Back in 1837 William Lyon Mackenzie implemented a self-proclaimed government established on Navy Island in the Niagara River in the latter days of the Upper Canada Rebellion.
Mackenzie established an independent currency, and supplied his camp using the American supply steamer Caroline. He recruited followers by promising 300 acres of land to any man that supported his cause. He later included in his promise $100 in silver to his supporters, payable on May 1, 1838.
On December 29, Royal Navy Commander Andrew Drew and seven boatloads of Canadian militiamen crossed the Niagara River to Fort Schlosser. They captured the Caroline used by William Lyon Mackenzie and his rebels on Navy Island.
On January 13, 1838, Mackenzie abandoned Navy Island under heavy fire from British troops. He and his force retreated to Buffalo, New York, where they were captured by the U.S. army and sentenced in the U.S. to 18 months imprisonment for violating neutrality laws between the United States and the British Empire, ending the prospect of a successful Canadian declaration of independence and what the British viewed as an inconsequential and unsupported colonial rebellion.