Welcome to Route 1812 ~ Pathways to Peace ~ Western Corridor War of 1812-1814

Ontario Visited is pleased to welcome Pathways to Peace ~ Western Corridor 1812-1814 to our Article Section of Ontario Visited ~ War of 1812 Website. We thought we would start by introducing the Western Corridor 1812-1814 Projects. We welcome you to visit their website at www.westerncorridor1812.com for all details and current information.

The Longwoods Road Trail
Includes the communities of Melbourne, Wardsville and Bothwell

London did not exist during the War of 1812 and this part of Upper Canada was sparsely settled.  Imagine a vast towering forest with a tavern in Byron, a few farms along the Thames River at Delaware, a family-run tavern in Wardsville, and the First Nation village of Fairfield with a gentle population of 200 people.

The war brought bad times for these people.  British soldiers, Native warriors and American marauders were hungry, weary and cold; and would steal from the colonists to survive.  In the end, Fairfield would be burned to the ground and its people scattered.  One of North America’s most important First Nations’ leaders, Tecumseh, would be dead.  And the war losses of homes, barns, livestock and mills that were burned and stolen would be great.

As the Commemoration of the War of 1812 approached in 2010, local people wanted to retell the stories about how the war affected the women and families.  Communities along this stretch of the Longwoods Road have painted more than 80 barn quilts that interpret the war.  There is the Wardsville trail, Longwoods trail, and the Native Women’s Trail of Tears.

Two hundred years later we finally have a list of names of all the men who died at the Battle of the Longwoods.  We now recognize that this part of Canada might be part of the United States had it not been for the support of the First Nations Confederacy.

Tecumseh had a dream of uniting all the First Nations from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, but on October 5^th, 1813, Tecumseh was killed during the battle against General Harrison near Thamesville. The dream of a large Indian Confederacy in the northwest died with him.

Marked here from the Tecumseh Monument to Delaware, The Longwoods Road, old King's Highway #2, is one of Canada's oldest roads. There is so much to see and do, plan to visit again. Join us with Ontario Visited’s next Blog issue as Route 1812 Journey continues…