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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Niagara River, by Archer Butler Hulbert
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Niagara River
+
+Author: Archer Butler Hulbert
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2011 [EBook #35194]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NIAGARA RIVER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Marcia Brooks, Ross Cooling and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Canada Team at
+http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This file was produced from
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+Archive/American Libraries.)
+
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+
+
+
+
+
+
+  The
+  Niagara
+  River
+
+  Archer Butler Hulbert
+
+
+
+
+  _By Archer Butler Hulbert_
+
+  The Ohio River
+
+  A Course of Empire
+
+  _Large Octavo, with 100 Full-page Illustrations and a Map. Net, $3.50.
+  By express, prepaid, $3.75_
+
+  The Niagara River
+
+  _Large Octavo, with many Full-page Illustrations and Maps. Net, $3.50.
+  By express, prepaid, $3.75_
+
+
+  G. P. Putnam's Sons
+  New York                  London
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+  The Niagara River
+
+
+  By
+
+  Archer Butler Hulbert
+
+  Professor of American History, Marietta College; Author of "The Ohio
+  River," "Historic Highways of America," "Washington and the West";
+  Editor of "The Crown Collection of American Maps."
+
+
+  With Maps and Illustrations
+
+
+  G. P. Putnam's Sons
+  New York and London
+  The Knickerbocker Press
+  1908
+
+
+
+
+  Copyright, 1908
+  BY
+  G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+
+
+  The Knickerbocker Press, New York
+
+
+
+
+  TO
+  HENRY CARLTON HULBERT
+  IN
+  APPRECIATION OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND FRIENDSHIP
+  AND AS A TOKEN OF
+  ESTEEM
+
+
+
+
+  Note
+
+
+In the endeavour to gather into one volume a proper description of the
+various interests that centre in and around the Niagara River the author
+of this book felt very sincerely the difficulties of the task before
+him. As the geologic wonder of a continent and the commercial marvel of
+the present century, the Niagara River is one of the most remarkable
+streams in the world. In historic interest, too, it takes rank with any
+American river. To combine, then, into the pages of a single volume a
+proper treatment of this subject would be a task that perhaps no one
+could accomplish satisfactorily.
+
+Works to which the author is most indebted, especially the historical
+writings of Hon. Peter A. Porter, Severance's _Old Trails of the Niagara
+Frontier_, _The Niagara Book_, and the writings of the scholar of the
+old New York frontier, the late O. H. Marshall, and the collections of
+the historical societies along the frontier, are indicated frequently in
+footnotes and in text. The author's particular indebtedness to Mr.
+Porter is elsewhere described; he is also in the debt of F. H. Mautz,
+Henry Guttenstein, Superintendent Edward H. Perry, whose kindness to the
+author was so characteristic of his treatment of all comers to the
+shrine over which he presides, E. O. Dunlap, and many others mentioned
+elsewhere. He has appreciated Mr. Howells's characteristic
+conscientiousness when he wrote concerning Niagara, "I have always had
+to take myself in hand, to shake myself up, to look twice, and recur to
+what I have heard and read of other people's impressions, before I am
+overpowered by it. Otherwise I am simply charmed." The author has
+laboured under the difficulty of attempting to remain "overpowered"
+during a period of several years. That there have been serious lapses
+in the shape of lucid intervals, the critic will find full soon!
+
+It has seemed best to treat of modern Niagara under what might have been
+called "Part I." of this volume. The history of the Niagara region
+proper begins in Chapter VII., the problems of present-day interest
+occupying the preceding six chapters.
+
+  A. B. H.
+
+  Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio,
+  _January 26, 1908_.
+
+
+
+
+  Contents
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                   PAGE
+
+     I.--Buffalo and the Upper Niagara         1
+
+    II.--From the Falls to Lake Ontario       23
+
+   III.--The Birth of Niagara                 52
+
+    IV.--Niagara Bond and Free                72
+
+     V.--Harnessing Niagara Falls             99
+
+    VI.--A Century of Niagara Cranks         123
+
+   VII.--The Old Niagara Frontier            153
+
+  VIII.--From La Salle to De Nonville        171
+
+   IX.--Niagara under Three Flags            196
+
+    X.--The Hero of Upper Canada             231
+
+   XI.--The Second War with England          263
+
+  XII.--Toronto                              292
+
+  Index                                      315
+
+
+
+
+  List of Illustrations
+
+
+                                                          PAGE
+
+  View of Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian Side
+  From a photograph.                        _Frontispiece_
+
+  A Glimpse of Buffalo Harbor                                4
+
+  Lafayette Square                                           8
+
+  St. Paul's Church, Buffalo                                12
+
+  Niagara Falls                                             14
+  From the original painting by Frederick Edwin Church, in
+  Corcoran Gallery.
+
+  The American Rapids                                       16
+
+  The View from Prospect Point                              20
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  Goat Island Bridge and Rapids                             24
+
+  Horseshoe Falls from Below                                26
+
+  "The Shoreless Sea"                                       28
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  Rustic Bridge, Willow Island                              30
+
+  The Cave of the Winds                                     32
+
+  The American Fall                                         36
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  Remains of Stone Piers of the "First Railway in
+  America"--the British Tramway up Lewiston
+  Heights, 1763                                             38
+
+  Amid the Goat Island Group                                40
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian Shore                   44
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  Looking up the Lower Niagara from Paradise Grove          46
+  From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.
+
+  The Mouth of the Gorge                                    48
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  The Whirlpool Rapids                                      50
+
+  The American Fall, July, 1765                             54
+  From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.
+
+  The Horseshoe Fall, July, 1765                            60
+  From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.
+
+  Ice Mountain on Prospect Point                            64
+
+  Cave of the Winds in Winter                               66
+
+  "Maid of the Mist" under Steel Arch Bridge                70
+
+  Beacon on Old Breakwater at Buffalo                       72
+
+  Winter Scene in Prospect Park                             74
+
+  Bath Island, American Rapids, in 1879                     80
+  From New York Commissioners' Report.
+
+  Path to Luna Island                                       86
+
+  Green Island Bridge                                       92
+
+  Bird's-eye View of the Canadian Rapids and Fall          100
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  American Falls from Below                                106
+
+  The Riverside at Willow Island                           118
+
+  Goat Island Bridge, Showing Niagara's Famous Cataract
+  and International Hotels                                 124
+
+  The Path to the Cave of the Winds                        130
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  American Falls from Goat Island                          136
+
+  Horseshoe Falls from Goat Island                         142
+
+  Ice Bridge and American Falls                            148
+
+  Colonel Römer's Map of the Country of the Iroquois,
+  1700                                                     154
+
+  Champlain                                                160
+
+  Map of French Forts in America                           164
+
+  Niagara Falls by Father Hennepin                         166
+  The first known picture of Niagara, dated 1697.
+
+  R. Réné Cavelier, Sieur De La Salle                      172
+
+  Frontenac, from Hébert's Statue at Quebec                178
+
+  Luna Island Bridge                                       184
+
+  "Carte du Lac Ontario." A Specimen French Map
+  of the Niagara Frontier Dated October 4, 1757            190
+  From the original in the British Museum.
+
+  Stones on the Site of Joncaire's Cabin under Lewiston
+  Heights, where the "Magazine Royale" was
+  Erected in 1719                                          198
+
+  Specimen Manuscript Map of Niagara Frontier of
+  Eighteenth Century                                       204
+  From the original in the British Museum.
+
+  A Drawing of Fort Niagara and Environs Showing
+  Plan of English Attack under Johnson                     208
+
+  A Sketch of Fort Niagara and Environs by the
+  French Commander Pouchot Showing Improvements
+  of 1756-1758                                     210 and 211
+
+  Canadian Trapper, from La Potherie                       212
+
+  Youngstown, N. Y., from Paradise Grove                   214
+
+  The Stone Redoubt at Fort Niagara, Built in 1770         216
+  From the original in the British Museum.
+
+  Pfister's Sketch of Fort Niagara and the "Communication."
+  Two Years before the Outbreak
+  of the Revolutionary War                                 220
+
+  Fort Erie and the Mouth of the Niagara, by Pfister,
+  in 1764                                                  226
+  From the original in the British Museum.
+
+  Major-General Brock                                      232
+
+  A Plan of Fort Niagara after English Occupation,
+  by Montresor                                             238
+
+  "Navy Hall Opposite Niagara"                             244
+  A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.
+
+  Queenston and Brock's Monument                           250
+  From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.
+
+  Brock's Monument                                         260
+
+  "Queenston or Landing near Niagara"                      266
+  A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.
+
+  Lieutenant Pierie's Sketch of Niagara, 1768              272
+  From an old print.
+
+  Old View of Fort Mississauga                             278
+
+  Monument at Lundy's Lane                                 284
+
+  Lieutenant-General Simcoe                                294
+
+  "York Harbor"                                            296
+  A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.
+
+  "The Garrison at York"                                   302
+  A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.
+
+  Captain Sowers's Drawings of Fort Niagara, 1769          308
+  From the original in the British Museum.
+
+
+
+
+  The Niagara River
+
+  Chapter I
+
+  Buffalo and the Upper Niagara
+
+
+The Strait of Niagara, or the Niagara River, as it is commonly called,
+ranks among the wonders of the world. The study of this stream is of
+intense and special interest to many classes of people, notably
+historians, archæologists, botanists, geologists, artists, mechanics,
+and electricians. It is doubtful if there is anywhere another thirty-six
+miles of riverway that can, in this respect, compare with it.
+
+The term "strait" as applied to the Niagara correctly suggests the
+river's historic importance. The expression, recurring in so many of the
+relations of French and English military officers, "on this
+communication" also indicates Niagara's position in the story of the
+discovery, conquest, and occupation of the continent. It is probably the
+Falls which, technically, make Niagara a river; and so, in turn, it is
+the Falls that rendered Niagara an important strategic key of the vast
+waterway stretching from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the head of
+Lake Superior. The lack--so far as it does exist--of historic interest
+in the immediate Niagara region, the comparative paucity of military
+events of magnitude along that stream during the old French and the
+Revolutionary wars proves, on the one hand, what a wilderness separated
+the English on the South from the French on the North, and, on the
+other, how strong "the communication" was between Quebec and the French
+posts in the Middle West. It does not prove that Niagara was the less
+important.
+
+The Falls increased the historic importance of Niagara because it
+limited navigation and made a portage necessary; the purposes of trade
+and missionary enterprise, as well as those of conquest, demanded that
+this point be occupied, and occupation necessarily meant defence. Here,
+from Lewiston and Queenston to Chippewa and Port Day (to use modern
+names) ran the two most famous portage paths of the continent. Here were
+to be seen at one time or another the footprints of as famous explorers,
+noble missionaries, and brave soldiers as ever went to conquest in
+history.
+
+The Niagara River was important in the olden time to every mile of
+territory drained by the waters that flowed through it. What an empire
+to hold in fee! Here lies more than one-half the fresh water of the
+world--the solid contents being, according to Darby
+1,547,011,792,300,000; it would form a solid cubic column measuring
+nearly twenty-two miles on each side.
+
+The most remote body of water tributary to Niagara River is Lake
+Superior, 381 miles long and 161 miles broad with a circumference of
+1150 miles. The Niagara of Lake Superior is the St. Mary's River,
+twenty-seven miles in length, its current very rapid, with water
+flowing over great masses of rock into Lake Huron. Lake Huron is 218
+miles long and 20 miles wider than Lake Superior, but with a
+circumference of only 812 miles. Lake Michigan is 345 miles long and 84
+broad and enters Lake Huron through Mackinaw Straits which are four
+miles in length, with a fall of four feet. In turn Lake Huron empties
+into the St. Clair and Detroit rivers which, with a total fall of eleven
+feet in fifty-one miles, forms the Niagara of Lake Erie. This sheet of
+water is 250 miles long and 60 miles broad at its widest part. The area
+drained by these lakes is as follows, including their own area:
+
+  Lake Superior          85,000 sq. m.
+    "  Huron             74,000    "
+    "  Michigan          70,040    "
+    "  Erie              39,680    "
+                       --------
+        Total           268,720    "
+
+Considering this as a portion of the St. Lawrence drainage, we have the
+marvellous spectacle of a navigable waterway from the St. Louis River,
+Lake Superior, to Cape Gaspé at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, of
+twenty-one hundred miles in length, the Niagara River being paralleled
+to-day by the Welland Canal, and lesser canals affording a passageway
+around the rapids of the St. Mary's in the West and the St. Lawrence in
+the East. In a previous volume in the present series[1] it was seen that
+the improved rivers in the Ohio basin now offered a navigable pathway
+over four thousand miles in length; how insignificant is that prospect
+in view of this great transcontinental waterway two thousand miles in
+length but including the 268,000 square miles in the four great lakes
+alone! Well does George Waldo Browne in his beautiful volume on this
+subject, _The St. Lawrence River_, say:
+
+    Treated in a more extended manner, according to the ideas of the
+    early French geographers, and taking either the river and lake
+    of Nipigon, on the north of Superior, or the river St. Louis,
+    flowing from the south-west, it has a grand total length of over
+    two thousand miles. With its tributaries it drains over four
+    hundred thousand square miles of country, made up of fertile
+    valleys and plateaux inhabited by a prosperous people, desolate
+    barrens, deep forests, where the foot of man has not yet left
+    its imprint.
+
+    Seldom less than two miles in width, it is two and one-half
+    miles wide where it issues from Ontario, and with several
+    expansions which deserve the name of lake it becomes eighty
+    miles in width where it ceases to be considered a river. The
+    influence of the tide is felt as far up as Lake St. Peter, about
+    one hundred miles from the gulf, while it is navigable for
+    sea-going vessels to Montreal, eighty miles farther inland.
+    Rapids impede navigation above this point, but by means of
+    canals continuous communication is obtained to the head of Lake
+    Superior.
+
+    If inferior in breadth to the mighty Amazon, if it lacks the
+    length of the Mississippi, if without the stupendous gorges and
+    cataracts of the Yang-tse-Kiang of China, if missing the ancient
+    castles of the Rhine, if wanting the lonely grandeur that still
+    overhangs the Congo of the Dark Continent, the Great River of
+    Canada has features as remarkable as any of these. It has its
+    source in the largest body of fresh water upon the globe, and
+    among all of the big rivers of the world it is the only one
+    whose volume is not sensibly affected by the elements. In rain
+    or in sunshine, in spring floods or in summer droughts, this
+    phenomenon of waterways seldom varies more than a foot in its
+    rise and fall.
+
+[Illustration: A Glimpse of Buffalo Harbor.]
+
+The history of the Niagara is so closely interwoven with that of the
+great "Queen City of the Lakes," Buffalo, that it would seem as though
+the famous waterway was in the suburb of the city and its greatest
+scenic attraction. However true this is to-day, it was very far from the
+case a century ago, for though the site of Buffalo was historic and
+important, the city, as such, is of comparative recent origin, coming to
+its own with giant strides in those last decades of the nineteenth
+century. Writes Mr. Rowland B. Mahany in his excellent chapter on
+"Buffalo" in _The Historic Towns of the Middle States:_
+
+    Few cities of the United States have a history more picturesque
+    than Buffalo, or more typical of the forces that have made the
+    Republic great. At the time of the adoption of the Federal
+    constitution, in 1787, not a single white settler dwelt on the
+    site of what is now the Queen of the Lakes; and it was not until
+    after the second presidency of Washington, that Joseph Ellicott,
+    the founder of Buffalo, laid out the plan of the town, which he
+    called New Amsterdam.
+
+On February 10, 1810, the "Town of Buffaloe" was created by act of the
+State Legislature, a name originally given to the locality by the Seneca
+Indians, who, we shall see, dominated the old Niagara frontier; it is
+believed that the name came from the animals which visited the
+neighbouring salt licks; and the name therefore may be much older than
+any settlement or even camping site. The village of New Amsterdam was
+now merged into the town of Buffalo, which boasted a newspaper in the
+second year of its existence, 1811. The story of the following years
+falls naturally into that of the disastrous war with England from 1812
+to 1814, in which Buffalo suffered severely. As Mr. Mahany suggests, the
+story of Buffalo is characteristically American, and its phases, as such
+offer an inviting field, but one too wide for full examination in the
+present history.[2]
+
+The important position of the city with reference to the Great Lakes was
+very greatly increased with the building of the Erie Canal from 1817 to
+1825. It is interesting to recall the fact that it was in reality fear
+of the possibility of another war with England that caused the deciding
+vote for the Erie Canal project to be cast in its favour.[3] In the
+proper place we shall have impressed upon us the great distance that
+separated the Niagara frontier from the inhabited portion of the
+Republic at this early period, the great length of the land route and
+the difficulty of it; it was said to be far more than a cannon was worth
+to haul it to the frontier during the War of 1812. All this shows very
+distinctly the early condition surrounding the rise of the metropolis of
+the Niagara country, and, from being strange that little Buffalo did not
+grow faster, it is amazing to find such rapid growth during the first
+twenty-five years of her life.
+
+With the opening of the canal in 1825 a new era dawned; the work of the
+great land companies in north-eastern New York drew vast armies of
+people thither, and the canal proved to be the great route for a much
+longer migration from the seaboard to the further north-west, to
+Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as to neighbouring Ohio. All this helped
+Buffalo. Numbers of travellers arriving at the future site of the Queen
+City of the Lakes at once decided that they could at least go farther
+and fare very much worse, and so sat down to grow up with the Niagara
+frontier. The proximity of the Falls had something to do, of course,
+with bringing increasingly larger numbers of travellers and transients
+to the Lake Erie village. But it was slow work, this building up a great
+city, and no doubt the very fact that the stones of the mighty edifice
+one finds beside that beautiful harbour to-day were laid slowly accounts
+for the solidity of the structure; Buffalo was not built on a boom.
+
+From James L. Barton's reminiscences, for instance, we have clear
+pictures of the early struggle for business in this frontier town, which
+prove it to have been typically American. Mr. Barton owned a line of
+boats on the Lakes and canal but found it very difficult to find freight
+for the boats to carry down the State:
+
+    A few tons of freight [he writes], was all that we could furnish
+    each boat to carry to Albany. This they would take in, and fill
+    up at Rochester, which place, situated in the heart of the
+    wheat-growing district of Western New York, furnished nearly all
+    the down freight that passed on the canal. Thus we lived and
+    struggled on until 1830. Our population had increased largely,
+    and that year numbered six thousand and thirty-one. In the fall
+    of 1831, I received from Cleveland one thousand bushels of
+    wheat. . . . The next winter I made arrangement with the late
+    Colonel Ira A. Blossom, the resident agent of the Holland Land
+    Company, to furnish storage for all the wheat the settlers
+    should bring in, towards the payment on their land contracts
+    with the company. The whole amount did not exceed three thousand
+    bushels. . . . In 1833 the Ohio canal was completed, which gave
+    us a little more business. Northern Ohio was then the only
+    portion of the great West that had any surplus agricultural
+    products to send to an eastern market. In 1833 a little stir
+    commenced in land operations, which increased the next year, and
+    in 1835 became a perfect fever and swallowed up almost
+    everything else. Nearly every person who had any enterprise got
+    rich from buying and selling land; using little money in these
+    transactions, but paying and receiving in pay, bonds and
+    mortgages to an illimitable amount.
+
+In 1837 the panic affected the young lake city as it did all parts of
+the land, but by 1840 the population of Buffalo had swelled to over
+eighteen thousand. The record of growth of the past century is a matter
+of figures strung on the faith of a great company of active,
+enterprising, far-sighted business men, until Buffalo ranks among the
+cities of half a million population, with a future unquestionably secure
+and brilliant.
+
+The Niagara River is some nineteen hundred feet in width at its mouth
+here at Buffalo and forty-eight feet deep; the average rate of current
+here is under six miles per hour, but when south-west gales drive the
+lake billows in gigantic gulps down the river's mouth the current
+sometimes races as fast as twelve miles per hour. Old Fort Erie, built
+here at the mouth of the Niagara immediately after England won the
+continent from France, in 1764, was formerly the only settlement
+hereabouts, Black Rock, now part of Buffalo, at the mouth of the Erie
+Canal, was not settled until near the close of that century. It is
+believed that five forts have guarded the mouth of this strategic river,
+all known as Fort Erie. When the people of the opposite sides of the
+river were in conflict in 1812, Black Rock was the rival of Fort Erie.
+The large black rock which formed the landing-place of the ferry across
+the river here, and which gave the hamlet its name, was destroyed when
+the Erie Canal was built. Black Rock was formally laid out in 1804 and
+in 1853 was incorporated with the city of Buffalo.
+
+[Illustration: Lafayette Square.]
+
+The upper Niagara with its even current and low-lying banks is not
+specially attractive. Grand Island, two miles below the mouth, divides
+the river into two narrow arms. This beautiful island, the Indian name
+of which was Owanunga, so popular to-day as a summering place, is
+remembered in history especially as the site selected in 1825 for Major
+M. M. Noah's "New Jerusalem," the proposed industrial centre of the Jews
+of the New World, but nothing was accomplished on the island itself
+toward the object in view.
+
+At Buffalo, however, Noah took the title "Judge of Israel," and held a
+meeting in the old St. Paul's Church, where remarkable initiatory rites
+took place. In resplendent robes covered by a mantle of crimson silk,
+trimmed with ermine, the Judge held what he termed "impressive and
+unique ceremony," in which he read a proclamation to "all the Jews
+throughout the world," bringing them the glad tidings that on the
+ancient isle Owanunga "an asylum was prepared and offered to them," and
+that he did "revive, renew, and establish (in the Lord's name), the
+government of the Jewish nation, . . . confirming and perpetuating all
+our rights and privileges, our rank and power, among the nations of the
+earth as they existed and were recognised under the government of the
+Judges." Mr. Noah ordered a census of all the Hebrews in the world to be
+taken and did not forget, incidentally, to levy a tax of about one
+dollar and a half on every Jew in order to carry on the project. A
+"foundation stone" was prepared to be erected on the site of the future
+New Jerusalem; the following inscription was engraved upon it:
+
+    Hear, O Israel, the Lord
+  is our God--the Lord is one.
+
+  ARARAT,
+  A CITY OF REFUGE FOR THE JEWS,
+  FOUNDED BY MORDECAI MANUEL NOAH,
+  IN THE MONTH OF TISRI 5586--SEPT. 1825
+  IN THE FIFTIETH YEAR OF
+  AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.
+
+At the lower extremity of Grand Island is historic Burnt Ship Bay, made
+famous, as hereafter related, in the old French War.
+
+The little town of Tonawanda, with its immense lumber interests, and La
+Salle, famous in history as the building site of the _Griffon_,
+elsewhere described, lie opposite Grand Island on the American shore,
+the former at the mouth of Cayuga Creek. On the opposite shore, a little
+below the beautiful Navy Island, is the historic town of Chippewa.
+
+Below Navy Island the river spreads out to a width of over two miles; it
+has fallen twenty feet since leaving Lake Erie, and now gathers into a
+narrower channel for its magnificent rush to the falls one mile below.
+In this mile the river drops fifty-two feet, through what are known as
+the American and Canadian Rapids, on their respective sides of the
+river.
+
+From a scenic standpoint it is questionable whether any of the delights
+of Niagara surpass those afforded by this beautiful series of cascades;
+sightseers are prepared from their earliest days for the magnificent
+beauty of the Falls themselves, but of the Rapids above little is known
+until their insidious charm gradually works its way into the heart to
+remain forever an image of beauty and rapture that cannot be effaced.
+Guide books will give adequate advice as to the best points of vantage
+from which to view the various rifts and cascades.[4]
+
+    Some years ago [writes Mr. Porter], Colin Hunter, then an
+    Associate, now a Royal Academician, came over from London to
+    paint Niagara. Of all the points of view he selected the one as
+    seen up stream from the head of the Little Brother Island. A
+    temporary bridge was built to it, and here, with a guard at the
+    bridge, so as to be secure from intrusion, he painted his grand
+    view, looking up stream. The upper ledge of rocks, with its
+    long, rapid cascade, was his sky-line; in the foreground were
+    the tumbling Rapids; far to the right of the picture the tops of
+    a few trees appearing on the Canada shore above the waters alone
+    showed the presence of any land. We advise . . . the visitor to
+    clamber over the rocks on the Canadian shore of the Island . . .
+    go out as near the water's edge as possible, and you will
+    appreciate the difference that a few feet in a point of
+    observation may make in what is apparently the same scenery.
+    Just before you reach the foot of the island a gnarled cedar
+    tree and a rock, accessible by leaping from stone to stone,
+    gives you access to a point of observation than which there is
+    nothing more beautiful at Niagara. Do not fail to get this view,
+    for it is the Colin Hunter view, as nearly as you can get it,
+    and you will appreciate the artistic sense of the great painter
+    who chose this incomparable view in preference to the Falls
+    themselves for a reproduction of the very best at Niagara.
+
+Another beautiful point from which to view the Rapids is on Terrapin
+Rocks, the so-called scenic and geographical centre of Niagara. Here the
+power of the magnificent river, the "shoreless sea" above you, the
+clouds for its horizon, grows more impressive with every visit. By day
+the sight is marvellously impressive; by night, under some
+circumstances, it is yet more wonderful. Of this night view Margaret
+Fuller wrote, most feelingly:
+
+    After nightfall as there was a splendid moon, I went down to the
+    bridge and leaned over the parapet, where the boiling rapids
+    came down in their might. It was grand, and it was also
+    gorgeous: the yellow rays of the moon made the broken waves
+    appear like auburn tresses twining around the black rocks. But
+    they did not inspire me as before. I felt a foreboding of a
+    mightier emotion to rise up and swallow all others, and I passed
+    on to the Terrapin Bridge. Everything was changed, the misty
+    apparition had taken off its many coloured crown which it had
+    worn by day, and a bow of silvery white spanned its summit. The
+    moonlight gave a poetical indefiniteness to the distant parts of
+    the waters, and while the rapids were glancing in her beams, the
+    river below the Falls was as black as night, save where the
+    reflection of the sky gave it the appearance of a shield of blue
+    steel.
+
+As the Falls of Niagara slowly creep backward in tune to their
+stupendous recessional toward Lake Erie they encroach more and more on
+the magnificent domain of the Rapids, nor will their gradual increase in
+height atone for this savage invasion nor palliate the offence
+committed. A thousand years more, we are told, and the visitor will view
+the "Horseshoe" Fall from the upper end of the Third Sister Island, and
+the marvellous canvas of Colin Hunter will be as meaningless as
+Hennepin's picture of two centuries and more ago. The American Fall,
+receding much more slowly than the Horseshoe Fall, will invade the
+beautiful rapids above Goat Island bridge at a very much later date,
+for, as we shall see, the greater fall recedes almost as many feet per
+year as the lesser recedes inches. And in this connection it is
+interesting to note that if the recession continued to Lake Erie and
+onward into that lake until the line of fall was a mile long at its
+crest, with the water falling 336 feet, Victoria Falls in the Zambesi
+River would still exceed their American rival by sixty-four feet in
+height!
+
+[Illustration: St. Paul's Church, Buffalo.]
+
+The accessibility of the Niagara Rapids, because of the fortunate
+location of the Goat Island group is, in itself, one of the great charms
+of the region, and this may explain in part the insuppressible desire of
+early visitors to reach these glorious points of vantage. The view of
+the rapids from the Goat Island bridge to-day is said to be the source
+of chief pleasure "to half the visitors to Niagara."[5]
+
+George Houghton's beautiful lines on "The Upper Rapids" express with
+fine feeling the effect of these racing cascades on the sensitive mind:
+
+  Still with the wonder of boyhood, I follow the race of the Rapids,
+  Sirens that dance, and allure to destruction,--now lurking in shadows,
+  Skirting the level stillness of pools and the treacherous shallows,
+  Smiling and dimple-mouthed, coquetting,--now modest, now forward;
+
+  Tenderly chanting, and such the thrall of the weird incantation,
+  Thirst it awakes in each listener's soul, a feverish longing.
+  Thoughts all absorbent, a torment that stings and ever increases,
+  Burning ambition to push bare-breast to thy perilous bosom.
+
+  Thus, in some midnight obscure, bent down by the storm of temptation
+  (So hath the wind, in the beechen wood, confided the story).
+  Pine-trees, thrusting their way and trampling down one another,
+  Curious, lean and listen, replying in sobs and in whispers;
+
+  Till of the secret possessed, which brings sure blight to the hearer,
+  (So hath the wind, in the beechen wood, confided the story),
+  Faltering, they stagger brinkward,--clutch at the roots of the grasses,
+  Cry,--a pitiful cry of remorse,--and plunge down in the darkness.
+
+  Art thou all-merciless then,--a fiend, ever fierce for new victims?
+  Was then the red-man right (as yet it liveth in legend),
+  That, ere each twelvemonth circles, still to thy shrine is allotted
+  Blood of one human heart, as sacrifice due and demanded?
+
+  Butterflies have I followed, that leaving the red-top and clover,
+  Thinking a wind-harp thy voice, thy froth the fresh whiteness of daisies,
+  Ventured too close, grew giddy, and catching cold drops on their pinions,
+  Balanced--but vainly,--and falling, their scarlet was blotted forever.
+
+When, about 1880, William M. Hunt was commissioned to decorate the
+immense panels of the Assembly Chamber of the Capitol at Albany, N. Y.,
+he chose, with true artistic feeling, the view of the rapids above Goat
+Island bridge as the choice picture to represent the great marvel and
+chief wonder of the Empire State--Niagara. It is generally conceded that
+Church's _Horseshoe Falls_ takes rank over all other paintings of
+Niagara, but Colin Hunter's _Rapids of Niagara_ excel any other view of
+either the Falls, Gorge, or Rapids on canvas to-day.
+
+[Illustration: Niagara Falls.
+
+From the original painting by Frederick Edwin Church, in Corcoran
+Gallery.]
+
+But we must observe here that these Rapids were something aside from
+beautiful to the French and English officers whose duty it was to
+defend and supply "the communication" from Fort Frontenac to Fort
+Chartres; they probably seemed very "horrid," in the old time sense, to
+those who struggled under the burdens of the ancient portage path. The
+southern termini of the two pathways--one on either side of the
+river--were Chippewa and Port Day, respectively. The route from Lewiston
+to Port Day was evidently the common portage until after the War of 1812
+when the Canadian path was opened. A little below what is known as
+Schlosser Dock stood the French fort guarding this end of their old
+portage path. Fort du Portage or Little Fort Niagara, built about 1750,
+nine years before England conquered the region. Near by stands the one
+famous relic of the old régime, the Old Stone Chimney of Fort du
+Portage, later a chimney of the English mess-house at Fort Schlosser. As
+will be noted later Fort du Portage was destroyed by the retreating
+French, after the capture of Fort Niagara by Sir William Johnson: to
+guard that end of the portage the English under Colonel Schlosser built
+Fort Schlosser in 1761. The road occupying the course of the ancient
+portage does not extend to the river now, but it bears the old name, and
+on it you may see, not half a mile back, outlines of the earthen works
+of one of the eleven block-houses built in 1764 by Captain Montresor the
+first of which was erected on the hill above Lewiston: these
+block-houses guarded the important roadway from the assaults of Indians
+such as the famous Bloody Run Massacre of 1763. Frenchman's Landing is
+the modern name for the cove below the Old Stone Chimney where was the
+terminus of the earliest portage path guarded by the block-house known
+as the first Little Fort Niagara. This whole district is now the site
+of the power-houses and mills that are making Niagara a word to conjure
+with in the centres of trade as certainly as in the ancient day it was a
+mesmeric word in the courts and camps of the Old World.
+
+The thunder of Niagara Falls reaches our ears even amid the music of
+these beautiful Rapids, and we are drawn on to the marvellous group of
+islands that impinge upon the cataract.
+
+[Illustration: The American Rapids.]
+
+What is commonly known as the Goat Island group consists of the island
+of that name, containing some seventy acres of land, and sixteen other
+islands or rocks contiguous thereto. Without undertaking to dispute or
+defend many of the extravagant assertions made in behalf of Goat Island,
+to which have been given the titles "Temple of Nature," "Enchanted
+Isles," "Isle of Beauty," "Shrine of the Deity," "Fairy Isles," etc. it
+would, I think, be difficult to disprove the statement often made that
+no other seventy acres on the continent are more interesting than these
+bearing this homely name. From the standpoint of the artist and
+naturalist this statement would probably pass unquestioned. The views
+already alluded to of the American and Canadian rapids to be gained from
+this delightful vantage point are probably unparalleled. To the botanist
+Goat Island is a paradise. Sir Joseph Hooker affirmed that he found here
+a greater variety of vegetation within a given space than he had found
+in Europe or in America east of the Sierras, and Dr. Asa Gray confirmed
+the extravagant statement. Wrote Frederick Law Olmsted:
+
+    I have followed the Appalachian chain almost from end to end,
+    and travelled on horseback "in search of the picturesque" over
+    four thousand miles of the most promising parts of the continent
+    without finding elsewhere the same quality of forest beauty
+    which was once abundant about the Falls, and which is still to
+    be observed on those parts of Goat Island where the original
+    growth of trees and shrubs has not been disturbed, and where
+    from caving banks trees are not now exposed to excessive dryness
+    at the root.
+
+In a report, prepared by David F. Day for the New York State Reservation
+Commissioners, we find explained, in part, the notable fertility of this
+little plot of ground, although the oft-returning misty rain from the
+Falls, and the fact that Goat Island never experiences the dangers of a
+"forward" spring have much to do in preserving its beautiful robe of
+colours:
+
+    A calcareous soil enriched with an abundance of organic matter
+    like that of Goat Island would necessarily be one of great
+    fertility. For the growth and sustentation of a forest and of
+    such plants as prefer the woods to the openings it would far
+    excel the deep and exhaustless alluvians of the prairie states.
+
+    It would be difficult to find within another territory so
+    restricted in its limits so great a diversity of trees and
+    shrubs and still more difficult to find in so small an area such
+    examples of arboreal symmetry and perfection as the island has
+    to exhibit.
+
+    The island received its flora from the mainland, in fact the
+    botanist is unable to point out a single instance of tree,
+    shrub, or herb, now growing upon the island not also to be found
+    upon the mainland. But the distinguishing characteristic of its
+    flora is not the possession of any plant elsewhere unknown, but
+    the abundance of individuals and species, which the island
+    displays. There are to be found in Western New York about 170
+    species of trees and shrubs. Goat Island and the immediate
+    vicinity of the river near the Falls can show of these no less
+    than 140. There are represented on the island four maples, three
+    species of thorn, two species of ash, and six species,
+    distributed in five genera, of the cone-bearing family. The one
+    species of basswood belonging to the vicinity is also there.
+
+Mr. Day has a catalogue of plants in his report to the Reservation
+Commissioners, giving 909 species of plants to be found on the
+Reservation, of which 758 are native and 151 foreign. Wrote Margaret
+Fuller:
+
+    The beautiful wood on Goat Island is full of flowers, many of
+    the fairest love to do homage there. The wake robin and the May
+    apple are in bloom, the former white, pink, green, purple,
+    copying the rainbow of the Falls, and fit it for its presiding
+    Deity when He walks the land, for they are of imperial size and
+    shaped like stones for a diadem. Of the May apple I did not
+    raise one green tent without finding a flower beneath.
+
+Explaining the climatic advantages of the island Mr. Olmsted remarks:
+
+    First, the masses of ice which every winter are piled to a great
+    height below the Falls and the great rushing body of ice cold
+    water coming from the northern lakes in the spring prevent at
+    Niagara the hardship under which trees elsewhere often suffer
+    through sudden checks to premature growth. And second, when
+    droughts elsewhere occur, as they do every few years, of such
+    severity that trees in full foliage droop and dwindle and even
+    sometimes cast their leaves, the atmosphere at Niagara is more
+    or less moistened by the constantly evaporating spray of the
+    Falls, and in certain situations bathed by drifting clouds of
+    spray.
+
+It is a very irony of fate that this marvellous gem among the islands of
+earth could not bear a name befitting its place in the admiration and
+esteem of a world; it was, I believe, Judge Porter himself that named
+this beautiful spot "Iris Island," a name altogether fitting in both
+wealth of suggestion and beauty of association. One John Steadman,
+remembered as a contractor to widen the old portage path from Lewiston
+to Fort Schlosser, and former owner of the island under a "Seneca
+patent," planted some turnips here, we are told, in the year 1770 A.D.,
+and in the following autumn placed here "a number of animals, among them
+a male goat," to get them out of the reach of the bears and wolves that
+infested the neighbouring shore near his home two miles up the river. In
+the spring of 1771 it was found that the severe winter had been too much
+for all but the "male goat," who, unfortunately, survived the ordeal,
+and by so doing bids fair to hand his name down through the centuries
+attached to the most beautiful island in the world. In the Treaty of
+Ghent, which set our boundary line here, the island bears the name
+"Iris." Mr. Porter has stated that even if it were desirable to change
+the name now "it would seem impossible now to do so."[6] Is this the
+truth? Could not the commissioners who have the matters in hand do a
+great deal toward inaugurating a change to the old official name that
+would in the long run prove effective? The present writer is most
+positive that this could be done and that it is a thing that ought
+certainly to be attempted immediately. It would be surprising how much
+the change would be favoured if once attempted, if guide books and maps
+followed the new nomenclature. The only possible satisfaction that one
+can have in the present name is in the horrifying reflection that if the
+male goat had died the island would probably have been "Turnip Island"
+if not "Colic Island."
+
+Below the islands resound the Falls. Perhaps there is no better method
+of describing this almost indescribable wonder than by taking the
+familiar walk about them beginning at the common point of commencement,
+Prospect Point.
+
+[Illustration: The View from Prospect Point.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+It is important on visiting the Falls for the first time to obtain as
+good a view as possible, as the first view comes but once. Many are
+somewhat disappointed with it, since from a distance the Falls give the
+idea of a long low wall of water, their great height being offset by
+their great breadth of almost a mile. The best view is from the top of
+the bank on the Canadian side; but as most of the tourists reach the
+American side first it is from this standpoint that most visitors gain
+their first impression. No better vantage ground can be gained on the
+American side than Prospect Point. Here, placed at the northern end of
+the American cataract, is the best position to make a study of the
+geography of Niagara. Stretching from your feet along the line of sight
+extends the American Fall to a distance of 1060 feet. At the other side
+of the American Fall is the Goat Island group. This group stretches
+along the cliff for a distance of 1300 feet more. Beyond this extends
+the line of the Horseshoe Fall for a further distance of 3010 feet,
+making in all a total of slightly over a mile. To the right, down the
+river is the gorge which Niagara has been chiseling and scouring for
+unnumbered centuries; this chasm extends almost due north for a distance
+of seven miles to Lewiston. Down the gorge the gaze is uninterrupted for
+a distance of nearly two miles, almost to the Whirlpool where the river
+turns abruptly to the left on entering this whirling maelstrom, issuing
+again almost at right angles to continue its mad plunges. To the left,
+up the river lie the American Rapids, where the water rushes on in its
+madness to hurl its volume over the 160 feet of precipice and into the
+awful chasm below. Just below Prospect Point and somewhat higher in
+altitude than it, is what has been called Hennepin's View, so named
+after Father Hennepin, who gave the first written description of the
+Niagara. Here one sees not only the Horseshoe Fall in the foreground, as
+at Prospect Point, but the American Fall also, which lies several feet
+lower than our point of vantage.
+
+Proceeding up the river the next point of interest reached is the steel
+bridge to Goat Island. The first bridge to this island was constructed
+by Judge Porter in 1817 about forty rods above the site of the present
+one. In the spring of the next year this bridge was swept away by the
+large cakes of ice coming down the river. It was rebuilt at its present
+site, its projector judging that the added descent of the rapids would
+so break up the ice as to eliminate any danger to the structure; and the
+results proved his theory true. This structure stood until 1855 when its
+place was taken by a steel arch bridge, which served the public until
+1900. In that year the present structure authorised by the State of New
+York took its place.
+
+Looking upon this structure, one wonders how the foundations could
+possibly have been laid in such an irresistible current of water. First,
+two of the largest trees to be found in the vicinity were cut down and
+hewn flat on two sides. A level platform was erected on the shore at the
+water's edge and on this the hewn logs were placed about eight feet
+apart, supported on rollers with their shore ends heavily weighted with
+stone. These logs were then run as far out over the river as possible,
+and a man walked out on each one armed with an iron pointed staff. On
+finding a crevice in the rock forming the bottom of the river, these
+staffs were driven firmly into the rock and then lashed to the ends of
+the timbers, thus forming a stay to them and furnishing the means
+necessary for beginning the construction of the crib. The timbers were
+planked, and the same process was pursued until the island was reached.
+
+While the second bridge was under construction, the famous Indian
+chieftain and orator, Red Jacket, visited the Falls. The old veteran is
+said to have sat for a long time watching the process of bridging the
+angry waters, the transforming power of the white man at work,
+conquering a force which to him appeared more than able to baffle all
+the ingenuity of man. On being asked by a bystander what he thought of
+the work of construction he seemed mortified that the white man's hand
+should so desecrate these sacred waters; folding his blanket slowly
+about him, with his eyes fixed upon the works, he is said to have given
+forth the stereotyped Indian grunt, adding "D----n Yankee!"
+
+Upon this bridge we find one of the best positions, as we have noted,
+from which to view the Rapids. From the point of their beginning, about
+a mile above the Falls to the crest of the cliff the descent is over
+fifty feet. Here, standing upon what seems in comparison but a frail
+structure, one can realise the grandeur of the Rapids. In the terrible
+race they seem to be trying to tear away the piers of the bridge which
+are fretting their current.
+
+[Footnote 1: _The Ohio River; A Course of Empire_, p. 359.]
+
+[Footnote 2: Frank H. Severance in his delightful _Old Trails of the
+Niagara Frontier_ has several most interesting chapters relating to the
+Buffalo neighbourhood. Mr. Severance has done, through the Buffalo
+Historical Society, much good work in keeping warm the affection of the
+present generation for the memory of the past, its heroes and its
+sacrifices.]
+
+[Footnote 3: See A. B. Hulbert, _The Great American Canals_, vol. ii.,
+p. 111.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Congressman Peter A. Porter's Guide Book may be recommended
+highly; its use to the present writer, taken in addition to its author's
+personal assistance and advice, must be acknowledged in the most
+unreserved way. Numerous references to Mr. Porter's various monographs,
+especially his _Old Fort Niagara_ and _Goat Island_, in addition to his
+Guide, will be met with frequently in this volume. To one really
+interested in Niagara history _Old Fort Niagara_ will be found most
+attractive and comprehensive; its numerous references to authorities put
+it quite in a class by itself among local histories.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Frederick Almy in _The Niagara Book_, p. 51. This volume
+has been of perennial interest to the author because of the
+contributions of the venerable William Dean Howells and E. S. Martin. No
+one who in early life has essayed the life of journalist and
+correspondent can read Mr. Howells's article in this little book without
+immense relish: its humour is contagious, and its descriptions of
+Niagara in 1860, fascinating.]
+
+[Footnote 6: _Goat Island_, p. 28. This most interesting pamphlet by Mr.
+Porter will be found quite a complete guide to a study of Niagara Falls,
+and is most worthy the perusal of those who care to examine more than
+the mere surface of things at Niagara.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter II
+
+  From the Falls to Lake Ontario
+
+
+These American rivers of ours have their messages, historical, economic,
+and social, to both reader and loiterer. And, too, are not these streams
+so very much alive that through the years their personalities remain
+practically unchanged, while generations of loiterers come and go on
+forever? Are not the eccentricities of these great living forces forever
+recurrent, however whimsical they may seem, to us as we stop for our
+brief instant at the shore?
+
+The word Niagara stands to-day representing power; the most common
+metaphor used, perhaps, to represent perpetual irresistible force is
+found in the name Niagara. Now it is admitted that nothing is more
+interesting than to observe the contradictions noticeable in most strong
+personalities. View the Niagara from this personal standpoint. I think
+its most attractive features may be summed up in a catalogue of its
+eccentric contradictions. It is famous as a waterfall, yet its greatest
+beauty is to be found in its smallest rapids. Its thundering fall
+outrivals all other sounds of Nature, yet you can hear a sparrow sing
+when the spray of the torrent is drenching you; the "noise" of Niagara
+is often spoken of as the greatest sound ever heard, yet most of the
+cataract's music has never been heard because it is pitched too low for
+human ears. Niagara's Whirlpool is a placid, mirrored lake compared to
+the rapids above and below it and brings from the lips of the majority
+of sightseers, looking only at the surface of things, words of
+disappointment. The great message and influence of the foaming cataract
+and rapids and terrible pool, to all awake to the finer meanings, as has
+been so beautifully brought out by Mr. Howells, should be one of
+singular repose. The louder the music the more certain the strange
+influence of this message of quiet and calm.
+
+Take, for instance, what is so commonly called the roar of Niagara, but
+which ought to be known as the music of Niagara, first at the Rapids and
+then the Falls.
+
+There is sweet music in Niagara's lesser rapids. Mrs. Schuyler Van
+Rensselaer observes, most felicitously:
+
+    It is a great and mighty noise, but it is not, as Hennepin
+    thought, an "outrageous noise." It is not a roar. It does not
+    drown the voice or stun the ear. Even at the actual foot of the
+    falls it is not oppressive. It is much less rough than the sound
+    of heavy surf--steadier, more homogeneous, less metallic, very
+    deep and strong, yet mellow and soft; soft, I mean, in its
+    quality. As to the noise of the rapids, there is none more
+    musical. It is neither rumbling nor sharp. It is clear,
+    plangent, silvery. It is so like the voice of a steep
+    brook--much magnified, but not made coarser or more harsh--that,
+    after we have known it, each liquid call from a forest hillside
+    will seem, like the odour of grapevines, a greeting from
+    Niagara. It is an inspiriting, an exhilarating sound, like
+    freshness, coolness, vitality itself made audible. And yet it is
+    a lulling sound. When we have looked out upon the American
+    rapids for many days, it is hard to remember contented life amid
+    motionless surroundings; and so, when we have slept beside them
+    for many nights, it is hard to think of happy sleep in an empty
+    silence.
+
+[Illustration: Goat Island Bridge and Rapids.]
+
+A most original and interesting study of the music of the great Falls
+was made some years ago in a more or less technical way by Eugene
+Thayer.[7] It had been this gentleman's theory that Niagara had never
+been heard as it should be heard, and his mission at the cataract was
+accomplished when there met his ears, not the "roar," but, rather, a
+perfectly constructed musical tone, clear, definite, and unapproachable
+in its majestic proportions; in fact Mr. Thayer affirms that the trained
+ear at Niagara should hear "a complete series of tones, all uniting in
+one grand and noble unison, as in the organ, and all as easily
+recognisable as the notes of any great chord in music." He had heard it
+rumoured that persons had been known to secure a pitch of the tone of
+Niagara; he essayed to secure not only the pitch of the chief or ground
+tone, but that of all accessory or upper tones otherwise known as
+harmonic or overtones, together with the beat or accent of the Falls and
+its rhythmical vibrations.
+
+    All the tones above the ground tone have been named overtones or
+    harmonics; the tones below are called the subharmonics, or
+    undertones. It will be noticed that they form the complete
+    natural harmony of the ground tone. What is the real pitch of
+    this chord? According to our regular musical notation, the
+    fourth note given represents the normal pitch of diapason; the
+    reason being that the eight-foot tone is the only one that gives
+    the notes as written. According to nature, I must claim the
+    first, or lowest note, as the real or ground tone. In this
+    latter way I shall represent the true tone or pitch of Niagara.
+
+    How should I prove all this? My first step was to visit the
+    beautiful Iris Island, otherwise known as Goat Island. Donning a
+    suit of oilcloth and other disagreeable loose stuff, I followed
+    the guide into the Cave of the Winds. Of course, the sensation
+    at first was so novel and overpowering that the question of
+    pitch was lost in one of personal safety. Remaining here a few
+    minutes, I emerged to collect my dispersed thoughts. After
+    regaining myself, I returned at once to the point of beginning,
+    and went slowly in again (alone), testing my first question of
+    pitch all the way; that is, during the approach, while under the
+    fall, while emerging, and while standing some distance below the
+    face of the fall, not only did I ascertain this (I may say in
+    spite of myself, for I could hear but one pitch), but I heard
+    and sang clearly the pitch of all the harmonic or accessory
+    tones, only of course several octaves higher than their actual
+    pitch. Seven times have I been under these singing waters
+    (always alone except the first time), and the impression has
+    invariably been the same, so far as determining the tone and its
+    components. I may be allowed to withhold the result until I
+    speak of my experience at the Horseshoe Fall, and the American
+    Fall proper--it being scarcely necessary to say that the Cave of
+    the Winds is under the smaller cascade, known as the Central
+    Fall.
+
+    My next step was to stand on Luna Island, above the Central
+    Fall, and on the west side of the American Fall proper. I went
+    to the extreme eastern side of the island, in order to lose as
+    far as possible the sound of the Central Fall, and get the full
+    force of the larger Fall. Here were the same great ground tone
+    and the same harmonics, differing only somewhat in pitch.
+
+    I then went over to the Horseshoe Fall and sat among the Rapids.
+    There it was again, only slightly higher in pitch than on the
+    American side. Not then knowing the fact, I ventured to assert
+    that the Horseshoe Fall was less in height, by several feet,
+    than the American Fall; the actual difference is variously given
+    at from six to twelve feet. Next I went to the Three Sister
+    Islands, and here was the same old story. The higher harmonics
+    were mostly inaudible from the noise of the Rapids, but the same
+    two low notes were ringing out clear and unmistakable. In fact,
+    wherever I was I could not hear anything else! There was no roar
+    at all, but the same grand diapason--the noblest and completest
+    one on earth! I use the word completest advisedly, for nothing
+    else on earth, not even the ocean, reaches anywhere near the
+    actual depth of pitch, or makes audible to the human ear such a
+    complete and perfect harmonic structure.
+
+[Illustration: Horseshoe Falls from Below.]
+
+Remembering always that the actual pitch is four octaves lower, here are
+the notes which form this matchless diapason:
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Mrs. Van Rensselaer tells us there is yet another music at Niagara that
+must be listened for only on quiet nights. It is like the music of an
+orchestra so very far away that its notes are attenuated to an
+incredible delicacy and are intermittently perceived, as though wafted
+to us on variable zephyrs.
+
+    It is the most subtle, the most mysterious music in the world.
+    What is its origin? Such fairy-like sounds are not to be
+    explained. Their appeal is to the imagination only. They are so
+    faint, so far away, that they almost escape the ear, as the
+    lunar bow and the fluted tints of the American Fall almost
+    escape the eye. And yet we need not fear to lose them, for they
+    are as real as the deep bass of the cataracts.
+
+Whether it be the resounding waterfall producing this wondrous harmony
+of the floods, or the most charming choral of the Rapids, the music of
+Niagara on the mind properly adjusted and attuned must create a most
+profound impression of repose. The exception to this rule, most
+terrible to contemplate, is certainly to be found in the cases of the
+unfortunates whose minds are so distraught or unbalanced that this same
+call of the waters acts like poison and lures them to death.
+
+    I still think [wrote Mr. Howells in his most delightful sketch,
+    _Niagara, First and Last_] that, above and below the Falls, the
+    Rapids are the most striking features of the spectacle. At least
+    you may say something about them, compare them to something;
+    when you come to the cataract itself you can say nothing; it is
+    incomparable. My sense of it first, and my sense of it last, was
+    not a sense of the stupendous, but a sense of beauty, of
+    serenity, of repose.
+
+In her beautiful description, given elsewhere in our story, Margaret
+Fuller explains the effect of the Rapids by moonlight on the heart of
+one who, during the day, had passed through the familiar throb of
+disappointment in the great spectacle at Niagara.
+
+Now I take it one must see in Niagara this element of repose or find in
+it something less than was hoped for. To one who expects an ocean
+pouring from the moon, a rush of wind and foam like that to be met with
+only in the Cave of the Winds, there is bound to come that common
+feeling that the fact is not equal to the picture imagination had
+previously created. Take the Whirlpool; seen from the heights above, it
+
+    has that effect of sculpturesque repose [writes Mr. Howells],
+    which I have always found the finest thing in the Cataract
+    itself. From the top the circling lines of the Whirlpool seemed
+    graven in a level of chalcedony. . . . I have no impression to
+    impart except this sense of its worthy unity with the Cataract
+    in what I may call its highest æsthetic quality, its repose.[8]
+
+[Illustration: "The Shoreless Sea."
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+All this is most impressively true of the central wonder of the entire
+spectacle, the Falls themselves. That mighty flood of water, reborn as
+it dies, forms a marvellous spectacle. Writes Mrs. Schuyler Van
+Rensselaer:
+
+    Very soon we realise that Niagara's true effect is an effect of
+    permanence. Many as are its variations, it never alters. It
+    varies because light and atmosphere alter. Tremendous movement
+    thus pauseless and unmodified gives, of course, a deeper
+    impression of durability than the most imposing solids. . . . As
+    soon as this fact is felt, the Falls seem to have been created
+    as a voucher for the permanence of all the world.[9]
+
+But how conform this repose and spirit of permanency with the echoing
+tones of that never-ending, never-satisfied dominant chord? How
+reconcile the repose of those dropping billows with the tantalising
+unrest of that for ever incomplete, unfinished recessional that has been
+playing down this gorge since, perhaps, darkness brooded over the
+deep--that seems to await its fulfilment in the thunders of Sinai at
+that Last Day?
+
+And what could be more human than this in any river--a seeming calm with
+over it all a never-ending cry of unrest, of wonder, of unsatisfied
+longing never to find repose until in that far resting-place of which
+Augustine thought when he wrote:
+
+  Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.
+
+Across the American Rapids lies the Goat Island group which divides the
+waters into the two falls. Goat Island is about half a mile long and
+half as wide at its broadest part, but slopes to a point at its eastern
+extremity. Its area is about seventy acres. Besides this there are a
+number of smaller islands and rocks varying in diameter from four
+hundred feet to ten feet. Of these smaller islands five are connected
+with Goat Island by bridges, as are also the Terrapin Rocks.
+
+At the end of the first bridge is situated Green Island, named after the
+first president of the Board of Commissioners of the New York
+Reservation. The former name was Bath Island because of the "old
+swimming hole"--the only place where one could dip in the fierce current
+of Niagara without danger. Just a short distance above Green Island are
+two small patches of land called Ship Island and Bird Island from
+supposed resemblances to these objects in general contour, the tall
+leafless trees in winter supposed to be suggestive of masts. These
+islands were formerly both connected with Goat Island by bridges; one,
+known as "Lover's Bridge," from its romantic name was so greatly
+patronised that both bridges were destroyed by the owners on account of
+danger.
+
+On Green Island formerly stood the immense Porter paper-mill, which not
+only contributed its own ugliness to the beautiful prospect but also ran
+out into the current long gathering dams for the purpose of collecting
+water. All this was removed when the State of New York assumed control.
+
+Passing from the bridge and ascending the steps which lead to the top of
+the bank, the shelter house is reached. All around and, in fact,
+covering nearly all the island, is the primeval forest in its ancient
+splendour--fit companion of the Falls, which defy the puny power of man.
+
+[Illustration: Rustic Bridge, Willow Island.]
+
+Occasional glimpses of the river may be had through the dense foliage as
+one proceeds to Stedman Bluff, where one of the grandest panoramas to
+be seen anywhere on earth bursts upon the view. Here one appreciates the
+beauty of the American Fall better than at Prospect Point. Turning
+towards the American shore stone steps lead down to the water's edge,
+and thence a small bridge spans the stream separating Goat Island and
+Luna Island, so called from the fact that it has been considered the
+best place from which to view the lunar bow. The small stream dividing
+these islands in its plunge over the precipice forms the "Cave of the
+Winds." Half-way across Luna Island is to be seen a large rock on whose
+face have been carved by an unknown hand the following lines:
+
+  All is change.
+  Eternal progress.
+  No Death!
+
+The author of the sentiment is unknown, but no one has more truly voiced
+the spirit of the great cataract. From the edge of the cliff on Luna
+Island is to be obtained the finest view down the gorge. Along the front
+of the American Fall are to be seen the immense masses of wave-washed
+rocks which have fallen from the cliff above. From rock to rock stretch
+frail wooden bridges, the more important of which lead to the cave.
+
+Luna Island is the last point which one can reach from Goat Island
+toward the American shore. Proceeding toward the Canadian Fall, one
+reaches at a short distance the Biddle Stairs. Here a break in the
+foliage reveals a grand view down the gorge with the Canadian Fall
+directly in front. A stairway leads to a wooden building down which runs
+a spiral stairway to the rocks below. This stairway received its name
+from Nicholas Biddle, of old National Bank fame, who proposed this
+means of reaching the rocks below and offered a contribution for its
+construction. The offer was rejected, but his name was given to the
+structure. A trip to the rocks below this point is well worth while,
+difficult though it be; the descent of the spiral stairway is eighty
+feet. Turning to the right one comes out upon a ledge of rock with the
+roaring waters below and the line of the cliff above, along the top of
+which objects appear at only half their real size. Passing around a
+short curve there bursts upon one's view the fall which forms the Cave
+of the Winds--a most beautiful sheet of water. The passage of the cave
+can hardly be described by the pen. Here one is assailed on all sides by
+fierce storms and clouds of angry spray. The cave seems at first dark
+and repelling, for in this maddening whirl of wind and water one is at
+first almost blinded; but as soon as the eye becomes accustomed to the
+darkness, it can follow the graceful curve of the water to where it
+leaves the cliff above. The dark, forbidding, terraced rocks are seen
+dripping with water. The passage of the cave is too exciting to be
+essayed by persons with weak hearts, but the return across the rocks in
+front of it on a bright day is genuinely inspiring. Here the symbol of
+promise is brought down within one's very reach; above, around, on all
+sides are to be seen colours rivalling the conception of any
+artist--whole circles of bows, quarter circles, half circles, here
+within one's very grasp. The far fabled pot of gold is here a boiling,
+seething mass of running, shimmering silver. If possible, more glorious
+than all else, up above, along the sky-line, there appears the shining
+crest of the American Fall, glimmering in the sunlight like the silvery
+range of some snow-covered mountains.
+
+[Illustration: The Cave of the Winds.]
+
+In size the cave is about one hundred feet wide, a hundred feet deep,
+and about one hundred and sixty feet high. At one point in the cave, on
+a bright day, by standing in the very edge of the spray, one becomes the
+centre of a complete circle of rainbows, an experience probably
+unequalled elsewhere.
+
+About half-way between the stairway and the cave is the point from
+which, in 1829, Sam Patch made his famous leap, elsewhere described.
+
+On the side of the Horseshoe Fall is to be found a fine position from
+which to view the mighty force of the greater mass of waters. For some
+distance along the front of the fall immense masses of rock have
+accumulated. The trip over these rocks is fraught with danger and is
+taken by very few. For those who care to take the risk, the sight is
+well worth the effort. Just above at the crest are Terrapin Rocks, where
+formerly stood Terrapin Tower. Professor Tyndall went far out beyond the
+line of Terrapin Rocks to a point which has been reached by very few of
+the millions of visitors to this shrine. Passing along the cliff toward
+Canada, Porter's Bluff is soon reached, which furnishes one of the
+grandest views of the Horseshoe Fall. Fifty years ago, from this point
+one could see the whole line of the graceful curve of the Horseshoe;
+since that time the rapid erosion in the middle of the river (where the
+volume is greatest) has destroyed almost all trace of what the name
+suggests. The sides meet now at a very acute angle, the old contour
+having been entirely destroyed.
+
+One of the most interesting experiments conducted under these great
+masses of falling water was essayed by the well-known English traveller
+Captain Basil Hall in 1827. It seems that Babbage and Herschel had said
+that there was reason to expect a change of elastic pressure in the air
+near a waterfall. Bethinking himself of the opportunity of testing this
+theory at Niagara during his American tour, Captain Hall secured a
+mountain barometer of most delicate workmanship for this specific
+purpose. In a letter to Professor Silliman the experimenter described
+his experience as follows, the question being of interest to every one
+who has attempted to breathe when passing behind any portion of this
+wall of falling water:
+
+    I think you told me that you did not enter this singular cave on
+    your late journey, which I regret very much, because I have no
+    hope of being able to describe it to you. In the whole course of
+    my life, I never encountered anything so formidable in
+    appearance; and yet, I am half ashamed to say so, I saw it
+    performed by many other people without emotion, and it is daily
+    accomplished by ladies, who think they have done nothing
+    remarkable.
+
+    You are perhaps aware that it is a standing topic of controversy
+    every summer by the company at the great hotels near the Falls,
+    whether the air within the sheet of water is condensed or
+    rarefied. I have therefore a popular motive as well as a
+    scientific one, in conducting this investigation, and the
+    result, I hope, will prove satisfactory to the numerous persons
+    who annually visit Niagara.
+
+    As a first step I placed the barometer at a distance of about
+    150 feet from the extreme western end of the Falls, on a flat
+    rock as nearly as possible on a level with the top of the
+    "talus" or bank of shingle lying at the base of the overhanging
+    cliff, from which the cataract descends. This station was about
+    30 perpendicular feet above the pool basin into which the water
+    falls.
+
+    The mercury here stood at 29.68 inches. I then moved the
+    instrument to another rock within 10 or 12 feet of the edge of
+    the fall, where it was placed, by means of a levelling
+    instrument, exactly at the same height as in the first instance.
+
+    It still stood at 29.68 and the only difference I could observe
+    was a slight continuous vibration of about two or three
+    hundredths of an inch at intervals of a few seconds.
+
+    So far, all was plain sailing; for, though I was soundly ducked
+    by this time, there was no particular difficulty in making these
+    observations. But within the sheet of water, there is a violent
+    wind, caused by the air carried down by the falling water, and
+    this makes the case very different. Every stream of falling
+    water, as you know, produces more or less a blast of this
+    nature; but I had no conception that so great an effect could
+    have been produced by this cause.
+
+    I am really at a loss how to measure it, but I have no
+    hesitation in saying that it exceeds the most furious squall or
+    gust of wind I have ever met with in any part of the world. The
+    direction of the blast is generally slanting upwards, from the
+    surface of the pool, and is chiefly directed against the face of
+    the cliff, which being of a friable, shaly character, is
+    gradually eaten away so that the top of the precipice now
+    overhangs the base 35 or 40 feet and in a short time I should
+    think the upper strata will prove too weak for the enormous load
+    of water, which they bear, when the whole cliff will tumble
+    down.
+
+    These vehement blasts are accompanied by floods of water, much
+    more compact than the heaviest thunder shower, and as the light
+    is not very great the situation of the experimenter with a
+    delicate barometer in his hand is one of some difficulty.
+
+    By the assistance of the guide, however, who proved a steady and
+    useful assistant, I managed to set the instrument up within a
+    couple of feet of the "termination rock" as it is called, which
+    is at the distance of 153 feet from the side of the waterfall
+    measured horizontally along the top of the bank of shingle. This
+    measurement, it is right to mention, was made a few days
+    afterward by Mr. Edward Deas-Thompson of London, the guide, and
+    myself with a graduated tape.
+
+    While the guide held the instrument firmly down, which required
+    nearly all his force, I contrived to adjust it, so that the
+    spirit level on the top indicated that the tube was in the
+    perpendicular position. It would have been utterly useless to
+    have attempted any observation without this contrivance. I then
+    secured all tight, unscrewed the bag, and allowed the mercury to
+    subside; but it was many minutes before I could obtain even a
+    tolerable reading, for the water flowed over my brows like a
+    thick veil, threatening to wash the whole affair, philosophers
+    and all, into the basin below. I managed, however, after some
+    minutes' delay to make a shelf or spout with my hand, which
+    served to carry the water clear of that part of the instrument
+    which I wished to look at and also to leave my eyes
+    comparatively free. I now satisfied myself by repeated trials
+    that the surface of the mercurial column did not rise higher
+    than 29.72. It was sometimes at 29.70 and may have vibrated two
+    or three hundredths of an inch. This station was about 10 or 12
+    feet lower than the external ones and therefore I should have
+    expected a slight rise in the mercury; but I do not pretend to
+    have read off the scale to any great nicety, though I feel quite
+    confident of having succeeded in ascertaining that there was no
+    sensible difference between the elasticity of the air at the
+    station on the outside of the Falls and that, 153 feet within
+    them.
+
+    I now put the instrument up and having walked back towards the
+    mouth of this wonderful cave about 30 feet, tried the experiment
+    again. The mercury stood now at 29.68, or at 29.70 as near as I
+    could observe it. On coming again into the open air I took the
+    barometer to one of the first stations, but was much
+    disappointed though I cannot say surprised to observe it full of
+    air and water and consequently for the time quite destroyed.
+
+    My only surprise, indeed, was that under such circumstances the
+    air and water were not sooner forced in. But I have no doubt
+    that the two experiments on the outside as well as the two
+    within the sheet of water were made by the instrument when it
+    was in a correct state: though I do not deny that it would have
+    been more satisfactory to have verified this by repeating the
+    observations at the first station.
+
+    On mentioning these results to the contending parties in the
+    controversy, both asked me the same question, "How then do you
+    account for the difficulty in breathing which all persons
+    experience who go behind the sheet of water?" To which I
+    replied: "That if any one were exposed to the spouts of half a
+    dozen fire engines playing full in his face at the distance of a
+    few yards, his respiration could not be quite free, and for my
+    part I conceived that this rough discipline would be equally
+    comfortable in other respects and not more embarrassing to the
+    lungs than the action of the blast and falling water behind this
+    amazing cataract."
+
+[Illustration: The American Fall.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+It is almost impossible to conceive of the immense mass of water
+tumbling over this precipice. It has been estimated in tons, cubic feet,
+and horse-power, but the figures are so large as to stagger the human
+mind. Out there at the apex of the angle, the water, over twenty feet
+deep, is drawn from almost half a continent, forming a picture to make
+one's nerves thrill with awe and delight, where the international
+boundary line swings back and forth as the apex of the angle formed
+sways from side to side.
+
+Just off the shore of the island are seen Terrapin Rocks. Why this name
+was applied is uncertain. These rocks are scattered in the flood to the
+very brink of the fall and in the titanic struggle with the rush of
+waters seem hardly able to maintain their position. Upon these rocks on
+the very brink of the Falls in 1833 was erected, by Judge Porter,
+Terrapin Tower, for many years one of the centres visited by every
+person journeying to the Falls. From its summit could be seen the wild
+rapids rushing on toward the precipice; below shimmering green of the
+fall. Down, far down, in the depths beneath was the boiling, seething
+caldron, from which arose beautiful columns of spray. From this
+position, forty-five feet above the surface of the water, probably a
+more comprehensive view of the many features of Niagara could be
+obtained than from any other point. Forty years later it was blown up,
+not because it was unsafe, as alleged, but that it might not prove a
+rival attraction to Prospect Point. Recently suggestions have been made
+looking toward the restoration of this ancient landmark, but no definite
+action has been taken.
+
+Over a half-century ago, almost opposite this tower on the Canadian
+side, was to be seen the immense Table Rock hanging far out over the
+current below. On the 25th of June, 1850, this large mass of rock fell.
+Fortunately the fall occurred at noon with no loss of life; it was one
+of the greatest falls of rock known to have taken place at the cataract,
+for the dimensions of the rock were two hundred feet long, sixty feet
+wide, and a hundred feet deep. Like the roar of muffled thunder the
+crash was heard for miles around.
+
+It was from the Terrapin Rocks to the Canadian side that Blondin wished
+to stretch his rope, elsewhere described, and it was over the very
+centre of Niagara's warring powers he desired to perform his daring
+feat, looking down upon that shimmering guarded secret of the "Heart of
+Niagara." The Porters, who owned Goat Island, however, refused to become
+parties to what they considered an improper exposure of life and Blondin
+stretched his cable farther down the river, near the site of the
+crescent steel arch bridge.
+
+[Illustration: Remains of Stone Piers of the "First Railway in
+America"--the British Tramway up Lewiston Heights, 1763.]
+
+Standing upon these rocks and looking out over that hurrying mass of
+waters, it seems almost impossible to imagine any power being able to
+stop them; but on the 29th of March, 1848, the impossible happened, the
+Niagara ran dry. From the American shore across the rapids to Goat
+Island one could walk dry-shod. From Goat Island and the Canadian shore
+the waters were contracted to a small stream flowing over the centre of
+what was then the Horseshoe; only a few tiny rivulets remained falling
+over the precipice at other points. The cause of this unnatural
+phenomenon was wind and ice. Lake Erie was full of floating ice. The day
+previous the winds had blown this ice out into the lake. In the evening
+the wind suddenly changed and blew a sharp gale from exactly the
+opposite direction, driving the mass of ice into the river and gorging
+it there, thus cutting off almost the whole water supply, and in the
+morning people awoke to find that the Niagara had departed. The American
+Fall was no more, the Horseshoe was hardly a ghost of its former self.
+Gone were the rapids, the fighting, struggling waters. Niagara's
+majestic roar was reduced to a moan. All day people walked on the rock
+bed of the river, although fearful lest the dam formed at its head
+should give way at any moment. By night, the warmth of the sun and the
+waters of the lake had begun to make inroads on the barrier and by the
+morning of the next day Niagara had returned in all its grandeur.
+
+However cold Niagara's winter may be, the moan of falling water here can
+always be heard, though at times the volume is very small. The winter
+scenes here often take rank in point of wonder and beauty with the
+cataract itself. When the river is frozen over below the Falls the
+phenomenon is called an "Ice Bridge," the blowing spray sometimes
+building a gigantic sparkling mound of wonderful beauty. The island
+trees above the Falls, covered by the same spray, assume curiously
+beautiful forms which, as they glitter in the sun, turn an already
+wonder-land into a strange fairyland of incomparable whiteness and
+glory.
+
+A short distance up the river along the shore a position just opposite
+the apex of the Falls is reached. Here, along the shore of the island,
+the waters are comparatively shallow, but toward the Canadian shore
+races the current which carries fully three fourths of Niagara's volume.
+Out in the very midst of the current is a small speck of land, all that
+is now left of what was once Gull Island, so named from its having been
+a favourite resting place for these birds, which can hardly find a
+footing now on its contracted shores. From what can be learned of the
+past history of this island, it must have occupied about two acres three
+quarters of a century ago. Its gradual disappearance shows to what
+degree the mighty forces of Niagara are removing all obstacles placed in
+their path. Goat Island is gradually suffering the same fate. At points
+the shore line has encroached upon the island to a distance of twenty
+feet in a half-century. At this point the carriage road used to run out
+beyond the present edge of the bluff.
+
+Passing on along the shore of the island, Niagara's scenery is present
+everywhere. At quite a distance up stream the Three Sister Islands are
+reached. These islands were named from the three daughters of General P.
+Whitney, they being the first women to visit them, probably in winter
+when the waters were low.
+
+[Illustration: Amid the Goat island Group.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+To the first Sister Island leads a massive stone bridge. From this
+bridge is to be obtained a fine view of the Hermit's Cascade beneath.
+This little fall receives its name from having been the favourite
+bathing place of the Hermit of Niagara, a strange half-witted young
+Englishman by the name of Francis Abbott who lived in solitude here for
+two years preceding his death by drowning in 1831, during his sojourn at
+the Falls.
+
+These three islands are replete with small bits of scenery and
+overflowing with beauty. In them are to be found the smaller attractions
+of Niagara; not so much of the stern majesty and awful grandeur, but
+smaller and more comprehensible features come before the view following
+each other in rapid succession. On the second Sister Island is one point
+which should be visited by every one. Just before reaching the bridge to
+third Sister Island, by turning to the right and proceeding along a
+somewhat difficult path for a short distance one comes to a point at the
+water's edge and finds lying right below him the boiling waters with
+their white, feathery spray; here also is the small cataract between the
+second and third islands fed by the most rapid although small stream of
+Niagara. From this point is to be obtained one of the most varied of
+scenic effects of any point at the Falls. The scenery from the third
+Sister must be seen to be appreciated. From its upper end one looks
+directly at the low cliff which forms the first descent of the Rapids.
+Here the waters start from the peaceful stream above on their maddening
+race for the Falls. Out along the line of the cliff the waters deepen
+and increase in rapidity toward the Canadian shore. Just below this
+ledge, probably three hundred feet from the head of the island, the
+current is directed against some obstruction which causes it to spout up
+into the air, causing what is called the Spouting Rock.
+
+Many have been the changes wrought by the waters themselves since white
+men knew the Falls; but a thousand years hence the visitor to Niagara
+will behold the main fall not from Terrapin Rocks or Porter's Bluff, but
+from this third Sister Island. The Rapids then shall have almost
+entirely disappeared, but their beauty will be compensated for by the
+additional grandeur of the fall itself. The gorge will have widened and
+the fall itself shall have added fifty feet to its height, making it two
+hundred feet high. Third Sister Island should be gone over thoroughly,
+for it offers some of the finest views, especially of colouring, above
+the Falls, and many of them.
+
+Niagara owes its sublime array of colour to the purity of its water.
