"The attack on the Welland Canal is almost entirely forgotten today" That has to be the biggest understatement in this story. I was born and more or less lived my life in the Niagara Region and this is the first time I've heard of this attack.
I certainly hadn't heard of it either, I've looked at a lot of content related to Irish vs English conflicts from napoleonic era to black and tans to more recent 80s/90s IRA attacks in Manchester Brighton Gibraltar etc but I didn't know much about the finnians or attacks in Canada... very interesting video, I've never been outside north American but I know more about Europe and Asia than here lol
I was born in Niagara Falls NY and lived in Bellville , Ontario on weekends and summers as parents owned property on Lake Erie. I've crossed the lift bridges at Welland and Port Colborne Ontario thousands of times. I've never heard about this dynamiting till now. Thanks History Guy for the knowledge of history.
Why did you spend weekends and summers in Belleville (which is on the Bay of Quinte, an arm of Lake Ontario) if your parents had property on Lake Erie?
I've lived in Ontario my entire life, my family has lived at the north end of the Niagara Escarpment for 200 years, I attended Niagara College in Welland and never heard of this before now. I heard of the Fenians but thought they had been dealt with at the end of the 19th century. I've learned a new thing today. Thank you.
As I'm from Australia I'd never heard of this case. Definitely obscure history that deserves to be remembered. Thankyou and your son for your consistently awesome content THG.
For most of my life, I've lived less than an hour drive from Welland and I've never heard of this story. THG has frequently presented stories where I'm amazed that I've never heard of them before.
Well put......another Australian fan of THG. I have made many suggestions such as the Westgate bridge collapse, the extinction of the thylacine and not least of all the genocide of the Tasmanian Aboriginals. THG did do a piece on an earlier suggestion "The Eureka Rebellion" . You might like to join me in lobbing THG for more Australian content. Another seemly overlooked subject is Australia's contribution in WW1 & 2 , the Boer war, Korean and Vietnamese wars .
I am a famine folk Irish Canadian living in Toronto with ties to the Niagra Peninsula and interested in history. I am in awe, History Guy, I have never heard a hint about this and this is important history
I lived in the Niagara Region for many years, and spent a lot of time there since. We played hockey in Thorold. My uncle owned a house near the canal corridor. But I’d never heard this story. Thanks for sharing it.
I live in Ontario and am an avid student of history, and yet I had not heard about this event. Thank you THG for your continued output of great content.
having grown up along the Welland canal I can truly say I had never heard of this event despite my familiarity with many Welland canal historical facts. Thanks HG
Great piece. I’m a life-long resident of the Niagara Peninsula and heard about this many years ago. Very interesting piece of Niagara’s history. I enjoyed seeing the photos of the old canals through the area. One of the photos in the video shows the actual Lock 24 of the Third Welland Canal. It is the photo that shows a lock in the foreground in the center. To the right is the canal spillway and to the left are railway tracks and construction. That is Lock 24. The swing bridge the young woman was crossing when she saw the dynamiters fleeing the scene and saw the explosion is at the bottom of that photo. The construction to the left was for the Fourth Welland Canal or Welland Ship Canal, which opened in 1930. The site is now the location of Lock 7. Lock 24 was removed after the Third Welland Canal closed to allow finishing touches on the Fourth Welland Canal, which is still in use today. Incidentally Lock 24 measured 270 feet by 45 feet with 14 feet of water over the sill or bottom of the lock. Lock 1 of the Third Canal remained in use until 1968 when it was finally closed. While Lock 24 of the Third Welland Canal is long gone, Lock 24 of the Second Welland Canal can still be seen today in the Battle Of Beaverdams Park in downtown Thorold. In 1987 Lock 24 of the First Welland Canal underwent an archaeological excavation afterwards it was buried again to preserve it. There’s a photo of downtown Thorold in the video. It comes immediately after the photo showing a tug with a sailing ship in one of the escarpment locks of the Third Welland Canal. The photo shows railway tracks and a mill beside a waterway (Second Welland Canal). There are also a few photos of Port Dalhousie (now part of St. Catharines). Port Dalhousie was at the Lake Ontario end of the first three Welland Canals. (Port Colborne is at the Lake Erie end of all four Welland Canals.) 2029 marks the 200th anniversary of the first ships to sail through First Welland Canal between the two lakes.
1987 I was in public school, and we went to that site of the first canal's Lock 24 on a class trip. It was in Merritton near the 2nd canal's "Neptune's Staircase", just below (and climbing up to) Thorold, now directly beside Bradley St. where its lockmaster's houses still stand. We took a walk along that stretch. Still have a couple photos of the excavated lock, too.
This is an amazing story! I was born in Welland Ontario and lived there and went to school there but have never heard this story. You find some absolutely amazing treasures and I always look forward to your next video. Thank you very much for sharing this story
My memory might be at fault, but I have no recollection of seeing anything about that at the Welland Museum itself when I visited it. Good job at digging history that needs to be remembered.
It's great that St. Catharines finally picked up that torch when Welland's old Hooker St. museum was condemned. The Museum at Lock 3 is doing a decent job showing local history, but obviously very little of the Canals' history of failures was reported locally. For example, how many know that the original 1932 bridge at Lock 2 (Carlton St.) was destroyed by a boat in the early 60s...? You may notice its replacement raises and lowers much faster than the rest(?)....
