This brick building at 286 Prince William St. The lamps known today as the Three Sisters were originally known simply as the 'Three Lamps' and were an early navigational aid for mariners entering the port. By keeping the lamp in sight, mariners would keep the ship on course. One of the earliest aids was the "Three Lamps" - known today at the Three Sisters - on the southernmost end of Prince William Street, which at first was merely a single oil lamp. Guiding lightsĮven voyages close to home could present an adventure.īefore 1859, when the world's first steam fog horn was installed on Partridge Island, there were few reliable aids to navigation on the Bay of Fundy, and few lights to help orient the ships in relation to the shore. Whether because of a faulty tip from the captain, or the terrible thunderstorms that greeted them on Sand Cay, none came back with any gold. Gerald Keith recounts in a 1953 newspaper article the story of the secret expedition - which involved five pilots, several apprentices and two ships, the Olive Branch and Rechab. In 1850, Edward and John Murray were among a group of five Saint John harbour pilots persuaded by a visiting English sea captain to set sail for the Turks Islands in search of buried treasure. In the days when pilots were required to own their own vessels, "the father would have his older son with him to help with the boat," Duffy said - handing down both the vessels, and local knowledge from generation to generation. (Submitted by New Brunswick Museum - Musée du Nouveau-Brunswick Accession # 1936.6) In the early days, pilots were required to own their own vessels. Many generations of another Saint John family - the Spears - worked as pilots in Saint John from the early 18th century until the mid-20th century. On May 17, 1783, brothers David and Jonathan Leavitt, who came to Portland Point in 1762 with fur trader James Simonds of Simonds, Hazen, and White, piloted the spring fleet of Loyalists into Market Slip. The Saint John pilots were officially established in 1785, according to McLean - a time when navigational know-how was passed down through families. And they were here for 10,000 years before Champlain showed up." Family ties and buried treasure "Obviously, Champlain was coming in on a flood tide, the current running in, when it's dangerous up there. "The native people warned him of the dangers of Reversing Falls," Duffy said. Croix with 12 sailors and two Indigenous men to serve us as guides. (New Brunswick Museum - Musée du Nouveau-Brunswick Accession # LS-AG6)Ĭhamplain describes setting out from St. He and the colonizers who followed relied on Indigenous guides to navigate the tides and currents. Champlain's map of the Saint John Harbour showing Reversing Falls, the three small islands above the falls, and the surrounding hillsides and forest.
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