When Brock was shot and killed at the Battle of Queenston Heights on Oct. 13, 1812, his body was taken to Government House in what is now Niagara-on-the-Lake where it lay in state until Oct. 16.

Brock was later taken from there with great pomp and ceremony and buried in a bastion in the northeast corner of nearby Fort George. His colonial aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonell, who was also killed in the same battle, was buried with him. A 21-gun salute was fired when the two caskets were lowered in their graves, and Americans at Fort Niagara offered a similar salute. Even though Americans captured Fort George in 1813, the graves remained undisturbed.

The legislature for Upper Canada decided in 1814 that a monument should be erected near Queenston where Brock fell. It took some time to raise money for the monument, and though it wasn't completed yet, Brock's second burial took place there on Oct. 13, 1824. A crowd of about 8,000 were on hand to see Brock and Macdonell's bodies moved from Fort George to the monument 10 kilometres away. It was said that as many Americans as Canadians witnessed the event. The monument was never completed to its original design, but still stood 41 metres high with a base six metres square and six metres high.

On April 17, 1840, an explosion shook the tower and severely damaged it. The mastermind behind the explosion was Benjamin Lett, an Irish-Canadian who had been involved in the Rebellion of 1837 and was seeking revenge against the British. He was arrested in the U.S. on other charges and eventually went to prison.

By 1842, officials decided a second tower should be built, with plans calling for it to be the second tallest structure of its kind in the world behind a tower honoring the Great Fire of London in 1666. Work began in 1853, and it was necessary to remove the remains of Brock and Macdonell again and place them in temporary graves in a small cemetery in the village of Queenston.

The fourth and final burial took place Oct. 13, 1853, with about 12,000 to 15,000 people attending, including veterans of the War of 1812. Work on the tower continued until 1858, and it was officially inaugurated on Oct. 13, 1859.