[1] To add, the lumber industry was dominated by French Canadians and, at the time, the Irish were considered to be at the lowest rung of the social ladder due to historical antipathy and their refusal to assimilate.
On one occasion, the pregnant wife of a farmer, who had upset the Shiners somehow, was attacked while driving home in a sleigh with other female family members.
Beaten with sticks, the farmer's wife attempted to jump to safety, but her clothing got caught in the sleigh and she was dragged over the frozen ground before coming free.
[5] Other actions attributed to the Shiners' campaign of terror included stripping children naked in the snow, polluting wells, accosting women in the street, and shattering windows.
As there was no jail or courthouse in Bytown, those who were captured had to be transported to Perth, Ontario, for trial; however, poorly-paid officers were reluctant to make the 50-mile trip given the great chance of being ambushed along the way.
[5] The Irishmen also controlled the Union Bridge at Chaudière Falls, where lumberman Joseph Montferrand was ambushed and supposedly fought off over 150 Shiners.
[5] The violence would peak in 1837, when the area saw the highest annual Irish immigration to date, and during a time of financial crisis, rising prices, and increased unemployment in the lumber camps.
[1] In early January 1837, Aylen and his cronies disrupted the election of councillors to the Nepean Township Council, held in Bytown at John Stanley's Tavern.
Concluding that intense measures were necessary in order to prevent such breach of the peace from occurring again, the magistrates recommended the establishment of a municipal police force as well as the building of a courthouse and jail in Bytown.
[5] In early March 1837, armed men went to the house of James Johnson, who had been beaten in the January riot, on the pretense of searching for a man.
[3] Aylen did break them out of jail, but they were subsequently recaptured in late 1837 and served 3 years with hard labour in a penitentiary for attempted murder.
The story, written by Conor Ryan and illustrated by Shawn Daley, follows two fictional characters through the conflicts of the era, and features figures of the time within the plot, including Joseph Montferrand and Peter Aylen.