Grassy Island has been home to people for over fifteen centures. Why was Grassy Island chosen as the prime area for settlement? There are many reasons given for that, some of which are listed below:
The first people to visit Canso were Aboriginal people, probably ancestors of today's Mi'kmaq. For them, Canso was a useful summer base for harvesting marine resources: fish, seals and shellfish. We know from artifact styles that they came to Canso at least 1500 years ago.
It was the Mi'kmaq
who greeted the first European fishermen who came in the 16th century.
These were Basques and Frenchmen who saw in Canso a lucrative base for fishing
and trade. Cod was the only species of interest at this time. The dry
fishery required shore bases where the day's catch could be brought ashore,
gutted and split, salted and laid out to dry. The long cobble beaches at
either end of Grassy Island were particularly attractive for drying, but
raised drying racks, or "fish flakes" could also be built from
the many trees. Mi'kmaq and Frenchmen quickly became friends and partners,
exchanging furs and trade goods, and working in the "chaloupes"
from which they fished. The Europeans came seasonally, arriving in early
spring, catching and processing the cod all summer, and returning to Europe
in the fall to market the product to the Catholic people of France, Spain,
Portugal and Italy. They set up rudimentary buildings for shelter, meant
to last just for the season.
By the end of the 17th century, some of the fishermen had established their homes and families in Acadia. Some, like Claude Pettipas, married Mi'kmaw women and raised their children in both cultures. Wars in Europe, however, spilled over to Acadian shores and Canso became caught in the conflict between Britain and France. By 1720, the British had displaced the Mi'kmaq and French from Canso. Now a small commercial and military town grew on Grassy Island around the small fort built on the hill. Merchants and agents, officers and soldiers, shorehands and tradesmen, wives and children, all lived on the island. In the summer months fishermen from New England swelled their numbers from a few hundred to 2-3000, setting up their fish stations all around the harbour. The development of the New England schooner allowed them to stay at sea for longer periods of time, bringing in larger catches of fish for drying.
Canso in the eighteenth
century was essentially a garrison town. The commanding officer and his
men controlled both civilian and military life. This often caused conflict
in the town, especially when the soldiers were found tearing up the fish
stations in winter for fuel to keep warm. At the same time, the military
seemed willing to turn a blind eye to the illegal trade that flourished
between New England merchants and Louisbourg.
The British outpost at Canso was never secure. The mighty fortress of Louisbourg lay only 100 kilometers to the northeast, while the nearest British community, Annapolis Royal, was more than 750 kilometers away by sea. In between was an expanse of land controlled by the Mi'kmaq, allies of the French. The garrison at Canso was poorly provisioned and incapable of resisting an assault. When war broke out in Europe in 1744, Canso soon fell to a French fleet out of Louisbourg. The town was burned to the ground and all the inhabitants taken prisoner to Louisbourg.
Grassy Island saw very little use after the attack. It was briefly occupied in 1745 by New England troops grouping for their assault on Louisbourg. An attempt to rebuild the fort was aborted before the year was out. In the following years the island was primarily a source for hay and a place to leave cattle in the summer, until local concerns for its heritage brought the island to Parks Canada in 1978 and a new National Historic Site developed.