When I was in high school I never had an interest in history. Maybe because of the writing of the history books in the sixties and seventies. Now I cannot get enough of it and you, the history guy make it so much more interesting. Probably because of the diverse topics and in-depth description. It is a gift to be a great narrator of History along with photos. Thank you!
Hi Frank, same here. In school history was quite boring, but I also find it fascinating now. Looking back you see how true the saying “history repeats itself” is.
Blimey, that was positively a James Bond villain scale of plot. This period is full of so many fascinating plots, horrible terrorist acts, and terrible government crackdowns. The Tottenham Outrage and the Siege of Sidney Street spring to mind. It is surprising how far ranging the "Dynamiters" were.
Those lockmaster houses across "Neptune's Staircase" on Bradley St. still look great. For the longest time you couldn't see their excellent stone work because of the ivy wrapped around them.
I have passed over the Welland Canal more times than I can remember to visit relatives in the Toronto-Hamilton-Burlington area; but this is the first I have ever heard about this incident. THG, never ceases to amaze.
My dad sailed the great lakes for decades and often passed through the modern Welland canal and told stories of it's history and related navigation problems related to the passage even in modern times. I never heard of this episode in its long history.
A great recounting. I grew up in St. Catharines and lived very close to the second lock. Visiting the canal daily was a big part of my life as a kid. We used to exchange magazines and change with crew on ships passing through the lock. Nice memories.
@@johnadams3538 Yes quite. This would be 66-69. We could almost touch these ships as they passed thru. We exchanged our stuff for foreign magazines and small change. That was a distance up of about 15- 20 ft. depending on the size of boat and water level in the lock. Saw many from all across the world along with lakers. Many foreign crews didn't speak English and this is how these exchanges started....Cheers 👍
Know what I like about watching your show? One never knows what décor will be in the background. For example, I saw a copy of Van Gogh's Starry Night hanging on the wall behind you today. How nice!
Great video as always. It’s always amazing when you tell of a historical event I’ve never heard of. It’s always a treat. There’s always so much to discover in history.
I have a request which may challenge your ability to gather history. I grew up in a place called Liberal, Kansas located in Southwest Kansas. It got the name because of the Ogallala aquifer which in Liberal in the time of wagon trains was only about 20 to 30 feet down so the town was Liberal with it's water. Not so much today due to over irrigation. In WW2 the Army looked for places to put training bases for bomber pilots. Liberal got one of the largest airfields due to the level land and the railroad running through it, the Rock Island RR, The new airbase trained B-24 pilots and crews. I was told there were the parts of about 150 B-24's in the fields around the area. ALso after the war the town got the airfield. It became a major emergency airport for large planes going across the country. Once a 707 had to land there while I lived there. Also in the early 1970's the air force did touch and go landing with the C-5A due to the very thick concrete runways. ALso one taxiway was converted into a drag strip where the NHRA held drag races and national competions. The history of these remote airfields is lost to most of the country although they were Very Important to the WW2 war effort. Perhaps worth an episode? Oh and it's close to a place called Dodge City, KS which you have heard of. They trained B-25 pilots there! Sincerely Alan C. WIlson.
Ive visited the canal every year since i was born and ive never heard of this story at all. Its not even mentioned in the Welland Canal museum from what I know. History guy where do you find these wonderful stories?
Have you ever thought about doing an episode on the famous Australian explorers Burke & Wills and their tragic expedition? Another suggestion, the amazing french explorer Nicholas Baudin who is rarely mentioned these days but led an amazing life of adventure.
I know virtually nothing of the history of the great nation of Australia apart from that there were penal colonies here once, and the odd horrifying death-march near Timbuktu.
It is interesting that something like this would fade from the public eye. I am grateful for THG bringing this to light. We, of the present time, seem to think that terrorism is a modern device, but it has been around for thousands of years in various forms. I don't think I will take comfort in that fact. Maybe we should be grateful that we have survived such threats despite the fragility of our civilization.
The threat of terrorism has been constant since the first canal was dug. Guards have been stationed on each active canal for every war. The current canalside fencing and protocols are just the modern equivalents of those guards of old...
I'm a Canadian history buff, and this is the first I've heard of this particular Fenian attack. The persistence of Fenian attacks against Canada and the UK in the 19th century would be almost comic opera (complete with plotters twirling their moustaches) if it weren't for the pointless death and destruction they caused, particularly in the 1860s.
Interesting coincidence involving a young girl once again saving Canadians. The first time I think was a young girl riding through the night to warn Canadians that the "Yanks" were coming in 1813.
@@HM2SGTWell at that time I can bet they'd imbibed in the most famous brews from St. Catharines--Taylor & Bates!! (I got to enjoy their revival in the 90s thanks to T&B descendants!!!!)
Currently watching from the strip of land between the old canal and the new canal. Not much going on in current day welland. We have plenty of dispensaries.
So you're either in Welland or Dain City between the original 4th Canal route and the 1973 diversion? Bummer that all those industries (John Deere, etc.) along there had moved/closed by the early 2000s!
Crazy! I never heard of this but now I’ll never forget it. I alway thought being a terrorist was a new thing. I was so wrong. Thanks for another great episode!!
