Fortress Louisebourg

I visited Fortress Louisbourg in 1987 when I travelled across Canada with my Brother, Trevor. It has been imprinted on me ever since. Here on a windy, isolated coast of South East Cape Breton Island is an intricate reconstruction of the town as it would have been in 1744.

Louisbourg was not a shantytown. It was a boomtown. It had cobble stone streets, homes and mansions, churches, army barracks, and a hospital. The whole place was surrounded by a large stone wall – patrolled by armed guards. These guards, muskets in hand, are still walking the walls today (thanks to Parks Canada).

“Canadian history seemed uninteresting at school,” Jim said. “Yet, this place is fascinating.”

The French founded Louisbourg. In thirty-two years it had become a vibrant community of two and a half thousand people, one of the main shipping ports in North America and a real source of annoyance to the British - so they invaded - and sent the residents back to France. That turned out to be a waste of time, because after occupying Louisbourg for five years, Britain signed a treaty and gave the town back to the French. It’s no wonder the French don’t trust the British - nine years later the British returned with thirty thousand troops and deported all the residents back to France - again. To add insult to the French, it took a mere ten years of occupation before the British blew up the fortifications and left. Louisbourg existed for only fifty-five years before being abandoned.

“This was just a grassy field when Parks Canada decided to reconstruct. Yes, and an archaeological gold mine.” Our guide looked around the reconstructed kitchen we were standing in. “It’s the details that make this place magical,” he added. “It’s all authentic – from the pattern on the china to the type of latch on the window –it is all as it would have been.”

For me what makes it magical are the snapshots of time past. I looked out of a rain-splashed window to see three soldiers in full uniform, heads down against the storm, walking up the cobbled street.

Louisbourg has a strong Australian connection – even if the country had not been discovered yet. A young Captain Cook lived in Louisbourg during one of the British occupations. While walking the waterfront, he met a fella working on a Nautical Chart. He was fascinated by this map making - and he learnt the basics of the skill at Louisbourg. He continued making nautical charts. In fact, the British used Captain Cook’s charts when they successfully navigated the shifting channels of the St Lawrence enroute to their pivotal defeat of the French on the Plains of Abraham (Quebec City). After leaving Canada, Captain Cook would take his map-making skills to the Pacific - and go on to discover Australia.