Cape Sable Island, locally referred to as Cape Island, is a small
Canadian
Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
island at the southernmost point of the
Nova Scotia peninsula
The Nova Scotia peninsula is a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of North America. It is called ''Enmigtaqamu'g'' in the Mi'kmaw language.
Location
The Nova Scotia peninsula is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada and is connected to the ...
. It is sometimes confused with
Sable Island
Sable Island (, literally "island of sand") is a small, remote island off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Sable Island is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, about southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, and about southeast of the clo ...
. Historically, the
Argyle, Nova Scotia
Argyle, officially named the Municipality of the District of Argyle, is a district municipality in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district.
The district municipality occupies t ...
region was known as Cape Sable and encompassed a much larger area than simply the island it does today. It extended from Cape Negro through Chebogue.
The island is situated in
Shelburne County
Shelburne County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
History
Shelburne County was founded in 1784 shortly following the influx of Loyalist settlers evacuated from the newly independent United States. It was originally named Port ...
south of Barrington Head, separated from the mainland by the narrow
strait
A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...
causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...
. The largest community on the island is the town of Clark's Harbour. Other communities are listed below. At the extreme southern tip is Cape Sable.
History
Cape Sable was first inhabited by the
Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...
, who called the area and generally the island itself "Kespoogwitik", meaning "where the land ends". Cape Sable Island was charted by explorers from
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
who named it "Beusablom", meaning "Sandy Bay".
French Colony
Cape Sable and Cape Negro, Nova Scotia were first settled by the Acadians who migrated from Port Royal, Nova Scotia in 1620. The French governor of Acadia, Charles de la Tour, colonized Cap de Sable giving it the present name, meaning Sandy Cape. La Tour built up a strong post at Cap de Sable beginning in 1623, called Fort Lomeron in honour of David Lomeron who was his agent in France. (The fur trading post called Fort Lomeron was later renamed Fort La Tour although identified as Fort Saint-Louis in the writings of Samuel de Champlain.) Here he carried on a sizable trade in furs with the Mi'kmaq and farmed the land.
During the
Anglo-French War (1627–1629)
The Anglo-French War of 1627–1629 () was a military conflict fought between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of England between 1627 and 1629. It involved mainly actions at sea.''Warfare at sea, 1500-1650: maritime conflicts and the tran ...
Quebec City
Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
, Sir James Stewart of Killeith,
Lord Ochiltree
Lord Ochiltree (or Ochiltrie) of Lord Stuart of Ochiltree was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. In 1542 Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Avondale (see the Earl Castle Stewart for earlier history of the family) exchanged the lordship of Avondale with ...
planted a colony on
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.
The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...
William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling
William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling PC (c. 156712 February 1640) was a Scottish courtier and poet who was involved in the Scottish colonisation of Charles Fort, later Port-Royal, Nova Scotia in 1629 and Long Island, New York. His litera ...
established the first incarnation of "New Scotland" at Port Royal, Nova Scotia. This set of British triumphs in what had otherwise been a disastrous war was not destined to last. Charles 1's haste to make peace with France on the terms most beneficial to him meant that the new North American gains would be bargained away in the
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1632)
The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was signed on March 29, 1632. It returned New France (Quebec, Acadia and Cape Breton Island) to French control after the English had seized it in 1629,Saint John; another battle at Balene, Cape Breton; and one on Cape Sable Island.
Siege of 1630
In 1629, as a result of these Scottish victories, Cape Sable was the only major French holding in North America. There was a battle between Charles and his father at Fort St. Louis (Se National Historic Site - Fort St. Louis , the latter supporting the Scottish who had taken Port Royal. The battle lasted two days. Claude was forced to withdraw in humiliation to Port Royal.
As a result, La Tour appealed to the King of France for assistance and was appointed lieutenant-general in Acadia in 1631.
By 1641, La Tour lost Cape Sable Island, Pentagouet (
Castine, Maine
Castine ( ) is a town in Hancock County in eastern Maine, United States.; John Faragher. ''Great and Nobel Scheme''. 2005. p. 68.
The population was 1,320 at the 2020 census. Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institut ...
), and
Port Royal
Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cen ...
to Governor of Acadia
Charles de Menou d'Aulnay
Charles de Menou d'Aulnay (''de Charnisay'') (–1650) was a French pioneer of European settlement in North America and Governor of Acadia (1635–1650).
D'Aulnay was a member of the French nobility who was at various times a sea captain, a lie ...
de Charnisay.
La Tour retired to Cap de Sable with his third wif Jeanne Motin wed in 1653, and died in 1666.
