The War of 1812

The War of 18 12. The Nottawasaga Route — A Vital Link. , In 1812, an urgent dispatch travelled by courier along the Nine Mile Portage and through Fort Willow to the British commander stationed at St. Joseph Island: The United States had declared war against Britain! , The dispatch was sent via the Nottawasaga Route, a short-cut across land from Fort York in Toronto to what is now Wasaga Beach. Sending the dispatch along this quick route allowed the British to capture the American-held Fort Mackinac by surprise before the US commander even was aware that his country was at war. , Located on a small island between lakes Huron and Michigan, Fort Mackinac, sometimes called Fort Michilimackinac, was the key to the Upper Great Lakes and the northwest of the continent. Its capture enabled the fur trade, on which the Canadian economy was so heavily dependent, to continue during the war and solidified crucial First Nations support of the British cause. , War raged on the Niagara Peninsula and around the Lower Great Lakes in the latter part of 18 12 and throughout 1813. The American victory at the Battle of Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie in September 1813 gave them firm control of the Lower Great Lakes. As British goods could no longer travel to Fort Mackinac through Lake Erie, the Nottawasaga Route became a vital link in the British supply chain.