Yeah, I'm not even sure Pierre Burton even covered this bit of Canadian History. Like a lot of Ontarians living west of the Escarpment ("Here there be Dragons", as it's marked on GTA maps) I've never heard of this story before. Kudos to the History Guy.
I just love how this man can say a word like dynamtard like it’s just a casual thing and I’m not gonna be totally flabbergasted by the discovery of my new favorite word
I lived in Welland as a youth and worked on the canal for seven years, but never heard this story. There was trouble with the Fenians in the 19th century, so I am not surprised to hear the connection in this story.
Having lived in Thorold during the 80’s this is the first time I have heard of this. The operating canal now is the 4th one built, in 85 or 86 lock 7 which is the upper most flight lock and a single ( 4,5 and 6 are double locks ) had a ship in it and the west side wall collapsed inward trapping the ship. It took a few days to secure the wall and free the ship. The canal remained open and a water leak behind the wall was fixed and better drainage installed.
I don’t believe Lock 7 is deemed a flight lock. Locks 4, 5 & 6 are known as the twin flight locks because, as you mentioned, they are double locks but are flight locks because there is no reach between them. The upper end of lock 4 is the lower end of lock 5 and upper end of lock 5 is the lower end of lock 6.
Regarding the water leak at lock 7, it wasn’t about better drainage. There is a penstock that takes water from just south of the sector gates at lock 7 that runs to the 2 generators in the powerhouse at the bottom of the hill just north of lock 4. It was a leak in the penstock that caused the cavity behind the west wall of lock 7. They fixed the leak, filled in the cavity, repaired the concrete then resumed shipping.
@@johnadams3538Thank you for helping me understand it!!!! I was only 11 or 12 at that time and didn't understand why Lock 7 had so much trouble. Personally I think with all the development to the east of Lock 7, there should be a bridge put back in there (or to south near there) once again, with Peter St. reopened.
@@johnadams3538James is a local artist (and minor hero to me), so of all people I think he knows of those murals. Welland itself was a mural city not too long ago, and I remember how James tried to put art in empty Welland store fronts. He wanted to beautify that ugliness and was fought tooth-and-nail by local "NIMBYs"...
A serious story about seriously angry and determined men. "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." Indeed. PS not too forgotten, a reference to the Welland Canal bombing pops up in the Murdoc Mysteries. can't tell you the season or episode, but it caused me to visit Wikipedia then look for your story.
It's not enough to blow up the lower lock gate. There's an upper lock gate as well that has to be opened first as lock gates are always closed at both ends when a lock isn't in use.
I believe they leave the lower gates open if the next ship they are expecting is an upbound vessel and the upper gates open if the next ship they are expecting is a downbound vessel.
@@johnadams3538 Only if the approaching vessel is within sighting distance and will enter the lock immediately. Lock gates should never be left open unattended. If you open a lock gate it's your responsibility to close it unless the responsibility is clearly transferred to someone else.
I have family in Wellend and know some of the history of the canal but never this! Thank you ! Perhaps you could do a piece about the Rideau Canal some day.
This is local history for me. I live in Hamilton, Ontario and I have never heard of of it either. Strange how such an interesting story is forgotten. The fact that these boys hit the booze before the job was done is a story I will enjoy telling
Hey Mr. History guy, another sad story that deserves to be remembered is the 1959 Roseburg Oregon train explosion. I was born there in 1949 and saw the results. Devastating.
That tunnel was built to replace a bridge that once crossed the current Lock 7 at the old Lock 24 explosion site. Btw, the spoil taken from digging out that tunnel was used about 30 years later to extend highway 406 past Merritt Rd. to East Main St. in Welland.
Thank you, as always interesting and informative. As is the case quiet often, I leave your site intrigued, and end up in a deep dive into interesting topics. After doing my hour of “rabbit hole” digging, I found that political issues were the basis for cartoons, and that the magazine “punch” from the UK was essentially ground zero for most of them, I’m sure everyone from “Garfield” to the “family circus”, owes their or rather owed (now that newspapers and cartoons are gone) their origins to that genre. Have you done an expose’ on cartoons and their history? Thank you again, absolutely love this channel and tell anyone who will listen to me about your wonderful work!
Hi from Ireland, very much enjoy THG. “Fee-nyan” is the pronunciation as others have mentioned, prominent part of our history. Small part of the North American story!
12 million cubic feet of water is about 275 acre feet. That isn't all that much. I'm unsure if the dramatic description of deluge and prediction of death was likely. In 1913 the 5th Depot Lake Dam was dynamited releasing 8000 acre feet of water. It killed one man and two horses and swept away a lot of farm fences and road bridges. Love your stuff and the delivery.
Interesting story which fills in some details that were left out of a book I read on the Fianna Movement which only mentioned the "failed attempt to blow up a lock on the Welland Canal". Ironically the movement was mostly made up of young men, while these bombers were much older. The political party with a similar name today isn't quite the same, though they both originated as anarchists rebelling against British rule. The late 1800s early 1900s was a time of anarchy in Europe and America. Anarchists were responsible for the assassination of President William McKinley in 1902 and the Arch duke Ferdinand of Austria which set off WW1. The story of anarchy in America is a fascinating history that needs to be remembered even today!
I grew up in St. Catharines in Canada, downhill from Thorold and within spitting distance of the Welland Canal. We were taught the history of the canal in school but not about the Fenians (pronounced with a long e where I come from). We were taught about Fenian raids in other parts of the country but never this one. Thanks for the report!
