The fort was established in 1766 to protect the Americans from the French traders after the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence, but the border proved porous. When Loyalists left their farms and villages in New York State to settle in Upper Canada, the fort kept Canadians and Americans apart.

The site was important long before the fort was built. All commerce heading downstream from the Upper Lakes went ashore at the beginning of the Niagara River. Cargo bound for York and Montreal portaged around Niagara Falls to Queenston. Furs bound for New York followed a string of lakes and streams that later became the Erie Canal, hooking up with the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. What better place to have a fort?

Freemasonry arrived with the soldiers, which is why the Niagara Peninsula was the cradle of Freemasonry in Ontario. The travelling or military lodges received their warrants from English and Irish and Scottish grand lodges. Whenever the units moved, the regimental silver and the battle trophies came were packed in one case and the lodge's wands, jewels and collars and The Volume of the Sacred Law, travelled in another.

Palmer Lodge No.372 in the town of Ft. Erie is heir to the frontier tradition, having been instituted in 1879. When the military lodge met, serving militiamen were frequently admitted. When the units went home, the citizen-soldiers formed town based lodges.

For the past four years Palmer Lodge has been preserving this link with the past. Degrees have been conferred in the confines of the fort which is now maintained by The Niagara Parks Commission as a national historic site. Some lodges exemplify degrees using costumes and customs of the 19th century. Palmer confers a real degree using authentic artifacts from the 1800's and a candidate of 2001.

Imagine. The sun is setting as the first knocks are heard at the gate. The candidate enters into a lodge "room" that is 100 feet from east to west and thirty feet from north to south. The altar touches the bare earth in the parade square in the centre of the fort. It is the same crate that carried the regalia. The walls are masonry three feet thick. They rise 25 feet and, above them, only the sky, the firmament, and infinity. The outer guard patrols the gate and brethren on the wall watch from the parapets for eavesdroppers.

The "bastion" is a raised earthwork against the fort wall used by canon crews defending the fort. On lodge night it is used for a more noble purpose. Standing fifteen feet above the quadrangle, it becomes the east to accommodate the Master of the Lodge.

Some brethren wear period uniforms. Serving members of the Canadian Forces wear current mess kits. Those who have them wear costumes of 1812. Others come in modern dress.

Time blends ages in the old fort. The dark night is slashed by the moving necklace of light as trucks and tourists stream across the Peace Bridge to Buffalo visible to the northwest corner. In this ancient fort and for this night only, American Brethren sit in harmony with the foes of their fathers. Portaging the rapids was unnecessary. They came by car.

It's happening again this year on Saturday June 23 and I'm going once more for a return trip to the 1800's. Two hundred brethren should be present to discover from whence we came. I always pick up a few interesting fact. For instance, last year I learned the military fort was destroyed three times----twice by ice from the Niagara River, and once by retreating invaders. Fort Erie was the last part of Canada ever to be occupied by an invading force.

Should you wish to attend, the contacts are Tom Jeacock, jeacock@forterie.com  or 905-871-2292, or this year's Fort Degree Chairman, Mark Taylor, mtaylor@itcanada.com , 905-871-1916. They have information about time and place and overnight accommodation.

As in other years, Palmer is sunning a family barbecue just outside the walls and moat, a family reception inside the fort before the degree, and a carpool service. That's for wives and friends to go shopping, antiquing, and sightseeing in the town of Fort Erie during the degree. They even have needlework and quilting instruction lined up. Families and brethren meet again for the social hour after lodge.

Oh yes, for the barbecue, bring lawn chairs, umbrellas, sunscreen, sunglasses, and bug juice. Sunburn and mosquitoes survived the 1800's.