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War of 1812 focus of fall programming at NT History Museum

by jmaloni
Wed, Sep 5th 2012 07:00 am

The North Tonawanda History Museum invites readers to check out its fall slate of programming, focusing on the War of 1812 on the Niagara Frontier, Polish-American heritage in Western New York, and the importance of North Tonawanda in making the Pan-American Exposition a reality in 1901 in Buffalo.

The North Tonawanda History Museum is located in the Lumber City History Center at
54 Webster St., North Tonawanda. Free parking is available in the municipal parking lot on Manhattan Street behind the History Museum, with Webster Street readily accessible from the parking lot by Project Pride Way and Tremont Street. Manhattan Street runs parallel to Webster Street and River Road - in between them - and can be reached by either Tremont Street or Goundry Street.

Upcoming events include:

Saturday, Sept. 15

"Tuscarora Heroes and the War of 1812 Attack on Lewiston"

Presented at 2 p.m. by Lee Simonson, author of "Tuscarora Heroes." Simonson also is a former Niagara County legislator.

Dec. 19, 1813, was Lewiston's most important day and one of the greatest untold stories in American history. Lewiston citizens found themselves on the front line during the War of 1812 and were under attack by the British and their native allies. On the morning of Dec. 19, Lewistonians were running for their lives in an attempt to escape the thrashing knives and tomahawks. Many of them didn't make it and blood was running down Lewiston streets.

At the moment when it seemed all hope was lost and the local citizens thought they would all become victims of a ghastly massacre, men from the local Tuscarora nation ran down from atop the Escarpment and rescued the fleeing population.

Despite being outnumbered 30 to 1, the Tuscaroras devised a quick strategy to fool the British into thinking that there was a large unseen force ready to swoop down on the invading troops. The enemy stopped in its tracks and the Tuscaroras were able to buy precious minutes for the surviving Lewiston residents to escape east on Ridge Road.

Simonson's book, "Tuscarora Heroes," details exactly what happened that fateful morning.
For more information, call 716-213-0554 or visit www.nthistorymuseum.org.

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