+Nothing finer has been written on this subject than the words of the
+artist Mrs. Van Rensselaer, whom we quote:
+
+    To this purity Niagara owes its exquisite variety of colour. To
+    find the blues we must look, of course, above Goat Island, where
+    the sky is reflected in smooth if quickly flowing currents. But
+    every other tint and tone that water can take is visible in or
+    near the Falls themselves. In the quieter parts of the gorge we
+    find a very dark, strong green, while in its rapids all shades
+    of green and grey and white are blended. The shallower rapids
+    above the Falls are less strongly coloured, a beautiful light
+    green predominating between the pale-grey swirls and the snowy
+    crests of foam--semi-opaque, like the stone called aquamarine,
+    because infused with countless air-bubbles, yet deliciously
+    fresh and bright. The tense, smooth slant of water at the margin
+    of the American fall is not deep enough to be green. In the
+    sunshine it is a clear amber, and when shadowed, a brown that is
+    darker, yet just as pure. But wherever the Canadian fall is
+    visible its green crest is conspicuous. Far down-stream, nearly
+    two miles away, where the railroad-bridge crosses the gorge, it
+    shows like a little emerald strung on a narrow band of pearl.
+    Its colour is not quite like that of an emerald, although the
+    term must be used because no other is more accurate. It is a
+    purer colour, and cooler, with less of yellow in it--more pure,
+    more cool, and at the same time more brilliant than any colour
+    that sea-water takes even in a breaking wave, or that man has
+    produced in any substance whatsoever. At this place, we are
+    told, the current must be twenty feet deep; and its colour is so
+    intense and so clear because, while the light is reflected from
+    its curving surface, it also filters through so great a mass of
+    absolutely limpid water. It always quivers, this bright-green
+    stretch, yet somehow it always seems as solid as stone, smoothly
+    polished for the most part, but, when a low sun strikes across
+    it, a little roughened, fretted. That this is water and that the
+    thinnest smoke above it is water also, who can believe? In other
+    places at Niagara we ask the same question again.
+
+    From a distance the American fall looks quite straight. When we
+    stand beside it we see that its line curves inward and outward,
+    throwing the falling sheet into bastion-like sweeps. As we gaze
+    down upon these, every change in the angle of vision and in the
+    strength and direction of the light gives a new effect. The one
+    thing that we never seem to see, below the smooth brink, is
+    water. Very often the whole swift precipice shows as a myriad
+    million inch-thick cubes of clearest glass or ice or solidified
+    light, falling in an envelope of starry spangles. Again, it
+    seems all diamond-like or pearl-like, or like a flood of flaked
+    silver, shivered crystal, or faceted ingots of palest amber. It
+    is never to be exhausted in its variations. It is never to be
+    described. Only, one can always say, it is protean, it is most
+    lovely, and it is not water.
+
+    Then, as we look across the precipice, it may be milky in
+    places, or transparent, or translucent. But where its mass falls
+    quickly it is all soft and white--softer then anything else in
+    the world. It does not resemble a flood of fleece or of down,
+    although it suggests such a flood. It is more like a crumbling
+    avalanche, immense and gently blown, of smallest snowflakes;
+    but, again, it is not quite like this. Now we see that, even
+    apart from its main curves, no portion of the swiftly moving
+    wall is flat. It is all delicately fissured and furrowed, by the
+    broken edges of the rock over which it falls, into the
+    suggestion of fluted buttresses, half-columns, pilasters. And
+    the whiteness of these is not quite white. Nor is it
+    consistently iridescent or opalescent. Very faintly, elusively,
+    it is tinged with tremulous stripes and strands of pearly grey,
+    of vaguest straw, shell-pink, lavender, and green--inconceivably
+    ethereal blues, shy ghosts of earthly colours, abashed and
+    deflowered, we feel, by definite naming with earthly names. They
+    seem hardly to tinge the whiteness; rather, to float over it as
+    a misty bloom. We are loath to turn our eyes from them, fearing
+    they may never show again. Yet they are as real as the keen
+    emerald of the Horseshoe.[10]
+
+One should walk through the New York State Reservation, which extends
+for some distance above the commencement of the Rapids, to get a more
+complete view of the scenery above the Falls, the wooded shores of Goat
+Island, the swiftly moving waters, the broad river, the beginning of the
+Canadian Rapids, and the Canadian shore in the distance. On up the river
+at a distance are to be seen those forest-clad shores of Navy Island and
+Grand Island.
+
+On the Canadian side of the river, after crossing the steel arch bridge
+just below the Falls, beautiful Victoria Park is first reached. From
+this position a new and entirely different view of the American Fall is
+obtained from almost directly in front. Turning and going up the river a
+fine view of the Horseshoe is obtained from a distance. Just opposite
+the American Fall is Inspiration Point, from which the best view of the
+Falls is to be obtained. From here one can watch the little _Maid of the
+Mist_ as she makes her trips through the boiling waters below.
+
+[Illustration: Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian Shore.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+On up the river one wanders, past Goat Island, whose cliff is seen from
+directly in front. Just before reaching the edge of the Horseshoe the
+position of old Table Rock is seen. Little is left of this old and once
+famous point for observing Niagara's wonders. Several different falls of
+immense masses of rock, one of which has been mentioned, have reduced it
+to its present state. Here the Indian worshipped the Great Spirit of the
+Falls, gazing across at his supposed home on Goat Island; and here comes
+the white man to look upon the wonders of that mighty cataract with a
+feeling almost akin to that of his red brother. Here one could stand
+with the maddening waters rushing beneath, the Falls near at hand, its
+incessant roar assailing the ears while the spray was wafted all round.
+Little wonder that the red man worshipped, or that the white man looks
+on with feelings of awe, admiration, and wonder.
+
+Passing on up the river and around the pumping station for the
+neighbouring village, one reaches the point at the water's edge from
+which the "Heart of Niagara" can best be seen, where millions of tons of
+water are continually pouring over the cliff and causing some of the
+most beautiful effects produced by the spray called the "Darting Lines
+of Spray" to be seen anywhere at the Falls. From this point one sees up
+the river over a mile of the Rapids with their madly hurrying waters
+rushing on as if to engulf everything below.
+
+Along the water's edge, the journey should be pursued. A short distance
+farther up stream, a crib work has been built as a protection to the
+bank. Here is to be gained one of the finest views of the Canadian
+Rapids, one feature of which can not be seen to so great advantage from
+any other point. The "Shoreless Sea," as this view has been called, is a
+grand and inspiring sight. Gazing up the stream the Rapids are seen
+tumbling on toward one, with no land in sight. The clouds form the
+sky-line and it is as if the very chambers of heaven had been opened for
+a second deluge. It is, indeed, a "Shoreless Sea," tumbling on, a grand
+and awful sight.
+
+Pursuing one's way on up the river, Dufferin Islands are reached. These
+are formed by a bend in the current. Here is a sylvan retreat, full of
+lovers' walks and beauties of nature. Here is the burning
+spring--escaping natural gas from a rift in the rock. Not far from this
+point, on up the river, was fought the battle of Chippewa. About a mile
+above these islands, at the mouth of Chippewa Creek, stood Fort
+Chippewa, built by the British in 1790 to protect this, their most
+important portage.
+
+[Illustration: Looking up the Lower Niagara from Paradise Grove.
+
+From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.]
+
+To reach the points of interest, just mentioned, on the Canadian side,
+as well as those down the river, it is best to make the trip from one
+scenic position to another by electric car. Returning to the Horseshoe
+one will doubtless have called to his mind that about a mile back to the
+left occurred the famed battle of Lundy's Lane on July 5, 1814. At the
+edge of the cliff on the right was the position of the "Old Indian
+Ladder," by means of which the Indians used to descend to the lower
+level for the purpose of fishing. This ladder was only a long cedar
+tree, which had been deprived of its limbs and had been placed almost
+perpendicularly against the cliff. On down the way a short distance, the
+road which leads down the face of the cliff, to the _Maid of the Mist's_
+landing, is reached. Just beyond this point, at the top of the inclined
+railway, is to be obtained the best view of the steel arch bridge. Just
+below the bridge, opposite, on the American shore, a maddened torrent
+comes pouring from the base of the cliff as if anxious to add its fury
+to that of the waters round. It is the outlet of the tunnel which
+disposes of the tail water from the electric power-house over a mile
+above, mentioned in our chapter on power development at Niagara. The
+manufacturing plants of the Hydraulic Company, the first to use
+Niagara's waters to any great extent for power, are situated just
+opposite.
+
+A short distance on down the stream, and after descending a slight
+incline, the point where Blondin stretched his rope across the gorge in
+1859 is reached.
+
+Next on the journey the cantilever bridge is reached. This bridge was
+constructed in 1882. Just below this is the steel arch bridge, both
+being railroad bridges. The second one was first constructed as a
+suspension bridge by John A. Roebling, being the first railroad bridge
+of its kind in the country. It has been several times replaced, the
+present structure having been erected in 1897. Just below the railroad
+bridges several persons have made the trip across the gorge on ropes.
+
+Soon the Whirlpool is reached, and the madly rushing waters are seen as
+at no other place on the surface of the earth. Rounding the rapids, the
+car runs over a trestle work in crossing the old pre-glacial channel of
+the river referred to in our geologic chapter. Here one can look down on
+the waters almost directly beneath him, with the forests covering the
+sloping incline of the ancient bed of the river stretching up to the
+level above. Just as the car finishes the rounded curve of the
+Whirlpool, at the point of the cliff at the outlet, one catches the best
+view of both inlet and outlet at the same time, flowing directly at
+right angles to each other. The car continues on its course, now near,
+now farther back from the edge of the gorge. One catches occasional
+glimpses of the bridge far below, over which the electric line passes
+back to the American shore. For over three miles the car continues its
+course along the cliff before the next point of special interest
+presents itself in Brock's monument.
+
+From this monument one of the finest panoramic views of the surrounding
+regions can be obtained. The monument stands on Queenston Heights, with
+the remains of old Fort Drummond just back of it.
+
+All about is historic ground. On the surrounding plain and slopes was
+fought the battle of Queenston Heights. Every inch of ground has some
+story to tell of that struggle. The car soon begins to descend the
+incline which, ages ago, formed the shores of Lake Ontario. Below, at
+the end of the gorge, the river seems to forget its tumultuous rush, and
+spreading out pursues a placid and well-behaved course to the lower
+lake.
+
+[Illustration: The Mouth of the Gorge.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+About half-way down the descent, the point where General Brock fell is
+reached, which point is marked by a massive stone monument set in place
+in 1861 by King Edward VII., then Prince of Wales. Just below to the
+right is seen an old, ruined stone house which was General Brock's
+shelter after being wounded, and in which was printed, in 1792, the
+first newspaper of Upper Canada. The bridge is soon reached, in the
+crossing of which, a fine view of the last mad rush of the waters is
+gained as they issue from the gorge into the placid stream leading to
+the lake below. On they come with the waves piled high in the centre,
+tearing along in a mad fury, until they seem to be pacified by a power
+stronger even than their own; and they glide smoothly along to the end
+of their course in the lower lake.
+
+On the American heights stood old Fort Gray, connected with the history
+of the War of 1812. On the American shore was the head of navigation,
+and up the cliff all the freight sent over the old portage was hoisted
+by hand and later by machinery. High up on the American cliffs, half-way
+between the Whirlpool and Lewiston, is the famous "Devil's Hole," an
+interesting cave known among the Indians, we are told, as the "Cave of
+the Evil Spirit." Here, it has been stated, geologists find some of the
+clearest evidences of the former existence of the presence of the Falls
+in that far day when the migration had extended thus far up the river
+from the escarpment at Lewiston.
+
+Much has been said about the rapids of the river below the Falls--the
+lesser Rapids of Niagara. What of this seething, spouting, tumbling mass
+that races along below these towering cliffs, maddening, ungovernable,
+almost horrifying to gaze upon? It is very singular how little is said
+about this torrent. They illustrate very significantly the fact that
+mere power has little of charm for the mind of man; it interests, but
+often it does not please or delight. In our chapter on the foolhardy
+persons to whom these bounding billows have been a challenge, and who
+have attempted to navigate or pass through them, are descriptions of
+their savage fury and wonderful eccentricities. The most interesting
+fact respecting these great rapids is the unbelievable depth of the
+channel through which they race, since it sometimes approximates,
+according to the best sources of information, the height of the
+towering cliffs that compose the canyon. By government survey we know
+that the depth of the river between the Falls and the cantilever bridge
+is two hundred feet. The Whirlpool is estimated as four hundred feet
+deep, and the rapids above the Whirlpool as forty feet deep; the rapids
+below the Whirlpool are thought to be about sixty.
+
+The romantic situation of the two ancient towns, Lewiston and Queenston,
+at the foot of the two escarpments, on opposite sides of the river, is
+only equalled by the absorbing story of their part in history when they
+were thriving, bustling frontier outposts. The beauty of the locations
+of these interesting towns contains in itself sufficient promise of
+growth and prosperity equal to, or exceeding, that of beautiful
+Youngstown, near Fort Niagara, or Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Canadian
+shore. This lower stretch of river teems with historic interest of the
+French era and especially of the days when the second war with Great
+Britain was progressing; in our chapters relating to those days will be
+found references to these points of present-day interest in their
+relation to the great questions that were being settled by sword and
+musket, by friend and foe, who met beside the historic river that
+empties into Lake Ontario between old Fort George and old Fort Niagara.
+
+[Illustration: The Whirlpool Rapids.]
+
+For ease of access, romantic situation, historic interest, and many of
+the advantages usually desired during a hot vacation recess, these towns
+along the lower Niagara offer a varied number of important advantages;
+if by some magic touch a dam could be raised between Fort Mississauga
+and the American shore, rendering that marvellously beautiful stretch
+of river--unmatched in some ways by any American stream--slack water,
+one of the most lovely boating lakes on the Continent could be created,
+whereon international regattas in both winter and summer could be held
+of unusual interest. Is it supposable that this could be effected
+without great detriment to either the yachting fraternity, whose sails,
+from the verandah of the Queen's Royal, are always a delight, or the
+steamboat interests, which could land as well at Fort Niagara, perhaps,
+as at Lewiston, or at Niagara-on-the-Lake, which could be connected with
+the Gorge Route. The river's current is all now that keeps the lower
+Niagara from being as popular a resort of its kind as can be suggested.
+All the elements of popularity are in fair measure present here, and
+immensely enjoyed yearly by increasing multitudes.
+
+A little beyond the mouth of the Niagara, just over those blue waves,
+rise the spires of the queen city of Canada, Toronto. To all practical
+purposes this beautiful city stands at one end of Niagara River, as
+Buffalo stands at the other. Historically and commercially this is
+altogether true, and we elsewhere weave its history into our record.
+
+[Footnote 7: _Scribner's Monthly_, vol. xxi., pp. 583-6.]
+
+[Footnote 8: _The Niagara Book_, p. 15.]
+
+[Footnote 9: _The Century Magazine_, vol. xxxvi., p. 197.]
+
+[Footnote 10: _The Century Magazine_, xxxvi., 198-201.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter III
+
+  The Birth of Niagara
+
+
+Geologic time presents to the scientist one of the most difficult
+problems with which he has to deal. When the different divisions into
+which he would divide the ages are numbered by thousands and even
+millions of years, the human mind is appalled at the prospect; and when
+the calculations of different geologists vary by hundreds of thousands
+of years, the lay mind can not help growing somewhat credulous, and at
+times be tempted to discard the whole mass of scientific data relating
+to the subject.
+
+Niagara River forms one of the best, if not the best, means of studying
+the lapse of time since the Ice Age. Finding, as students do here, the
+best material in existence for this study, leads to exhaustive
+scientific analysis of every clue presented by the Cataract and the deep
+Gorge it has cut for itself through the solid lime rock and Niagara
+shale forming its bed.
+
+We are prone to look upon the great wonders of the world as destined to
+last as long as the earth itself. We do not realise that the mountains,
+miles in height, are slowly crumbling before our eyes, or realise that
+the rivers are carrying them slowly toward the sea, filling the lakes
+and lower portions of land along their courses. These slow but ceaseless
+forces are continually at work, reducing the surface of the earth to
+that of a level plain and at the same time depriving the land of its
+lakes by filling their depressions with silt. The winds and the waters,
+together with the wearing power effected by frost, are the forces
+struggling at this great levelling task. The work is partly done; in
+many of the older regions the lakes and elevations have almost entirely
+disappeared. Other parts of the land are comparatively new; and it is
+here that one sees the rough mountain or the deep canyon of the river;
+sufficient time not having elapsed to wear away the elevation in the one
+case nor the steep banks in the other.
+
+One needs but to look at a relief map of the Niagara district to note
+the Falls and the outline of the Gorge to see at once that this is a
+comparatively new region or, at least, that the formative forces which
+gave it its present characteristics were at the highest stage of their
+career when the lands to the south had almost reached their present
+stage. These facts can be observed by any person visiting the Niagara
+district; it does not require a geologist to trace roughly their course.
+
+Questions naturally arise in calculating the age of Niagara. If, as all
+the facts seem to indicate, this river has had a very recent beginning,
+what then did it do before it occupied its present course? What will be
+its final destiny? What will happen when it has worn its Gorge back to
+Lake Erie? Or will the general level of the land be so changed that the
+Falls will never recede to the lake? The last and most important of all
+is: How long has it taken the Falls to grind out the Gorge thus far?
+This latter question, viewed in its relation to the first one, forms
+the basis of the present chapter. The great work of the Cataract is
+going on before our very eyes. The history of this great river is
+working itself out at the height of its glory, in an age when all can
+behold. It is the more interesting since it is the only example of the
+kind known. One can easily look back to the time when the water flowed
+along the top of the plateau to Lewiston and the Falls were situated at
+that point. This date, of course, witnessed the birth of Niagara, for,
+wherever the waters flowed before, they could not have taken this course
+before the Falls began their work. The day that witnessed the beginning
+of the one witnessed also the birth of the other. Likewise one can not
+help looking forward to the day when Niagara shall have accomplished its
+work, when its waters shall have completely ground the plateau in two,
+and so drained Lake Erie to its bottom.
+
+[Illustration: The American Fall, July, 1765.
+
+From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.]
+
+What did the waters of the lakes do before the Niagara began its
+history? How long has it been at its present work? These are the
+questions interesting to every one; and by far more interesting to one
+who is making a study of the formative forces now contributing, and
+which have contributed to bring about the present characteristics of
+surface structure. A few important facts exist, and these now are beyond
+doubt, upon which rest the inferences concerning the age of the Falls.
+In ancient times the waters of Lake Erie did not find an outlet through
+Niagara River, so there was no channel ready made for the river when it
+began its present course. Even after the beginning of the river the
+upper lakes, Huron, Michigan, and Superior, did not discharge their
+waters through Niagara. Until comparatively recent times only the
+waters from Lake Erie discharged through this channel and therefore for
+many ages only a small fraction of the present volume could possibly
+have been at work on the Falls.
+
+The striking features of the Gorge are modern, and have been very little
+affected by those agencies which are continually moulding the contours
+of land surfaces. The inclination of the river's bed has varied greatly
+with the ages, due to gradual uplifting or depressing of the earth's
+crust; consequently the current has varied greatly in velocity with
+these changes. A calculation of the work done by the river during each
+epoch of its history is indeed fraught with many difficulties. Much
+investigation, however, has been made along this line and with a rather
+satisfactory degree of success.
+
+Niagara appears to have had a life peculiar to itself; but what is
+unique in its history, is the presentation of characteristics which in
+the case of other rivers have long since passed away. Rivers, and
+especially very large ones, appeal to us as "unchangeable as the hills
+themselves"; but the truth is, that the very hills and mountains are
+changing as a result of the forces exerted by water. Niagara, as viewed
+by the geologist, is unique, not on account of its having a different
+history than any other river, but for the reason that it had a more
+recent beginning. The calculation of the life of such a stream is
+interesting in itself, besides the other great questions settled by the
+solution of such a problem as the probable number of years that the
+river shall exist in its present form, the centuries which have elapsed
+since the ice retreated from this region, and the ascertaining of
+certain facts concerning the antiquity of man. In order to make a
+thorough study of these topics, one must take a view of the relief
+features of the Niagara region, and make a careful review of what
+conditions existed at the time that this district was covered by the
+great ice sheet, together with the changes effected during the retreat
+of the Great Glacier to the north.
+
+Niagara River has its origin in the eastern end of Lake Erie, about
+three hundred feet higher than the surface of Lake Ontario. Passing from
+Erie to the last-mentioned lake the descent is not gradual, but one
+finds a gently rolling plain with almost no slope for nineteen miles
+until almost at the very shore of Lake Ontario, where almost
+unexpectedly one comes upon a high precipice from which a magnificent
+view of the lower lake may be gained, only a narrow strip of beach
+intervening. This cliff is called by geologists the Niagara escarpment.
+
+When the river leaves Lake Erie its waters are interfered with by a low
+ledge of rock running across its channel. After passing this its waters
+meet no more troublesome obstructions until coming to the head of Goat
+Island. The river can scarcely be said to have a valley. One is reminded
+more of an arm of the lake extending out over this region. The country
+from Lake Erie to near the head of the Rapids above the Falls rests on a
+stratum of soft rock; from the Falls northward the underlying stratum is
+formed by a ledge of hard limestone, and beneath this a shale and two
+thin strata of sandstone. By the descent of the Rapids and the Falls,
+the waters are dropped two hundred feet, and thence through the Gorge
+they rush along at an appalling rate over the descent, through the
+Whirlpool and on to Queenston for a distance of seven miles. From this
+city to the lake there is little fall and so only a moderate current.
+
+The deep, narrow gorge extending from the Falls to Lewiston is the
+especial subject of study to the geologist. This canyon is scarcely a
+quarter of a mile wide, varying little in the distance from cliff to
+cliff throughout most of its course. This chasm opens up before the
+student with almost appalling suddenness, while travelling over an
+otherwise regular plain. Its walls are so precipitous that few
+opportunities are offered for scaling them; and their height from the
+bottom of the river varies from two hundred to five hundred feet. An
+examination of both sides of the Gorge shows the same order in the
+layers of rock and shale on comparatively the same level, with the same
+thickness of each corresponding stratum. If a superstitious person had
+come unexpectedly upon this gigantic fissure ages ago, he might easily
+have imagined it to have been the work of some mighty mythological hero;
+but the modern scientist has reached a much better, as well as a much
+more satisfactory conclusion, namely, that this immense cleft has been
+sawed by the force of the water, from a structure whose features were
+continuous, as is manifest by the similarity of the exposed strata on
+the two sides of the stream. To be convinced of the fact that the Falls
+are gradually receding, it is only necessary to observe them closely for
+a few years. The breaking away of an immense mass of rock previously
+described is one of the recent events in the history of the river. This
+establishes the fact that the Gorge is growing longer from its northern
+end through the agency of the waterfall.
+
+These facts show us the river working at a monstrous task. Its work is
+only partly done. Two questions come to us almost immediately: When this
+work is done what will it do? and, What did it do before its present
+work begun? The waters of Lake Erie could never have flowed to Lake
+Ontario without wearing away at the Gorge we now see. The birth of the
+river and the cutting of the canyon were simultaneous. Of this much we
+are assured.
+
+A superficial study of a map of North America will show at once a great
+difference in the northern and the southern sections. From the region of
+the Great Lakes northward the district is one continuation of lakes,
+ponds, swamps, and rivers with many rapids. South of the Ohio there are
+few lakes, and the rivers flow on with almost unbroken courses. Here is
+a region much older than that to the north; and its waters have had ages
+more in which to mould down elevations and fill up depressions. The
+cause of this difference in the characteristics of the streams of the
+North and those of the South is to be explained by the great Ice Age. As
+far as we now know there may have been little difference in relief forms
+between the two sections before the encroachment of the ice. During the
+glacial epoch the whole northern part of the continent was covered with
+a thick ice sheet, which was continually renewed at the north, and as
+continually drifted slowly in a general southerly direction. As this
+heavy ice cap passed over the surface, it acted somewhat like a river in
+its erosive power, only working much greater changes. It not only picked
+up loose particles, but also scoured and wore away solid rocks along its
+bed. Thus the whole configuration of the country was changed.
+
+At the southern terminal of the glacier, where it ended in the ocean,
+the ice broke away in large bergs, as in the northern seas to-day; but
+where the advancing ice met the warmer climate on land, it was melted
+and thus deposited at its terminal all the material it carried. The
+eroding power of this ice sheet, together with the deposit of its
+materials on melting, brought about a great change in the configuration
+of the country. Many old valleys were obliterated, while a number of new
+ones were carved. As the ice retreated northward with the change of
+climate, new lakes and rivers were formed. Many times the streams
+escaping from the lower level of lakes were forced to find an entirely
+new course, and so to carve a new channel of their own. The region of
+the Great Lakes and the Niagara River is no exception to this rule; and
+it is with the ending of the Ice Age that the history of the river
+begins.
+
+A glance at a map shows a low range of hills or rather a gentle swell in
+the land surface forming the watershed between the lakes and the streams
+flowing to the south. At the time of the farthest southerly extension of
+the glacier it reached beyond this elevation; and its waters were
+discharged into the rivers flowing to the south. When the southern
+terminal had retreated to the north of this divide, but still blocked
+all outlet to the north or east, there was doubtless a number of lakes
+here discharging their waters across the present low watershed to the
+south. Some of these ancient valleys can still be traced for long
+distances of their course. These lakes passed through their varying
+history as those of to-day, their surface troubled by wind and storm and
+their waves leaving indelible carvings upon their shores.
+
+One of these lakes occupied what is now the western end of Lake Erie,
+shortly after the ice front had passed to the north of the watershed
+mentioned. There are still very definite markings which show that its
+waters were discharged across the divide by a channel into the present
+Wabash River and thence into the Ohio. This channel can be traced
+throughout most of its course very easily. There are at least four
+distinct shore lines preserved to us, which show four successive levels
+of the lake as it reached lower outlets before the Niagara River was
+born. All of these old shore lines can be traced throughout most of
+their courses.
+
+As the ice continued to retreat, next we notice the greatest change in
+elevation of the surface of the water. The ice front finally passed to
+the north of the present Mohawk River, thus allowing the waters to
+escape by that outlet, and, as a consequence, lowering the surface of
+the lakes by over five hundred feet. This drained a great extent of land
+and dropped the surface of Ontario far below the present level of the
+Niagara escarpment. Then for the first time the Niagara began to flow,
+and its Falls began their work. Immediately upon the formation of this
+new, lower lake it began the work of leaving its history carved upon the
+rocks, sands, and gravels which formed its shores. Its first ancient
+beach is more easily traced for almost its entire course than any of the
+other old levels. It does not even take the trained eye of the scientist
+to see its unmistakable history written in the sands. The earliest
+western travellers describe the Ridge Road running along this old,
+deserted beach as showing unmistakable signs of having been an ancient
+shore line of the lake.
+
+[Illustration: The Horseshoe Fall, July, 1765.
+
+From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.]
+
+In following the course of this old shore line a gradual slope is
+noticed, and if this was a shore line, we must account for this
+variation in elevation, since the surface of the water is always level.
+The explanation is to be found in the fact that portions of the earth's
+surface are gradually rising while others are as gradually sinking. On
+comparing the old coast line with the level of the present one, we find
+that the lake has gradually inclined to the south and the west. This
+change in elevation had its share in determining the configuration of
+the lake as well as the relief features of the surrounding region. The
+point of discharge was at Rome, New York, as long as the barrier blocked
+the regions north of the Adirondack Mountains. As soon as the
+encroaching warmth of the south had removed this barrier to the level of
+the Rome outlet, the water began flowing by the St. Lawrence course.
+True the first outlet was not the same as the present one; but it must
+have been many times shifted in the course of the retreat of the ice. As
+a result of this alternate shifting, together with the changing of the
+level of the lake, there are to be found the markings of numerous shore
+lines, some of which pass under the present level of the waters.
+
+These different variations must of necessity have had a great effect on
+the work of Niagara River. When the Niagara began to flow, instead of
+its terminal being nearly seven miles from the escarpment, it was only
+between one and two miles away, and the surface of the lake was about
+seventy-five feet higher than now. While the outlet remained at Rome,
+the eastern end of the lake was continually rising, which caused the
+waters at the western end to rise over one hundred feet. This placed
+the shore of Ontario almost at the foot of the beautiful cliff at
+Queenston and Lewiston. After having occupied this position for a long
+period, the surface of the waters again fell over two hundred feet,
+carving an old shore line which is now submerged. After this, various
+changes of level in the land and shiftings of the ice barrier caused
+numerous old shore lines to be faintly carved. These changes continued
+until the present outlet was established and the waters began to flow
+along the present course of the St. Lawrence.
+
+One might think that with these changes all the variable factors of our
+problem have been discussed; but these same factors also had their
+effect upon the upper lakes. In a study of the old markings of all the
+lakes of this region, it seems that the northern shores were continually
+rising; this, of course, points to an occupation of a more northerly
+position by the lakes than at present, and also a laying bare of
+northern parts, and shifting of waters south, or possibly both of these
+changes at once.
+
+In the most ancient system of which we can obtain an approximately
+definite knowledge, Lake Huron was not more than half its present size,
+while Georgian Bay formed the main body, connecting with Huron by a
+narrow strait. Michigan and Superior occupied about their present
+limits, but were connected with Huron by rivers rather than short
+straits; Erie occupied only a fraction of its present position, having
+no connection with Huron. The waters of the upper lakes were doubtless
+discharged from the eastern end of Georgian Bay, which then included
+Lake Nipissing, by way of the Ottawa River, into the St. Lawrence. Thus
+the Niagara was deprived of about seven-eighths of its present drainage
+area, and consequently was totally unlike its present self. There is
+some indication that there may have been an outlet from Georgian Bay by
+a more southerly route, namely, the Trent River. If this were so, the
+northern route must have been blocked by the ice, since the Trent Pass
+is much higher than the one leading from Lake Nipissing, by way of the
+Ottawa. These are some of the possibilities which must be taken into
+consideration before any sure calculation can be made as to the age of
+the Falls, for there must have been an epoch in the history of the
+river, were it short or long, during which it carried only a very small
+fraction of the waters which it bears at present.
+
+Let us turn again to the gorge of the river itself. We have noted the
+similarity of structure of its two sides. This similarity is continuous
+throughout except at about half-way from Queenston to the Falls, where
+the river makes a turn in its course of almost ninety degrees. On the
+outside of this angle is the only place in the whole course where the
+material of the cliff changes. Here there is a break in the solid rock
+of the bank, which is filled with loose rock and gravel. This rift, to
+whatever it may be due, is of pre-glacial origin, for it is filled with
+the same material, the glacial drift, which covers the whole region. The
+cliff along Lake Ontario also presents very few breaks; but a few miles
+to the west of Queenston at St. Davids a broad gap is found in the
+otherwise unbroken wall. This gap is also filled with glacial drift. On
+its first discovery it was supposed to be a buried valley, and no
+connection with the Whirlpool was attributed to it. Later it was
+supposed that the break in the side of the Gorge, and the one at St.
+Davids, were parts of one and the same course of some pre-glacial
+stream. This supposition has been proven by the course having been
+traced through most of its distance by the wells sunk in the region.
+Later this interpretation of the facts found was destined to furnish
+further explanations. The question at once arose: How far and where did
+the upper course of this ancient valley extend? If it had cut across the
+course of the modern river, there would have been a break in the
+continuity of the cliff somewhere on the opposite side of the Gorge; but
+this can nowhere be found to be the case. The upper course of this
+ancient channel, therefore, must have coincided with that of the present
+channel. When, then, the Falls had receded to the side of the present
+Whirlpool, it reached a point where the greater part of its work had
+been performed. From here to whatever distance the upper course of the
+ancient river extended, the only work to do was to remove the loose
+gravel and boulders with which the glacier had filled its channel. This,
+of course, was effected much more rapidly than the wearing away of the
+hard limestone bed. Just what was the depth, and how far this old
+deserted valley extended, it is almost impossible to estimate. These
+changes are some of the most potent with which one must reckon in any
+calculation of the time since the beginning of Niagara's history.
+However, some work has been done in this line; and a broad field is
+still open for future investigation.
+
+[Illustration: Ice Mountain on Prospect Point.]
+
+At a very early date (1790), and when it was supposed by many to be
+almost sacrilegious to discuss the antiquity of the earth, Andrew
+Ellicott made an estimate of the age of the Falls by dividing the
+length of the Gorge by the supposed rate of recession. This gave as a
+result 55,000 years as the age of Niagara River. The next estimates
+which commanded attention were those of Bakewell and Sir Charles Lyell.
+Each of these men made separate estimates, but were compelled to take as
+the basis of their calculation the recession as given by residents of
+the district. Bakewell's calculations preceded Lyell's by several years,
+and resulted in ascribing to the Falls an age of 12,000 years. Lyell
+found the age to be about 36,000 years. The popularity of the latter
+caused his estimate to be accepted for a long period; many persons
+undoubtedly placing more faith in his results than he himself did. This
+method of dividing the distance by the rate of recession would be
+correct if there were no variables entering into the problem, and if the
+rate of recession were known; but these first calculations involved
+errors in the rate of movement of the Falls besides making no allowance
+for the variations which have been mentioned above.
+
+In order to obtain a sure means for measuring the recession of the
+Falls, Professor James Hall made a survey of the Horseshoe Falls in
+1842, under the authority of the New York Geological Survey. This survey
+plotted the position of the crest of the Falls, and established
+monuments at the points at which the angles were taken; thus leaving
+lasting marks of reference to which any future survey might be referred.
+In 1886, Professor Woodward of the United States Geological Survey, by
+reference to the markings left by Hall, found the rate of recession for
+the period to be about five feet per annum. It would, however, be
+necessary to extend these observations over a long period of time,
+since certain periods are marked by large falls of rock. Sometimes the
+centre of the Falls recedes very rapidly, while at other times the
+centre is almost stationary and the sides show the greater action. One
+of the most recent calculations of the age of the Falls was made by J.
+W. Spencer. Having made a thorough study of the history of the river
+revealed in its markings, and also of the Lakes, making allowance for
+all the variable factors, he calculated the duration of each epoch
+separately; and found the age of the river to be about 32,000 years.
+This result is about the same as that obtained from those based upon the
+relative elevations of different parts of the old deserted shore lines;
+and another based upon the rate of the rising of the land in the Niagara
+district.
+
+[Illustration: Cave of the Winds in Winter.]
+
+The many variable factors entering into the calculations so far
+discussed, have led to an earnest search for some means of determining
+the age of the river, which does not involve so many indeterminate and
+unknown quantities. This means of calculation, and one which seems to be
+much more free from unknown factors, seems to have been hit upon by
+Professor George Frederick Wright, whose calculations are based upon the
+rate of enlargement of the mouth of the river at the Niagara escarpment,
+where the Falls first began their existence. The cliffs at the mouth of
+the Gorge, as is the case with the newer portions of the river and
+indeed is characteristic of all canyons when first formed, were
+undoubtedly almost perpendicular when they were first cut by the rushing
+waters of the Niagara River. The mouth of the Gorge at Lewiston is of
+course the oldest part of the river; and if it were possible to measure
+the age of this part, this would surely give the date of the birth of
+Niagara. Immediately upon the formation of the Falls at Lewiston, the
+waters began the cutting of the Gorge; and immediately upon the
+formation of a gorge there was set to work upon its walls the
+disintegrating agencies of the atmosphere, free from indeterminate
+variables, tending to pull down the cliffs upon each side of the stream
+which jealously walled it in.
+
+This work has gone on year after year and century after century, without
+being affected by either the volume of the river's waters or the
+shifting in the elevation of the land. The work of the atmospheric
+agencies in enlarging the mouth of the Gorge has had the effect of
+changing its shape from that of a rectangle, whose perpendicular sides
+were 340 feet, to a figure with a level base formed by the river, whose
+sides slope off at the same angle on each side. Now if it were possible
+to measure the rate at which this enlargement is taking place, the
+problem of determining the age of the river would be a more simple one.
+
+The relative thickness of the different layers of material forming the
+walls of the Gorge is not the same throughout; at the escarpment at
+Lewiston, the summit is found to consist of a stratum of Niagara
+limestone, about twenty-five feet thick. Beneath this layer of lime is
+to be found about seventy feet of Niagara shale. The Niagara shale rests
+upon a twenty foot layer of hard Clinton limestone, which in turn is
+supported by a shale seventy feet thick. Forming the base is twenty feet
+of hard Medina sandstone, beneath which is another sandstone which is
+much softer and much more susceptible to erosion and the disintegrating
+forces of the atmosphere. These thick layers of shale form the part
+upon which the atmospheric powers exert their energies, undermining the
+strata composed of material which with much more effect resists the
+attempt of any agency to break it down. As the shale is removed from
+beneath the harder layers immense masses of the latter fall and form a
+talus along the lower part of the cliff. This in brief is the manner in
+which the mouth of the Gorge is growing wider.
+
+The present width of the mouth of the Gorge at the water's level is 770
+feet. It is not likely that the river was ever any wider than now at
+this point, since its narrowest portion is over 600 feet, and this where
+the hard layer of Niagara limestone is much thicker than at the mouth.
+The current here is comparatively weak, so that there has been little
+erosion due to it. On the contrary the falling masses of sandstone and
+limestone have probably encroached somewhat upon the ancient margin of
+the stream, its weak current being unable to sweep out these
+obstructions which have formed an effectual protection to the bank.
+
+The observations necessary to Dr. Wright's calculations were taken along
+the line of a railroad, which, very opportunely, had been constructed
+along the eastern cliff. Here for a distance of about two miles the
+course of the road runs diagonally down the face of the cliff,
+descending in that distance about two hundred feet, and in its descent
+laying bare the layers of shale upon which the observations must be
+made. Along the course of the road at this point, watchmen are
+continually employed to remove obstructions falling down or to give
+warning of danger when any large masses fall. The disintegration goes on
+much more rapidly in wet thawing weather than at other times of the
+year. Often in the spring the whole force of section hands is required
+for several days to dispose of the material of one single fall. At the
+rate of one-fourth of an inch a year of waste along this cliff there
+ought to fall slightly over six hundred cubic yards annually for each
+mile where the wall is 150 feet high. At this rate the enlargement at
+the terminal of the Gorge would take place, Dr. Wright estimates, in
+somewhat less than ten thousand years. No accounts have been kept by the
+railroad of the amount of fallen material, but some estimate can be made
+from the cost of removal of the falling stone, together with the
+observations of the watchmen, one of whom has been in the employ of the
+railroad in this capacity for twelve years, and also by noticing the
+distance to which the cliff has receded since the construction of the
+road.
+
+Only a superficial observer can see at once that the amount of removal
+has been greatly in excess of the rate mentioned above. The watchman, of
+whom mention has been made, was in the employ of the company which
+constructed the road in 1854, and therefore knows where the original
+face of the cliff was located. At one point, where the road descends to
+the Clinton limestone, the whole face of the Niagara shale is laid bare.
+Here the shale has been removed to a distance of twenty feet from its
+original position, and the rocks forming the roof overhang to about that
+distance. Now this mass of shale must have been removed since 1854. This
+would require a rate of disintegration much in excess of the one
+assumed. Necessarily some allowance must be made for the fact that the
+atmospheric agencies have here had a fresh section of the shale upon
+which to work. Yet making all due allowance for the above condition, the
+rate at the mouth of the Gorge could not have been much less than that
+assumed above. The actual process of the enlargement has been periodic.
+As the falling shale undermines more and more the capping hard layers,
+from time to time these latter fall in immense masses. Any calculation
+of age based upon a few years of disintegration would be worthless; but
+one based upon centuries would come very near a true average. The walls
+of the Gorge were at first perpendicular, but as the undermining,
+process goes on they become sloped more and more, the falling masses
+forming a protection to the lower parts of the softer strata. One fact,
+however, to be noticed is that this protecting talus has never as yet
+reached so high as to stop the work of the disintegrating agencies. The
+horizontal distance from the water's edge back to the face of the
+Niagara limestone, which forms the top of the cliff, is 380 feet. On the
+above assumption of the rate of recession as one-fourth of an inch
+annually, the rate at the top of the cliff must have been about one-half
+inch for each year. From the observations made, it is difficult to
+believe that the retreat of this upper portion has been at a lower rate
+than a half-inch yearly; if this be true, this new line of evidence
+places the birth of the Niagara and the beginning of the cutting of the
+Gorge at Lewiston at about ten thousand years ago.
+
+[Illustration: "Maid of the Mist" under Steel Arch Bridge.]
+
+The history of the Great Lakes and the birth of Niagara have a different
+interest for us, than alone to form the connecting link between the
+present and a past age devoid of life. Closely connected with this
+geologic history is the history of the human race. Unfortunately for us,
+the men inhabiting these parts in prehistoric ages have not left the
+traces of their existence upon the rocks and sands as have the waters of
+Niagara and the Lakes. Meagre, however, as is our knowledge we are still
+confident that man has been a comrade of the river during its entire
+history. Much to our disappointment, he was not possessed with the means
+of recording his knowledge for the satisfaction of future generations.
+Probably no such thought ever entered his brain. All that we know is,
+that along the old deserted shores of Lake Ontario in New York, which
+now form the Ridge Road, he constructed a rude hearth and built a fire
+thereon. The shifting of elevation or the rising of the surface of the
+lake buried beneath the waters hearth, ashes, and charred sticks, and
+thus by a mere accident do we know that human history extends back at
+least as far as the Ice Age.
+
+In these modern days, when we are prone to believe that all forms of
+animate existence and inanimate as well have been the result of an
+evolution, we cannot think of the man who possessed the art of fire as
+the primeval man. Whatever age may be assigned to the Niagara, whatever
+may be the antiquity of that great cataract, upon which we are wont to
+look as everlasting, the age of the human race must be considered
+greater.
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter IV
+
+  Niagara Bond and Free
+
+
+No one acquainted with the Niagara of to-day can imagine what were the
+conditions existing here before the days of the New York State
+Reservation and Queen Victoria Park. That old Niagara of private
+ownership, with a new fee for every point of vantage, was a barbarous
+incongruity only matched by the wonder and beauty of the spectacle
+itself. The admission to Goat Island was fifty cents, and to the Cave of
+the Winds, one dollar. To gain Prospect Park, the "Art Gallery," the
+inclined railway, or the ferry, the charge was twenty-five cents. It
+cost one dollar to go to the "Shadow of the Rock," or go behind the
+Horseshoe Fall. The admission to the Burning Spring was fifty cents,
+likewise to Lundy's Lane battle-ground, the Whirlpool Rapids, the
+Whirlpool. It cost twenty-five cents to go upon either of the suspension
+bridges. In addition to this a swarm of pedlars were hawking their wares
+at your elbows, and tents were pitched at every vantage point,
+containing the tallest man or the fattest woman, or the most astonishing
+reptile then in a state of captivity in all the world.
+
+[Illustration: Beacon on Old Breakwater at Buffalo.]
+
+Not even the five-legged calves missed their share of plunder at
+Niagara, according to Mr. Howells, who paid his money out to assure
+himself, as he affirms, that this marvel was in no wise comparable to
+the Falls. "I do not say that the picture of the calf on the outside of
+the tent," he observes, "was not as good as some pictures of Niagara I
+have seen. It was, at least, as much like." A writer of a decade before
+this (1850) speaks very strongly of the impositions to which a traveller
+is subjected at Niagara. How early in the century complaints began to
+appear cannot be stated; it would be interesting to be able to get
+information on this point since it would determine a more important
+matter still--the time when the Falls began to attract visitors in
+sufficient proportions to bring into existence the evils we find very
+prevalent at the middle of the century. The latter writer observes:
+
+    It would be paying Niagara a poor compliment to say that,
+    practically she does not hurl off this chaffering by-play from
+    her cope; but as you value the integrity of your impression, you
+    are bound to affirm that it hereby suffers appreciable
+    abatement; you wonder, as you stroll about, whether it is
+    altogether an unrighteous dream that with the slow progress of
+    culture, and the possible or impossible growth of some larger
+    comprehension of beauty and fitness, the public conscience may
+    not tend to ensure to such sovereign phases of nature something
+    of the inviolability and privacy which we are slow to bestow,
+    indeed, upon fame, but which we do not grudge, at least, to art.
+    We place a great picture, a great statue, in a museum; we erect
+    a great monument in the centre of our largest square, and if we
+    can suppose ourselves nowadays building a cathedral, we should
+    certainly isolate it as much as possible and subject it to no
+    ignoble contact. We cannot build about Niagara with walls and a
+    roof, nor girdle it with a palisade; but the sentimental tourist
+    may muse upon the chances of its being guarded by the negative
+    homage of empty spaces, and absent barracks, and decent
+    forbearance. The actual abuse of the scene belongs evidently to
+    that immense class of iniquities which are destined to grow very
+    much worse in order to grow a very little better. The good
+    humour engendered by the main spectacle bids you suffer it to
+    run its course.
+
+There was at least no bettering of conditions at Niagara between 1850
+and 1881, when more or less active steps began to be taken for the
+freeing of the beautiful shrine. True, Goat Island was kept ever in its
+primeval beauty, which by far counterbalanced the Porter mills on Bath
+Island; as William Dean Howells wrote, while these "were impertinent to
+the scenery they were picturesque with their low-lying, weatherworn
+masses in the shelter of the forest trees beside the brawling waters'
+head. But nearly every other assertion of private rights in the
+landscape was an outrage to it."
+
+[Illustration: Winter Scene in Prospect Park.]
+
+One of the strongest direct appeals to the nation's conscience in behalf
+of enslaved Niagara appeared in 1881 and is worthy of reproduction, if
+only for its vivid description of the status of affairs at the Falls at
+that time:
+
+    The homage of the world has thrown a halo round Niagara for
+    those who have not seen it, and Niagara has left its own impress
+    upon every thoughtful person who has seen it, and every
+    unpleasant feature therefore is brought into bold relief. Where
+    the carcass is, there also will the eagles be gathered together.
+    A continuous stream of open-mouthed travellers has offered rare
+    opportunities to the quick-witted money-makers of all kinds; the
+    contrast between the place and its surroundings, perceived at
+    first by the few, has been for years trumpeted throughout the
+    country by the number of correspondents who write periodical
+    accounts of the season, and to-day every sane adult citizen may
+    be said to know two things about Niagara: first, that there is a
+    great waterfall there, and second, that a man's pockets will be
+    emptied more quickly there than anywhere else in the Union. . . .
+    Niagara is being destroyed as a summer resort. It has long
+    since ceased to be a place where people stay for a week or more,
+    and it is now given up to second-class tourists, and
+    excursionists who are brought by the car-load. The constant
+    fees, the solicitation of the hackmen, the impertinences of the
+    store-keepers, have actually been so potent that it is a rare
+    thing to find any of the best people here. The hotels are not to
+    blame; the Cataract House for instance, is a quiet, comfortable
+    hotel, excellently managed, and in the hands of gentlemanly
+    proprietors, and it is probably by no means alone in this
+    respect. The hotel-keepers are aware of the state of things;
+    they do not encourage the excursion traffic. Some even seek to
+    avoid the patronage of the excursionists. From all over the
+    country--from places as far as Louisville--the railway company
+    bring the people by thousands: they pour out of the station in a
+    stream half a mile long. Of course, like locusts, they sweep
+    everything before them. Several places--Prospect Park, for
+    instance--cater to the tastes of this class alone. Several
+    evenings in the week Prospect Park is filled with a crowd of
+    free-and-easy men and women, fetching their own tea and coffee
+    and provisions and enjoying a rollicking dance in the Pavilion.
+    And all this within fifty yards of the American fall! For their
+    entertainment there is an illuminated spray-fountain, and their
+    appreciation knows no bounds when various coloured lights are
+    thrown upon the Falls. Then a crowd of fifty swoops down upon
+    one of the hotels--men, women, and children--all in brown linen
+    dusters; all hot, hungry, and careless. These people must not be
+    deprived of their recreation. Heaven forbid! None have a greater
+    right than they to the influence of Niagara. But this way of
+    visiting the place is all wrong; they derive little benefit, and
+    they do infinite harm.
+
+    In this second sense the destruction of Niagara is making rapid
+    strides in a far more dangerous direction. The natural
+    attractions of the place are being undermined. On the American
+    side the bank of the river above the Falls is covered for a
+    quarter of a mile with structures of all kinds, from the
+    extensive parlors and piazzas of the Cataract House to the
+    little shanty where the Indian goods of Irish manufacture are
+    sold.
+
+    For the purpose of securing bathrooms and water-power, dams of
+    all kinds have been built; these are wooden trenches filled with
+    rough paving-stones. Some of the structures project over the
+    Rapids, being supported by piles. The spaces between the various
+    buildings are used to store lumber, and as dust heaps. One of
+    them contains a great heap of saw-dust, another a pile of
+    scrap-iron. The banks and fences bear invitations to purchase
+    Parker's hair-balsam and ginger tonic. The proprietor of
+    Prospect Park has made a laudable attempt to plant trees upon
+    his land; these extend for a few yards above the Falls. In
+    return, however, he has erected coloured arbours, and a station
+    for his electric light, which are almost as unpleasant as the
+    other buildings.
+
+    Just below the Suspension Bridge the gas-works discharge their
+    tar down the bank into the river; a few yards further on there
+    are five or six large manufactories, whose tail-races empty
+    themselves over the cliff. The spectator on Goat Island, on the
+    Suspension Bridge, or on the Canadian side cannot help seeing
+    this mass of incongruous and ugly structures extending along the
+    whole course of the Rapids and to the brink of the Falls. Of
+    course, under these circumstances the Rapids are degraded into a
+    mill-race, and the Fall itself seems to be lacking a
+    water-wheel.
+
+    One half of Bath Island--which lies between Goat Island and the
+    shore--is filled with the ruins of a large paper-mill which was
+    burnt in 1880. It is now being rebuilt and greatly enlarged.
+    Masses of charred timbers, old iron, calcined stones and bricks,
+    two or three great rusty boilers, the dirty heaps surmounted by
+    a tall chimney--such are the surroundings of a spot, which, for
+    grandeur and romantic beauty, is not equalled in the world. A
+    short distance below Bath Island lies Bird Island, a mere clump
+    of trees in the midst of the rushing water, a mass of dark-green
+    foliage overhanging its banks and trailing its branches
+    carelessly in the foam. This little spot has been untrodden by
+    man--the most fearless savage would not risk his birch-bark boat
+    in these waters. But what those who profit by it call the rapid
+    strides of commercial industry, or possibly the development of
+    our national resources, will soon destroy this little piece of
+    Nature; already the owners of the paper-mill have built their
+    dam within twenty yards of it, extending through the waters like
+    the limb of some horrid spider, slowly but surely reaching its
+    prey. Let the connection be made, and a couple of men with axes
+    turned loose in this little green island, and before long the
+    rattle of a donkey-engine or the howl of a saw-mill swells the
+    chorus of this _soi-disant_ civilisation. The following does not
+    sound very encouraging for the preservation of Niagara's
+    scenery. It is taken from a paper, _Niagara as a Water Power:_
+
+    " . . . Hence it is that we are soon to see a development of
+    this peculiar power of Niagara which will stand unrivalled among
+    motors of its class in the world.
+
+    "Already people talk of the storage of electricity and quote the
+    opinions of scientists about the possibilities of the future.
+    Sir William Thompson--it is said--gave as his opinion that it
+    would be perfectly feasible to light London with electricity
+    generated at Niagara.
+
+    "There is no assurance that Goat Island may not be sold at any
+    moment for the erection of a mill or factory. Indeed if a rapid
+    development of the mechanical application of electricity should
+    take place--thus enabling speculators to offer very high prices
+    for the immense power that could be controlled from Goat Island,
+    it is almost certain that such a sale would result. And with its
+    accomplishment would disappear the last chance of saving
+    Niagara!"
+
+The honour of first suggesting the preservation of Niagara Falls has
+been claimed by many persons. But the first real suggestion dates back
+as early as 1835, though made without details. It came from two
+Scotchmen, Andrew Reed and James Matheson, who, in a volume describing
+their visits to Congregational churches of this country, first broached
+the idea that Niagara should "be deemed the property of civilised
+mankind."
+
+In 1885, by the labours of several distinguished men, principally Mr.
+Frederick Law Olmsted, a bill was passed in the Legislature of New York
+instructing the commissioners of the State Survey to prepare a report
+on the conditions and prospects of Niagara. This report was prepared by
+Mr. James T. Gardner, the director of the New York State Survey, and Mr.
+Olmsted. It strongly protested against such waste and degradation of the
+scenery as have been described in this chapter; it set forth the dangers
+of ultimate destruction, and made an eloquent appeal in favour of State
+action to preserve this natural treasure. The report strongly urged the
+establishment of an "International Park," and gave details of its
+construction with maps and views. It proposed that a strip of land a
+mile long and varying from one hundred feet to eight hundred feet broad,
+together with the buildings on it, should be condemned by the State,
+appraised by a commission, and purchased. The erections on Bath Island
+and in the Rapids were to be swept away. Trees and shrubberies were to
+be planted, roads and foot-paths appropriately laid out. The cost was
+estimated at one million dollars.[11]
+
+Why the bill should have met with so much opposition before it was
+finally passed, is to-day a question hard to answer; at any rate the
+political history of the bill is interesting.
+
+As in the case of most modern propositions the question was generally
+asked:
+
+"Is the game worth the candle? Is it worth while to spend a million
+dollars--to take twenty-five cents out of the pocket of each tax-payer
+in the State of New York--in order to destroy a lot of good buildings
+and plant trees in place of them, and, moreover, to do this for the sake
+of a few persons whose nerves are so delicate that the sight of a
+tremendous body of water rushing over a precipice is spoiled for them by
+a pulp-mill standing on the banks?"
+
+Indeed, it is said on good authority, that Governor Cornell, after
+listening to a description of the shameful condition at the Falls and
+the surroundings at the time when he sat in the gubernatorial chair
+remarked: "Well, the water goes over just the same doesn't it?"
+
+Mr. Cleveland, being elected Governor of New York in 1882 seemed always
+in favour of the preservation of the scenery at Niagara Falls. Governor
+Robinson, in 1879, likewise an advocate of the idea, even caused some
+preliminary steps to be taken but the following gentlemen especially
+deserve to be entered in the _Golden Book of Niagara_: Thomas K.
+Beecher, James J. Belden, R. Lenox Belknap, Prof. E. Chadwick, Erastus
+Corning, Geo. W. Curtis, Hon. James Daly, Benjamin Doolittle, Edgar van
+Etter, R. E. Fenton, H. H. Frost, General James W. Husted, Thomas L.
+James, Thomas Kingsford, Benson J. Lossing, Seth Low, Luther R. Marsh,
+Randolph B. Martine, Rufus H. Peckham, Howard Potter, D. W. Powers,
+Pascal P. Pratt, Ripley Ropes, Horatio Seymour, Geo. B. Sloan, Samuel J.
+Tilden, Senator Titus, Theodore Vorhees, Francis H. Weeks, Wm. A.
+Wheeler. They all made strenuous efforts to advance the bill introduced
+into the Legislature by Jacob F. Miller of New York City. One of its
+foremost promoters also was Mr. Thomas V. Welch, Superintendent of the
+New York State Reservation at Niagara, whose valuable pamphlet _How
+Niagara was Made Free_ affords much of our material for this chapter. A
+bill entitled "Niagara Reservation Act" passed the New York Assembly and
+the Senate, and was signed by Grover Cleveland on April 30, 1883.
+Commissioners were appointed consisting of William Dorsheimer, Sherman
+S. Rogers, Andrew H. Green, J. Hampden Robb, and Martin B. Anderson. But
+the final bill had to undergo many vicissitudes ere it was lastly
+amended and passed. The appraisals alone amounted to $1,433,429.50, and
+the then existing financial depression had to be dispelled before
+anything definite could be done. Between 1883 and 1885 there arose a
+most unjustifiable raid against the measure. I have already alluded to
+it above. John J. Platt of the _Poughkeepsie Eagle_ wrote for instance:
+"We regard this Niagara scheme as one of the most unnecessary and
+unjustifiable raids upon the State Treasury ever attempted." Mr. Platt
+became later on a warm advocate of the plan, but the wrong was done.
+Some denounced the bill as a "job" and a "steal" and berated Niagara
+Falls and its citizens, particularly the hackmen, hotel-men, and
+bazaar-keepers as sharks and swindlers, who had robbed the people
+individually and were now seeking to rob them collectively. They said
+they would oppose the bill by every means, hoped it would be
+defeated--bursts of temper mildly suggestive of strangers who had
+visited Niagara and had suffered at the hands of her showmen in the
+golden days of Niagara's army of fakirs and extortionists.
+
+[Illustration: Bath Island, American Rapids, in 1879.
+
+From New York Commissioners' Report.]
+
+Thus the matter dragged and great fears were entertained that the case
+would be lost. Meanwhile the above-named prominent citizens had not been
+idle. They had sent to their friends and constituents a kind of a
+circular and obtained about four thousand signatures in favour of the
+measure. Clergymen, educators, editors, and attorneys were well
+represented; medical men without exception signed the petition, which
+was finally submitted to Governor Hill. For a time it almost seemed that
+the Governor shared the views of Governor Cornell. He was "pestered to
+death" in behalf of the bill until the matter actually created a stir,
+as though the very welfare of the State depended on it. Great pressure
+was brought on Mr. Hill to sign the bill; he visited the Falls himself,
+went over the ground, but he was non-committal and even his intimates
+had no idea whether he would affix his signature. Yet he seemed
+apparently more favourably disposed than heretofore.
+
+    There was left a feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty [writes
+    Mr. Welch], concerning the fate of the bill. Another week
+    passed. Rumours were rife concerning the intention of the
+    Governor to let the bill die, in lack of his signature, and thus
+    arrived the 30th of April, 1885, the last day for the scheme
+    allowed by law.
+
+    The forenoon was spent in a state of feverish anxiety--not
+    lessened by frequent rumours of a veto in the Senate or
+    Assembly; some of them started in a spirit of mischief by the
+    newspaper reporters. When noon came, it seemed as if the bill
+    would surely fail for lack of executive approval. But the
+    darkest hour is just before daybreak. Shortly after noon a
+    newspaper man hurriedly came to the writer[12] in the Assembly
+    chamber and said that the Governor had just signed the Niagara
+    Bill. A hurried passage was made to the office of the Secretary
+    of State to see if the bill had been received from the Governor.
+    It had not been received. At that moment the door was opened by
+    the Governor's messenger who placed the bill in the hands of the
+    writer saying "Here is your little joker." A glance at the bill
+    showed it to be the "Niagara Reservation Bill," and on the last
+    page was the much coveted signature of David B. Hill, rivalling
+    that of Mr. Grover Cleveland in diminutive handwriting.
+
+    It is reported that the "King of the Lobby," a man notorious for
+    years in Albany, expressed his satisfaction at the approval of
+    the bill, saying "The 'boys' wanted to 'strike' that bill, but I
+    told them that they must not do it; that it was a bill which
+    ought to pass without the expenditure of a dollar--and it did."
+
+The Report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara lies
+before me. It is dated February 17, 1885.[13] The commissioners were
+appointed in 1883 to consider and report what, if any, measures it might
+be expedient for the State to adopt carrying out the project to place
+Niagara under the control of Canada and New York according to the
+suggestions contained in the annual message of Governor Cleveland with
+respect to Niagara Falls. The report states that the attractions of the
+scenery and climate in the neighbourhood of the Falls are such that with
+their ready accessibility by several favourite routes of travel it might
+reasonably be expected that Niagara would be a popular summer resort;
+that there was nevertheless, no desirable summer population, attributed
+chiefly to the constant annoyances to which the traveller is subjected:
+pestering demands and solicitations, and petty exactions and impositions
+by which he is everywhere met. While it is true that such annoyances are
+felt wherever travellers are drawn in large numbers, at Niagara the
+inconvenience becomes greater because the distinctive interest of
+Niagara as compared with other attractive scenery is remarkably
+circumscribed and concentrated. That the value of Niagara lies in its
+appeal to the higher emotion and imaginative faculties and should not be
+disturbed and irritated; that tolls and fees had to be removed; traffic
+was to be excluded from the limits from whence the chief splendour of
+the scenery was visible. That the only prospect of relief was to be
+found in State control; that the forest was rapidly destroyed which once
+formed the perfect setting of one of Nature's most gorgeous panoramas,
+and that the erection of mills and factories upon the margin of the
+river had a most injurious effect upon the character of the scene.
+
+It was therefore resolved on June 9, 1883, that
+
+    in the judgment of this board it is desirable to select as
+    proper and necessary to be reserved for the purpose of
+    preserving the scenery of the falls of Niagara and of restoring
+    the said scenery to its natural condition, the following lands
+    situate in the village of Niagara and the County of Niagara
+    to-wit: Goat Island, Bath Island, the Three Sisters, Bird
+    Island, Luna Island, Chapin Island, and the small islands
+    adjacent to said islands in the Niagara River, and the bed of
+    said river between said islands and the main land of the State
+    of New York; and, also, the bed of said river between Goat
+    Island and the Canadian boundary; also a strip of land beginning
+    near "Port Day" in said village, running along the shore of said
+    river, to and including "Prospect Park" and the cliff and debris
+    slope, under the same, substantially as shown by that part
+    coloured green on the map accompanying the fourth report of the
+    Board of Commissioners of the State Survey, dated March 22,
+    1880; and including also at the east end of said strip
+    sufficient land not exceeding one acre for purposes convenient
+    for said reservation, and also all lands at the foot of said
+    falls, and all lands in said river adjoining said islands and
+    the other lands hereinbefore described.
+
+By the adoption of the foregoing resolution, the area of a reservation
+was preliminarily defined. A commission of appraisement was installed.
+As was to be expected the claims for the condemned land were about four
+million dollars. The awards, however, amounted to $1,433,429.50 only.
+Some interesting and important questions were raised as to the rights
+of the riparian owners to use the power afforded by the Niagara River
+for hydraulic purposes and to receive compensation therefor. Upon this
+basis the owners were prepared to present claims aggregating twenty or
+thirty millions of dollars. After full argument and careful
+consideration, the commissioners of appraisement rejected all such
+claims, except where the water power had been actually reduced to use
+and used for a period long enough to create a prescriptive right. They
+held:
+
+    (1) that Niagara is a public stream, and its bed and waters
+    belong to the State; (2) that as against the State private
+    riparian owners have no right to encroach on its bed to divert
+    its waters or to subject them to the burden of manufacturing
+    uses, unless they have acquired such right by grant from the
+    State or by prescription.
+
+The preamble of the Preservation Act[14] which was to make Niagara free
+read:
+    _Whereas_, the State Engineer and Surveyor has completed and
+    submitted to this board a map of the lands selected and located
+    by it in the village of Niagara Falls and the County of Niagara
+    and State of New York, which, in the judgment of this board are
+    proper and necessary to be reserved for the purpose of
+    preserving the scenery of the falls of Niagara, and restoring
+    the said scenery to its natural condition; now, therefore, it is
+    Resolved, etc.
+
+On the morning of July 15th the Seventh Battery unlimbered its howitzers
+to salute the rising sun with a hundred salvos. The day unfortunately
+proved dark and foreboding. A storm burst in the morning and drove the
+crowds to shelter, and the last drops had hardly ceased pattering, when
+the hour of noon, the time fixed for the ceremony, arrived. The grounds
+of Prospect Park were wet and the trees shook their water freely in the
+light breeze, but some thousands collected on the grass around the
+pavilion, notwithstanding these disheartening circumstances. When
+President Dorsheimer, however, began his speech the sun smiled through
+the clouds, and the day thereafter was perfect overhead.
+
+[Illustration: Path to Luna Island.]
+
+The excursion trains began to pour their passengers into the village
+early. They came from the counties bordering on the Pennsylvania line
+and from the northern and western ends of the State and from the towns
+in the Canadian dominion. It is estimated that at least thirty thousand
+strangers were unloaded in the village. The visitors included country
+folk and residents of the city, and about two thousand militiamen,
+principally from the Fourth Division, although there were several
+organisations among them representing Cleveland, Detroit, Utica,
+Buffalo, and Rochester. There was a sprinkling of British redcoats among
+the gold-laced officers who dotted the village streets. One of the
+Canadian battalions desired to come over and join in the celebration.
+The United States authorities extended a welcome but the Canadian
+authorities declined to allow their soldiers to cross the river. A few
+of the officers got permit to come.
+
+Governor Hill and his staff were met by a committee appointed to receive
+them, consisting of Thomas V. Welch and O. W. Cutter. There were also
+Senators Bowen, Low, Lansing, Ellsworth, Baker, Van Schaick, Titus and
+"Tim" Campbell. Of Assemblymen there were present Mr. Hubbell of
+Rochester, who fathered the bill in the last Legislature which led to
+the day's ceremonies; Hon. Jacob L. Miller, who, in 1883, introduced the
+bill creating the Niagara Park Commission; Hendricks, Kruse, McEwen,
+Bailey, Scott, Raines, Haskell, Dibble, Connelly, Major Haggerty,
+General Barnum, Whitmore, Storm, Ely, Secretary of the Senate John W.
+Vrooman, and Ex-Senators MacArthur and Loomis.
+
+Of editors and other public men well known "up in the State" there were
+Carroll E. Smith and W. H. Northrup of Syracuse; S. Callicott and John
+A. Sleicher of Albany; Willard S. Cobb of Lockport; William Purcell of
+Rochester; Congressman Wadsworth; Ex-Congressmen Brewer and Van Abram
+and Solomon Scheu. Of State officials were mentioned Civil Service
+Commissioner Henry A. Richmond; Professor Gardner of the old State
+survey; Secretary Carr; Attorney-General O'Brien; Treasurer Maxwell;
+Engineer Sweet; Insurance Superintendent John A. McCall; and
+Superintendent of Public Instruction William H. Ruggles. Letters of
+regret were received from Governor-General Lansdowne of Canada, Samuel
+J. Tilden, and President Cleveland.
+
+The last admission fee to Prospect Park was collected in the night of
+July 15, 1885, and a till full of quarters was taken before the gates
+were thrown open at midnight. The owners of Goat Island left their gates
+open all night. Everything was free, however, on the 15th and such a
+company as swarmed over the islands in consequence was never seen
+before. They crowded the walks and fringed the cliffs and shores at
+every available point. They recklessly clambered down to the bottom of
+the Falls and clustered on the ledge of rocks overlooking the Horseshoe
+and American Falls. Persons who had lived all their lives within twenty
+miles of the Falls now beheld them for the first time. They brought
+their luncheons, and when the sun came out they picnicked on the
+greensward.
+
+The hurdy-gurdy shows which had sprung up like mushrooms within
+twenty-four hours all over the village were doing a brisk business. The
+Indian shops also were all open but the other stores and places of
+business in the village were closed for the day. The air was filled from
+morning till night with the blare of military bands, the monotonous
+sound of numberless organs, and the shouts and cries of venders and
+showmen. Every building in the village was decorated with bunting.
+
+[Illustration: Green Island Bridge.]
+
+The pavilion in the park was reserved for invited guests and for those
+who participated in the ceremonies. Near the Governor and his staff sat
+the Commissioners of the Niagara Park Reservation. Among the
+distinguished guests were prominent Canadians who took a warm interest
+in the project of an International Park at Niagara. They were
+Lieutenant-Governor Robinson, Captain Geddes, and Lieutenant-Colonel
+Gowski, members of the Niagara Park Association; the Hon. O. S. Hardy,
+Secretary of Ontario, and the Attorney-General of that Province, the
+Hon. O. Mowat.
+
+The opening-prayer was offered by the Right-Reverend A. Cleveland Coxe.
+He was followed by Erastus Brooks, who, in a brief speech, introduced
+the subject of the day's celebration, and concluded by saying that no
+better investment had ever been made by any State, corporation, or
+people, and added that Lord Dufferin had promised that Canada would join
+in establishing a free park on their own side of the Falls. Great
+enthusiasm followed, and the whole audience of five thousand people then
+joined in singing _America_. President Dorsheimer, in behalf of the
+Commission, then formally presented the Park to the State of New York.
+After briefly reciting what the Commission had done he said: "From this
+hour Niagara is free. But not free alone; it shall be clothed with
+beauty again, and the blemishes which have been planted among these
+scenes will presently be removed. As soon as the forces of Nature,
+nowhere more powerful than at this favoured place, can do the work,
+these banks will be covered with trees, these slopes made verdant, and
+the Cataract once more clothed with the charms which Nature gave it."
+
+As he concluded the firing of guns signalled to the crowds on the
+islands and on the Canadian side that Niagara was the possession of the
+State of New York, and that Governor Hill was about to accept the gift
+in the name of the people of the State. The Governor was warmly cheered
+when he stepped forward to speak. He gave a brief sketch of the history
+of the Falls, and likewise alluded to the opening of the Erie Canal, the
+laying of the corner-stone of the State's magnificent Capitol at Albany
+and the opening of the East River bridge. Then he accepted the Park with
+some appropriate words, concluding as follows: "The preservation of
+Niagara Park, the greatest of wonders is, indeed, a noble work. Its
+conception is worthy the advanced thought, the grand liberality, and the
+true spirit of the nineteenth century."
+
+After this followed the singing of the _Star Spangled Banner_, the
+audience joining earnestly in the chorus. The oration was delivered by
+that polished member of the New York Bar, Mr. James C. Carter, giving a
+full history of the region. The two Canadian officials,
+Lieutenant-Governor Robinson and Attorney-General Mowat were then
+introduced, and congratulated the State of New York for the enterprise
+and public spirit shown by the people and the public officers. The
+exercise concluded with the Doxology and a benediction. In the afternoon
+Governor Hill with Generals Jewett and Rogers reviewed the militia. In
+the evening fireworks were set off from Prospect Park, Goat Island, and
+the brink of the Falls from the Canadian side. Earlier in the day the
+Comptroller's check for five hundred thousand dollars was received by
+the Porter family, the Goat Island property had been transferred to the
+commissioners, and Niagara was free.
+
+There had been, of course, strong objection on the part of the army of
+landholders and monopolists who were to be thrown out of their "easy
+money" livelihoods. Of this the excellent "leader" in the New York
+_Times_ of July 15th deals as follows:
+
+    It would be alike idle and unjust to blame the people of Niagara
+    Falls for this state of mind. They have done what the members of
+    any other community would have done in making the most of their
+    neighbourhood as a wonder of nature. Even the obstinate . . .
+    who declines to be bought out, and insists upon his right to
+    make merchandise out of the river, is entitled to respect for
+    the tenacity with which he proposes to resist the acquisition of
+    his property by the State upon the ground that the law
+    authorising the acquisition is unconstitutional.
+
+    He would very possibly be willing to acknowledge the right of
+    eminent domain if it were proposed to take his land for a
+    railroad, but the idea that it shall be taken in order that a
+    river . . . shall be kept for dudes to look at undoubtedly
+    strikes him as unmixed foolishness. However excusable this state
+    of mind may have been, nobody who does not own a point of view
+    or at least a hack at Niagara will dispute that its consequences
+    have been deplorable. Though Niagara has continued to be a
+    frequential resort it has by no means been as popular as it
+    would have become with the increasing facilities of travel and
+    the increasing advantages taken of them, if the fame of the
+    gross and petty extortions had not been almost as widely spread
+    as the fame of Niagara itself. While the local monopolies have
+    deterred people from visiting the Falls, they have nevertheless
+    been so lucrative that the most important of them is reported
+    upon the authority of one of its managers to have returned a net
+    annual profit, of thirty thousand dollars, and the report is not
+    incredible, prodigious as the figure seems as a profit upon the
+    mere command of a point of view. This hedging about and looking
+    up of a boon of nature was perhaps the most objectionable
+    incident of the private shore of Niagara. To a tourist who goes
+    to Niagara from any other motive than that of saying that he had
+    been there the importunity to which he had been subjected at
+    every turn was absolutely destructive of the object of his
+    visit. The prosaic and incongruous surroundings of the cataract
+    completed the disillusion which importunity and extortion were
+    calculated to produce. Many tourists would have been glad to pay
+    down, once for all, as much as their persecutors could have
+    reasonably hoped to extract from them for the privilege of being
+    allowed to look without molestation upon the work of nature
+    undisfigured by the handiwork of man. "For many years this has
+    been impossible, and for several years it has been evident that
+    it could be made possible only by the resumption on the part of
+    the State, as a trustee of its citizens and for all mankind, of
+    the ownership and control of the shore. This resumption will be
+    formally made to-day. But it was really brought about in the
+    Legislature in the winter of 1884, when the full force of the
+    opposition to the project was brought out and fairly defeated.
+    The State of New York has in effect decided that the
+    preservation of a sublime work of nature under conditions which
+    will enable it to affect men's minds most strongly is an object
+    for which it is worth while to pay the money of the State. It is
+    this emphatic decision which marks a real advance in
+    civilisation over the state of mind of the Gradgrinds of the
+    last generation and of the contemporaneous wood-pulp grinder
+    that the proper function of the greatest waterfall in the world
+    is to turn mill-wheels and produce pennies by being turned into
+    a peep show."
+
+The Reservation forms a beautiful State Park within the growing city of
+Niagara Falls, N. Y., which lies just back of it numbering now a
+population of nearly twenty-five thousand people. The city is well laid
+out, and its promoters "point with pride" to the advances made during
+the last decade and bespeak for "Industrial Niagara" a future of great
+distinction in the commercial world.
