#14 Queenston Heights, ON: Must Have Been a Big Man

I judge the quality of a garage sale by whether any cool old stuff is for sale.  By that standard I had hit the jackpot!  Imagine finding a book called Appletons' Canadian Guide Book published in 1891 complete with a bunch of fragile maps inserted in a pocket in the back.  In 1891 cars hadn't even been invented, and this book only covered southern Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes because half of western Canada hadn't even joined Confederation yet!!  Sorry. I'm geeking out.

I brought that little red book along on this journey in the chance I might read about something old that was still relevant today.  On page 19, there was an entry for Queenston Heights: "On the summit of the Heights stands the monument which has been erected in memory of the favorite hero of Canadians.  It was erected by the voluntary contributions of the militia and Indian warriors of Canada.  It is a massive stone structure 190 ft. in height, 19 feet higher than Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square.  At the top, beneath a colossal statue of Brock, is a gallery reached by 235 steps."

I had heard a bit about Isaac Brock and his leadership in the War of 1812 but I didn't know he was that important to Canadians.  Another thing, this book was written a long time ago, and surely if a monument that massive still existed, a history nerd like myself would have known about it.  


Well, when we had parked our RV where the map showed, and taken a short walk through the woods, there it was! And even taller than I had imagined.  And those 235 steps?  They were INSIDE the column.  That is A LOT of stairs in an ever tightening spiral to some tiny windows right underneath the statue's feet.  We were sucking wind as we took in the view of the tiny village of Queenston below.  I'm guessing the size of a monument is some indication of the value of a man to his followers.  This monument to Isaac Brock seemed to match the claim of Appletons' Canadian Guide Book: "...the favorite hero of Canadians."

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