His nickname made it so easy for the cops to arrest him. When a couple of explosions go off under suspicious circumstances the first guy on the list is going to be a guy with the word dynamite in his name.
Work on the ships just transited the canal as I type this , I live in Thorold some of the second canal is still visible. This attack was on the first canal I believe.
Just by coincidence, I'm going to be visiting the Welland Canal area later this week. I've lived just across Lake Erie from it all my life but never have heard this story.
BTW, when this happened there was no single unified police for for Ontario as a whole, just individual country constables and a handful of commissioned detectives. The Ontario Provincial Police wasn't created until 1909. Before then the only police with province-wide jurisdiction were a handful of detectives commissioned by the ministry of justice. These detectives operated mostly independent of each other, with little oversight, training, equipment or even uniforms. There was the the "office of provincial constable” established in 1877 within the ministry of justice but it was not actively involved in policing. That was a bureaucratic office concerned with oversight for the country constables. The Dominion Police Force had Canada-wide jurisdiction as a federal police but they mainly operated in Ottawa, Toronto and the other big cities in eastern and Canada. They did not have a presence in the Niagara region. (The NWMP were the other federal police fore but they only operated in western Canada).
Several viewers noticed that my math was incorrect at the end. Luke Dillon died in 1930 at the age of 80, not 85. I apologize for the error.
I wasn't worried about that. You keep doing the good work that you do. I enjoy it.
Quick maths
That's the problem with the "New Math" ....it doesn't add up.
I'm just happy you caught and corrected.
Thank God. Life can go on now. I Enjoy your broadcast
"The attack on the Welland Canal is almost entirely forgotten today" That has to be the biggest understatement in this story. I was born and more or less lived my life in the Niagara Region and this is the first time I've heard of this attack.
Same here, grew up not far from there in dunnville. Love hearing local stuff on this channel
Never heard of it myself. We go to Niagara-On-The-Lake yearly.
I am far up the lakes in Duluth and had never heard of this and the modern version of the canal allows salt water ships go come up to us.
I certainly hadn't heard of it either, I've looked at a lot of content related to Irish vs English conflicts from napoleonic era to black and tans to more recent 80s/90s IRA attacks in Manchester Brighton Gibraltar etc but I didn't know much about the finnians or attacks in Canada... very interesting video, I've never been outside north American but I know more about Europe and Asia than here lol
I was born and raised in Port Colborne and this is news to me too.
I live and grew up near the Welland canal, I have never heard this story before, you do good work my friend
I was born in Niagara Falls NY and lived in Bellville , Ontario on weekends and summers as parents owned property on Lake Erie. I've crossed the lift bridges at Welland and Port Colborne Ontario thousands of times. I've never heard about this dynamiting till now. Thanks History Guy for the knowledge of history.
That's pretty cool
History that deserves to be remembered
Why did you spend weekends and summers in Belleville (which is on the Bay of Quinte, an arm of Lake Ontario) if your parents had property on Lake Erie?
@@robertstack2144 your post said "Bellville", so that's why I was asking. 👍
@@JamesPhieffer Did you see the explanatio I spent half an hour on and accidentally lost?
I've lived in Ontario my entire life, my family has lived at the north end of the Niagara Escarpment for 200 years, I attended Niagara College in Welland and never heard of this before now.
I heard of the Fenians but thought they had been dealt with at the end of the 19th century.
I've learned a new thing today. Thank you.
As I'm from Australia I'd never heard of this case. Definitely obscure history that deserves to be remembered. Thankyou and your son for your consistently awesome content THG.
For most of my life, I've lived less than an hour drive from Welland and I've never heard of this story. THG has frequently presented stories where I'm amazed that I've never heard of them before.
Well put......another Australian fan of THG. I have made many suggestions such as the Westgate bridge collapse, the extinction of the thylacine and not least of all the genocide of the Tasmanian Aboriginals. THG did do a piece on an earlier suggestion "The Eureka Rebellion" . You might like to join me in lobbing THG for more Australian content. Another seemly overlooked subject is Australia's contribution in WW1 & 2 , the Boer war, Korean and Vietnamese wars .
@@malyoung7571 I would love to hear more content you mentioned. I continue to enjoy THG as much today as I did when I first discovered it!
I am a famine folk Irish Canadian living in Toronto with ties to the Niagra Peninsula and interested in history. I am in awe, History Guy, I have never heard a hint about this and this is important history
They stopped teaching history in Canada decades ago in school, now it's fetishistic critiques written by marxists.
Maybe because i was born in Niagara but i knew a lot of this. But definitely issues with the history curriculum in Ontario if not across the country
I lived in the Niagara Region for many years, and spent a lot of time there since. We played hockey in Thorold. My uncle owned a house near the canal corridor. But I’d never heard this story. Thanks for sharing it.
I use to watch the Niagara Falls Flyers
I live in Ontario and am an avid student of history, and yet I had not heard about this event. Thank you THG for your continued output of great content.
having grown up along the Welland canal I can truly say I had never heard of this event despite my familiarity with many Welland canal historical facts. Thanks HG
Very interesting. Having grown up only 40 or so miles from the canal I'd never heard of this. I really appreciate every episode.