+
+The first town worthy of the name here on the American side of the Falls
+was named Manchester by Judge Porter when he settled here in 1806, 102
+years ago, believing that the site could eventually be occupied by the
+"Manchester of America." Judge Porter's many inducements to promoters
+were not accepted until about the middle of last century (1853) when the
+present canal was begun. For many years even this improvement lay
+unused; it was not until 1878 that the present company was organised and
+any real advance was made. Of the recent wonderful development along
+power lines at Niagara we treat in another chapter under the title of
+"Harnessing Niagara Falls." But the supreme interest in these lines of
+activity must not let us lose sight of the important element of local
+environment.
+
+It is of almost national interest that Niagara is so centrally located,
+that within seven hundred miles of this great cataract live two-thirds
+of the population of the United States and Canada. This of itself, were
+there no Niagara Falls, would guarantee the growth of the town of
+Niagara Falls. Add to this strategic location the exceptional advantages
+to be found here by industrial plants looking for a home, and also the
+evident fact that Niagara Falls is a delightful spot in which to reside,
+it is clear that if a great and beautiful city does not develop here in
+the next century human prophecy will have missed its guess and tons of
+advertising will have been wasted. Twenty-five million dollars are, it
+is said, invested in capital now in the present town, and the value of
+imports and exports in 1906 was over two millions and over twelve
+millions, respectively. Fourteen railways here find terminals and the
+town has over one hundred mails daily. With splendid educational
+advantages, with twenty miles and more of pavement already laid, with a
+beautiful and efficiently conducted public library, with a city water
+pumping plant capable of handling twenty million gallons daily, and
+nearly forty miles of drains, with a citizenship active, patriotic, and
+capable, is it any wonder that Niagara Falls' real estate agents and
+suburban resident promoters are thriving like the old cabmen and
+side-show operators thrived in the "good old days" of private ownership
+along the Niagara's bank?
+
+There is no discounting the advances this interesting little city has
+made in the past ten years and more, and there is very little
+possibility, on the face of things of a tremendously accelerated growth
+in the coming century. Big problems are here being worked out; big
+schemes are afoot, big things will happen--an advance will come because
+of the plain merit of the bare facts of the case without unnecessary
+inducement or overcapitalisation of the advertising agencies. The world
+needs power to do its work, and until we sit down calmly and figure out
+a way for the ocean tides to do our work, as ought in all conscience to
+be the case to-day, Niagara Falls will hold out extraordinary inducement
+to all industrial promoters which cannot be rivalled in many ways at
+any other point. If only the ends of industry can be achieved without
+destroying this great continental scenic wonder! There are those who are
+unwilling to take a single rainbow from that ocean of rainbows amidst
+the Falls to drive another wheel. But there is surely a sane middle
+ground to be found here, and it is certain that brave, thinking men are
+on the sure track to find it.
+
+Similar in geographic position, quite as much could be said for Niagara
+Falls, Ont., as has been said of her twin city on the American shore. In
+point of beauty nothing can excel the magnificent Queen Victoria Park,
+opened in 1888, which lies opposite the New York State Reservation; the
+view of the two falls from it, or from the airy piazzas of the superb
+Clifton Hotel which flanks it, is unmatched. At present writing the
+guardians of the New York State Reservation, and other sensitive
+persons, are justly exercised over a genuine "Yankee trick," more or
+less connived in, they darkly hint, by the authorities, who have
+permitted a series of hideous signboards to be erected on the Canadian
+shore to serve the purpose of bringing out more vividly by contrast the
+unrivalled beauties of Queen Victoria Park.
+
+[Footnote 11: _The Nation_, No. 84 (September 1, 1881).]
+
+[Footnote 12: Mr. Thomas V. Welch, _loc. cit._]
+
+[Footnote 13: Senate Document, No. 35, Albany, N. Y.]
+
+[Footnote 14: _Resolved_, That this board hereby selects and locates the
+lands hereafter described, situate in the village of Niagara Falls, and
+the County of Niagara and State of New York, as in the opinion of this
+board proper and necessary to be reserved for the purpose of preserving
+the scenery of the falls of Niagara, and restoring the said scenery to
+its natural condition, and does hereby determine to take such land for
+the purposes aforesaid, and which said land is bounded and described as
+follows, to-wit: All that certain piece or parcel of land situate in the
+village of Niagara Falls, town and County of Niagara, State of New York,
+distinguished in part as part of lots numbers forty-two (42),
+forty-three (43), and forty-four (44) of the mile strip, as the same was
+surveyed and conveyed by the State of New York, in part as islands known
+as Goat island, Bath island, the Three Sisters, Bird island, Luna
+island, Chapin island, Ship island, Brig island, Robinson's island, and
+other small islands lying in Niagara river adjacent and near to the
+islands above-named, and in part as lands lying under the Niagara river,
+bounded and described as follows, to-wit:
+
+Beginning at a point on the easterly bank of the Niagara river, where
+the same is met and intersected by the division line between lands now
+or formerly occupied by Albert H. Porter, and lands now or formerly
+owned or occupied by the Niagara Falls Hydraulic and Manufacturing Canal
+Company; running thence on a course north three degrees forty-nine and
+one-fourth minutes west; along said last mentioned division line, one
+(1) chain and ninety-five (95) links to a stone monument standing in the
+southerly line of Buffalo street, in the village of Niagara Falls;
+thence on a course south eighty-six degrees forty-five and one-fourth
+minutes west along said southerly line of Buffalo street ninety and
+nine-tenths (90.9) links to a point in the division line between lands
+now or formerly owned or occupied by Albert H. Porter, and lands now or
+formerly owned or occupied by the estate of Augustus S. Porter; thence
+on a course south eighty-six degrees forty-five and one-fourth minutes
+west along said southerly line of Buffalo street ninety and nine-tenths
+(90.9) links to a point in the division line between lands now or
+formerly owned or occupied by the estate of Augustus S. Porter and lands
+owned or occupied by Jane S. Townsend; thence on a course south
+eighty-six degrees forty-five and one-fourth minutes west, along said
+southerly line of Buffalo street, two (2) chains and seventy (70) links
+to the intersection of the same with the easterly line of Seventh
+street; thence on the same course south eighty-six degrees forty-five
+and one-fourth minutes west, across said Seventh street, one (1) chain
+and three-tenths (.3) of a link to the westerly boundary thereof; thence
+along said westerly boundary of Seventh street and on a course south
+three degrees forty-nine and one-half minutes east, one (1) chain and
+fifty-four and seventy-seven one-hundredths (54.77) links to a point in
+said westerly line of Seventh street, distant seventy-six (76) links
+northerly, measuring on said westerly line of Seventh street, from the
+intersection of the same with the northerly line of River street; thence
+on a course south fifty-seven degrees forty-seven and one-fourth
+minutes, west one (1) chain and sixteen (16) links to a point in the
+division line between lands now or formerly owned or occupied by Albert
+H. Porter and lands now or formerly owned or occupied by Mrs. George W.
+Holley, which said point is distant northerly measuring along said
+division line seventy (70) links from the northerly line of River
+street; thence on a course south fifty-six degrees fifty-five and
+one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and sixteen (16) links to a point;
+thence south fifty-eight degrees forty minutes west, one (1) chain and
+fifteen (15) links to a point; thence south sixty-three degrees
+forty-three and one-fourth minutes west one (1) chain and eleven (11)
+links to a point; thence south sixty-seven degrees nineteen and
+one-fourth minutes west, one (1) chain and sixty (60) links to a point
+in the division line between lands owned or occupied by Mrs. George W.
+Holley and lands owned or occupied by Jane S. Townsend distant sixty
+(60) links northerly measured on said division line from the northerly
+boundary of River street; thence on a course south seventy-two degrees
+nineteen minutes west, two (2) chains and ten (10) links to a point in
+the division line between lands owned or occupied by Jane S. Townsend,
+and lands owned or occupied by Josephine M. Porter, distant, measuring
+on said division line sixty-four (64) links northerly from the northerly
+boundary of River street; thence on a course south seventy-three degrees
+thirty-four and one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and four (4) links
+to a point; thence south seventy-six degrees twenty-eight and one-half
+minutes west, one (1) chain and two (2) links to a point; thence south
+eighty-two degrees four and three-fourths minutes west, one (1) link to
+a point, thence south eighty-six degrees forty-three and one-fourth
+minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence south eighty-nine degrees
+fifty-six minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence north
+eighty-eight degrees forty-three minutes west one (1) chain and one (1)
+link to a point in the easterly boundary of Fourth street, distant
+ninety (90) links northerly, measuring on said easterly boundary of
+Fourth street, from the intersection of the same with the northerly
+boundary of River street; thence across said Fourth street and on a
+course north eighty-two degrees thirty-two and one-half minutes west,
+one (1) chain and one (1) link to a point in the westerly boundary of
+Fourth street, distant eighty-six (86) links northerly measuring on said
+westerly boundary of Fourth street; from the intersection of the same
+with the northerly line of River street: thence on a course north
+seventy-eight degrees fifty-three minutes west, two (2) chains and six
+(6) links to a point in the division line between lands owned or
+occupied by Peter A. Porter, and land owned or occupied by S. M.
+Whitney, which point is distant seventy (70) links northerly, measuring
+on said division line, from the northerly line of River street; thence
+on a course north seventy-nine degrees seventeen and three-fourths
+minutes west, one (1) chain and three (3) links to a point; thence north
+seventy-six degrees eight minutes west, one (1) chain and four (4) links
+to a point; thence north seventy-three degrees seven and one-fourth
+minutes west, ninety-five (95) links to a point; thence north
+seventy-one degrees twenty-five and one-fourth minutes west, fifty (50)
+links to a point in the division line between lands owned or occupied by
+S. M. Whitney, and lands owned or occupied by Albert H. Porter which
+point is distant northerly, measuring on said division line, seventy
+(70) links from the northerly line of River street; thence on a course
+north sixty-eight degrees thirty-five and one-fourth minutes west,
+sixty-eight (68) links to a point; thence north sixty-three degrees
+thirty-eight and one-fourth minutes-west, ninety-eight (98) links to a
+point; thence north fifty-three degrees fifteen and one-fourth minutes
+west, one (1) chain and thirteen (13) links to a point in the division
+line between lands owned or occupied by Albert H. Porter and lands owned
+or occupied by Jane S. Townsend, which point is distant northerly,
+measuring on said division line, ninety-two (92) links from the
+northerly line of River street; running thence on a course north
+forty-eight degrees fifty-six and one-fourth minutes west, eighty-nine
+(89) links to a point; thence north fifty degrees one and one-half
+minutes west, one (1) chain and two (2) links to a point; thence north
+fifty-five degrees two and one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and one
+(1) link to a point; thence north sixty degrees ten minutes west, fifty
+(50) links to a point in the division line between lands owned or
+occupied by Jane S. Townsend and lands owned or occupied by the heirs of
+Augustus S. Porter, which point is distant northerly, measuring on said
+division-line, one (1) chain and fifty-six (56) links from the northerly
+line of River street; thence on a course north sixty degrees fifteen and
+one-half minutes west, fifty (50) links to a point; thence north
+sixty-seven degrees ten and one-half minutes west, ninety-nine (99)
+links to a point; thence north sixty-eight degrees nineteen and
+three-fourths minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence north
+seventy-one degrees forty-five and one-fourth minutes west, one (1)
+chain to a point distant one (1) chain and twenty-eight (28) links,
+measuring on a course north twenty-seven degrees east from the northerly
+line of River street; thence on a course north sixty-three degrees
+fifty-five and one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and eleven (11)
+links to a point; thence north fifty-five degrees one and one-fourth
+minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence north fifty-one degrees
+forty-one and one-half minutes west, eighty-nine (89) links to a point;
+thence north forty-seven degrees fifty minutes west eighty-three (83)
+links to a point; thence north forty-five degrees forty-two minutes
+west, one (1) chain and two (2) links to a point; thence north forty-two
+degrees twenty-five minutes west, two (2) chains and two (2) links to a
+point; thence north forty-three degrees seventeen and three-fourths
+minutes west, one (1) chain and nine (9) links to a point in the
+easterly boundary of Mill street, distant northerly, measuring along
+said easterly boundary of Mill street, twenty (20) links from the
+intersection of the same with the northerly boundary of River street;
+thence on a course north twenty-eight degrees nineteen and one-fourth
+minutes east, and along said easterly boundary of Mill street, two (2)
+chains and thirty (30) links to the intersection of said easterly line
+of Mill street with the southerly line of Buffalo street; thence on a
+course north sixty-two degrees forty-five minutes west, across said Mill
+street, one (1) chain to the westerly boundary line thereof, and to the
+point of intersection of the westerly line of Mill street with the
+southerly line of Buffalo street; thence on a course north sixty-one
+degrees thirty-two minutes west, along the southerly boundary of Buffalo
+street, five (5) chains and thirty-two (32) links to the point of
+intersection of the southerly line of Buffalo street with the easterly
+boundary line of the Mill slip (so called), which point is distant
+northerly measuring on said easterly line of the Mill slip, seventy-one
+(71) links from the intersection of the same with the northerly line of
+River street; thence on a course north sixty-one degrees thirty-two
+minutes west, across said Mill slip, fifty-one and forty-two
+one-hundredths (51.42) links to a point in the westerly boundary line
+thereof, distant northerly, measuring along said westerly line of said
+Mill slip, seventy-five and twenty-three one-hundredths (75.23) links
+from the intersection of the same with the northerly line of River
+street; thence along said westerly boundary line of said Mill slip and
+on a course south fifty-four degrees four and three-fourths minutes
+west, seventy-five and twenty-three one-hundredths (75.23) links to the
+intersection of said westerly boundary line of said Mill slip with the
+northeasterly boundary line of River street; thence on a course north
+thirty-three degrees ten minutes west, along said north-easterly
+boundary line of River street, five (5) chains and seventy-four and
+two-tenths (74.2) links to a point in said northeasterly line of River
+street, where the same is intersected by the southerly line of Bridge
+street, which point is marked by a stone monument erected at the
+intersection of said lines of said streets; thence on a course north six
+degrees thirty-six and one-fourth minutes east, across said Bridge
+street, one (1) chain and three (3) links to the northerly boundary line
+thereof, and to the point of intersection of the northerly boundary line
+of Bridge street with the northeasterly line of Canal street; thence on
+a course north thirty-seven degrees thirty-three and one-half minutes
+west, and along said northeasterly boundary line of Canal street four
+(4) chains and eighty-seven (87) links to the intersection of said
+northeasterly line of Canal street with the southerly line of Falls
+street; thence on a course north thirty-seven degrees thirty-six and
+three-fourths minutes west, one (1) chain and eighty-two (82) links
+across Falls street to the northerly boundary thereof; thence on a
+course north thirty-seven degrees thirty-six and three-fourths minutes
+west, and along said north-easterly line of Canal street, one (1) chain
+and twenty-two (22) links to an angle in said north-easterly line of
+Canal street; thence on a course north two degrees thirty-eight and
+one-fourth minutes west, and along the easterly line of Canal street,
+ten (10) chains and one and eighty-five one-hundredths (1.85) links to
+the intersection of the easterly line of Canal Street with the southerly
+line of Niagara street; thence on a course south eighty-seven degrees
+fourteen minutes west, across said Canal street, one (1) chain and fifty
+and thirty-four one-hundredths (50.34) links to the westerly boundary
+line thereof; thence on a course south two degrees fifty-one minutes
+east, along said westerly boundary line of Canal street, two (2) chains
+and sixty-seven and twelve one-hundredths (67.12) links to a point in
+the westerly line of Canal street, supposed to be the northeasterly
+corner of Prospect Park (so called); thence on a course south eighty-six
+degrees nineteen and one-half minutes west, along the north boundary of
+said Prospect Park, one (1) chain and three (3) links to an angle in
+said boundary line; thence on a course north fifty-two degrees eighteen
+minutes west, along said northerly boundary of said Prospect Park, six
+(6) chains and eighty-five (85) links to the water's edge of the Niagara
+river; thence along said line prolonged into said river, and on a course
+north fifty-two degrees eighteen minutes west, more or less, to the
+boundary line between the United States of America and the Dominion of
+Canada; thence along said boundary line up the middle of said river to
+the Great Falls; thence up the falls through the point of the Horse
+Shoe, keeping to the west of Iris or Goat island and the group of small
+islands at its head, and following the bends of the river, and along
+said boundary line to a point at which said boundary line meets, and is
+intersected by the prolongation of the line running north three degrees
+forty-nine and one-fourth minutes west, first above mentioned; thence
+following said line, and on a course north three degrees forty-nine and
+one-fourth minutes west, more or less, to the point or place of
+beginning.
+
+Together with all the right, title, and interest of all persons or
+corporations of, in, and to the premises embraced within said boundary
+lines, including all water-rights, made-land (so called), débris,
+titles, or claims (if any) to lands lying under the Niagara river,
+rights of riparian owners, easements, and appurtenances of every name
+and nature whatsoever, including all the rights of, in, and to all
+streets, or portions of streets, embraced and included within said
+boundary lines.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter V
+
+  Harnessing Niagara Falls
+
+
+Lord Kelvin, when visiting Niagara Falls, was not moved by that which
+appeals to the ordinary tourist, the roaring of the cataract, the waters
+in their mad rush from the Falls to the whirlpool and thence to Lake
+Ontario, nor the mists rising night and day from the waters churned into
+foam. For him, Niagara was a monster piece of machinery, accomplishing
+nothing but the pounding out of its own life on the rocks which formed
+its bed. In his mind's eye there appeared vast factories, deriving their
+power from the Falls, furnishing hundreds of men employment and
+distributing millions of dollars' worth of products to be placed nearer
+the hands of the poorer classes because of having been created by the
+cheap power furnished here by nature.
+
+Various estimates have been made regarding the volume of water flowing
+over the Falls; but the calculations by United States engineers
+extending over a number of years places the amount at about 224,000
+gallons a foot per second. These are the figures taken as the basis of
+many calculations; upon this basis the Falls would furnish 3,800,000
+horse-power exclusive of the rapids. If the fall of about fifty feet
+which is produced by the rapids in their descent from the Dufferin
+Islands be added to this amount, the sum total of power would be
+greatly increased. To make some use of this almost inconceivable amount
+of power which has been wasting itself for ages has been the problem
+which has caused much investigation and to-day it seems to be nearing a
+practical solution.
+
+Niagara Falls were first used as a source of power in 1725, when a
+primitive saw-mill was built just opposite Goat Island to saw lumber for
+the construction of Fort Niagara. For years men have made many attempts
+to use some of the power to be had here for the taking, and in a very
+small way have been successful. A number of establishments for several
+decades have been making use of power developed by the Falls by means of
+the Hydraulic Canal on the American side. This canal was begun in 1853
+and passes through the city of Niagara Falls, terminating on the cliff
+half a mile below the cataract; here are to be found a number of mills,
+which however utilise only a small fraction of the fall available,
+probably because at the time of their construction, the high grade
+water-wheels of to-day were not in existence. Some of the waste water
+from the tail races of these mills is now being collected into large
+iron-tubes and is used again by mills situated at the base of the cliff.
+
+[Illustration: Bird's-eye View of the Canadian Rapids and Fall.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+In 1885, the late Thomas Evershed, of Rochester, New York, devised a
+plan for wheel-pits a mile and a half above the Falls. The water was to
+be conducted to these pits by lateral canals, from which it was to be
+taken to the river below the Falls by means of a tunnel cut through the
+solid rock. This plan seemed more practicable than any proposed
+heretofore, and commanded the attention of many leading engineers of the
+country. The present great developments at the Falls had their
+inception in the organisation of the Niagara Falls Power Company. This
+company obtained a charter from the State of New York in 1886, giving
+them permission to use water sufficient to generate two hundred thousand
+horse-power. This company could accomplish very little on account of its
+limited capital. In a short time, however, New York capitalists and
+bankers, perceiving the practicability of the company's plans, became
+interested in the project, and furnished the necessary funds. The first
+earth was turned for this great work in October 1890 and the tunnel was
+completed in the autumn of 1893. The first main wheel-pit was ready for
+its machinery by the following March.
+
+The device for applying Niagara's power to the turbines is on the same
+principle of construction, in each of the recently erected plants as in
+this first one. In the case of the Niagara Falls Power Company, a broad
+deep inlet leads from the river at a point a mile and a half above the
+American Falls, two thousand feet back in a north-easterly direction.
+The canal is protected by a lining of heavy masonry, which is pierced at
+its upper end by a number of gateways; through these water is admitted
+by short canals to pits emptying into huge steel pipes or penstocks, as
+they are called. These penstocks terminate at the bottom in wheel boxes,
+in which are placed the bronze turbine wheels, connected with the
+surface by means of steel shafts parallel to the penstocks. From the
+turbine wheels the water whirls and rushes on through a subterranean
+passage to the main tunnel. Here it starts on its long journey of over a
+mile under-ground, beneath the heart of the city, until it emerges again
+at an opening in the cliff just below what is known as the new
+suspension bridge. A very ingenious plan was adopted for the application
+of the power to the turbines. The penstocks are brought down under the
+wheels and are made to discharge their waters upward into the boxes.
+This contrivance causes the water to bear up the great weight of the
+wheels, from the bearings beneath for their support, besides that of the
+hundred and forty feet of shafting connected with the turbines for
+transmitting power to the surface.
+
+The tunnel which receives these waters after leaving the turbines is no
+less than six thousand seven hundred feet long, and discharges below the
+Falls just past the suspension bridge. Its cross-section somewhat
+resembles a horseshoe in shape, and this sectional area is three hundred
+and eighty-six square feet throughout, the average height and width
+being twenty-one and sixteen feet respectively. The company owning the
+mills connected with this tunnel, together with the Niagara Falls
+Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company, of which mention has been
+made, are the only ones using water to any great extent on the American
+side.
+
+On the Canadian side, three great canals are drawing water from the
+river. It is the construction of these mammoth Canadian power plants,
+and the devising of means for leading water to the turbines together
+with the development of a plan for the disposal of the waste water by
+means of some form of tail race, which must necessarily consist of a
+monster tunnel broken through the solid rock, which has developed some
+of the greatest and most unique engineering problems ever before dreamed
+of, and which has presented a work hazardous and spectacular in the
+extreme.
+
+To meet the engineering problems concerned in locating the three
+Canadian plants along the shore of the river, involving the taking of
+water by some form of canal, and the disposal of waste water through
+tunnel or by other means to the lower river, each without interfering
+with any of the other plants, taxed even Yankee engineering ingenuity.
+One company had to unwater a considerable area of Niagara River at
+Tempest Point where the waters have a great depth and the current is of
+high velocity. From here then a tunnel, the largest in the world, must
+be broken through solid rock, under the bed of the river, to a point
+directly behind the great sheet of water plunging over the apex of the V
+formed by Horseshoe Falls. A second company takes its water through a
+short canal to its wheel-pits, which are sunk about half a mile above
+Horseshoe Falls in Queen Victoria Park, discharging it through a tunnel
+two thousand feet long into the lower river. To find room for the third
+of these companies was a puzzling problem for some time. Finally the
+difficulty was solved by a departure from the plan of the other
+companies, both in the manner of taking water from the river and in the
+location of the power-house. Instead of locating the wheel-pits above
+the Falls as in the case of the others, this company has it power-house
+located in the Gorge below the Falls along the lower level. It takes its
+water from farther up the river than any of the companies, thus being
+further removed from any difficulties arising from recession of the
+Falls besides obtaining the additional power to be given by the descent
+of the rapids to the crest of the cliff, which amounts to about fifty
+feet. The water is taken from near the Dufferin Islands through the
+largest steel conduit in the world, which runs not far from the shore of
+the river, skirting the other plants, and terminates at the power-house
+situated in the canyon below the Falls.
+
+It is interesting to visit and survey these hydro-electric
+power-generating stations, to note the different methods for taking the
+water from the river and for carrying it to the lower river after having
+passed through turbine wheels. It is well here to take a brief résumé of
+the main features connected with the obtaining of this water supply and
+its disposal. The first American company, that of the Niagara Falls
+Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company, takes its water through a
+canal from the upper river. This canal passes through the centre of the
+city of Niagara Falls to the cliff just below the first steel cantilever
+bridge, the power plant and industries making use of its waters are
+located here at the top of the cliff. The other American company known
+as the Niagara Falls Power Company takes its water by a short canal,
+about a mile above the Falls and discharges the dead water through a
+tunnel that runs under the city of Niagara Falls to a point near the
+water's edge in the lower river directly below the first steel bridge.
+The Canadian Niagara Falls Power Company, allied with the American
+company, takes its water from Queen Victoria Park and discharges it
+below the Falls through a two thousand foot tunnel. The Toronto and
+Niagara Power Company, with its power plant built in the bed of the
+river near Tempest Point takes water through massive stone forebays in
+the river and sends it to the lower level through a tunnel beneath the
+river's bed opening directly behind the V in the Horseshoe Falls. The
+Ontario Power Company takes its water into large steel conduits near
+Dufferin Islands. These underground pipes conduct the water along the
+shore of the river to the power house situated on the lower level. The
+waste water is discharged through draft tubes directly into the river.
+
+With this general picture of these great power companies in mind, it is
+proper to survey some of the more interesting details of construction
+which may appeal to individual taste and curiosity. Space forbids
+entering into the minutia either of construction or machinery used. Only
+the main principles of interest to the general reader can be touched
+upon.
+
+Let us descend first into the tunnel under the bed of the river, which
+discharges the tail water from the power-house of the Toronto Company,
+hurling it with almost inconceivable fury against the mass of foaming
+water plunging over the Horseshoe precipice. Here is a sight to thrill
+even the most jaded traveller hunting for new wonders. A trip through
+this underground passage which American genius has shot through a mass
+of solid shale and limestone, beneath the bed of the river, will in
+itself more than compensate for a trip to Niagara Falls. Some idea of
+the size of this tunnel is indicated by the fact that two lines of
+railways were maintained in it to dispose of the rock and shale
+excavated by the workmen. Clad in rubber coat and boots the visitor to
+the Falls may wend his way down along the visitors' gallery which is
+suspended from the roof of the tunnel, one hundred and fifty-eight feet
+below the river bed, to where the outrushing waters join the great
+volume of the river in its headlong plunge over Horseshoe Falls. Here
+standing behind that mighty veil of rushing water, with the spray swept
+into the opening by furious storms of howling winds, one beholds a
+spectacle, almost terrifying in its grandeur, the equal of which perhaps
+can not be found in any of the numerous attractions of the Falls.
+
+[Illustration: American Falls from Below.]
+
+Before work on the main tunnel was begun, a shaft was sunk on the river
+bank just opposite the crest of Horseshoe Falls. From this shaft a
+tunnel was dug to the point where the lower end of the main tunnel would
+terminate. No difficulties were experienced in the driving of this
+opening until near the face of the cliff behind Horseshoe Falls. Here,
+with only fifteen feet to go, water began to rush into the cavern
+through a fissure in the rocks. The engineers fought against the water
+for several days but could not stop its flow. Finally eighteen holes
+were drilled into the cliff between the end of the tunnel and where the
+final opening was to be made; these holes were loaded with dynamite,
+which, together with a large charge placed against the end of the
+passage, was exploded, after the tunnel had been flooded. This only
+accomplished a part of what was desired. An opening was made in the
+cliff but too near the roof of the tunnel to allow of any work. What to
+do now was a difficult problem, but American daring accomplished the
+work. Volunteers were called for to crawl along the ledge of rock
+running along the cliff behind the Falls to where the opening had been
+made. Several men offered to make this almost impossible trip. Lashed
+together with cords, with the thunder of the Falls in their ears,
+blinded by spray which was driven into their faces with cyclonic fury,
+the men at last reached the opening and placed a heavy charge of
+dynamite against the opposing wall. This was discharged, making a
+sufficiently large opening for the water to run out, and the work was
+continued.
+
+In the design of the main tunnel, ingenious provision was made for
+recession of the Falls. From the opening in the cliff for three hundred
+feet the lining will be put in in rings six feet long; this arrangement
+will allow a joint to drop out whenever the Falls recede so that it is
+exposed, thus leaving a smooth section always at the end of the tunnel.
+Through this main tunnel and through the branch races, the water, after
+having left the turbines, will whirl along at the rate of twenty-six
+feet per second, having generated a total of 125,000 electric
+horse-power. In engineering problems connected with the tunnel and the
+construction of the plant, the work of this company far surpasses that
+of any of the others. In order to secure a place for the wheel-pit and
+gathering dam, an area of about twelve acres in the bed of the river was
+converted into dry land. To do this a coffer dam was constructed 2153
+feet in length and from twenty feet to forty-six feet wide in water
+varying in depth from seven feet to twenty-four feet, besides being very
+swift in most places. About two thousand feet above the Falls, in the
+space thus deprived of its water, an immense wheel-pit was sunk into the
+solid rock. On the bottom of this pit, 150 feet below the surface rest
+the monster turbines, from which two tail-races conduct the water to the
+main tunnel. A large gathering dam sufficient to supply the maximum
+capacity of this plant runs obliquely across the river for a distance of
+750 feet. The height of this dam varies from ten to twenty-three feet;
+it is constructed of concrete, the top being protected by a course of
+cut granite. The power plant is located on the original shore line and
+parallel to it in Queen Victoria Park. In the power room are to be found
+eleven monster generators capable of developing 12,500 horse-power each.
+
+A short distance farther up the river at the Dufferin Islands is the
+beginning of the mammoth steel conduits of the Ontario Power Company.
+These pass about a hundred yards from the shore and conduct the water to
+the power-house situated in the canyon below the Falls. This contrivance
+for water transmission consists of three steel pipes, the largest in the
+world, eighteen feet in diameter, and a little over six thousand feet
+long. This plant has the advantage of the others in several respects.
+While it draws its water from farther up the river, it preserves it for
+a longer time from the recession of the Falls, besides securing to it
+the greater amount of power per volume by obtaining the additional
+advantage of the descent of the rapids which amounts to about fifty-five
+feet. The power plant located as it is in the Gorge discharges its waste
+waters directly into the lower river without the necessity of an
+intervening tunnel. Lastly, the plan of applying the power to the
+turbines is slightly different in this case from the others, being made
+possible by its different plan. Here the turbines are placed vertical
+instead of horizontal, and are directly connected with the main
+generators, which are the only machines located on the floor of the
+station.
+
+A departure from the ordinary construction of the dynamo is noticed in
+those for use at Niagara. The ordinary one is built with the
+field-magnets so placed that the armature revolves between them, the
+field-magnets being stationary. In these monster dynamos, developing
+thousands of horse-power, and weighing many tons, the field-magnets
+revolve around the armature which remains stationary. With such an
+enormous weight of swiftly revolving parts, it became necessary to
+lessen the immense centrifugal force tending to tear the machine to
+pieces. Engineering skill surmounted this problem as it did all others
+in what might be called this mighty scientific drama, and, by reversing
+the parts of the dynamo, secured the desired result. The field-magnets,
+being placed on the outside and being made the revolving part, by their
+mutual attraction for its armature within their ring are pulled, as it
+were, toward the centre, thus lessening the great strain produced by the
+centrifugal force upon the large steel ring upon whose inner
+circumference they are mounted.
+
+The currents furnished by the power-houses at Niagara are all
+alternating. This kind of current being decided upon for various
+reasons. It can be used for driving dynamos as well as any, and as
+nearly all the power developed at the Falls is used in this way no
+provision is made for a direct current. Where a direct current is
+desired the electricity is made to drive a dynamo of the alternating
+type which in turn is made to drive another of the kind of current
+desired. Establishments on or near the grounds use the power furnished
+them direct from the power-house. When the power must be transmitted to
+a distance, it becomes necessary to use a step-up transformer for the
+purpose of losing as little power as necessary in the transmission, this
+to produce a higher voltage. When the current reaches those places where
+it is to be used a low voltage is again obtained by the step-down
+transformer.
+
+Almost, if not quite as interesting as the development of all this
+power, together with its transmission, are the manufacturing
+establishments springing up here to take advantage of the great
+opportunities offered by the harnessing of this mighty cataract. Among
+those which stretch along the river for several miles are to be found
+those interested in the manufacture of carborundum, aluminum, carbide,
+graphite, caustic potash, muriatic acid, emery wheels, railway supplies,
+hook-and-eye fastenings, and shredded wheat, which are of special
+interest to the visitor.
+
+Industrialism has seized upon the immense power of Niagara and is now
+shaping it into commodities for the use of man. Now what is the real
+menace to the Falls? Many lament the erection of the power plants and
+manufacturing establishments in the vicinity; but those, at least
+already in existence, have come to stay. So we may turn our attention
+from the marring of the surrounding beauty to the Falls themselves.
+
+Geological changes are taking place so slowly that they need not be
+reckoned with as a probable destroyer of the Falls for ages yet to come.
+Moreover, their effect is treated in another chapter. The history of the
+Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company, as a user of
+power from the Falls, antedates even its legislative recognition.
+Between the years of 1888 and 1894 nine companies were recognised or
+chartered in the State of New York. These charters were granted very
+freely, no revenue was required for the use of the waters, and in some
+cases no limitation was placed upon the amount to be used. Of these
+charters, all were granted in good faith; but it is very doubtful if all
+were received in that spirit. Some of the companies failed to effect an
+organisation, others offered to sell their rights as soon as obtained.
+Various limitations were put upon the time in which work must be begun.
+At least three of the charters have lapsed by their own time
+limitations, one franchise was sold by its original owners; one other
+shows at times faint signs of life; another is leading a questionable
+existence, while two, the Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company and
+the Niagara Falls Power Company, are producing and selling power. To
+these two organisations are to be credited the great industrial
+development on the American side and they are not yet using the amount
+of water allowed them by their charters.
+
+As a result, of course, the flow of water is of smaller volume; but this
+cannot be perceived by the casual observer. However, citizens of Niagara
+Falls insist that the decreased flow is manifested in other ways; such
+as the annual gorging of ice at the head of the American channel almost
+laying this channel bare and sending its water to the Canadian side.
+This happens very rarely with a normal depth. Besides this it became
+necessary not long ago to move the dock at which the _Maid of the Mist_
+lands, the water line having retreated as a result of decreased volume.
+
+The two American companies are not expecting to diminish their
+consumption of water in any way. The growing demands for power have
+caused each continually to enlarge its plants. The Niagara Falls Power
+Company, realising the great growing demand for cheap power, has
+obtained a large interest in one of the Canadian companies. The amount
+of water which may be used by these companies according to charter
+limits is as follows:
+
+  Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing
+  Co.                             7,700 cu. ft. per sec.
+
+  Niagara Falls Power Company     8,600  "   "   "   "
+
+  Total                          16,300  "   "   "   "
+
+The power produced by these companies at present is no fair estimate of
+the amount of water taken from the river. On the American side, below
+the steel arch bridge, may be seen what is called the "back yard view of
+Niagara." Here a number of small cascades are seen spouting from the
+side of the cliff, only a small part of the fall being utilised by the
+factories situated there. Some of this water is now being collected into
+penstocks, to be utilised again at the base of the cliff.
+
+On turning to the three Canadian companies, those of the American side
+pale beside their gigantic proportions. In contrast with the companies
+chartered, it may be said that none of these is inactive; on the
+contrary they are giving the strongest manifestations of energy.
+Following are the limits to which they may make use of Niagara's waters:
+
+  Canadian Niagara Power Co.         8,900 cu. ft. per sec.
+
+  Ontario Power Co.                 12,000  "   "    "   "
+
+  Toronto and Niagara Power Co.     11,200  "   "    "   "
+
+  Total                             32,100
+
+Adding to this total the charter limits of the two American companies
+now operating, the grand total is raised to 48,400 cubic feet per
+second. This of itself is a dry fact and does not form much of a
+percentage of the whole volume going over the Falls. Such a loss would
+not mean so much if it would manifest itself the same along the whole
+crest of the line of the cliff; but here must be taken into
+consideration the configuration of the bed of the river.
+
+The bed of Niagara is composed of rock which dips gradually and
+uniformly westward. The ledge is ten feet higher on the American side
+than on the Canadian. The water of the American fall is therefore ten
+feet shallower. The amount of water going over the Falls has been
+variously estimated, engineers differing in their conclusions as much as
+sixty thousand cubic feet per second. Averages based upon the estimates
+of United States engineers for forty years, of the amount of mean flow
+of water passing Buffalo from Lake Erie, shows 222,400 cubic feet per
+second. This of course does not make allowance for that taken by the
+Welland and the Erie canals. This is probably about equalised by the
+amount entering the lake and river between this city and the Falls, so
+that the figures forming the basis of most computations are 224,000
+cubic feet per second. The amount of power capable of development by the
+Falls is about 3,800,000 horse-power, which would be greatly increased
+by adding the fall from the beginning of the rapids to the crest of the
+cataract. Goat Island, situated just off the American shore, divides the
+waters very unevenly, sending more than three-fourths the volume toward
+the Canadian shore. Now, as has been seen, less than one-fourth the
+whole volume pours down the American channel; and as this is much
+shallower than the main body of water, it is here that any diminished
+flow will be first felt. At the head of the island the great body of
+the current turns toward the west, by far the larger amount converging
+into the funnel of the magnificent Horseshoe Falls. The American channel
+in contrast contains a very feeble flow, and therefore would be the
+first to exhibit any dearth of water.
+
+Calculations based upon the preceding figures, taking into consideration
+the length of the Falls, and the difference in elevation of the river's
+bed at the crest, show that when the flow has been reduced by 184,000
+cubic feet per second, or by 40,000 cubic feet, the water in the
+American channel will be brought down to the rock bottom of the shore's
+edge. Then, although the Horseshoe Falls will continue to be an object
+of admiration to the traveller, and although the current will continue
+to sweep through the American channel and over the American Falls, the
+beauty and grandeur of the latter will fade away. Let the amount of
+water abstracted from the river be doubled, and, though the Canadian
+Falls would still continue an object of admiration, the American channel
+would be entirely dry.
+
+Returning to the present and immediately contemplated draft upon the
+river's waters, we find that the two American and the three Canadian
+companies, when using their charter limits, will take 48,000 cubic feet
+per second. This will bring the level at the crest of the Falls down to
+the bottom of the river at the American shore. This, then, is the
+immediate prospect. Many things may intervene before this point is
+reached. We are not permitted to stop, however, with the consideration
+of these five companies alone. One of the last organisations chartered
+by the State of New York to obtain water from Niagara is the Niagara
+Lockport and Ontario Power Company. In 1894, this company obtained a
+franchise placing no restriction upon the amount of water to be used,
+and limited to ten years in which to begin work. In 1904, they came
+again to the Legislature, asking for an improved charter in several
+respects, especially a lengthening of time in which to begin operations.
+This company proposed to take water from near La Salle and not to return
+it to the river at all, but to take it overland by canal to Lockport and
+then empty it directly into Lake Ontario. The bill providing for this
+charter passed both houses, but it was vetoed by Governor Odell. The
+veto took place on May 15, 1904. The original charter was granted on May
+21, 1894. Six days of grace yet remained of the ten years allowed the
+company. There is said to be a slender, shallow ditch south of Lockport,
+which represents the work done in the six days left. It has been
+rumoured that the most of this company's stock has passed into the hands
+of a great corporation. Undoubtedly, under some form of reorganisation,
+there will, in the near future, be an attempt on the part of its members
+to gain a share of the great free power of Niagara. Under the old
+charter, which does not limit the amount of water to be consumed, it
+will probably not consume less than the other large companies, say
+10,000 cubic feet per second.
+
+But the only danger to the life of the Falls is not to be found alone in
+the Niagara power companies. Six hundred miles to the west is the
+Chicago Main Drainage Canal, which at first took from the Lakes about
+three thousand cubic feet per minute. Many propositions have been made
+to enlarge this canal. These are fraught with taxing engineering
+problems; but it is difficult to say just what the future has in store
+in this line. This, however, is not all; Canada, in the hope of gaining
+part of the commerce of the Great Lakes for the St. Lawrence, has
+proposed a canal by way of Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River, thus
+shortening the lake route by five hundred miles. To these may be added
+propositions for a deep-water connection between the Lakes and the
+Hudson, between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Superior, between Toronto and
+Lake Huron, the demands of Cincinnati and Pittsburg for canals,
+Wisconsin's desire for a canal connecting the Lakes through her
+territory with the Mississippi, the plan for a canal from Duluth to the
+Mississippi; and one may see with what danger this great natural wonder
+is threatened. Many of these proposed plans, doubtless, will never be
+realised; some on account of engineering difficulties, others on account
+of the failure of their projectors to count upon the true relation
+between cost of construction and what would likely be the revenue
+obtained. All these subjects, however, must be given due consideration
+by one who desires to know what is considered to be the immediate danger
+to the Falls, or that which may effect them at no very distant future
+date.
+
+On January 18, 1907, Secretary of War Taft rendered a decision under the
+Burton Act for the preservation of Niagara Falls on the applications of
+American companies for the use of water and of Canadian companies
+wishing to send electric power into the United States, and at the same
+time announced the appointment of a commission to beautify the vicinity
+of the Falls. The amount of water allowed to companies in New York is
+practically that now used, and substantially as limited by the Act of
+Congress as a maximum. The Secretary found no evidence that the flow
+over the American Falls has been injuriously affected in recent years.
+The claims of the Canadian companies, acting in conjunction with
+electric companies on this side of the river, had to be materially cut
+down to come within the law limiting the total current to 160,000
+horse-power. The allotments in electric horse-power to be transmitted to
+the United States are as follows:
+
+The International Railway Company, 1500. (8000 asked).
+
+The Ontario Power Company, 60,000 (90,000 asked).
+
+The Canadian Niagara Falls Power Company, 52,500 (121,500 asked).
+
+The Electrical Development Company, 46,000 (62,000 asked).
+
+All these permits are revocable at pleasure, and, in the absence of
+further legislation in Congress, will expire on June 29, 1909.
+
+In the course of his decision, after discussing the intent of the law,
+Mr. Taft says:
+
+    Acting upon the same evidence which Congress had, and upon the
+    additional statement made to me at the hearing by Dr. John M.
+    Clark, state geologist of New York, who seems to have been one
+    of those engaged from the beginning in the whole movement for
+    the preservation of Niagara Falls, and who has given close
+    scientific attention to the matter, I have reached the
+    conclusion that with the diversion of 15,600 cubic feet on the
+    American side and the transmission of 160,000 horse-power from
+    the Canadian side the scenic grandeur of the Falls will not be
+    affected substantially or perceptibly to the eye.
+
+    With respect to the American Falls, this is an increase of only
+    2500 cubic feet a second over what is now being diverted and has
+    been diverted for many years, and has not affected the Falls as
+    a scenic wonder.
+
+    With respect to the Canadian side, the water is drawn from the
+    river in such a way as not to affect the American Falls at all,
+    because the point from which it is drawn is considerably below
+    the level of the water at the point where the waters separate
+    above Goat Island, and the Waterways Commission and Dr. Clark
+    agree that the taking of 13,000 cubic feet from the Canadian
+    side will not in any way affect or reduce the water going over
+    the American Falls. The water going over the Falls on the
+    Canadian side of Goat Island is about five times the volume of
+    that which goes over the American Falls, or, counting the total
+    as 220,000 cubic feet a second, the volume of the Horseshoe
+    Falls would be about 180,000 cubic feet. If the amount withdrawn
+    on the Canadian side for Canadian use were 5000 cubic feet a
+    second, which it is not likely to be during the three years'
+    life of these permits, the total to be withdrawn would not
+    exceed ten per cent. of the volume of the stream, and,
+    considering the immense quantity which goes over the Horseshoe
+    Falls, the diminution would not be perceptible to the eye.
+
+    Taking up first the application for permits for diversion on the
+    American side, there is not room for discussion or difference.
+    The Niagara Falls Power Company is now using about 8600 cubic
+    feet of water a second and producing about 76,630 horse-power.
+    There is some question as to the necessity of using some water
+    for sluicing. This must be obtained from the 8600 cubic feet
+    permitted, and the use of the water for other purposes when
+    sluicing is being done must be diminished. The Niagara Falls
+    Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company is now using 4000
+    cubic feet a second and has had under construction for a period
+    long antedating the Burton Act a plant arranged to divert 2500
+    cubic feet a second and furnish 36,000 horse-power to the
+    Pittsburg Reduction and Mining Company. A permit will therefore
+    issue to the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing
+    Company for the diversion of 6500 cubic feet a second, and the
+    same rule must obtain as to sluicing, as already stated.
+
+    [Illustration: The Riverside at Willow Island.]
+
+    As the object of the act is to preserve the scenic beauty of
+    Niagara Falls, I conceive it to be within my power to impose
+    conditions upon the granting of these permits, compliance with
+    which will remedy the unsightly appearance that is given the
+    American side of the canyon just below the falls on the American
+    side, where the tunnel of the Niagara Falls Power Company
+    discharges and where the works of the hydraulic company are
+    placed.
+
+    The representative of the American Civic Association has
+    properly described the effect upon the sightseer of the view
+    toward the side of the canyon to be that of looking into the
+    back yard of a house negligently kept. For the purpose of aiding
+    me in determining what ought to be done to remove this eyesore,
+    including the appearance of the buildings at the top, I shall
+    appoint a committee consisting of Charles F. McKim, Frank D.
+    Millet, and F. L. Olmsted to advise me what changes, at an
+    expense not out of proportion to the extent of the investment,
+    can be made which will put the side of the canyon at this point
+    from bottom to top in natural harmony with the Falls and the
+    other surroundings, and will conceal, as far as possible, the
+    raw commercial aspect that now offends the eye. This
+    consideration has been in view in the construction of works on
+    the Canadian side and in the buildings of the Niagara Falls
+    Power Company, above the Falls. There is no reason why similar
+    care should not be enforced here.
+
+    Water is being withdrawn from the Erie Canal at the lake level
+    for water-power purposes, and applications have been made for
+    permits authorising this. Not more than four hundred cubic feet
+    are thus used in the original draft of water that is not
+    returned to the canal in such a way as not to lower the level of
+    the lake. The water is used over and over again. It seems to me
+    that the permit might very well be granted to the first user. As
+    the water is taken from the canal, which is state property, and
+    the interest and jurisdiction of the federal government grow out
+    of the direct effect upon the level of the lake, the permit
+    should recite that this does not confer any right upon a
+    consumer of the water to take the water from the canal without
+    authority and subject to the conditions imposed by the canal
+    authorities, but that it is intended to operate and its
+    operation is limited to confer, so far as the federal government
+    is concerned and the Secretary of War is authorised, the right
+    to take the water and to claim immunity from any prosecution or
+    legal objection under the fifth section of the Burton Act.
+
+When Sir Hiram S. Maxim, the distinguished inventor and scientist, made
+his recent announcement to Peter Cooper Hewitt that the next great
+achievement of science would be the harnessing of the whole energy of
+Niagara and the sending of a message to Mars, he hit the nail, in the
+opinion of Nikola Tesla, squarely on the head.
+
+Mr. Tesla announces that with the co-operation of power-producing
+companies at Niagara Falls he is preparing to hail Mars with Niagara's
+voice. A way has been found at last for transmitting a wireless message
+across the gulf, varying from 40,000,000 to 100,000,000 miles, which
+separates this earth from Mars. Once that has been accomplished and
+Mars, which is considerably older and supposedly more advanced in
+science than we, has acknowledged the receipt of our signal and sent
+back flash for flash, it will remain to devise an interplanetary code
+through the medium of which the scientists of this world and of Mars
+will be able to understand what each is saying to the other.
+
+Mr. Tesla has been quietly working for several years on a wireless power
+plant capable of transmitting 10,000 horse-power to any part of the
+world, or to any of our neighbouring planets, for that matter. The mere
+matter of distance between despatching and receiving points is
+absolutely no object whatever. Wireless power, Mr. Tesla says may be
+sent one million or more miles just as easily as one mile.
+
+Several of the electric power companies with immense generating plants
+at Niagara Falls, it is reported, have agreed to co-operate with Mr.
+Tesla in an effort to reach Mars by wireless.
+
+The development of the hydraulic power of Niagara on the Canadian side
+is leading to some interesting sequences.
+
+    A tribunal called the hydro-electric power commission has been
+    created [says a writer in a recent issue of _Cassier's
+    Magazine_], and in the hands of this body has been placed the
+    entire domestic regulation of the power product of stations
+    coming within government control.
+
+    In addition there has been given to the various municipalities
+    the right to undertake the distribution of electrical energy
+    within their respective limits.
+
+    In order that the commission may be in a position to dictate
+    terms to the existing private companies it is important that the
+    co-operation of the municipalities be obtained, and this appears
+    to be partially accomplished.
+
+    The city of Toronto has already arranged for 15,000 horse-power
+    of electric energy from Niagara, the price being $14 to $16 per
+    horse-power for a supply for a 24-hour day, including
+    transmission to Toronto, the local distribution to be in the
+    hands of the municipality, and it is believed that a number of
+    other cities and towns will make similar arrangements.
+
+    These arrangements are made with the hydro-electric power
+    commission, and it in turn must either secure the power supply
+    from the existing private companies or else proceed to develop
+    its own stations.
+
+    It is hardly probable that the latter alternative will be found
+    necessary, since the result would be to leave the private
+    corporations with the greater part of their prospective custom
+    permanently taken away, so that the real consequence of the
+    recent legislation is to compel the companies to supply the
+    municipalities through the commission at prices determined by
+    the engineers of the new body.
+
+    It is possible that such measures will prove advantageous to the
+    public, but much will depend upon the manner in which the law is
+    carried out. It has been intimated that this legislation will
+    render it exceedingly difficult for promoters to induce outside
+    capital to engage in the development of natural resources in
+    Canada hereafter.
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter VI
+
+  A Century of Niagara Cranks
+
+
+The swirling waters of Niagara have ever been a challenge to a vast army
+of adventurers who found in their own daring heedlessness a means here
+of gaining money and a mushroom glory. Of all these "Niagara Cranks," as
+they are known locally, the tight-rope walkers undoubtedly have the
+strongest claim to our admiration for the utter daring of their feats,
+however mercenary may have been the motives. "Tut, tut! my friends,"
+would reply one of these brave, popular heroes if you had mentioned
+fear, "'tis nothing at all"; then, confidentially, he would have
+whispered in your ear: "You can't help getting across. You get out to
+the middle of the rope, and there you are. If you turn back you lose
+your money, and if you go on you get it. That's all."
+
+It was the great Blondin who stands king of the tight-rope walkers of
+Niagara, leaving behind him a reputation as the greatest tight-rope
+walker of the century.
+
+Charles Emile Gravelet was born at Hesdin, near Calais, on the
+twenty-eighth of February, 1824, and died in Ealing, near London,
+February 22, 1897. His father, whose nickname, "Blondin," from the
+colour of his hair, descended to his son, was a soldier of the First
+Empire who had seen service under Napoleon at Austerlitz, Wagram, and
+Moscow, but died when his son was in his ninth year. The pluck and
+strength that young Blondin had was displayed as early as his fourth
+year; when only a few years older he was trained by the principal of
+_l'École de Gymnase_ at Lyons in many gymnastic feats, and after six
+months there, was brought out as "The Little Wonder." He excelled
+especially at tight-rope dancing, jumping, and somersault-throwing. One
+of his notable jumps was over a double rank of soldiers with bayonets
+fixed. The agent of an American Company--the Ravels--aware of his
+success in the French provinces finally gave him a two years' engagement
+for the United States, which afterwards was extended to eight years. He
+came to America in 1855; and it was not long after, when looking across
+the Niagara Falls, that he remarked to Mr. Ravel:
+
+"What a splendid place for a tight-rope performance."
+
+[Illustration: Goat Island Bridge. Showing Niagara's Famous Cataract and
+International Hotels.]
+
+The idea was impressive and as a result, after laborious preparations,
+Blondin was ready to cross a wire, June 30, 1859. Despite the unanimous
+howl of derision at the idea, people could not resist the temptation to
+see the rash performer throw his life away; and the crowd that gathered
+was the largest ever seen at the Falls. It is interesting, from more
+than one standpoint, to quote the New York _Herald_ of July 1, 1859, on
+the exploit:
+
+    Monsieur Blondin has just successfully accomplished the feat of
+    walking across the Niagara on a tight-rope, in the presence of a
+    crowd variously estimated at from five thousand to ten thousand
+    persons. He first crossed from the American side, stopping
+    midway to refresh himself with water raised in a bottle with a
+    rope from the deck of the steamer _Maid of the Mist_. The time
+    occupied in the first crossing was seventeen minutes and a half.
+    The return from the British to the American side was
+    accomplished in twelve minutes.
+
+According to other sources, the crowd was estimated at fifty thousand.
+Blondin did considerably more than merely pass over, for he carried a
+pole weighing forty pounds, and did some extraordinary feats of
+balancing and came ashore amid the huzzas of the crowd, with the whole
+country ringing with the news of the daring exploit.
+
+Some little difficulty was always encountered by tight-rope walkers from
+proprietors of the river banks where the rope was to be attached on
+their theory that nothing could be allowed to occur at Niagara of a
+money-making nature unless they were a party to the plunder. One Hamblin
+stood surety for the payment for Blondin's rope, which was over fifteen
+hundred feet long and cost thirteen hundred dollars.
+
+A few months later Blondin carried his manager, Harry Colcourt or
+Colcord, across on his back. It is said (and also has been denied) that
+on this occasion Blondin had a quarrel with Colcord. The latter had
+previously been trained to balance himself in order that he might be let
+down on the rope in the middle of the river, to permit Blondin to take
+breath. The wind was strong, and the manager showed visible signs of
+nervousness, while the rope swayed in a sickly manner. Then, according
+to the story, Blondin threatened to leave his manager on the rope at the
+mercy of the waters underneath, unless he kept himself under control.
+Needless to say, the threat was successful, and the trip across was
+safely made. For this special feat Blondin received a gold medal from
+the inhabitants of the village, as a tribute of admiration, with the
+following inscription:
+
+    Presented to Mons. T. F. Blondin by the citizens of Niagara
+    Falls in appreciation of a feat never before attempted by man,
+    but by him successfully performed on the 19th of August, 1859,
+    that of carrying a man upon his back over the Falls of Niagara
+    on a tight-rope.
+
+Of the ordinary run of mortals few would care to attempt Blondin's feat,
+but it is not impossible that many an actor envied the daring athlete's
+position of utter mastery over his manager.
+
+A few days later the fearless Blondin again crossed the river chained
+hand and foot. On his return he carried a cooking stove and made an
+omelet which he lowered to the passengers on the deck of the _Maid of
+the Mist_ below. At another time he crossed with a bushel basket on each
+foot, and once carried a woman on his back. On September 8, 1860,
+Blondin performed before the Prince of Wales, now Edward VII., the rope
+being stretched 230 feet above the rapids, between two of the steepest
+cliffs on the river. The cool actor turned somersaults before His Royal
+Highness, and successfully managed to cross on a pair of stilts. The
+Prince watched every movement through a telescope and was highly
+interested, but it is reported that he exclaimed, when Blondin safely
+reached the end of the rope, "Thank God, he is over!" and hurried him a
+check for the perilous feat.
+
+Apparently Blondin did not know what nervousness meant; his secret has
+been described as confidence in himself, obtained by long practice in
+rope-walking. There is no doubt some of the victims he has carried
+across his rope have suffered; it is said that Blondin would talk to his
+companions on the most indifferent subjects; he would urge them to sit
+perfectly still, avoid catching him around the neck or looking downward.
+What he considered as one of his greatest feats was in walking on a rope
+from the mainmast to the mizzen on board the Peninsular and Oriental
+steamer _Poonah_, while on her way to Australia, between Aden and Galle,
+in 1874. He had to sit down five times while heavy waves were
+approaching the ship. Blondin's last performance was in Agricultural
+Hall, London, on Christmas, 1894, where he appeared as active and nimble
+as ever. The fact is certainly wonderful that for nearly seventy years
+he walked the tight-rope without accident.
+
+Mr. W. D. Howells was an eye-witness to three crossings of Blondin's in
+1860, which he has graphically described:
+
+    The man himself looked cool and fresh enough but I, who was not
+    used to such violent fatigues as he must have undergone in these
+    three transits, was bathed in a cold perspiration, and so weak
+    and worn with making them in sympathy that I could scarcely walk
+    away.
+
+    Long afterwards I was telling about this experience of mine--it
+    was really more mine than Blondin's--in the neat shop of a
+    Venetian pharmacist, to a select circle of the physicians who
+    wait in such places in Venice for the call of their patients.
+    One of these civilised men, asked: "Where was the government?"
+    And I answered in my barbarous pride of our individualism: "The
+    government had nothing to do with it. In America the government
+    has nothing to do with such things." But now I think that this
+    Venetian was right, and that such a show as I have tried to
+    describe ought no more to have been permitted than the fight of
+    a man with a wild beast. It was an offence to morality, and it
+    thinned the frail barrier which the aspiration of centuries has
+    slowly erected between humanity and savagery.
+
+Enough savage criticism met Blondin in England; his rope-walking in
+Crystal Palace, Sydenham, upon a rope 240 feet long and at a height of
+170 feet, in imitation of the Niagara feat, was considered a sickening
+spectacle. Said _Once a Week_:
+
+    We wish Mr. Blondin no sort of harm, but if his audiences were
+    to dwindle down to nothing, so as to cause him to retire upon
+    his savings, we should congratulate him upon having escaped a
+    great danger, and the country upon getting rid of a disgrace to
+    the intelligence of the age.
+
+Blondin ended his career as an English country gentleman at Niagara
+House, South Haling. He was wont to display a profusion of diamond rings
+and studs, all gifts of admirers, and the cherished gold medal from the
+citizens of Niagara Falls; he, too, was the proud possessor of one of
+the two gold medals struck in commemoration of the Crystal Palace in
+1854, Queen Victoria having the other. He had also the cross from
+ex-Queen Isabel of Spain, entitling him to the title of Chevalier. The
+athlete's baggage, when on a tour, consisted of a main rope of eight
+hundred feet, six and a half inches in circumference, and weighing eight
+hundredweight; twenty-eight straining ropes, eighty tying-bars, the
+average weight, not including poles, being five and a half tons. The
+freight of his outfit, including a huge travelling-tent, which could
+encompass fourteen thousand people, amounted to five thousand dollars
+between Southampton and Melbourne. About three days were consumed in
+making his preparations by the aid of a dozen assistants. The due
+adjustment of the rope was his principal care, and he superintended
+every detail.
+
+Like many a Frenchman, Blondin never mastered the intricacies of the
+English language. In a rather queer and rambling fragment of
+autobiography written some years ago, he tells us that the rope he
+generally used was formed with a flexible core of steel-wire covered
+with the best manila-hemp, about an inch or three quarters in diameter,
+several hundred yards in length, and costing about fifteen hundred
+dollars. A large windlass at either end of the rope served to make it
+taut, while it was supported by two high poles. His balancing poles of
+ash wood varied in length and were of three sections, and weighed from
+thirty-seven to forty-seven pounds. He was indifferent as to the height
+at which he was to perform. Blondin has never confessed to any
+nervousness on the rope, and, while walking, he generally looked
+eighteen or twenty feet ahead, and whistled or hummed some snatch of a
+song. The time kept by a band frequently aided him in preserving his
+balance. He was something of both carpenter and blacksmith, and was able
+to make his own models and fit up his own apparatus.
+
+While Blondin yet performed at the Falls there appeared Signor Farini in
+1860, and stretched a cable across the Gorge near the hydraulic canal
+basin. On August 8, 1864, Farini reappeared walking about the Rapids
+above the American fall on stilts. He was certainly an expert on the
+rope and commanded much attention, but he was not able to snatch the
+laurel from the Frenchman's brow--he has been forgotten, while Blondin's
+fame has lived. We must, however, chronicle a thrilling incident
+attached to his performance in 1864. Between Robinson's Island and the
+precipice Farini was suddenly delayed. He claimed his stilts caught in a
+crevice. His brother succeeded in reaching a log between the old
+paper-mill and Robinson's Island, from which he threw a line, with a
+weight attached, to the adventurer, and by this line a pail of
+provisions was sent to Farini. A larger line was thrown and both reached
+shore by way of Goat Island.
+
+[Illustration: The Path to the Cave of the Winds.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+There has hardly been a year in which some tight-rope exhibition has not
+taken place at Niagara Falls.
+
+Harry Leslie crossed the Gorge on a rope-cable in July and August, 1865.
+He achieved the title of "The American Blondin."
+
+In 1873, when Signor Balleni (Ballini?) stretched a cable from a point
+opposite the old Clifton House to Prospect Park, he leaped three times
+into the river as an extra inducement, aided in his descent by a rubber
+cord. In 1886 he reappeared, climbed to the iron railing on the upper
+suspension bridge, knocked the ice from under his feet to secure a
+footing, and at the signal of a pistol shot jumped into the air. He
+struck the water in four seconds, broke a rib, lost his senses, and came
+to the surface some sixty feet from where he entered. This was the same
+man who jumped from Hungerford Bridge, London, in 1888, and was drowned.
+In July, 1876, Signorina Maria Spelterini crossed the Gorge on a
+tight-rope with baskets on her feet. The performance brought out a
+tremendous crowd, probably because she was the first woman daring to try
+conclusions with Blondin and his many imitators. She got across safely
+with her baskets and her name. She won great favour and forever
+established the fact that a woman is as level-headed as a man. In the
+seventies of the last century, a young fellow, Stephen Peere, a painter
+by trade, stretched a cable across the Falls. In 1878 he gave variety to
+his career by jumping from one of the bridges, and in 1887 he finished
+it by jumping to his death. He had previously, on June 22, 1887, walked
+across the Gorge on a wire cable six-eighths of an inch in diameter.
+This was a wonderful performance, considering the fact that all the
+others had used a rope two inches in diameter. Only three days later he
+was found dead on a bank beneath his rope, stretched between the old
+suspension and the cantilever bridges. It is supposed he attempted to
+practise in night time, but as nobody saw him he met his fate; this is
+only supposition. A man, "Professor" De Leon, aspiring to become Peere's
+successor, started out on August 15, 1887, to cross the latter's cable.
+After going a short distance he became frightened, slid down a rope, and
+disappeared in the bushes. He was later seen ascending the bank by a
+ladder, and thus came back to the bosom of his family. MacDonald made
+several very creditable attempts, and proved himself an excellent
+walker. He also went across with baskets on his feet, and frightened the
+gaping crowd by hanging with his legs from the wire, head downwards.
+
+Another freak, I. F. Jenkins, stretched his cable across the Gorge over
+the Rapids. With a keen eye for effect and sensation he selected as one
+of his principal feats, crossing by velocipede. The machine, however,
+was specially constructed for this purpose; it was a turned-down
+contrivance, only resembling a bicycle, and had an ingeniously devised
+balancing apparatus in lieu of a pole attached by a metal framework to
+the wheels. Thus this _pièce de résistance_ was not so remarkable after
+all. Samuel John Dixon, a Toronto photographer, was on his way to a
+Photographers' Annual Convention when he observed Peere's cable still
+stretched across the Rapids of Niagara. He remarked that he too could
+cross on it, but the remark was not taken seriously; to prove that he
+was in earnest, Dixon, on his return, actually made the dangerous trip
+on the three-quarter inch cable, measuring 923 feet in length. One of
+this amateur's crack feats was laying down with his back on the wire. He
+has made several other passages since,--the first occurring on September
+6, 1890--always with great _éclat_. Dixon has always been vigorously
+applauded. James E. Hardy has also successful crossings at the Gorge to
+his credit. He also holds the "record" of being the youngest man that
+ever performed the feat. Another Toronto man, Clifford M. Calverley, has
+been styled "The World's Champion," and "The American Blondin," but
+although very clever, many of his feats are just those which made the
+Frenchman famous over forty years ago. His wheelbarrow feat is certainly
+middle-aged although it still remains as difficult to perform as it was
+in Blondin's days. People never tire of it and Calverley was, indeed, a
+remarkable gymnast. He erected a wire cable at about the same point
+between the bridges at which Peere and Dixon had crossed, and gave
+public exhibitions on October 12, 1892, and July 1, 1893. He performed
+numerous stunning feats as high-kicking, walking with baskets on his
+feet, cooking meals on the rope, and chair-balancing; he also gave night
+exhibitions, which was original.
+
+One man at least took the tight-rope route across Niagara who had not
+practised the feat. This was a criminal who escaped his captors near
+this locality in 1883; the sheriff was behind him, the river in front,
+and only the wires of the old bridge at Lewiston to help him across.
+Hand over hand he began the passage. His hands quickly blistered, and
+then they bled. Again and again he rested his arms by hanging by his
+legs, and at last reached the opposite bank where he lay panting fully
+an hour before he continued his flight.
+
+We have seen that all the tight-rope walkers at Niagara met with
+extraordinary luck while crossing the Gorge; in fact, we have no record
+that anybody ever lost his life while performing on the wire. Peere met
+with an accident, and was killed in night-time; it is said he was
+intoxicated and tried to cross with his boots on. Ballini met his death
+in the Thames River. Many lives, however, have been lost in attempting
+to brave the waters of the canyon at Niagara.
+
+Attracted by the sensational setting adrift of the condemned brig
+_Michigan_ over the Falls in 1829, Sam Patch, a man who had won fame at
+Pawtucket Falls and other Eastern points as a high-jumper, erected a
+ladder on the foot-path under Goat Island, and announced to the world
+that he would jump into Niagara River. The hotel keepers patted him on
+the back, and left no stone unturned to enable him to draw the biggest
+crowd of the season. Patch rested the bottom of his ladder on the edge,
+just north of the Biddle Stairs, with the top inclining over the river,
+staying it with ropes to the trees on the bank. At the top was a small
+platform, and from this Patch dived ninety-seven feet; he jumped a
+second time to prove that the first feat was not a fluke. Shortly
+afterwards he leaped to his death from the Genesee Fall in Rochester, N.
+Y.
+
+Captain Matthew Webb, of Niagara fame, was born in Shropshire, England,
+in 1840. He went to sea at an early age and became captain of a
+merchantman, and first attracted notice by jumping from a Cunard steamer
+to save a man who had fallen overboard, for which he was awarded a gold
+medal by the Royal Humane Society. In 1875 he accomplished the feat of
+swimming the English Channel from Dover to Calais, a distance of
+twenty-five miles.
+
+The disastrous attempt to swim the rapids at Niagara took place on July
+2, 1883. Webb wore no life preserver and scorned a barrel, depending
+solely on his own strength to put him through. Leaving his hotel, the
+old Clifton House, since destroyed by fire, at 4 P.M., before an immense
+crowd on the cliffs and bridges (for the event had been well heralded),
+he entered a small boat with Jack McCloy at the oars, and was carried to
+a point on the lower river several hundred feet above the lower bridges.
+It was 4.25 when, clad in a pair of red trunks, he leaped from the boat
+into the water, and boldly swam towards the Rapids. It was 4.32 when he
+passed under the bridges. He then stroked out gracefully and
+beautifully. In three minutes more he had reached the fiercest part of
+the Rapids when a great wave struck him--and he disappeared from the
+sight of the thousands of eyes that watched the boiling waters, praying
+that his life might be spared. He came once again into view but then
+disappeared forever in the raging waters.
+
+The _Saturday Review_ of July 28, 1883,[15] voiced the British feeling
+when it said:
+
+    It was unquestionably very appropriate that Mr. Webb should have
+    met his death in America, and in sight of the United States.
+    That country has a passion for big shows, and has now been
+    indulged in the biggest thing of its kind which has been seen in
+    this generation. Nothing was to be gained by success--if success
+    had been possible--beyond a temporary notoriety and the applause
+    of a mob. . . .
+
+    As long as there is a popular demand for these essentially
+    barbarous amusements, men and women will be found who are
+    desperate, or greedy, or vain enough to risk their lives and
+    ruin their health for money or applause. . . . The death of Mr.
+    Webb is shocking in the last degree; but it will not be wholly
+    useless if it at least awakens the sight-seeing world to some
+    sense of what it is they have been encouraging.
+
+It is interesting to compare this just criticism with that passed on
+Blondin's exhibition at Crystal Palace previously quoted.
+
+When Webb swam across the channel, the feat was a remarkable instance of
+strength and endurance. It showed that a powerful man who was a good
+swimmer could continue to make progress through the water on a very fine
+day for over twenty hours. Indeed, shipwrecked sailors have done nearly
+as much under far less favorable circumstances; but as far as it went,
+Webb's was a very creditable performance. But in the Channel many
+vessels were following him and would have picked him up the moment he
+became exhausted. Yet it was nowise to his credit to throw his life away
+at Niagara, and render his children orphans, for the ignoble object of
+pleasing a mob.
+
+It was not long before another swimmer appeared who wore a harness over
+his shoulders to which was attached a wire running loosely over a
+cylinder on the bridge, which kept his feet straight towards Davy
+Jones's locker; he survived the leap to his considerable personal
+profit. From bridge to water he went in four seconds--the only time on
+record. Another foolhardy feat was performed by some of the reckless men
+who decorate almost inaccessible landscapes with possibly truthful but
+most annoying, puffs of ague-pills, liver-pads, tooth-powder, and such.
+A log once lodged forty rods above Goat Island, where for four years it
+lay seemingly beyond human reach. It touched the pride of certain
+shameless and professional advertisers, who were famous for their
+ingenious vandalism, that such a chance should be wasted. So, when the
+Rapids were thinly frozen over, they made their cautious way to the log,
+and soon there was a gorgeous sign fixed, twelve feet by four, on the
+very fore-front of one of the world's grandest spots, to-wit:
+
+  Go East via Lake Winipiseogee R. R.
+
+[Illustration: American Falls from Goat Island.]
+
+Nothing daunted by the sad fate of Captain Webb, a burly Boston
+policeman, W. I. Kendall, went through the Rapids on August 22, 1886,
+protected by only a cork life-preserver. All previous trips had been
+publicly announced, but Kendall slipped through with only a few
+spectators, accidentally on the cliffs or bridges, to bear witness. For
+this reason some have felt that the trip was never made, but men of
+integrity are known who witnessed the performance. On Sunday, August 14,
+1887, "Professor" Alphonse King crossed the river below the Falls and
+bridge on a water bicycle. The wheel with paddles was erected between
+two water-tight cylinders, eight inches in diameter and ten feet long.
+
+"Steve" Brodie, who had achieved great notoriety by jumping from
+Brooklyn Bridge, created a greater sensation by going over the Falls.
+This occurred on September 7, 1889. Brodie wore an india-rubber suit,
+surrounded by thick steel bands. The suit was very thickly padded, yet
+Brodie was brought ashore bruised and insensible. His victories won, he
+became the proprietor of a Bowery bar-room, and the pride of the
+neighbourhood.
+
+The cranks that were trying to get through the Whirlpool did not arrive
+at Niagara until about 1886, but from that on we find an _embarras de
+richesse_ of them for a decade or so until the peculiar mania for
+notoriety died out.
+
+The fate that befell Webb could not discourage others to venture the
+perilous trip, and, probably, the pioneer of them was C. D. Graham, an
+English cooper of Philadelphia, who conceived the idea that, though no
+regular boat could live in the rush of the waters below the Falls of
+Niagara, it would perhaps be possible for a novel kind of boat, a cask
+shaped like a buoy, with a man in it, to get down to Lewiston in safety.
+He therefore made a series of such casks at an expenditure of a great
+deal of time and labour; and, at last finding a shape to his mind,
+filled two or three in succession with bags of sand equal to his own
+weight, and set them afloat at Niagara. They arrived safely in smooth
+water, threading the Rapids and the Whirlpool after a journey of some
+five miles; the inventor thereupon resolved to keep one side uppermost,
+in which was left an air-hole, and fastened in the cask a long canvas
+bag, made like a suit of clothes, and waterproof. Getting into this bag
+on July 11, 1886, he grasped two iron handles fixed to the staves on the
+inner side of the cask; a movable cover being fastened on, the odd craft
+was shoved into the rushing waters. The cask, of course, turned over and
+over; and though water got into the air-hole, it did not get into the
+canvas bag; the surging waters handled the cask so roughly that Graham
+straightway fell sick, but clung to his iron staples, and in a space of
+time exceeding thirty minutes--accounts differ here--reached smooth
+water at Lewiston, five miles away, and was safely taken out, able to
+boast that he had performed a feat hitherto deemed impossible.
+
+His record trip in a cask was made on August 19, 1886. On this occasion
+he announced that he would make the trip with his head protruding from
+the top of the barrel. This was actually done; he went as far as the
+Whirlpool, but it left him very little hearing, for a big wave gave him
+a furious slap on the side of the head. Graham made other trips in 1887
+and 1889, and his last, probably, in 1901. This nearly ended his life,
+as he was caught in an eddy where he was held for over twenty minutes;
+when he finally reached the Whirlpool and was taken out he was nearly
+suffocated.
+
+Graham's performances, possibly, were also of some practical value. It
+was proven to the observant that a particular shape of cask might, under
+certain conditions, be used to draw feeble or sickly passengers from a
+wrecked ship in bad weather, for a woman or a child could have lived in
+Graham's machine as well as the cooper himself; however, the
+circumstances are few under which it would be useful, and Graham, by
+his own account, had no idea of applying his contrivance in any such
+way.