Father Rale's War
During
Father Rale's War
Dummer's War (1722–1725) (also known as Father Rale's War, Lovewell's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the Wabanaki-New England War, or the Fourth Anglo-Abenaki War) was a series of battles between the New England Colonies and the Waban ...
, there were numerous attacks on New England fishing vessels. As an important landfall and base for seasonal New England fishing vessels working the rich fishing banks of Southwestern Nova Scotia, Cape Sable attracted several waves of pirate attacks in the
Golden Age of Piracy
The Golden Age of Piracy was the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the North Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
Histories of piracy often subdivide the Golden Age of Piracy into th ...
. Pirates Ned Low and John Phillips raided fishing vessels off Cape Sable and Phillips met his death off the Cape in 1723.
In 1725 the British signed a treaty (or "agreement") with the Mi'kmaq of Cape Sable and other parts of Nova Scotia but the rights of the Mi'kmaq defined in it to hunt and fish on their lands have often been disputed by the authorities.
French and Indian War
The British Conquest of Acadia happened in 1710. Over the next forty-five years, the Acadians refused to sign an unconditional oath of allegiance to Britain. During this time period, Acadians participated in various militia operations against the British and maintained vital supply lines to the French Fortress of Louisbourg and Fort Beausejour. The Acadians and Mi'kmaq from Cape Sable Island raided the Protestants at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia numerous times.
During the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
, the British sought to neutralize any military threat Acadians posed and to interrupt the vital supply lines Acadians provided to Louisbourg by deporting Acadians from Acadia. In April 1756, Major
Jedidiah Preble
Jedidiah Preble (1707–1784) was Captain of Infantry in Samuel Waldo's Regiment, whom he brought land from and settled in Falmouth, Maine (present-day Portland, Maine). He served in the Siege of Louisbourg (1745). He also fought in the Battle ...
and his New England troops, on their return to Boston, raided a settlement near Port La Tour and captured 72 men, women and children.
In the late summer of 1758, the British launched three large offensives against the Acadians. One was the St. John River Campaign, another was the Petitcodiac River Campaign, and the other was against the Acadians at Cape Sable Island. Major Henry Fletcher led the 35th Regiment and a company of
Joseph Gorham
Joseph Gorham (sometimes recorded as Goreham, 1725–1790) was an American colonial military officer during King George's War and later a British army commander during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. He is best known ...
's Rangers to Cape Sable Island. He cordoned off the cape and sent his men through it. One hundred Acadians and Father Jean Baptiste de Gray surrendered, while about 130 Acadians and seven Mi'kmaq escaped. The Acadian prisoners were taken to Georges Island in Halifax Harbour.
En route to the St. John River Campaign in September 1758, Moncton sent Major Roger Morris, in command of two men-of-war and transport ships with 325 soldiers, to deport more Acadians. On October 28, his troops sent the women and children to Georges Island. The men were kept behind and forced to work with troops to destroy their village. On October 31, they were also sent to Halifax. In the spring of 1759, Joseph Gorham and his rangers arrived to take prisoner the remaining 151 Acadians. They reached Georges Island with them on June 29.
New England Planters
Following the
Acadian Expulsion
The Expulsion of the Acadians was the forced removal of inhabitants of the North American region historically known as Acadia between 1755 and 1764 by Great Britain. It included the modern Canadian Maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Br ...
in the 1750s, the island was settled by the
New England Planters
The New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor (and subsequently governor) of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign ...
from Cape Cod and nearby Nantucket Island. The waters off southwestern Nova Scotia had been well known to them since the days of French settlement in the early 17th century. While the tides of the Gulf of Maine may have brought a few exploring fishermen from Nantucket to the island, it was an entirely different tide that spawned the eventual permanent English settlement—a political tide.
Many Cape New Englanders took advantage of the offer of of land to each male adult who would leave his home and live on those vacated lands in Atlantic Canada. Cape Sable Island was well known to Cape Cod fishermen and they moved north in 1760 to take advantage of a new life. The Cape Sable settlement soon became, and remains today, an important base for inshore fisheries. It is famous as the birthplace of the
Cape Islander
A Cape Islander, a style of fishing boat mostly used for lobster fishing, is an inshore motor fishing boat found across Atlantic Canada having a single keeled flat bottom at the stern and more rounded towards the bow. The Cape Island style boat i ...
fishing boat, a motor fishing boat which emerged about 1905. Ferry service provided transportation to the island in the early 20th century. A
causeway
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...
was eventually constructed for pedestrian and automobile traffic, opening on August 5, 1949. Today the
lobster
Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...
fishery is the island's biggest industry.