Great piece. I’m a life-long resident of the Niagara Peninsula and heard about this many years ago. Very interesting piece of Niagara’s history. I enjoyed seeing the photos of the old canals through the area.
One of the photos in the video shows the actual Lock 24 of the Third Welland Canal. It is the photo that shows a lock in the foreground in the center. To the right is the canal spillway and to the left are railway tracks and construction. That is Lock 24. The swing bridge the young woman was crossing when she saw the dynamiters fleeing the scene and saw the explosion is at the bottom of that photo. The construction to the left was for the Fourth Welland Canal or Welland Ship Canal, which opened in 1930. The site is now the location of Lock 7. Lock 24 was removed after the Third Welland Canal closed to allow finishing touches on the Fourth Welland Canal, which is still in use today.
Incidentally Lock 24 measured 270 feet by 45 feet with 14 feet of water over the sill or bottom of the lock. Lock 1 of the Third Canal remained in use until 1968 when it was finally closed.
While Lock 24 of the Third Welland Canal is long gone, Lock 24 of the Second Welland Canal can still be seen today in the Battle Of Beaverdams Park in downtown Thorold. In 1987 Lock 24 of the First Welland Canal underwent an archaeological excavation afterwards it was buried again to preserve it.
There’s a photo of downtown Thorold in the video. It comes immediately after the photo showing a tug with a sailing ship in one of the escarpment locks of the Third Welland Canal. The photo shows railway tracks and a mill beside a waterway (Second Welland Canal). There are also a few photos of Port Dalhousie (now part of St. Catharines). Port Dalhousie was at the Lake Ontario end of the first three Welland Canals. (Port Colborne is at the Lake Erie end of all four Welland Canals.) 2029 marks the 200th anniversary of the first ships to sail through First Welland Canal between the two lakes.
Wow! Thanks for the info, I had family in Wellend, I always love to visit the canal.
1987 I was in public school, and we went to that site of the first canal's Lock 24 on a class trip. It was in Merritton near the 2nd canal's "Neptune's Staircase", just below (and climbing up to) Thorold, now directly beside Bradley St. where its lockmaster's houses still stand. We took a walk along that stretch.
Still have a couple photos of the excavated lock, too.
he is my great grandfather
heard this story from my grandmother many times growing up
This is an amazing story! I was born in Welland Ontario and lived there and went to school there but have never heard this story. You find some absolutely amazing treasures and I always look forward to your next video. Thank you very much for sharing this story
I live in Welland Ontario and I was definitely not expecting to see this video today or ever. Thank you for the Content and History
Born and raised in Merritton and had never heard of this story. Thank you.
There’s a mural on one of the buildings along the bike path on the West side of the canal in Thorold that commemorates that event.
Each History Guy episode is a real blast.
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Haaaaaa! I think l ruptured something.
"Whether the blundering of man or the providence of God..." An historic quote that deserves to be remembered! Bravo THG for finding that one!
Great stuff, as usual. ( I see you have a print of my favorite Van Gogh painting Starry Night in the background )
My memory might be at fault, but I have no recollection of seeing anything about that at the Welland Museum itself when I visited it. Good job at digging history that needs to be remembered.
It's great that St. Catharines finally picked up that torch when Welland's old Hooker St. museum was condemned. The Museum at Lock 3 is doing a decent job showing local history, but obviously very little of the Canals' history of failures was reported locally.
For example, how many know that the original 1932 bridge at Lock 2 (Carlton St.) was destroyed by a boat in the early 60s...? You may notice its replacement raises and lowers much faster than the rest(?)....
I love THGs dedication to factually, "which is more of an ismuth".
And yes, I put down my toast to write this.
Your sacrifice will be remembered when the revolution comes.
@@robwaddell7934 the hungry will be the ones who bring revolution, comrade
@@lawrencejones5640You are the hungry. You had toast, not bacon...
He is more dedicated to being impartial compared to many,as well.
@@anti-Russia-sigma as any good historian is, history is fact and any historian who takes sides is a liar.
I love it when THG presents a historical snippet I have never heard of:; that in itself is a challenge to surprise another history buff.
I've spent my life living on the River Welland in Lincolnshire, England. I've never heard this story. It's fascinating. Thanks for sharing.
Hello there👋,how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day? God bless you
When I was in high school I never had an interest in history. Maybe because of the writing of the history books in the sixties and seventies. Now I cannot get enough of it and you, the history guy make it so much more interesting. Probably because of the diverse topics and in-depth description. It is a gift to be a great narrator of History along with photos. Thank you!
Hi Frank, same here. In school history was quite boring, but I also find it fascinating now. Looking back you see how true the saying “history repeats itself” is.
Blimey, that was positively a James Bond villain scale of plot. This period is full of so many fascinating plots, horrible terrorist acts, and terrible government crackdowns. The Tottenham Outrage and the Siege of Sidney Street spring to mind. It is surprising how far ranging the "Dynamiters" were.
I just learned apparently they are called "dynamitards" if it's for political reasons lol
I was born in welland Ontario and never herd of this. Very interesting for sure
Thanks
I lived in a lockmaster’s cottage outside Thorold in the mid 1980’s.
Those lockmaster houses across "Neptune's Staircase" on Bradley St. still look great. For the longest time you couldn't see their excellent stone work because of the ivy wrapped around them.