+
+It is a question whether the barrel-cranks made any money by their
+foolhardy feats. That nothing interests callous men like the risk of a
+human life is undoubtedly true and has been proved by the whole history
+of amusement. The interest must depend on sight. Nobody would pay merely
+to know that at a specified hour Blondin was risking his life a hundred
+miles off. The man in the cask would not be seen, and to see a closed
+cask go bobbing about down five miles of rapids would not be an exciting
+amusement, more especially as, after two or three successful trials, the
+notion of any imminency or inevitableness of actual danger would
+disappear from the spectator's mind. Captain Webb, of course, expected
+his speculation to pay him; but then, it was in a somewhat different
+way. He did not expect any money from those who gazed from the shore,
+but believed,--as did also the speculators who paid him--that if he swam
+Niagara, he would revive the waning interest in his really splendid
+feats of customary swimming.
+
+Copying somewhat the idea that Graham had developed so successfully,
+George Hazlett and William Potts, also coopers of Buffalo, made a trip
+through the Rapids in a barrel of their own construction on August 8,
+1886. The barrel they used more closely resembled the familiar type of
+barrel, having no unusual features of form. In this same barrel used by
+the two coopers, Miss Sadie Allen and George Hazlett made a trip through
+the Niagara Gorge on November 28, 1886. There was then, I believe, a
+cessation of the barrel-fiends, who, nevertheless, re-appeared in the
+twentieth century.
+
+At the end of the summer of 1901, Martha E. Wagenfuhrer, the wife of a
+professional wrestler, announced that she would go through the river in
+a barrel, the date of September 6th being selected, possibly because the
+woman believed that she might have a President of the United States in
+her audience, for on that day President McKinley visited Niagara. Quite
+a crowd collected, for she was the first woman to try the feat alone.
+She was rescued after being in the water over an hour.
+
+    It was nearly six o'clock in the afternoon [to quote the New
+    York _Times_ of September 7, 1901,] when the barrel containing
+    Martha E. Wagenfuhrer was set adrift on the lower Niagara River,
+    to be carried by the currents into the rapids and vortex of the
+    Whirlpool. The trip through the rapids was quickly made, but the
+    rescue from the Whirlpool was delayed. Night fell before the
+    barrel was recovered, and the woman's friends had availed
+    themselves of the help of a powerful searchlight to illuminate
+    the rushing tossing waters of the pool. She started at 5.56
+    o'clock, and it was 7 o'clock when the barrel was landed. The
+    head of the cask had to be broken in in order to get the woman
+    out. She was in a semi-conscious condition. Before entering the
+    barrel she had indulged freely in liquor, but when she got out
+    her first call was for water.
+
+Female barrel-fiends now followed in rapid succession. Maud Willard of
+Canton, Ohio, lost her life on the 7th of September, 1901, in navigating
+the Whirlpool Rapids in Graham's barrel. Graham, as we have seen, had
+made five successful trips, and Miss Willard desired to attain fame by
+doing the same. She and Graham were good friends, and to please her he
+was to swim from the Whirlpool to Lewiston following her trip through
+the Rapids. The barrel was taken to the river in the morning. It was an
+enormous affair, made of oak, and at 4 o'clock Miss Willard got into it,
+accompanied by her pet dog. The cover was put over the manhole, and she
+was taken out into the stream in tow of a small boat, and left to the
+mercy of the currents.
+
+Miss Willard passed safely through the Rapids, but the mighty maelstrom
+then held her far out from shore, where her friends and would-be
+rescuers could not reach her. From 4.40 o'clock until after 10 o'clock
+at night she was whirled about in the peculiar formation of the Niagara
+here. Messengers were sent to Niagara Falls to have the searchlight car
+of the electric line sent down the Gorge; huge bonfires were built to
+warm the spectators, and likewise to illuminate the river. Soon a beam
+of white light shot across the waters from the American to the Canadian
+side; now and then the tossing barrel could be seen tumbling and
+bobbing, and rolling in the currents. The latter were then suddenly
+changing--first a piece of wood came in drifting toward shore--within a
+short time the barrel hove in sight within the light of the beacons, and
+men swam out to catch it.
+
+When the manhole cover was removed, Miss Willard was limp and lifeless.
+Death probably came gradually, and possibly without much suffering. The
+little dog came out alive, and none the worse for the perilous trip.
+
+While she was tossing in the Whirlpool, Graham made his trip to
+Lewiston, the only person who ever swam from the pool to Lewiston. When
+he returned up the Gorge he found the barrel and Miss Willard still in
+the terrible pool.
+
+A widow, Mrs. Anna Edson Taylor, safely passed over Niagara Falls in a
+barrel on Friday, October 24, 1901, the trip from end to end being
+witnessed by several thousand people. The fact that Mrs. Taylor failed
+to appear, as advertised, on the Sunday before, and again on Wednesday,
+did not lessen the confidence of the public. It was beyond belief that
+she would live to tell the story, but she came out alive and well so
+soon as she recovered from the shock.
+
+This initial voyage over Niagara's cataract began at Port Day, nearly a
+mile from the brink of the Falls. At this point the daring woman and her
+barrel were taken out to Grass Island, where she entered; at 3.50 she
+was in tow of a boat speeding well out into the Canadian current. Soon
+after the barrel was cast adrift on the current that never before was
+known to spare a human life once fallen in its grasp. From the spot
+where the rowboat left the barrel the current runs frightfully swift,
+soon boiling on the teeth of the upper rifts; the barrel was weighted
+with a two hundred pound anvil, and it floated nicely in the water, Mrs.
+Taylor apparently retaining an upright position for the greater part of
+the trip down the river and through the rapids. Fortunately the cask
+kept well within the deep water, and except for passing out of sight
+several times, in the white-crested waves, it was in view for the
+greater part of a mile. In passing over the Horseshoe Fall the barrel
+kept toward the Canadian side at a point three hundred feet from the
+centre.
+
+[Illustration: Horseshoe Falls from Goat Island.]
+
+It dropped over the Fall at 4.23 o'clock, the bottom well down. In less
+than a minute it appeared at the base of the Fall, and was swept down
+stream. The current cast it aside in an eddy, and, floating back
+up-stream, it was held between two eddies until captured at 4.40
+o'clock. As it was grounded on a rock, out in the river, it was
+difficult to handle, but several men soon had the hatch off. Mrs. Taylor
+was alive and conscious but before she could be taken out of the barrel
+it was necessary to saw a portion of the top away. Her condition was a
+surprise to all. She walked along the shore to a boat, and was taken
+down the river to the _Maid of the Mist_ dock, where she entered a
+carriage and was brought to Niagara Falls. The woman was suffering
+greatly from the shock, and had a three-inch cut in her scalp, back of
+the right ear, but how or when she got it she did not know. She
+complained of pains between the shoulders, but it is thought that this
+was due to the fact that her shoulders were thrown back during the
+plunge, as she had her arms in straps, and these undoubtedly saved her
+neck from breaking.
+
+She admitted having lost consciousness in passing over the Falls. While
+thanking God for sparing her life, she warned every one not to repeat
+her foolhardy trip. So severe was the shock that she wandered in her
+talk, with three doctors attending her; she, however, soon recovered.
+
+Mrs. Taylor was forty-three years old when she made this marvellous
+trip. She was born in Auburn, N. Y., and was a school teacher in Bay
+City, Mich., before she came East. She had crossed the American
+continent from ocean to ocean eight times, and during her stay East
+impressed everybody with her wonderful nerve.
+
+The barrel in which Mrs. Taylor made the journey was four and one-half
+feet high, and about three feet in diameter. A leather harness and
+cushions inside protected her body. Air was secured through a rubber
+tube connecting with a small opening near the top of the barrel. Her
+warning evidently has been heeded. To our knowledge no barrel-fiend has
+reappeared at the shores of Niagara within the last five years.
+
+In the year 1846, a small steamer was built in the eddy just above the
+suspension bridge to run up to the Falls, and very appropriately named
+the _Maid of the Mist_. Her engine was rather weak, but she safely
+accomplished the trip. Since she took passengers aboard only from the
+Canada side, however, she did little more than pay expenses, and in
+1854, a larger, better boat, with a more powerful engine, a new _Maid of
+the Mist_, was put on the route and many persons since have made this
+most exciting and impressive voyage along the foot of the Falls.
+
+    Owing to some change in the appointments of the _Maid of the
+    Mist_ which confined her landings to the Canadian shore she too
+    became unprofitable and her owner having decided to leave the
+    place wished to sell her as she lay on her dock. This he could
+    not do, but having received an offer of more than half of her
+    cost, if he would deliver her at Niagara-on-the-Lake, he
+    determined a consultation with Joel Robinson, who had acted as
+    her captain and pilot on her trips under the Falls to make the
+    attempt to take her down the river. Mr. Robinson agreed to act
+    as pilot on the fearful voyage; the engineer, Mr. Jones,
+    consented to go with him and a courageous machinist by the name
+    of McIntyre volunteered to share the risk with them. The boat
+    was in complete trim, removing from deck and hold all
+    superfluous articles and as notice was given of the time of
+    starting, a large number of people assembled to watch the
+    spectacular plunge, few expecting to see either boat or crew
+    again. About three o'clock in the afternoon of June 15, 1861,
+    the engineer took his place in the hold, and, knowing that their
+    drifting would be short at the longest, and might be only the
+    preface to a swift destruction, set his steam valve at the
+    proper gauge and awaited--not without anxiety--the tinkling
+    signal that should start them on their flying voyage. McIntyre
+    joined Robinson at the wheel on the upper deck. Self-possessed,
+    and with the calmness which results from undoubted courage and
+    confidence, yet with the humility which recognises all
+    possibilities, Robinson took his place at the wheel and pulled
+    the starting bell. With a shriek from her whistle and a white
+    puff from the escape-pipe to take leave, as it were, of the
+    multitude gathered at the shores, she soon swung around to the
+    right, cleared the smooth water and shot like an arrow into the
+    rapid under the bridge. She took the outside course of the rapid
+    and when a third of the way down it, a jet of water struck
+    against her rudder, a column dashed up under her starboard side,
+    hurled her over, carried away her smoke-stack, threw Robinson
+    flat on his back, and thrust McIntyre against her starboard
+    wheel-house with such a force as to break it through. The little
+    boat emerged from the fearful baptism, shook her wounded sides,
+    and slid into the Whirlpool riding for the moment again on an
+    even keel. Robinson rose at once, seized the helm, set her to
+    the right of the large pot in the pool, then turned her directly
+    through the neck of it. Thence, after receiving another
+    drenching from its combing waves, the craft dashed on without
+    further accident to the quiet of the river at Lewiston.
+
+Thus was accomplished one of the most remarkable and perilous voyages
+ever made by man; the boat was seventy-two feet long with seventeen feet
+breadth of beam and eight feet depth of hold, and carried an engine of
+one hundred horse-power.
+
+Robinson stated after the voyage that the greater part of it was like
+what he had always imagined must be the swift sailing of a large bird in
+a downward flight; that when the accident occurred the boat seemed to be
+struck from all directions at once, that she trembled like a
+fiddlestring and felt as if she would crumble away and drop into atoms;
+that both he and McIntyre were holding to the wheel with all their
+strength, but this produced no more effect than if they had been two
+flies; that he had no fear of striking the rocks, for he knew that the
+strongest suction must be in the deepest channels, and that the boat
+must remain in that. Finding that McIntyre was somewhat bruised and
+bewildered by excitement on account of his fall, and did not rise,
+Robinson quickly put his foot on him to keep him from rolling round the
+deck, and thus finished the voyage.
+
+    The effect of this trip upon Robinson was decidedly marked. To
+    it, as he lived but few years afterward, his death was commonly
+    attributed. "He was," said Mrs. Robinson in an interview,
+    "twenty years older when he came home that day, than when he
+    went out. He sank into his chair like a person overcome with
+    weariness. He decided to abandon the water, and advised his sons
+    to venture no more about the Rapids. Both his manner and
+    appearance were changed." Calm and deliberate before, he became
+    thoughtful and serious afterwards. He had been borne, as it
+    were, in the arms of a power so mighty, that its impress was
+    stamped on his features and on his mind. Through a slightly
+    opened door he had seen a vision which awed and subdued him. He
+    became reverent in a moment. He grew venerable in an hour.
+
+As an illustration of the lengths unscrupulous sensationalists will go
+at Niagara to satisfy the curious throngs, in September, 1883, several
+enterprising citizens of Niagara Falls purchased a small boat which they
+fitted up to represent the _Maid of the Mist_, and sent it through the
+Rapids. Men were stationed about the boat in effigy, but no human beings
+were allowed on board, although, indeed there were many applications for
+passage. The boat passed through the Gorge in good shape.
+
+On August 28, 1887, Charles Alexander Percy, a waggon-maker of
+Suspension Bridge, went over the Rapids to win fame. He had conceived
+the idea of constructing a boat, and, having been previously a sailor he
+knew how to build a staunch craft. The vessel was of hickory, seventeen
+feet long and four feet ten and one-quarter inches wide. It had
+sixty-four oak ribs, and an iron plate weighing three hundred pounds was
+fastened to the bottom. The boat as completed weighed nine hundred
+pounds, and was covered with white canvas. At 3.30 o'clock in the
+afternoon on the day mentioned, Percy, having with great difficulty
+transported his craft to the old _Maid of the Mist_ landing above the
+cantilever bridge, took off his coat and waistcoat, put them in a valise
+and stowed it away in one of the compartments. Then he sat in the middle
+part of the boat, which had no deck, rowed out into the Niagara, just
+above the cantilever, unshipped his oars and fastened them to the boat
+and then crawled into one of his air-tight compartments. Many people
+watched his white craft from the bridges and banks, but the excursion
+had not been advertised and many visitors to the Falls knew nothing of
+it. The boat shot down toward the Whirlpool. On the theory that there
+was an undercurrent which ran stronger than the surface current, Percy
+had attached a thirty-pound weight to a ten-foot line, which he threw
+overboard to act as a drag; this had no apparent effect; the two-mile
+trip to the Whirlpool occupied less than five minutes, and while the
+boat was submerged repeatedly, it did not turn over. When near the
+Whirlpool it drifted close to the American shore, Percy, thinking he was
+in the quiet water on the further side of the Whirlpool, stuck out his
+head, but closed the aperture just in time to escape a tremendous wave.
+The boat passed straight across the Whirlpool, and on the other side
+Percyl crawled out of the compartment, took his oars, and rowed
+leisurely around to the foot of the inclined railway on the Canadian
+side, where he landed, his voyage having lasted twenty-five minutes. He
+gave much the same account of the adventure as was given by Graham of
+barrel fame, and Kendall, the Boston policeman, who swam into the
+Whirlpool in 1886. He thought he struck rocks in the passage down, but
+the boat showed no marks.
+
+[Illustration: Ice Bridge and American Falls.]
+
+Percy and a friend, William Dittrick, repeated the trip on September 25,
+1887, through the lower half of the Gorge from the Whirlpool to
+Lewiston, having a thrilling experience. Dittrick occupied one of the
+air compartments, while Percy sat in the cockpit.
+
+Finally, on September 16, 1888, Percy again risked his life in making a
+voyage through the waters of the Gorge near Lewiston. In this trip he
+narrowly escaped death and the boat was lost.
+
+Elated by his success, Percy now made a wager with Robert William Flack
+of Syracuse, "for a race through the Whirlpools in life-boats for five
+hundred dollars a side." The race was set for August 1, 1888, but on
+July 4th, Flack was first to show that his craft was seaworthy. The boat
+was of the clinker pattern, had no air-cushions, and was partly
+constructed of cork. In the presence of an immense concourse of
+spectators it went first along gaily, but in three minutes the boat was
+upset and carried into the Whirlpool bottom upwards. It was a frightful
+spectacle, witnessed by thousands of people. The boat capsized three
+times; the last time it tossed high in the air. It stood on end for an
+instant and then it toppled over on poor Flack, who was strapped to the
+boat helpless and floated about the pool upside down for about an hour,
+until captured on the Canadian side. Flack's body was only a mass of
+bruised flesh. Percy meantime, having witnessed the tragedy from the
+American side, jumped into a trap, and drove to the Whirlpool on the
+Canadian side where, throwing off his clothes, he leaped into the river
+and swam for the boat which was now approaching the shore. But he was
+too late. His courageous feat could not help Flack, who was found dead,
+hanging on the straps he had placed there to aid him to save his life.
+
+In 1889 Walter G. Campbell tried to make the perilous trip in an open,
+flat-bottomed boat, which he launched above the Rapids. His only
+companion was a black dog. Campbell, with a life-preserver about his
+body, stood up, using his oar as a paddle, and boldly drifted with
+increasing speed toward the seething pool. The trip took about twenty
+minutes, but, fortunately, the boat capsized before the worst water was
+reached, and Campbell just managed to struggle to the shore. The poor
+black dog paid the penalty of his master's folly.
+
+Peter Nissen, of Chicago, made a successful trip through the Whirlpool
+Rapids of Niagara on July 9, 1900, being the first man to go through in
+an open boat and come out unharmed. He entered the Rapids at 5 P.M., the
+boat gliding down easily bow first, entering the first wave end on, and
+going partly over and partly under the water, drenched its occupant
+completely. The second wave struck him with terrific force almost
+broadside, the boat being partly turned by the first wave, smashing
+Nissen against the cockpit, knocking off his hat and nearly smothering
+him. A moment later he entered the frightful mass of warring waters
+opposite the Whirlpool Rapids station, and for a few moments it looked
+as though his end had come, the boat being tossed with terrific force
+out of the water, broadside up, the iron keel, weighing 1250 pounds,
+being plainly seen. Boat and occupant then disappeared altogether, not
+being again seen for several seconds until the worst was feared.
+Suddenly both man and boat reappeared farther down the stream, and the
+hundreds of onlookers gave vent to their feelings in cheers. The hardy
+navigator now went under the waters again receiving a crushing blow as
+he entered every succeeding wave when the staunch craft and its master
+raced into the Whirlpool. But Nissen was not yet safe. Having no means
+of guiding or propelling the boat, Nissen was compelled to sit in the
+water in the cockpit for fifty minutes, being carried around the
+Whirlpool four times. Once the boat approached the vortex and was sucked
+down about half its length, the other half standing out of the water in
+an almost vertical position. It was immediately thrown out, however, and
+resumed its course around the pool. When at the farther end, where the
+current has the least strength the boat then being about fifty feet from
+shore, three young men swam out with a rope and fastened it to the boat,
+which was then drawn in by very willing hands. Nissen, when questioned,
+said he was not injured in the least, only feeling cold and weak. He was
+stripped and given dry clothing, and he then declared he felt all right.
+In making the trip he wore his usual clothing, pulling on an ordinary
+life-preserver to aid him if he should be thrown out. He did not intend
+to fasten himself in the boat, but at the last moment passed a rope over
+his shoulder, which probably saved his life.
+
+The boat, which he had named the _Fool-Killer_, was twenty feet long,
+four feet wide, and four feet deep. The deck was slightly raised in the
+centre, gently sloping to the gunwales. In the centre of the deck a
+cockpit four feet long and twenty inches wide extended down to the keel,
+a distance of four feet. The side-planking of the cockpit was carried
+above the deck, forming a combing six inches in height; six water-tight
+compartments were built in the boat, two at each end and one on each
+side of the cockpit; three hundred pounds of cork were also used, so
+that the boat was unsinkable. The main feature of the boat was the keel.
+This was a shaft of round iron, four inches in diameter and twenty feet
+long, hanging two feet below the bottom of the boat, and held in
+position by five one-inch iron bars.
+
+Our record of sensationalism at Niagara would be lacking in fulness, at
+least, if mention were not made of the many gruesome suicides that have
+occurred here, but we forbear. A story of what a dog endured, however,
+is quite in place:
+
+    A large dog lately survived the passage over Niagara Falls and
+    through the rapids to the whirlpool. He was first noticed while
+    he was within the influence of the upper rapids. As he was
+    whirled rapidly down over the Falls, every one imagined that
+    that was the last of him. Shortly afterwards, however, he was
+    discovered in the gorge below the Falls vainly endeavouring to
+    clamber up upon some of the debris from the remains of the great
+    ice bridge which recently covered the water at this point, but
+    which had nearly all gone down the river. The news spread
+    rapidly through the village, and a large crowd gathered at the
+    shore. Strenuous efforts were made to get the struggling animal
+    on shore, for an animal which had gone safely over the Falls
+    would be a prize worth having, but without success. Finally the
+    dog succeeded in getting upon a large cake of ice, and floated
+    off upon it down towards Suspension Bridge and the terrible
+    Whirlpool Rapids. Information of the dog's coming was telephoned
+    to Suspension Bridge village, and a large crowd collected on the
+    bridge to watch for the coming wonder. In due time the poor
+    fellow appeared upon his ice-cake, howling dismally the while,
+    as if he appreciated the terrors of his situation. An
+    express-train crossing the bridge at the time stopped in order
+    to let the passengers witness the unusual spectacle. Round and
+    round whirled the cake, in a dizzy way, and louder and more
+    prolonged grew the howls of the poor dog. As the influence of
+    the Whirlpool Rapids began to be felt, the cake increased in
+    speed, whirled suddenly into the air, broke in two, and the dog
+    disappeared from view. No one thought that he could possibly
+    survive the wild rush through the rapids. When, therefore, word
+    was received that the dog was in the whirlpool, still living,
+    and once more struggling vainly to swim to land, it was received
+    with marked incredulity. This story was substantiated by several
+    trustworthy witnesses. It seems incredible that an animal could
+    go through the upper rapids, over the Falls, through the Gorge,
+    through the Whirlpool Rapids, and into the whirlpool itself, a
+    distance of several miles, and still be alive. The poor animal
+    perished in the whirlpool.
+
+In various instances dogs have been sent over the Falls and survived the
+plunge.
+
+As early as November, 1836, a troublesome female bull-terrier was put in
+a coffee sack by a couple of men who had determined to get rid of her,
+and thrown off from the middle of Goat Island Bridge. In the following
+spring she was found alive and well about sixty rods below the Ferry,
+having lived through the winter on a deceased cow that was thrown over
+the bank the previous fall. In 1858, another dog, a male of the same
+breed, was thrown into the Rapids, also near the middle of the bridge.
+In less than an hour he came up the Ferry stairs, very wet and not at
+all gay. He was ever after a sadder, if not a better dog.
+
+[Footnote 15: Vol. lvi., p. 106, seq.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter VII
+
+  The Old Niagara Frontier
+
+
+What has been loosely called the "Niagara Frontier" embraces all the
+beautiful stretch of territory south of Lakes Ontario and Erie,
+extending westward quite to Cleveland, the Forest City on the latter
+lake. It would be difficult to point to a tract of country in all
+America the history of which is of more inherent interest than this
+far-flung old-time frontier of which the Niagara River was the strategic
+key. The beautiful cities now standing here, Buffalo, Cleveland, and
+Toronto, as well as the ancient Falls, forever new and wonderful, bring
+to this fair country, in large volume, the modern note that would drown
+the memory of the long ago; but here, as elsewhere, and particularly
+here, the Indian left his names upon the rivers and the shores of the
+lakes, beautiful names that will neither die nor permit the days of
+Iroquois, Eries, and Hurons to pass forgotten.
+
+Historically, the Niagara frontier is memorable, firstly, because it
+embraced in part the homes and hunting-grounds of the Six Nations, the
+pre-eminent Indian confederacy of the continent. The French name for the
+confederacy was Iroquois; their own, "Ho-de-no-sote," or the "Long
+House," which extended from the Hudson to Lake Erie and from the St.
+Lawrence to the valleys of the Delaware, Susquehanna, and Allegheny.
+This domain was divided between the several nations by well-defined
+boundary lines, called "lines of property." The famous Senecas were on
+the Niagara frontier.
+
+[Illustration: Colonel Römer's Map of the Country of the Iroquois,
+1700.]
+
+In this pleasant land the Iroquois dwelt in palisaded villages upon the
+fertile banks of the lakes and streams which watered their country.
+Their houses were built within a protecting circle of palisades, and,
+like all the tribes of the Iroquois family, were long and narrow, not
+more than twelve or fifteen feet in width, but often exceeding one
+hundred and fifty in length. They were made of two parallel rows of
+poles stuck upright in the ground, of sufficient widths at the bottom to
+form the floor, and bent together at the top to form the roof; the whole
+was entirely covered with strips of peeled bark. At each end of the long
+house was a strip of bark or a bear skin hung loosely for a door.
+Within, they built their fires at intervals along the centre of the
+floor, the smoke rising through the opening in the top, which served, as
+well, to let in light. In every house were fires and many families, and
+every family having its own fire within the space allotted to it.
+
+Among all the Indians of the New World, there were none so politic and
+intelligent, none so fierce and brave, none with so many heroic virtues
+mingled with savagery, as the people of the Long House. They were a
+terror to all the surrounding tribes, whether of their own or of
+Algonquin speech. In 1650 they overran the country of the Huron; in 1651
+they destroyed the neutral nation along the Niagara; in 1652 they
+exterminated the Eries. They knew every war-path and "their war-cry was
+heard westward to the Mississippi and southward to the great gulf."
+They were, in fact, the conquerors of the New World, perhaps not
+unjustly styled the "Romans of the West." Wrote the Jesuit Father
+Ragueneau, in 1650, "My pen has no ink black enough to describe the fury
+of the Iroquois." In 1715, the Tuscaroras, a branch of the Iroquois
+family, in the Carolinas, united with the Five Nations, after which the
+confederacy was known as the Six Nations, of which the other five tribes
+were named in order of their rank, Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Oneidas,
+and Cayugas.
+
+Iroquois government was vested in a general council composed of fifty
+hereditary sachems, but the order of succession was always in the female
+and never in the male line. Each nation was divided into eight clans or
+tribes. The spirit of the animal or bird after which the clan was named,
+called its "To-tem," was the guardian spirit of the clan, and every
+member used its figure in his signature as his device. It was the rule
+that men and women of the same tribe could intermarry. In this manner
+relationships were interlocked forever by the closest of ties. The name
+of each sachemship was permanent. When a sachem died the people of the
+league selected the most competent from among those of his family, who
+by right inherited the title, and the one so chosen was raised in solemn
+council to the high honour, and dropping his own received the name of
+the sachemship. Two sachemships, however, after the death of the
+original sachems ever remained vacant, those of the Onondagas and
+"Ha-yo-went-ha" (Hi-a-wat-ha) immortalised by Longfellow, of the
+Mohawks. Daganoweda was the founder of the league, whose head was
+represented as covered with tangled serpents; Hi-a-wat-ha (meaning "he
+who combs") put the head in order and this aided the formation of the
+league. In honour of these great services this sachemship was afterward
+held vacant.
+
+The entire body of sachems formed the council league; their authority
+was civil, confined to affairs of peace, and was advisory rather than
+otherwise. Every member of the confederacy followed, to a great extent,
+the dictates of his own will, controlled very much by the customs of his
+people and "a sentiment that ran through their whole system of affairs
+which was as inflexible as iron."
+
+The character of the Iroquois confederacy has a bearing on the history
+of the Niagara country of prime importance; while their immediate seats
+were somewhat south of Niagara River itself, they were the red masters
+of the eastern Great Lake region when white men came to know it,
+conquering, as we have noted, the earlier red races, the Eries and
+Neutrals, who lived beside Lake Erie and the Niagara River. Of these
+very little is known; placed between the Iroquois on the South and the
+Hurons on the North both are accounted to have been fierce and brave
+peoples, for a long time able to withstand the savage inroads of the
+people of the Long House. The Eries occupied the territory just south of
+Lake Erie, while the Neuter or Neutral towns lay on the north side of
+the lake--stretching up perhaps near to Niagara Falls. They claimed the
+territory lying west of the Genesee River, and extending northward to
+the Huron land about Georgian Bay as their hunting-ground, and could, it
+was affirmed by Jesuits, number twelve thousand souls or four thousand
+fighting men in 1641, only a decade before annihilation by the southern
+foe.
+
+    Although the French applied to them the name of "neuter" [writes
+    Marshall, the historian of the Niagara frontier], it was always
+    an allusion to their neutrality between the Hurons and the
+    Iroquois. These contending nations traversed the territories of
+    the Neutral Nation in their wars against each other, and if, by
+    chance, they met in the wigwams or villages of this people, they
+    were forced to restrain their animosity and to separate in
+    peace.
+
+Notwithstanding this neutrality, they waged cruel wars with other
+nations, toward whom they exercised cruelties even more inhuman than
+those charged upon their savage neighbours. The early missionaries
+describe their customs as similar to those of the Hurons, their land as
+producing Indian corn, beans, and squashes in abundance, their rivers as
+abounding in fish of endless variety, and their forests as filled with
+animals yielding the richest furs.
+
+They exceeded the Hurons in stature, strength, and symmetry of form, and
+wore their dress with a superior grace, and regarded their dead with
+peculiar affection; hence arose a custom which is worthy of notice, and
+explains the origin of the numerous burial mounds which are scattered
+over this vicinity. Instead of burying the bodies of their deceased
+friends, they deposited them in houses or on scaffolds erected for the
+purpose. They collected the skeletons from time to time and arranged
+them in their dwellings, in anticipation of the feast of the dead, which
+occurred once in ten or twelve years. On this occasion the whole nation
+repaired to an appointed place, each family, with the greatest apparent
+affection, bringing the bones of their deceased relatives enveloped in
+the choicest furs.
+
+The final disruption between Neuters and Senecas came, it would seem,
+in 1648, in the shape of a challenge sent by the latter and accepted;
+the war raged until 1651, when two whole villages of Neuters were
+destroyed, the largest containing more than sixteen hundred men. Father
+Fremin in 1669 found Neuters still living in captivity in Gannogarae, a
+Seneca town east of the Genesee. Some two years later, seemingly by
+accident, a rupture between Senecas and Eries, farther to the westward,
+took place, resulting in a similar Seneca victory; thus the Iroquois
+came to be the masters of the Niagara country.
+
+What this meant becomes very evident with the advance of France to this
+old-time key of the continent; here lay the strongest, most civilised
+Indian nations, conquerors of half a continent; what the friendship of
+the Iroquois meant to these would-be white conquerors of the self-same
+empire no words could express; as we have noted, the Niagara River was
+the direct passageway to the Mississippi basin. It is one of the most
+interesting caprices of Fate that France should have been given the
+great waterway--key of the continent; now, with a friendly alliance with
+the Six Nations the progress of French arms could hardly be challenged.
+But France, in the early hours of her progress, and by the hand of her
+best friend and wisest champion, Champlain, incurred the inveterate
+hatred of these powerful New York confederates. This he did in 1609 by
+joining a war-party of Algonquins of the lower St. Lawrence region on
+one of their memorable raids into the Iroquois country by way of the
+Richelieu River and Lake Champlain. Dr. Bourinot,[16] perhaps most
+clearly of all, has explained Champlain's own comprehension of the
+matter by saying that the dominating purpose of his life in New France
+was the exploration of the vast region from which came the sweeping
+tides of the St. Lawrence; supposing, naturally, that the Canadian red
+men were to be eventually the victors in the ancient war, especially if
+aided by the government of New France, it was politic for Champlain to
+espouse their cause since no general scheme of exploration "could have
+been attempted had he by any cold or unsympathetic conduct alienated the
+Indians who guarded the waterways over which he had to pass before he
+could unveil the mysteries of the Western wilderness."
+
+In June this eventful invasion of the Iroquois country was undertaken,
+and on the last day of July but one, near what was to become the
+historic site of Fort Ticonderoga, a pitched battle was fought.
+Champlain's own account of this the first decisive battle of America
+cannot be excelled in its quaint and picturesque simplicity:
+
+    At night [he wrote] we embarked in our canoes, and, as we were
+    advancing noiselessly onward, we encountered a party of Iroquois
+    at the point of a cape which juts into the lake on the west
+    side. It was on the twenty-ninth of the month and about ten
+    o'clock at night. They, as well as we, began to shout, seizing
+    our arms. We withdrew to the water, and the Iroquois paddled to
+    the shore, arranged their canoes, and began to hew down trees
+    with villainous-looking axes and fortified themselves very
+    securely. Our party kept their canoes alongside of the other,
+    tied to poles, so as not to run adrift, in order to fight all
+    together if need be. When everything was arranged they sent two
+    canoes to know if their enemies wished to fight. They answered
+    that they desired nothing else but that there was not then light
+    enough to distinguish each other and that they would fight at
+    sunrise. This was agreed to. On both sides the night was spent
+    in dancing, singing, mingled with insults and taunts. Thus they
+    sang, danced, and insulted each other until daybreak. My
+    companions and I were concealed in separate canoes belonging to
+    the savage Montagnoes. After being equipped with light armour,
+    each of us took an arquebus and went ashore. I saw the enemy
+    leaving their barricade. They were about two hundred men, strong
+    and robust, who were coming toward us with a gravity and
+    assurance that greatly pleased me, led on by three chiefs. Ours
+    were marching in similar order, and told me that those who bore
+    the three lofty plumes were chiefs and that I must do all I
+    could. The moment we landed they began to run toward the enemy,
+    who stood firm and had not yet perceived my companions who went
+    into the bush with some savages. Ours commenced calling me with
+    a loud voice, opening the way for me and placing me at their
+    head, about twenty paces in advance, until I was about thirty
+    paces from the enemy. The moment they saw me they halted, gazing
+    at me and I at them. When I saw them preparing to shoot at us, I
+    raised my arquebus, and aiming directly at one of the chiefs,
+    two of them fell to the ground by this shot, and one of their
+    companions received a wound of which he died afterwards. I had
+    put four balls into my arquebus. Ours, on witnessing a shot so
+    favourable to them, set up such tremendous shouts that thunder
+    could not have been heard, and yet there was no lack of arrows
+    on the one side or the other. The Iroquois were greatly
+    astonished at seeing two men killed so instantaneously,
+    notwithstanding that they were provided with arrow-proof armour
+    woven of cotton thread and wood. This frightened them very much.
+
+    Whilst I was unloading, one of my companions fired a shot which
+    so astonished them anew, seeing their chiefs slain, that they
+    lost courage, took to flight, and abandoned the field and their
+    fort, hiding in the depths of the forest, whither pursuing them
+    I killed some others. Our savages also killed several of them
+    and took ten or twelve of them prisoners. The rest carried off
+    the wounded. These were promptly treated.
+
+    After having gained this victory, our party amused themselves
+    plundering Indian corn and meal from the enemy, and also their
+    arms which they had thrown away the better to run. And having
+    feasted, danced, and sung, we returned three hours afterwards
+    with the prisoners.[17]
+
+[Illustration: Champlain.]
+
+No victory could have been so costly as this; indeed, one is led to
+wonder whether any battle in America ever cost more lives than this; for
+one hundred and fifty years and forty-five days, or until the fall of
+Quebec and New France, this strongest of Indian nations remembered
+Champlain, and was the implacable enemy of the French; and, what was of
+singular ill-fortune, these very Iroquois, in addition to holding the
+key of the West in their grasp, lay exactly between the French and their
+English rivals at the point of nearest and most vital contact. After the
+Ticonderoga victory an Iroquois prisoner, previous to being burned at
+the stake, chanted a song; wrote the humane Champlain, "the song was sad
+to hear." For a century and a half sad songs were sung by descendants of
+those Algonquin and French victors who listened in the wavering light of
+that cruel fire to the song of the captive from the land of Long Houses
+below the Lakes! True, the Iroquois and the French were not continually
+at war through this long series of years; and French blandishments had
+their effect, sometimes, even on their immemorial foe, especially at the
+Seneca end of the Long House, nearest Niagara.
+
+Six years later, in 1615, Champlain set out on his most important tour
+of western discovery, largely for the purpose of fulfilling a promise
+made to one of his lieutenants on the upper Ottawa to assist him in the
+continual quarrel between the Hurons to the northward and the Iroquois.
+Here again is forced upon our attention one of the most important
+sequences of the battle of Lake Champlain. The two routes to the Great
+Lakes of Montreal were by the St. Lawrence River and by the Ottawa
+River. Either route the voyage was long and difficult, but by the Ottawa
+the voyageur came into the "back door" of the Lakes, Georgian Bay, by a
+taxing portage route; while, once stemming the St. Lawrence, Lake
+Ontario was gained and, with the Niagara portage accomplished the
+traveller was afloat on Lake Erie beyond which the waterway lay fair and
+clear to the remotest corner of Superior. But the St. Lawrence led into
+the Iroquois frontier, and the Ottawa to the country of the French
+allies, the Hurons. The result was that, to a great extent, French
+movement followed the northerly course; no one could bring this out more
+clearly than Hinsdale and those whom he quotes:
+
+    [The Iroquois] turned the Frenchmen aside from the St. Lawrence
+    and the Lower Lakes to the Ottawa and Nipissing; they ruined the
+    fur trade "which was the life-blood of New France"; they "made
+    all her early years a misery and a terror"; they retarded the
+    growth of Absolutism until Liberty was equal to the final
+    struggle; and they influence our national history to this day,
+    since "populations formed in the ideas and habits of a feudal
+    monarchy, and controlled by a hierarchy profoundly hostile to
+    freedom of thought, would have remained a hindrance and a
+    stumbling-block in the way of that majestic experiment of which
+    America is the field."[18]
+
+Two insignificant historical facts illustrate this power exerted on
+westward movement from Canada: Lake Erie was not discovered until half a
+century after Lake Superior, in fact was practically unknown even for
+fifty years after Detroit was founded in 1701.
+
+From the rendezvous in the Huron country this second army of invasion,
+at the head of which rode Champlain, set out for the Iroquois land, to
+carry fire and sword to the homes of the enemy and forge so much the
+more firmly the chains of prejudice and hatred. Crossing Lake Ontario at
+its western extremity the march was taken up from a point near Sacketts
+Harbour for the Onondaga fort, which was located, probably, a few miles
+south of Lake Oneida.
+
+The importance of the campaign on the Niagara frontier history is
+sufficient for us to include again Champlain's account of it:
+
+    We made about fourteen leagues in crossing to the other side of
+    the Lake, in a southerly direction, towards the territories of
+    the enemy. The Indians concealed all their canoes in the woods
+    near the shore. We made by land about four leagues over a sandy
+    beach, where I noticed a very agreeable and beautiful country,
+    traversed by many small streams, and two small rivers which
+    empty into the said Lake. Also many ponds and meadows, abounding
+    in an infinite variety of game, numerous vines, and fine woods,
+    a great number of chestnut trees, the fruit of which was yet in
+    its covering. Although very small, it was of good flavour. All
+    the canoes being thus concealed, we left the shore of the Lake,
+    which is about eighty leagues long and twenty-five wide, the
+    greater part of it being inhabited by Indians along its banks,
+    and continued our way by land about twenty-five or thirty
+    leagues. During four days we crossed numerous streams and a
+    river issuing from a lake which empties into that of the
+    _Entouhonorons_. This Lake, which is about twenty-five or thirty
+    leagues in circumference, contains several beautiful islands,
+    and is the place where our Iroquois enemies catch their fish,
+    which are there in great abundance. On the 9th of October, our
+    people being on a scout, encountered eleven Indians whom they
+    took prisoners, namely, four women, three boys, a girl, and
+    three men, who were going to the fishery, distant four leagues
+    from the enemies' fort. . . . The next day, about three o'clock
+    in the afternoon, we arrived before the fort. . . . Their
+    village was enclosed with four strong rows of interlaced
+    palisades, composed of large pieces of wood, thirty feet high,
+    not more than half a foot apart and near an unfailing body of
+    water. . . . We were encamped until the 16th of the month. . . .
+    As the five hundred men did not arrive, the Indians decided to
+    leave by an immediate retreat and began to make baskets in which
+    to carry the wounded, who were placed in them doubled in a heap,
+    and so bent and tied as to render it impossible for them to
+    stir, any more than an infant in its swaddling clothes, and not
+    without great suffering, as I can testify, having been carried
+    several days on the back of one of our Indians, thus tied and
+    imprisoned, which made me lose all patience. As soon as I had
+    strength to sustain myself I escaped from this prison, or to
+    speak plainly, from this hell.
+
+    The enemy pursued us about half a league, in order to capture
+    some of our rear guard, but their efforts were useless and they
+    withdrew. . . . The retreat was very tedious, being from
+    twenty-five to thirty leagues, and greatly fatigued the wounded,
+    and those who carried them, though they relieved each other from
+    time to time. On the 18th considerable snow fell which lasted
+    but a short time. It was accompanied with a violent wind, which
+    greatly incommoded us. Nevertheless we made such progress, that
+    we reached the banks of the lake of the _Entouhonorons_, at the
+    place where we had concealed our canoes, and which were found
+    all whole. We were apprehensive that the enemy had broken them
+    up.
+
+[Illustration: Map of French Forts in America, 1750-60.]
+
+As the roar of Niagara greets from afar the listening ears of the
+innumerable host of pilgrims who come to it to-day, so the fame of the
+cataract reached the first explorers of the continent long before they
+came to it, indeed almost as soon as their feet touched the shore of the
+New World. Four centuries ago Niagara was the wonder of the world as it
+must be four centuries hence and four times four.
+
+In May, 1535, Jacques Cartier left France on his second voyage to
+America in three ships; reaching the St. Lawrence, which he so named
+from the Saint, he asked concerning its sources and
+
+    was told that, after ascending many leagues among rapids and
+    waterfalls, he would reach a lake 140 or 150 leagues broad, at
+    the western extremity of which the waters were wholesome and the
+    winters mild; that a river emptied into it from the south, which
+    had its source in the country of the Iroquois; that beyond the
+    lake he would find a cataract and portage, then another lake
+    about equal to the former, which they had never explored.
+
+This is the first known mention of Niagara Falls. Champlain mapped the
+Niagara frontier, and his map of 1613 shows the position of the great
+Falls; he refers to it only as a "waterfall," which was "so very high
+that many kinds of fish are stunned in its descent." He probably never
+saw Niagara but wrote his description from hearsay. During the half
+century between Champlain's Lake Ontario tour and the coming of La Salle
+and Hennepin the Niagara must have been often visited by the Catholic
+missionaries, but few of them left mention of it.
+
+In 1615, Champlain's interpreter, Etienne Brule, was sent southward to
+seek aid from the Andastes and is lost to sight in the western forests
+for three years; it is possible that Brule even reached the copper
+region of Lake Superior at this time, and it is fairly probable that
+this intrepid wanderer, first of all Frenchmen, followed the Niagara
+River and gazed upon its mighty cataract. The first knowledge we have,
+however, of a Frenchman's presence on Niagara River is of Father Joseph
+de la Roche Dallion, who crossed it near Lewiston eleven years later,
+1626. Nicolet was in the Straits of Mackinac and at Sault Ste. Marie in
+1634, at the time that Champlain (now in the last year of his eventful
+life) founded Three Rivers on the St. Lawrence above Quebec for the
+defence of this endangered capital!
+
+Father L'Allemant, in his _Relation_ of 1640-41, refers to the Niagara
+River as the _Onaguiaahra_, and calls it the "celebrated" river of the
+Neutral Nation.
+
+Montreal was founded in 1642, simultaneously with the memorable capture
+of Father Jogues, who now, first of Europeans, passed through Lake
+George en route to the homes of the merciless Iroquois. In fact it was
+Father Jogues who first named this beautiful sheet of water, when he
+entered it on the eve of Corpus Christi, "Lake Saint Sacrament"; Sir
+William Johnson, at a later date rechristened it Lake George. Jogues may
+have heard the Niagara cataract.
+
+Ragueneau, writing to France in 1648, affirmed that "North of the Eries
+is a great lake, about two hundred leagues in circumference, called
+Erie, formed by the discharge of the _mer-douce_, or Lake Huron, and
+which falls into a third lake called Ontario, over a cataract of
+frightful height." The description by La Salle's Sulpician companion,
+Galinee, in 1669, is the most accurate of all early accounts. After La
+Salle's visit to the Senecas the party struck westward toward Niagara.
+
+[Illustration: Niagara Falls by Father Hennepin.
+
+The first known picture of Niagara, dated 1697.]
+
+    We found [wrote Galinee] a river, one-eighth of a league broad
+    and extremely rapid, forming the outlet of communication from
+    Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The depth of the river (for it is
+    properly the St. Lawrence), is, at this place extraordinary,
+    for, on sounding close by the shore, we found 15 or 16 fathoms
+    of water. The outlet is 40 leagues long, and has, from 10 to 12
+    leagues above its embouchure into Lake Ontario, one of the
+    finest cataracts, or falls of water, in the world, for all the
+    Indians of whom I have enquired about it, say, that the river
+    falls at that place from a rock higher than the tallest pines,
+    that is about 200 feet. In fact we heard it from the place where
+    we were, although from 10 to 12 leagues distant, but the fall
+    gives such a momentum to the water, that its velocity prevented
+    our ascending the current by rowing, except with great
+    difficulty. At a quarter of a league from the outlet where we
+    were, it grows narrower, and its channel is confined between two
+    very high, steep, rocky banks, inducing the belief that the
+    navigation would be very difficult quite up to the cataract. As
+    to the river above the falls, the current very often sucks into
+    this gulf, from a great distance, deer and stags, elk and
+    roebucks, that suffer themselves to be drawn from such a point
+    in crossing the river, that they are compelled to descend the
+    falls, and to be overwhelmed in its frightful abyss.
+
+    Our desire to reach the little village called Ganastogue
+    Sonono-toua O-tin-a-oua prevented our going to view the wonder,
+    which I consider as so much the greater in proportion as the
+    river St. Lawrence is one of the largest in the world. I will
+    leave you to judge if that is not a fine cataract in which all
+    the water of that large river, having its mouth three leagues
+    broad, falls from a height of 200 feet, with a noise that is
+    heard not only at the place where we were, 10 or 12 leagues
+    distant, but also from the other side of Lake Ontario, opposite
+    its mouth, where M. Trouve told me he had heard it.
+
+    We passed the river, and finally, at the end of five days'
+    travel arrived at the extremity of Lake Ontario, where there is
+    a fine large sandy bay, at the end of which is an outlet of
+    another small lake which is there discharged. Into this our
+    guide conducted us about half a league, to a point nearest the
+    village, but distant from it some 5 or 6 leagues, and where we
+    unloaded our canoes.
+
+The first eye-witness to describe Niagara Falls was Father Hennepin who
+visited them in the winter of 1678-79, and made the first pictorial
+representation of them.
+
+    Betwixt the Lake _Ontario_ and _Erie_, there is a vast and
+    prodigious Cadence of Water which falls down after a surprizing
+    and astonishing manner, insomuch that the Universe does not
+    afford its Parallel. 'T is true, _Italy_ and _Suedeland_ boast
+    of some such Things; but we may well say they are but sorry
+    Patterns, when compared to this of which we now speak. At the
+    foot of this horrible Precipice we meet with the River
+    _Niagara_, which is not above half a quarter of a League broad,
+    but is wonderfully deep in some places. It is so rapid above
+    this Descent, that it violently hurries down the Wild Beasts
+    while endeavouring to pass it, to feed on the other side; they
+    not being able to withstand the force of its Current, which
+    inevitably casts them down head-long above Six hundred foot.[19]
+
+    This wonderful Downfall is compounded of two great Cross-streams
+    of Water, and two Falls, with an Isle slopeing along the middle
+    of it. The Waters which fall from this vast height do foam and
+    boil after the most hideous manner imaginable, making an
+    outrageous Noise, more terrible than that of Thunder; for when
+    the Wind blows from off the South, their dismal roaring may be
+    heard above fifteen Leagues off.
+
+    The River _Niagara_ having thrown itself down this incredible
+    Precipice continues its impetuous course for two Leagues
+    together, to the great Rock above-mentioned, with an
+    inexpressible Rapidity: But having pass'd that, its Impetuosity
+    relents, gliding along more gently for two Leagues, till it
+    arrives at the Lake _Ontario_ or _Frontenac_.
+
+    Any Barque or greater Vessel may pass from the Fort to the foot
+    of this huge Rock above-mention'd. This Rock lies to the
+    Westward, and is cut off from the Land by the River _Niagara_,
+    about two Leagues farther down than the great Fall; for which
+    two Leagues the People are oblig'd to carry their Goods
+    overland; but the way is very good, and the Trees are but few,
+    and they chiefly Firrs and Oaks.
+
+    From the great Fall unto this Rock, which is to the West of the
+    River, the two Brinks of it are so prodigious high, that it
+    would make one tremble to look steadily upon the Water, rolling
+    along with a Rapidity not to be imagin'd. Were it not for this
+    vast Cataract, which interrupts Navigation, they might sail with
+    barques or greater Vessels, above four hundred and fifty Leagues
+    further, cross the Lake of _Hurons_, and up to the farther end
+    of the Lake _Illinois_; which two Lakes, we may well say, are
+    little Seas of fresh Water.
+
+In 1646 Father Jogues was killed in the Long House, and though in 1647
+eighteen priests were at work in the eleven missions in the West (most
+of them in the Huron country), the Iroquois carried the war to their
+very altars, the mission of St. Joseph being destroyed and the Hurons,
+blasted as a nation, scattered to the four winds of heaven. In 1656
+Mohawks even descended upon fugitive Hurons hovering about Quebec under
+the very guns of Fort St. Louis; it is interesting to compare these
+far-eastwardly onslaughts with the simultaneous far-eastern progress of
+the French explorers, for, as the Mohawks were falling upon Quebec those
+adventurous pioneers, Radisson and Grossilliers, were (it is now
+believed) on the point of discovering the Mississippi River, which they
+probably did in 1659.
+
+The plan of a grand Iroquois campaign against Canada in 1660 probably
+had its part in the awakening of the monarchy at home to the real state
+of affairs in America; if New France was to be more than a myth
+something must now be done or the entire European population of the St.
+Lawrence--not yet numbering more than two thousand souls--might be swept
+away as were the Hurons. The energy of Louis's famous minister,
+Colbert, is now in evidence as Marquis de Tracy, special envoy, appeared
+on the scene, as the population of Canada doubled in a score of months,
+the Richilieu was manned with forts and an army of thirteen hundred men
+invaded the Iroquois country and secured a comparatively lasting peace.
+
+A new era dawned, renewed spirit enthused the explorer, missionary,
+_coureur-de-bois_, and soldier. In 1669 the boldest man after Champlain,
+as Frontenac was the most chivalrous, La Salle, crossed Lake Ontario and
+in the two following years probably discovered and followed the Ohio, if
+not the Mississippi itself. In 1671 the noblest soldier of the cross in
+early American annals, Marquette, founded St. Ignace, and, two years
+later, in company with Joliet, found and descended the "Missipi."
+Simultaneously, as if to end once for all fear of Iroquois opposition,
+Frontenac erected the fort named for himself near the present site of
+Kingston, Canada. But French activity proved a little too successful,
+for it not only awed the Iroquois but alarmed the English, who had taken
+New York from the Dutch nine years before.
+
+La Salle was in France during 1677, where he received letters-patent
+concerning forts to be built south and west, in which direction "it
+would seem a passage to Mexico can be discovered," while Father
+Hennepin, soon to be the great discoverer's companion and mouthpiece,
+was among the Senecas near the Niagara frontier gaining a useful fund of
+information for the grand campaign of empire founding that La Salle had
+planned with Fort Frontenac as his base of supplies.
+
+[Footnote 16: _Canada_, p. 72, Story of the Nations Series.]
+
+[Footnote 17: A very excellent account of the battle of Lake Champlain
+is found in _The St. Lawrence River_, Ch. vi., by George Waldo Browne.]
+
+[Footnote 18: _The Old Northwest_, p. 25. A novel, _The Road to
+Frontenac_, presents a clear picture of French-Iroquois hostility on the
+St. Lawrence.]
+
+[Footnote 19: Hennepin's exaggerations add a spice to his marvellous
+stories as is true of Arabella B. Buckley's _The Fairyland of
+Science_ (p. 122) wherein we read: "The river Niagara first wanders
+through a flat country and then reaches the Great Lake Erie in a
+hollow plain. After that it flows gently down for about fifteen
+miles and then the slope becomes greater and it rushes on to the
+Falls of Niagara." Every age has its Hennepins!]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter VIII
+
+  From La Salle to De Nonville
+
+
+Receiving authority to explore the Mississippi to its mouth, as well as
+a grant made in 1675 of Fort Frontenac and surrounding lands as a
+seigniory, La Salle returned from France in 1678, and began the
+wonderful career that will hand his name down through countless years as
+the greatest explorer in the annals of America. He allied with him Tonty
+and Father Hennepin, the latter already known, as we have seen, along
+the Niagara frontier.
+
+La Salle at once advanced to Fort Frontenac, which was to be his point
+of rendezvous and eastern base of supplies. His first act was to fortify
+this point strongly as though already foreseeing the recall of the
+sturdy Frontenac and the consequential uprising of the slumbering
+Iroquois.
+
+The plan of Fort Frontenac published by Faillon shows that Frontenac's
+hasty palisades were replaced by La Salle with hewed stone on at least
+two landward sides, and within were to be found a barrack, bakery, and
+mill; by 1780 fourteen families replaced the four lone _habitans_ left
+at the fort in 1677; his improvements had cost La Salle thirty-five
+thousand francs. In Parkman's graphic words we see La Salle reigning
+
+    the autocrat of his lonely little empire, as feudal lord of the
+    forests around him, commander of a garrison raised and paid by
+    himself, founder of the mission, patron of the church. But he
+    had no thought of resting here. He had gained what he sought, a
+    fulcrum for bolder and broader action. His plans were ripened
+    and his time was come. He was no longer a needy adventurer,
+    disinherited of all but his fertile brain and his intrepid
+    heart. He had won place, influence, credit, and potent friends.
+    Now, at length, he might hope to find the long-sought path to
+    China and Japan, and secure for France those boundless regions
+    of the west.[20]
+
+La Salle now pushed his impetuous campaign, showing as much foresight as
+daring in this conception. To hold the golden West in fee three
+important projects at once demanded attention: fitting out two ships,
+one for Lake Ontario and one for the upper Niagara River and the lakes
+from which its waters came, and the acquiring at some proper rendezvous
+of the first invoice of furs. A brigantine of ten tons was building
+simultaneously with Fort Frontenac, and in the fall of the year (1678)
+was ready for its cargo of material for a sister-ship to be built above
+the great falls. A party in canoes, carrying some six thousand francs'
+worth of goods, had gone forward to the further lakes to engage and
+secure from the Indian tribes provisions for the expedition and a
+consignment of furs for the homeward voyage.
+
+[Illustration: R. Réné Cavelier, Sieur De La Salle.]
+
+On November 18th, the brigantine with its singular freight weighed
+anchor and sped from sight of La Salle and the watchers at Fort
+Frontenac; the party was under the temporal command of Sieur la Motte de
+Lussière and the spiritual guidance of the famous historian Father
+Hennepin, "who belonged," writes one scholar, "to that class of writers
+who speak the truth by accident"; of him La Salle generously said that
+he wrote more in conformity to his wishes than his knowledge. After a
+rough voyage this unknown craft entered "the beautiful river Niagara,"
+as Hennepin truthfully stated, on St. Nicholas's Day, December 6th and
+the _Te Deum Laudamus_ was sung feelingly by the crew, which had barely
+escaped shipwreck near the mouth of Humber River.
+
+Here, near the mouth of the Niagara River, La Salle had planned to build
+a fort to bear the name Fort Conti in honour of his chief patron, the
+Prince of Conti; Lake Erie he had already named Lac de Conti. "It is
+situated," he wrote Conti, before it was built, "near that great
+cataract, more than a hundred and twenty toises [780 feet] in height, by
+which the lakes of higher elevation precipitate themselves into Lake
+Frontenac." A party of Senecas welcomed the little party, listening
+wonderingly to their anthem, supplying them with no end of white fish
+which they had come to catch here, living the while in a sort of a
+village near by, comprising probably a few huts erected for temporary
+purposes. It is possible these dwellings were of a more permanent
+character; at any rate Seneca sovereignty was assured, as the Frenchmen
+discovered just as soon as post-holes for Fort Conti were being dug.
+Concerning this, as well as the other features of this early Niagara
+River history, the record of Father Hennepin is about our only source of
+information; let us, therefore, quote from his _A New Discovery_
+concerning Frontenac and Niagara days:
+
+    That very same Year, on the Eighteenth of November, I took leave
+    of our Monks at Fort Frontenac, and after mutual Embraces and
+    Expressions of Brotherly and Christian Charity, I embark'd in a
+    Brigantine of about ten Tuns. The Winds and the Cold of the
+    Autumn were then very violent, insomuch that our Crew was afraid
+    to go into so little a Vessel. This oblig'd us and the Sieur de
+    la Motte our Commander, to keep our course on the North-side of
+    the Lake, to shelter ourselves under the Coast, against the
+    North-west Wind, which otherwise would have forced us upon the
+    Southern Coast of the Lake. This Voyage prov'd very difficult
+    and dangerous, because of the unseasonable time of the Year,
+    Winter being near at hand.
+
+    On the 26th, we were in great danger about Two large Leagues off
+    the Land, where we were oblig'd to lie at an Anchor all that
+    Night at sixty Fathom Water and above; but at length the Wind
+    coming to the North-East, we sail'd on, and arriv'd safely at
+    the further end of the Lake Ontario, call'd by the Iroquese,
+    Skannadario. We came pretty near to one of their Villages call'd
+    Tajajagon, lying about Seventy Leagues from Fort Frontenac, or
+    Catarakouy.
+
+    We barter'd some Indian Corn with the Iroquese, who could not
+    sufficiently admire us, and came frequently to see us on board
+    our Brigantine, which for our greater security, we had brought
+    to an Anchor into a River, though before we could get in, we run
+    aground three times, which oblig'd us to put Fourteen Men into
+    Canou's, and cast the Balast of our Ship overboard to get her
+    off again. That River falls into the Lake; but for fear of being
+    frozen up therein, we were forced to cut the Ice with Axes and
+    other Instruments.
+
+    The Wind turning then contrary, we were oblig'd to tarry there
+    till the 15th of December, 1678, when we sailed from the
+    Northern Coast to the Southern, where the River Niagara runs
+    into the Lake; but could not reach it that Day, though it is but
+    Fifteen or Sixteen Leagues distant, and therefore cast Anchor
+    within Five Leagues of the Shore, where we had very bad Weather
+    all the Night long.
+
+    On the 6th, being St. Nicholas's Day, we got into the fine River
+    Niagara, into which never any such Ship as ours entred before.
+    We sung there Te Deum, and other Prayers, to return our Thanks
+    to God Almighty for our prosperous Voyage. The Iroquese
+    Tsonnontouans inhabiting the little Village, situated at the
+    Mouth of the River, took above Three Hundred Whitings which are
+    bigger than Carps, and the best relish'd, as well as the
+    wholsomest Fish in the World; which they presented all to us,
+    imputing their good luck to our Arrival. They were much
+    surprized at our Ship, which they call'd the Great Woodden
+    Canou.
+
+    On the 7th, we went in a Canou two Leagues up the River to look
+    for a convenient Place for Building; but not being able to get
+    the Canou farther up, because the Current was too rapid for us
+    to master, we went over land about three Leagues higher, though
+    we found no Land fit for culture. We lay that Night near a
+    River, which runs from the Westward, within a League above the
+    great Fall of Niagara, which, as we have already said, is the
+    greatest in the World. The Snow was then a Foot deep, and we
+    were oblig'd to dig it up to make room for our Fire.
+
+    The next day we return'd the same way we went, and saw great
+    Numbers of Wild Goats, and Wild Turkey-Cocks, and on the 11th we
+    said the first Mass that ever was said in that Country. The
+    Carpenters and the rest of the Crew were set to work; but
+    Monsieur de la Motte, who had the Direction of them, being not
+    able to endure the Fatigues of so laborious a Life, gave over
+    his Design, and return'd to Canada, having about two hundred
+    Leagues to Travel.
+
+    The 12th, 13th, and 14th, the Wind was not favourable enough to
+    sail up the River as far as the rapid Current above mention'd
+    where we had resolv'd to build some Houses.
+
+    Whosoever considers our Map, will easily see, that this New
+    Enterprise of building a Fort and some Houses on the River
+    Niagara, besides the Fort of Frontenac, was like to give
+    Jealousie to the Iroquese, and even to the English, who live in
+    this Neighbourhood, and have a great Commerce with them.
+    Therefore to prevent the ill Consequences of it, it was thought
+    fit to send an Embassie to the Iroquese, as it will be mention'd
+    in the next Chapter.
+
+    The 15th I was desired to sit at the Helm of our Brigantine
+    while three of our Men hall'd the same from the Shore with a
+    Rope; and at last we brought her up, and moor'd her to the Shore
+    with a Halser, near a Rock of a prodigious heighth lying upon
+    the rapid Currents we have already mentioned. The 17th, 18th,
+    and 19th, we were busie in making a Cabin with Pallisado's, to
+    serve for a Magazine; but the Ground was so frozen, that we were
+    forc'd to throw several times boiling Water upon it to
+    facilitate the beating in and driving down the Stakes. The 20th,
+    21st, 22d, and 23d, our Ship was in great danger to be dash'd in
+    pieces, by the vast pieces of Ice that were hurl'd down the
+    River; to prevent which, our Carpenters made a Capstone to haul
+    her ashore; but our great Cable broke in three pieces; whereupon
+    one of our Carpenters surrounded the Vessel with a Cable, and
+    ty'd it to several Ropes, whereby we got her ashore, tho' with
+    much difficulty, and sav'd her from the danger of being broke to
+    pieces, or carryed away by the Ice, which came down with an
+    extream violence from the great Fall of Niagara.
+
+Returning to Niagara with little or no promise of success, yet La
+Salle's _avant-couriers_ were in no way dissuaded from their purposes of
+fortifying the important Niagara portage and building a vessel for the
+upper lakes in which to carry the produce of those regions to Niagara
+and from thence to Canada. Reaching the Niagara January 14th, the French
+party was joined six days later by the indomitable La Salle who, he
+reported, had paused on his way thither from Fort Frontenac and visited
+the unmoved Iroquois and secured their consent to the plan of
+fortification. Yet even La Salle was too optimistic as to his success,
+
+    for certain Persons [wrote Hennepin], who made it their Business
+    to Cross our Design, inspired the _Iroquese_ with many
+    suspicions, about the fort we were building at _Niagara_, which
+    was in great forwardness; and their Suspicions grew so high,
+    that we were obliged to give over our Building for some time,
+    contenting ourselves with an Habitation encompass'd with
+    Pallisado's.
+
+The embassy to the Iroquois mentioned by Hennepin was duly organised and
+sent forward through the winter snows to seek the good-will of the
+famous owners of the soil in a fort-building project; in order to allay
+the suspicions of the Senecas in what Hennepin calls "the little village
+of Niagara," they were told that their purpose was, not to build a fort,
+but "a Hangar, or Store-house, to keep the Commodities we had brought to
+supply their Occasions." Nevertheless it was necessary to supply gifts
+and make assurances that an embassy would forthwith depart for the
+Iroquois council house. Anything less than Hennepin's own account would
+not fairly describe this interesting mission:
+
+    We travelled with Shoes made after the Indian way, of a single
+    Skin, but without Soles, because the Earth was still cover'd
+    with Snow, and past through Forests for thirty two Leagues
+    together carrying upon our Backs our Coverings and other
+    Baggage, lying often in open Field, and having with us no other
+    Food but some roasted Indian Corn: 'T is true, we met upon our
+    Road some Iroquese a hunting, who gave us some wild Goats, and
+    Fifteen or Sixteen black Squirrels, which are excellent Meat.
+    However, after five Days' Journey, we came to Tagarondies, a
+    great Village of the Iroquese Tsonnontouans, and were
+    immediately carry'd to the Cabin of their Principal Chief, where
+    Women and Children flock'd to see us, our Men being very well
+    drest and arm'd. An old Man having according to Custom made
+    publick Cries, to give Notice of our arrival to their Village;
+    the younger Savages wash'd our Feet, which afterwards they
+    rubb'd over with the Grease of Deers, wild Goats, and other
+    Beasts, and the Oil of Bears.
+
+    The next Day was the First of the Year 1679. After the ordinary
+    Service I preach'd in a little Chapel made of Barks of Trees, in
+    presence of two Jesuites, viz. Father Garnier and Rafeix; and
+    afterwards we had a Conference with 42 old Men, who make up
+    their Council. These Savages are for the most part tall, and
+    very well shap'd, cover'd with a sort of Robe made of Beavers
+    and Wolves-Skins, or of black Squirrels, holding a Pipe or
+    Calumet in their Hands. The Senators of Venice do not appear
+    with a graver Countenance, and perhaps don't speak with more
+    Majesty and Solidity, than those Ancient Iroquese.
+
+    This Nation is the most cruel and barbarous of all America,
+    especially to their Slaves, whom they take above two or three
+    hundred Leagues from their Country, . . . however, I must do
+    them the Justice to observe, that they have many good qualities;
+    and that they love the Europeans, to whom they sell their
+    Commodities at very reasonable Rates. They have a mortal Hatred
+    for those, who being too self-interested and covetous, are
+    always endeavouring to enrich themselves to the Prejudice of
+    others. Their chief Commodities are Beavers-Skins, which they
+    bring from above a hundred and fifty Leagues off their
+    Habitations, to exchange them with the English and Dutch, whom
+    they affect more than the inhabitants of Canada, because they
+    are more affable, and sell them their Commodities cheaper.
+
+    [Illustration: Frontenac, from Hébert's Statue at Quebec.]
+
+    One of our own Men nam'd Anthony Brossard, who understood very
+    well the Language of the Iroquese, and therefore was Interpreter
+    to M. de la Motte; told their Assembly:
+
+    First, That we were come to pay them a Visit, and smoak with
+    them in their Pipes, a Ceremony which I shall describe anon: And
+    then we deliver'd our Presents, consisting of Axes, Knives, a
+    great Collar of white and blue Porcelain, with some Gowns. We
+    made Presents upon every Point we propos'd to them, of the same
+    nature as the former.
+
+    Secondly, We desir'd them, in the next place to give notice to
+    the five Cantons of their Nation, that we were about to build a
+    Ship, or great woodden Canou above the great Fall of the River
+    Niagara, to go and fetch European Commodities by a more
+    convenient passage than the ordinary one, by the River St.
+    Laurence, whose rapid Currents make it dangerous and long; and
+    that by these means we should afford them our Commodities
+    cheaper than the English and Dutch of Boston and New-York. This
+    Pretence was specious enough, and very well contriv'd to engage
+    the barbarous Nation to extirpate the English and Dutch out of
+    America: For they suffer the Europeans among them only for the
+    Fear they have of them, or else for the Profit they make in
+    Bartering their Commodities with them.
+
+    Thirdly, We told them farther, that we should provide them at
+    the River Niagara with a Black-smith and a Gun-smith, to mend
+    their Guns, Axes, &c. having no body among them that understood
+    that Trade, and that for the conveniency of their whole Nation,
+    we would settle those Workmen on the Lake of Ontario, at the
+    Mouth of the River Niagara. We threw again among them seven or
+    eight Gowns, and some Pieces of fine Cloth, which they cover
+    themselves with from the Wast to the Knees. This was in order to
+    engage them on our side, and prevent their giving ear to any who
+    might suggest ill things of us, entreating them first to
+    acquaint us with the Reports that should be made unto them to
+    our Prejudice, before they yielded their Belief to the same.
+
+    We added many other Reasons which we thought proper to persuade
+    them to favour our Design. The Presents we made unto them,
+    either in Cloth or Iron, were worth above 400 Livres besides
+    some other European Commodities, very scarce in that Country:
+    For the best Reasons in the World are not listened to among
+    them, unless they are enforc'd with Presents.
+
+    The next Day the Iroquese answered our Discourse and Presents
+    Article by Article, having laid upon the Ground several little
+    pieces of Wood, to put them in mind of what had been said the
+    Day before in the Council; their Speaker, or President held in
+    his Hand one of these Pieces of Wood, and when he had answer'd
+    one Article of our Proposal, he laid it down, with some Presents
+    of black and white Porcelain, which they use to string upon the
+    smallest Sinews of Beasts; and then took up another Piece of
+    Wood; and so of all the rest, till he had fully answer'd our
+    Speech, of which those Pieces of Wood, and our Presents put them
+    in mind. When this Discourse was ended, the oldest Man of their
+    Assembly cry'd aloud three times, Niaoua; that is to say, It is
+    well, I thank thee, which was repeated with a full Voice; and in
+    a tuneful manner by all the other Senators.
+
+    'T is to be observ'd here, that the Savages, though some are
+    more cunning than others, are generally all addicted to their
+    own Interests; and therefore tho' the Iroquese seem'd to be
+    pleas'd with our Proposals, they were not really so; for the
+    English and Dutch affording them the European Commodities at
+    cheaper Rates than the French of Canada, they had a greater
+    Inclination for them than for us. That People, tho' so barbarous
+    and rude in their Manners, have however a Piece of Civility
+    peculiar to themselves; for a Man would be counted very
+    impertinent if he contradicted anything that is said in their
+    Council, and if he does not approve even the greatest
+    Absurdities therein propos'd; and therefore they always answer
+    Niaoua; that is to say Thou art in the right Brother; that is
+    well.
+
+    Notwithstanding that seeming Approbation, they believe what they
+    please and no more; and therefore 't is impossible to know when
+    they are really persuaded of those things you have mention'd
+    unto them, which I take to be one of the greatest Obstructions
+    to their Conversion: For their Civility hindering them from
+    making any Objection, or contradicting what is said unto them,
+    they seem to approve of it, though perhaps they laugh at it in
+    private, or else never bestow a moment to reflect upon it, such
+    being their indifference for a future Life. From these
+    Observations, I conclude that the Conversion of these People is
+    to be despair'd of, 'till they are subdu'd by the Europeans, and
+    that their Children have another sort of Education, unless God
+    be pleas'd to work a Miracle in their Favour.
+
+On the 22nd of the month the party struck out for the upper Niagara for
+the purpose of carrying out the original design of building a ship for
+the upper lake trade. Hennepin gives the site of this interesting
+adventure as "two leagues above the great Fall--this was the most
+convenient place we could pitch upon, being upon a River which falls
+into the Streight [Niagara River] between the Lake _Erie_, and the great
+Fall of Niagara." Even had the common portage around the Falls and
+Rapids been on the American side Hennepin's account makes it fairly
+clear that the boat building took place on Cayuga Creek; the only other
+"river" above the Falls falling into the Niagara is the Chippewa, and
+Hennepin clearly notes this stream in his first tour of exploration
+above the Falls as "within a league above the great Fall"; it is clear
+that the Cayuga, therefore, is the probable site of this first boat
+building along the Niagara frontier.[21] The little village at this
+point has been appropriately named La Salle from the famous adventurer
+who here dreamed that emparadising dream of discovery and
+empire-founding. Hennepin's account, quaintly worded, again becomes of
+more interest than any record of those days to be made from it:
+
+    The 26th, the Keel of the Ship and some other Pieces being
+    ready, M. de la Salle sent the Master-Carpenter, to desire me to
+    drive in the first Pin; but my Profession obliging me to decline
+    that Honour, he did it himself, and promis'd Ten Louis d'Or's,
+    to encourage the Carpenter, and further the Work. The Winter
+    being not half so hard in that Country as in Canada, we employ'd
+    one of the two Savages of the Nation call'd the Wolf, whom we
+    kept for Hunting, in building some Cabins made of Rinds of
+    Trees; and I had one made on purpose to perform Divine Service
+    therein on Sundays, and other occasions.
+
+    M. de la Salle having some urgent Business of his own, return'd
+    to Fort Frontenac, leaving for our Commander one Tonti, an
+    Italian by Birth, who had been forc'd to retire into France
+    after the Revolution of Naples, in which his Father was
+    concern'd. I conducted M. de la Salle as far as the Lake Ontario
+    at the Mouth of the River Niagara, where we order'd a House to
+    be built for the Smith he had promis'd to the Iroquese; but this
+    was only to amuze them, and therefore I cannot but own that the
+    Savages are not to be blam'd for having not believ'd every thing
+    they were told by M. la Motte in his Embassie already related.
+
+    He undertook his Journey a-foot over the Snow, having no other
+    Provisions, but a little Sack of Indian Corn roasted, which
+    fail'd him two Days before he came to the Fort, which is above
+    fourscore Leagues distant from the Place where he left us.
+    However he got home safely with two Men, and a Dog, who dragg'd
+    his Baggage over the Ice or frozen Snow.
+
+    When I return'd to our Dock, I understood that most of the
+    Iroquese were gone to wage War with a Nation on the other side
+    of the Lake Erie. In the mean time, our Men continu'd with great
+    Application to build our Ship; for the Iroquese who were left
+    behind, being but a small number, were not so insolent as
+    before, though they come now and then to our Dock, and express'd
+    some Discontent at what we were doing. One of them in
+    particular, feigning himself drunk, attempted to kill our Smith,
+    but was vigorously repuls'd by him with a red-hot Iron-barr,
+    which, together with the Reprimand he receiv'd from me, oblig'd
+    him to be gone. Some few Days after, a Savage Woman gave us
+    notice, that the Tsonnontouans had resolv'd to burn our Ship in
+    the Dock, and had certainly done it, had we not been always upon
+    our Guard.
