Jolicoeur’s Journey: An 18th Century Winter Adventure

On Saturday, January 18, Old Fort Niagara will present a special winter adventure called “Jolicoeur’s Journey,” an interactive living history program based on the memoirs of Jolicoeur Charles Bonin. The young soldier trekked from Quebec to Fort Niagara in the winter of 1754.

Participants in the program will learn about snowshoes, construct a brush shelter, start a fire with flint and steel and prepare a ration of soldiers’ pea soup. The program ends with a hearty lunch inside the fort’s heated log cabin.

Bonin was part of a 500-man detachment that left Quebec on January 15, 1754 and arrived at Fort Niagara on February 25. During their 42-day journey, they marched over ice and snow, crossed icy streams and skated on ice-covered Lake Ontario.