I have passed over the Welland Canal more times than I can remember to visit relatives in the Toronto-Hamilton-Burlington area; but this is the first I have ever heard about this incident. THG, never ceases to amaze.
My dad sailed the great lakes for decades and often passed through the modern Welland canal and told stories of it's history and related navigation problems related to the passage even in modern times. I never heard of this episode in its long history.
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My guy always has the best back drop. I salute your excellent work! Thank you.
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One correction, the lakes are navigable to Sault St. Marie where there are more locks.
Hello there👋👋,how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day? God bless you!
I would still love to travel the Trent-Severn and visit "The Soo" that way
As a resident of the Niagara region my whole life, never heard of this. Amazing.
A great recounting. I grew up in St. Catharines and lived very close to the second lock. Visiting the canal daily was a big part of my life as a kid. We used to exchange magazines and change with crew on ships passing through the lock. Nice memories.
That’s when there were no fences. Security at the St. Lawrence Seaway has been increasing year after year since 9/11.
@@johnadams3538 Yes quite. This would be 66-69. We could almost touch these ships as they passed thru. We exchanged our stuff for foreign magazines and small change. That was a distance up of about 15- 20 ft. depending on the size of boat and water level in the lock. Saw many from all across the world along with lakers. Many foreign crews didn't speak English and this is how these exchanges started....Cheers 👍
That area would have been very different if the proposed "Carlton St. Tunnel" was installed when the bridge was knocked down in 1962.
Very interesting. Thank you again!
Very cool, I’ve been interested in Canadian history for over 40 years and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this. Well done History Guy!
Know what I like about watching your show? One never knows what décor will be in the background. For example, I saw a copy of Van Gogh's Starry Night hanging on the wall behind you today. How nice!
Hello there👋,how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day? God bless you
Great video as always. It’s always amazing when you tell of a historical event I’ve never heard of. It’s always a treat. There’s always so much to discover in history.
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Thank you
Dillion is mentioned in Tim Pat Coogan's -The IRA In passing. Thanks for shedding more light on his early life
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I enjoy learning something new each time The History Guy posts a video.
"Dynamitetards" Gotta love it!!!
Always interesting video's...thank you for your work HG
Hello there👋,how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day? God bless you
I have a request which may challenge your ability to gather history. I grew up in a place called Liberal, Kansas located in Southwest Kansas. It got the name because of the Ogallala aquifer which in Liberal in the time of wagon trains was only about 20 to 30 feet down so the town was Liberal with it's water. Not so much today due to over irrigation. In WW2 the Army looked for places to put training bases for bomber pilots. Liberal got one of the largest airfields due to the level land and the railroad running through it, the Rock Island RR, The new airbase trained B-24 pilots and crews. I was told there were the parts of about 150 B-24's in the fields around the area. ALso after the war the town got the airfield. It became a major emergency airport for large planes going across the country. Once a 707 had to land there while I lived there. Also in the early 1970's the air force did touch and go landing with the C-5A due to the very thick concrete runways. ALso one taxiway was converted into a drag strip where the NHRA held drag races and national competions. The history of these remote airfields is lost to most of the country although they were Very Important to the WW2 war effort. Perhaps worth an episode? Oh and it's close to a place called Dodge City, KS which you have heard of. They trained B-25 pilots there! Sincerely Alan C. WIlson.
Ive visited the canal every year since i was born and ive never heard of this story at all. Its not even mentioned in the Welland Canal museum from what I know. History guy where do you find these wonderful stories?
How did you miss it in this video???? He's constantly referring to Buffalo news sources.
Have you ever thought about doing an episode on the famous Australian explorers Burke & Wills and their tragic expedition?
Another suggestion, the amazing french explorer Nicholas Baudin who is rarely mentioned these days but led an amazing life of adventure.
I know virtually nothing of the history of the great nation of Australia apart from that there were penal colonies here once, and the odd horrifying death-march near Timbuktu.
I don't think I ever read anything about this incident. Thank you
Love hearing local news about history happening where I live. So interesting and fascinating. Thanks for an awesome upload history guy
It is interesting that something like this would fade from the public eye. I am grateful for THG bringing this to light. We, of the present time, seem to think that terrorism is a modern device, but it has been around for thousands of years in various forms. I don't think I will take comfort in that fact. Maybe we should be grateful that we have survived such threats despite the fragility of our civilization.
The threat of terrorism has been constant since the first canal was dug. Guards have been stationed on each active canal for every war. The current canalside fencing and protocols are just the modern equivalents of those guards of old...
I'm a Canadian history buff, and this is the first I've heard of this particular Fenian attack.
The persistence of Fenian attacks against Canada and the UK in the 19th century would be almost comic opera (complete with plotters twirling their moustaches) if it weren't for the pointless death and destruction they caused, particularly in the 1860s.
Hello there👋,how are you doing today?Hope you had a wonderful day?God bless you
Interesting coincidence involving a young girl once again saving Canadians. The first time I think was a young girl riding through the night to warn Canadians that the "Yanks" were coming in 1813.
Another Canadian from southern Ontario who has never heard this story before ... thanks THG.
Amazing show like always
I have lived in this area all my life and have heard many stories about the cannel. This is the first time I have heard this one.
Thank you for, as always, educating us.
Hello there👋,how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day? God bless you
The men did their planning while they were sober. But when the time came for their last and most dangerous move ……….. they were drunk. Classic.