+
+    These frequent Alarms from the Natives, together with the Fears
+    we were in of wanting Provisions, having lost the great Barque
+    from Fort Frontenac, which should have reliev'd us, and the
+    Tsonnontouans at the same time refusing to give us of their Corn
+    for Money, were a great discouragement to our Carpenters, whom
+    on the other hand, a Villain amongst us endeavour'd to reduce:
+    That pitiful Fellow had several times attempted to run away from
+    us into New-York, and would have been likely to pervert our
+    Carpenters, had I not confirm'd them in their good Resolution,
+    by the Exhortations I us'd to make every Holy-day after Divine
+    Service; in which I represented to them, that the Glory of God
+    was concern'd in our Undertaking, besides the Good and Advantage
+    of our Christian Colonies; and therefore exhorted them to
+    redouble their Diligence, in order to free our selves from all
+    those Inconveniences and Apprehensions we then lay under.
+
+    The two Savages we had taken into our Service, went all this
+    while a Hunting, and supply'd us with Wild-Goats, and other
+    Beasts for our Subsistence; which encouraged our Workmen to go
+    on with their Work more briskly than before, insomuch that in a
+    short time our Ship was in a readiness to be launched; which we
+    did, after having bless'd the same according to the use of the
+    Romish Church. We made all the haste we could to get it afloat,
+    though not altogether finish'd, to prevent the Designs of the
+    Natives, who had resolv'd to burn it.
+
+    The Ship was call'd the Griffon, alluding to the Arms of Count
+    Frontenac, which have two Griffons for Supporters; and besides,
+    M. la Salle us'd to say of the Ship, while yet upon the Stocks,
+    that he would make the Griffon fly above the Ravens. We fir'd
+    three Guns, and sung Te Deum, which was attended with loud
+    Acclamations of Joy; of which those of the Iroquese, who were
+    accidentally present at this Ceremony, were also Partakers; for
+    we gave them some Brandy to drink, as well as our Men, who
+    immediately quitted their Cabins of Rinds of Trees, and hang'd
+    their Hammocks under the Deck of the Ship, there to lie with
+    more security than ashore. We did the like, insomuch that the
+    very same Day we were all on Board, and thereby out of the reach
+    of the Insults of the Savages.
+
+    The Iroquese being returned from hunting Beavers, were mightily
+    surprised to see our Ship a-float, and call'd us Otkon, which is
+    in their Language, Most penetrating Wits: For they could not
+    apprehend how in so short a time we had been able to build so
+    great a Ship, though it was but 60 Tuns. It might have been
+    indeed call'd a moving Fortress; for all the Savages inhabiting
+    the Banks of those Lakes and Rivers I have mentioned, for five
+    hundred Leagues together, were filled with fear as well as
+    Admiration when they saw it. . . .
+
+    Being thus prepar'd against all Discouragements, I went up in a
+    Canou with one of our Savages to the Mouth of the Lake Erie,
+    notwithstanding the strong Current which I master'd with great
+    difficulty. I sounded the Mouth of the Lake and found, contrary
+    to the Relation that had been made unto me, that a Ship with a
+    brisk Gale might sail up to the Lake, and surmounted the
+    Rapidity of the Current; and that therefore with a strong North,
+    North-East Wind, we might bring our Ship into the Lake Erie. I
+    took also a view of the Banks of the Streight, and found that in
+    case of Need, we might put some of our Men a-shore to hall the
+    Ship, if the Wind was not strong enough.
+
+The _Griffon_ being more or less completed Father Hennepin followed La
+Salle in returning to Fort Frontenac to secure necessaries for the tour
+of the upper lakes. Returning, La Salle and Hennepin did not reach
+Niagara again until the 30th of July, but found the _Griffon_ riding
+safely at anchor within a league of Lake Erie.
+
+    We were very kindly receiv'd [writes the Father], and likewise
+    very glad to find our Ship well rigg'd, and ready fitted out
+    with all the Necessaries for sailing. She carry'd five small
+    Guns, two whereof were Brass, and three Harquebuze a-crock. The
+    Beak-head was adorn'd with a flying Griffon, and an Eagle above
+    it; and the rest of the Ship had the same Ornaments as Men of
+    War use to have.
+
+    The Iroquese were then returning from a Warlike Expedition with
+    several Slaves, and were much surpriz'd to see so big a Ship,
+    which they compar'd to a Fort, beyond their Limits. Several came
+    on board, and seem'd to admire above all things the bigness of
+    our Anchors; for they could not apprehend how we had been able
+    to bring them through the rapid Currents of the River St.
+    Laurence. This oblig'd them to use often the Word Gannorom,
+    which in their Language signifies, That is wonderful. They
+    wonder'd also to find there a Ship, having seen none when they
+    went; and did not know from whence it came, it being about 250
+    Leagues from Canada.
+
+    [Illustration: Luna Island Bridge.]
+
+    Having forbid the Pilot to attempt to sail up the Currents of
+    the Streight till farther order, we return'd the 16th and 17th
+    to the Lake Ontario, and brought up our Bark to the great Rock
+    of Niagara, and anchor'd at the foot of the three Mountains
+    Lewiston, where we were oblig'd to make our Portage; that is, to
+    carry over-land our Canou's and Provisions, and other Things,
+    above the great Fall of the River, which interrupts the
+    Navigation: and because most of the Rivers of that Country are
+    interrupted with great Rocks, and that therefore those who sail
+    upon the same, are oblig'd to go overland above those Falls, and
+    carry upon their Backs their Canou's and other Things. They
+    express it with this Word, To make our Portage; of which the
+    Reader is desir'd to take notice, for otherwise the following
+    Account, as well as the Map, would be unintelligible to many.
+
+    Father Gabriel, though of Sixty five Years of Age, bore with
+    great Vigour the Fatigue of that Voyage, and went thrice up and
+    down those three Mountains, which are pretty high and steep. Our
+    Men had a great deal of trouble; for they were oblig'd to make
+    several Turns to carry the Provisions and Ammunition, and the
+    Portage was two Leagues long. Our Anchors were so big that four
+    Men had much ado to carry one; but the Brandy we gave them was
+    such an Encouragement, that they surmounted cheerfully all the
+    Difficulties of that Journey; and so we got on board our Ship
+    all our Provisions, Ammunitions, and Commodities. . . .
+
+    We endeavour'd several times to sail up that Lake; but the Wind
+    being not strong enough, we were forc'd to wait for it. In the
+    mean time, M. la Salle caus'd our Men to grub up some Land, and
+    sow several sorts of Pot-Herbs and Pulse, for the conveniency of
+    those who should settle themselves there, to maintain our
+    Correspondence with Fort Frontenac. We found there a great
+    quantity of wild Cherries and Rocambol, a sort of Garlick, which
+    grow naturally in that Ground. We left Father Melithon, with
+    some Work-men, at our Habitation above the Fall of Niagara; and
+    most of our Men went a-shore to lighten our Ships, the better to
+    sail up the Lake.
+
+    The Wind veering to the North-East, and the Ship being well
+    provided, we made all the Sail we could, and with the help of
+    Twelve Men who hall'd from the Shoar, overcame the Rapidity of
+    the Current, and got into the Lake. The Stream is so violent,
+    that our Pilot himself despair'd of Success. When it was done,
+    we sung Te Deum, and discharg'd our Cannon and other Fire-Arms,
+    in presence of a great many Iroquese, who came from a Warlike
+    Expedition against the Savages of Tintonha; that is to say, the
+    Nation of the Meadows, who live above four hundred Leagues from
+    that Place. The Iroquese and their Prisoners were much surpriz'd
+    to see us in the Lake and did not think before that, we should
+    be able to overcome the Rapidity of the Current: They cry'd
+    several times Gannorom, to shew their Admiration. Some of the
+    Iroquese had taken the measure of our Ship, and immediately went
+    for New-York to give notice to the English and Dutch of our
+    Sailing into the Lake: For those Nations affording their
+    Commodities Cheaper than the French, are also more belov'd by
+    the Natives. On the 7th of August, 1679, we went on board being
+    in all four and thirty men, including two Recollets who came to
+    us, and sail'd from the Mouth of the Lake Erie.
+
+The loss of the _Griffon_ by shipwreck on its initial voyage and the
+subsequent misfortunes that seemed to follow the brave La Salle up to
+the very day that witnessed his brutal murder in a far Texan prairie in
+1687, are, in a measure only a part of the story of Niagara. Had that
+great man lived to realise any fair fraction of his emparadising dream
+of empire the effect on the history of the Niagara frontier would have
+been momentous; a mere comparison of what now did transpire at the mouth
+of the Niagara, in the very year of La Salle's death, illustrates
+perfectly the lack of enterprise that seems suddenly to have faded from
+the situation. With La Salle gone, the whole attitude of the regime in
+power at Quebec seems to change; whereas La Salle was on the very point
+of establishing at Niagara an important station on the communication to
+Louisiana. What actually did happen here is pitiful by comparison.
+
+The new Governor, De Nonville, in order to bring the Iroquois into a
+proper state of submission and compell them to desist from annoying
+travellers on the St. Lawrence, determined to repeat Champlain's feat
+of invading their homeland. The record of this expedition from the mouth
+of its commanding officer, the Governor himself, is a very interesting
+document, especially to those interested in the study of that famous
+Long House that lay south of Lake Ontario.[22] Embarking at Fort
+Frontenac July 4, 1687, the expedition landed at Irondequoit Bay six
+days later, where De Nonville was reinforced by a party of French which
+had rendezvoused at Niagara from the West. Of this party little is
+known; possibly some of La Salle's crew were here, coming from their
+cabins at either end of the Niagara portage path, or possibly from the
+ship yard at the present La Salle. "It clearly appears," writes
+Marshall, "from De Nonville's narrative, that the party which he met at
+the mouth of the bay, was composed of French and Indians from the far
+west, who sailed from . . . Niagara, to join the expedition pursuant to
+his orders." These Indians, Mr. Browne affirms, were from
+Michilimackinac. Marching inland to the region Mr. Marshall believed, in
+the neighbourhood of the village of Victor, ten miles north-west of
+Canandaigua, a party of Senecas was put to flight and the entire region
+devastated until the 23rd; it was estimated that in the four Seneca
+villages the soldiers had destroyed about 1,200,000 bushels of
+corn--350,000 minots, of which all but 50,000 were green. On the 24th
+the lake was again reached.
+
+The situation on the Niagara frontier at this moment could not better be
+described than it has been by Mr. Browne in his _The St. Lawrence
+River_, as follows:
+
+    De Nonville had now a clear way to build his fort at Niagara,
+    which he proceeded to do, and then armed it with one hundred
+    men. If triumphant in his bold plans, he had to learn that the
+    viper crushed might rise to sting. The Senecas had their
+    avengers. Maddened by the cowardly onset of De Nonville and his
+    followers, the Iroquois to a man rose against the French. This
+    was not done by any organised raid, but, shod with silence,
+    small, eager war-parties haunted the forests of the St.
+    Lawrence, striking where they were the least expected, and never
+    failing to leave behind them the smoke of burning dwellings and
+    the horrors of desolated lives. From Fort Frontenac to Tadousac
+    there was not a home exempt from this deadly scourge; not a life
+    that was not threatened. Unable to cope with so artful a foe,
+    De Nonville was in despair. He sued for peace, but to obtain this
+    he had to betray his allies, the Indians of the Upper Lakes, who
+    had entered his service under the conditions that the war should
+    continue until the Iroquois were exterminated. The latter sent
+    delegates to confer with the French commander at Montreal.
+
+    While this conference was under way, a Huron chief showed that
+    he was the equal of even De Nonville in the strategies of war
+    where the code of honour was a dead letter. Anticipating the
+    fate in store for his race did the French carry out their scheme
+    of self-defence, this chief, whose name was Kandironk, "the
+    Rat," lay in ambush for the envoys on their way home from their
+    conference with De Nonville, when the latter had made so many
+    fair promises. These Kandironk captured, claiming he did it
+    under orders from De Nonville, bore them to Michilimackinac, and
+    tortured them as spies. This done, he sent an Iroquois captive
+    to tell his people how fickle the French could be. Scarcely was
+    this accomplished when he gave to the French his exultant
+    declaration, "I have killed the peace!" The words were
+    prophetic. Nothing that De Nonville could say or do cleared him
+    of connection with the affair. His previous conduct was enough
+    to condemn him. To avenge this act of deceit, as the Iroquois
+    considered it, they rallied in great numbers, and on the night
+    of August 4, 1689, dealt the most cruel and deadly blow given
+    during all the years of warfare in the St. Lawrence valley.
+    Fifteen hundred strong, under cover of the darkness, they stole
+    down upon the settlement of La Chine situated at the upper end
+    of the island of Montreal, and surprised the inhabitants while
+    they slept in fancied security. More than two hundred men,
+    women, and children were slain in cold blood, or borne away to
+    fates a hundred times more terrible to meet than swift death.
+    The day already breaking upon the terror-stricken colonists was
+    the darkest Canada ever knew.
+
+The result of the expedition, so far as result appears, was effected
+when the ships bearing his men turned toward the Niagara River and were
+anchored off the point of land where now stands historic Fort Niagara.
+Here a fort was to be built forthwith, as much to secure the fur trade
+and to overawe the Indians as to keep the English from making any
+advance toward the territory of the Lakes. On the very day of his
+arrival De Nonville set his men to work. The fortification was
+constructed partly of earth surmounted by palisades. The building of the
+structure was no easy matter. There were no trees in the immediate
+vicinity, so the soldiers had to obtain their timber to the east along
+the lake or across the river. After the timber had been obtained from
+these forests, it was a very difficult matter to drag it up the high
+bank. However, De Nonville was so energetic and his men worked so
+faithfully that in three days a fort was built with four bastions, where
+were mounted two large guns. Several cabins were also built. As the work
+progressed, many of those who had come with De Nonville, both French and
+Indians, began to leave. Du Luth, Durantaye, and Tonty, together with
+the Illinois Indians who had allied themselves with the French against
+the Iroquois, departed for the trading-posts of Detroit and
+Michilimackinac. Soon after De Nonville himself left for Montreal, taking
+with him all but a hundred men. Those whom he left behind were placed
+under the command of De Troyes, with promises to send provisions as soon
+as possible, and fresh troops in the spring.[23]
+
+The men left behind were truly in a surly mood. In spite of De Nonville's
+assurance of provisions, and his assertion that the Senecas had been
+subdued, these men knew only too well not to depend too much on the
+first, and as to the second, that the Indians had only been enraged,
+rather than vanquished.
+
+For a time there was enough work to keep all hands busy. M. de Brissay
+left on the 3d of August, commanding M. de Vaudreuil to help in the
+constructing of the cabins and the completion of the fort. There was an
+immense amount of work to be accomplished in the cutting, dragging,
+hewing, and sawing of the timbers; but, despite the hot weather, there
+was soon completed a house with a chimney of sticks and clay for the
+commandant. Three other cabins were afterward built in the square and in
+the midst of these a well was dug; but its waters were always roiled
+from improper curbing.
+
+[Illustration: "Carte du Lac Ontario." A Specimen French Map of the
+Niagara Frontier.
+
+Dated October 4, 1757.
+
+From the original in the British Museum.]
+
+Vaudreuil left toward the latter part of August after having seen the
+company well roofed. Many of the number, who were at first fired by the
+spirit of adventure and a desire to remain at Niagara, now, foreseeing
+the suffering to be undergone, desired to return with Vaudreuil; but
+nearly all were compelled to remain at the fort.
+
+Although the expedition when it set out against the Senecas was
+tolerably well supplied with necessaries for an Indian campaign, those
+who were left at the fort were left in a bad condition indeed. About
+three thousand bushels of corn had been destroyed which belonged to the
+Senecas; but scarcely a week's rations had been brought along to their
+destination. Very few had brought any seeds, and not much gardening
+could have been done anyway, on account of the lateness of the season.
+The few attempts that were made brought no returns on account of a
+drought. No hunting could be undertaken except in large parties so as to
+be secure from the savages. Almost the only food supply was the fish
+caught in the lake.
+
+There was unbounded joy at the fort when the sail of the ship with
+supplies, which had been promised by De Nonville, was seen on the
+horizon. But even then the unlading was delayed two days by calms which
+prevented the vessel from coming nearer than several miles from the
+shore. Finally a landing was effected; and the cargo was quickly stowed
+in the fort. The ship immediately returned to Canada.
+
+From the very first the provisions proved to be bad. Still with these,
+together with the few herbs of the forest, a small amount of game and
+fish, the men managed to eke out an existence. There was no labour to
+perform--nothing to do but complain of the food and hard life which they
+were compelled to live.
+
+Toward the latter part of September, the Indians made their first
+appearance. A hunting party in the vicinity of the Falls lost two men.
+Another party was cut off from the fort. Their dead bodies were found
+scalped and mutilated by the savages. The commander, De Troyes, soon
+fell ill, as did also Jean de Lamberville, the only priest in the
+colony. Thus at almost the same time was the company deprived of
+leadership and religious consolation. Christmas season drew on; but it
+was a sorry time for those at the fort. The weather had become severe,
+and fierce snow-storms were frequent. No one ventured beyond the
+palisades except in quest of firewood; and it was almost impossible at
+times to obtain this. Many were nearly frozen in their cabins. One day
+the wood-choppers were overwhelmed in the snow in sight of the fort. No
+one dared to go to their succour for fear of suffering the same fate.
+Two days after, those within the stockade saw their dead comrades
+devoured by wolves. Not a charge of powder was left. The food was almost
+unbearable. The biscuits were full of weevil from the first, and the
+meat was in such a putrefied condition that no one could eat it. Scurvy
+broke out. De Troyes could not leave his cabin and was compelled to
+trust everything to his men.
+
+From a band of gallant soldiers, they had been reduced to a mere handful
+of disease-infected skeletons. In six weeks there were sixty deaths; and
+this was only the middle of February. Only a few of the stronger were
+left able to do the work which was absolutely necessary, such as
+supplying firewood and burying the dead, and these duties were performed
+with infinite toil and danger. More than twenty died in the month of
+March; in this number was the brave commander De Troyes. With their
+leader seemed to perish all the little spirit left in his followers.
+Almost no hope was left for the suffering inmates of the fort. It was
+still many weeks until the promised succour could possibly come from
+Montreal. The Western savages had promised an alliance and aid to the
+French against the Iroquois, but little confidence was to be placed in
+their promises.
+
+Just as the men left in the fort were reduced to the very last
+extremity, and were wishing for death to relieve them of their miseries,
+a war-party from the Miamis on an expedition against the Senecas reached
+the fort and gave that relief so long vainly looked for by the inmates.
+Several of these who first regained their strength set out for Montreal
+to carry the news of their sore straits to the government; and on one
+pleasant, beautiful day in April the long expected sail was seen on the
+horizon bringing relief to the remnant of those who had been left in the
+fort the preceding summer.
+
+In command of the expedition was D'esbergeres, and with him Father
+Milet, besides a large company of companions. As soon as they landed,
+Father Milet conducted mass and then put all the men who were able to
+work constructing a large cross. While they were at the work, Father
+Milet traced upon its arms: "Regnat, Vincit, Imperat Christus."
+
+On Good Friday, the priest again held mass, and erected the cross in the
+centre of the square of the fort, thus symbolising a victory wrung from
+the clutches of defeat itself.
+
+With spring, the new companions, and a goodly supply of provisions, was
+born new hope in the fort. The little company were very busy during the
+summer, despite the fact that the Iroquois, stirred on by the English,
+gave them continual trouble. In September Mahent came with the vessel
+_La Général_, with orders to D'esbergeres to abandon the fort. This was
+quite a blow to the commander, as having held the post all summer he
+hoped to continue to do so. The outer barracks were all destroyed, which
+was not so difficult a task, as the severe storms of the previous winter
+had done much of this work; but the cabins were all left standing. On
+the morning of the 15th of September, 1688, the garrison sailed away,
+once more leaving the shores of the great Niagara untroubled by the
+contentions of white men, and open to the nation who should seize it or
+conciliate the savages who held the surrounding regions.
+
+Yet De Nonville had done something for which to be remembered beyond
+raiding the Long House and fortifying the river of the Neuters; he had
+left it a name that should live as he had, first of white men, so far as
+we know, written it. The orthography of the name Niagara seems to have
+now been established--1687. Champlain did not use any name in 1613,
+though on his map we find the following words attached to the stream
+connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario, _chute d'eau_, giving us our first
+genuine record of Niagara Falls.
+
+We have seen that L'Allemant spelled the name _Onguiaahra_ in 1640. In
+1657 it appears on Sanson's map as _Ongiara_, and is applied to the
+Falls; in 1660 Ducreux's map shows us "_Ongiara_ Cataractes." In 1687
+De Nonville gives us our present Niagara. Of the name Mr. Marshall has
+left this authoritative opinion:
+
+    Onguiaahra and Ongiara are evidently identical, and present the
+    same elements as Niagara. They are undoubtedly compounds of
+    words expressive of some meaning, as is usual with aboriginal
+    terms, but which meaning is now lost. The "o" which occurs in
+    both the French and English orthography is probably a neuter
+    prefix, similar to what is used by the Senecas and Mohawks. One
+    writer contends that Niagara is derived from Nyah´-gaah´, or as
+    he writes it, "Ne-ah´-gah," said to be the name of a Seneca
+    village which formerly existed on the Niagara River below
+    Lewiston, and now applied by the Senecas to Lake Ontario. This
+    derivation, however, cannot be correct, for Onguiaahra, and its
+    counterpart Ongiara, were in use as names of the river and falls
+    long before the Seneca village in question was in existence. The
+    Neutral Nation, from whose language the words were taken, lived
+    on _both_ borders of the Niagara until they were exterminated by
+    the Senecas in 1643. It is far more probable the Nyah´-gaah´ is
+    a reappearance of Ongiara in the Seneca dialect, and this view
+    is strengthened by the fact that the former, unlike most
+    Iroquois names, is without meaning, and as the aborigines do not
+    confer arbitrary names, it is an evidence that it has been
+    borrowed or derived from a foreign language. The conclusion then
+    is, that the French derived Niagara from Ongiara, and the
+    Senecas, when they took possession of the territories of the
+    Neutral Nation, adopted the name Ongiara, as near as the idiom
+    of their language would allow, and hence their name Nyah´-gaah´.
+
+[Footnote 20: _Discovery of the West_, pp. 115-16.]
+
+[Footnote 21: The exact spot of building is the subject of a monograph
+_The Shipyard of the Griffon_ by Cyrus Kingsbury Remington (Buffalo, N.
+Y. 1891), in which the author, while advocating his own theory, presents
+liberally views held by those in disagreement with himself. We find O.
+H. Marshall in accord with Mr Remington that what is known as the "Old
+Ship Yard" or Angevine place, at La Salle, was the site of the building
+of the _Griffon_.]
+
+[Footnote 22: The Narrative is given in full with careful introduction
+and explanations in Marshall's _Writings_, pp. 123-186.]
+
+[Footnote 23: A most thrilling account of this fort-building effort at
+the mouth of the Niagara is to be found in Severance, _Old Trails of the
+Niagara Frontier_, on which the present writer has based his description
+here given.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter IX
+
+  Niagara under Three Flags
+
+
+The abdication of De Nonville at Niagara marks, as nothing else perhaps
+can, the rise of English influence along the Lakes and among the crafty
+Iroquois. Slowly but surely this influence made itself felt among the
+Six Nations in the attempt to swing the entire current of the fur trade
+from the north-west through the Long House to New York.
+
+With the destruction of the little fort built by De Nonville, however,
+it becomes clear that when on the same basis the English were no match
+for the French, so far as winning the redskins to their interests was
+concerned; it may be that with the withdrawal of the French there
+followed a natural diminution of English anxiety and activity in the
+matter: whether this was true or not there immediately ensued a notable
+increase of French attention to the Six Nations who, after all,
+controlled the destinies of this key of the continent. As days of war
+and days of peace came and went the governors both of New York and
+Quebec sought permission to fortify the Niagara River, but the
+eighteenth century dawned with no step taken by either side, though each
+had most jealously been watching the other.
+
+It was characteristic of Frenchmen, however, to meet and mingle with
+the Indians as the English seldom did; it was not wholly out of the
+common, indeed, for them to adopt Indian dress and customs and be, in
+turn, adopted into some Indian tribe. Through the fortunate influence
+exerted by one of these adopted sons of the wilderness was New France
+now able to refortify the strategic Niagara region, temporarily besting
+England in the contest for the supremacy here. Chabert Joncaire, taken
+prisoner by the Senecas and adopted into their tribe, married an Indian
+woman and became an important factor among the warriors and war councils
+of the western end of the Long House. In the year 1700 Joncaire became a
+missionary for the French political cause, and he seems to have managed
+affairs so diplomatically that he in no wise lost caste among the
+Iroquois, for six years later they suggested to him "to establish
+himself among them, granting him liberty to select on their territory
+the place most acceptable to himself for the purpose of living and in
+peace, even to remove their villages to the neighbourhood of his
+residence in order to protect him."[24]
+
+In the next decade France made considerable headway in undoing the
+miserable work of De Nonville by disarming the hostility of the Iroquois,
+especially with the Senecas who held the Niagara frontier, through
+Joncaire, who in 1719 was sent to "try the minds of the Seneca nation
+and ascertain if it would permit the building of a French house in
+their country." As a result, in 1720, Joncaire built a bark cabin at
+Lewiston which he called "Magazine Royal." In November of that year,
+according to English report, which was undoubtedly exaggerated through
+prejudice, the "cabin" is described as a blockhouse forty feet in length
+and thirty in width, enclosed with palisades, musket-proof and provided
+with port-holes. The location of this post signifies of itself alone the
+larger strategic nature of Niagara geographically, for it was not at the
+mouth of the river but at the beginning of the portage around the Rapids
+and Falls, at Lewiston, just where La Salle's storehouse, built in 1679,
+had stood. It is believed that the former building had disappeared by
+this time. Charlevoix, who came here the next year, 1721, confounds the
+sites of De Nonville's fort and the "Magazine Royal." Mr. Porter brings
+out well the office of Joncaire's cabin, in which, by the way, a few
+soldiers were maintained as "traders" by saying:
+
+    . . . The trade in furs was brisk, the Indians from the north,
+    west, and south coming there to barter. The chain of friendship
+    with the Senecas was kept bright by friendly intercourse with
+    their warriors, who constantly came there; French trading
+    vessels came often to its rude wharf bringing merchandise to
+    Frontenac and returning laden with furs. Thus the English for
+    the first time failed to overcome the French, while the English
+    in New York did not delay their expostulations regarding what
+    they called French incroachment at Niagara; but so far were they
+    from being successful that the French were able within four
+    years to begin a more important fortification on the site of the
+    "Magazine Royal."
+
+[Illustration: Stones on the Site of Joncaire's Cabin under Lewiston
+Heights, where the Magazine Royal was Erected in 1719.]
+
+American history furnishes many illustrations of the genius of the
+French _coureurs-de-bois_ for winning to themselves the friendship of
+the Indians, but perhaps there is no specific illustration of this more
+clear than this reabsorption of the Niagara region after having once
+abandoned it. Said Sir Guy Carleton:
+
+    France did not depend upon the number of her troops, but upon
+    the discretion of her officers who, learned the language of her
+    natives, distributed the king's presents, excited no jealousy,
+    entirely gained the affections of an ignorant, credulous, but
+    brave people, whose ruling passions are independence, gratitude,
+    and revenge.
+
+Governor Duquesne once said to a deputation of Indians:
+
+    Are you ignorant of the defence between the king of France and
+    the English? Look at the forts which the king has built; you
+    will find that under their very walls the beasts of the forests
+    are hunted and slain; that they are, in fact, fixed in places
+    most frequented by you merely to gratify more conveniently your
+    necessities.
+
+M. Garneau, the historian, frankly acknowledges that the Marquis
+accurately stated the route of Indian admiration for the Frenchmen they
+saw; but it should not be overlooked that the French also were "the most
+romantic and poetic characters ever known in American frontier life.
+Their every moment attracts the rosiest colour of imagination"; all this
+helps to fascinate the savage.
+
+In 1725, the Marquis De Vaudreuil proposed the erection of a storehouse
+at Niagara, and soon the agent met the council of the Five Nations and
+got their permission to build what was really a fort at Niagara, which
+was to cost $5592; one hundred men were instantly sent to begin the
+work.[25] Thus the historic pile known as the "Mess House" or "Castle"
+was begun in 1725 and completed in 1726; at a council fire at Niagara
+the Senecas gave their final ratification to this project, July 14,
+1726.
+
+Joncaire's "Magazine Royal" was permitted to fall into decay, being
+abandoned in 1728 despite the fact that Louis XV. gave his approval to a
+plan for spending twenty thousand livres for its repair although
+approving strongly the erection of the castle, as it would prevent the
+English from trading on the north shore of Lake Ontario as well as
+getting a foothold on the Niagara River. Mr. Porter brings out well the
+service of Joncaire's "Magazine Royal" by saying:
+
+    That building had done good service; it had given the French the
+    desired foothold on the Niagara River; it had held and fostered
+    the trade in furs; it had established French supremacy in this
+    region, and furnished them with the key to the possession of the
+    Upper Lakes and the Ohio Valley; and last, and most important of
+    all, it had been the means of France obtaining a real fortress
+    at the point where her diplomats and armies had been waiting to
+    erect one; for over half a century it had served its purposes; a
+    fort had been built at the mouth of the river, its usefulness
+    was ended, and it was abandoned forever.
+
+The story that the foundations of the castle were laid within a gigantic
+wigwam at a time when the French had induced the Indians to go on a
+hunting expedition is probably no less true than most legends of the
+kind with which our history is filled; and if it is not literally true,
+the spirit of it undoubtedly is, for there must have been a fine story
+of stratagem and diplomacy in the conception and the erection of this
+massive old building upon which the tourist looks to-day with much
+interest. It is also a legend that the stone for the fort was brought
+from Fort Frontenac; this in a way threatens the authenticity of the
+former legend of the magical erection of the building. De Witt Clinton
+writing in 1810 explains that as the stones about the windows are
+different and more handsome than those in the rest of the building it is
+possible that they were brought from Kingston; he gave the measurements
+of the building as 105 by 47 feet.
+
+It is interesting and informing to observe from whence the fort here at
+the mouth of the Niagara received, first and last, its armament; it
+appears that upon the capture of Oswego twenty-four guns "of the largest
+calibre" were sent to Fort Niagara, and we know that during the final
+siege in 1759 some of the guns trained upon Johnson's army were lost by
+Braddock away down in the forests beside the Monongahela River. The
+position held by Fort Niagara in the French scheme of western occupation
+is clearly suggested by these facts.
+
+The modern tourist looking upon the massive, picturesque "Mess House"
+must not forget that "Fort Niagara" was a thing of slow growth. The
+first work here was undoubtedly the foundation and first story of the
+Mess House, surrounded by the common picket wall always found around the
+frontier fort. The first picket wall was falling down by 1739, when it
+was repaired. At this time Niagara was fast losing its hold on western
+trade because of the enforcing of the policy of not selling the Indians
+liquor; however, in 1741, the Governor of New York affirmed that he held
+the Six Nations only by presents and that Fort Niagara must be captured.
+In 1745, when the French policy regarding the Indians was changed, Fort
+Niagara contained only a hundred men and four guns. It is said that the
+fort had been used to some extent as a State prison; surely few French
+prisons, at home or abroad, had a more gloomy dungeon than that in Fort
+Niagara which is shown visitors to-day; the apartment measures six by
+eighteen feet and ten feet in height, of solid stone with no opening for
+light or air. The well of the castle was located here, and many a weird
+story attaches, especially of the headless trunk of the French general
+that haunted the curbstone moaning over his sorry lot. This dungeon is
+one of the places named as the scene of imprisonment of the anti-Masonic
+agitator William Morgan in later days.
+
+As the middle of the eighteenth century drew on France and England
+turned from the European battlefields to America to settle their
+immemorial quarrel for the possession of the continent. It is
+interesting to note that the opening of the struggle occurred not in the
+North or East, as would naturally be expected, but in the West to which
+Niagara offered "the communication."
+
+In 1747 the Ohio Company was formed in Virginia and received its grant
+of land beyond the Alleghanies from the British King. With the exception
+of Lederer, whose explorations did not reach westward of Harper's Ferry,
+and Batts, who had visited the Falls of the Great Kanawha, the English
+colonies knew little or nothing of the West, save only the fables
+brought back by Spottswood's _Knights of the Golden Horseshoe_. But the
+doughty Irish and Scotch-Irish traders had pierced the mountains and
+made bold to challenge the trade of the French with the western
+nations. Immediately Celoron was sent from Montreal on the long voyage
+by way of Niagara to bury his leaden plates on the Ohio to re-establish
+the brave claim incised on La Salle's plate buried at the mouth of the
+Mississippi in 1682, which vaunted French possession of all lands
+drained by waters entering the Gulf of Mexico through the mouth of the
+Mississippi.
+
+Celoron's expedition is interesting because this was the first open
+advance upon the Ohio Valley by France, leading to the building of a
+chain of forts westward from the key position, Fort Niagara. Celoron's
+Journal reads:
+
+    I arrived at Niagara on the 6th of July, where I found him [Mr.
+    Labrevois]; we conferred together, and I wrote to the Chevalier
+    de Longnaiul that which I had learned from Mr. de la Nardiere,
+    and desired him, that if these nations of Detroit were in the
+    design to come and join me, and not delay his departure, I would
+    give the rendezvous at Strotves[26] on the 9th or 10th of
+    August; that if they had changed their mind I would be obliged
+    to him to send me couriers to inform me of their intentions, so
+    that I may know what will happen to me. On the 7th of July, I
+    sent M. de Contrecoeur, captain and second in command of the
+    detachment, with the subaltern officers and all my canoes to
+    make the portage. I remained at the fort, to wait for my savages
+    who had taken on Lake Ontario another route than I had; having
+    rejoined me I went to the portage which M. de Contrecoeur had
+    made, on the 14th of the same month we entered Lake Erie; a high
+    wind from the sea made me camp some distance from the little
+    rapid; there I formed three companies to mount guard, which were
+    of forty men commanded by an officer.
+
+Returning from the Ohio trip Celoron reached Niagara again the 19th of
+February, 1750, and Montreal the 10th of March. At last reaching Quebec
+the frank leader of this spectacular expedition rendered his report
+concerning French possession of the West. "All that I can say is, that
+the [Indian] nations of these places are very ill-disposed against the
+French," were his words, "and entirely devoted to the English. I do not
+know by what means they can be reclaimed." Then followed one of the
+earliest suggestions of the use of French arms to retain possession of
+the great interior. "If violence is employed they [Indians] would be
+warned and take to flight . . . if we send to trade with them, our
+traders can never give our merchandize at the price the English do . . .
+people our old posts and perpetuate the nations on the Belle Riviere and
+who are within the reach of the English Government."
+
+[Illustration: Specimen Manuscript Map of Niagara Frontier of Eighteenth
+Century.
+
+From the original in the British Museum.]
+
+The plates of lead along the Ohio had very little effect in retarding
+the Ohio Company of Virginians, and Celoron had hardly left the Ohio
+Valley when Christopher Gist entered it to pick out and mark the
+boundaries of the Ohio Company's grant of land. This was in 1750. The
+Quebec Government, too, acted. If leaden plates would not hold the Ohio,
+then forts well guarded and manned would accomplish the end sought; and
+English spies on watch at Fort Oswego now saw a strange flotilla
+crossing Lake Ontario and knew something extraordinary was in the air.
+It was Marin's party on its way to fortify Celoron's route by building a
+chain of posts from Fort Niagara to the present site of Pittsburg at the
+junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. After a rest at
+Niagara the fort-building party proceeded along Lake Erie to Presqu'
+Isle, now Erie, Pennsylvania. There they built Fort Presqu' Isle; at
+Watertown Fort La Boeuf was erected and Fort Machault at Franklin on the
+Allegheny, and Fort Duquesne at the junction of the Allegheny and
+Monongahela. All this between 1752 and 1754, despite the message sent by
+Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia by the hand of Major Washington
+requesting that the French withdraw from the Ohio Valley. In the latter
+year Washington marched westward to support the party of Virginian
+fort-builders who had been sent to fortify the strategic position on the
+Ohio, but was forced to capitulate by the French army, which drove back
+the English and on their beginnings erected Fort Duquesne.
+
+The line of forts from Quebec to Fort Duquesne was now complete, and of
+them Fort Niagara was the key. To wrest from the French this western
+empire it was necessary to strike Fort Niagara, but, with the rare lack
+of foresight characteristic of the government headed by the impossible
+Newcastle, the great campaign of 1755 was as poorly conceived as it was
+executed. It was composed of three spectacular advances on this curling
+line of French forts that hemmed in the colonies; one army, under Sir
+William Johnson, should attack the forts on Lakes George and Champlain;
+Governor Shirley of Massachusetts should leap at Fort Niagara, and
+General Braddock, formerly commander of Gibraltar, should lead an army
+from Virginia across the mountains upon Fort Duquesne, after capturing
+which he should then join forces with Shirley for the conquest of
+Niagara if that post had not been previously reduced.
+
+From almost any view-point the scheme of conquest seems a glaring
+inconsistency, but from what is this so conspicuous as by looking upon
+this French line of fortresses as a serpent whose head was Quebec,
+whose heart was Fort Niagara, and whose tail rattled luringly on the
+Ohio at Fort Duquesne? The chief expedition, on which the eyes of the
+ministry were centred, was the one which launched at this serpent's
+tail. Moreover, in addition to being wrongly directed it was improperly
+routed, since there were both waggons and wheat in Pennsylvania but
+comparatively none in Virginia, and the ill-fated commander of the
+expedition, General Edward Braddock, was the victim of the lethargy and
+indifference of the colonies.
+
+It is pitifully interesting to observe in the letter of instruction
+issued by Cumberland to Braddock that the latter seemed to have held the
+view that his most proper course was to strike at Niagara at the outset,
+undoubtedly appreciating the significant fact that to capture that key
+position of communication was to doom the Allegheny line of forts to
+starvation itself. "As to your design," read those instructions, "of
+making yourself master of Niagara, which is of the greatest consequence,
+his Royal Highness recommends you to leave nothing to chance in the
+prosecution of that enterprise." In all that was planned for this grand
+campaign those words give us the only hint of Braddock's own notion.[27]
+Those instructions also advise that if the Ohio campaign should progress
+slowly Braddock was to consider whether he should not give over the
+command of that campaign to another officer and proceed to Niagara.
+Nothing could illustrate more clearly than this the importance of the
+position of Niagara in the old French War. But as Braddock did not deem
+it wise to give over the command of the Ohio campaign, Governor Shirley
+was left in charge of it.
+
+The Northern campaigns, however, were of little more success than that
+of the ill-fated Braddock. True, Johnson won his knighthood beside the
+lake to which he gave his master's name, but the victory was as much of
+an accident as was Braddock's defeat, and was not followed up with the
+capture of the forts on Lake Champlain which was the object of the
+campaign. Shirley, on the other hand, made an utter failure of his
+_coup_, after reaching Oswego with incredible hardship; the news of
+Braddock's defeat demoralised whatever spirit was left in his sickly
+army; and Fort Niagara was not even threatened. We note here again the
+interdependence of the Braddock and Shirley campaigns, and the pity that
+the two armies could not have been combined for a strong movement
+against Fort Niagara. The Ohio fortress could not have existed with the
+line of communication once cut, and Braddock's as well as Forbes's
+campaigns, costing such tremendous sums, would have been unnecessary--or
+Prideaux's in '59 either, for that matter.
+
+And yet the English campaigns of this year played their part in
+awakening the French to the situation; and Niagara was taken in hand at
+once, as though the presentiment was plain that the flag of the Georges
+would wave over the Niagara some day. Writes Mr. Porter:
+
+    The contemplated attack on Fort Niagara, in 1755, under Shirley,
+    had told the French that that fort must be further strengthened,
+    and Pouchot, a captain in the regiment of Bearn, and a competent
+    engineer, was sent to reconstruct it. He reached the fort with a
+    regiment in October, 1755. Houses for these troops were at once
+    constructed in the Canadian manner. These houses consisted of
+    round logs of oak, notched into each other at the corners, and
+    were quickly built. Each had a chimney in the middle, some
+    windows, and a plank roof. The chimneys were made by four poles,
+    placed in the form of a truncated pyramid, open from the bottom
+    to a height of three feet on all sides, above which was a kind
+    of basket work, plastered with mud; rushes, marsh grass or straw
+    rolled in diluted clay were driven in between the logs, and the
+    whole plastered. The work of strengthening the fort was pushed
+    on all winter, 300 men being in the garrison, and in March,
+    1756, the artillery taken from Braddock arrived. By July, 1756,
+    the defences proposed were nearly completed, and Pouchot left
+    the fort. Vaudreuil stated that he [Pouchot] "had almost
+    entirely superintended the fortifications to their completion,
+    and the fort, which was abandoned and beyond making the smallest
+    resistance, is now a place of considerable importance in
+    consequence of the regularity, solidity, and utility of its
+    works." Pouchot was sent back to Niagara, as commandant, with
+    his own regiment, in October, 1756, and remained there for a
+    year. He still further strengthened the fort during this period,
+    and when he left he reported that "Fort Niagara and its
+    buildings were completed and its covered ways stockaded." On
+    April 30, 1759, he again arrived at Niagara to assume command
+    and "began to work on repairing the fort, to which nothing had
+    been done since he left it. He found the ramparts giving way,
+    the turfing all crumbled off, and the escarpment and counter
+    escarpment of the fosses much filled up. He mounted two pieces
+    to keep up appearances in case of a siege." From the general
+    laudatory tone of his own work we are led to feel that Pouchot
+    overpraised his own work of fortifying Niagara in 1756 and 1757,
+    when no immediate attack was looked for, otherwise it could
+    hardly have been in so poor a condition eighteen months
+    afterwards (1759, as just quoted), unless, as is very likely, he
+    foresaw defeat when attacked, as he was advised it would be, and
+    wanted to gain special credit for a grand defence under very
+    disadvantageous conditions. By July Pouchot had finished
+    repairing the ramparts. He gives this description of the
+    defence: "The batteries of the bastions which were in barbette
+    had not yet been finished. They were built of casks and filled
+    with earth. He had since his arrival constructed some pieces of
+    blindage of oak, fourteen inches square and fifteen feet long,
+    which extended behind the great house on the lake shore, the
+    place most sheltered for a hospital. Along the faces of the
+    powder magazine, to cover the wall and serve as casemates, he
+    had built a large storehouse with the pieces secured at the top
+    by a ridge. Here the guns and gunsmiths were placed. We may
+    remark that this kind of work is excellent for field-forts in
+    wooded countries, and they serve very well for barracks and
+    magazines; a bullet could only fall upon an oblique surface and
+    could do little harm, because this structure is very solid."
+    Pouchot says that the garrison of the fort at this time
+    consisted of 149 regulars, 183 men of colonial companies, 133
+    militia and 21 cannoniers. A total of 486 soldiers and 39
+    employees, of whom 5 were women or children. These served in the
+    infirmary, as did also two ladies, and sewed cartridge bags and
+    made bags for earth. There were also some Indians in the fort,
+    and the officers may not have been included in this number. The
+    fort was capable of accommodating 1000 men.
+
+[Illustration: A Drawing of Fort Niagara and Environs Showing Plan of
+English Attack under Johnson.]
+
+The great campaigns of 1759 were planned by the new commander-in-chief,
+Sir Jeffrey Amherst. The Niagara attack was placed in the hands of
+General John Prideaux, who was ready to sail from Oswego to his death at
+Fort Niagara on the 1st of July, 1759, with twenty-two hundred regulars
+and provincials and seven hundred of the Six Nations, brought very
+quickly to their senses after the successes of British arms in the year
+previous when Fort Duquesne was captured, under Sir William Johnson. On
+the 6th of July a hunter brought word to Pouchot that the English were
+at the doors of Niagara, the army having landed down the shore of the
+lake at a distance of four miles. The commander, realising that the
+crucial moment had come, sent a messenger post-haste to Little Fort
+Niagara, at the upper end of the portage, and on to the forts in the
+West for aid; Niagara had assisted Fort Duquesne and the Allegheny forts
+in their days of trial and it was now turn for them to help her. Little
+Fort Niagara, or, more properly, Fort du Portage, previously mentioned,
+was erected probably about ten years before this to defend the portage
+landing. It was now commanded by the Joncaire--son of the famous French
+emissary among the Senecas who had given New France a foothold at
+Niagara--who had proved such a diplomatic guide to Celoron in his
+western trip; Pouchot ordered him to move the supplies at Fort du
+Portage across to the mouth of the Chippewa Creek and hasten to Fort
+Niagara. It is worth while to pause a moment to observe that we have
+here one of the first references to that shadowy western shore of the
+Niagara, where Forts Erie, George, and Mississauga were soon to appear;
+though the town of Newark, or Niagara-on-the-Lake, as it is known
+to-day, was the first settlement on this side of the river, it is clear
+that there was at least a storehouse at Chippewa Creek in 1759;
+unquestionably the portage path on the western shore of the river was a
+well-worn highway long before even Fort Niagara itself was proposed, for
+we know that it was the northern shore of Lake Erie that was the common
+route of the French rather than the southern from the record left by the
+Celoron expedition and Bonnecamp's map.
+
+[Illustration: A Sketch of Fort Niagara and Environs; by the French
+Commander Pouchot, Showing Improvements of 1756-1758.]
+
+Prideaux forced the siege by digging a series of trenches toward the
+fort, each one in advance of the last. Finally, just before merited
+success was achieved, a bursting cohorn killed Prideaux and thrust the
+command upon that deserving but lucky son of fortune, Sir William
+Johnson. The siege was pressed most diligently--as though Johnson was
+fearful that the honour thrust upon him would escape him through the
+arrival of General Gage, who was on his way to assume command. The fort
+was completely hemmed in, and its surrender was peremptorily demanded.
+Johnson was more than a match for the intriguing French Indians who
+attempted to alienate his Iroquois. He likewise played the clever
+soldier in handling the relieving army that was already on its Way from
+the West. Three of the four messages sent by Pouchot had been
+intercepted by the English commander's scouts. The one that went through
+successfully accomplished its purpose and twelve hundred recruits were
+en route for the besieged fortress. The scouts told of their progress,
+to which captured letters from the commanding officers, D'Aubrey and De
+Lignery, to General Pouchot, gave added information. Descending the
+Niagara from its head to Navy Island, the reinforcements awaited the
+commands of their general. The order was to hasten on. Johnson
+redistributed his force to meet the crisis, at once detailing a
+sufficient part to cope with the relieving party and retaining a
+sufficient quota to prevent a sortie from the rapidly crumbling fort,
+which at best could not hold out longer unless succoured. At an eighth
+of a mile from the fort, in olden times called _La Belle Famille_, now
+within the limits of the beautiful village of Youngstown, the clash
+occurred that settled the fate of the brave Pouchot. With the Iroquois
+posted in hiding on either flank and the regulars waiting behind slight
+breastworks, the French force rushed headlong to the attack within the
+carefully laid ambuscade. After the opening fire of the Indians, the
+English troop made a savage charge--and the affair was over; the
+retreating French were followed and nearly a hundred and fifty were
+captured, including the officers.
+
+Sir William Johnson used his leverage thus gained upon the commander of
+the doomed fortress with alacrity and success, sending with the officer
+who went to demand its surrender some of the prisoners captured at the
+scrimmage up the river, who told the story of their defeat and rout. Had
+they known it, they might have added that the terror-stricken fugitives
+from that field of strife hastened to the fleet of boats (in which they
+had descended the Niagara) and, steering them all into what is called
+even to this day Burnt Ship Bay, on the shore of Grand Island, set fire
+to the entire flotilla, lest the English secure an added advantage; and
+from this fact may we not draw the conclusion that these French hoped to
+hold the remainder of the great western waterway even if Fort Niagara
+fell? They could not use those boats very well on the lower Niagara,
+though with them once in hand they could easily strike at Presqu' Isle
+and Detroit.
+
+[Illustration: Canadian Trapper, from La Potherie.]
+
+Poor Pouchot demanded the best terms that he dared; it was agreed that
+the garrison should retain arms and baggage and one cannon as they
+marched out of the battered shell of a fort they had endeavoured to
+hold, and, upon laying down their arms, should be transported, in
+vessels furnished by the English, to New York; it was also demanded that
+they should be protected from the insults of the redskin allies of the
+English. That the latter stipulation was agreed to and honestly enforced
+illustrates the genuine hold Johnson had upon his brown brethren of the
+Long House. The articles were signed on the night of July 24th and on
+the 25th the flag of England rose to the breeze that fanned the lake and
+the wide-sweeping Niagara frontier--the second flag that had dominated
+that strategic spot in the century. The garrison numbered over six
+hundred men and eleven officers; the French total loss was about two
+hundred including the action at Youngstown; the English loss was sixty
+killed and 180 wounded. Forty-three iron cannon were found within the
+fort, fifteen hundred round shot, forty thousand pounds of musket-balls,
+five hundred hand grenades, and many tools, etc. The important result,
+however, was the removal of French domination over the warlike Seneca
+nation in this region and the natural inheritance that came with
+Niagara, the trade of which it was the centre. Near the site of the
+destroyed Fort du Portage, at the upper end of the portage, Captain
+Schlosser erected Fort Schlosser. Fort Niagara itself was improved; the
+present "bakehouse" was built in 1762. The Niagara of this time has been
+well described by Mr. Porter:
+
+    It was the head centre of the military life of the entire
+    region, the guardian of the great highway and portage to and
+    from the West; and hereabouts, as the forerunners of a coming
+    civilisation and frontier settlement, the traders were securing
+    for themselves the greatest advantages. To the rude transient
+    population--red hunters, trappers, Indianised
+    bush-rangers--starting out from this centre, or returning from
+    their journeys of perhaps hundreds of miles, trooping down the
+    portage to the fort, bearing their loads of peltries, and
+    assisted by Indians who here made a business of carrying packs
+    for hire, Fort Niagara was a business headquarters. There the
+    traders brought their guns and ammunition, their blankets, and
+    cheap jewelry, to be traded for furs; there the Indians
+    purchased, at fabulous prices, the white man's "fire water," and
+    many, yes, numberless were the broils and conflicts in and
+    around the fort, when the soldiers under orders tried to calm or
+    eject the savage element which so predominated in the life of
+    the Garrison.
+
+[Illustration: Youngstown, N. Y., from Paradise Grove.]
+
+Pontiac's rebellion came fast on the heels of the old French War, so
+fast indeed that we cannot really distinguish the line of division
+except for the fact of English occupation of Fort Niagara; with
+astonishing alacrity the incorrigible Senecas took up Pontiac's bloody
+belt, especially disgruntled with English rule in the Niagara country
+because the carrying business at the Niagara portage had been taken away
+from them upon the introduction of clumsy carts which carried to Fort
+Schlosser what had before been transported on the backs of Seneca
+braves. The retaliation for this serious loss of business was the
+terrible Devil's Hole Massacre of September 14, 1763, which occurred on
+the new portage road between Fort Schlosser and Lewiston at the head of
+what is known as Bloody Brook, in the ravine of which at the Gorge lies
+the Devil's Hole. Here a party of five hundred Senecas from Chenussio,
+seventy miles to the eastward of Niagara, waylaid a train of twenty-five
+waggons and a hundred horses and oxen, guarded, probably indifferently,
+by a detachment of troops variously estimated from twenty-five to three
+hundred in number, on its way from Lewiston to the upper fort. But three
+seem to have escaped that deadly ambuscade, and a relieving party,
+coming hurriedly at the instance of one of the survivors, ran into a
+second ambush, in which all but eight out of two companies of men
+escaped. On the third attempt the commander of the fort hastened to the
+bloody scene with all of the troops at his command except what were
+needed to defend the fort. But the redskins had gone, leaving eighty
+scalped corpses on the ground. The first convoy probably numbered about
+twenty-five and the relieving party probably twice that number. The
+Indians had thrown or driven every team and all the whites surviving the
+fire of their thirsty muskets over the brink of the great ravine in
+which lies the Devil's Hole, fitly named.
+
+At the great treaty that Sir William Johnson now held at Niagara with
+all the western Indians--one of the most remarkable convocations ever
+convened on this continent--the Senecas were compelled to surrender to
+the English Government all right to a tract four miles wide on each side
+of the Niagara River from Fort Niagara to Fort Schlosser. When it came
+time to sign the articles agreeing to this grant, Johnson, at the
+suggestion of General Bradstreet, who had in mind a fortification of the
+present site of Fort Erie, asked to extend the grant to include all land
+bordering the entire river from mouth to source and for four miles back.
+To this the Senecas agreed, but signed the treaty, as it were, with
+their left hands, never intending to keep it. However, it is to this
+date that we trace first actual white man's ownership of the first foot
+of land on the Niagara frontier, save perhaps the enclosure at Fort
+Niagara. Until this agreement was reached Sir William refused to deal
+with the gathered host of Indians from the West; thus was the Devil's
+Hole Massacre avenged.
+
+Over two thousand Indians had met to treat with the now famous Indian
+Commissioner for the Crown, coming from Nova Scotia in the East and the
+head streams of the Mississippi River in the West; that Niagara should
+have been the chosen meeting-place illustrates again its geographical
+position on the continent. Shrewd at this form of procrastinating
+business, Sir William laid down the policy of treaty with each tribe
+separately and not with the nations as such, and this, added to the
+formality observed, tended to make the procedure of almost endless
+duration. But Johnson knew his host and it is said on good authority
+that the vast sum now invested by the Crown paid good interest; the
+congress cost about ten thousand dollars in New York currency, and about
+two hundred thousand was distributed in presents to the vast assemblage.
+"Though this assemblage consisted of peace-desiring savages, their
+friendly disposition was not certain. Several straggling soldiers were
+shot at, and great precautions were taken by the English garrison to
+avert a rupture." Writes the graphic Parkman: "The troops were always on
+their guard, while the black muzzles of the cannons, thrust from the
+bastions of the fort, struck a wholesome awe into the savage throng
+below."
+
+[Illustration: The Stone Redoubt at Fort Niagara, Built in 1770.
+
+From the original in the British Museum.]
+
+The Fort Niagara of that day little resembled the sight that greets the
+tourist's eye at that point to-day. When the French built the "Mess
+House" or "Castle" they built one story only, but afterward added a
+second, the walls of which probably extended above the roof to serve as
+a breastwork for gunners. The present roof is an English addition,
+comparatively modern. The French built also the two famous block-houses,
+the walls of which also protruded from the ancient roof for the same
+purpose as on the "Mess House," and these were used as late as the War
+of 1812. The old Magazine was built by the French, but its present-day
+roof is, of course, of modern construction, being in reality nothing but
+a covering over the stone arch which was the ancient roof. So far as
+appearance goes the waters of the hungry lake have probably done more
+altering of the natural aspect than has the hand of man. The fantastic
+"castle" now stands close to the water's edge, whereas, in the olden
+time there were upwards of thirty rods of ground between the "Mess
+House" and the lake, supporting an orchard. The present stone wall was
+erected in 1839, and the brick walls constructed outside the old line of
+breastworks in 1861; four years later the lighthouse was established in
+the upper story of the "Castle"; in 1873 the present lighthouse was
+erected.
+
+No serious conflict now marked England's rule in her new territory, and
+the people of Canada, and especially of the Niagara region, had now
+comparatively a few years' repose, but then came one of the most
+important periods in its history. Their country was invaded, and for a
+time seemed on the point of passing under the control of the Congress of
+the old Thirteen Colonies, now in rebellion against England. Only the
+genius of an able governor-general saved the valley of the St. Lawrence
+to the British Crown.
+
+In the year 1774, Parliament intervened for the first time in Canadian
+affairs, and passed what was known as the "Quebec Act," which greatly
+extended the boundaries of the province of Quebec, as defined by the
+Proclamation of 1763. On one side the province now extended to the
+frontiers of New England, Pennsylvania, New York Province, the Ohio, and
+the left bank of the Mississippi; on the other to the Hudson's Bay
+Territory; Labrador, Anticosti, and the Magdalen Islands, annexed to
+Newfoundland by the Proclamation of 1763, were made part of the province
+of Quebec. The "Quebec Act" created much debate in the House of Commons.
+The Earl of Chatham, in the House of Lords, described it as a "most
+cruel and odious measure." The opposition in the province was among the
+British inhabitants, who sent over a petition for its repeal or
+amendment, their principal grievance being that it substituted the laws
+and usages of Canada for English law. The "Act of 1774" was exceedingly
+unpopular in the English-speaking colonies, then at the commencement of
+the Revolution, on account of the extension of the limits of the
+province so as to include the country long known as the "Old North-west"
+in American history, and the consequent confinement of the Thirteen
+Colonies between the Atlantic coast and the Alleghany Mountains, beyond
+which the hardy and bold frontiersmen of Virginia and Pennsylvania were
+already passing into the great valley of the Ohio. Parliament, however,
+appears to have been influenced by a desire to adjust the government of
+the province so as to conciliate the majority of the Canadian people at
+the critical time.
+
+The advice of Sir Guy Carleton, afterwards Lord Dorchester, who
+succeeded General Murray as Governor-General, had much to do with the
+liberality of the "Quebec Act" towards the French Canadians. He crossed
+the Atlantic in 1769 and remained absent from Canada for four years. He
+returned to carry out the "Quebec Act," which was the foundation of the
+large political and religious liberties which French Canada has ever
+since enjoyed. The "Act" aroused the indignation of the older American
+colonies, and had considerable influence in directing the early course
+of the Revolution which ended in the establishment of a federal
+republic. To it the Declaration of Independence refers as follows:
+"Abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring province,
+establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its
+boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for
+introducing the same absolute rule in other colonies." During the
+Revolution the Continental Congress attempted to secure the active
+alliance of Canada, and to that end sent a commission made up of
+Franklin, Chase, Charles Carroll, and John Carroll to Quebec; but the
+province remained loyal throughout. It will be noticed in another
+chapter that General Brock, in answering the "Proclamation" issued by
+Hull in 1812, voiced the belief that Canada was the price the American
+Colonies had promised to pay France in return for her valuable aid in
+the Revolution!
+
+[Illustration: Pfister's Sketch of Fort Niagara and the "Communication,"
+Two Years before the Outbreak of the Revolutionary War.]
+
+It is not necessary to dwell here on the events of a war the history of
+which is so familiar to every one.[28] When the first Continental
+Congress met at Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, the colonies were on
+the eve of independence as a result of the coercive measures forced on
+Parliament by the King's pliable ministers led by Lord North. The
+"Declaration," however, was not finally proclaimed until nearly two
+years later, on July 4, 1776, when the Thirteen Colonies declared
+themselves "free and independent States," absolved of their allegiance
+to the British Crown. But many months before this great epoch-making
+event, war had actually commenced on Lake Champlain. On an April day, in
+the now memorable year 1775, the "embattled farmers" had fired at
+Concord and Lexington, the shots "heard round the world," and a few
+weeks later the forts at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, then defended by
+very feeble garrisons, were in the possession of colonial troops, led by
+Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, the two "Green Mountain Boys" who organised
+this expedition. Canada was at this time in a very defenceless
+condition. Burgoyne was defeated at Saratoga, and his army, from which
+so much was expected, made prisoners of war. This great misfortune of
+the British cause was followed by the alliance of France with the
+States. French money, men, and ships eventually assured the independence
+of the Republic, whose fortunes were very low at times despite the
+victory at Saratoga. England was not well served in this American war;
+she had no Washington to direct her campaign, and Gage, Burgoyne, and
+Cornwallis were not equal to the responsibilities thrown upon them.
+Cornwallis's defeat at Yorktown, October 19, 1781, was the death blow to
+the hopes of England in North America.
+
+Had General Sullivan's campaign of 1779, as planned, been successful, he
+would have attacked Fort Niagara, but disaster overtook him, though he
+led an expedition against the Iroquois, routed a force of Indians and
+Tories at Newtown, near the present Elmira, and wrought wide devastation
+in the country of the Cayugas and Senecas.
+
+Yorktown led to the Treaty of Versailles and independence, but oddly
+enough it was almost a generation before a third flag arose above the
+historic "Castle" at the mouth of the Niagara. In 1784 the United States
+came into the control of the territory extending from Nova Scotia (which
+then included New Brunswick) to the head of the Lake of the Woods and to
+the Mississippi River in the West, and in the North from Canada to the
+Floridas in the South, the latter having again become Spanish
+possessions. The boundary between Nova Scotia and the Republic was so
+ill defined that it took over fifty years to fix the St. Croix and the
+Highlands which were, by the treaty, to divide the two countries. In
+the Far West the line of division was to be drawn through the Lake of
+the Woods "to the most north-western point thereof, and from thence on a
+due west course to the River Mississippi"--a physical impossibility,
+since the head of the Mississippi, as was afterwards found, was a
+hundred miles or so to the south! In later times this geographical error
+was corrected, and the curious distortion of the boundary line that now
+appears on the maps was necessary at the Lake of the Woods in order to
+strike the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, which was
+subsequently arranged as the boundary line as far as the Rocky
+Mountains.
+
+A strip of land one mile wide along the American shore from Lake Ontario
+to Lake Erie had been exempted when New York ceded the ownership of what
+is now the western part of this State to Massachusetts, which ownership
+New York subsequently reacquired. Finally the Indians, who, in spite of
+their former cessions to England, still claimed an ownership, ceded to
+New York, for one thousand dollars and an annuity of one thousand five
+hundred dollars, their title to all the islands in the Niagara River.
+The State of New York patented the mile-strip to individuals, commencing
+in the first decade of the nineteenth century.
+
+In spite of the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, as noted, neither Niagara
+nor Detroit was surrendered by the British until 1796. Both forts were
+held as English outposts and strengthened. We have shown that the
+boundary-line between Canada and the United States was improperly
+conceived; but it is a fact that during the Revolutionary War the people
+of the North-west had been warned from Niagara and Detroit to take up
+arms in behalf of the Americans. Nothing aggressive, however, had been
+accomplished. The wilderness of three hundred miles between Detroit and
+the Eastern States made an attack upon the posts by the Americans
+impracticable; moreover, most of the fighting in this region was done by
+the British and the Indians and the people of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
+
+It is due to the statesmanship of John Jay that the posts still
+garrisoned by British troops in the United States, contrary to the
+stipulations of the Treaty of Paris, were finally evacuated in 1796. Jay
+had been sent by President Washington to go to Great Britain in 1794 as
+special envoy to settle differences growing out of the failure of that
+country to keep the obligations of the Treaty of 1784, differences which
+had aroused a strong war-spirit all over the States. It was easy to
+foresee, as Jay recognised, that the outcome of the situation would in
+all probability be unpopular with the people, but he did not hesitate to
+meet the responsibility that Washington believed he could meet better
+than any other man, partially because of the reputation he had
+established in England while negotiating the Treaty of 1784. Jay set
+sail on May 12, 1794 in the ship _Ohio_, with his son Peter Augustus,
+and with John Trumbull as secretary. On June 8th he landed at Falmouth
+and at once entered into relation with Lord Grenville, the Secretary of
+Foreign Affairs, who was commissioned by the King to treat with Mr. Jay.
+The sincerity and candour of the two negotiators soon led to a degree of
+mutual confidence that both facilitated and lightened their labours. A
+treaty resulted known on this side of the ocean as "Jay's Treaty,"
+which settled the eastern boundary of Maine, recovered for illegal
+captures by British cruisers $10,000,000, secured the surrender of the
+western forts still garrisoned by the British, and contained an article
+about the West India trade. With the exception of the latter article,
+the treaty was approved by the President and ratified by the Senate. But
+many were not satisfied, and denounced Jay with tongue and pen, and even
+burned him in effigy in Boston, Philadelphia, and at his own home in New
+York. How different was the homecoming from that after the negotiation
+of the other treaty, when the freedom of the city was presented to him
+in a golden box, and each one seemed to vie with every other in
+extending a welcome! In a letter to a friend, Jay said at that time,
+"Calumny is seldom durable, it will in time yield to truth," and he bore
+himself at that time as one having full confidence that he had acted
+both wisely and skilfully, and expected the people to realise it in
+time. The British, however, would not evacuate Niagara and the other
+forts without a semblance of fighting on paper. They held, amongst other
+reasons, that they were yet justified in maintaining a garrison on
+American soil because "it was _alleged_ by divers merchants and others,
+His Majesty's subjects," that they had sustained various losses by the
+legal impediments they had experienced in collecting debts in America
+due to them before the war. Mr. Jay, however, with great diplomacy,
+removed this obstacle by the appointment of Commissioners of Award, and
+as the British finally were deprived of all pretence for maintaining the
+posts, it was agreed that they should be surrendered on or before the
+first of June, 1796. This was finally done and the third and last flag
+floated lazily in the Lake Ontario breezes over the historic point. The
+settlers and traders within the jurisdiction of the posts were permitted
+to remain and to enjoy their property without becoming citizens of the
+United States unless they should think proper to do so.
+
+[Illustration: Fort Erie and the Mouth of the Niagara, by Pfister, in
+1764.
+
+From the original in the British Museum.]
+
+Anthony Wayne's army now took full possession of the Niagara region.
+With the exception of a small strip of land on the river and lake, all
+the present State of Michigan was occupied by Indians--Pottawattomies,
+Miamis, Wyandots, Chippewas, Winnebagoes, and Ottawas. The first
+American commander of the post was Colonel John Francis Hamtramck, who
+died in 1803. At that period Detroit was headquarters of the Western
+Army, but the whole garrison only consisted of three hundred men.
+
+Niagara-on-the-Lake may be called the Plymouth Rock of upper Canada. It
+was once its proud capital. Variously known in the past as Loyal
+Village, Butlersbury, Nassau, and Newark, it had a daily paper as early
+as 1792, and was a military post of distinction at the same period, its
+real beginnings, however, being contemporaneous with the War of
+Independence. Here, within two short hours' ride of the most populous
+and busy city of western New York, typical of the material forces that
+have moulded the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we come upon a spot
+of intensest quiet, in the shadow of whose ivy-mantled church tower
+sleep trusted servants of the Georges, Loyalists and their Indian
+allies.
+
+The place has been overtaken by none of that unpicturesque commercial
+prosperity which further up the frontier threatens to destroy all the
+natural beauties of the river-banks.
+
+The Welland Canal and the Grand Trunk and Great Western Railway systems
+diverted the great part of the carrying trade, and with it that growth
+and activity which have signalised the neighbouring cities of Canada.
+"Refuse the Welland Canal entrance to your town," said the
+Commissioners, "and the grass will grow in your streets." Here General
+Simcoe opened the first Upper Canadian Legislature; and later, from here
+the noble Brock planned the defence of Upper Canada. While the cities of
+western New York, which have now far eclipsed it, were rude log
+settlements, at "Newark" some little attempt was made at decorum and
+society.
+
+Here landed in 1783-'84 ten thousand United Empire Loyalists, who, to
+keep inviolate their oaths of allegiance to the King, quitted their
+freeholds and positions of trust and honour in the States to begin life
+anew in the unbroken wilds of Upper Canada. History has made us somewhat
+familiar with the settlement of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by the
+expatriated Loyalists. Little has been written of the sufferings and
+privations endured by the "makers" of Upper Canada. Students and
+specialists who have investigated the story of a flight equalled only by
+that of the Huguenots after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes have
+been led to admire the spirit of unselfish patriotism which led these
+one hundred thousand fugitives to self-exile. While the Pilgrims came to
+America leisurely, bringing their household goods and their charters
+with them, the United Empire Loyalists, it has well been said, "bleeding
+with the wounds of seven years of war, left ungathered the crops of
+their rich farms on the Mohawk and in New Jersey, and, stripped of
+every earthly possession, braved the terrors of the unbroken wilderness
+from the Mohawk to Lake Ontario." Inhabited to-day by the descendants of
+these pioneers, the old-fashioned loyalty and conservatism of the
+Niagara district is the more conspicuous by contrasting it with
+neighbouring republicanism over the river.
+
+Here, over a century ago, near Fort George, stood the first Parliament
+House of Upper Canada. Here, seventy years before President Lincoln's
+Emancipation Proclamation, the first United Empire Loyalist Parliament,
+like the embattled farmers at Concord, "fired a shot heard round the
+world." For one of the first measures of the exiled patricians was to
+pass an act forbidding slavery. Few readers know that at Newark, now
+Niagara, was enacted that law by which Canada became not only the first
+country in the world to abolish slavery, but, as such, a safe refuge for
+the fugitive slaves from the Southern States.
+
+General Simcoe, the first governor, was born in 1752 and died in 1806. A
+landed gentleman of England and likewise a member of the British House
+of Commons he voluntarily relinquished all the luxuries of his beautiful
+English home and estates to bury himself in the wilderness of Canada and
+the Niagara region. As governor-general he exemplified the extremest
+simplicity. His guard consisted of four soldiers who came from Fort
+George, close by, to Newark, every morning and returned thither in the
+evening. Mrs. Simcoe not only performed the duties of wife and mother,
+but also acted as her husband's secretary. The name of Simcoe is
+indelibly entered in the history of the development of the Niagara, and
+it is doubly appropriate that her interesting drawings should illustrate
+a volume dealing with this region she loved.
+
+Here Cooper is said to have written his admirable novels of border and
+Indian life, novels which have been devoured by me and millions of
+readers; it is fair to predict that the stories will be read for another
+century to come.[29] Many other interesting characters have at different
+periods made Fort George their abode. In 1780, a handsome house within
+its enclosure was occupied by General Guy Johnson.
+
+[Footnote 24: _Colonial Documents of New York_, vol. ix., p. 773; in the
+history of the French régime at Niagara special acknowledgment must be
+made to Porter's _Brief History of Old Fort Niagara_ (Niagara Falls,
+1896), which is particularly rich in references to the important sources
+of information concerning the French along and at the mouth of the
+Niagara River.]
+
+[Footnote 25: _Colonial Documents of New York_, vol. ix., pp. 952, 958.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Logstown?]
+
+[Footnote 27: In the author's _Historic Highways of America_, vol. iv.,
+chap. 2, this whole problem is discussed and Cumberland's instructions
+quoted.]
+
+[Footnote 28: The record of these bloody years is hinted in the
+number of prisoners brought to Niagara. On this topic Frank H.
+Severance writes [In _Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier_, pp. 89-91.
+Mr. Severance, Secretary of the Buffalo Historical Society, has
+ably taken the place of the eminent scholar of the Niagara country
+O. H. Marshall. In his volume above quoted Mr. Severance provides a
+most interesting, scholarly series of papers which no one who loves
+New York's old frontier should miss. Our story of the famine at De
+Nonville's fort was written with Mr. Severance's book open before us.]:
+
+    "Just how many American prisoners were brought into Fort Niagara
+    during this period I am unable to say, though it is possible
+    that from the official correspondence of the time figures could
+    be had on which a very close estimate could be based. My
+    examination of the subject warrants the assertion that several
+    hundred were brought in by the war-parties under Indian,
+    British, and Tory leaders. In this correspondence, very little
+    of which has ever been published, one may find such entries as
+    the following:
+
+    "Guy Johnson wrote from Fort Niagara, June 30, 1781:
+
+    "'In my last letter of the 24th inst. I had just time to enclose
+    a copy of Lieut. Nelles's letter with an account of his success,
+    since which he arrived at this place with more particular
+    information by which I find that he killed thirteen and took
+    seven (the Indians not having reckoned two of the persons whom
+    they left unscalped). . . .'
+
+    "Again:
+
+    "'I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency a general
+    letter containing the state of the garrison and of my Department
+    to the 1st inst., and a return, at the foot, of the war parties
+    that have been on service this year, . . . by which it will
+    appear that they have killed and taken during the season already
+    150 persons, including those last brought in. . . .'
+
+    "Again he reports, August 30, 1781:
+
+    "'The party with Capt. Caldwell and some of the Indians with
+    Capt. Lottridge are returning, having destroyed several
+    settlements in Ulster County, and about 100 of the Indians are
+    gone against other parts of the frontiers, and I have some large
+    parties under good leaders still on service as well as scouts
+    towards Fort Pitt. . . .'
+
+    "Not only are there many returns of this sort, but also
+    tabulated statements, giving the number of prisoners sent down
+    from Fort Niagara to Montreal on given dates, with their names,
+    ages, names of their captors, and the places where they were
+    taken. There were many shipments during the summer of '83, and
+    the latest return of this sort which I have found in the
+    archives is dated August 1st of that year, when eleven prisoners
+    were sent from the fort to Montreal. It was probably not far
+    from this time that the last American prisoner of the Revolution
+    was released from Fort Niagara. But let the reader beware of
+    forming hasty conclusions as to the cruelty or brutality of the
+    British at Fort Niagara. In the first place, remember that
+    harshness or kindness in the treatment of the helpless depends
+    in good degree--and always has depended--upon the temperament
+    and mood of the individual custodian. There were those in
+    command at Fort Niagara who appear to have been capable of
+    almost any iniquity. Others gave frequent and conspicuous proofs
+    of their humanity. Remember, secondly, that the prisoners
+    primarily belonged to the Indians who captured them. The Indian
+    custom of adoption--the taking into the family circle of a
+    prisoner in place of a son or husband who had been killed by the
+    enemy--was an Iroquois custom, dating back much further than
+    their acquaintance with the English. Many of the Americans who
+    were detained in this fashion by their Indian captors, probably
+    never were given over to the British. Some, as we know, like
+    Mary Jemison, the White Woman of the Genesee, adopted the Indian
+    mode of life and refused to leave it. Others died in captivity,
+    some escaped. Horatio Jones and Jasper Parrish were first
+    prisoners, then utilised as interpreters, but remained among the
+    Indians. And in many cases, especially of women and children, we
+    know that they were got away from the Indians by the British
+    officers at Fort Niagara, only after considerable trouble and
+    expense. In these cases the British were the real benefactors of
+    the Americans, and the kindness in the act cannot always be put
+    aside on the mere ground of military exchange, prisoner for
+    prisoner. Gen. Haldimand is quoted to the effect that he 'does
+    not intend to enter into an exchange of prisoners, but he will
+    not add to the distresses attending the present war, by
+    detaining helpless women and children from their families.'"
