Put-In-Bay, where’s that? It’s in Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie. And, on September 2, 2013, I hope it will be in the news.
The news won’t be that my husband and I spent a couple of days there in 2006. That history is much too recent. True, we docked our boat at Miller Marina. We visited the museum and Perry Memorial where we watched a reenactment of an 1813 battle.(Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me.) We went to DeRivera Park, ate ice cream, bought post cards and mailed them, and rented a golf cart to tour the area. We even celebrated Christmas in July!
But the history for this post goes back a lot farther, back to 1813 with the Battle of Lake Erie. I’ve collected a few links to tell you the story. The first is a link to The Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial celebration. It is being held at Put-In-Bay now, with events through September. The reenactment of the historic battle will take place on September 2, 2013, during the afternoon. It will feature tall ships on Lake Erie, and a lot of enthusiastic reenactors. See the bicentennial site here
There are many YouTube presentations celebrating The Battle of Lake Erie. I’ve selected three to recommend. For a two and a half minute video with song and reenactment photos–including tall ships, see this link For a five-minute musical presentation with historic images, see this link And finally, for the full history told and illustrated with a variety of images, this seventeen-minute presentation will relate the complete history of that battle as well as events before and after. See it at this link
This is the his story of our country two hundred years ago–when it was young. On Lake Erie, they remember this history. Most other parts of the country have no local history to commemorate. The War of 1812 is almost The Forgotten War. It is remembered around Chesapeake Bay, for 1813 is the year the White House was burned and our National Anthem was written. I want to remember it too, with the mystery book I’m completing. It is set at a reenactment of The War of 1812 on Chesapeake Bay. In 1813, during that war, the British under Admiral Cockburn raided, burned, and sometimes even paid for the produce and animals they took to feed their troops. But when the war ended, our country and Great Britain became friends and have remained so to this day. In fact, as the long YouTube link referenced above says, the border between the United States and Canada remains the longest, peaceful boundary between nations anywhere in the world.