Tantramar Marshes
The Tantramar Marshes (formerly known as Beaubassin) is a National Wildlife Area on the southern part of the Isthmus of Chignecto, which joins Nova Scotia to New Brunswick and the Canadian mainland. It is the site of the historic Battle of Fort Beauséjour, the final chapter in the long battle for Acadia by the British and French. Immediately after the battle, Beaubassin was the site where the British chose to begin the Expulsion of the Acadians from the Maritimes in 1755.
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[edit] History
[edit] Beaubassin
The early Acadian settlers called the region Beaubassin. Migrating from Port Royal, the Acadians established a village in the area around 1671. The village grew to become one of the largest in Acadia. In King William's War, New England military officer Benjamin Church led the devastating Raid on Beaubassin (1696). In Queen Anne's War, Church returned for the second Raid on Beaubassin in 1704. In both raids Church burned the village to the ground and took prisoners back to Boston. Eventually, to thwart British officer Charles Lawrence's attempt to occupy the area and build Fort Lawrence, Abbe Jean-Louis Le Loutre burned the village for the last time and the Acadians moved across the marsh to Fort Beauséjour in 1750.
[edit] Fort Beauséjour
The British established Fort Lawrence in 1750 at Beaubassin and eventually defeated the French, Mi'kmaq and Acadians in the Battle of Fort Beauséjour in 1755. The fall of Beauséjour led the way for the British to begin the Expulsion of the Acadians. The British changed the name of the fort to Fort Cumberland. Although efforts to settle New England Planters in the area failed, there was a significant Migration from Yorkshire to Nova Scotia in the region.
During the American Revolutionary War, the British victory at the Battle of Fort Cumberland in late 1776 diminished the hope of the Thirteen American colonies that Nova Scotia would become part of the rebellion against Britain. After the American Revolution, the region was also settled by United Empire Loyalists.
[edit] Geography
The marshes penetrate inland from the Bay of Fundy for 10 kilometers. Acadians, who called the region Beaubassin,[1] built dykes in the early 18th century to stop the tidal influx of salt water, creating rich agricultural land on the deep sedimentary soils.
The name Tantramar is derived from the Acadian French tintamarre, meaning 'din' or 'racket', a reference to the noisy flocks of birds which feed there. The marshes are an important stopover for migrating waterfowl such as semi-palmated Sandpipers and Canada Geese. Today the marshes are the site of two bird sanctuaries.
In the past, the Tantramar Marshes were called the "World's Largest Hayfield". The hay was shipped for commercial sale along the Eastern Seaboard and to Europe as late as the 1930s. Because the salt marsh had rich, sticky, red mud and soil, the hay grown there was high in iodine. In a world where food additives were not yet being used, iodine-rich hay made the Tantramar a valuable source for healthy, high-quality fodder.
A few historic hay barns still dot the landscape. In the 1930s, more than 400 post-and-beam hay barns were still scattered across the marsh. Today there are fewer than 30.
The following rivers drain from and around the marshes:
[edit] Tantramar Region
Over time, the marshes have come to identify the overall inter-provincial region and include the following communities:
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
- Aulac
- British Settlement
- Halls Hill
- Jolicure
- Middle Sackville
- Midgic
- Mount Whatley
- Point de Bute
- Sackville
- Upper Point de Bute
- Upper Sackville
- Westcock
The Tantramar Heritage Trust is a charity dedicated to preserving heritage resources related to this region.
[edit] In the arts
The landscape of the Tantramar Marshes has inspired such artists as the poets Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman and Douglas Lochhead, painter Alex Colville and photographer Thaddeus Holownia.
[edit] Broadcasting transmitter
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation operates a shortwave broadcasting transmitter station (its RCI Sackville Relay Station) in Sackville, New Brunswick next to the Transcanada Highway for its Radio Canada International Service. The transmitters are also used by Radio Japan, China Radio International, Voice of Vietnam, Radio Sweden, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle and Radio Korea as part of a transmitter time exchange agreement.
[edit] Transportation
The Tantramar Marsh forms most of the border of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Three of the four land crossings between the two provinces go through the marsh; the fourth is located on the eastern side of the Isthmus of Chignecto, between Baie Verte, New Brunswick and Tidnish Bridge, Nova Scotia.
- The Trans-Canada Highway crosses the marshes between Amherst and Sackville. The provincial border at the Missaguash River bridge is the dividing line between Nova Scotia Highway 104-Nova Scotia Trunk 2 and New Brunswick Highway 2. This highway forms one of the two main surface transportation links between the two provinces.
- CN Rail's mainline between Halifax and Montreal runs across the marshes, parallel to the Trans-Canada Highway. This railway line forms one of the two main surface transportation links between the two provinces.
- The Mount Whatley Road is a local road that runs between Mt. Whatley, New Brunswick and Fort Lawrence, Nova Scotia. The provincial border at the Missaguash River is the dividing line between the two provinces.
[edit] References
- ^ Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. "Beaubassin Historical Marker". http://www.stoppingpoints.com/louisiana/Lafayette/Beaubassin.html.
[edit] Further reading
- Maritime dykelands: The 350 Year Struggle, published by the Province of Nova Scotia, 1987