+
+    In justice to Col. Guy Johnson's administration at Fort Niagara,
+    as well as to give one of the clearest (if biased) views of the
+    trials and perplexities of those hard days, we reproduce a
+    "Review of Col. Johnson's Transactions"; as Mr. Severance notes,
+    this review shows "the real state of affairs at Fort Niagara
+    towards the close of the Revolutionary war" better than does
+    almost any other document [I quote Mr. Severance's copy from
+    _Canadian Archives_, Series B, vol. 106, p. 122, _et seq._]:
+
+    "Montreal, 24th March, 1782.
+
+    "Before Colonel Johnson arrived at Niagara in 1779 the Six
+    Nations lived in their original possessions the nearest of which
+    was about 100 and the farthest about 300 miles from that post.
+    Their warriors were called upon as the service required parties,
+    which in 1776 amounted to about 70 men, and the expenses
+    attending them, and a few occasional meetings ought to have been
+    and he presumes were a mere Trifle when compared with what must
+    attend their situation when all [were] driven to Niagara,
+    exposed to every want, to every temptation, and with every claim
+    which their distinguished sacrifices and the tenor of Soloman
+    [solemn] Treaties had entitled them to from Government. The
+    years 1777 & 1778 exhibited only a larger number occasionally
+    employed and for their fidelity and attachment to Government
+    they were invaded in 1779 by a rebel army reported to be from 5
+    to 600 men with a train of Artillery who forced them to retire
+    to Niagara leaving behind them very fine plantations of corn and
+    vegetables, with their cloathing, arms, silver works, Wampum
+    Kettles and Implements of Husbandry, the collection of ages of
+    which were destroyed in a deliberate manner and march of the
+    rebels. Two villages only escaped that were out of their route.
+
+    "The Indians having always apprehended that their distinguished
+    loyalty might draw some such calamity towards them had
+    stipulated that under such circumstances they effected
+    [expected] to have their losses made up as well as a liberal
+    continuation of favours and to be supported at the expence of
+    Government till they could be reinstated in their former
+    possessions. They were accordingly advised to form camps around
+    Niagara which they were beginning to do at the time of Colonel
+    Johnson's arrival who found them much chagrined and prepared to
+    reconcile them to their disaster which he foresaw would be a
+    work of time requiring great judgment and address in effecting
+    which he was afterwards successful beyond his most sanguine
+    expectations, and this was the state of the Indians at Colonel
+    Johnson's arrival. As to the state and regulation of Colonel
+    Johnson's officers and department at that period he found the
+    duties performed by 2 or three persons the rest little
+    acquainted with them and considered as less capable of learning
+    them, and the whole number inadequate to that of the Indians,
+    and the then requisite calls of the service, and that it was
+    necessary after refusing the present wants of the Indians to
+    keep their minds occupied by constant military employment, all
+    which he laid before the Commander in Chief who frequently
+    honoured his conduct with particular approbation."]
+
+[Footnote 29: Here, the story runs, the brother of Sir Walter Scott
+concocted the plots and outlines of Sir Walter's famous novels and sent
+them on to England to be polished up for publication--a story worthy of
+a Hennepin.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter X
+
+  The Hero of Upper Canada
+
+
+General Isaac Brock, the Hero of Upper Canada, was the kind of man men
+delight to honour--honest, capable, ambitious, faithful, kind. Nothing
+less than a tremendous gorge, such as separates Queenston from Lewiston
+Heights, could keep the people of one nation from knowing and loving
+this hero of another; since Brock's day this gorge has been spanned by
+beautiful bridges, and it is full time now, as the centennial of the
+second war with England approaches, that the appreciation of the
+characters of the worthy, patriotic heroes of that olden day o'erleap
+the chasm of bitter rivalry and hostility and become common and genuine
+to the northward and the southward of the Niagara.
+
+Isaac Brock was the eighth son of John Brock, Esq., born on the sixth
+day of October, 1769, in the parish of St. Peter-Port, Guernsey--the
+famous birth-year of Wellington and Napoleon. Tall, robust, and mentally
+conspicuous as a lad, Isaac followed his elder brother into the British
+Army, purchasing the ensigncy in the 8th, or King's Regiment, in 1785.
+His promotion was the result of merit in addition to possessing the
+means to purchase higher office; in 1790 we find him a lieutenant in the
+49th Regiment, advancing to his majority in 1795 and two years later
+becoming senior lieutenant-colonel. Supplanting now an officer accused
+of peculation who had brought the whole regiment into public notice,
+Brock exerted an influence that seemed to transform the regiment, making
+it "from one of the worst," said the Duke of York himself, "one of the
+best regiments in the service."
+
+[Illustration: Major-General Brock.]
+
+The opportunity of active service soon came, as the 49th was thrown into
+Holland, Brock being wounded at Egmont-op-Zee, or Bergen. His simple
+statement concerning being struck in the breast by a spent bullet is
+interesting: "I got knocked down soon after the enemy began to retreat,"
+he remarks, "but never quitted the field, and returned to my duty in
+less than half an hour."[30] Here Brock fought under Sir John Moore and
+Sir Ralph Abercrombie; in 1801 he was second in command of the land
+forces at Copenhagen and saw Lord Nelson on the _Elephant_ write his
+famous letter to the Crown Prince of Denmark. During the next year the
+49th was sent to Canada and was quartered at Fort George near Newark,
+the present Niagara-on-the-Lake. The character of Brock's management of
+the troops under him is well illustrated in the case of a strange mutiny
+that came near to breaking out at this time at Fort George due to the
+useless annoyance, or alleged actual severity, which so exasperated the
+men that an almost inconceivable plot to kill the officers was
+discovered. After the crime the soldiers were to cross the river into
+the United States and escape. One of the confederates was sent by the
+commanding officer to Brock at York with a letter describing the
+horrifying discovery. The incensed commander compelled the soldier at
+the point of a musket to disclose the chief conspirators. Hastening to
+Fort George the ringleaders were apprehended at the dinner table and
+hurried off to Quebec, where they were summarily shot. As a result Brock
+himself was ordered to make Fort George his headquarters, whereupon all
+trouble seems to have ceased.
+
+In 1805 Brock received his colonelcy and with it leave of absence. While
+at home he made a report to the commander-in-chief which throws an
+interesting light on affairs at that period, favouring the formation of
+a veteran battalion for service in Upper Canada. He wrote:
+
+    The artifices employed to wean the soldier from his duty,
+    conspire to render almost ineffectual every effort of the
+    officers to maintain the usual degree of order and discipline.
+    The lures to desertion continually thrown out by the Americans,
+    and the facility with which it can be accomplished, exacting a
+    more than ordinary precaution on the part of the officers,
+    insensibly produces mistrust between them and the men, highly
+    prejudicial to the service.
+
+    Experience has taught me that no regular regiment, however high
+    its claim to discipline, can occupy the frontier posts of Lower
+    and Upper Canada without suffering materially in its numbers. It
+    might have been otherwise some years ago; but now that the
+    country, particularly the opposite shore, is chiefly inhabited
+    by the vilest characters, who have an interest in debauching the
+    soldier from his duty; since roads are opened into the interior
+    of the States, which facilitate desertion, it is impossible to
+    avoid the contagion. A total change must be effected in the
+    minds and views of those who may hereafter be sent on this duty,
+    before the evil can be surmounted.[31]
+
+Such was the warlike tenor of despatches now at hand from Canada that
+Brock, eager to be at the post of duty at a critical time, hastened from
+London in June, 1806, cutting short his leave of absence. Throughout
+that year and its successor he was actively engaged in studying his
+province with regard to military demands that might suddenly be made
+upon it; it is noteworthy that the commander feared that in case of an
+outbreak between England and America a considerable part of the
+inhabitants of Upper Canada (Loyalists) would prove friendly to the
+young Republic. Discussing a new militia law he wrote as follows to the
+Council:
+
+    In thus complying with the dictates of his duty, Colonel Brock
+    was not prepared to hear that the population of the province,
+    instead of affording him ready and effectual support, might
+    probably add to the number of his enemies; and he feels much
+    disappointment in being informed by the first authority, that
+    the only law in any degree calculated to answer the end proposed
+    was likely, if attempted to be enforced, to meet with such
+    general opposition as to require the aid of the military to give
+    it even a momentary impulse.
+
+If such were the apprehensions of the commanding officer in Canada
+little wonder General Hull, in later days, counted on the co-operation
+of many of the inhabitants of the trans-Niagara country. In September,
+1807, Brock, who was acting-governor in Canada pending the arrival of
+Sir James Craig, was fortifying Quebec in anticipation of an immediate
+outbreak of the impending war. In this connection a little incident
+displays his character. He had caused to be erected at Quebec a very
+powerful battery, and of it he wrote his brothers:
+
+    I erected . . . a famous battery, which the public voice named
+    after me; but Sir James, thinking very properly that anything so
+    very pre-eminent should be distinguished by the most exalted
+    appellation, has called it the King's Battery, the greatest
+    compliment, I conceive, that he could pay to my judgment.
+
+The true modesty of the really great man shines out in these charming
+words.
+
+As the war cloud seemed to dissipate toward the close of 1808, General
+Brock seems to have set his eyes toward Europe in the hope of
+opportunity of active service; on November 19th he writes quite
+despondently:
+
+    My object is to get home as soon as I can obtain permission; but
+    unless our affairs with America be amicably adjusted, of which I
+    see no probability, I scarcely can expect to be permitted to
+    move. I rejoice Savery [Brock] has begun to exert himself to get
+    me appointed to a more active situation. I must see service, or
+    I may as well, and indeed much better, quit the army at once,
+    for no one advantage can I reasonably look to hereafter if I
+    remain buried in this inactive, remote corner, without the least
+    mention being made of me.
+
+It is exceedingly noticeable that Brock now seems to pin all his hope to
+being recalled in order that he might win his laurels in the
+tremendously spectacular campaigns against Napoleon in Spain. From his
+letters we learn that the French-Canadians looked for the Corsican's
+ultimate triumph and his final possession of Canada itself, and adds
+that under like circumstances Englishmen would be even more restless
+under French rule than the French-Canadians were under English; "Every
+victory which Napoleon has gained," he observes, "for the last nine
+years has made the disposition here to resist more manifest."
+
+In the middle of July Brock writes his sister-in-law, Mrs. William
+Brock, that the die is cast and that he is ordered to Upper Canada. If
+it is character, rather than mere performance that, in the last
+analysis, gives every man his historic position in the annals of the
+world, the truth is nowhere better shown than here in the case of this
+splendid Canadian hero. Could his Governor have spared him Brock would
+have, ere this, been at home or en route to Spain and fame; but the
+conditions demanded a strong, diplomatic officer at Fort George, and
+there was nothing for it but that Brock must go; and there followed
+war--and bloody Queenston Heights. "Since I cannot get to Europe," are
+his gloomy words, "I care little where I am placed."
+
+By September 13th he is writing his brothers from Fort George, but still
+hinting of his hopes to get leave to return to England eventually. What
+an out-of-the-way place for fame to seek and find a man--a man repining
+that he cannot go in search of her! Yet he writes: "I should stand
+evidently in my own light if I did not court fortune elsewhere." The
+attitude of Sir James Craig in the matter of his transfer to the
+European service was candidly stated by a letter from Colonel Baynes as
+follows:
+
+    In reply to an observation of mine, that you regretted the
+    inactive prospect before you, and looked with envy on those
+    employed in Spain and Portugal, he said: "I make no doubt of it,
+    but I can in no shape aid his plans in that respect; I would
+    not, however, be the means of preventing them, and although from
+    his local knowledge I should regret losing him in this country,
+    yet I would not oppose it if he could obtain an appointment to
+    the staff on service; but in that case I would ask for another
+    general officer being sent in his place immediately to Upper
+    Canada." I tell you this, my dear general, without reserve, and
+    give you, as far as I can recollect, Sir James's words. If he
+    liked you less, he might, perhaps, be more readily induced to
+    let you go; as matters stand, I do not think he will, although I
+    am convinced that he will feel very sincere regret in refusing
+    you on a subject upon which you appear to be so anxious.
+
+In his correspondence we now and then get a glimpse of the General's
+tastes and inclinations; that he was not a frugal entertainer we have
+considerable proof,[32] likewise evidence of his temperate tastes. In
+his lonely life by the Niagara he had recourse to such books as were to
+be found.
+
+    But books are scarce [he writes], and I hate borrowing. I like
+    to read a book quickly, and afterwards revert to such passages
+    as have made the deepest impression, and which appear to me most
+    important to remember--a practice I cannot conveniently pursue
+    unless the book be mine. Should you find that I am likely to
+    remain here, I wish you to send me some choice authors in
+    history, particularly ancient, with maps, and the best
+    translations of ancient works. I read in my youth Pope's
+    Translation of Homer, but till lately never discovered its
+    exquisite beauties. As I grow old, I acquire a taste for study.
+    I firmly believe that the same propensity was always inherent in
+    me, but, strange to tell, although many were paid extravagantly,
+    I never had the advantage of a master to guide and encourage me.
+    But it is now too late to repine. I rejoice that my nephews are
+    more fortunate.
+
+Colonel Vesey, writing to Brock, states that he regrets not having a
+daughter of marriageable age. "You should be married," runs the letter,
+"particularly as fate seems to detain you so long in Canada--but pray do
+not marry there." In another letter, dated Portsmouth, June 10, 1811,
+the same correspondent refers to Brock's appointment as Major-General.
+Oddly enough General Vesey says, referring to his friend's probable
+future: "It may perhaps be your fate to go to the Mediterranean, but the
+Peninsula is the most direct road to the honour of the Bath, and as you
+are an ambitious man, that is the station you should prefer. . . ." Only
+sixteen months from the day this letter was written Brock was gazetted
+Knight of the Bath--the lonely, patient, splendid man winning the great
+honour in the very land he was longing so sincerely to leave. On October
+17th a communication from Lieutenant-Colonel Torrens gives General Brock
+permission to return to England, but it was too late; both honour and
+necessity demanded his presence in Canada as the exciting days of 1812
+drew on apace.
+
+[Illustration: A Plan of Fort Niagara after English Occupation, by
+Montresor.]
+
+At the outbreak of hostilities in this year the United States embraced
+an immense territory, extending from the St. Lawrence to Mexico,
+excepting Florida--which remained in the possession of Spain until
+1819--and from the Atlantic indefinitely westward to the Spanish
+possessions on the Pacific coast, afterwards acquired by the United
+States. The total population of the United States was upwards of eight
+million souls, of whom a million and a half were negro slaves in the
+South. Large wastes of wild land lay between the Canadian settlements
+and the thickly populated sections of New England, New York, and Ohio.
+It was only with great difficulty and expense that men, munitions of
+war, and provisions could be brought to the frontier during the contest.
+
+The principal causes of the war are quite intelligible to the historical
+student. Great Britain was engaged in a great conflict at the beginning
+of the nineteenth century, not only for her own national security but
+also for the integrity of Europe, then threatened by the insatiable
+ambition of Bonaparte. It was on the sea that her strength mainly lay.
+To ensure her maritime supremacy England reserved the right of searching
+neutral, especially American, vessels. This so-called right meant that
+wherever an English warship met American merchantmen or war-vessels, the
+latter were required to stop, order their men on deck, and permit as
+many sailors to be seized and forced into the English service as were
+unable to prove their nationality. It was maintained that only deserters
+from the English navy were wanted; but in the period from 1796 to 1802,
+nearly two thousand American seamen were pressed into the English naval
+service on the plea that they were deserters. Likewise England became
+jealous of American trade. French, Spanish, and even English traders
+raised the American flag in order to get the advantages of neutrals.
+Thus it appeared that English commerce would fall into the hands of her
+rivals. It cannot be denied that illicit trade and outrages were really
+committed and brought back to American doors. The Lion roared. English
+vessels were stationed just outside the ports of more or less importance
+to the United States. British cruisers virtually blocked the Atlantic
+coast from Maine to Georgia. Then happened the _Chesapeake_ affair. On
+June 27, 1803, the British war-vessel _Leopard_ signalled the
+_Chesapeake_ to stop as she was leaving Norfolk Harbour. An officer was
+sent on board, but Commodore Barron refused to muster his men. The
+_Leopard_ thereupon opened fire, took the _Chesapeake_ by surprise,
+three men being killed and eighteen wounded. One Englishman was found
+when the search was completed; nevertheless, three American sailors (one
+being a negro) were taken away. This affair excited the American people
+almost beyond precedent. Indignation meetings were held all over. War
+soon became the cry. President Jefferson sent an agent to England to
+demand reparation for the attack on the _Chesapeake_, but England paid
+no attention to the President's representations.
+
+The Embargo Act of President Jefferson and similar measures solved none
+of the difficulties they were intended to solve. The South suffered much
+hardship, tobacco and wheat shrinking to one-half their former value.
+
+Then came the _Little Belt_ affair, when, in May, 1811, the United
+States frigate _President_ encountered the British sloop _Little Belt_,
+and, after a hot chase of several hours practically annihilated her.
+Never was news more welcome to American ears, and the _Chesapeake_
+affair had been revenged. But the incident did not help to improve the
+situation. Lastly it was generally believed that England instigated the
+Indian attacks which led to the battle of Tippecanoe, where the
+Americans, under General William Henry Harrison, gained a complete
+victory, to which our readers' attention will be directed later.
+
+All these causes would, perhaps, have been ineffective but for the
+revolution in the following year which took place in the American
+Republican party--the controlling party since 1801. Henry Clay of
+Kentucky, and John S. Calhoun of South Carolina, advocated war; others
+followed and President Madison joined them. They hoped to compel Europe
+to respect the American flag; they had confidence in the young Republic;
+they dreamed, perhaps, of an alliance with France, of an annexation of
+Canada. After long and stormy debates war was declared June 18th, the
+invasion of Canada had already begun!
+
+The War of 1812 officially commenced on June 18th. Great Britain,
+indeed, had extended a reconciliatory hand but it was too late. The army
+of the United States numbered at that time 6744 regulars. Congress had
+authorised its increase to 25,000, and provided, at least by law, for a
+second volunteer army of 50,000 men. The militia of several States was
+likewise called on to co-operate with the regulars and the volunteers.
+But the result was very unsatisfactory. The regular army during the war
+never reached 10,000; the volunteers appeared only in small numbers, and
+the militia offered to serve only for short terms and preferably in
+their own States. The Treasury, with its "sinews of war" was in a
+precarious condition. The Union had to resort to loans to which the
+capitalists did not respond with alacrity. On the other hand the British
+troops in Canada numbered barely seven thousand men; their line of
+defence was one thousand miles long. England was contending in Europe
+with her great enemy, Napoleon. The English Navy was, however, the
+undisputed mistress of all the seas; the British North Atlantic Squadron
+counted three battleships, twenty cruisers, and fifty smaller ships.
+
+The mind of the man who had been unwittingly awaiting the impossible in
+the Upper Province for so many gloomy months is well displayed now in a
+letter written to headquarters at the first intimation of the
+declaration of war which reached him through round-about sources:
+
+    Fort George, July 3, 1812.
+
+    I have been anxiously expecting for some days to receive the
+    honour of your excellency's commands in regard to the measures
+    the most proper to be pursued on the present emergency.
+
+    The accounts received, first through a mercantile channel, and
+    soon after repeated from various quarters, of war having been
+    declared by the United States against Great Britain, would have
+    justified, in my opinion, offensive operations. But the
+    reflection that at Detroit and Michilimakinack the weak state of
+    the garrisons would prevent the commanders from accomplishing
+    any essential service, connected in any degree with their future
+    security, and that my means of annoyance on this communication
+    were limited to the reduction of Fort Niagara, which could
+    easily be battered at any future period, I relinquished my
+    original intention, and attended only to defensive measures. My
+    first object has been the calling out of the flank companies of
+    militia, which has produced a force on this line of about eight
+    hundred men. They turned out very cheerfully, but already show a
+    spirit of impatience. The king's stores are now at so low an
+    ebb, that they scarcely furnish any article of use or comfort.
+    Blankets, hammocks, and kettles, are all to be purchased; and
+    the troops, when watching the banks of the river, stand in the
+    utmost need of tents. Mr. Couche has adopted the most
+    efficacious means to pay the militia in paper currency. I cannot
+    positively state the number of militia that will be embodied,
+    but they cannot exceed throughout the province four thousand
+    men.
+
+    The Americans are very active on the opposite side, in the
+    erection of redoubts; we are not idle on our part, but
+    unfortunately having supplied Amherstburg with the guns which
+    that post required from Fort George, depending upon getting
+    others from Kingston to supply their place, we find ourselves at
+    this moment rather short of that essential arm. I have, however,
+    every reason to think that they are embarked on board the _Earl
+    Moira_, which vessel, according to Major M'Pherson's report, was
+    to have sailed on the 28th ultimo. The Americans have, I
+    believe, about 1200 regulars and militia between Fort Niagara
+    and Black Rock, and I consider myself at this moment perfectly
+    safe against any attempt they can make. About one hundred
+    Indians from the Grand River have attended to my summons; the
+    remainder promise to come also, but I have too much reason to
+    conclude that the Americans have been too successful in their
+    endeavours to sow dissension and disaffection among them. It is
+    a great object to get this fickle race interspersed among the
+    troops. I should be unwilling, in the event of a retreat, to
+    have three or four hundred of them hanging on my flank. I shall
+    probably have to sacrifice some money to gain them over, and the
+    appointment of a few officers with salaries will be absolutely
+    necessary.
+
+    The Americans make a daily parade of their force, and easily
+    impose on the people on this side in regard to their numbers. I
+    do not think they exceed 1200, but they are represented as
+    infinitely more numerous.
+
+    For the last fortnight every precaution has been taken to guard
+    against the least communication, and to this day we are ignorant
+    whether the President has sanctioned the war resolutions of the
+    two houses of Congress; that is, whether war be actually
+    declared.
+
+    I have not been honoured with a line from Mr. Foster,[33] nor
+    with all my endeavours have I been able to retain information of
+    any consequence. The _Prince Regent_ made her first voyage this
+    morning, and I purpose sending her to Kingston this evening, to
+    bring such articles as are absolutely necessary, which we know
+    have arrived from Quebec. I trust she will out-sail the _Oneida_
+    brig.
+
+The arrival of General Hull at Detroit and his "invasion" of Canada
+followed hard on the declaration of war; as a preliminary step previous
+to invasion he issued the Proclamation for which he was afterward so
+roundly scored. The proclamation was really an invitation to all
+disaffected persons in the Upper Provinces to join Hull's army. That it
+had no more success than it did, was due, it may be believed, to the
+personal magnetism of the able man in control of affairs--to the trust
+that the people had as a whole in General Brock. To counteract Hull's
+proclamation Brock replied in one of his own, and it contains several
+statements of interest as displaying the character of its author:
+
+    The unprovoked declaration of war by the United States of
+    America against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
+    and its dependencies, has been followed by the actual invasion
+    of this province, in a remote frontier of the western district,
+    by a detachment of the armed force of the United States.
+
+    The officer commanding that detachment has thought proper to
+    invite his majesty's subjects, not merely to a quiet and
+    unresisting submission, but insults them with a call to seek
+    voluntarily the protection of his government.
+
+    Without condescending to repeat the illiberal epithets bestowed
+    in this appeal of the American commander to the people of Upper
+    Canada, on the administration of his majesty, every inhabitant
+    of the province is desired to seek the confutation of such
+    indecent slander in the review of his own particular
+    circumstances. Where is the Canadian subject who can truly
+    affirm to himself that he has been injured by the government, in
+    his person, his property, or his liberty? Where is to be found,
+    in any part of the world, a growth so rapid in prosperity and
+    wealth, as this colony exhibits? Settled not thirty years, by a
+    band of veterans, exiled from their former possessions on
+    account of their loyalty, not a descendant of these brave people
+    is to be found, who, under the fostering liberality of their
+    sovereign, has not acquired a property and means of enjoyment
+    superior to what were possessed by their ancestors.
+
+    [Illustration: "Navy Hall Opposite Niagara."
+
+    A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.]
+
+    The unequalled prosperity would not have been attained by the
+    utmost liberality of the government, or the persevering industry
+    of the people, had not the maritime power of the mother-country
+    secured to its colonists a safe access to every market, where
+    the produce of their labour was in request.
+
+    The unavoidable and immediate consequences of a separation from
+    Great Britain must be the loss of this inestimable advantage;
+    and what is offered you in exchange? To become a territory of
+    the United States, and share with them that exclusion from the
+    ocean which the policy of their government enforces; you are not
+    even flattered with a participation of their boasted
+    independence; and it is but too obvious that, once estranged
+    from the powerful protection of the United Kingdom, you must be
+    re-annexed to the dominion of France, from which the provinces
+    of Canada were wrested by the arms of Great Britain, at a vast
+    expense of blood and treasure, from no other motive than to
+    relieve her ungrateful children from the oppression of a cruel
+    neighbour. This restitution of Canada to the empire of France,
+    was the stipulated reward for the aid afforded to the revolted
+    colonies, now the United States; the debt is still due, and
+    there can be no doubt but the pledge has been renewed as a
+    consideration for commercial advantages, or rather for an
+    expected relaxation in the tyranny of France over the commercial
+    world. Are you prepared, inhabitants of Canada, to become
+    willing subjects, or rather slaves, to the despot who rules the
+    nations of continental Europe with a rod of iron? If not, arise
+    in a body, exert your energies, co-operate cordially with the
+    King's regular forces to repel the invader, and do not give
+    cause to your children, when groaning under the oppression of a
+    foreign master, to reproach you with having so easily parted
+    with the richest inheritance of this earth--a participation in
+    the name, character, and freedom of Britons!
+
+    The same spirit of justice, which will make every reasonable
+    allowance for the unsuccessful efforts of zeal and loyalty, will
+    not fail to punish the defalcation of principle. Every Canadian
+    freeholder is, by deliberate choice, bound by the most solemn
+    oaths to defend the monarchy, as well as his own property; to
+    shrink from that engagement is a treason not to be forgiven. Let
+    no man suppose that if, in this unexpected struggle, his
+    majesty's arms should be compelled to yield to an overwhelming
+    force, the province will be eventually abandoned; the endeared
+    relations of its first settlers, the intrinsic value of its
+    commerce, and the pretensions of its powerful rival to possess
+    the Canadas, are pledges that no peace will be established
+    between the United States and Great Britain and Ireland, of
+    which the restoration of these provinces does not make the most
+    prominent condition.
+
+    Be not dismayed at the unjustifiable threat of the commander of
+    the enemy's forces to refuse quarter, should an Indian appear in
+    the ranks. The brave bands of aborigines which inhabit this
+    colony were, like his Majesty's other subjects, punished for
+    their zeal and fidelity, by the loss of their possessions in the
+    late colonies, and requited by his Majesty with lands of
+    superior value in this province. The faith of the British
+    government has never yet been violated--the Indians feel that
+    the soil they inherit is to them and their posterity protected
+    from the base arts so frequently devised to over-reach their
+    simplicity. By what new principle are they to be prohibited from
+    defending their property? If their warfare, from being different
+    to that of the white people, be more terrific to the enemy, let
+    him retrace his steps--they seek him not--and cannot expect to
+    find women and children in an invading army. But they are men,
+    and have equal rights with all other men to defend themselves
+    and their property when invaded, more especially when they find
+    in the enemy's camp a ferocious and mortal foe; using the same
+    warfare which the American commander affects to reprobate.
+
+    This inconsistent and unjustifiable threat of refusing quarter,
+    for such a cause as being found in arms with a brother sufferer,
+    in defence of invaded rights, must be exercised with the certain
+    assurance of retaliation, not only in the limited operations of
+    war in this part of the King's dominions, but in every quarter
+    of the globe; for the national character of Britain is not less
+    distinguished for humanity than strict retributive justice,
+    which will consider the execution of this inhuman threat as
+    deliberate murder, for which every subject of the offending
+    power must make expiation.
+
+Few men ever had the task that General Brock now essayed thrown upon
+their shoulders. With some fifteen hundred men he had to occupy the
+forts St. Joseph, Amherstburg (Malden), Chippewa, Erie, and George,
+together with York (Toronto) and Kingston; maintain British supremacy,
+if possible, on three great lakes; preserve the long communication and
+defend a frontier eight hundred and more miles in length. And it is to
+be remembered that even in time of peace there had been no little
+trouble in keeping the British regulars from deserting to the American
+side of the Niagara--probably to take advantage of the splendid
+agricultural and commercial opportunities in the West just then being
+thrown open to the pioneer hosts and to which Easterners were flocking
+"in shoals," as one observer put it. His position was the more peculiar
+because of the nature of the larger portion of the inhabitants of the
+upper province, the loyalists. Having fled from the United States in the
+hours of the Revolution, fancy now the thoughts of these honest people
+as they faced the prospect of their land of refuge being invaded by an
+army from the land below the lakes! Seldom did a people have more cause
+for apprehension; seldom did the inhabitants of an invaded land look
+less for commiseration on the part of the invaders. The result was that
+a very few fled back again to the land of their birth; but the vast
+majority resolved to trust the issue to Providence--and these looked to
+General Brock to preserve the land.
+
+The situation was unique and gave the man at the helm a singular
+opportunity to prove himself and win the deathless devotion of a whole
+people. Little wonder that the man who proved himself equal to this
+critical hour will forever be known as "The Hero of Upper Canada."
+
+Brigadier-General Hull had advanced into Upper Canada from Detroit
+early in July, but it was not until the capture of Hull's despatches by
+Colonel Proctor in the affair near Brownsville when Van Horne's party
+was ambushed that Brock planned to execute the daring advance which
+ended in the astonishing capture of Detroit and Hull's entire army. On
+the 6th of August Brock departed from York, with five hundred additional
+volunteers, largely sons of loyalists, who were very true to their
+adopted country in this crisis--or, perhaps we should say, loyal to this
+brave leader in whom were suddenly found the qualities required by the
+extraordinary occasion. Being compelled to leave a part of the little
+force he was leading westward along the Niagara River, General Brock
+reached Amherstburg (Malden) in five days and nights with some three
+hundred followers. It is plain on this showing that whatever the result
+of the bold enterprise there was now no hesitation in carrying it out.
+Tecumseh's salute in his honour was suppressed as quickly as possible,
+such was the scarcity of powder! There is something pathetically
+interesting in two despatches issued by Brock on two successive
+days,--August 14th and 15th. One was an appeal to his troops to prevent
+desertion among the country folk who felt it imperative to get in their
+crops; the other was an ultimatum to Hull summoning him to surrender.
+The incongruity of the two epistles is almost amusing, especially when
+it is remembered that the British had very little powder and a force
+smaller than that opposed to it beyond the Detroit River. And yet the
+bombastic order reads:
+
+    The force at my disposal authorises me to require of you the
+    immediate surrender of Fort Detroit. It is far from my
+    inclination to join in a war of extermination; but you must be
+    aware that the numerous body of Indians who have attached
+    themselves to my troops will be beyond my control the moment the
+    contest commences. You will find me disposed to enter into such
+    conditions as will satisfy the most scrupulous sense of honour.
+    Lieut.-Colonel M'Donell and Major Glegg are fully authorised to
+    conclude any arrangement that may lead to prevent the
+    unnecessary effusion of blood.
+
+An answer of bold and frank tenor from Hull was received by the
+desperate Brock, who immediately chose his course; there was nothing for
+it but to retreat or attack the enemies' position; he could not sit
+still; he was in George Rogers Clark's shoes at Kaskaskia a generation
+before when Hamilton had captured Vincennes--he must capture Hull or be
+captured by Hull. It was true to the kind of man he was that Brock
+should spurn the advice of his officers to retreat and should determine,
+despite their objections, to put his threat into execution. On Sunday,
+the 16th of August, Brock's determined men were crossing the Strait. His
+force included less than four hundred regulars and about that many
+militia supported by some six hundred Indians. The American troops
+numbered upwards of two thousand. As is well known Brock received
+notification as his force was moving upon the fort that General Hull was
+ready to treat with him. The resolute deportment of the desperate Brock
+had won for him and his King a bloodless conquest that will go down in
+history as one of the most heroic on the part of one commander and most
+despicable on the part of the other to be found in the annals of
+warfare. Congressmen who had been boasting in debate that it was
+unnecessary to even send troops into the Canadas since officers alone,
+by appearing there, could rally armies of disaffected persons about
+them, now read that one determined man, acting against the advice of his
+officers had appeared at the gates of Detroit with half an army and
+taken its keys as readily as though they were voted to him by the city
+fathers and brought to him on a silver salver. "We have the Canadas,"
+rang the silvery voice of Henry Clay in Congress, "as much under our
+command as Great Britain has the ocean; and the way to conquer her on
+the ocean is to drive her from the land." No one could have more
+completely misjudged an enemy or his own country as did the great
+Kentuckian in this instance.
+
+It is interesting in the extreme to survey the man who had won a signal
+triumph as he now marches back to York and Fort George where he had
+spent so many useless, fruitless years, as it seemed to him--yearning in
+season and out of season for the opportunity to get away to the
+Peninsula, or somewhere where fame might be achieved. Brock's success is
+a great lesson to all ambitious men. Doing the humble drudgery of the
+duty that lay next his hand, despite the regret and even pain occasioned
+by lack of opportunity, this man suddenly came into a fame world-wide
+and the honour of the Bath that he thought could come to him only in
+sunny Spain. On the 10th of the following October General Brock's
+brother William was asked by his wife why the park and tower guns were
+saluting. "For Isaac, of course," he answered, playfully; "don't you
+know that this is Isaac's birthday?" A little later he learned that the
+news of the surrender of Detroit had just been received, and that his
+playful answer was very near the truth after all!
+
+[Illustration: Queenston and Brock's Monument.
+
+From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.]
+
+It is fruitless to imagine what might have been the trend of events in
+Canada but for the daring decision made by Brock to move upon Detroit;
+his courage in running in the teeth of the wind and trusting to
+Providence to fetch the quay by hook or crook, is the very quality of
+the human heart that mankind most delights to honour; it is remarkable
+that the imbecility of Hull could have so completely blinded our
+American eyes to this display of splendid daring of Brock's, which ranks
+with Clark's bold march through the drowned lands of the Wabash, or
+Wayne's attack on Stony Point. The capture of Hull and Detroit
+unquestionably saved Upper Canada to England; for though American arms
+were successful to some degree beyond the line, as we shall see, the
+successes did not count toward conquest and annexation as would have
+been the case, perhaps, had they come at the outbreak of the war. All
+Canada felt the heartening effect of Brock's inexplicable victory;
+thousands who had feared instant and ruthless invasion now felt strong
+to repel any and all invaders; and the effect extended to the Indian
+allies and across the ocean to the home-country, as well. Had Clay's
+theory been true and the war had to be settled by land battles, Detroit
+would have delayed the end for many years; but America was soon to show
+a power on the sea as surprising as the stupidity of some of her
+commanders on shore and play England at her own sea-dog game with her
+own weapons and gain the victory.
+
+The General's letter to his brothers is interesting as exhibiting the
+man's private views on his great success:
+
+    I have received [he writes] so many letters from people whose
+    opinion I value, expressive of their admiration of the exploit,
+    that I begin to attach to it more importance than I was at first
+    inclined. Should the affair be viewed in England in the light it
+    is here, I cannot fail of meeting reward, and escaping the
+    horror of being placed high on a shelf, never to be taken down.
+    Some say that nothing could be more desperate than the measure;
+    but I answer, that the state of the province admitted of nothing
+    but desperate remedies. I got possession of the letters my
+    antagonist addressed to the secretary of war, and also of the
+    sentiments which hundreds of his army uttered to their friends.
+    Confidence in the General was gone, and evident despondency
+    prevailed throughout. I have succeeded beyond expectation. I
+    crossed the river, contrary to the opinion of Colonel Proctor,
+    . . . etc.[34]; it is, therefore, no wonder that envy should
+    attribute to good fortune what, in justice to my own
+    discernment, I must say, proceeded from a cool calculation of
+    the _pours_ and _contres_.
+
+General Brock, along with most other British leaders who operated along
+the American frontier, has been accused of using the savages to fight in
+savage ways the battles of white men against fellow whites. Rossiter
+Johnson, in his _War of 1812_, to cite one of the careful students who
+has thus referred to Brock, in speaking of the minute-guns fired on the
+American shore during Brock's funeral, says:
+
+    There was perhaps no harm in this little bit of sentiment,
+    though if the Americans remembered that two months before, in
+    demanding the surrender of Detroit, General Brock had threatened
+    to let loose a horde of savages upon the garrison and town, if
+    he were compelled to capture it by force, they must have seen
+    that their minute-guns were supremely illogical, not to say
+    silly.[35]
+
+One who has any reason to know how much basis Washington had for his
+sweeping remark that most of the trouble the United States had with the
+western Indians was due to the demeanour of British officers to them,
+could only with difficulty become prejudiced in favour of any British
+officers who had actual dealings with the Canadian Indians and actually
+led them in person to battle. And yet the present writer has found
+sufficient ground in Brock's correspondence for holding that Brock was
+above reproach personally on this score--that he was a gentleman here as
+elsewhere, a true nobleman. We cannot here enter into a lengthy
+discussion of such a difficult problem. A letter extant, written by
+Brock to General Prevost, shows his attitude in this delicate matter
+during those desperate days when Harrison was fighting the wily
+Tecumseh:
+
+    My first care, on my arrival in this province, was to direct the
+    officers of the Indian department at Amherstburg to exert their
+    whole influence with the Indians to prevent the attack which I
+    understood a few tribes meditated against the American frontier.
+    But their efforts proved fruitless, as such was the infatuation
+    of the Indians, that they refused to listen to advice.
+
+It will always be an open question how much control the responsible men,
+either American or British, had over their red-skinned "brothers"
+compared with their half-renegade, forest-running underlings who
+dispensed the powder, blankets, and fire-water and directed affairs much
+as they pleased.
+
+Before the outbreak of the war Brock wrote to his superiors concerning
+his province as follows:
+
+    The first point to which I am anxious to call your excellency's
+    attention is the district of Amherstburg. I consider it the most
+    important, and, if supplied with the means of commencing active
+    operations, must deter any offensive attempt on this province,
+    from Niagara westward. The American government will be compelled
+    to secure their western frontier from the inroads of the
+    Indians, and this cannot be effected without a very considerable
+    force. But before we can expect an active co-operation on the
+    part of the Indians, the reduction of Detroit and
+    Michilimakinack must convince that people, who conceive
+    themselves to have been sacrificed, in 1794, to our policy,[36]
+    that we are earnestly engaged in the war. The Indians, I am made
+    to understand, are eager for an opportunity to avenge the
+    numerous injuries of which they complain. A few tribes, at the
+    instigation of a Shawnese, of no particular note, have already,
+    although explicitly told not to look for assistance from us,
+    commenced the contest. The stand which they continue to make
+    upon the Wabash, against about two thousand Americans, including
+    militia and regulars, is a strong proof of the large force which
+    a general combination of the Indians will render necessary to
+    protect so widely extended a frontier.
+
+Again, Brock was in a very different position from the British
+commanders during the Revolution; his province was being invaded and the
+Indians who had settled under the auspices of the British Government in
+that province were threatened with destruction as seriously as the
+loyalists or the native Englishmen transplanted from the mother-country.
+Surely, no one would expect Indians whose homes lay in the upper
+province to remain neutral when that province was invaded. Indeed, in
+February, 1812, we find Brock complaining to his superior of the lax
+attention that was paid by the Government to the Indians settled in the
+province he had been sent to govern.
+
+    Divisions are thus uninterruptedly sowed among our Indian
+    friends [he wrote, meaning, of course, sowed by Americans], and
+    the minds of many altogether estranged from our interests. Such
+    must inevitably be the consequence of our present inert and
+    neutral proceedings in regard to them. It ill becomes me to
+    determine how long true policy requires that the restrictions
+    imposed upon the Indian department ought to continue; but this I
+    will venture to assert, that each day the officers are
+    restrained from interfering in the concerns of the Indians, each
+    time they advise peace and withhold the accustomed supply of
+    ammunition, their influence will diminish, till at length they
+    lose it altogether.
+
+Nothing shows better the activity of the American officers in seeking to
+line the Indians up on the side of the fighting Republic than Brock's
+letters to his superiors. We have already seen that Brock had, as late
+as July 3d, little hope of keeping the Indians of the Grand River true
+to him because of the American influence exerted over them by active
+agents. And we have seen, in his counter-proclamation answering that
+issued by General Hull, that Brock places the employment of the Indians
+on the ground of territorial rights: "By what new principle," he asks,
+"are they to be prohibited from defending their property?"
+
+The ominous words used by General Brock in his summons to Hull to
+surrender have, it must be admitted, all the ring of a threat; but, for
+one, I do not take them to be that primarily, but rather the honest,
+frank words of a gentleman. In case of the sacking of Detroit Brock
+could not have controlled those redskins of his, and he knew it. In like
+circumstances what general had been able to control the Indians attached
+to him? In the single instance of Sir William Johnson at the fall of
+Fort Niagara, we find an illustration of approximate control, yet
+nothing in the world but the power of that great man would have answered
+under the circumstances. I would believe that Brock knew he could not
+control his Iroquois allies,[37] whether in victory or in defeat, and
+made a plain statement to Hull to that effect. That he told the truth I
+think no one can doubt after examining the situation; whether he would
+have told the truth if the truth had not carried a threat may be
+questioned. The truth usually answers a gentleman's purposes, and Brock
+was that to the marrow of his bones.
+
+Brock had not overestimated the effect and influence of his bloodless
+victory upon the English, but, by strange caprice of Fate, was not
+permitted to live to receive the high honours bestowed upon him. On the
+thirteenth of the following October, in the battle of Queenston Heights,
+elsewhere described, while reforming the broken British ranks for a
+second time, a bullet in the breast cut short a life that promised very
+high attainment. As was his custom the General had arisen before
+daybreak on this fatal day and had left Fort George at the first sound
+of the battle on the heights. His conspicuous presence, bright uniform,
+and animated deportment in attempting to reform the broken lines, made
+him a plain target for Wool's heroic men, who had climbed up a pathway
+steeper than any Wolfe's troops ever saw at Quebec. "Push on the York
+volunteers," were the words of the brave man's last order; but as he lay
+in the arms of his aides he begged that his injury might not be noticed
+by the troops or disconcert their advance; and with one half-understood
+wish concerning a token of love to be given to his sister, Isaac Brock
+fell dead.
+
+It is not given to many notable men to fall in the very midst of
+spectacular success; it can easily be believed that General Brock, being
+the man we know him to have been, would have made the best use of his
+triumph, and that it would have been but a stepping-stone to enlarged
+opportunities where each duty in its turn would have received the same
+decent, earnest attention that the man gave to his work throughout those
+half-unhappy days when he felt marooned in the wilds of a dreary ocean,
+where no one could prove his merit, calibre, or knowledge. And so, after
+all is said for this fine man, I, for one, like best to go back to those
+days of impatient longing for opportunity amid the dull grind of routine
+at Fort George, and see the real spirit of Brock who, in all truth,
+deserves the honourable title of "Hero of Upper Canada"; and when you
+have caught the spirit displayed by him in those dispiriting days,
+realise his careful faithfulness in the humdrum life he was asked to
+live, while his schoolmates of war were winning great glory on the
+epoch-making European battlefields, join to it that sudden burst of
+splendid grit and heroism that provoked the Detroit attack despite the
+advice of the staff officers, and you have a combination that thrills
+the heart of friend and enemy--of all who love patient doing of duty and
+real displays of undiluted heroism.
+
+Some of the best tributes to Brock, were, as should have been the case,
+those paid by persons who knew of his place in the hearts of the people
+of his adopted land of service:
+
+    The news of the death of this excellent officer [observed the
+    Quebec _Gazette_] has been received here as a public calamity.
+    The attendant circumstances of victory scarcely checked the
+    painful sensation. His long residence in this province, and
+    particularly in this place, had made him in habits and good
+    offices almost a citizen; and his frankness, conciliatory
+    disposition, and elevated demeanour, an estimable one. The
+    expressions of regret as general as he was known, and not
+    uttered by friends and acquaintances only, but by every
+    gradation of class, not only by grown persons, but young
+    children, are the test of his worth. Such, too, is the only
+    eulogium worthy of the good and brave, and the citizens of
+    Quebec have, with solemn emotions, pronounced it on his memory.
+    But at this anxious moment other feelings are excited by his
+    loss. General Brock had acquired the confidence of the
+    inhabitants within his government. He had secured their
+    attachment permanently by his own merits. They were one people
+    animated by one disposition, and this he had gradually wound up
+    to the crisis in which they were placed. Strange as it may seem,
+    it is to be feared that he had become too important to them. The
+    heroic militia of Upper Canada, more particularly, had knit
+    themselves to his person; and it is yet to be ascertained
+    whether the desire to avenge his death can compensate the many
+    embarrassments it will occasion. It is indeed true that the
+    spirit, and even the abilities, of a distinguished man often
+    carry their influence beyond the grave; and the present event
+    furnishes its own example, for it is certain notwithstanding
+    General Brock was cut off early in the action, that he had
+    already given an impulse to his little army, which contributed
+    to accomplish the victory when he was no more. Let us trust that
+    the recollection of him will become a new bond of union, and
+    that, as he sacrificed himself for a community of patriots, they
+    will find a new motive to exertion in the obligation to secure
+    his ashes from the pestilential dominion of the enemy.
+
+A Montreal newspaper of the day also contained the following
+observations:
+
+    The private letters from Upper Canada, in giving the account of
+    the late victory at Queenstown, are partly taken up with
+    lamentations upon the never-to-be-forgotten General Brock, which
+    do honour to the character and talents of the man they deplore.
+    The enemy have nothing to hope from the loss they have
+    inflicted; they have created a hatred which panteth for revenge.
+    Although General Brock may be said to have fallen in the midst
+    of his career, yet his previous services in Upper Canada will be
+    lasting and highly beneficial. When he assumed the government of
+    the province, he found a divided, disaffected, and, of course, a
+    weak people. He has left them united and strong, and the
+    universal sorrow of the province attends his fall. The father,
+    to his children, will make known the mournful story. The
+    veteran, who fought by his side in the heat and burthen of the
+    day of our deliverance, will venerate his name.
+
+And the sentiments of the British Government, on the melancholy
+occasion, were thus expressed in a despatch from Earl Bathurst, the
+secretary of state for the colonies, to Sir George Prevost, dated
+December 8, 1812:
+
+    His Royal Highness the Prince Regent is fully aware of the
+    severe loss which his Majesty's service has experienced in the
+    death of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. This would have been
+    sufficient to have clouded a victory of much greater importance.
+    His Majesty has lost in him not only an able and meritorious
+    officer, but one who, in the exercise of his functions of
+    provisional lieutenant-governor of the province, displayed
+    qualities admirably adapted to awe the disloyal, to reconcile
+    the wavering, and to animate the great mass of the inhabitants
+    against successive attempts of the enemy to invade the province,
+    in the last of which he unhappily fell, too prodigal of that
+    life of which his eminent services had taught us to understand
+    the value.
+
+The body of the fallen hero lay in state at the government house until
+the 16th of October, when, with that of Colonel McDonell, it was buried
+with due honours in a cavalier bastion of Fort George, at the spot now
+marked by the tablet indicating the first burial-place. On the 13th of
+October, 1824, the remains were moved to the summit of the heights,
+whereon a beautiful monument had been erected by the Provincial
+Legislature, 135 feet in height, bearing this "splendid tribute to the
+unfading remembrance of a grateful people":
+
+  UPPER CANADA
+  HAS DEDICATED THIS MONUMENT
+  TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE
+  MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC BROCK, K.B.
+  PROVISIONAL LIEUT.-GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER OF THE FORCES
+  IN THIS PROVINCE
+  WHOSE REMAINS ARE DEPOSITED IN THE VAULT BENEATH
+  OPPOSING THE INVADING ENEMY
+  HE FELL IN ACTION NEAR THESE HEIGHTS
+  ON THE 13TH OCTOBER, 1812
+  IN THE 43D YEAR OF HIS AGE
+  REVERED AND LAMENTED
+  BY THE PEOPLE WHOM HE GOVERNED
+  AND DEPLORED BY THE SOVEREIGN
+  TO WHOSE SERVICE HIS LIFE HAD BEEN DEVOTED.
+
+[Illustration: Brock's Monument.]
+
+The following description of this interesting pageant portrays the
+genuine feeling of devotion felt for the "Hero of Upper Canada" that
+filled the hearts of his countrymen:
+
+    There is something so grand and imposing in the spectacle of a
+    nation's homage to departed worth, which calls for the exercise
+    of so many interesting feelings, and which awakens so many
+    sublime contemplations, that we naturally seek to perpetuate the
+    memory of an event so pregnant with instruction, and so
+    honourable to our species. It is a subject that in other and in
+    older countries has frequently exercised the pens, and has
+    called forth all the descriptive powers of the ablest writers.
+    But here it is new; and for the first time, since we became a
+    separate province, have we seen a great public funeral
+    procession of all ranks of people, to the amount of several
+    thousands, bearing the remains of two lamented heroes to their
+    last dwelling on earth, in the vaults of a grand national
+    monument, overtopping the loftiest heights of the most
+    magnificent section of one of the most magnificent countries in
+    the world.
+
+    The 13th of October, being the anniversary of the battle of
+    Queenstown, and of the death of Brock, was judiciously chosen as
+    the most proper day for the removal of the remains of the
+    general, together with those of his gallant aide-de-camp,
+    Lieutenant-Colonel M'Donell, to the vaults prepared for their
+    reception on Queenstown Heights.
+
+    The weather was remarkably fine, and before ten o'clock a very
+    large concourse of people, from all parts of the country, had
+    assembled on the plains of Niagara, in front of Fort George, in
+    a bastion of which the bodies had been deposited for twelve
+    years.
+
+    One hearse covered with black cloth, and drawn by four black
+    horses, each with a leader, contained both the bodies. Soon
+    after ten, a lane was formed by the 1st and 4th regiments of
+    Lincoln militia, with their right on the gate of Fort George,
+    and their left extending along the road towards Queenstown, the
+    ranks being about forty paces distant from each other; within
+    this line was formed a guard of honour of the 76th Regiment, in
+    parade order, having its left on the fort. As the hearse moved
+    slowly from the fort, to the sound of solemn music, a detachment
+    of royal artillery began to fire the salute of nineteen guns,
+    and the guard of honour presented arms.
+
+    On moving forwards in ordinary time, the guard of honour broke
+    into a column of eight divisions, with the right in front, and
+    the procession took the following order:
+
+  A Staff Officer.
+  Subdivision of Grenadiers.
+  Band of Music.
+  Right Wing of 76th Regiment.
+  THE BODY.
+  Aide-de-Camp to the late Major-General Sir Isaac Brock.
+  Chief Mourners.
+  Commissioners for the Monument.
+  Heads of Public Departments of the Civil Government.
+  Judges.
+  Members of the Executive Council.
+  His Excellency and Suite.
+  Left Wing of the 76th Regiment.
+  Indian Chiefs of the Five Nations.
+  Officers of Militia not on duty--Junior Ranks--First Forward.
+  Four deep.
+  Magistrates and Civilians.
+  With a long Cavalcade of Horsemen, and Carriages of every description.
+
+On the 17th of April, 1840, a miscreant by the name of Lett laid a train
+to a quantity of gunpowder secreted beneath the monument to General
+Brock and fired it, partially wrecking both the base and the pillar. The
+criminal had been compelled to flee the country during the rebellion
+then just over, and, returning, took this outrageous method of
+gratifying his malice. As we look upon the beautiful monument that
+stands above Brock's remains to-day it is with a feeling almost of
+pleasure that such a wretched deed was necessary to result in the fine
+pillar that is one of the scenic beauties of the Niagara country to-day.
+This fine shaft bears the following inscription:
+
+    The Legislature of Upper Canada has dedicated this Monument to
+    the very distinguished, eminent, civil, and military services of
+    the late Sir Isaac Brock, Knight of the Most Hon. Order of the
+    Bath, Provisional Lieutenant-Governor, and Major-General
+    commanding the Forces in this Province, whose remains are
+    deposited in the vault beneath. Having expelled the Northwestern
+    Army of the United States, achieved its capture, received the
+    surrender of Fort Detroit, and the territory of Michigan, under
+    circumstances which have rendered his name illustrious he
+    returned to the protection of this frontier; and advancing with
+    his small force to repel a second invasion of the enemy, then in
+    possession of these heights, he fell in action, on the 13th of
+    October, 1812, in the forty-third year of his age, honoured and
+    beloved by the people whom he governed and deplored by his
+    Sovereign, to whose service his life had been devoted.
+
+[Footnote 30: _The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir Isaac
+Brock, K.B._, by Ferdinand Brock Tupper, p. 16. This most interesting
+volume has furnished very much of the material for this chapter. D. B.
+Read's _Life and Times of General Brock_ is an excellent book for
+popular use and will be found quoted herein.]
+
+[Footnote 31: One cause of desertion seems to have been the ubiquitous
+American girl. In a later letter Brock wrote:
+
+    "Not a desertion has been attempted by any of the 49th for the
+    last ten months, with the exception, indeed, of Hogan. He served
+    Glegg, who took him with him to the Falls of Niagara, where a
+    fair damsel persuaded him to this act of madness, for the fellow
+    cannot possibly gain his bread by labour, as he has half killed
+    himself with excessive drinking; and we know he cannot live upon
+    love alone."]
+
+[Footnote 32: A letter from Colonel Kempt runs: "I have just received a
+long letter . . . giving me an account of a splendid ball given by you
+to the _beau monde_ of Niagara and its vicinity, and the manner in which
+she speaks of your liberality and hospitality reminds me of the many
+pleasant hours I have passed under your roof. We _have no such parties
+now_, and the indisposition of Sir James having prevented the usual
+public days at the castle, nothing more stupid than Quebec now is can be
+imagined."]
+
+[Footnote 33: British Ambassador to the United States.]
+
+[Footnote 34: In the face of the fact here divulged concerning Proctor's
+attitude toward Brock's determination to move upon Detroit it is
+interesting to remember Brock's very high praise of Proctor in his
+report of the capture. His words, so characteristic of the gentleman,
+were: "I have been admirably supported by Colonel Proctor. . . ."]
+
+[Footnote 35: P. 60.]
+
+[Footnote 36: The reference here is to the failure of the British to
+assist the Indian confederacy withstand General Wayne's invasion of the
+Maumee Valley which ended in the victory of Fallen Timber.]
+
+[Footnote 37: That Brock feared the Indians when acting in unison, that
+is, when not "interspersed" among the troops, is perfectly plain from
+his letter to General Prevost of July 3d.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter XI
+
+  The Second War with England
+
+
+We have explained the influence of the life and death of General Brock
+in the upper province sufficiently for the reader to conceive, perhaps,
+an unusual interest in the course of the war that soon was raging, in
+reality or in burlesque, as it sometimes appeared, along the northern
+border; no one can take any interest in Brock's career without wondering
+whether his province was invaded or conquered despite the sacrifices of
+this undefeated but dead hero.
+
+Upon Brock's return from Detroit he found General Stephen Van Rensselaer
+commanding the American shore of the river, preparing, according to
+report, to begin the conquest of the upper province. There was much
+cause for delay, which in turn provoked criticism and unrest, but as
+October of 1812 drew near it was considered necessary and possible to
+execute the advance upon Brock's positions along the river and on
+Queenston Heights and Fort George. The first attempt to advance on the
+night of the 10th proved abortive through the treachery of an
+irresponsible lieutenant. Instead of quieting the ardour of the army
+this disgusting mishap made the troops the more eager for the conflict,
+and a new plan was very secretly arranged, with such success that it is
+pretty sure that General Brock was in doubt up to the last moment where
+the attack was to be made. A strong force had been kept at Fort Niagara,
+and this, with the stationing of Colonel Chrystie's troops at Four Mile
+Creek, caused Brock to believe that the attack was to be made on Fort
+George.
+
+The night of the twelfth was set as the time for the second attempt to
+cross the Niagara. Soon after dark, Chrystie with his three hundred men
+marched from Fort Niagara by interior routes to Lewiston, reaching his
+destination before midnight. Re-enforcements had also come from the
+Falls, as well as Colonel Scott who had just arrived at Schlosser,
+aroused by the information that a battle was soon to be fought and glory
+to be won. Scott presented himself to the General asking permission to
+take part in the engagement, and though Van Rensselaer could not change
+his plans he offered to let Scott take position on Lewiston Heights and
+co-operate with the rest of the army as he saw fit.
+
+Solomon Van Rensselaer was again placed in command but Colonel Chrystie
+was allowed to lead an equal force, thus recognising his rank. Three
+o'clock in the morning, October 13th, was the time set for crossing the
+river. The night was very dark. The plan was for Chrystie and Van
+Rensselaer to cross and storm the heights, when the rest of the army
+should follow on the second trip and attack Queenston. The boats,
+however, would not carry more than half the desired number; these with
+their leaders landed on the Canadian shore not more than ten minutes
+after leaving Lewiston landing, at the very spot aimed at, at the foot
+of the cliff under Lewiston suspension bridge. The British were found
+very much on the alert and opened fire from the heights the moment the
+boats touched land. Lovett's battery on Lewiston Heights immediately
+opened fire in answer, and this, with a charge by the regulars of the
+Thirteenth under Wool, soon drove the enemy backward toward Queenston.
+Wool took position just above Queenston when orders were given him to
+storm the heights. Eager and anxious for the struggle, his troops were
+immediately put in motion, but he soon received orders countermanding
+the first just as he was moving rapidly toward the heights. No sooner
+had his men taken position in accord with it than the right flank was
+fiercely attacked by Dennis's full force. At the same moment the British
+opened fire upon the little body from the heights. Wool immediately,
+without tarrying for orders, faced about and poured such a fierce fire
+into Dennis's command that it was compelled to fall back. In the
+meantime Van Rensselaer had come up with his command and taken position
+on Wool's left. In this short engagement, the Americans suffered most
+severely. Van Rensselaer was so severely wounded that he was forced to
+relinquish the command, and Wool had been wounded though refusing to
+leave the field.
+
+The British on the heights kept up a continual fire on the Americans,
+which from their position could not be returned with effect, and the
+little invading army fell back to the shore below the hill where they
+occupied a more sheltered position.
+
+Daybreak had now come, and a storm which had raged all morning had
+ceased with the retreat of the Americans; but the storm of lead was soon
+to break more furiously than before, although the little army was in a
+sorry plight. Wool was only twenty-three years old. The commanding
+officer, Solomon Van Rensselaer, was forced to retire. What was to be
+done? Wool had asked for orders. The heights must be taken or the
+enterprise abandoned; Wool was ordered to storm the heights and Lush
+commanded to follow and shoot the first man that wavered--for signs of
+disaffection were already showing themselves. No sooner did Wool receive
+his orders than, fired by the frenzy of the battle, forgetting wounds
+and all else, he sprang forward to its execution. Up the ascent the men
+rushed, protected from fire to a degree by bushes and rocks. Many parts
+of the hill were so steep that there was nothing for it but to pull
+themselves along by the roots and shrubs. General Brock, in the
+meantime, hardly knew what to expect. He was at Fort George and seems to
+have had a determined suspicion that the main attack would be made upon
+Fort George from Fort Niagara. He heard the early cannonading but
+supposed that it was only a feint to conceal the point of real movement.
+However, the true soldier mounted his horse and raced away immediately
+to the scene of action and death. On arriving and taking a view of the
+field Brock considered affairs favourable to the British; however, he
+had hardly dismounted at the redan battery than Wool's men scrambled
+upon the heights and opened up a galling fire. So hot was the attack
+that the Canadians were immediately forced from their stronghold; a few
+moments later the flag of the Union waved there.
+
+[Illustration: "Queenston or Landing near Niagara."
+
+A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.]
+
+Brock immediately sent to Fort George for re-enforcements, rallied the
+disorganised force, and with Williams's and Dennis's commands attempted
+to turn the American right flank; Wool perceived the move and tried to
+anticipate it by sending fifty men to its protection. These were forced
+back by superior numbers, and the whole command was compelled to give
+ground until the edge of the precipice was reached with the rushing
+river flood two hundred feet below. It seemed that they must either
+surrender or perish; one captain attempted to raise a white flag but was
+stopped by Wool, who, having addressed a few hurried words to his men,
+led them to the charge with such fierce zeal that the British in turn
+gave back. The brave Brock saw this movement in dismay; with a stinging
+rebuke, which called every man back to a realisation of his duty, the
+General placed himself at the head of the column to lead it back to
+victory. His tall form, towering above that of the soldiers around him,
+made a conspicuous mark for the American sharpshooter, and he was soon
+struck in the wrist but bravely pressed on; shortly after a ball entered
+his breast and passed out of his side, inflicting a death wound. He
+scarcely had time to make a few last requests when he died. As soon as
+the soldiers knew of their commander's death, they became infuriated.
+The column charged up the hill toward the Americans. Wool's little
+command, doubtful of victory, spiked the cannon in the redan. The
+struggle was fierce for a few moments; but the British were again made
+to retire, leaving Wool master of Queenston Heights.
+
+Re-enforcements were slowly crossing the river. Colonel Scott had
+arrived early in the morning and had placed his cannon to protect the
+crossing as far as possible. Later he received permission to cross over
+as a volunteer. Having met with Wadsworth of the New York militia, that
+officer unselfishly waived his rank on account of Scott's superior
+military experience, and allowed him to take command of regulars and
+militia, amounting in all to some six hundred. While Scott was
+superintending the unspiking of the cannon in the redan his command on
+the heights was assailed by a band of Indians under John Brant, son of
+the famous Mohawk chieftain. So furious and unexpected was their attack
+that the pickets were driven in immediately and the main body began to
+draw back. This was shortly after one o'clock in the afternoon. The
+militia, unused to being under fire, were beginning to break away when
+Scott appeared and by his commanding presence and steady nerve led the
+men back to order. A charge was immediately ordered, which was executed
+so fiercely that the Indians retired; however, they kept up a fire on
+the Americans from sheltered positions until Scott ordered a general
+assault and drove them from the heights. Lieutenant-Colonel Chrystie
+then appeared on the field for the first time and ordered Wool to the
+American shore to have his wounds dressed.
+
+General Sheaffe now arrived from Fort George with re-enforcements and
+took command of the British forces; these now numbered about thirteen
+hundred while the Americans could not count over six hundred. Sheaffe
+marched to the east to St. Davids and by brilliantly counter-marching
+gained the rear of the American army. Van Rensselaer was on the heights
+at this time; seeing these movements he returned to send over
+re-enforcements. But to his surprise, and their own eternal disgrace,
+the American militia, which had been crying out so long for action,
+refused to budge. He, as well as others, threatened, entreated, and
+implored; all in vain. The men who but a few hours before had demanded
+to be led to the war, now, at sight of blood and the smell of
+gun-powder, refused to help their comrades threatened with destruction
+on the heights across the river. Van Rensselaer transmitted this
+information to Wadsworth and promised boats if he wished to retreat, but
+he could not even make this promise good, as the frightened boatmen
+refused to raise an oar. Nothing was left for the little band on the
+heights but surrender or death! It has been offered in extenuation of
+the action of the militia that there had been gross mismanagement of the
+boats, only one or two being at hand, necessitating their being sent
+across the river in dangerously small parties. Wherever the blame should
+be placed, there was enough of it to go around and to make any patriot
+blush. The militia were within their legal rights in refusing to pass
+beyond the boundaries of their State, and may have been entirely right
+in refusing to attempt the crossing if it could not be made in force.
+
+The final engagement of the battle of Queenston Heights was inaugurated
+about four o'clock in the afternoon by General Sheaffe directing a large
+body of Indians and regulars against the American right. The superior
+numbers, together with the impetuous advance, threw the Americans into
+confusion. Sheaffe ordered an advance along the whole line and the
+American ranks were soon broken, most of those fleeing toward the city
+being cut off by the Indians; some few escaped by letting themselves
+down the steep hill by roots and bushes. Several attempts were made to
+surrender, but it is said that even those bearing the flag were shot
+down by the Indians. Colonel Scott was attacked by two savages while on
+this mission, but was valiantly rescued by a British officer. On
+reaching headquarters terms were soon agreed upon by which all the
+Americans on the Canada side became prisoners of war.
+
+Thus ended this, the spectacular battle of Queenston Heights. In many
+ways it was typical of so many battles in American military annals; the
+eagerness of hot-headed militia to hear the guns popping, the daring
+attack, the heroism of cool, undaunted officers, the loss of enthusiasm
+as the struggle wore on, the final conflict of regular and militia, the
+seemingly inexcusable lack of interest on the part of the
+non-combatants, the flight and surrender--all are typical.
+
+The death of the noble Brock has thrown a halo over the Niagara frontier
+for Briton and American alike. As you wander to-day across the pleasant
+commons at Niagara-on-the-Lake to the site of old Fort George, or
+scramble up the steep sides of beautiful Queenston Heights, you will
+find yourself thinking of the heroic leaders at the battle of
+Queenston--Brock, Wool, Chrystie, and the impetuous Scott; to one
+rambler, at least, amid these striking scenes, the battle, as such,
+quite faded out of the perspective, leaving the fine military figure of
+the British commander looming up alone beside that of the
+twenty-three-year-old boy Wool, who had jumped from his law books down
+in New York to come here as captain of militia and give the world
+another clear picture of absolute daring not surpassed in any point by
+Wolfe's at Quebec; the young Scott appears too, so willing to be in the
+fracas across the river that he crosses as a private soldier. Had the
+faltering militia caught his spirit there would have been, perhaps,
+another story to tell of the outcome of the battle! It is to be hoped
+that the year 1912 will not pass without seeing raised on Lewiston
+Heights a monument to these noble men equal in point of beauty to the
+splendid shaft raised across the river to the memory of Brock.
+
+On the 17th of November, a bombardment was opened on Black Rock from
+batteries which had been constructed across the river. The firing was
+kept up all day; but little damage was done to the Americans, and almost
+none to the British, as few cannon were mounted against them. On the
+21st of November a fierce cannonade was opened from a number of
+batteries which had been erected opposite Fort Niagara. At the same time
+the guns of Fort George, and all those of the vicinity which could be
+brought to bear, directed their fire against Fort Niagara, and kept up
+all day. The fort was fired several times by red-hot shot as were also
+the works of the enemy. Two Americans were killed and two by the
+bursting of a cannon, while four were wounded; night ended the fight and
+it was not renewed.
+
+General Smyth had succeeded in the command of the American forces in Van
+Rensselaer's place after the engagement at Queenston. He had given it as
+his opinion that the invasion should have taken place at some point
+between Black Rock and Chippewa Creek and was now in position to carry
+out his own plans. After a number of boastful proclamations, orders were
+given the army on the 25th to be ready to march at a moment's notice.
+The line of advance was planned and the whole campaign marked out. Boats
+sufficient for men and artillery were provided, and Lieutenant-Colonel
+Boerstler was to cross in the darkness and destroy a bridge about five
+miles below Fort Erie, capture all men and supplies possible, and
+return to the American shore. Captain King was to cross higher up the
+river and storm the batteries. But the enemy was not to be caught
+napping; Smyth's idle boasts and proclamations, together with his
+statements as to the proper place for crossing, had put the British on
+their guard with the result that the whole upper river was well guarded.
+
+The advance parties embarked at three o'clock on the morning of the
+29th. Of King's ten boats only four were able to effect a landing. His
+small command jumped ashore into the very thickest of the fire and
+almost immediately captured two batteries. Angus and his seamen who had
+accompanied King rushed upon the Red House, captured the field-pieces
+stationed there, spiked them, and threw them and the caissons into the
+river. Angus returned to the river, and, not knowing that the other six
+boats had been unable to land, supposed King had either returned or been
+taken prisoner. It being too dark to reconnoitre, he struck away to the
+American shore in the four boats, leaving King and his handful of men
+helpless in Canada. King, on the other hand, not receiving
+re-enforcements, returned to the landing and found all the boats gone,
+and passing down the river about two miles he discovered two boats in
+which he placed his prisoners and half his command, and started them for
+the American shore. Only a few moments later he and all with him were
+taken prisoners.
+
+[Illustration: Lieutenant Pierie's Sketch of Niagara, 1768.
+
+From an old print.]
+
+The firing had roused the British all along the line. A number of
+Boerstler's boats were not able to find the point designated as their
+landing-place, and of those that did all were driven off but Boerstler's
+own. In the face of a hot fire, he landed, forced back the enemy to the
+bridge, but when he attempted to destroy that structure he found that in
+the excitement the axes, militia-like, had been left behind, so that his
+work was only partly accomplished. While thus engaged he received the
+interesting intelligence that the whole force at Fort Erie were only
+five minutes distant. In the darkness the enemy could not be seen; but
+their advancing tramp could be easily heard. Boerstler, addressing his
+subordinates as field officers, succeeded in deceiving the British as to
+the size of his command. The Americans fired one volley and then charged
+with such spirit that the British fell back, and the little command
+recrossed the river without being further molested.
+
+It was late in the afternoon before all was in readiness for a general
+advance and the enemy were on the alert ready to give a warm reception.
+Smyth had not been seen all day. When finally all was prepared orders
+came to disembark and dine and, as nothing could be done, the soldiers
+retired to their quarters.
+
+A council was called, but no agreement could be reached. Smyth ordered
+another advance on the 30th which never took place. Disagreements
+between officers and insubordination among the soldiers soon led to the
+abandonment of the plan entirely. General Porter openly attributed the
+failure to Smyth, which shortly led to a duel in which neither was
+injured and each one's honour was vindicated.
+
+While these absurd pantomime war measures were transpiring on land the
+little American navy covered itself with glory. By hard work Lieutenant
+Oliver H. Perry had gotten ready nine vessels and fifty-five guns at
+Erie, Pennsylvania, to oppose six vessels and sixty-three guns under the
+English commander Barclay. After a careful cruise of the Lake, Perry met
+the enemy in ill condition for a battle near Put-in-Bay on the 10th of
+September, 1813. The completeness of his victory was described in his
+famous despatch to Harrison: "We have met the enemy and they are ours;
+two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop."
+
+Shortly before the victory on Lake Erie, Gen. W. H. Harrison, who now
+commanded the North-western army, accompanied by Johnson and his
+Kentucky rifles, crossed into Canada and during the last week of August
+and the first week of September was kept busy by the enemy. Proctor did
+not, however, seem anxious to fight but kept falling back before the
+Americans, much to the disgust of the famous Shawanese chieftain
+Tecumseh, who was anxious for a battle. The army at last took position
+on the Thames River on the 5th of August. Here they were attacked by
+Harrison's forces, Johnson's Kentuckians leading the successful charge.
+In a few minutes the British army with its Indian allies was routed and
+Tecumseh killed. The North-west was relieved of further danger; and much
+that was lost by Hull was regained with something in addition.
+
+The Army of the North under General Dearborn, during the year of 1813
+was to co-operate in the invasion of Canada, and on the 27th of April,
+1813, the American army crossed Lake Ontario to York, now Toronto, and
+were entirely successful in capturing that point, as more fully noted in
+our chapter on that city.
+
+It was part of Dearborn's plan on capturing York to press on over the
+thirty miles to the River Niagara and take Fort George. On account of
+unfavourable weather the army did not leave York until the 8th of May,
+the fleet being under command of Chauncey and being joined in the
+evening of the 25th by Perry, who had come hastily from Erie. The attack
+was to be made on the morning of the 27th. Dearborn was himself sick,
+being confined to his bed most of the time, but his orders were
+faithfully carried out by his under officers. An attempt to launch
+several boats on the evening of the 26th brought on a cannonade from the
+batteries along both shores as well as from Fort George and Fort
+Niagara. Darkness, however, came on and the preparations were made by
+the Americans under its cover without further molestation. The morning
+was somewhat foggy but a light breeze soon dissipated this and revealed
+a fine sight for friend and foe alike. The waters of the lake were
+covered with boats large and small, crowded with guns and soldiers, all
+advancing bravely on the British position.
