Abstract
This original and perceptive book is an important contribution to our understanding of the Great Lakes. While concentrating on Lake Ontario, the study is a model for similar works on the other Great Lakes – Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior. The author, Ben Ford, a professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, is to be commended for successfully applying the landscape approach to his subject. This approach is not novel, but while many others have used it to less effect, Ford applies a crystal-clear methodological formula throughout. The result provides relief from some of the ‘landscape fatigue’ readers may experience as nearly every new maritime archaeological study seems to employ this approach – even if it does not work well, or is not well employed by the author.
The book consists of a foreword by Kevin Crisman of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M. He finds it a work of original and wide-ranging archaeological inquiry, with two goals: to produce a scholarly, readable, historical and archaeological study of Lake Ontario, and to generate a model cultural landscape study for maritime archaeologists, and others, to inspire and guide future investigations. The first is certainly a manageable goal, which was accomplished. But the second goal is both ambitious and risky. Failure to accomplish such a bold objective would leave the author open to criticism for overreach, and almost guarantees a critical reading to ascertain that the author made good on his pledge. Ford succeeds in achieving both goals.
Ford’s approach is to address the methodological issues and approach in chapter one before moving into the substance of the work. He demonstrates through historical examples how seamen in the eighteenth century erased the boundary between sea and shore by leading both a seafaring life and that of a farmer, merchant or labourer ashore. People moved around, from ship to shore. ‘Just like today, not everyone in the past wanted to or was able to be a water person, but they may have engaged the maritime world through goods moved by water, loved ones employed on ships, or profiting from harbour trades. The shore thus forms a bridge between maritime archaeology and terrestrial archaeology through the communication and transportation routes that radiate from the shoreline. Following these routes onto land and across the lakes, the ultimate goal of this book is to view lakemen and lakewomen as part of their Lake Ontario maritime cultures, and the maritime cultures as part of their larger societies’ (2). He defines the landscape as the physical environment perceptible to an individual and his or her perception of the environment.
The geography of Lake Ontario and its names map an approach to the landscape. The rise and fall and rise of the lake from ca 10,000 BC incorporate not only the geological changes and associated names, but the place-names that have helped define locations and given them meaning. There are points of contention, since most of the Native American toponyms have been lost because they were transmitted orally and not cartographically. The British quickly erased French place-names following their occupation of contested territories. Since much of the archaeological survey work done by the author and others was in the north-eastern part of Lake Ontario, many examples are drawn from this region.
Two chapters focus on the history of Lake Ontario, providing context. Ships and shipwrecks discussed include the first American-built warship, the brig Oneida in 1809, and Scourge (ex Lord Nelson) lost with Hamilton in a gale in 1813. Their discovery off Hamilton, Ontario in the early 1970s was international news, amplified by the United Sates’ decision to cede ownership of the vessels to Canada. The story does not receive extensive comment, perhaps because it is so familiar. Ford does mention the wealth of documentation on Scourge in court records resulting from claims over its seizure during the War of 1812. Changes in ship building and technology include the introduction of the centerboard, which provided lateral resistance at sea while not requiring a deeper hull, which would restrict access to many ports. One could argue that this was perhaps the most significant shipbuilding innovation to expand the maritime landscape. Technical innovation is perceptively identified by Ford who notes ‘the war on Lake Ontario was fought by shipwrights rather than captains’ (74).
Methodology comes back to centre stage in chapters on maritime landscapes on a human scale, and on the regional scale. The focus is on the north-eastern part of Lake Ontario because it produced the most information and connections. The author singles out Carleton Island as the purest example of a cultural landscape – best demonstrating the historical and cultural interactions between humans and the environment. It forms one of several case studies. Maritime archaeologists will find in these chapters the more familiar analysis of shipwrecks found in the region.
The maritime landscape in the present is the subject of the concluding chapter – one that challenges the reader. We are reminded that this is a book about the past, and a book about the portions of the past that appear in the present through archaeological and historical evidence. Landscapes are heritage, they are personal – a means to connect communities and people with their past. They encourage a recognition of the importance of place, its impact on those within it, resulting in action to preserve and conserve the rich cultural heritage of a region. A study that can inspire such considerations while suggesting approaches that prompt them, is clearly worth reading.