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History
Historical
Features
Stone
Railway Bridge Built in 1879 in Red Hill Valley.
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- At
least 40 identified archeological sites extending back
to 11,000 B.P. including oldest site in Hamilton
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Location of first school, first church, first public building,
and first industries in Hamilton
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Point of furthest penetration of American armies in War
of 1812
A
Pendant of Time in Red Hill Valley
(article
first published in July, 1993)
The
questions are inevitable. The reporter is insistent. What
does the discovery of the 4000-year-old native pendant in
Red Hill Valley mean for the plans to construct a six-lane
expressway there? Does the unearthing of the artifact mean
the burial of the highway?
They
seem like logical queries, questions that require answers,
but somehow they miss the point. The debate over the road
has been going on for a little over 40 years; the pendant
has been around a hundred times longer. Thoughts about it
should run a little deeper than a local political controversy.
It
speaks to us about our roots and urges our minds to drift
back in time. Its discovery reminds us that fellow humans
have lived on this ground for thousands of years.
Long
before the Europeans dreamed about a new route to China
or even knew such a place existed; people were born, lived
their lives and died at the head of the lake.
In
those times, much of what is now the lower part of Hamilton
was a vast swamp, cut deep with inlets from the bay, and
crossed by more than a dozen streams. Scientists and historians
tell us the harbour was probably the most productive fish
spawning area in Lake Ontario, and the wetland was home
or migratory stopover for immense numbers of waterfowl.
Little
wonder that the earliest native hunters gathered along the
banks of Red Hill, the largest of the streams and the one
which lay to the east of the swamp.
Little
wonder too that the French priest, Etienne Brule, found
an Attiwandaronk (or Neutral) Nation of 35,000 people when
he ventured into the Hamilton area in 1615.
Given
the soggy state of much of the rest of the bay area, it
is also not surprising that the Red Hill Valley played a
prominent role in the earliest pioneer history of Hamilton.
Here
we find the future city's first school operating on a farm
adjacent to the creek mouth in 1790. Four years later, Governor
Simcoe had a hotel constructed on the beach on the other
side of the creek. The eight-room King's Head Inn was Hamilton's
first public building.
Further
up the creek, loyalist settlers were laying the foundations
for the future industrial character of the city. In 1795,
William Davis constructed a sawmill at Albion Falls, followed
shortly thereafter by a grist mill. These were the first
two industries established in Hamilton. The latter operated
into this century and its millwheel has been preserved and
mounted in King's Forest Park.
Natural
gas was discovered during construction of the mill. An early
historian recounts how "two Irishmen were quarrying rock
for the wheel pit when one stooped to light his pipe. The
match ignited the gas which flared up, singeing his hair,
whiskers and clothing. He was terribly frightened and shouted
'Mike, we've broke through into the infernal regions and
the devil is after us sure. May all the saints preserve
us'."
The gas was used to light the mill for a century, while
a little way down the creek, seeping bubbles could produce
a flame two feet high on a pool of water. Even today, enterprising
hikers can sniff out the spot and collect enough gas to
cook their lunch.
Davis
also constructed a tavern by the banks of the creek where
it cuts through the height of land that now supports King
Street. This sand and gravel bar is the shoreline of ancient
Lake Iroquois. The low hill stretches right across Hamilton's
downtown to Dundurn Castle and out York Road along the area
then known as Burlington Heights. In Davis' time, this was
the major pioneer road from Niagara, and for eons before
that it served as an important Indian trail.
Along
it also, 180 years ago this month, came invading American
armies bent on annexing all of British North America to
the new U.S. republic.
On
June 4th, 1813, they arrived at a Wesleyan Methodist church
standing near the present site of Stoney Creek Cemetery.
A
Hamilton Spectator historian of 1873 takes up the
story from there: "The advance encountered Capt. Williams,
whom they drove to the west side of the Big Creek (the early
name of Red Hill). Williams and his men mounted the west
bank of the Big Creek and, firing from thence, killed one
man and mortally wounded another who was carried into Davis'
tavern."
As darkness was approaching, the Americans decided to fall
back to the church. Williams, in the meantime, was able
to contact General Vincent at Burlington Heights, and a
decision was made to launch a night attack.
The
British forces were hurriedly brought down the trail to
Red Hill. "On they stole down the west bank of Big Creek,
then up the eastern one like a train of noiseless ghosts.
Just as they arrived at Davis', the slumbering echoes of
the woods awoke upon their ears with the sound of a gun,
in the very direction of the enemy."
"The
report called for increased caution; some information was
gleaned from Davis; and an order went around to have the
charges drawn from every gun lest by some accident they
should go off and, perhaps, defeat the only scheme by which
they could hope for success. They now formed into sections;
and with the light companies of the 49th in the van and
Vincent at the head of the rear column, they once more proceeded"
— to victory in the historic Battle of Stoney Creek.
The
banks of Red Hill, then, marked the point of furthest penetration
of the invading American forces. The church, on the far
eastern edge of its watershed, was another Hamilton first,
and only the second built in western Ontario.
By
the beginning of this century, the radical transformation
of the local landscape was well under way — a process
that would drain the wetland, bury all the streams except
Red Hill, and fill in more than 25% of the bay to build
the industries along Burlington Street.
The
past was remembered then too. In 1915, a prominent Hamilton
citizen named Frank Wood outlined his local archeological
findings in the Papers and Records of the Wentworth Historical
Society:
"Many
prehistoric implements have been found near the Red Hill
creek," he wrote, "which in the time of the Indians was
a good salmon stream. Chipping places are found near many
parts of its course, also small burial places containing
one or two graves. These relics are being continuously turned
out."
Today
we have another reminder of the ancient inhabitants of Red
Hill valley; just a few months after the news that the salmon
have returned to the creek for the first time since the
1890s.
Considering
how this creek has watered the roots of Hamilton's past
— both native and pioneer — maybe it's not surprising
that the future of Red Hill has been the subject of such
fierce debate.
And
perhaps this is the real link between the artifact and the
expressway. Slowly turning over a 4000-year-old pendant,
one may also pause to wonder what evidence of our civilization
will be uncovered in this valley 40 centuries from today
— or if there will be someone to find it.
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"Think
of the forests, and dream of canoes, how the seasons
have circled, how the future must choose."
From
a song written by Farrell Boyce on the banks of
Red Hill Creek.
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By
Don McLean
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Audio
Presentations: Red Hill Valley - No Place for a Road