In the last blog I thought I was finished with New Brunswick for now, but it turned out that Sharon had a couple of stops for us to make in New Brunswick as we drove towards Nova Scotia so this mini blog will cover those stops.

Our first stop was Monument Lefebvre which is a National Historic Site. The building was built in 1896-1897 as a memorial for Father Camille Lefebvre who devoted 3 decades of his life to the Acadian people. The Acadians were descendants from about 50 French families that arrived from France and settled Acadie from 1636-1650. The Acadian people thrived through perseverance for over a century until their land became a focus of conflict due to its strategic location between New France and New England. It was key to the trade routes and the fishery. Eventually the British came in to take the land from France, and they began an 8-year deportation of the Acadians sending some further south along the US east coast, some back to France, and others to Louisiana. It was a very brutal deportation, and they even separated families in the process. Eventually some Acadians did return, and we saw many Acadian flags (France flag with a star in the corner) on properties in the area. An Acadian National Convention is still held each year to try to sustain the culture. The building was open so we toured around the exhibits, but we couldn’t see the program in the theatre as it was Sunday, and they didn’t have staff to run the program.

Next stop was Fort Beausejour which wasn’t open for the season yet but you could still wander around the grounds to see the fort. In the fall of 1750, the British built Fort Lawrence on the Beaubassin Ridge. The following year the French answered this challenge by building Fort Beausejour directly across the Missaguash River, which was the boundary between the French and British territory. Fort Beausejour was captured by the British in 1755, and Fort Larwrence was briefly used to hold Acadians awaiting deportation. Fort Lawrence was abandoned and dismantled in 1756. We were able to walk around the grounds to see the bastions and the foundations of some of the remaining buildings. And of course we had to get the customary photo in the National Park red chairs.

Next blog will begin our Nova Scotia adventures.