The last Fenian raids were in 1870 and 1871 -- two in 1870 in the Eastern Townships of Quebec (as mentioned by Lady Jean), and the 1871 raid in Manitoba. Fortunately, the Montreal and Eastern Townships militia companies repelled the 1870 raids without much to-do, and the 1871 raid fizzled out in the bald-headed prairie.

The most important fall-out of the Fenian raids was a sharp getting-with-the-program effect in the Department of Militia and Defence. Most of Canada's infantry and cavalry (armour nowadays) regiments date from the 1860s, but the end of the Civil War caused a considerable slackening of attention to the security issue. Confederation was a big distraction, with a new level of government to blame for not spending enough money in the right places, so for Militia supporters the Fenians were actually a welcome sight, even paddling across the Niagara River.

Defence Plan 1 and War Plan Red are hardly news in Ottawa, I'm afraid -- in fact, I remember declassifying a copy of Defence Plan 1 in 1987. After all, before the Ogdensburg Agreement, Canada and the U.S. had quite contradictory world views and not very much in common at the political level.

Come to think of it, has that changed do you think?