Secord, Laura Ingersoll, << SEE kawrd, LAW rah IHNG gur sawl >> (1775-1868), was the most famous Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. During the war, she lived in Queenston, near the Niagara River in what is now southern Ontario. The Americans, British, and First Nations people (American Indians) were fighting for control of that area.
In June 1813, Secord overheard American soldiers planning a surprise attack on a small British military post at Beaver Dams, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) away. To warn the British, she walked all day through a dangerous wilderness on June 22. On June 24, the First Nations people, joined later by the British commander, ambushed the Americans in the Battle of Beaver Dams. The battle ended with the surrender of the Americans.
Secord’s walk became a favorite story among Canadians about the War of 1812. Some writers added imaginative details to the original account.
Laura Ingersoll was born on Sept. 13, 1775, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. She moved to Canada as a young woman. She married James Secord, a Canadian merchant, in 1797. She died on Oct. 17, 1868.