+
+As soon as the fog lifted the batteries of both sides began a brisk
+fire. Colonel Scott was in command of the landing party, assisted by
+Chauncey with four hundred seamen to be used if necessary. Lieutenant
+Brown directed such a hot fire against the battery at the landing that
+it was finally silenced and Perry then, being in command of the boats,
+rushed in despite a somewhat rough sea, to effect a landing, many of the
+troops in their eagerness leaping into the water before the boats
+touched land. The landing party was assailed by a heavy, well-directed
+musketry fire from a neighbouring ravine, which caused them to scurry
+for shelter under the bank. Perry seemed everywhere present, urging the
+gunners on the boats to greater efforts and cheering on the landing
+parties with words of confidence. In attempting to scale the bank, the
+Americans were several times hurled back to the beach, but Scott was
+finally successful in gaining a sheltered position in a neighbouring
+ravine where a sharp conflict ensued for several minutes, but between
+the execution of the American rifles and a well-directed cannonade from
+one of the vessels the doughty British were compelled to retreat.
+
+General Vincent, being persuaded that Fort George could not be saved,
+ordered its destruction, which information reached Scott by two escaped
+prisoners. He immediately attempted to save it if possible, but a short
+distance from its walls one magazine blew up, though he reached his
+destination in time to extinguish two other fuses and save the remainder
+of the fort. He then continued his pursuit but was ordered to return and
+had to give up what he thought half the glory of the contest.
+
+Hearing that Colonel Proctor was coming from the West to help regain the
+Niagara region, General Winder was sent in pursuit of Vincent. On the
+5th he was joined by Chandler with five hundred men, who took the chief
+command. At Forty-mile Creek they encountered a body of the enemy and
+drove them off; twice now they drove the pickets in on the main body of
+the army, causing no little alarm, but finally on account of treacherous
+negligence in the American camp the British effected a night attack so
+well planned and brilliantly executed that the force was in the heart of
+the American camp while the soldiers were still sleeping. In the
+confusion that followed, the Americans several times attacked their own
+men. The British loss was the heavier, and they were compelled to
+retire, but the victory was felt to be a decided one from the fact that
+they captured two American generals.
+
+The Americans, fearing a renewal of the attack, began to retreat. Near
+Forty-mile Creek they were joined by Colonel Miller with reinforcements,
+and retreat was continued with a fleet watching them from the lake and a
+small army of regulars and a body of savages following in the rear. The
+army finally reached Fort George after having lost several prisoners who
+had been picked up in the rear. For several days the vessels were a
+continual menace to the passage of American supplies, but on the 20th
+the squadron sailed for Oswego. Not daring to make an attack here, they
+again turned westward and took position off Niagara River.
+
+While the operations were going on against the Niagara frontier, a
+British squadron appeared against Sacketts Harbour. On the morning of
+May 29th the attack was made, but so vigilant a defence was made by
+General Brown with his raw militia that the enemy were forced to
+withdraw.
+
+General Dearborn, now at Fort George, sent a force to attack the enemy
+at Beaver Dam and Ten-mile Creek, by way of St. Davids, on June 23d. It
+was annoyed for a greater part of the way by Indians, and when near the
+enemy's camp, having been deceived as to the opposing force, the whole
+command was surrendered. The British, emboldened by this success,
+suddenly retook Queenston and shortly after invaded Fort George, General
+Dearborn being relieved of command by the still more incompetent General
+Wilkinson.
+
+The British, encouraged by their success, now began to make raids into
+the American territory. One of these expeditions was directed against
+Black Rock on July 11th. The expedition put to flight the American
+guards with almost no fighting, took the city and supplies, and obtained
+a large amount of booty. General Porter, however, rallied a small body
+of the retreating militia and with these and reinforcements which had
+arrived from Buffalo and about fifty citizens he fell with such force
+upon the invaders that they retreated precipitately to their boats.
+During the remainder of the summer little fighting was done in the
+vicinity of Fort George except by foraging parties.
+
+Most of the troops had been withdrawn from the fort in the early winter,
+leaving only about sixty men within its walls; news was being
+continually received of forces marching to the Niagara region and,
+fearful of losing the fort, McClure, its commander, determined to
+destroy it and retreat to Fort Niagara. The fort was partially
+demolished, December 10th, but Newark was wantonly fired, leaving
+hundreds of people homeless in the severest weather and rousing the
+British to a revenge which they now visited on the Americans.
+
+[Illustration: Old View of Fort Mississauga.]
+
+On the 12th, Fort Niagara was invested. So negligent were the officers
+that on the morning of the 13th one of the gates was found open, and the
+enemy entered without opposition to a victory which might have been
+almost bloodless had not the attacking force, incensed by the burning of
+Newark, been led to revenge; a number of the garrison were bayoneted;
+Lewiston was sacked, plundered, and almost entirely destroyed. A body of
+soldiers pressed on to the town of Niagara Falls. They were met on the
+heights by a small force which was not able to check them and the whole
+Niagara region was laid waste. The Indians were turned loose and many
+innocent persons perished at their hands. The advance on Buffalo and
+Black Rock was only temporarily checked and on the 30th these cities
+were captured and plundered as elsewhere described. Only four houses
+were left in Buffalo and one in Black Rock. Such was the revenge of the
+burning of Newark. These were dark days along the Niagara, when hatred
+never bred in honest warfare flamed up in the hearts of men, and the
+beginning of the story goes back to the inhuman destruction of old
+Newark.
+
+Toward the latter part of March the campaign of 1814 was opened by
+General Wilkinson in the north, but little being accomplished he was
+soon superseded by General Brown. By the end of June the Northern army
+was gathered under Brown, once more prepared to carry the war into
+Canada, Buffalo being the headquarters. On the morning of the 3d of
+July, before daylight, General Scott crossed the river from Black Rock
+to invest Fort Erie. General Ripley was to have followed immediately,
+but he was delayed so long that it was broad day before he reached the
+Canadian shore. Scott pushed forward and drove the enemy's pickets into
+the fort. Brown, not waiting for Ripley, pushed into the forest in the
+rear of the fort, extending his lines so as to enclose the post. Ripley
+then appeared and took position in connection with Scott's command. The
+fort was then summoned to surrender, which summons, on account of its
+weak condition, was soon complied with just as reinforcements were on
+their way to give aid.
+
+To stop the advance of these troops, Scott was sent with his command
+down the river. His march of about sixteen miles was a continual
+skirmish with the British, and finding the enemy in force across the
+Chippewa Creek he encamped for the night. Before morning of the fifth he
+was joined by the main body of Brown's army. On the east was the river,
+on the west a heavy wood, and between the armies the Chippewa and
+Street's creeks. The British had also received reinforcements during the
+night, and the battle of Chippewa was opened by each army attempting to
+test the other's strength.
+
+The American pickets on Scott's left were in trouble by four o'clock and
+Porter was sent to relieve them; he drove back the British and Indians,
+but in following up his success found himself suddenly confronted by
+almost the whole of the enemy's army which attacked immediately. Porter
+maintained his ground at first but was finally compelled to give the
+order to retreat and this soon became a panic. General Brown noticed
+this and correctly supposed that the whole force of the enemy was
+advancing. Ripley and Scott were immediately rushed to the rescue,
+Ripley to fall on the rear of the British right by stealing through the
+wood, Scott to make a frontal attack.
+
+The latter advanced across Street's Creek and the engagement became
+general along the whole line of both armies. Time and again the British
+line was broken but it sternly closed and continued the contest. Scott
+finally decided to take advantage of what he considered the unskilful
+manoeuvres of his foe; advancing, he ordered his forces to charge
+through an opening in the lines. Almost at the same instant Leavenworth
+executed a like movement, while Towson's battery poured canister into
+the British ranks. They were completely demoralised and gave back.
+Jesup on the American left had suffered greatly during the battle;
+forced to fall back, he finally found a better position, and now poured
+such a well-directed fire that the troops before him also retired. The
+British retreat did not stop until the troops were behind their
+entrenchments below Chippewa and the bridge across its waters destroyed.
+This stronghold could not be taken by the Americans; the command was
+given to retreat, and the same relative positions were occupied by the
+armies the night after the battle as the night before.
+
+On the eighth the whole American force again moved forward. The British
+broke camp and retreated down the river closely pursued by Brown, who
+took possession of Queenston on the 10th. The enemy occupied Fort George
+and Fort Mississauga. Here Brown decided to await reinforcements from
+Chauncey and his fleet. News, however, soon came of the commander's
+illness and his blockade in Sacketts Harbour, whereupon Brown on the 23d
+fell back to the Chippewa. In case Riall did not follow, he expected to
+unlimber and fight wherever the enemy might be found; the night of the
+24th, the army encamped on the battle-ground of the 5th, unconscious of
+the laurels to be won in a few short hours at far-famed Lundy's Lane.
+
+The morning of the 25th dawned clear and beautiful. Unconscious of the
+proximity of the enemy, the Americans were enjoying a much-needed rest
+behind the village of Chippewa, when about noon news came that the
+British were in force at Queenston and on the heights, and that Yea's
+fleet had appeared in the river. Next came information that the British
+were landing at Lewiston and were threatening the supplies at Fort
+Schlosser. These reports were partly true. Pearson had advanced, unknown
+to the Americans, and taken position at Lundy's Lane a short distance
+from the Falls. Brown seemed impressed with the idea that the British
+were after the supplies at Schlosser and he was ignorant of the size of
+the force opposed to him. He at once determined that the best way to
+recall the British was to threaten the forts at the mouth of the river
+and Scott was detailed to accomplish this task. Eager for the conflict
+his whole command was in motion twenty minutes after having received the
+order. Between four and five o'clock the march of twelve hundred men
+began toward the forts.
+
+Near Table Rock, Scott was informed that General Riall and his staff had
+just departed. In fact the Americans saw the troops move off from the
+house as they were advancing toward it, and the informant also stated
+that the enemy were in force behind a small strip of woods in front; but
+so convinced was the American leader that Fort Schlosser was the
+objective point of the British movement that he would not credit the
+story. Believing that but a small force was in front, he dashed into the
+woods to dispel them. Imagine his surprise when he found himself faced
+at Lundy's Lane by Riall's whole force! Scott's position was indeed
+perilous. To advance seemed destruction, to stand still would be equally
+fatal, while to retreat would probably throw the whole army into
+confusion. With that resource which always distinguished him, he quickly
+decided to engage the enemy, and if possible deceive them into believing
+that the whole American army was present while he sent back for
+reinforcements.
+
+General Brown had been misinformed as to the enemy's movements. No
+soldiers had crossed to Lewiston, but the whole force was with Riall
+preparing for the present move. Scott found himself opposed to fully
+eighteen hundred men. The English lines extended over the hill in a
+crescent form with the horns extending forward. In its centre and on the
+brow of the hill, the strongest point of the position, was placed a
+battery of seven guns. Into the very centre of this crescent he had
+unconsciously led his army.
+
+Scott immediately perceived on the enemy's left flank an unprotected
+space of brushwood along the river and instantly he ordered Major Jesup
+to seize this and turn the flank if possible. While this move was being
+accomplished Scott's troops engaged the enemy in front, only hoping to
+hold the army in check until the reserves arrived.
+
+Jesup was more than successful. He turned the left flank of the enemy,
+gained his rear, and kept the reinforcements sent to Riall's aid from
+joining the body of the army. Besides this he had captured Riall himself
+with a number of his staff. By nine o'clock at night Jesup had
+accomplished this and in the meantime Scott had beaten back a fierce
+charge made by the British right; only the centre stood firm now.
+
+Informed of the true state of affairs, and leaving orders for Ripley to
+make all haste possible with the whole reserve force, Brown mounted his
+horse and rode to the field, arriving just at this critical juncture. He
+immediately saw that the hill crowned with cannon was the key to the
+enemy's position; Ripley was advancing along the Queenston road; Scott's
+worn men had been recalled. The commander turned to Colonel Miller,
+saying, "Colonel, take your regiment, storm that work, and take it."
+"I'll try, Sir," said Miller, and at once moved forward. At this moment
+the regiment under Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholas, which was to draw the
+enemy's fire from Miller, gave way. Nothing daunted, the young
+commander, with three hundred followers, crept up the hill in the shadow
+of an old rail fence thickly grown over with shrubbery. In this way they
+reached unobserved a point only several rods distant from the enemy,
+whom they saw around the guns waiting the order to fire. Resting their
+pieces across the old fence the little command took deliberate aim, the
+order was given by Miller in a whisper, a sheet of flame broke from the
+shrubbery, and not a man was left to apply a match to the British
+artillery. The men then broke from cover with a shout and rushed
+forward, and all seven of the cannon were captured. A fierce
+hand-to-hand contest was waged for a short time with the body of
+infantry stationed behind the guns, but they were finally forced from
+the hill. Four different attempts were made to recapture the position
+but all were unsuccessful.
+
+While these events were taking place Scott was maintaining his position
+with great difficulty. His regiments were being literally cut to pieces
+and, finally, he gathered the remnants into one mass, formed in line for
+storming, and had given the order to move forward when the battery was
+taken by Miller. Scott countermanded his order and returned to his
+position at the base of the hill.
+
+[Illustration: Monument at Lundy's Lane.]
+
+Brown and Scott were both severely wounded and the command devolved now
+on Ripley. When the battle was finally won Brown ordered Ripley to fall
+back to the Chippewa to give the soldiers a much-needed rest during the
+night, but to be back at Lundy's Lane by daybreak the next morning to
+obtain the fruits of the victory. Day came and Ripley had not moved from
+his quarters, but the British had returned and the two armies occupied
+almost the same ground as before the battle. Ripley advanced but the
+enemy's position was too strong to attack, so he discreetly returned to
+camp. Brown was so disgusted that he sent to Sacketts Harbour for
+General Gaines to come and assume command.
+
+Generals Brown and Scott's troops were moved from the field supposing
+that Ripley would at least hold his position. Hardly had they gotten out
+of sight when Ripley ordered a retreat to Black Rock. Here he was
+forbidden by Brown to cross the river, so he took up a position above
+Fort Erie; at the same time the fortifications were strengthened in
+order to repel the expected siege.
+
+The work on Fort Erie went forward unmolested until the 3d of August.
+Drummond then appeared before the fort with his army, which had been
+resting at Lundy's Lane since the battle of the 20th of July.
+Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker was sent across the river with a body of
+troops to capture Black Rock and Buffalo. These were met so gallantly by
+Morgan and his riflemen that they were compelled to return. Drummond at
+the same time opened fire on the fort; this was discontinued until the
+seventh, the respite being spent by both parties in preparing for the
+siege. Gaines arrived on the 5th and assumed command while Ripley
+returned to the head of his own brigade. On the 6th Morgan and his
+riflemen attempted to draw the enemy from his trenches but were
+unsuccessful; the cannonade was opened on the fort on the morning of
+the 7th and was continued until the 13th. On the next day all the guns
+possible were brought to bear on the fort, causing its commander to
+believe that an assault was planned and arrangements were made to
+receive the enemy. The guns were heavily shotted, vigilance of the
+guards doubled, and things made ready for the warm reception of the
+enemy. At midnight of the 14th, all was still quiet; a body of a hundred
+men under Belknap had been thrown out toward the British army to do
+picket duty as the night was so dark that the movements of the enemy
+could not be seen. Their stealthy advance, though cautious, was detected
+by the sharp ears of the waiting men; an alarm gun was fired and the
+advance party fell back toward the fort. Fifteen hundred men came
+charging against Towson's battery on the left, expecting to find the
+soldiers asleep, but a broad sheet of flame burst from the long
+twenty-four pounders here which made the line waver in its advance. At
+the same moment the line of the 21st shone forth in its own light, then
+all was darkness except as the guns were loaded and fired. Five times
+the attack was renewed by the two columns; each time they were beaten
+back.
+
+Almost simultaneous with the attack on the left, another was made on the
+American right, against the old fort; this was repelled, but Drummond,
+valiant man, could not be held in check, and under cover of a heavy
+cloud of smoke, followed by a hundred of the Royal Artillery, he crept
+silently around the fort and by means of scaling ladders gained the
+parapet almost unobserved. All attempts to dislodge the enemy failed.
+Time and again they were charged, but each time they beat back their
+assailants. Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond commanded his men to give no
+quarter, and in a short time he fell, pierced through the heart by a man
+to whom he refused mercy. Daylight dawned with the enemy repulsed on the
+left. Reinforcements were brought to the right but there was no room to
+use them. The Americans were finally gathered for a furious charge, when
+that part of the fort which the British had seized was blown suddenly a
+hundred feet into the air and fell in ruins. At the same instant a
+galling fire was opened from the batteries and the enemy was compelled
+to retire.
+
+Both armies now received reinforcements and kept preparing for a second
+engagement. A continual cannonade was kept up, when on the 28th of
+August General Gaines was so injured by a shell that he had to retire
+from action. General Brown, though shattered in health then resumed
+command. The British were continually strengthening their works and he
+saw that his only hopes lay in a sortie. The weather had been rainy
+which inconvenienced the enemy as their works were located on the low
+ground. Their numbers had also been greatly reduced by fever. These
+facts were learned from prisoners which had been captured. The sortie
+was planned for the 17th of September, all the officers acquiescing
+except General Ripley. The plan was laid with great secrecy and was
+favoured by heavy fog on the morning of the proposed action. The
+Americans were entirely successful, the enemy being driven from their
+works and almost all their supplies captured. This victory was hailed
+with delight by the whole country. This, with the brilliant achievement
+at Plattsburg, and the repulse of the British from Baltimore caused
+rejoicing all over the nation, and restored the people from that gloom
+into which they had been cast by the fall of the national capital.
+
+On the 5th day of October General Izard arrived with reinforcements and
+took command. With almost eight thousand troops he now prepared to
+attack Drummond, but all attempts to draw him out of his trenches
+failed.
+
+Learning that there was a large store of grain at the mill on Lyons
+Creek, Bissell was sent to destroy it. On the night of the 18th, he was
+attacked but was successful in driving off the enemy and accomplishing
+his task. Drummond, now perceiving that he could not hope to cope
+successfully with the superior forces brought against him, fell back to
+Fort George and Burlington Heights. General Izard soon removed his whole
+force from Canada. On the 5th of November Fort Erie was blown up, to
+keep it from falling again into the hands of the British.
+
+On September 11th, the brilliant victory, mentioned before, was gained
+by the Americans at Plattsburg and with the opening of winter, the
+militia was disbanded and the war closed on the Canadian frontier.
+
+In 1837 the Niagara was again the scene of military operations on a
+slight scale when the Patriot War broke out, an uprising of
+revolutionists who planned the overturning of the Canadian Government.
+Navy Island was for a time the headquarters of the ferment, and from
+here, under the date of December 17th, the leader, William Lyon
+Mackenzie, issued a proclamation to the citizens of Canada. This strong,
+misguided man is most perfectly described in Bourinot's _The Story of
+Canada_:
+
+    He had a deep sense of public wrongs, and placed himself
+    immediately in the front rank of those who were fighting for a
+    redress of undoubted grievances. He was thoroughly imbued with
+    the ideas of English radicalism, and had an intense hatred of
+    Toryism in every form. He possessed little of that strong
+    common-sense and power of acquisitiveness which make his
+    countrymen, as a rule, so successful in every walk of life. When
+    he felt he was being crushed by the intriguing and corrupting
+    influences of the governing class, aided by the
+    lieutenant-governor, he forgot all the dictates of reason and
+    prudence, and was carried away by a current of passion which
+    ended in rebellion. His journal, _The Colonial Advocate_, showed
+    in its articles and its very make-up the erratic character of
+    the man. He was a pungent writer, who attacked adversaries with
+    great recklessness of epithet and accusation. So obnoxious did
+    he become to the governing class that a number of young men,
+    connected with the best families, wrecked his office, but the
+    damages he recovered in a court of law enabled him to give it a
+    new lease of existence. When the "family compact" had a majority
+    in the assembly, elected in 1830, he was expelled five times for
+    libellous reflections on the government and house, but he was
+    re-elected by the people, who resented the wrongs to which he
+    was subject, and became the first mayor of Toronto, as York was
+    now called. He carried his grievances to England, where he
+    received much sympathy, even in conservative circles. In a new
+    legislature, where the "compact" were in a minority, he obtained
+    a committee to consider the condition of provincial affairs. The
+    result was a famous report on grievances which set forth in a
+    conclusive and able manner the constitutional difficulties under
+    which the country laboured, and laid down clearly the necessity
+    for responsible government. It would have been fortunate both
+    for Upper Canada and Mackenzie himself at this juncture, had he
+    and his followers confined themselves to a constitutional
+    agitation on the lines set forth in this report. By this time
+    Robert Baldwin and Egerton Ryerson, discreet and prominent
+    reformers, had much influence, and were quite unwilling to
+    follow Mackenzie in the extreme course on which he had clearly
+    entered. He lost ground rapidly from the time of his indiscreet
+    publication of a letter from Joseph Hume, the English radical,
+    who had expressed the opinion that the improper proceedings of
+    the legislature, especially in expelling Mackenzie, "must hasten
+    the crisis that was fast approaching in the affairs of Canada,
+    and which would terminate in independence and freedom from the
+    baneful domination of the mother-country." Probably even
+    Mackenzie and his friends might have been conciliated and
+    satisfied at the last moment had the imperial government been
+    served by an able and discreet lieutenant-governor. But never
+    did the imperial authorities make a greater mistake than when
+    they sent out Sir Francis Bond Head, who had no political
+    experience whatever.
+
+    From the beginning to the end of his administration he did
+    nothing but blunder. He alienated even the confidence of the
+    moderate element of the Reformers, and literally threw himself
+    into the arms of the "family compact," and assisted them at the
+    elections of the spring of 1836, which rejected all the leading
+    men of the extreme wing of the Reform party. Mackenzie was
+    deeply mortified at the result, and determined from that moment
+    to rebel against the government, which, in his opinion, had no
+    intention of remedying public grievances. At the same time
+    Papineau, with whom he was in communication, had made up his
+    mind to establish a republic, _une nation Canadienne_, on the
+    banks of the St. Lawrence.
+
+    The disloyal intentions of Papineau and his followers were made
+    very clear by the various meetings which were held in the
+    Montreal and Richelieu districts, by the riots which followed
+    public assemblages in the city of Montreal, by the names of
+    "Sons of Liberty" and "Patriots" they adopted in all their
+    proceedings, by the planting of "trees" and raising of "caps" of
+    liberty. Happily for the best interests of Canada the number of
+    French Canadians ready to revolt were relatively insignificant,
+    and the British population were almost exclusively on the side
+    of the government. Bishop Lartigue and the clergy of the Roman
+    Catholic Church now asserted themselves very determinedly
+    against the dangerous and seditious utterances of the leaders of
+    the "Patriots." Fortunately a resolute, able soldier, Sir John
+    Colborne, was called from Upper Canada to command the troops in
+    the critical situation of affairs, and crushed the rebellion in
+    its very inception. A body of insurgents, led by Dr. Wolfred
+    Nelson, showed some courage at St. Denis, but Papineau took the
+    earliest opportunity to find refuge across the frontier. Thomas
+    Storrow Brown, an American by birth, also made a stand at St.
+    Charles, but both he and Nelson were easily beaten by the
+    regulars. A most unfortunate episode was the murder of
+    Lieutenant Wier, who had been captured by Nelson while carrying
+    despatches from General Colborne, and was butchered by some
+    insurgent _habitants_, in whose custody he had been placed. At
+    St. Eustache the rebels were severely punished by Colborne
+    himself, and a number burned to death in the steeple of a church
+    where they had made a stand. Many prisoners were taken in the
+    course of the rebellious outbreak. The village of St. Benoit and
+    isolated houses elsewhere were destroyed by the angry loyalists,
+    and much misery inflicted on all actual or supposed sympathisers
+    with Papineau and Nelson. Lord Gosford now left the country, and
+    Colborne was appointed administrator. Although the insurrection
+    practically ended at St. Denis and St. Charles, bodies of rebels
+    and American marauders harassed the frontier settlements for
+    some time, until at last the authorities of the United States
+    arrested some of the leaders and forced them to surrender their
+    arms and munitions of war.
+
+The _Caroline_ incident most closely connects the immediate Niagara
+region with the Patriot rebellion. This small steamer was chartered by
+Buffalo parties to run between that city, Navy Island, and Schlosser,
+the American landing above the Falls. The Canadian authorities very
+properly looked upon this as a bold attempt to provide the freebooters
+on Navy Island with the sinews of rebellion. Colonel Allan McNab was
+sent to seize the vessel, and the fact that it was found moored at the
+American shore in no way troubled the determined loyalists. It was about
+midnight December 29th when the attacking party found the ship. In the
+melée one man was killed; the boat was fired and set adrift in the
+river, passing over the Horseshoe Fall while still partly afire.
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter XII
+
+  Toronto
+
+
+It is believed that the word Toronto is of Huron origin, and that it
+signified "Place of Meeting." This has been contested; in any case it
+should be spelled _To-ron-tah_. The word is also interpreted as "Oak
+Trees beside the Lake," a derivation rather divergent from the above
+version and we must leave this to the learned etymologists.
+
+Glancing over maps of the middle of the eighteenth century designed
+after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), we see the names of many
+forts and posts intended to keep up "the communications" between Canada
+and Louisiana, and overawe the English colonies then confined to their
+narrow strip of territory on the Atlantic coast. Conscious of the
+mistake that they had made in giving up Acadia, the French at this
+moment claimed that its "ancient limits" did not extend beyond the
+isthmus of Chignecto--in other words, included Nova Scotia. Accordingly
+they proceeded to construct the forts of Gaspereau and Beauséjour on
+that neck of land, and also one on the St. John River, so that they
+might control the land and sea approaches to Cape Breton from the St.
+Lawrence, where Quebec, enthroned on her picturesque heights, and
+Montreal at the confluence of the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence, held the
+keys to Canada. The approaches from New England by the way of Lake
+Champlain and the Richelieu were defended by the fort of St. John, near
+the northern extremity of the lake, and by the more formidable works
+known as Fort Frederick or Crown Point--to give the better known English
+name--on a peninsula at the narrows towards the South. The latter was
+the most advanced post of the French until they built Fort Ticonderoga
+or Carillon on a high, rocky promontory at the head of Lake St.
+Sacrament. At the foot of this lake, associated with so many memorable
+episodes in American history, Sir William Johnson erected Fort William
+Henry, about fourteen miles from Fort Edward or Layman, at the great
+carrying place on the upper waters of the Hudson. Returning to the St.
+Lawrence and the Lakes, we find Fort Frontenac at the eastern end of
+Lake Ontario, where the old city of Kingston now stands.
+
+Within the limits of the present city of Toronto, La Gallissonière then
+built Fort Rouille[38] as an attempt to control the trade of the Indians
+of the North, who were finding their way to the English fort of Oswego
+which had been commenced with the consent of the Iroquois by Governor
+Burnet of New York, and was now a menace to the French dominion of Lake
+Ontario. At the other extremity lay Fort Niagara. When the French were
+establishing this chain of forts or posts through the West and down the
+Mississippi valley Fort Rouille was founded on a site even then
+commonly called "Fort Toronto." It does not seem ever to have been a
+dominant strategic point; the probabilities are there was no force
+stationed here worth mentioning and, possibly, it was a mere dependency
+of Fort Niagara. It was destroyed in 1756 to prevent its fall into the
+hands of the English.
+
+Little is known about the region of Toronto prior to Revolutionary times
+save the above records. It was untrodden wilderness. But when the fort
+was erected here the district in a general sense appears to have been
+known as "Toronto." Under French dominion it was a royal trading post
+and in the course of time the name attached itself to the fort and
+village at the neighbouring bay, which have grown to be the beautiful
+Capital City of Ontario. But the Toronto of the river Don and the great
+bay is strictly of English origin, and had for its Romulus
+Lieutenant-General Simcoe (1752-1806), first governor of Upper Canada.
+
+[Illustration: Lieutenant-General Simcoe.]
+
+When John Graves Simcoe arrived in Canada in 1792, the site of the
+present city of Toronto was covered by the primeval forest, its only
+human tenants being two or three families of wandering savages who had
+happened to select the spot for the erection of their temporary wigwams.
+One hundred years later we find at that very spot a magnificent city
+having a population of 250,000 people, a prosperous and enterprising
+community, possessed of all the comforts and appliances of modern
+civilisation and refinement,--and, instead of the sombre, impenetrable
+wilderness, the most wealthy and populous city of Upper Canada, with
+streets and private dwellings, and public edifices that will compare
+favourably with those of many other cities which have had centuries for
+their development. For its rapid rise to its present eminence Toronto
+is almost exclusively indebted to its admirable commercial position, its
+advantages in that respect having been appreciated by the far-seeing
+sagacity of Governor Simcoe, when selecting the site for a capital.
+
+In 1791, when the former province of Quebec was divided into the
+provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, Upper Canada contained about ten
+thousand inhabitants, chiefly Loyalists, who, as noted elsewhere, when
+the United States threw off allegiance to Great Britain, sought new hope
+in the wilds of Canada; where, though deprived of many comforts, they
+had the satisfaction of feeling that they kept inviolate their loyalty
+to their sovereign and preserved their connection with the beloved
+mother country.
+
+In 1792 General Simcoe was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Upper
+Canada; and in the summer of that year arrived in the colony. In the
+first instance the Government was established at Niagara, and there the
+first Legislature of Upper Canada was convened on the 17th of September,
+1792. It was seen, however, that from its position on the frontier,
+Niagara was not well adapted for being the seat of government, and one
+of the first subjects which occupied the attention of Governor Simcoe
+was the selection of another site for a capital. On this point he very
+soon came into collision with the views of the Governor-General, Lord
+Dorchester, who was in favour of making Kingston the capital on account
+of its proximity to Lower Canada which he regarded as a matter of the
+first importance from a standpoint of trade, and also because of its
+possibility of defence, as, in the event of an invasion, troops from
+Lower Canada could be more easily forwarded to Kingston than to a more
+westerly point. Governor Simcoe, however, had visited Toronto Harbour,
+and had traversed the route thence to Penetanguishene on the Georgian
+Bay. He perceived that that was the most advantageous route for the then
+existing North-west trade,--the vast development of which since his time
+he may have dimly foreseen--and that so soon as a road was opened up to
+Lake Simcoe (then _Lacaux Claics_) merchandise from New York for the
+North-west, would be sent by Oswego to Toronto, and then _via_ Lake
+Simcoe to Lake Huron, avoiding the circuitous passage of Lake Erie.
+Finally the Lieutenant-Governor's views prevailed, and the site of a
+town having been surveyed on the margin of Toronto Bay, his first step
+thereafter was to commence the construction of a road (Yonge Street) to
+Lake Simcoe. In recent years the idea which thus originated with the
+first governor has been completely carried out until to-day Toronto is,
+with Montreal, the chief railway centre and the second city of the
+Dominion. How long ere it will outrank its rival?
+
+[Illustration: "York Harbor."
+
+A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.]
+
+The very next year after his assumption of the government of Upper
+Canada General Simcoe ordered the survey of Toronto Harbour, and
+entrusted the task to Colonel Bouchette, the Surveyor-General of Lower
+Canada, who gives us our first historical glimpse of Toronto a hundred
+years ago, or so, in the following passage:
+
+    It fell to my lot to make the first survey of York Harbour in
+    1793. Lieutenant-Governor, the late General Simcoe, who then
+    resided at Navy Hall, Niagara, having formed extensive plans for
+    the improvement of the colony, had resolved upon laying the
+    foundation of a Provincial capital. I was at that period in the
+    naval service of the lakes, and the survey of Toronto (York
+    Harbour), was entrusted by His Excellency to my performance. I
+    still distinctly recollect the untamed aspect which the country
+    exhibited when first I entered the beautiful basin which thus
+    became the scene of my early hydrographical operations. Dense
+    and trackless forests lined the margin of the lake, and
+    reflected their inverted images in its glassy surface. The
+    wandering savage had constructed his ephemeral habitation
+    beneath their luxuriant foliage--the group then consisting of
+    two families of Missassagas--and the Bay and neighbouring
+    marshes were the hitherto uninvaded haunts of the wild fowl;
+    indeed they were so abundant as in some measure to annoy us
+    during the night. In the spring following, the
+    Lieutenant-Governor removed to the site of the new capital,
+    attended by the regiment of Queen's Rangers and commenced at
+    once the realisation of his favourite project. His Excellency
+    inhabited, during the summer and through the winter, a canvas
+    house which he imported expressly for the occasion, but, frail
+    as was its substance, it was rendered exceedingly comfortable,
+    and soon became as distinguished for the social and urbane
+    hospitality of its venerated and gracious host, as for the
+    peculiarity of its structure.
+
+Governor Simcoe gave the name of York to the capital he had selected,
+and the rivers on either side received the names of the Don and Humber.
+His own residence he built at the brow of the hill overlooking the
+valley of the Don, at the junction of what was a few generations later
+Saint James Cemetery with the property of F. Cayley, Esq., calling it
+"Castle Frank," the name which the property still retains.
+
+While the gubernatorial residence was being erected Governor Simcoe
+returned to Niagara, where he opened the third session of the Upper
+Canada Parliament on June 20, 1794. In the fall of that year, orders
+were given for the construction of Parliament buildings at York on a
+site at the foot of what in 1857 was Parliament Street, adjoining the
+place where the "gaol stands." In 1795 the Duc de Rochefoucauld was in
+Upper Canada, and in his published _Travels_ alludes to a visit paid to
+York by some of his companions:
+
+    During our stay at Navy Hall, Messrs. Du Petit Thouars and
+    Guillemard, took the opportunity of the return of a gun-boat, to
+    pay a visit to York. Indolence, courtesy towards the Governor
+    (with whom the author was then residing at Navy Hall), and the
+    conviction that I would meet with few objects of interest in
+    that place, combined to dissuade me from this journey. My
+    friends informed me on their return, that this town, which the
+    Governor had fixed upon as the Capital of Upper Canada, has a
+    fine, extensive bay, detached from the lake by a tongue of land
+    of unequal breadth, being in some places a mile, in others only
+    six score yards broad; that the entrance of this bay, about a
+    mile in width, is obstructed in the middle by a shoal or
+    sand-bank, the narrow passages on each side of which may be
+    easily defended by works erected on the two points of land at
+    the entrance, on which two block-houses have already been
+    constructed; that this bay is two miles and a half long, and a
+    mile wide, and that the elevation of its banks greatly increases
+    its capability of defence by fortifications thrown up at
+    convenient points. There have not been more than a dozen houses
+    built hitherto in York, and these are situated in the inner
+    extremity of the bay, near the river Don. The inhabitants, it is
+    said, do not possess the fairest character. One of them is the
+    noted Batzy, the leader of the German families, whom Captain
+    Williamson accuses the English of decoying away from him, in
+    order to injure and obstruct the prosperity of his settlement.
+    The barracks which are occupied by the Governor's Regiment,
+    stand on the bay near the lake, about two miles from the town.
+    The Indians are for one hundred and fifty miles round the sole
+    neighbours of York.
+
+Nothing shows better than this that we must remember that Old World
+measurements of growth and cultural life cannot be applied to the
+condition of a new continent where every foot of land had to be taken
+from the aborigines, a continent in its agricultural infancy,
+devastated by wars, changing ownership thrice within one hundred years.
+The Indians in the district one hundred and fifty miles around Toronto
+have been replaced to-day by a million of people as enterprising as they
+can be found on the surface of the globe. In lieu of the dozen huts
+described by our noble writer in 1795, you will find to-day a city of a
+quarter million inhabitants, steamships, railroads, telegraph, electric
+light--the "City of Churches."
+
+Toronto, as noted, owes the progress it has made almost entirely to its
+advantageous commercial position, which was the chief circumstance that
+originally weighed with General Simcoe in selecting this as a site for
+the capital of Upper Canada. The city is built on a slope, rising with a
+very slight inclination from the bay, sufficient to secure its
+salubrity, and to admit of a complete system of sewerage; but not enough
+to give its architectural beauties the advantage they deserve to gratify
+the æsthetic taste which would be disposed to seek on the shores of Lake
+Ontario for a parallel to the grand old cities of Europe.
+
+Governor Simcoe's amenities and hospitalities, his simplicity, his cares
+and troubles are all parts of the early history of the province; his
+administration in Canada has been generally commended, despite the
+displays of prejudice against the United States. His schemes for
+improving the province were "extremely wise and well arranged." But his
+stay was abruptly cut short. It seems to-day that England was fearful he
+might involve the mother-country in a new war with the young Republic
+and he was rather hastily recalled to England in 1796, although at the
+same time promoted a full lieutenant-general in the army.
+
+In 1804 a census of the inhabitants of Toronto was taken, and it was
+found that they numbered 456. At that time the town was bounded by
+Berkeley Street on the east, Lot, now Queen Street on the north, and
+New, now Nelson Street on the west. In 1806, Toronto or York was visited
+by George Heriot, Esq., Deputy Postmaster-General of British North
+America, and from the terms in which he speaks of it in his _Travels
+through the Canadas_, it appears that it had then made considerable
+progress. He says:
+
+    Many houses display a considerable progress. The advancement of
+    this place to its present condition has been effected within the
+    lapse of six or seven years, and persons who have formerly
+    travelled in this part of the country, are impressed with
+    sentiments of wonder, on beholding a town which may be termed
+    handsome, reared as if by enchantment in the midst of a
+    wilderness.
+
+The Parliament buildings, when Heriot visited Toronto, were two
+buildings of brick, at the eastern extremity of the town, which had been
+designed as wings to a centre, and which were occupied as chambers for
+the Upper and Lower House of Assembly.
+
+In 1807 the inhabitants numbered 1058, and continued slowly to rise till
+1813, when the American War brought calamities on to Toronto, from the
+disastrous effects of which it took more than a decade to recover.
+
+In 1813 the campaigns of the war centred, as we have seen, around Lake
+Erie. The Navy had lately restored American confidence, and a second
+invasion of Canada was a principal feature in the programme. At the
+middle of April Dearborn and Chauncey matured a plan of operations. A
+joint land and naval expedition was proposed, to first capture York, and
+then to cross Lake Ontario and reduce Fort George. At the same time
+troops were to cross the Niagara, from Buffalo and Black Rock, capture
+Fort Erie and Chippewa, join the fleet and army at Fort George, and all
+proceed to attack Kingston. Everything being arranged, Dearborn embarked
+about 1700 men on Chauncey's fleet, at Sacketts Harbour on the 22d of
+April, and on the 25th the fleet, crowded with soldiers, sailed for
+York. After a boisterous voyage it appeared before the little town early
+in the morning of the 27th, when General Dearborn, suffering from ill
+health, placed the land forces under charge of General Pike, and
+resolved to remain on board the Commodore's flagship during the attack.
+
+The little village of York, numbering somewhat more than one thousand
+inhabitants at the time, was then chiefly at the bottom of the bay near
+a marshy flat, through which the Don, coming down from the beautiful
+fertile valleys, flowed sluggishly into Lake Ontario, and, because of
+the softness of the earth there, it was often called "Muddy Little
+York." It gradually grew to the westward, and, while deserting the Don,
+it wooed the Humber, once a famous salmon stream, that flows into a
+broad bay two or three miles west of Toronto. In that direction stood
+the remains of old Fort Toronto, erected by the French. On the shore
+eastward of it, between the present new barracks and the city, were two
+batteries, the most easterly one being in the form of a crescent. A
+little farther east, on the borders of a deep ravine and small stream,
+was a picketed block-house, some intrenchments with cannon, and a
+garrison of about eight hundred men under Major-General Sheaffe. On
+"Gibraltar Point," the extreme western arm of the peninsula, that
+embraced the harbour with its protecting arm, was a small blockhouse;
+another stood on the high east bank of the Don, just beyond a bridge at
+the eastern termination of King and Queen streets. These defences had
+been strangely neglected. Some of the cannon were without trunnions,
+others, destined for the war-vessel then on the stocks, were in frozen
+mud and half covered with snow. Fortunately for the garrison, the _Duke
+of Gloucester_ was then in port, undergoing some repairs, and her guns
+furnished some armament for the batteries. These, however, only amounted
+to a few six-pounders. The whole country around, excepting a few spots
+on the lake shore, was covered with a dense forest.
+
+On the day when the expedition sailed from Sacketts Harbour General Pike
+issued minute instructions concerning the manner of landing and attack.
+
+    It is expected [he said] that every corps will be mindful of the
+    honour of the American, and the disgraces which have recently
+    tarnished our arms, and endeavour, by a cool and determined
+    discharge of their duty, to support the one and wipe off the
+    other. [He continued:] The unoffending citizens of Canada are
+    many of them our own countrymen, and the poor Canadians have
+    been forced into the war. Their property, therefore, must be
+    held sacred; and any soldier who shall so far neglect the honour
+    of his profession as to be guilty of plundering the inhabitants,
+    shall, if convicted, be punished with death. But the commanding
+    general assures the troops that, should they capture a large
+    quantity of public stores, he will use his best endeavours to
+    procure them a reward from his government.
+
+[Illustration: "The Garrison at York."
+
+A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.]
+
+It was intended to land at a clearing near old Fort Toronto. An easterly
+wind, blowing with violence, drove the small boats in which the troops
+left the fleet full half a mile farther westward, and beyond an
+effectual covering by the guns of the navy. Major Forsyth and his
+riflemen, in two bateaux led the van, and when within rifle shot of the
+shore they were assailed by a deadly volley of bullets by a company of
+Glengary Fencibles and a party of Indians under Major Givens, who were
+concealed in the woods that fringe the shore. "Rest on your oars!
+Prime!" said Forsyth in a low tone. Pike, standing on the deck of the
+_Madison_, saw this halting, and impatiently exclaimed, with an
+expletive: "I cannot stay here any longer! Come," he said, addressing
+his staff, "jump into the boat." He was instantly obeyed, and very soon
+they and their gallant commander were in the midst of a fight, for
+Forsyth's men had opened fire, and the enemy at the shore were returning
+it briskly. The vanguard soon landed, and were immediately followed, in
+support, by Major King and a battalion of infantry. Pike and the main
+body soon followed, and the whole column, consisting of the Sixth,
+Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Twenty-First Regiments of Infantry, and
+detachments of light and heavy artillery, with Major Forsyth's riflemen
+and Lieutenant McClure's volunteers as flankers, pressed forward into
+the woods.
+
+The British skirmishes meanwhile had been re-enforced by two companies
+of the Eighth or King's Regiment of Regulars, two hundred strong, a
+company of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, a large body of militia, and
+some Indians. They took position in the woods, and were soon encountered
+by the advancing Americans, whose artillery it was difficult to move.
+Perceiving this, the British, led by General Sheaffe in person, attacked
+the American flank with a six-pounder and howitzer. A very sharp
+conflict ensued, and both parties suffered much. Captain McNeil, of the
+King's Regiment, was killed. The British were overpowered, and fell
+back, when General Pike, at the head of the American column, ordered his
+bugler to sound, and at the same time dashed gallantly forward. That
+bugle blast thrilled like electric fire along the nerves of the Indians.
+They gave one horrid yell, then fled like frightened deer to cover, deep
+into the forest. That bugle blast was heard in the fleet, in the face of
+the wind and high above the voices of the gale, and evoked long and loud
+responsive cheers. At the same time Chauncey was sending to the shore,
+under the direction of Commander Elliott, something more effective than
+huzzas for he was hurling deadly grape-shot upon the foe, which added to
+the consternation of the savages, and gave fleetness to their feet. They
+also hastened the retreat of Sheaffe's white troops to their defences in
+the direction of the village, while the drum and fife of the pursuers
+were briskly playing _Yankee Doodle_.
+
+The Americans now pressed forward rapidly along the lake shore in
+platoons by sections. They were not allowed to load their muskets, and
+were compelled to rely upon the bayonet. Because of many ravines and
+little streams the artillery was moved with difficulty, for the enemy
+had destroyed the bridges. By great exertions a field-piece and a
+howitzer, under Lieutenant Fanning, of the Third Artillery, was moved
+steadily with the column. As that column emerged from thick woods,
+flanked by McClure's volunteers, divided equally as light troops under
+Colonel Ripley, it was confronted by twenty-four pounders on the Western
+Battery. Upon this battery the guns of some of Chauncey's vessels which
+had beat up against the wind in range of the enemy's works were pouring
+heavy shot. Captain Walworth was ordered to storm it with his
+grenadiers, of the Sixteenth. They immediately trailed their arms,
+quickened their pace, and were about to charge, when the wooden magazine
+of the battery, that had been carelessly left open, blew up, killing
+some of the men, and seriously damaging the defences. The dismayed enemy
+spiked their cannon, and fled to the next, or Half-Moon, Battery.
+Walworth pressed forward; when that, too, was abandoned and he found
+nothing within but spiked cannon. Sheaffe and his little army, deserted
+by the Indians, fled to the garrison near the Governor's house, and
+there opened a fire of round and grape-shot upon the Americans. Pike
+ordered his troops to halt, and lie flat upon the grass, while Major
+Eustis, with his artillery-battery moved to the front, and soon silenced
+the great guns of the enemy.
+
+    The firing from the garrison ceased, and the Americans expected
+    every moment to see a white flag displayed from the block-house
+    in token of surrender. Lieutenant Riddle, whose corps had
+    brought up the prisoners taken in the woods, was sent forward
+    with a small party to reconnoitre. General Pike, who had just
+    assisted with his own hands in removing a wounded soldier to a
+    comfortable place, was sitting upon a stump conversing with a
+    huge British sergeant who had been taken prisoner, his staff
+    standing around him. At that moment was felt a sudden tremor of
+    the ground, followed by a tremendous explosion near the British
+    garrison. The enemy, despairing of holding the place, had blown
+    up their powder magazine, situated upon the edge of the water at
+    the mouth of a ravine, near where the buildings of the Great
+    Western Railway now stand. The effect was terrible. Fragments of
+    timber and huge stone of which the magazine walls were built
+    were scattered in every direction over a space of several
+    hundred yards. When the smoke floated away the scene was
+    appalling. Fifty-two Americans lay dead, and one hundred and
+    eighty others were wounded. So badly had the affair been managed
+    that forty of the British also lost their lives by the
+    explosion. General Pike, two of his aids, and the British
+    sergeant were mortally hurt, while Riddle and his party were
+    unhurt, the missiles passing entirely over them. The terrified
+    Americans scattered in dismay, but they were soon rallied by
+    Brigade-Major Hunt and Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell. The column
+    was re-formed and the general command was assumed by the gallant
+    Pennsylvanian colonel, Cromwell Pearce, of the Sixteenth, the
+    senior officer. After giving three cheers, the troops pressed
+    forward toward the village, and were met by the civil
+    authorities and militia officers with propositions of a
+    capitulation in response to a peremptory demand for surrender
+    made by Colonel Pearce. An arrangement was concluded for an
+    absolute surrender, when, taking advantage of the confusion that
+    succeeded the explosion, and the time intentionally consumed in
+    the capitulation, General Sheaffe and a large portion of his
+    regulars, after destroying the vessels on the stocks, and some
+    storehouses and their contents, stole across the Don, and fled
+    along Dundas Street toward Kingston. When several miles from
+    York they met a portion of the King's Regiment on their way to
+    Fort George. These turned back, covered Sheaffe's retreat, and
+    all reached Kingston in safety. Sheaffe (who was the military
+    successor of Brock) was severely censured for the loss of York.
+    He was soon afterward superseded in command in Upper Canada by
+    Major-General De Rottenburg and retired to Montreal to take
+    command of the troops there.
+
+On hearing of the death of General Pike, General Dearborn went on shore,
+and assumed command after the capitulation. At sunset the work was
+finished; both Chauncey and Dearborn wrote brief despatches to the
+government at Washington; the former saying: "We are in full possession
+of the place," and the latter: "I have the satisfaction to inform you
+that the American flag is flying upon the fort at York." The post, with
+about two hundred and ninety prisoners besides the militia, the war
+vessel _Duke of Gloucester_, and a large quantity of naval and military
+stores, passed into the possession of the Americans. Such of the latter
+as could not be carried away by the squadron were destroyed. Before the
+victors left, the public buildings were fired by some unknown hand, and
+consumed.
+
+Four days after the capitulation, the troops were re-embarked,
+preparatory to a descent upon Fort George. The post and village of York,
+possessing little value to the Americans, were abandoned. The British
+repossessed themselves of the spot, built another block-house, and on
+the site of the garrison constructed a regular fortification.
+
+The loss of the Americans in the capture of York was sixty-six killed
+and two hundred and three wounded on land, and seventeen killed and
+wounded on the vessels. The British lost, besides the prisoners, sixty
+killed and eighty-nine wounded. General Pike was crushed beneath a heavy
+mass of stones that struck him in the back. He was carried immediately
+after discovery to the water's edge, placed in a boat, and conveyed
+first on board the _Pert_, and then to the Commodore's flagship. Just as
+the surgeons and attendants, with the wounded general, reached the
+little boat, the huzzas of the troops fell upon his benumbed ears. "What
+does it mean?" he feebly asked. "Victory," said a sergeant in
+attendance. "The British union-jack is coming down from the blockhouse,
+and the Stars and Stripes are going up." The dying hero's face was
+illuminated by a smile of great joy. His spirit lingered several hours,
+and then departed. Just before his breath ceased the captured British
+flag was brought to him. He made a sign for them to place it under his
+head, and thus he expired. His body was taken to Sacketts Harbour, and
+with that of his pupil and aid, Captain Nicholson, was buried with
+military honours within Fort Tompkins there.
+
+[Illustration: Captain Sowers's drawings of Fort Niagara, 1769.
+
+From the original in the British Museum.]
+
+It was not till 1821 that the town recovered from these disasters, and
+then the population only amounted to 1559. In 1830 it was 2860; but in
+1834, a strong tide of emigration into Canada having set in, the
+population increased to 9254. In that year the town was incorporated as
+a city, and Mr. William Lyon Mackenzie was elected the first mayor of
+Toronto, April 3, 1834. In 1838 the inhabitants numbered 12,571; in
+1848, 15,336; in 1861, they had increased to 44,821; in 1871, to 56,039;
+in 1881, 86,415; in 1891, 181,220; and finally, in 1903, to 266,989.
+
+In 1821, E. A. Talbot, the author of some works of travel[39] visited
+the town. He states that the public edifices at that time were a
+Protestant Episcopal Church ("a wooden building with a wooden belfry"),
+a Roman Catholic Chapel (a brick building "not then completed, but
+intended to be very magnificent"--the present St. Paul's Church in Power
+Street), a Presbyterian Meeting House (a brick building, occupying the
+site of what is now Knox's Church), a Methodist Meeting House, situated
+in a field, nearly on the present site of the _Globe_ office, the
+Hospital (the brick building on King Street now known as the Old
+Hospital, and occupied as Government offices), which Talbot describes as
+the most important building of the province, "bearing a very fine
+exterior," the Parliament House (a brick building erected in 1820 on the
+former site, and destroyed by fire in 1824), and the residence of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, a wooden building, "inferior to several private
+houses of the town, particularly that of Rev. Dr. Strachan," says
+Talbot. The streets, he adds, are regularly laid out, but "only one of
+them is in a finished state, and in wet weather those of them which are
+unfinished, are if possible more muddy than the streets of Kingston."
+
+How different to-day, when Toronto has been called the "City of
+Churches," because of the large number of fine churches that have been
+erected in it! The distinctive feature of church architecture in Toronto
+consists in the fact that all denominations have built a considerable
+number of fine churches instead of concentrating their efforts on the
+erection of a few of greater magnificence. The large churches are not
+confined to the central portion but are found widely distributed
+throughout. Toronto to-day is the see of both Anglican and Roman
+Catholic archbishops. The city has suffered from destructive
+conflagrations, notably in 1890, and in April, 1904, when more than one
+hundred buildings in the wholesale business section were burned down,
+some five thousand persons were thrown out of work, and about eleven
+millions' worth of property was destroyed.
+
+The year 1866 is a memorable one in the history of Toronto as well as
+all Canada as the year of the Fenian raids. The Toronto regiments of
+volunteers were promptly sent to drive the Fenians out of the Niagara
+peninsula. The "Queen's Own" met the enemy at Ridgeway, and sustained a
+loss of seven killed and twenty-three wounded. The beautiful monument
+erected to the memory of those who fell at Ridgeway is decorated each
+year on June 2d by their comrades and by the school children of the
+city. Another monument in Queen's Park commemorates the loyalty and
+bravery of Toronto volunteers. It records the gallantry of those who
+were killed during the North-west rebellion of 1885.
+
+Toronto is a notable educational centre. The university is one of the
+best equipped in America. The first step towards its establishment was
+taken as early as 1797, but the university was not founded until 1827,
+chartered and endowed somewhat later, and opened for students in 1843.
+Until then it had rather a sectarian character, but nowadays it
+embraces, besides the four principal faculties, the following
+institutions: Ontario Agricultural College, Royal College of Dental
+Surgeons, the College of Pharmacy, the Toronto College of Music, the
+School of Practical Science, and the Ontario Veterinary College. The
+students in 1905-06 numbered 2547. The University buildings, it is said,
+are the best specimen of Norman architecture in America. The most
+beautiful other public buildings of Toronto are: the new Parliament
+buildings, the new City Hall, Osgood Hall, the Seat of the Provincial
+Courts and Law School, Trinity University, McMaster University, the
+Normal School, Upper Canada College, and the Provincial Asylum.
+
+Toronto is pre-eminently a city of homes. It claims to have a larger
+proportion of good homes and a much smaller proportion of saloons than
+any city of its size in America. One of the gratifying features of
+Toronto that distinguishes it from most large cities is the fact that
+there is no part of the city that can be fairly regarded as a "slum"
+district.
+
+The city covers a very large area so that there is no overcrowding.
+Working men have no difficulty in obtaining homes with separate gardens,
+and it is a common practice to use these gardens in growing both flowers
+and vegetables.
+
+The Park System is extensive and beautiful, possessing about 1350 acres,
+the chief being Queen's Park, adjoining the university, and the
+extensive High Park on the west of the city. But the most popular is
+probably Island Park, on Hiawatha Island, which lies immediately in
+front of the city in the form of a crescent about three miles in length.
+
+The following great Canadians were born in Toronto: Professor Egerton
+Ryerson; Sir John MacDonald; Sir Daniel Wilson; Reverend Wm. Morley
+Puncheon; Hon. George Brown; Sir Oliver Mowat; but the most widely known
+Toronto citizen is probably Goldwin Smith, the great historian and
+economist. Toronto has ever shown itself fervently British in sentiment.
+Its later history has been purely civic without other interest than that
+attaching to prosperous growth. A pleasant society and an attractive
+situation make it a favourite place of residence.
+
+In the first quarter of the nineteenth century, there was a certain Mr.
+Hetherington in Toronto, one of the clerks of St. James. Now the music
+of those primitive times seems to have been managed altogether after the
+old country village choirs. Mr. Hetherington was wont, after giving out
+the Psalm, to play the air on a bassoon; and then to accompany with
+fantasias on the same instrument, when any vocalist could be found to
+take the singing in hand. By-and-by the first symptoms of progress are
+apparent in the addition of a bass-viol and clarinet to help Mr.
+Hetherington's bassoon--"the harbinger and foreshadow," as Dr. Scadding
+says, "of the magnificent organ presented in after-times to the
+congregation of the 'Second Temple of St. James' by Mr. Dunn, but
+destroyed by fire, together with the whole church, in 1839, after only
+two years of existence."
+
+Incidents of a different character no less strongly mark the changes
+which a period of only ninety years has witnessed. In 1811, namely, we
+find William Jarvis, Esq., His Excellency's Secretary, lodging a
+complaint in open court against a negro boy and girl, his slaves. The
+Parliament at Newark had, indeed, enacted in 1793--in those patriarchal
+days already described, when they could settle the affairs of the young
+province under the shade of an umbrageous tree--that no more slaves
+should be introduced into Upper Canada, and that all slave children born
+after the 9th of July of that year should be free on attaining the age
+of twenty-five.
+
+But even by this creditable enactment slavery had a lease of life of
+fully a quarter of a century longer, and the _Gazette Public
+Advertiser_, and other journals, continue for years thereafter to
+exhibit such announcements as this of the Hon. Peter Russell, President
+of the Legislative Council, of date, February 19, 1806: "To be sold: a
+black woman, named Peggy, aged forty years, and a black boy, her son,
+named Jupiter, aged about fifteen years." The advertisement goes on to
+describe the virtues of Peggy and Jupiter. Peggy is a tolerable cook and
+washerwoman, perfectly understands making soap and candles, and may be
+had for one hundred and fifty dollars, payable in three years, with
+interest, from the day of sale. Jupiter, having various acquirements
+besides his specialty as a good house servant, is offered for two
+hundred dollars, but a fourth less will be taken for ready money. So
+recently as 1871, John Baker, who had been brought to Canada as the
+slave of Solicitor-General Gray, died at Cornwall, Ontario, in extreme
+old age. But before that the very memory of slavery had died out in
+Canada; and it long formed the refuge which the fugitive slave made for,
+with no other guide than the pole-star of our northern sky.
+
+The history of Toronto, as already noted, is necessarily to a great
+extent that of the province, and of the whole region of Canada.
+
+    Upper Canada [says Dr. Scadding], in miniature, and in the space
+    of a century, curiously passed through conditions and processes,
+    physical and social, which old countries on a large scale, and
+    in the course of long ages passed through. Upper Canada had its
+    primeval and barbaric, but heroic age, its mediæval and high
+    prerogative era; and then, after a revolutionary period of a few
+    weeks, its modern, defeudalised, democratic era.
+
+[Footnote 38: Named in honour of a French Minister of Colonies. The
+_Rouillés_ are a celebrated family, later on styled Rouille-de-Marboeuf.
+The above-named Rouille is highly praised by St. Simon as a statesman of
+ability and integrity.]
+
+[Footnote 39: _Five Years' Residence in the Canadas._]
+
+
+
+
+  Index
+
+
+  A
+
+  Abbott, Francis, the "Hermit of Niagara," 40
+
+  Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, Brock under, 232
+
+  Allen, Ethan, mentioned, 222
+
+  Allen, Sadie, shoots the Rapids, 139
+
+  "American Blondin," the, see Calverly
+
+  _American Canals, Great_, see Hulbert
+
+  American Civic Association mentioned, 119
+
+  Amherst, Sir Jeffrey, campaign of 1759, 209
+
+  Anderson, M. B., on first Niagara Commission, 80
+
+  "Angevine place," building-site of _Griffon_, 181
+
+
+  B
+
+  Bakewell's estimate of Niagara's age, 65
+
+  Balleni, tight-rope artist, 130
+
+  Barton, J. L., reminiscences of early Buffalo, 7
+
+  Bath Island, 76
+
+  Biddle Stairs, 32
+
+  Bird Island, 30, 76
+
+  Black Rock, origin of name, 8
+
+  Blondin, career of, 123-129;
+    W. D. Howells's description of, 127-128
+
+  Blossom, I. A., agent of Holland Land Co., 7
+
+  Bourinot, Dr., quoted, 159-160, 288-291
+
+  Braddock, plans to capture Ft. Niagara, 206-207
+
+  Brock, Gen. Isaac, sketch of life, 231-238;
+    replies to Hull's Proclamation, 244-246;
+    captures Hull, 246-253;
+    relations with the Indians, 252-253;
+    death, 256;
+    eulogies, 257-262;
+    monuments to, 48, 259-262
+
+  Brodie, "Steve," goes over the Falls, 137
+
+  Browne, G. W., on St. Lawrence, 4, 161;
+    on De Nonville at Niagara, 187-189
+
+  Brulé on Niagara frontier, 165
+
+  Buckley, A. B., _Fairyland of Science_, cited, 168
+
+  Buffalo, N. Y., growth of, 4-8
+
+  Buffalo Historical Society mentioned, 6
+
+  Burnt Ship Bay, 10, 212
+
+  Burton Act for preservation of Niagara, 116-120
+
+
+  C
+
+  Calverly, C. M., the "American Blondin," 132
+
+  Campbell, W. G., Niagara crank, 149
+
+  _Canada_ (_Story of the Nations_), see Bourinot
+
+  Canadian Niagara Falls Power Co., 104, 112, 117
+
+  _Canals, Great American_, see Hulbert
+
+  Cantilever bridge, 46
+
+  _Caroline_, the, incident, 291
+
+  _Cassier's Magazine_ quoted, 121
+
+  Cataract House, the, 75
+
+  "Cave of the Winds," the, 28, 31-33
+
+  Cayuga Creek mentioned, 10
+
+  Céloron at Niagara, 203
+
+  _Century Magazine_ quoted, 29, 42-44
+
+  Champlain on Niagara frontier, 158-163
+
+  Chippewa Creek, 46; battle of, 279 _seq._
+
+  Chrystie, Col., in War of 1812, 264
+
+  Church's "Niagara" mentioned, 14
+
+  Clark, George Rogers, compared with Brock, 249
+
+  Clark, Dr. John M., on "destruction of Niagara," 117
+
+  Colcourt, Henry, Blondin's assistant, 125
+
+  Colour of Niagara water explained by Mrs. Van Rensselaer, 42-44
+
+  Commissioners of N. Y. State Reservation, first report of, 82 _seq._
+
+  Crystal Palace, Blondin at, 128
+
+  Cutter, O. W., Niagara committeeman, 89
+
+
+  D
+
+  Dallion, Father, at Niagara, 166
+
+  "Darting Lines of Spray" explained, 45
+
+  Day, D. A., report, 17
+
+  Dearborn, Gen., in War of 1812, 274 _seq._
+
+  De Leon, "Prof.," Niagara crank, 131
+
+  De Nonville, Gov., on Niagara frontier, 186-194
+
+  "Destruction of Niagara" discussed, 110-120
+
+  De Troyes at Fort Niagara, 190-194
+
+  "Devil's Hole," 49;
+    massacre, 214-215
+
+  Dittrick, W., Niagara crank, 148
+
+  Dixon, S. J., tight-rope artist, 132
+
+  Dogs go over Falls, 151-152
+
+  Dorsheimer, William, on first Niagara Commission, 80;
+    presents the park to New York State, 92
+
+  Dufferin Islands, 46
+
+
+  E
+
+  Electrical Development Co., 117
+
+  Ellicott, Andrew, estimates Niagara's age, 63
+
+  Erie Canal, importance to Niagara frontier, 6
+
+  Evershed, Thomas, devises wheel-pits, 101
+
+
+  F
+
+  Farini, Signor, tight-rope artist, 129
+
+  Flack, R. W., killed in race in Niagara River, 148
+
+  _Fool-Killer_, see Nissen
+
+  Forts: Chippewa, 46;
+    Drummond, 48;
+    du Portage, 15;
+    Erie, 8;
+      battle of, 285 _seq._;
+    Frontenac, 17, 170;
+    George, 50, 274-276;
+    Niagara, the first, 189-194;
+      building, 197-202;
+      during French War and Revolution, 204-229;
+      Sir William Johnson captures, 278;
+    Rouille, 293;
+    Schlosser, 15
+
+  Fuller, Margaret, describes Niagara by night, 12;
+    on Goat Island flora, 18;
+    quoted, 28
+
+
+  G
+
+  Galinee on Niagara frontier, 166
+
+  Geology of Niagara, 52 _seq._
+
+  Goat Island, 16-19, 25, 29, 40, 74
+
+  _Golden Book of Niagara_, names in the, 79
+
+  Gorge of Niagara, its history, 63 _seq._
+
+  Graham, C. D., performs at Niagara, 137
+
+  Gravelet, see Blondin
+
+  Gray, Dr. Asa, on Goat Island flora, 16
+
+  Great Lakes, drainage, 3
+
+  Green, A. H., on first Niagara Commission, 80
+
+  Green Island, 30
+
+  _Griffon_, the, built at La Salle, N. Y., 180-186. See Remington
+
+  Gull Island, 40
+
+
+  H
+
+  Hall, Capt. Basil, experiment at Niagara, 34
+
+  Hall, Prof. James, survey of Falls, 65
+
+  Hardy, J. E., tight-rope artist, 132
+
+  Hazlett, George, Niagara crank, 139
+
+  "Heart of Niagara," 38, 45
+
+  Hennepin, Father, Narrative, quoted, 168, 173-184
+
+  Hennepin's View, 21
+
+  Heriot, George, quoted, 300
+
+  "Hermit of Niagara," see Abbott
+
+  "Hermit's Cascade," 40
+
+  Hill, Gov. D. B., signs Niagara Reservation Bill, 81
+
+  _Historic Highways of America_, cited, 206
+
+  _Historic Towns of the Middle West_, quoted, 5
+
+  Holland Land Co., mentioned, 7
+
+  Hooker, Sir J., on Goat Island, 16
+
+  Houghton, George, "The Upper Rapids," quoted, 13
+
+  _How Niagara was Made Free_, see Welch
+
+  Howells, W. D., quoted, 28, 29, 72-73, 74, 127-128
+
+  Hulbert, A. B., _The Ohio River_, cited, 3, 4;
+    _Great American Canals_, cited, 6;
+    _Historic Highways_, cited, 206
+
+  Hull, General, surrenders to Brock, 243, 277-279
+
+  Hunt, William M., painting of Niagara, 14
+
+  Hunter, Colin, view of Niagara rapids, 11
+
+
+  I
+
+  Ice Age, Niagara in the, 58-59
+
+  Ice Bridge, 39
+
+  Inspiration Point, 44
+
+  International Railway Co., 117
+
+  Iris Island, see Goat Island
+
+  Iroquois, dominate Niagara frontier, 153 _seq._;
+    Hennepin's embassy to, 177-180
+
+
+  J
+
+  Jay's treaty, 225-226
+
+  Jenkins, I. J., tight-rope artist, 131
+
+  Johnson, Sir William, captures Fort Niagara, 211-213;
+    treaty at Fort Niagara, 215-216
+
+  Joncaire, Chabert, erects "Magazine Royale," 197-200
+
+
+  K
+
+  Kendall, W. I., swims Niagara rapids, 136
+
+  King, Alphonse, performs at Niagara, 136-7
+
+
+  L
+
+  _La Belle Famille_, see Youngstown, N. Y.
+
+  La Salle, on Niagara frontier, 170-186
+
+  La Salle N. Y., the _Griffon_ built at, 183
+
+  Lewiston Heights, 50, 264-265
+
+  _Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, K. B._, see
+    Tupper
+
+  _Life and Times of General Brock_, see Read
+
+  Luna Island, 31
+
+  Lundy's Lane, 46;
+    battle of, 282
+
+  Lyell, Sir Charles, estimates Niagara's age, 65
+
+
+  M
+
+  Mackenzie, William Lyon, Bourinot describes, 288
+
+  "Magazine Royale," Joncaire builds, 197-200
+
+  Mahany, R. B., in _Historic Towns of the Middle States_, 5
+
+  _Maid of the Mist_, 44;
+    voyage through lower rapids, 144-146
+
+  Manchester, see Niagara Falls, N. Y.
+
+  Mars, Tesla's project to signal, 120
+
+  Marshall, O. H., mentioned, 157, 187, 194-195, 219
+
+  Matheson, James, advocates reclamation of Niagara, 77
+
+  _Michigan_, brig, sent over the Falls, 133
+
+  Milet, Father, at Fort Niagara, 193
+
+  Mohawk River in the Ice Age, 60
+
+  Montresor, Capt., blockhouse, 15
+
+  Morgan, William, mentioned, 202
+
+
+  N
+
+  _Nation, The_, on the "desecration of Niagara," 78
+
+  Neuter Nation first inhabit Niagara frontier, 156 _seq._
+
+  Newark, see Niagara-on-the-Lake
+
+  "New Jerusalem," Major Noah's, 9
+
+  New York State Reservation, history of, 77-96
+
+  _New York Times_, on opening of New York Reservation, 94-95
+
+  _Niagara Book, The_, cited, 28
+
+  Niagara Falls, N. Y., described, 96-98
+
+  Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Co., 102, 104, 110,
+    111-112, 118-119
+
+  Niagara Falls Power Co., 101, 104, 111-112, 118-119
+
+  Niagara, Lockport, and Ontario Power Co., 114-115
+
+  Niagara-on-the-Lake, 50, 227-230
+
+  Niagara Reservation Act, 79-82, 84
+
+  Niagara River, historic importance, 2;
+    drainage area, 2-4;
+    description of the upper, 8-22;
+    upper rapids of, 10-15;
+    islands of, 12-22;
+    historic sites of upper, 14-16;
+    Falls of, 20 _seq._;
+    bridges over, 21 _seq._;
+    music of, 24-27;
+    Howells on repose of, 28;
+    air pressure at Falls of, 34-37;
+    when dry, 38;
+    in winter, 39;
+    changes in, 41-42;
+    Mrs. Van Rensselaer on colour of, 42-44;
+    view of, from Queen Victoria Park, 44;
+    a tour around, 20-51;
+    the lower, described, 46-51;
+    the geology of, 52-71;
+    recession of Falls of, 63-71;
+    George Frederick Wright on age of, 66-70;
+    during era of private ownership, 72-77;
+    struggle for passage of "Reservation Act," 77-82;
+    _Golden Book of_, names in, 79;
+    as producer of power, 99-122;
+    volume of, 99;
+    tunnel beneath, 106;
+    manufacturing companies, use of, 111-113, 117;
+    use of water of, discussed, 111-122;
+    Burton Act concerning, Taft on, 117-120;
+    Blondin, career on, 123-129;
+    performances of cranks on, 129-152 (see Farini, Dixon, Webb, Graham,
+      etc.),
+    _Maid of the Mist_ sails lower, 144-146;
+    controlled by Iroquois, 153-156;
+    Neuter Nation inhabit banks of, 156-157;
+    French occupation of, 158-213;
+    Cartier hears of, 165;
+    described by Galinee, 166-167;
+    Hennepin describes, 167 _seq._;
+    reached by La Salle, 173-186;
+    the _Griffon_ built on, 181 _seq._;
+    first fort built on, 189;
+    sufferings of first French troops on, 191-194;
+    name of, discussed by Marshall, 194-195;
+    Joncaire on, 197-198;
+    in Old French War, 200 _seq._;
+    French lose, 209-212;
+    in Revolutionary War, 217-226;
+    fixed as international boundary line, 223-226;
+    Loyalists settle upon, 227 _seq._;
+    in the War of 1812, 263 _seq._
+
+  Nissen, Peter, exploits at Niagara, 149-151
+
+  Noah, Maj. N. N., "New Jerusalem," 9
+
+
+  O
+
+  Official opening of New York Reservation, 85-95
+
+  _Ohio River, The_, see Hulbert
+
+  "Old Indian Ladder," 46
+
+  Old Stone Chimney mentioned, 15
+
+  Olmsted, F. A., on Goat Island flora, 16-18;
+    mentioned, 77-78, 119
+
+  Ontario Power Co., 104, 108, 112, 117
+
+  Ottawa River, in Ice Age, 63
+
+
+  P
+
+  Papineau in Patriot War, 290
+
+  Parkman's works quoted, 171, _seq._
+
+  Patch, Sam, jumps at Niagara, 133
+
+  Patriot War, Bourinot on the, 288-291
+
+  Peere, Stephen, tight-rope artist, 131
+
+  Percy, C. A., goes through rapids, 146-149
+
+  Perry, Lieut. O. H., captures Fort George, 274-276
+
+  Pike at the capture of York, 302 _seq._
+
+  Pittsburg Reduction and Mining Co., 118
+
+  Platt, John J., mentioned, 80
+
+  Portage, old Niagara, 15, 18
+
+  Porter's Bluff, 33
+
+  Porter, Judge, 37, 38, 96
+
+  Porter, Hon. Peter A., _Guide Book_, 11;
+    _Old Fort Niagara_, 11, 197, 200, 207-209, 213;
+    _Goat Island_, 11, 19;
+    on proposed attack on Fort Niagara in 1755, 207-209;
+    on commercial importance of Fort Niagara, 213-214
+
+  Potts, William, Niagara crank, 139
+
+  Pouchot, Gen., surrenders Fort Niagara, 209-213
+
+  _Poughkeepsie Eagle_ quoted, 80
+
+  Power development at Niagara, 99-122
+
+  Prideaux, Gen. John, captures Fort Niagara, 209 _seq._
+
+  Prospect Point, 20, 21
+
+
+  Q
+
+  "Quebec Act," effect of, 217-218
+
+  Queen Victoria Park, 44, 108
+
+  Queen's Royal Hotel, 51
+
+  Queenston, 50
+
+  Queenston Heights, 48;
+    battle on, 263 _seq._
+
+
+  R
+
+  Rapids of Niagara, 11-15, 22, 45, 46, 49-50;
+    Hunter's painting of, 11, 14
+
+  Read, D. B., _The Life and Times of General Brock_, cited, 232
+
+  Red Jacket, anecdote of, 22
+
+  Reed, Andrew, suggests reclamation of Niagara, 77
+
+  Remington, C. K., on the building-site of the _Griffon_, 183
+
+  _Road to Frontenac, The_, mentioned, 162
+
+  Robb, J. H., on first Niagara Commission, 80
+
+  Robinson, Joel, sails the _Maid of the Mist_ through lower rapids,
+    144-146
+
+  Rogers, Sherman S., on first Niagara Commission, 80
+
+
+  S
+
+  St. Davids, Ont., in the history of geologic Niagara, 63
+
+  St. Lawrence drainage, 3
+
+  St. Lawrence River, George Waldo Browne on, 4
+
+  Schlosser, Capt., 15, 213;
+    see Fort Schlosser
+
+  Scott, Gen. Winfield, in War of 1812, 267 _seq._
+
+  _Scribner's Monthly_ quoted, 25
+
+  Senecas dominate Niagara frontier, 5
+
+  Severance, F. H., _Old Trails of the Niagara Frontier_, 6, 219-222
+
+  Sheaffe, Gen., mentioned, 268 _seq._
+
+  Ship Island, 30
+
+  "Shipyard of the _Griffon_," the, see Remington
+
+  Shirley, Gov., plans Niagara attack, 207
+
+  "Shoreless Sea," the, 45
+
+  Silliman, Prof., Basil Hall writes, 34-35
+
+  Simcoe, Gov., John Graves, mentioned, 229, 294 _seq._
+
+  Smyth, Gen., in War of 1812, 271 _seq._
+
+  Spelterini, Signorina, tight-rope artist, 130
+
+  Spencer, J. W., estimates Niagara's age, 66
+
+  Spouting Rock, 41
+
+  Steadman Bluff, 30
+
+  Steadman, John, first owner of Goat Island, 18
+
+  Steel arch bridge, built by Roebling, 46
+
+  _Story of Canada, The_, by Bourinot, quoted, 288-291
+
+  Sullivan's campaign of 1779, 223
+
+
+  T
+
+  Table Rock, 38, 45
+
+  Taft, Sec'y William H., on the "destruction of Niagara," 117-120
+
+  Talbot, E. A., description of early Toronto, 308
+
+  Taylor, Mrs. A. E., barrel-fiend, 141-143
+
+  Tempest Point, 104
+
+  Terrapin Rocks, 33, 37-38
+
+  Terrapin Tower, 33, 37
+
+  Tesla, Nikola, on Niagara electrical power, 120
+
+  Thayer, Eugene, on the music of Niagara, 25-26
+
+  Thompson, Sir William, prophesies era of electricity, 77
+
+  Three Sister Island, 40
+
+  Tonawanda, N. Y., mentioned, 10
+
+  Toronto, Ont., 51;
+    history of, 292-313
+
+  Toronto and Niagara Power Co., 104, 105, 112, 121
+
+  Tupper, Ferdinand Brock, _The Life and Correspondence of Major-General
+    Sir Isaac Brock, K. B._, cited, 232
+
+  Tyndall, Prof., on Terrapin Rocks, 33
+
+
+  U
+
+  United Empire Loyalists, 228
+
+  Upper Canada, and Lower, divided, 295
+
+
+  V
+
+  Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler, on Niagara, quoted, 24, 27, 42-44
+
+  Van Rensselaer, Col. Solomon, 264-266
+
+  Van Rensselaer, Gen. Stephen, 263
+
+  Victoria Falls compared with Niagara Falls, 13
+
+
+  W
+
+  Wagenfuhrer, Martha E., barrel-crank at Niagara, 140
+
+  War of 1812, 263-291
+
+  Webb, Capt. Matthew, drowned at Niagara, 134-135
+
+  Welch, Thomas V., labours to enfranchise Niagara, 79;
+    _How Niagara was Made Free_, cited, 79-82;
+    mentioned, 81, 89
+
+  Whirlpool, the, 47, 50
+
+  Whitney, Gen. P., 40
+
+  Willard, Maud, Niagara crank, killed, 140
+
+  Woodward, Prof., surveys Niagara Falls, 65
+
+  Wool, Capt., hero of Queenston Heights, 265 _seq._
+
+  Wright, Dr. Geo. Frederick, makes new estimate of Niagara's age, 66-70
+
+
+  Y
+
+  York, Ont., Americans capture, 300-306
+
+  York Harbour, early description, 296-297
+
+  Youngstown, N. Y., 50;
+    skirmish at, 211
+
+
+
+
+  =Transcriber's Notes:=
+  original hyphenation, spelling and grammar have been preserved as in
+    the original
+  various "De Nonville" changed to "Denonville" [Ed. for consistency]
+  Page xii, "Fort Missisagga" changed to "Fort Mississauga"
+  Page 2, "Lake Superior. 381 miles" changed to "Lake Superior, 381 miles"
+  Page 3, "length. the Niagara" changed to "length, the Niagara"
+  Page 50, "Fort Mississagua" changed to "Fort Mississauga"
+  Page 82, "Albany, N Y" changed to "Albany, N. Y."