American Revolution
Raid on Cape Sable Island (1778)
During the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
, American Privateers threatened Cape Sable Island. On September 4, 1778, the light infantry company of the
84th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants)
The 84th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants) was a British regiment in the American Revolutionary War that was raised to defend present-day Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada from the constant land and sea attacks by American Revolution ...
, under the command of Cpt.
Ranald MacKinnon
Ranald MacKinnon (sometimes spelled ''McKinnon'') was a soldier and a civil servant of the British Empire from 1758 until his death in 1805.
As a junior officer he served with Montgomerie's Highlanders (77th Regiment of Foot) in the French and ...
, surprised the ship in the night and destroyed it. For his aggressive action, MacKinnon was praised highly by Brigadier General Eyre Massey. In response, one of his friends, Cpt. MacDonald, wrote to Major John Small, "McKinnon was embarrassed by the praise of the General and requested it not be inserted in the record since he only did his duty."
Communities of Cape Sable Island
The following communities are included within the Community of Cape Sable Island:
*Cape Sable Island
*
Centreville
Centreville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. It had a population of 73,518, making it the most-populous community in Fairfax County as of t ...
Cape Sable is the centre of a busy fishing area and an important landfall for shipping in the
Age of Sail
The Age of Sail is a period in European history that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid-15th) to the mid-19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the int ...
. This traffic produced many shipwrecks such as the SS '' Hungarian'' in 1860 and the schooner '' Codseeker'' in 1877.
Climate
Cape Sable Island has an
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''Cfb'') using the isotherm, or a
warm-summer humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(Köppen ''Dfb'') using the isotherm. The surrounding waters result in cooler summers, but milder winters, with less snowfall, than the rest of Nova Scotia. Summer temperatures are very low for the latitude (the same latitude as
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Cfc'') or
subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...
(Köppen ''Dfc'') type. At the peak of summer, in late August and early September, daily average high temperatures is around 15 °C. Winters are wet and windy, but warm for Atlantic Canada. Snowfall is moderately heavy, but winter brings less snow than in most other locations in Atlantic Canada, which commonly average much more snow per winter season (for example,
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolv ...
St. John's, Newfoundland
St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Amer ...
35 cm. Summers on Cape Sable Island are cool with much more stable weather when compared to winters. Due to surrounding cool ocean waters, summer thunderstorms are very rare, but low clouds and fog are common. The strong influence of the Atlantic Ocean also produces exceptionally strong
seasonal lag
Seasonal lag is the phenomenon whereby the date of maximum average air temperature at a geographical location on a planet is delayed until some time after the date of maximum daylight (i.e. the summer solstice). This also applies to the minimum ...
. On average, the coldest month is February, while the warmest month is September, coming in slightly warmer than August, and October is slightly warmer than June.
The island lies in the path of
Nor'easter
A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below) is a large-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. Typically, such storms originate as a low ...
s, which reach maximum frequency and intensity in winter, meaning this area's wettest months on average are December and January. Tropical weather systems, including, rarely,
hurricanes
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...
can occur occasionally, generally entering the area from the south or southwest, with the greatest risk in September and October. Cape Sable Island is also prone to bouts of thick fog. Over the years the Cape's storms, and the close proximity of the island to shipping routes, has led to a substantial number of shipwrecks. The most tragic was the wreck of the SS ''Hungarian'' in February 1860 with the loss of over 200 lives. A
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Ligh ...
was established at the tip of Cape Sable in the next year.
Birdwatching
The island is a notable
birding
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescope, ...
destination, being an important migratory stopping point for birds such as the Atlantic brant and
piping plover
The piping plover (''Charadrius melodus'') is a small sand-colored, Passerellidae, sparrow-sized wader, shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange-red legs, a black band acro ...
. The unique climate, abundant tidal marshes, and geographical location on the north–south flight path of numerous migratory waterfowl have led to it being designated an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
. The annual brant geese flyby occurs during March and April. Tens of thousands pass over at dusk after spending the day feeding in local marshes, spending the night in the Atlantic to the east of the island.Important Bird Areas of Canada page for Cape Sable Island
See also
*
Cape Islander
A Cape Islander, a style of fishing boat mostly used for lobster fishing, is an inshore motor fishing boat found across Atlantic Canada having a single keeled flat bottom at the stern and more rounded towards the bow. The Cape Island style boat i ...
References
Texts
*Nicholls, Andrew. A Fleeting Empire: Early Stuart Britain and the Merchant Adventurers to Canada. McGill-Queen's University Press. 2010.
Endnotes
Our Ocean Playground - A Nova Scotia History Manual