In 1813, during the Anglo-American War, US troops occupied the Niagara region of Upper Canada. When local resident Laura Secord learnt of their plan to surround and capture the British headquarters at Beaver Dams, she slipped out through the American patrols and crossed twenty miles of hard terrain in the hope of warning the British commander, James Fitzgibbon.

As Secord neared the British headquarters, she was challenged by Iroquois sentries at their neighbouring camp, but swallowed her fears and demanded to see Fitzgibbon. The information she provided helped him to make a counterplan, and when the American attack came the British and their Five Nations allies defeated it soundly. Secord and Fitzgibbon remained friends ever after.

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