After a stormy and sleepless night it was time to move north on the Oswego Canal towards the city of Oswego. We had three locks ahead of us before our planned stop between locks 7 and 8. As we passed through lock 7 there were several geese trying to enter the lock as we exited. The lock master told us that they were not lost but they would use the lock as passage to go upstream where there was a low spot along the wall where they could get on the land.
October of 1615 marked the beginning of recorded history with the arrival of the first European, Samuel de Champlain. The British and Dutch established a settlement at Oswego in 1722 to facilitate fur trade with the Indians.
During the French and Indian War era, five local forts were built to protect the British supply route from Albany to Oswego. Three of these (Forts George, Oswego, and Ontario) were located within the present city limits. During the colonial era, Oswego was the jewel of the empire, vied over by the British and French due to its strategic location and natural transportation advantages played a strategic role in the French and Indian War of the 18th century. The first British fortress – Fort Ontario – was built in 1727 on the west side of Oswego later to be followed by the addition of Fort Ontario in 1755.
We arrived at the wall between the locks to find a rough concrete mooring wall with large bollards and small rings. We spun the boat against the current to lesson the chine on the stern of the boat that keeps us awake at night. We ran several lines back to the boat to lessoned the chances of kids releasing the boat into the canal. We were later joined by “Saga” who tied up south of us. We ran several lines back to the boat The area was a little sketchy but well lit.
We broke out the bikes and took a hilly ride to Walmart, Home depot and a Grocery store and resupplied the boat. The weather forecast showed rain and it was cooler than expected.
Maria and I visited Fort Ontario located overlooking Lake Ontario on the east side of the canal.
Fort Ontario is located on the east side of the Oswego River on high ground overlooking Lake Ontario.
Fort Ontario was one of several forts erected by the British to protect the area around the east end of Lake Ontario. The original Fort Ontario was erected in 1755, during the French and Indian War in order to bolster defenses already in place at Fort Oswego on the opposite side of the river. At that time its name was the “Fort of the Six Nations,” but the fort was destroyed by French forces during the Battle of Fort Oswego in 1756 and rebuilt by British forces in 1759.
he fort was attacked and destroyed by British forces during the War of 1812 in the year 1814. After a period of disuse, new construction was undertaken in part because of tensions with Great Britain as well as to check smuggling activities between Canada and the United States.
During the American Civil war the new construction began at the fort because of fear of British help from Canada to the Confederacy. After the Civil War it held Company F, 42nd Infantry which consisted of wounded soldiers from the war that had reenlisted in the U.S. Army. Although the fort remained a military base, the fort itself fell into ruin, since funds were used to create more modern quarters outside the fort.
It was a rainy day so the traffic was light which gave us free reign of the fort for our self guided tour. After our tour we stopped by the Oswego Marina to pick up a package for “Gemini” that came after their departure. we then stopped for lunch at The Press Box which was a small sports bar a block off the canal. The food was not that great but our choices were limited. After relaxing on the boat we met up with a few Loopers for appetizers and drinks at The Press Box the headed back to the boat where we settled in for another night on the wall and hope for good weather in the morning to make a run across Lake Ontario.
