The New Bridge

 At the end of September, I made my way down towards the Alexandra Bridge early in the morning, to take a photograph of Parliament Hill from the viewing platform there, as I do each month for a series. It had been some weeks since I had last been there, and I was in for a surprise. A bridge had been erected over the road, linking Major's Hill Park at left to Kiweki Point, the former Nepean Point, at right.

This is a pedestrian bridge, called Pidaban Bridge, making transit between the two locations easier for pedestrians. The work is formally scheduled to be done next year. Foundations had been poured already, and I'd assumed some of the work for the bridge would be done off site and brought in all at once. As it turns out, that was correct. Pidaban means dawn in Algonquin languages, while Kiweki means returning to one's homeland. Kiweki Point is the subject of a redo of the park space, which lies behind the National Gallery and occupies a commanding position over the Ottawa River.

The bridge itself has some things to be done before it can be opened to the public, like having railings put on, but otherwise the whole thing looks installed in place. It curves in a graceful way, and I found myself immediately liking the look of it.

I zoomed in on the setting full moon, over Gatineau at this point.

A look down at one of the foundations. I don't know when it was installed in those few weeks that I hadn't been out this way, but it was quite a job.

And crossing the road. 

There's a statue up there.

It's Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer who came up the Ottawa River in 1613. Before the reconfiguration, this statue was up at the highest part of the point, on a plinth. The plinth is gone, but Champlain is back, and will occupy a spot on the grounds. Odds are this is the spot, still with a view of the river, which is as it ought to be. The statue of an Anishinaabe scout, which once occupied a spot at the bottom of the plinth before being moved into Major's Hill Park, will be back in this area, but not in a subservient position to Champlain- on its own. 

Right beneath the bridge.

And from the far side.

A harbinger of things to come- fall colours up on the Point.

And departing, I took this shot of the early morning sky and the National Gallery.

A Museum Finale

When World War One broke out, Ottawa answered the call. Local men mustered into newly forming regiments that would become part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and fight in the trenches of Europe, where in time they would do things that simply could not be done- but do them nonetheless. 

Canadian women signed up too, going into nursing positions primarily, and seeing the carnage from another point of view.

Some of the artifacts of that time are in the Bytown Museum's collection.

A last look up here.

At the top of the stairs for the third floor are three display cases, with Ottawa over time displayed on three dimensional maps. This first one is of Bytown in 1832, with the Canal newly built and including a retaining pond where Confederation Park is today. Few roads, little activity- but one building at lower right. A church that grew into Notre Dame. It's the only building present in all three maps.

Ottawa in 1888 had grown substantially. Notre Dame looks much more like a cathedral, and Parliament Hill has replaced the structures of what had been Barrack's Hill at the end of the Canal project.

And in 1918, even more change. The retaining pond of the Canal is much smaller (today it's gone), and the downtown core of the city is more established.

I took my leave of the Museum, and passed under Plaza Bridge, built high over the remaining foundation stones of the old Sappers Bridge.

I'd bought a couple of coffee table books at the Museum, on Ottawa and the Canal, as well as a DVD on the Canal. I also bought another pair of novelty socks, looking like skates. This despite the fact that I can't skate.

The Brand New Century

 This photograph was taken after the fire that gutted the original Centre Block. The building would have to be demolished, all except for the Library of Parliament at back, which had been saved thanks to the quick action of a clerk in shutting the heavy iron doors that saved the contents of that part of the building.

This being wartime, there were allegations of sabotage and arson. 

Artifacts of the time are here.

While Parliament temporarily met at what's now the Museum of Nature, work was quickly underway to build a new Centre Block.

A few years earlier, as the 19th century gave way to the 20th century, Canadians went overseas to fight in the South African War, a guerilla war of sorts, alongside British troops. Some of the personal artifacts of that time are displayed here.

It's period photographs of the time, shown on a rotating digital screen, that bring the story to life- young men, more than a century on, far from home.

Fathers Of Confederation

 More artifacts of the Victorian Age are found here.

When the discussions came about that would lead to Confederation of the Canadian dominions, Ottawa would end up serving as the new country's capital.

This reproduction is of the Fathers Of Confederation. The original painting was lost in the 1916 fire that destroyed the original Centre Block.

Two of the leaders who brought Confederation to life were co-premiers of the Canadas. John A. Macdonald and George-Etienne Cartier are seen here as busts.

Here we have the presentation sword and scabbard of Lt. Colonel Brown Chamberlin, a militia officer who repelled a raid by the Fenians after the Civil War. You may remember that I've mentioned how Irish-American veterans of that conflict tried repeatedly to invade Canada in the years after the war in an attempt to hold it for ransom and force Britain to grant independence to Ireland. The Fenian Raids, as they were called, were influential in uniting the colonies into Confederation after time and again, the invaders were driven out.

One of the targets of the Fenians was a man who had once counted himself as one of their number. Thomas D'Arcy McGee had been a radical in his native Ireland, but had come to the new world, settling into life as a journalist, lawyer, and ultimately politician after seeing the benefits of a British style of parliamentary democracy play out in his new homeland. He would be the most eloquent of the Fathers of Confederation, coming to a new way of thinking. The Fenians never forgave him for it, and he was assassinated coming home from Parliament one night in 1868.

He was a close friend of Macdonald, who was by this time the country's first prime minister. The shock of his murder swept the country.

Some artifacts and photos of the assassination era.

It was a habit in the time to create a death mask of a person who had just died. Because of the injuries sustained in the shooting- McGee had been shot in the back of the head, disfiguring his face- that was not possible. A cast was made of his hand, and it is here, along with one of his books. A fitting tribute, to such a fine writer. 

In 1916, Parliament Hill was the scene of a major fire, with Centre Block going up in flames.

The flag that flew from the tower that night finds its home here.

Improving The Capital City

 Upon becoming the capital of the Canadian colonies, Ottawa had work to do. While the Parliamentary blocks were being erected, the town itself still had much of its rough and tumble nature, with streets of dirt. Over time, forward thinking individuals would start the process of beautifying the capital.

These items were from the old Russell Hotel.

With Ottawa hosting the capital, so too did the Governor General come. In those days, inevitably a member of British royalty, they had their own influence on the growing city and the country.

This elegant dress or a cabinet of fine china date back to those early years of governor-generals.

The Victorian Age was one of social conservatism mixed with odd superstitions, and the Museum looks at that, in terms of how people of the time mourned and marked the passing of loved ones.

The painting here at centre is of Sarah Olmstead, who married two men of prominence in the capital years before it became a capital- Philemon Wright Jr, and upon his death, Nicholas Sparks. The families loom big in local history.

Some of the unusual contents of the cabinets- including a wreath made of human hair.

View Of The Ottawa River Looking Southeast Towards Parliament Hill And The Entrance To The Rideau Canal is by Annabella McLeod, dating to the 1880s.