It’s hard to see it today, but this blustery point at the head of the LaHave River, home to what appears to be little more than a refurbished lighthouse museum and an old cemetery, was supposed to be the first capital of New France.
Now a Bridgewater man hopes to find evidence of this once very important political and strategic place.
Brian Harding is an amateur archeologist who has organized a dig at Fort Point in LaHave that will run for the month of October and likely a few years to come. His hobby has taken him from Mexico to Honduras volunteering on digs.
"Working on a dig (here) involves not only the uncovering of objects not seen in over 400 years, but a chance to learn about the history of both the native peoples and the settlers who came to the New World from away," Harding said, as he toured the wind-blown site Tuesday.
He is working with the Nova Scotia Archaeology Society and a professor from St. Mary’s University. He is also looking for volunteers. "There will be a chance for members of the public to work alongside the archeological experts as volunteers on this part of the exploration," he said.
"What we’re looking for there is pottery, glass, clay pipes, shoe buckles, pewter buttons, that type of thing. I’m hoping to find foundations from buildings because from there you can work certain areas and find items of interest."
Two land digs and an underwater survey have turned up little. Harding has permission to dig in a different site — an area he thinks is the site of the actual settlement.
Samuel de Champlain was the first white man to see LaHave when he mapped the area for King Louis XIII in 1604. Based on what Champlain had to say about the area, the French king decided to make Fort Point the capital of New France.
French General Isaac de Razilly arrived to establish the fort in 1632.
Very little has been found of the brick-and-timber fort with its stone walls, and there has been no evidence of the 25 cannons that defended the settlement. Harding said that’s in large part because erosion has buried such evidence. He said it’s believed the land projected another 122 metres out into the water at the time.
Also, the fort burned in 1654. Most soldiers were then moved to Port Royal but many farmers stayed behind, a number of them marrying local Mi’kmaq women.
Previous surveys were done near the lighthouse. Based on maps, Harding believes the actual settlement was on the other side of the pond that’s beside the lighthouse, and he has landowner Gary Malone’s permission to begin his digging there.
In the early 1970s, volunteers identified the sites of a windmill, lumber mill and ruins of a steamship pier. Volunteers spent two days in the summer of 1977 combing the shore near Fort Point, checking the river by canoe and excavating the area around the current museum. They found some French ceramic vessel shards and clay tobacco pipe fragments and determined the main portion of the settlement had been destroyed by erosion.
In 1978, volunteer divers carried out a preliminary underwater survey of Getsons Cove, which had supported two steamships in its day, and found a dock and a number of artifacts, including a large anchor and a cannon ball.
Harding’s dig will be held every weekend throughout October, beginning at 11 a.m. on Oct. 2. Volunteers are asked to bring gloves, knee pads, lunch, water — and patience.
Author: Beverley Ware | Source: Nova Scotia [September 22, 2010]