Many a report I have written as a paramedic over the past 41 years have included the words, "...alcohol was involved..."
“Hold my Bushmills & watch this!”
Just in case the charge went off early! 💥
@@HM2SGTWell at that time I can bet they'd imbibed in the most famous brews from St. Catharines--Taylor & Bates!!
(I got to enjoy their revival in the 90s thanks to T&B descendants!!!!)
Currently watching from the strip of land between the old canal and the new canal.
Not much going on in current day welland.
We have plenty of dispensaries.
So you're either in Welland or Dain City between the original 4th Canal route and the 1973 diversion? Bummer that all those industries (John Deere, etc.) along there had moved/closed by the early 2000s!
Crazy! I never heard of this but now I’ll never forget it. I alway thought being a terrorist was a new thing. I was so wrong. Thanks for another great episode!!
I think I hear a knock on my door I'll go get it
I thought this was about JJ Walker "Dynamite!"
Yeah, I'm not even sure Pierre Burton even covered this bit of Canadian History. Like a lot of Ontarians living west of the Escarpment ("Here there be Dragons", as it's marked on GTA maps) I've never heard of this story before. Kudos to the History Guy.
Hope I'm not late for class. So interesting are your video's. Thanks for sharing this with us that watch your channel. Outstanding job sir.
I just love how this man can say a word like dynamtard like it’s just a casual thing and I’m not gonna be totally flabbergasted by the discovery of my new favorite word
I lived in Welland as a youth and worked on the canal for seven years, but never heard this story. There was trouble with the Fenians in the 19th century, so I am not surprised to hear the connection in this story.
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I always look forward to your presentations.
Hello there👋,how are you doing today? Hope you had a wonderful day? God bless you
@@amytaylor8487 You are most gracious. What have you to do with The History Guy? Thanks
Having lived in Thorold during the 80’s this is the first time I have heard of this. The operating canal now is the 4th one built, in 85 or 86 lock 7 which is the upper most flight lock and a single ( 4,5 and 6 are double locks ) had a ship in it and the west side wall collapsed inward trapping the ship. It took a few days to secure the wall and free the ship. The canal remained open and a water leak behind the wall was fixed and better drainage installed.
I don’t believe Lock 7 is deemed a flight lock. Locks 4, 5 & 6 are known as the twin flight locks because, as you mentioned, they are double locks but are flight locks because there is no reach between them. The upper end of lock 4 is the lower end of lock 5 and upper end of lock 5 is the lower end of lock 6.
Regarding the water leak at lock 7, it wasn’t about better drainage. There is a penstock that takes water from just south of the sector gates at lock 7 that runs to the 2 generators in the powerhouse at the bottom of the hill just north of lock 4. It was a leak in the penstock that caused the cavity behind the west wall of lock 7. They fixed the leak, filled in the cavity, repaired the concrete then resumed shipping.
@@johnadams3538Thank you for helping me understand it!!!! I was only 11 or 12 at that time and didn't understand why Lock 7 had so much trouble.
Personally I think with all the development to the east of Lock 7, there should be a bridge put back in there (or to south near there) once again, with Peter St. reopened.
I live in Niagara, Ontario Canada, close to Thorold and near the same Welland Canal. Interesting local history! Thanks for posting!
There’s a mural on one of the buildings along the bike path on the West side of the canal in Thorold that commemorates that event.
@@johnadams3538James is a local artist (and minor hero to me), so of all people I think he knows of those murals. Welland itself was a mural city not too long ago, and I remember how James tried to put art in empty Welland store fronts. He wanted to beautify that ugliness and was fought tooth-and-nail by local "NIMBYs"...
A serious story about seriously angry and determined men. "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." Indeed. PS not too forgotten, a reference to the Welland Canal bombing pops up in the Murdoc Mysteries. can't tell you the season or episode, but it caused me to visit Wikipedia then look for your story.
Merry Christmas History Guy and thank you.
It's not enough to blow up the lower lock gate. There's an upper lock gate as well that has to be opened first as lock gates are always closed at both ends when a lock isn't in use.
I believe they leave the lower gates open if the next ship they are expecting is an upbound vessel and the upper gates open if the next ship they are expecting is a downbound vessel.
@@johnadams3538 Only if the approaching vessel is within sighting distance and will enter the lock immediately. Lock gates should never be left open unattended. If you open a lock gate it's your responsibility to close it unless the responsibility is clearly transferred to someone else.
I have family in Wellend and know some of the history of the canal but never this! Thank you ! Perhaps you could do a piece about the Rideau Canal some day.
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Great history definitely deserves to be remembered and retold! Thank you
Well, history in my own country, my own province that I didn’t know! Thank you!
This is local history for me. I live in Hamilton, Ontario and I have never heard of of it either. Strange how such an interesting story is forgotten. The fact that these boys hit the booze before the job was done is a story I will enjoy telling
Hey Mr. History guy, another sad story that deserves to be remembered is the 1959 Roseburg Oregon train explosion. I was born there in 1949 and saw the results. Devastating.
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What a great story, thank you so much for sharing that. 🇨🇦
Something I never heard of. Thank You.
Hello there👋,how are you doing today?Hope you had a wonderful day?God bless you
@@amytaylor8487 Doing fine, thanks for asking.
@@larrybomber83 good to hear that. Where are you from?
