Tom Martin
Well Known Member
A Shared Canadian and USA History
Last week my wife Diane and I in our EVO F1, along with Wayne Hadath and his wife Barb in there F1, visited the village of Put In Bay, Ohio. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Put-in-bay This village is located on South Bass Island which is in Lake Erie about 15nm from Sandusky. We cleared customs in Sandusky, (KSKY), and then flew back to land at the Put In Bay (3W2) airport.
This is a resort island of 600 year round residents that can grow to 16,000 on nice summer weekends. Fortunately for us it was very quiet last week and we did not stay for the Labour Day crowds. It is a delightful place to visit with a multitude of restaurants, shops and different accommodation options. We stayed at the Anchor Inn, which is a quiet bed and breakfast close to the down town. The airport has a very nice runway and a large ramp/tie down area. The best meal of the trip was furnished by a restaurant at the end of runway 03.
Although the islands economy has been based on tourism for over 100 years at one time it had significant wine and fishing industries. Before that, in the early 1800s it?s protected harbour sheltered the US fresh water naval fleet. Although I am familiar with the war of 1812, visiting this little island and the historical centre that is located there showed me a part of the war that I was not aware of. Leading up the war of 1812, both the US and the British built small fleets of naval vessels to protect their important Great Lake trade routes. The US fleet was based at Put In Bay. On Sept. 10 1813, the US fleet engaged the British fleet and destroyed and captured their ships. The commander or the US fleet was 28 year old Oliver Perry. The other major battles of the war for the most part were fought on either side of the border with give and take on both sides. One of the more defining battles concluded with the burning of the public building of Washington DC by the British forces in August of 1814.
The Ghent treaty, ending the war, was signed on December 24, 1814. The treaty returned land status to that held before the war. One of the terms of the treaty called for the total disarmament of naval vessels on the great lakes.
In 1913 the Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial was constructed. It is a 350 foot tall Doric column dedicated, "to inculcate the lessons of international peace by arbitration and disarmament." The attached pictures were taken from this tower. The view west shows the harbour, the view to the south shows the airport in the distance. This is a most impressive monument and well worth the visit to the island and the $6 elevator ride. From the top of the tower it is possible to see the mainland shores of both countries.
For almost 200 years our two countries have shared the longest unarmed border in the world. Our disputes have been settled by discussion and arbitration and stand as an example to the rest of the world. It was uncanny that the first headline I read upon returning home was that US coast guard vessels in the Great Lakes have recently been armed with machine guns and test fire zones have been set up. I understand the need for increased border security but it is a sad statement on current world affairs that a 200 year symbolic tradition has been altered.
