian military history.

We start with the Comte de Frontenac, governor of New France, who defended Quebec against an English attack in 1690.

Lt. Colonel John Butler served during the American Revolution, leading a band of Loyalists called Butler's Rangers in engagements against American forces from Kentucky to New York State. The Rangers settled in the Niagara area after the Revolution.

Laura Secord lived in the Niagara region during the War Of 1812. She delivered news of an impending American attack to British officers.

Lt. Colonel Charles de Salaberry was an officer in the British army during the War of 1812, and fended off American attacks in Quebec, particularly at the Battle of Chateauguay.