@@amytaylor8487 Gulf Coastal Texas
@@larrybomber83 nice place. I’m originally from New York but I live VA. How’s the weather there today?
Who doesn't use a little dynamite after several hours of no luck fishing?
Thank you THG. I always enjoy your videos.
Hello there👋,how are you doing today?Hope you had a wonderful day?God bless you
I used to drive through the tunnel under the Welland Canal to go to my Aunt's in Thorold. Beautiful area.
That tunnel was built to replace a bridge that once crossed the current Lock 7 at the old Lock 24 explosion site. Btw, the spoil taken from digging out that tunnel was used about 30 years later to extend highway 406 past Merritt Rd. to East Main St. in Welland.
once again , thanks to you , this history is remembered
Hello there👋,how are you doing today?Hope you had a wonderful day?God bless you
Huh.. I used to live near Thorold, but I've never heard of this!
Thank you, as always interesting and informative. As is the case quiet often, I leave your site intrigued, and end up in a deep dive into interesting topics. After doing my hour of “rabbit hole” digging, I found that political issues were the basis for cartoons, and that the magazine “punch” from the UK was essentially ground zero for most of them, I’m sure everyone from “Garfield” to the “family circus”, owes their or rather owed (now that newspapers and cartoons are gone) their origins to that genre. Have you done an expose’ on cartoons and their history? Thank you again, absolutely love this channel and tell anyone who will listen to me about your wonderful work!
Great story. and it's from Ontario. thank you history guy.
Excellent presentation as always, Happy Holidays THG Crew!!!🙏✌️😷
Hi from Ireland, very much enjoy THG. “Fee-nyan” is the pronunciation as others have mentioned, prominent part of our history. Small part of the North American story!
Anybody else bothered by the fact that you have the chance for great alliteration with Dynamite Dillon, and instead get stuck with Dynamite Luke?
That sounds so much better.
12 million cubic feet of water is about 275 acre feet. That isn't all that much. I'm unsure if the dramatic description of deluge and prediction of death was likely. In 1913 the 5th Depot Lake Dam was dynamited releasing 8000 acre feet of water. It killed one man and two horses and swept away a lot of farm fences and road bridges. Love your stuff and the delivery.
I sit back with this beautiful cup of tea a drift off yet again ❤️🙏
Interesting story which fills in some details that were left out of a book I read on the Fianna Movement which only mentioned the "failed attempt to blow up a lock on the Welland Canal". Ironically the movement was mostly made up of young men, while these bombers were much older. The political party with a similar name today isn't quite the same, though they both originated as anarchists rebelling against British rule. The late 1800s early 1900s was a time of anarchy in Europe and America. Anarchists were responsible for the assassination of President William McKinley in 1902 and the Arch duke Ferdinand of Austria which set off WW1. The story of anarchy in America is a fascinating history that needs to be remembered even today!
I grew up in St. Catharines in Canada, downhill from Thorold and within spitting distance of the Welland Canal. We were taught the history of the canal in school but not about the Fenians (pronounced with a long e where I come from). We were taught about Fenian raids in other parts of the country but never this one. Thanks for the report!
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There’s a mural on one of the buildings along the bike path on the West side of the canal in Thorold that commemorates that event.
@@johnadams3538Although the businesses are long gone, and some grafitti has been done to it, the murals remain.
Thank you for the lesson.
Was there an earthquake going on while you were filming?
His nickname made it so easy for the cops to arrest him. When a couple of explosions go off under suspicious circumstances the first guy on the list is going to be a guy with the word dynamite in his name.
Great story. Thanks for some Canadian content.
Work on the ships just transited the canal as I type this , I live in Thorold some of the second canal is still visible. This attack was on the first canal I believe.
Nope, timeline of the story is late 1800s, so it's the 3rd Canal. Its stone-cut lock walls probably held back the hard effects of the explosions.
Just by coincidence, I'm going to be visiting the Welland Canal area later this week.
I've lived just across Lake Erie from it all my life but never have heard this story.
That's all welland good,but is the canal still used?
It is, but now it is now the fourth version of the canal and lock 24 is no longer in use.
In fact the former Lock 24 of the 3rd Canal is now part of the spillway for the current 4th Canal's Lock 7
The History Guy, I live near there, Thorold is much bigger than a hamlet, and was then too.
It's still its own city, and is rapidly expanding with residential areas replacing its former farmlands.
Thanks HG.
The depth of EVIL in some people is, for me, unfathomable!!!
BTW, when this happened there was no single unified police for for Ontario as a whole, just individual country constables and a handful of commissioned detectives. The Ontario Provincial Police wasn't created until 1909. Before then the only police with province-wide jurisdiction were a handful of detectives commissioned by the ministry of justice. These detectives operated mostly independent of each other, with little oversight, training, equipment or even uniforms. There was the the "office of provincial constable” established in 1877 within the ministry of justice but it was not actively involved in policing. That was a bureaucratic office concerned with oversight for the country constables.
The Dominion Police Force had Canada-wide jurisdiction as a federal police but they mainly operated in Ottawa, Toronto and the other big cities in eastern and Canada. They did not have a presence in the Niagara region. (The NWMP were the other federal police fore but they only operated in western Canada).
More Canada! Thanks history guy!
How long have you been sitting on this powder keg, THG?