+  Page 88, "with the nortnerly" changed to "with the northerly"
+  Page 95, "made to day." changed to "made to-day."
+  Pages 124,126,127 "tight rope" changed to "tight-rope" [Ed. for
+    consistency]
+  Page 169, "Raddison" changed to "Radisson"
+  Page 179, "Belief to the fame." changed to "Belief to the same."
+  Page 187, "Writings, 123-186." changed to "Writings, pp. 123-186."
+  Page 210, "Mississaga" changed to "Mississauga"
+  Page 262, "this Monuument" changed to "this Monument"
+  Page 268, 269, "Scheaffe" changed to "Sheaffe"
+  Page 278 plate, "Fort Missisagua" changed to "Fort Mississauga"
+  Page 281, "Mississaga" changed to "Mississauga"
+  Page 317, "Magazine Royale" changed to "Magazine Royale,"
+  Page 317, "MagazineRoyale," changed to "Magazine Royale,"
+  Page 317, "see Niagara-on-the Lake" changed to "see Niagara-on-the-Lake"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Niagara River, by Archer Butler Hulbert
+
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Niagara River,
+      by Archer Butler Hulbert.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Niagara River, by Archer Butler Hulbert
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Niagara River
+
+Author: Archer Butler Hulbert
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2011 [EBook #35194]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NIAGARA RIVER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Marcia Brooks, Ross Cooling and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Canada Team at
+http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This file was produced from
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+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="354" height="550" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<h2><i><u>By Archer Butler Hulbert</u></i></h2>
+<br />
+<h2><u>The Ohio River</u></h2>
+<br />
+<h2>A Course of Empire</h2>
+
+<h4><i>Large Octavo, with 100 Full-page Illustrations and a Map. Net, $3.50.<br />
+By express, prepaid, $3.75</i></h4>
+
+<br /><br />
+<h2><u>The Niagara River</u></h2>
+
+<h4><i>Large Octavo, with many Full-page Illustrations and Maps. Net, $3.50.<br />
+By express, prepaid, $3.75</i></h4>
+
+<br />
+<hr style="width: 25%;" />
+<h3>G. P. Putnam's Sons</h3>
+<h3>New York&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;London</h3>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<a name="VIEW_HORSESHOE" id="VIEW_HORSESHOE"></a>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<img src="images/p0010.jpg" width="576" height="397" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<h1>The Niagara River</h1>
+<br /><br />
+<h4>By</h4>
+<h2>Archer Butler Hulbert</h2>
+<h4>Professor of American History, Marietta College; Author of "The Ohio
+River," "Historic Highways of America," "Washington and the West";
+Editor of "The Crown Collection of American Maps."</h4>
+<br />
+<br />
+<hr style="width: 25%;" />
+<h3>With Maps and Illustrations</h3>
+<hr style="width: 25%;" />
+<br /><br />
+<h3>G. P. Putnam's Sons</h3>
+<h3>New York and London</h3>
+<h3>The Knickerbocker Press</h3>
+<h3>1908</h3>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<h4><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1908</h4>
+<h4>BY</h4>
+<h4>G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS</h4>
+<br /><br />
+<h4>The Knickerbocker Press, New York</h4>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<h4>TO</h4>
+<h3>HENRY CARLTON HULBERT</h3>
+<h4>IN</h4>
+<h4>APPRECIATION OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND FRIENDSHIP</h4>
+<h4>AND AS A TOKEN OF</h4>
+<h4>ESTEEM</h4>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<h2>Note</h2>
+
+
+<p>In the endeavour to gather into one volume a proper description of the
+various interests that centre in and around the Niagara River the author
+of this book felt very sincerely the difficulties of the task before
+him. As the geologic wonder of a continent and the commercial marvel of
+the present century, the Niagara River is one of the most remarkable
+streams in the world. In historic interest, too, it takes rank with any
+American river. To combine, then, into the pages of a single volume a
+proper treatment of this subject would be a task that perhaps no one
+could accomplish satisfactorily.</p>
+
+<p>Works to which the author is most indebted, especially the historical
+writings of Hon. Peter A. Porter, Severance's <i>Old Trails of the Niagara
+Frontier</i>, <i>The Niagara Book</i>, and the writings of the scholar of the
+old New York frontier, the late O. H. Marshall, and the collections of
+the historical societies along the frontier, are indicated frequently in
+footnotes and in text. The author's particular indebtedness to Mr.
+Porter is elsewhere described; he is also in the debt of F. H. Mautz,
+Henry Guttenstein, Superintendent Edward H. Perry, whose kindness to the
+author was so characteristic of his treatment of all comers to the
+shrine over which he presides, E. O. Dunlap, and many others mentioned
+elsewhere. He has appreciated Mr. Howells's characteristic
+conscientiousness when he wrote concerning Niagara, "I have always had
+to take myself in hand, to shake myself up, to look twice, and recur to
+what I have heard and read of other people's impressions, before I am
+overpowered by it. Otherwise I am simply charmed." The author has
+laboured under the difficulty of attempting to remain "overpowered"
+during a period of several years. That there have been serious lapses
+in the shape of lucid intervals, the critic will find full soon!</p>
+
+<p>It has seemed best to treat of modern Niagara under what might have been
+called "Part I." of this volume. The history of the Niagara region
+proper begins in Chapter VII., the problems of present-day interest
+occupying the preceding six chapters.</p>
+
+<p class="right">A. B. H.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><span class="smcap">Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio</span>,</div>
+<div class="blockquot"><div class="blockquot"><i>January 26, 1908</i>.</div></div>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+
+<table summary="Contents" width="60%">
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">CHAPTER</td>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdr">PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">I.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">Buffalo and the Upper Niagara</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">1</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">II.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">From the Falls to Lake Ontario</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">23</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">III.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">The Birth of Niagara</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">52</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">IV.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">Niagara Bond and Free</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">72</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">V.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">Harnessing Niagara Falls</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">99</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">VI.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">A Century of Niagara Cranks</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">123</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">VII.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">The Old Niagara Frontier</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">153</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">VIII.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">From La Salle to De Nonville</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">171</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">IX.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">Niagara under Three Flags</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">196</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">X.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">The Hero of Upper Canada</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">231</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">XI.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">The Second War with England</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">263</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr">XII.</td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">Toronto</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">292</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdr"></td>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#INDEX"><span class="smcap">Index</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">315</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<h2>List of Illustrations</h2>
+
+<table summary="Illustrations" width="80%">
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdr">PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#VIEW_HORSESHOE"><span class="smcap">View of Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian Side</span></a><br />From a photograph.</td>
+<td class="tdr"><i>Frontispiece</i></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#BUFFALO_HARBOR"><span class="smcap">A Glimpse of Buffalo Harbor</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">4</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#LAFAYETTE_SQUARE"><span class="smcap">Lafayette Square</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">8</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#ST_PAULS"><span class="smcap">St. Paul's Church, Buffalo</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">12</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#NIAGARA_FALLS"><span class="smcap">Niagara Falls</span></a><br />From the original
+painting by Frederick Edwin Church, in Corcoran Gallery.</td>
+<td class="tdr">14</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#AMERICAN_RAPIDS"><span class="smcap">The American Rapids</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">16</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#PROSPECT_POINT"><span class="smcap">The View from Prospect Point</span></a>
+<br />From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</td>
+<td class="tdr">20</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#GOAT_ISLAND_BRIDGE_RAPIDS"><span class="smcap">Goat Island Bridge and Rapids</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">24</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#FALLS_FROM_BELOW"><span class="smcap">Horseshoe Falls from Below</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">26</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#SHORELESS_SEA"><span class="smcap">The Shoreless Sea</span></a>
+<br />From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</td>
+<td class="tdr">28</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#RUSTIC_BRIDGE"><span class="smcap">Rustic Bridge, Willow Island</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">30</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CAVE_WINDS"><span class="smcap">The Cave of the Winds</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">32</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#AMERICAN_FALL"><span class="smcap">The American Fall</span></a>
+<br />From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</td>
+<td class="tdr">36</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#STONE_PIERS"><span class="smcap">Remains of Stone Piers of the "First Railway in
+America"&mdash;the British Tramway up Lewiston Heights</span>, 1763</a></td>
+<td class="tdr">38</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#AMID_GOAT"><span class="smcap">Amid the Goat Island Group</span></a>
+<br />From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</td>
+<td class="tdr">40</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#HORSESHOE_FALLS"><span class="smcap">Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian Shore</span></a>
+<br />From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</td>
+<td class="tdr">44</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#PARADISE_GROVE"><span class="smcap">Looking up the Lower Niagara from Paradise Grove</span></a>
+<br />From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.</td>
+<td class="tdr">46</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#MOUTH_GORGE"><span class="smcap">The Mouth of the Gorge</span></a>
+<br />From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</td>
+<td class="tdr">48</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#WHIRLPOOL_RAPIDS"><span class="smcap">The Whirlpool Rapids</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">50</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#AMERICAN_FALL_JULY"><span class="smcap">The American Fall, July, 1765</span></a>
+<br />From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.</td>
+<td class="tdr">54</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#HORSESHOE_FALL_JULY"><span class="smcap">The Horseshoe Fall, July, 1765</span></a>
+<br />From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.</td>
+<td class="tdr">60</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#ICE_MOUNTAIN"><span class="smcap">Ice Mountain on Prospect Point</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">64</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CAVE_WINDS_WINTER"><span class="smcap">Cave of the Winds in Winter</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">66</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#MAID_MIST"><span class="smcap">"Maid of the Mist" under Steel Arch Bridge</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">70</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#BEACON_BUFFALO"><span class="smcap">Beacon on Old Breakwater at Buffalo</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">72</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#WINTER_SCENE"><span class="smcap">Winter Scene in Prospect Park</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">74</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#BATH_ISLAND"><span class="smcap">Bath Island, American Rapids, in 1879</span></a>
+<br />From New York Commissioners' Report.</td>
+<td class="tdr">80</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#PATH_LUNA"><span class="smcap">Path to Luna Island</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">86</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#GREEN_ISLAND_BRIDGE"><span class="smcap">Green Island Bridge</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">92</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#BIRDS-EYE_VIEW"><span class="smcap">Bird's-eye View of the Canadian Rapids and Fall</span></a>
+<br />From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</td>
+<td class="tdr">100</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#AMERICAN_FALLS_BELOW"><span class="smcap">American Falls from Below</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">106</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#RIVERSIDE"><span class="smcap">The Riverside at Willow Island</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">118</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#GOAT_ISLAND_BRIDGE"><span class="smcap">Goat Island Bridge, Showing Niagara's Famous
+Cataract and International Hotels</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">124</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#PATH_CAVE"><span class="smcap">The Path to the Cave of the Winds</span></a>
+<br />From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</td>
+<td class="tdr">130</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#AMERICAN_FALLS_GOAT"><span class="smcap">American Falls from Goat Island</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">136</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#HORSESHOE_FALLS_GOAT"><span class="smcap">Horseshoe Falls from Goat Island</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">142</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#ICE_BRIDGE_FALLS"><span class="smcap">Ice Bridge and American Falls</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">148</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#COLONEL_MAP"><span class="smcap">Colonel R&ouml;mer's Map of the Country of the Iroquois, 1700</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">154</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAMPLAIN"><span class="smcap">Champlain</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">160</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#MAP_FRENCH_FORTS"><span class="smcap">Map of French Forts in America</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">164</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#FATHER_HENNEPIN"><span class="smcap">Niagara Falls by Father Hennepin</span></a>
+<br />The first known picture of Niagara, dated 1697.</td>
+<td class="tdr">166</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CAVELIER"><span class="smcap">R. R&eacute;n&eacute; Cavelier, Sieur De La Salle</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">172</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#FRONTENAC"><span class="smcap">Frontenac, from H&eacute;bert's Statue at Quebec</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">178</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#LUNA_ISLAND_BRIDGE"><span class="smcap">Luna Island Bridge</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">184</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#FRENCH_MAP"><span class="smcap">"Carte du Lac Ontario." A Specimen French Map of the
+Niagara Frontier Dated October 4, 1757</span></a>
+<br />From the original in the British Museum.</td>
+<td class="tdr">190</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#JONCAIRES_CABIN"><span class="smcap">Stones on the Site of Joncaire's Cabin under
+Lewiston Heights, where the "Magazine Royale" was Erected in 1719</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">198</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#SPECIMEN_MANUSCRIPT"><span class="smcap">Specimen Manuscript Map of Niagara Frontier of
+Eighteenth Century</span></a>
+<br />From the original in the British Museum.</td>
+<td class="tdr">204</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#DRAWING_FORT_NIAGARA"><span class="smcap">A Drawing of Fort Niagara and Environs Showing
+Plan of English Attack under Johnson</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">208</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#SKETCH_FORT_NIAGARA"><span class="smcap">A Sketch of Fort Niagara and Environs by the
+French Commander Pouchot Showing Improvements of 1756-1758</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">210 and 211</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#CANADIAN_TRAPPER"><span class="smcap">Canadian Trapper, from La Potherie</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">212</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#YOUNGSTOWN"><span class="smcap">Youngstown, N. Y., from Paradise Grove</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">214</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#STONE_REDOUBT"><span class="smcap">The Stone Redoubt at Fort Niagara, Built in 1770</span></a>
+<br />From the original in the British Museum.</td>
+<td class="tdr">216</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#PFISTERS_SKETCH"><span class="smcap">Pfister's Sketch of Fort Niagara and the "Communication."
+Two Years before the Outbreak of the Revolutionary War</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">220</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#FORT_ERIE_MOUTH"><span class="smcap">Fort Erie and the Mouth of the Niagara, by Pfister, in 1764</span></a>
+<br />From the original in the British Museum.</td>
+<td class="tdr">226</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#MAJOR-GENERAL_BROCK"><span class="smcap">Major-General Brock</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">232</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#PLAN_FORT_NIAGARA"><span class="smcap">A Plan of Fort Niagara after English Occupation, by Montresor</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">238</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#NAVY_HALL"><span class="smcap">"Navy Hall Opposite Niagara"</span></a>
+<br />A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.</td>
+<td class="tdr">244</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#QUEENSTON_MONUMENT"><span class="smcap">Queenston and Brock's Monument</span></a>
+<br />From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.</td>
+<td class="tdr">250</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#BROCKS_MONUMENT"><span class="smcap">Brock's Monument</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">260</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#QUEENSTON"><span class="smcap">"Queenston or Landing near Niagara"</span></a>
+<br />A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.</td>
+<td class="tdr">266</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#PIERIES_SKETCH"><span class="smcap">Lieutenant Pierie's Sketch of Niagara, 1768</span></a>
+<br />From an old print.</td>
+<td class="tdr">272</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#OLD_VIEW"><span class="smcap">Old View of Fort Mississauga</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">278</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#LUNDYS_LANE"><span class="smcap">Monument at Lundy's Lane</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">284</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#LIEUTENANT-GENERAL_SIMCOE"><span class="smcap">Lieutenant-General Simcoe</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr">294</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#YORK_HARBOR"><span class="smcap">York Harbor</span></a>
+<br />A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.</td>
+<td class="tdr">296</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#GARRISON_YORK"><span class="smcap">"The Garrison at York"</span></a>
+<br />A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.</td>
+<td class="tdr">302</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"><a href="#SOWERS_DRAWINGS"><span class="smcap">Captain Sowers's Drawings of Fort Niagara, 1769</span></a>
+<br />From the original in the British Museum.</td>
+<td class="tdr">308</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
+<h1>The Niagara River</h1>
+<hr style="width: 25%;" />
+<h2>Chapter I</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">Buffalo and the Upper Niagara</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he Strait of Niagara, or the Niagara River, as it is commonly called,
+ranks among the wonders of the world. The study of this stream is of
+intense and special interest to many classes of people, notably
+historians, arch&aelig;ologists, botanists, geologists, artists, mechanics,
+and electricians. It is doubtful if there is anywhere another thirty-six
+miles of riverway that can, in this respect, compare with it.</p>
+
+<p>The term "strait" as applied to the Niagara correctly suggests the
+river's historic importance. The expression, recurring in so many of the
+relations of French and English military officers, "on this
+communication" also indicates Niagara's position in the story of the
+discovery, conquest, and occupation of the continent. It is probably the
+Falls which, technically, make Niagara a river; and so, in turn, it is
+the Falls that rendered Niagara an important strategic key of the vast
+waterway stretching from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the head of
+Lake Superior. The lack&mdash;so far as it does exist&mdash;of historic interest
+in the immediate Niagara region, the comparative paucity of military
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>
+events of magnitude along that stream during the old French and the
+Revolutionary wars proves, on the one hand, what a wilderness separated
+the English on the South from the French on the North, and, on the
+other, how strong "the communication" was between Quebec and the French
+posts in the Middle West. It does not prove that Niagara was the less
+important.</p>
+
+<p>The Falls increased the historic importance of Niagara because it
+limited navigation and made a portage necessary; the purposes of trade
+and missionary enterprise, as well as those of conquest, demanded that
+this point be occupied, and occupation necessarily meant defence. Here,
+from Lewiston and Queenston to Chippewa and Port Day (to use modern
+names) ran the two most famous portage paths of the continent. Here were
+to be seen at one time or another the footprints of as famous explorers,
+noble missionaries, and brave soldiers as ever went to conquest in
+history.</p>
+
+<p>The Niagara River was important in the olden time to every mile of
+territory drained by the waters that flowed through it. What an empire
+to hold in fee! Here lies more than one-half the fresh water of the
+world&mdash;the solid contents being, according to Darby
+1,547,011,792,300,000; it would form a solid cubic column measuring
+nearly twenty-two miles on each side.</p>
+
+<p>The most remote body of water tributary to Niagara River is Lake
+Superior, 381 miles long and 161 miles broad with a circumference of
+1150 miles. The Niagara of Lake Superior is the St. Mary's River,
+twenty-seven miles in length, its current very rapid, with water
+flowing over great masses of rock into Lake Huron. Lake Huron is 218
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
+miles long and 20 miles wider than Lake Superior, but with a
+circumference of only 812 miles. Lake Michigan is 345 miles long and 84
+broad and enters Lake Huron through Mackinaw Straits which are four
+miles in length, with a fall of four feet. In turn Lake Huron empties
+into the St. Clair and Detroit rivers which, with a total fall of eleven
+feet in fifty-one miles, forms the Niagara of Lake Erie. This sheet of
+water is 250 miles long and 60 miles broad at its widest part. The area
+drained by these lakes is as follows, including their own area:</p>
+
+<table summary="Lake_sizes" width="60%">
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">Lake Superior</td>
+<td class="tdr">85,000 sq. m.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Huron</td>
+<td class="tdr">74,000&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Michigan</td>
+<td class="tdr">70,040&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Erie</td>
+<td class="tdr">39,680&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdr">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Total</td>
+<td class="tdr">268,720&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Considering this as a portion of the St. Lawrence drainage, we have the
+marvellous spectacle of a navigable waterway from the St. Louis River,
+Lake Superior, to Cape Gasp&eacute; at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, of
+twenty-one hundred miles in length, the Niagara River being paralleled
+to-day by the Welland Canal, and lesser canals affording a passageway
+around the rapids of the St. Mary's in the West and the St. Lawrence in
+the East. In a previous volume in the present series<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> it was seen that
+the improved rivers in the Ohio basin now offered a navigable pathway
+over four thousand miles in length; how insignificant is that prospect
+in view of this great transcontinental waterway two thousand miles in
+length but including the 268,000 square miles in the four great lakes
+alone! Well does George Waldo Browne in his beautiful volume on this
+subject, <i>The St. Lawrence River</i>, say:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p>
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Treated in a more extended manner, according to the ideas of the
+early French geographers, and taking either the river and lake
+of Nipigon, on the north of Superior, or the river St. Louis,
+flowing from the south-west, it has a grand total length of over
+two thousand miles. With its tributaries it drains over four
+hundred thousand square miles of country, made up of fertile
+valleys and plateaux inhabited by a prosperous people, desolate
+barrens, deep forests, where the foot of man has not yet left
+its imprint.</p>
+
+<p>Seldom less than two miles in width, it is two and one-half
+miles wide where it issues from Ontario, and with several
+expansions which deserve the name of lake it becomes eighty
+miles in width where it ceases to be considered a river. The
+influence of the tide is felt as far up as Lake St. Peter, about
+one hundred miles from the gulf, while it is navigable for
+sea-going vessels to Montreal, eighty miles farther inland.
+Rapids impede navigation above this point, but by means of
+canals continuous communication is obtained to the head of Lake
+Superior.</p>
+
+<p>If inferior in breadth to the mighty Amazon, if it lacks the
+length of the Mississippi, if without the stupendous gorges and
+cataracts of the Yang-tse-Kiang of China, if missing the ancient
+castles of the Rhine, if wanting the lonely grandeur that still
+overhangs the Congo of the Dark Continent, the Great River of
+Canada has features as remarkable as any of these. It has its
+source in the largest body of fresh water upon the globe, and
+among all of the big rivers of the world it is the only one
+whose volume is not sensibly affected by the elements. In rain
+or in sunshine, in spring floods or in summer droughts, this
+phenomenon of waterways seldom varies more than a foot in its
+rise and fall.</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="BUFFALO_HARBOR" id="BUFFALO_HARBOR"></a>
+<img src="images/p0031.jpg" width="525" height="339" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>A Glimpse of Buffalo Harbor.</h4>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>
+<p>The history of the Niagara is so closely interwoven with that of the
+great "Queen City of the Lakes," Buffalo, that it would seem as though
+the famous waterway was in the suburb of the city and its greatest
+scenic attraction. However true this is to-day, it was very far from the
+case a century ago, for though the site of Buffalo was historic and
+important, the city, as such, is of comparative recent origin, coming to
+its own with giant strides in those last decades of the nineteenth
+century. Writes Mr. Rowland B. Mahany in his excellent chapter on
+"Buffalo" in <i>The Historic Towns of the Middle States:</i></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Few cities of the United States have a history more picturesque
+than Buffalo, or more typical of the forces that have made the
+Republic great. At the time of the adoption of the Federal
+constitution, in 1787, not a single white settler dwelt on the
+site of what is now the Queen of the Lakes; and it was not until
+after the second presidency of Washington, that Joseph Ellicott,
+the founder of Buffalo, laid out the plan of the town, which he
+called New Amsterdam.</p></div>
+
+<p>On February 10, 1810, the "Town of Buffaloe" was created by act of the
+State Legislature, a name originally given to the locality by the Seneca
+Indians, who, we shall see, dominated the old Niagara frontier; it is
+believed that the name came from the animals which visited the
+neighbouring salt licks; and the name therefore may be much older than
+any settlement or even camping site. The village of New Amsterdam was
+now merged into the town of Buffalo, which boasted a newspaper in the
+second year of its existence, 1811. The story of the following years
+falls naturally into that of the disastrous war with England from 1812
+to 1814, in which Buffalo suffered severely. As Mr. Mahany suggests, the
+story of Buffalo is characteristically American, and its phases, as such
+offer an inviting field, but one too wide for full examination in the
+present history.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
+<p>The important position of the city with reference to the Great Lakes was
+very greatly increased with the building of the Erie Canal from 1817 to
+1825. It is interesting to recall the fact that it was in reality fear
+of the possibility of another war with England that caused the deciding
+vote for the Erie Canal project to be cast in its favour.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> In the
+proper place we shall have impressed upon us the great distance that
+separated the Niagara frontier from the inhabited portion of the
+Republic at this early period, the great length of the land route and
+the difficulty of it; it was said to be far more than a cannon was worth
+to haul it to the frontier during the War of 1812. All this shows very
+distinctly the early condition surrounding the rise of the metropolis of
+the Niagara country, and, from being strange that little Buffalo did not
+grow faster, it is amazing to find such rapid growth during the first
+twenty-five years of her life.</p>
+
+<p>With the opening of the canal in 1825 a new era dawned; the work of the
+great land companies in north-eastern New York drew vast armies of
+people thither, and the canal proved to be the great route for a much
+longer migration from the seaboard to the further north-west, to
+Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as to neighbouring Ohio. All this helped
+Buffalo. Numbers of travellers arriving at the future site of the Queen
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
+City of the Lakes at once decided that they could at least go farther
+and fare very much worse, and so sat down to grow up with the Niagara
+frontier. The proximity of the Falls had something to do, of course,
+with bringing increasingly larger numbers of travellers and transients
+to the Lake Erie village. But it was slow work, this building up a great
+city, and no doubt the very fact that the stones of the mighty edifice
+one finds beside that beautiful harbour to-day were laid slowly accounts
+for the solidity of the structure; Buffalo was not built on a boom.</p>
+
+<p>From James L. Barton's reminiscences, for instance, we have clear
+pictures of the early struggle for business in this frontier town, which
+prove it to have been typically American. Mr. Barton owned a line of
+boats on the Lakes and canal but found it very difficult to find freight
+for the boats to carry down the State:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A few tons of freight [he writes], was all that we could furnish
+each boat to carry to Albany. This they would take in, and fill
+up at Rochester, which place, situated in the heart of the
+wheat-growing district of Western New York, furnished nearly all
+the down freight that passed on the canal. Thus we lived and
+struggled on until 1830. Our population had increased largely,
+and that year numbered six thousand and thirty-one. In the fall
+of 1831, I received from Cleveland one thousand bushels of
+wheat. . . . The next winter I made arrangement with the late
+Colonel Ira A. Blossom, the resident agent of the Holland Land
+Company, to furnish storage for all the wheat the settlers
+should bring in, towards the payment on their land contracts
+with the company. The whole amount did not exceed three thousand
+bushels. . . . In 1833 the Ohio canal was completed, which gave
+us a little more business. Northern Ohio was then the only
+portion of the great West that had any surplus agricultural
+products to send to an eastern market. In 1833 a little stir
+commenced in land operations, which increased the next year, and
+in 1835 became a perfect fever and swallowed up almost
+everything else. Nearly every person who had any enterprise got
+rich from buying and selling land; using little money in these
+transactions, but paying and receiving in pay, bonds and
+mortgages to an illimitable amount.</p></div>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
+<p>In 1837 the panic affected the young lake city as it did all parts of
+the land, but by 1840 the population of Buffalo had swelled to over
+eighteen thousand. The record of growth of the past century is a matter
+of figures strung on the faith of a great company of active,
+enterprising, far-sighted business men, until Buffalo ranks among the
+cities of half a million population, with a future unquestionably secure
+and brilliant.</p>
+
+<p>The Niagara River is some nineteen hundred feet in width at its mouth
+here at Buffalo and forty-eight feet deep; the average rate of current
+here is under six miles per hour, but when south-west gales drive the
+lake billows in gigantic gulps down the river's mouth the current
+sometimes races as fast as twelve miles per hour. Old Fort Erie, built
+here at the mouth of the Niagara immediately after England won the
+continent from France, in 1764, was formerly the only settlement
+hereabouts, Black Rock, now part of Buffalo, at the mouth of the Erie
+Canal, was not settled until near the close of that century. It is
+believed that five forts have guarded the mouth of this strategic river,
+all known as Fort Erie. When the people of the opposite sides of the
+river were in conflict in 1812, Black Rock was the rival of Fort Erie.
+The large black rock which formed the landing-place of the ferry across
+the river here, and which gave the hamlet its name, was destroyed when
+the Erie Canal was built. Black Rock was formally laid out in 1804 and
+in 1853 was incorporated with the city of Buffalo.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="LAFAYETTE_SQUARE" id="LAFAYETTE_SQUARE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0037.jpg" width="479" height="350" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Lafayette Square.</h4>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>
+<p>The upper Niagara with its even current and low-lying banks is not
+specially attractive. Grand Island, two miles below the mouth, divides
+the river into two narrow arms. This beautiful island, the Indian name
+of which was Owanunga, so popular to-day as a summering place, is
+remembered in history especially as the site selected in 1825 for Major
+M. M. Noah's "New Jerusalem," the proposed industrial centre of the Jews
+of the New World, but nothing was accomplished on the island itself
+toward the object in view.</p>
+
+<p>At Buffalo, however, Noah took the title "Judge of Israel," and held a
+meeting in the old St. Paul's Church, where remarkable initiatory rites
+took place. In resplendent robes covered by a mantle of crimson silk,
+trimmed with ermine, the Judge held what he termed "impressive and
+unique ceremony," in which he read a proclamation to "all the Jews
+throughout the world," bringing them the glad tidings that on the
+ancient isle Owanunga "an asylum was prepared and offered to them," and
+that he did "revive, renew, and establish (in the Lord's name), the
+government of the Jewish nation, . . . confirming and perpetuating all
+our rights and privileges, our rank and power, among the nations of the
+earth as they existed and were recognised under the government of the
+Judges." Mr. Noah ordered a census of all the Hebrews in the world to be
+taken and did not forget, incidentally, to levy a tax of about one
+dollar and a half on every Jew in order to carry on the project. A
+"foundation stone" was prepared to be erected on the site of the future
+New Jerusalem; the following inscription was engraved upon it:</p>
+
+<h5>Hear, O Israel, the Lord<br />
+is our God&mdash;the Lord is one.</h5>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+<h5>ARARAT,<br />
+A CITY OF REFUGE FOR THE JEWS,<br />
+FOUNDED BY MORDECAI MANUEL NOAH,<br />
+IN THE MONTH OF TISRI 5586&mdash;SEPT. 1825<br />
+IN THE FIFTIETH YEAR OF<br />
+AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.</h5>
+
+<p>At the lower extremity of Grand Island is historic Burnt Ship Bay, made
+famous, as hereafter related, in the old French War.</p>
+
+<p>The little town of Tonawanda, with its immense lumber interests, and La
+Salle, famous in history as the building site of the <i>Griffon</i>,
+elsewhere described, lie opposite Grand Island on the American shore,
+the former at the mouth of Cayuga Creek. On the opposite shore, a little
+below the beautiful Navy Island, is the historic town of Chippewa.</p>
+
+<p>Below Navy Island the river spreads out to a width of over two miles; it
+has fallen twenty feet since leaving Lake Erie, and now gathers into a
+narrower channel for its magnificent rush to the falls one mile below.
+In this mile the river drops fifty-two feet, through what are known as
+the American and Canadian Rapids, on their respective sides of the
+river.</p>
+
+<p>From a scenic standpoint it is questionable whether any of the delights
+of Niagara surpass those afforded by this beautiful series of cascades;
+sightseers are prepared from their earliest days for the magnificent
+beauty of the Falls themselves, but of the Rapids above little is known
+until their insidious charm gradually works its way into the heart to
+remain forever an image of beauty and rapture that cannot be effaced.
+Guide books will give adequate advice as to the best points of vantage
+from which to view the various rifts and cascades.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Some years ago [writes Mr. Porter], Colin Hunter, then an
+Associate, now a Royal Academician, came over from London to
+paint Niagara. Of all the points of view he selected the one as
+seen up stream from the head of the Little Brother Island. A
+temporary bridge was built to it, and here, with a guard at the
+bridge, so as to be secure from intrusion, he painted his grand
+view, looking up stream. The upper ledge of rocks, with its
+long, rapid cascade, was his sky-line; in the foreground were
+the tumbling Rapids; far to the right of the picture the tops of
+a few trees appearing on the Canada shore above the waters alone
+showed the presence of any land. We advise . . . the visitor to
+clamber over the rocks on the Canadian shore of the Island . . .
+go out as near the water's edge as possible, and you will
+appreciate the difference that a few feet in a point of
+observation may make in what is apparently the same scenery.
+Just before you reach the foot of the island a gnarled cedar
+tree and a rock, accessible by leaping from stone to stone,
+gives you access to a point of observation than which there is
+nothing more beautiful at Niagara. Do not fail to get this view,
+for it is the Colin Hunter view, as nearly as you can get it,
+and you will appreciate the artistic sense of the great painter
+who chose this incomparable view in preference to the Falls
+themselves for a reproduction of the very best at Niagara.</p></div>
+
+<p>Another beautiful point from which to view the Rapids is on Terrapin
+Rocks, the so-called scenic and geographical centre of Niagara. Here the
+power of the magnificent river, the "shoreless sea" above you, the
+clouds for its horizon, grows more impressive with every visit. By day
+the sight is marvellously impressive; by night, under some
+circumstances, it is yet more wonderful. Of this night view Margaret
+Fuller wrote, most feelingly:</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p>
+<div class="blockquot"><p>After nightfall as there was a splendid moon, I went down to the
+bridge and leaned over the parapet, where the boiling rapids
+came down in their might. It was grand, and it was also
+gorgeous: the yellow rays of the moon made the broken waves
+appear like auburn tresses twining around the black rocks. But
+they did not inspire me as before. I felt a foreboding of a
+mightier emotion to rise up and swallow all others, and I passed
+on to the Terrapin Bridge. Everything was changed, the misty
+apparition had taken off its many coloured crown which it had
+worn by day, and a bow of silvery white spanned its summit. The
+moonlight gave a poetical indefiniteness to the distant parts of
+the waters, and while the rapids were glancing in her beams, the
+river below the Falls was as black as night, save where the
+reflection of the sky gave it the appearance of a shield of blue
+steel.</p></div>
+
+<p>As the Falls of Niagara slowly creep backward in tune to their
+stupendous recessional toward Lake Erie they encroach more and more on
+the magnificent domain of the Rapids, nor will their gradual increase in
+height atone for this savage invasion nor palliate the offence
+committed. A thousand years more, we are told, and the visitor will view
+the "Horseshoe" Fall from the upper end of the Third Sister Island, and
+the marvellous canvas of Colin Hunter will be as meaningless as
+Hennepin's picture of two centuries and more ago. The American Fall,
+receding much more slowly than the Horseshoe Fall, will invade the
+beautiful rapids above Goat Island bridge at a very much later date,
+for, as we shall see, the greater fall recedes almost as many feet per
+year as the lesser recedes inches. And in this connection it is
+interesting to note that if the recession continued to Lake Erie and
+onward into that lake until the line of fall was a mile long at its
+crest, with the water falling 336 feet, Victoria Falls in the Zambesi
+River would still exceed their American rival by sixty-four feet in
+height!</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="ST_PAULS" id="ST_PAULS"></a>
+<img src="images/p0043.jpg" width="350" height="592" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>St. Paul's Church, Buffalo.</h4>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+<p>The accessibility of the Niagara Rapids, because of the fortunate
+location of the Goat Island group is, in itself, one of the great charms
+of the region, and this may explain in part the insuppressible desire of
+early visitors to reach these glorious points of vantage. The view of
+the rapids from the Goat Island bridge to-day is said to be the source
+of chief pleasure "to half the visitors to Niagara."<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p>
+
+<p>George Houghton's beautiful lines on "The Upper Rapids" express with
+fine feeling the effect of these racing cascades on the sensitive mind:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+Still with the wonder of boyhood, I follow the race of the Rapids,<br />
+Sirens that dance, and allure to destruction,&mdash;now lurking in shadows,<br />
+Skirting the level stillness of pools and the treacherous shallows,<br />
+Smiling and dimple-mouthed, coquetting,&mdash;now modest, now forward;<br />
+<br />
+Tenderly chanting, and such the thrall of the weird incantation,<br />
+Thirst it awakes in each listener's soul, a feverish longing.<br />
+Thoughts all absorbent, a torment that stings and ever increases,<br />
+Burning ambition to push bare-breast to thy perilous bosom.<br />
+<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+Thus, in some midnight obscure, bent down by the storm of temptation<br />
+(So hath the wind, in the beechen wood, confided the story).<br />
+Pine-trees, thrusting their way and trampling down one another,<br />
+Curious, lean and listen, replying in sobs and in whispers;<br />
+<br />
+Till of the secret possessed, which brings sure blight to the hearer,<br />
+(So hath the wind, in the beechen wood, confided the story),<br />
+Faltering, they stagger brinkward,&mdash;clutch at the roots of the grasses,<br />
+Cry,&mdash;a pitiful cry of remorse,&mdash;and plunge down in the darkness.<br />
+<br />
+Art thou all-merciless then,&mdash;a fiend, ever fierce for new victims?<br />
+Was then the red-man right (as yet it liveth in legend),<br />
+That, ere each twelvemonth circles, still to thy shrine is allotted<br />
+Blood of one human heart, as sacrifice due and demanded?<br />
+<br />
+Butterflies have I followed, that leaving the red-top and clover,<br />
+Thinking a wind-harp thy voice, thy froth the fresh whiteness of daisies,<br />
+Ventured too close, grew giddy, and catching cold drops on their pinions,<br />
+Balanced&mdash;but vainly,&mdash;and falling, their scarlet was blotted forever.<br />
+</div>
+
+<p>When, about 1880, William M. Hunt was commissioned to decorate the
+immense panels of the Assembly Chamber of the Capitol at Albany, N. Y.,
+he chose, with true artistic feeling, the view of the rapids above Goat
+Island bridge as the choice picture to represent the great marvel and
+chief wonder of the Empire State&mdash;Niagara. It is generally conceded that
+Church's <i>Horseshoe Falls</i> takes rank over all other paintings of
+Niagara, but Colin Hunter's <i>Rapids of Niagara</i> excel any other view of
+either the Falls, Gorge, or Rapids on canvas to-day.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="NIAGARA_FALLS" id="NIAGARA_FALLS"></a>
+<img src="images/p0047.jpg" width="697" height="330" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Niagara Falls.<br/>
+
+From the original painting by Frederick Edwin Church, in Corcoran Gallery.</h4>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+<p>But we must observe here that these Rapids were something aside from
+beautiful to the French and English officers whose duty it was to
+defend and supply "the communication" from Fort Frontenac to Fort
+Chartres; they probably seemed very "horrid," in the old time sense, to
+those who struggled under the burdens of the ancient portage path. The
+southern termini of the two pathways&mdash;one on either side of the
+river&mdash;were Chippewa and Port Day, respectively. The route from Lewiston
+to Port Day was evidently the common portage until after the War of 1812
+when the Canadian path was opened. A little below what is known as
+Schlosser Dock stood the French fort guarding this end of their old
+portage path. Fort du Portage or Little Fort Niagara, built about 1750,
+nine years before England conquered the region. Near by stands the one
+famous relic of the old r&eacute;gime, the Old Stone Chimney of Fort du
+Portage, later a chimney of the English mess-house at Fort Schlosser. As
+will be noted later Fort du Portage was destroyed by the retreating
+French, after the capture of Fort Niagara by Sir William Johnson: to
+guard that end of the portage the English under Colonel Schlosser built
+Fort Schlosser in 1761. The road occupying the course of the ancient
+portage does not extend to the river now, but it bears the old name, and
+on it you may see, not half a mile back, outlines of the earthen works
+of one of the eleven block-houses built in 1764 by Captain Montresor the
+first of which was erected on the hill above Lewiston: these
+block-houses guarded the important roadway from the assaults of Indians
+such as the famous Bloody Run Massacre of 1763. Frenchman's Landing is
+the modern name for the cove below the Old Stone Chimney where was the
+terminus of the earliest portage path guarded by the block-house known
+as the first Little Fort Niagara. This whole district is now the site
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+of the power-houses and mills that are making Niagara a word to conjure
+with in the centres of trade as certainly as in the ancient day it was a
+mesmeric word in the courts and camps of the Old World.</p>
+
+<p>The thunder of Niagara Falls reaches our ears even amid the music of
+these beautiful Rapids, and we are drawn on to the marvellous group of
+islands that impinge upon the cataract.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="AMERICAN_RAPIDS" id="AMERICAN_RAPIDS"></a>
+<img src="images/p0051.jpg" width="606" height="400" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>The American Rapids.</h4>
+
+<p>What is commonly known as the Goat Island group consists of the island
+of that name, containing some seventy acres of land, and sixteen other
+islands or rocks contiguous thereto. Without undertaking to dispute or
+defend many of the extravagant assertions made in behalf of Goat Island,
+to which have been given the titles "Temple of Nature," "Enchanted
+Isles," "Isle of Beauty," "Shrine of the Deity," "Fairy Isles," etc. it
+would, I think, be difficult to disprove the statement often made that
+no other seventy acres on the continent are more interesting than these
+bearing this homely name. From the standpoint of the artist and
+naturalist this statement would probably pass unquestioned. The views
+already alluded to of the American and Canadian rapids to be gained from
+this delightful vantage point are probably unparalleled. To the botanist
+Goat Island is a paradise. Sir Joseph Hooker affirmed that he found here
+a greater variety of vegetation within a given space than he had found
+in Europe or in America east of the Sierras, and Dr. Asa Gray confirmed
+the extravagant statement. Wrote Frederick Law Olmsted:</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I have followed the Appalachian chain almost from end to end,
+and travelled on horseback "in search of the picturesque" over
+four thousand miles of the most promising parts of the continent
+without finding elsewhere the same quality of forest beauty
+which was once abundant about the Falls, and which is still to
+be observed on those parts of Goat Island where the original
+growth of trees and shrubs has not been disturbed, and where
+from caving banks trees are not now exposed to excessive dryness
+at the root.</p></div>
+
+<p>In a report, prepared by David F. Day for the New York State Reservation
+Commissioners, we find explained, in part, the notable fertility of this
+little plot of ground, although the oft-returning misty rain from the
+Falls, and the fact that Goat Island never experiences the dangers of a
+"forward" spring have much to do in preserving its beautiful robe of
+colours:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A calcareous soil enriched with an abundance of organic matter
+like that of Goat Island would necessarily be one of great
+fertility. For the growth and sustentation of a forest and of
+such plants as prefer the woods to the openings it would far
+excel the deep and exhaustless alluvians of the prairie states.</p>
+
+<p>It would be difficult to find within another territory so
+restricted in its limits so great a diversity of trees and
+shrubs and still more difficult to find in so small an area such
+examples of arboreal symmetry and perfection as the island has
+to exhibit.</p>
+
+<p>The island received its flora from the mainland, in fact the
+botanist is unable to point out a single instance of tree,
+shrub, or herb, now growing upon the island not also to be found
+upon the mainland. But the distinguishing characteristic of its
+flora is not the possession of any plant elsewhere unknown, but
+the abundance of individuals and species, which the island
+displays. There are to be found in Western New York about 170
+species of trees and shrubs. Goat Island and the immediate
+vicinity of the river near the Falls can show of these no less
+than 140. There are represented on the island four maples, three
+species of thorn, two species of ash, and six species,
+distributed in five genera, of the cone-bearing family. The one
+species of basswood belonging to the vicinity is also there.</p></div>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+<p>Mr. Day has a catalogue of plants in his report to the Reservation
+Commissioners, giving 909 species of plants to be found on the
+Reservation, of which 758 are native and 151 foreign. Wrote Margaret
+Fuller:</p>
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The beautiful wood on Goat Island is full of flowers, many of
+the fairest love to do homage there. The wake robin and the May
+apple are in bloom, the former white, pink, green, purple,
+copying the rainbow of the Falls, and fit it for its presiding
+Deity when He walks the land, for they are of imperial size and
+shaped like stones for a diadem. Of the May apple I did not
+raise one green tent without finding a flower beneath.</p></div>
+
+<p>Explaining the climatic advantages of the island Mr. Olmsted remarks:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>First, the masses of ice which every winter are piled to a great
+height below the Falls and the great rushing body of ice cold
+water coming from the northern lakes in the spring prevent at
+Niagara the hardship under which trees elsewhere often suffer
+through sudden checks to premature growth. And second, when
+droughts elsewhere occur, as they do every few years, of such
+severity that trees in full foliage droop and dwindle and even
+sometimes cast their leaves, the atmosphere at Niagara is more
+or less moistened by the constantly evaporating spray of the
+Falls, and in certain situations bathed by drifting clouds of
+spray.</p></div>
+
+<p>It is a very irony of fate that this marvellous gem among the islands of
+earth could not bear a name befitting its place in the admiration and
+esteem of a world; it was, I believe, Judge Porter himself that named
+this beautiful spot "Iris Island," a name altogether fitting in both
+wealth of suggestion and beauty of association. One John Steadman,
+remembered as a contractor to widen the old portage path from Lewiston
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+to Fort Schlosser, and former owner of the island under a "Seneca
+patent," planted some turnips here, we are told, in the year 1770 <span class="smcap">A.D.</span>,
+and in the following autumn placed here "a number of animals, among them
+a male goat," to get them out of the reach of the bears and wolves that
+infested the neighbouring shore near his home two miles up the river. In
+the spring of 1771 it was found that the severe winter had been too much
+for all but the "male goat," who, unfortunately, survived the ordeal,
+and by so doing bids fair to hand his name down through the centuries
+attached to the most beautiful island in the world. In the Treaty of
+Ghent, which set our boundary line here, the island bears the name
+"Iris." Mr. Porter has stated that even if it were desirable to change
+the name now "it would seem impossible now to do so."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> Is this the
+truth? Could not the commissioners who have the matters in hand do a
+great deal toward inaugurating a change to the old official name that
+would in the long run prove effective? The present writer is most
+positive that this could be done and that it is a thing that ought
+certainly to be attempted immediately. It would be surprising how much
+the change would be favoured if once attempted, if guide books and maps
+followed the new nomenclature. The only possible satisfaction that one
+can have in the present name is in the horrifying reflection that if the
+male goat had died the island would probably have been "Turnip Island"
+if not "Colic Island."</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>
+<p>Below the islands resound the Falls. Perhaps there is no better method
+of describing this almost indescribable wonder than by taking the
+familiar walk about them beginning at the common point of commencement,
+Prospect Point.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="PROSPECT_POINT" id="PROSPECT_POINT"></a>
+<img src="images/p0057.jpg" width="395" height="526" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>The View from Prospect Point.<br />
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</h4>
+
+<p>It is important on visiting the Falls for the first time to obtain as
+good a view as possible, as the first view comes but once. Many are
+somewhat disappointed with it, since from a distance the Falls give the
+idea of a long low wall of water, their great height being offset by
+their great breadth of almost a mile. The best view is from the top of
+the bank on the Canadian side; but as most of the tourists reach the
+American side first it is from this standpoint that most visitors gain
+their first impression. No better vantage ground can be gained on the
+American side than Prospect Point. Here, placed at the northern end of
+the American cataract, is the best position to make a study of the
+geography of Niagara. Stretching from your feet along the line of sight
+extends the American Fall to a distance of 1060 feet. At the other side
+of the American Fall is the Goat Island group. This group stretches
+along the cliff for a distance of 1300 feet more. Beyond this extends
+the line of the Horseshoe Fall for a further distance of 3010 feet,
+making in all a total of slightly over a mile. To the right, down the
+river is the gorge which Niagara has been chiseling and scouring for
+unnumbered centuries; this chasm extends almost due north for a distance
+of seven miles to Lewiston. Down the gorge the gaze is uninterrupted for
+a distance of nearly two miles, almost to the Whirlpool where the river
+turns abruptly to the left on entering this whirling maelstrom, issuing
+again almost at right angles to continue its mad plunges. To the left,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+up the river lie the American Rapids, where the water rushes on in its
+madness to hurl its volume over the 160 feet of precipice and into the
+awful chasm below. Just below Prospect Point and somewhat higher in
+altitude than it, is what has been called Hennepin's View, so named
+after Father Hennepin, who gave the first written description of the
+Niagara. Here one sees not only the Horseshoe Fall in the foreground, as
+at Prospect Point, but the American Fall also, which lies several feet
+lower than our point of vantage.</p>
+
+<p>Proceeding up the river the next point of interest reached is the steel
+bridge to Goat Island. The first bridge to this island was constructed
+by Judge Porter in 1817 about forty rods above the site of the present
+one. In the spring of the next year this bridge was swept away by the
+large cakes of ice coming down the river. It was rebuilt at its present
+site, its projector judging that the added descent of the rapids would
+so break up the ice as to eliminate any danger to the structure; and the
+results proved his theory true. This structure stood until 1855 when its
+place was taken by a steel arch bridge, which served the public until
+1900. In that year the present structure authorised by the State of New
+York took its place.</p>
+
+<p>Looking upon this structure, one wonders how the foundations could
+possibly have been laid in such an irresistible current of water. First,
+two of the largest trees to be found in the vicinity were cut down and
+hewn flat on two sides. A level platform was erected on the shore at the
+water's edge and on this the hewn logs were placed about eight feet
+apart, supported on rollers with their shore ends heavily weighted with
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+stone. These logs were then run as far out over the river as possible,
+and a man walked out on each one armed with an iron pointed staff. On
+finding a crevice in the rock forming the bottom of the river, these
+staffs were driven firmly into the rock and then lashed to the ends of
+the timbers, thus forming a stay to them and furnishing the means
+necessary for beginning the construction of the crib. The timbers were
+planked, and the same process was pursued until the island was reached.</p>
+
+<p>While the second bridge was under construction, the famous Indian
+chieftain and orator, Red Jacket, visited the Falls. The old veteran is
+said to have sat for a long time watching the process of bridging the
+angry waters, the transforming power of the white man at work,
+conquering a force which to him appeared more than able to baffle all
+the ingenuity of man. On being asked by a bystander what he thought of
+the work of construction he seemed mortified that the white man's hand
+should so desecrate these sacred waters; folding his blanket slowly
+about him, with his eyes fixed upon the works, he is said to have given
+forth the stereotyped Indian grunt, adding "D&mdash;&mdash;n Yankee!"</p>
+
+<p>Upon this bridge we find one of the best positions, as we have noted,
+from which to view the Rapids. From the point of their beginning, about
+a mile above the Falls to the crest of the cliff the descent is over
+fifty feet. Here, standing upon what seems in comparison but a frail
+structure, one can realise the grandeur of the Rapids. In the terrible
+race they seem to be trying to tear away the piers of the bridge which
+are fretting their current.</p>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+<h2>Chapter II</h2>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">From the Falls to Lake Ontario</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>hese American rivers of ours have their messages, historical, economic,
+and social, to both reader and loiterer. And, too, are not these streams
+so very much alive that through the years their personalities remain
+practically unchanged, while generations of loiterers come and go on
+forever? Are not the eccentricities of these great living forces forever
+recurrent, however whimsical they may seem, to us as we stop for our
+brief instant at the shore?</p>
+
+<p>The word Niagara stands to-day representing power; the most common
+metaphor used, perhaps, to represent perpetual irresistible force is
+found in the name Niagara. Now it is admitted that nothing is more
+interesting than to observe the contradictions noticeable in most strong
+personalities. View the Niagara from this personal standpoint. I think
+its most attractive features may be summed up in a catalogue of its
+eccentric contradictions. It is famous as a waterfall, yet its greatest
+beauty is to be found in its smallest rapids. Its thundering fall
+outrivals all other sounds of Nature, yet you can hear a sparrow sing
+when the spray of the torrent is drenching you; the "noise" of Niagara
+is often spoken of as the greatest sound ever heard, yet most of the
+cataract's music has never been heard because it is pitched too low for
+human ears. Niagara's Whirlpool is a placid, mirrored lake compared to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+the rapids above and below it and brings from the lips of the majority
+of sightseers, looking only at the surface of things, words of
+disappointment. The great message and influence of the foaming cataract
+and rapids and terrible pool, to all awake to the finer meanings, as has
+been so beautifully brought out by Mr. Howells, should be one of
+singular repose. The louder the music the more certain the strange
+influence of this message of quiet and calm.</p>
+
+<p>Take, for instance, what is so commonly called the roar of Niagara, but
+which ought to be known as the music of Niagara, first at the Rapids and
+then the Falls.</p>
+
+<p>There is sweet music in Niagara's lesser rapids. Mrs. Schuyler Van
+Rensselaer observes, most felicitously:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is a great and mighty noise, but it is not, as Hennepin
+thought, an "outrageous noise." It is not a roar. It does not
+drown the voice or stun the ear. Even at the actual foot of the
+falls it is not oppressive. It is much less rough than the sound
+of heavy surf&mdash;steadier, more homogeneous, less metallic, very
+deep and strong, yet mellow and soft; soft, I mean, in its
+quality. As to the noise of the rapids, there is none more
+musical. It is neither rumbling nor sharp. It is clear,
+plangent, silvery. It is so like the voice of a steep
+brook&mdash;much magnified, but not made coarser or more harsh&mdash;that,
+after we have known it, each liquid call from a forest hillside
+will seem, like the odour of grapevines, a greeting from
+Niagara. It is an inspiriting, an exhilarating sound, like
+freshness, coolness, vitality itself made audible. And yet it is
+a lulling sound. When we have looked out upon the American
+rapids for many days, it is hard to remember contented life amid
+motionless surroundings; and so, when we have slept beside them
+for many nights, it is hard to think of happy sleep in an empty
+silence.</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="GOAT_ISLAND_BRIDGE_RAPIDS" id="GOAT_ISLAND_BRIDGE_RAPIDS"></a>
+<img src="images/p0063.jpg" width="547" height="398" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Goat Island Bridge and Rapids.</h4>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+<p>A most original and interesting study of the music of the great Falls
+was made some years ago in a more or less technical way by Eugene
+Thayer.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> It had been this gentleman's theory that Niagara had never
+been heard as it should be heard, and his mission at the cataract was
+accomplished when there met his ears, not the "roar," but, rather, a
+perfectly constructed musical tone, clear, definite, and unapproachable
+in its majestic proportions; in fact Mr. Thayer affirms that the trained
+ear at Niagara should hear "a complete series of tones, all uniting in
+one grand and noble unison, as in the organ, and all as easily
+recognisable as the notes of any great chord in music." He had heard it
+rumoured that persons had been known to secure a pitch of the tone of
+Niagara; he essayed to secure not only the pitch of the chief or ground
+tone, but that of all accessory or upper tones otherwise known as
+harmonic or overtones, together with the beat or accent of the Falls and
+its rhythmical vibrations.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>All the tones above the ground tone have been named overtones or
+harmonics; the tones below are called the subharmonics, or
+undertones. It will be noticed that they form the complete
+natural harmony of the ground tone. What is the real pitch of
+this chord? According to our regular musical notation, the
+fourth note given represents the normal pitch of diapason; the
+reason being that the eight-foot tone is the only one that gives
+the notes as written. According to nature, I must claim the
+first, or lowest note, as the real or ground tone. In this
+latter way I shall represent the true tone or pitch of Niagara.</p>
+
+<p>How should I prove all this? My first step was to visit the
+beautiful Iris Island, otherwise known as Goat Island. Donning a
+suit of oilcloth and other disagreeable loose stuff, I followed
+the guide into the Cave of the Winds. Of course, the sensation
+at first was so novel and overpowering that the question of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+pitch was lost in one of personal safety. Remaining here a few
+minutes, I emerged to collect my dispersed thoughts. After
+regaining myself, I returned at once to the point of beginning,
+and went slowly in again (alone), testing my first question of
+pitch all the way; that is, during the approach, while under the
+fall, while emerging, and while standing some distance below the
+face of the fall, not only did I ascertain this (I may say in
+spite of myself, for I could hear but one pitch), but I heard
+and sang clearly the pitch of all the harmonic or accessory
+tones, only of course several octaves higher than their actual
+pitch. Seven times have I been under these singing waters
+(always alone except the first time), and the impression has
+invariably been the same, so far as determining the tone and its
+components. I may be allowed to withhold the result until I
+speak of my experience at the Horseshoe Fall, and the American
+Fall proper&mdash;it being scarcely necessary to say that the Cave of
+the Winds is under the smaller cascade, known as the Central
+Fall.</p>
+
+<p>My next step was to stand on Luna Island, above the Central
+Fall, and on the west side of the American Fall proper. I went
+to the extreme eastern side of the island, in order to lose as
+far as possible the sound of the Central Fall, and get the full
+force of the larger Fall. Here were the same great ground tone
+and the same harmonics, differing only somewhat in pitch.</p>
+
+<p>I then went over to the Horseshoe Fall and sat among the Rapids.
+There it was again, only slightly higher in pitch than on the
+American side. Not then knowing the fact, I ventured to assert
+that the Horseshoe Fall was less in height, by several feet,
+than the American Fall; the actual difference is variously given
+at from six to twelve feet. Next I went to the Three Sister
+Islands, and here was the same old story. The higher harmonics
+were mostly inaudible from the noise of the Rapids, but the same
+two low notes were ringing out clear and unmistakable. In fact,
+wherever I was I could not hear anything else! There was no roar
+at all, but the same grand diapason&mdash;the noblest and completest
+one on earth! I use the word completest advisedly, for nothing
+else on earth, not even the ocean, reaches anywhere near the
+actual depth of pitch, or makes audible to the human ear such a
+complete and perfect harmonic structure.</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="FALLS_FROM_BELOW" id="FALLS_FROM_BELOW"></a>
+<img src="images/p0067.jpg" width="397" height="526" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Horseshoe Falls from Below.</h4>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+<p>Remembering always that the actual pitch is four octaves lower, here are
+the notes which form this matchless diapason:</p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<img src="images/p0055.jpg" width="395" height="216" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Mrs. Van Rensselaer tells us there is yet another music at Niagara that
+must be listened for only on quiet nights. It is like the music of an
+orchestra so very far away that its notes are attenuated to an
+incredible delicacy and are intermittently perceived, as though wafted
+to us on variable zephyrs.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is the most subtle, the most mysterious music in the world.
+What is its origin? Such fairy-like sounds are not to be
+explained. Their appeal is to the imagination only. They are so
+faint, so far away, that they almost escape the ear, as the
+lunar bow and the fluted tints of the American Fall almost
+escape the eye. And yet we need not fear to lose them, for they
+are as real as the deep bass of the cataracts.</p></div>
+
+<p>Whether it be the resounding waterfall producing this wondrous harmony
+of the floods, or the most charming choral of the Rapids, the music of
+Niagara on the mind properly adjusted and attuned must create a most
+profound impression of repose. The exception to this rule, most
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+terrible to contemplate, is certainly to be found in the cases of the
+unfortunates whose minds are so distraught or unbalanced that this same
+call of the waters acts like poison and lures them to death.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I still think [wrote Mr. Howells in his most delightful sketch,
+<i>Niagara, First and Last</i>] that, above and below the Falls, the
+Rapids are the most striking features of the spectacle. At least
+you may say something about them, compare them to something;
+when you come to the cataract itself you can say nothing; it is
+incomparable. My sense of it first, and my sense of it last, was
+not a sense of the stupendous, but a sense of beauty, of
+serenity, of repose.</p></div>
+
+<p>In her beautiful description, given elsewhere in our story, Margaret
+Fuller explains the effect of the Rapids by moonlight on the heart of
+one who, during the day, had passed through the familiar throb of
+disappointment in the great spectacle at Niagara.</p>
+
+<p>Now I take it one must see in Niagara this element of repose or find in
+it something less than was hoped for. To one who expects an ocean
+pouring from the moon, a rush of wind and foam like that to be met with
+only in the Cave of the Winds, there is bound to come that common
+feeling that the fact is not equal to the picture imagination had
+previously created. Take the Whirlpool; seen from the heights above, it</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>has that effect of sculpturesque repose [writes Mr. Howells],
+which I have always found the finest thing in the Cataract
+itself. From the top the circling lines of the Whirlpool seemed
+graven in a level of chalcedony. . . . I have no impression to
+impart except this sense of its worthy unity with the Cataract
+in what I may call its highest æsthetic quality, its repose.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="SHORELESS_SEA" id="SHORELESS_SEA"></a>
+<img src="images/p0071.jpg" width="502" height="396" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>"The Shoreless Sea."<br />
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</h4>
+
+<p>All this is most impressively true of the central wonder of the entire
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+spectacle, the Falls themselves. That mighty flood of water, reborn as
+it dies, forms a marvellous spectacle. Writes Mrs. Schuyler Van
+Rensselaer:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Very soon we realise that Niagara's true effect is an effect of
+permanence. Many as are its variations, it never alters. It
+varies because light and atmosphere alter. Tremendous movement
+thus pauseless and unmodified gives, of course, a deeper
+impression of durability than the most imposing solids. . . . As
+soon as this fact is felt, the Falls seem to have been created
+as a voucher for the permanence of all the world.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>But how conform this repose and spirit of permanency with the echoing
+tones of that never-ending, never-satisfied dominant chord? How
+reconcile the repose of those dropping billows with the tantalising
+unrest of that for ever incomplete, unfinished recessional that has been
+playing down this gorge since, perhaps, darkness brooded over the
+deep&mdash;that seems to await its fulfilment in the thunders of Sinai at
+that Last Day?</p>
+
+<p>And what could be more human than this in any river&mdash;a seeming calm with
+over it all a never-ending cry of unrest, of wonder, of unsatisfied
+longing never to find repose until in that far resting-place of which
+Augustine thought when he wrote:</p>
+
+<h4>Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.</h4>
+
+<p>Across the American Rapids lies the Goat Island group which divides the
+waters into the two falls. Goat Island is about half a mile long and
+half as wide at its broadest part, but slopes to a point at its eastern
+extremity. Its area is about seventy acres. Besides this there are a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+number of smaller islands and rocks varying in diameter from four
+hundred feet to ten feet. Of these smaller islands five are connected
+with Goat Island by bridges, as are also the Terrapin Rocks.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of the first bridge is situated Green Island, named after the
+first president of the Board of Commissioners of the New York
+Reservation. The former name was Bath Island because of the "old
+swimming hole"&mdash;the only place where one could dip in the fierce current
+of Niagara without danger. Just a short distance above Green Island are
+two small patches of land called Ship Island and Bird Island from
+supposed resemblances to these objects in general contour, the tall
+leafless trees in winter supposed to be suggestive of masts. These
+islands were formerly both connected with Goat Island by bridges; one,
+known as "Lover's Bridge," from its romantic name was so greatly
+patronised that both bridges were destroyed by the owners on account of
+danger.</p>
+
+<p>On Green Island formerly stood the immense Porter paper-mill, which not
+only contributed its own ugliness to the beautiful prospect but also ran
+out into the current long gathering dams for the purpose of collecting
+water. All this was removed when the State of New York assumed control.</p>
+
+<p>Passing from the bridge and ascending the steps which lead to the top of
+the bank, the shelter house is reached. All around and, in fact,
+covering nearly all the island, is the primeval forest in its ancient
+splendour&mdash;fit companion of the Falls, which defy the puny power of man.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="RUSTIC_BRIDGE" id="RUSTIC_BRIDGE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0075.jpg" width="399" height="549" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Rustic Bridge, Willow Island.</h4>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+<p>Occasional glimpses of the river may be had through the dense foliage as
+one proceeds to Stedman Bluff, where one of the grandest panoramas to
+be seen anywhere on earth bursts upon the view. Here one appreciates the
+beauty of the American Fall better than at Prospect Point. Turning
+towards the American shore stone steps lead down to the water's edge,
+and thence a small bridge spans the stream separating Goat Island and
+Luna Island, so called from the fact that it has been considered the
+best place from which to view the lunar bow. The small stream dividing
+these islands in its plunge over the precipice forms the "Cave of the
+Winds." Half-way across Luna Island is to be seen a large rock on whose
+face have been carved by an unknown hand the following lines:</p>
+
+<h4>All is change.<br />
+Eternal progress.<br />
+No Death!</h4>
+
+<p>The author of the sentiment is unknown, but no one has more truly voiced
+the spirit of the great cataract. From the edge of the cliff on Luna
+Island is to be obtained the finest view down the gorge. Along the front
+of the American Fall are to be seen the immense masses of wave-washed
+rocks which have fallen from the cliff above. From rock to rock stretch
+frail wooden bridges, the more important of which lead to the cave.</p>
+
+<p>Luna Island is the last point which one can reach from Goat Island
+toward the American shore. Proceeding toward the Canadian Fall, one
+reaches at a short distance the Biddle Stairs. Here a break in the
+foliage reveals a grand view down the gorge with the Canadian Fall
+directly in front. A stairway leads to a wooden building down which runs
+a spiral stairway to the rocks below. This stairway received its name
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+from Nicholas Biddle, of old National Bank fame, who proposed this
+means of reaching the rocks below and offered a contribution for its
+construction. The offer was rejected, but his name was given to the
+structure. A trip to the rocks below this point is well worth while,
+difficult though it be; the descent of the spiral stairway is eighty
+feet. Turning to the right one comes out upon a ledge of rock with the
+roaring waters below and the line of the cliff above, along the top of
+which objects appear at only half their real size. Passing around a
+short curve there bursts upon one's view the fall which forms the Cave
+of the Winds&mdash;a most beautiful sheet of water. The passage of the cave
+can hardly be described by the pen. Here one is assailed on all sides by
+fierce storms and clouds of angry spray. The cave seems at first dark
+and repelling, for in this maddening whirl of wind and water one is at
+first almost blinded; but as soon as the eye becomes accustomed to the
+darkness, it can follow the graceful curve of the water to where it
+leaves the cliff above. The dark, forbidding, terraced rocks are seen
+dripping with water. The passage of the cave is too exciting to be
+essayed by persons with weak hearts, but the return across the rocks in
+front of it on a bright day is genuinely inspiring. Here the symbol of
+promise is brought down within one's very reach; above, around, on all
+sides are to be seen colours rivalling the conception of any
+artist&mdash;whole circles of bows, quarter circles, half circles, here
+within one's very grasp. The far fabled pot of gold is here a boiling,
+seething mass of running, shimmering silver. If possible, more glorious
+than all else, up above, along the sky-line, there appears the shining
+crest of the American Fall, glimmering in the sunlight like the silvery
+range of some snow-covered mountains.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="CAVE_WINDS" id="CAVE_WINDS"></a>
+<img src="images/p0079.jpg" width="398" height="530" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>The Cave of the Winds.</h4>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+<p>In size the cave is about one hundred feet wide, a hundred feet deep,
+and about one hundred and sixty feet high. At one point in the cave, on
+a bright day, by standing in the very edge of the spray, one becomes the
+centre of a complete circle of rainbows, an experience probably
+unequalled elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>About half-way between the stairway and the cave is the point from
+which, in 1829, Sam Patch made his famous leap, elsewhere described.</p>
+
+<p>On the side of the Horseshoe Fall is to be found a fine position from
+which to view the mighty force of the greater mass of waters. For some
+distance along the front of the fall immense masses of rock have
+accumulated. The trip over these rocks is fraught with danger and is
+taken by very few. For those who care to take the risk, the sight is
+well worth the effort. Just above at the crest are Terrapin Rocks, where
+formerly stood Terrapin Tower. Professor Tyndall went far out beyond the
+line of Terrapin Rocks to a point which has been reached by very few of
+the millions of visitors to this shrine. Passing along the cliff toward
+Canada, Porter's Bluff is soon reached, which furnishes one of the
+grandest views of the Horseshoe Fall. Fifty years ago, from this point
+one could see the whole line of the graceful curve of the Horseshoe;
+since that time the rapid erosion in the middle of the river (where the
+volume is greatest) has destroyed almost all trace of what the name
+suggests. The sides meet now at a very acute angle, the old contour
+having been entirely destroyed.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>
+<p>One of the most interesting experiments conducted under these great
+masses of falling water was essayed by the well-known English traveller
+Captain Basil Hall in 1827. It seems that Babbage and Herschel had said
+that there was reason to expect a change of elastic pressure in the air
+near a waterfall. Bethinking himself of the opportunity of testing this
+theory at Niagara during his American tour, Captain Hall secured a
+mountain barometer of most delicate workmanship for this specific
+purpose. In a letter to Professor Silliman the experimenter described
+his experience as follows, the question being of interest to every one
+who has attempted to breathe when passing behind any portion of this
+wall of falling water:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I think you told me that you did not enter this singular cave on
+your late journey, which I regret very much, because I have no
+hope of being able to describe it to you. In the whole course of
+my life, I never encountered anything so formidable in
+appearance; and yet, I am half ashamed to say so, I saw it
+performed by many other people without emotion, and it is daily
+accomplished by ladies, who think they have done nothing
+remarkable.</p>
+
+<p>You are perhaps aware that it is a standing topic of controversy
+every summer by the company at the great hotels near the Falls,
+whether the air within the sheet of water is condensed or
+rarefied. I have therefore a popular motive as well as a
+scientific one, in conducting this investigation, and the
+result, I hope, will prove satisfactory to the numerous persons
+who annually visit Niagara.</p>
+
+<p>As a first step I placed the barometer at a distance of about
+150 feet from the extreme western end of the Falls, on a flat
+rock as nearly as possible on a level with the top of the
+"talus" or bank of shingle lying at the base of the overhanging
+cliff, from which the cataract descends. This station was about
+30 perpendicular feet above the pool basin into which the water
+falls.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+<p>The mercury here stood at 29.68 inches. I then moved the
+instrument to another rock within 10 or 12 feet of the edge of
+the fall, where it was placed, by means of a levelling
+instrument, exactly at the same height as in the first instance.</p>
+
+<p>It still stood at 29.68 and the only difference I could observe
+was a slight continuous vibration of about two or three
+hundredths of an inch at intervals of a few seconds.</p>
+
+<p>So far, all was plain sailing; for, though I was soundly ducked
+by this time, there was no particular difficulty in making these
+observations. But within the sheet of water, there is a violent
+wind, caused by the air carried down by the falling water, and
+this makes the case very different. Every stream of falling
+water, as you know, produces more or less a blast of this
+nature; but I had no conception that so great an effect could
+have been produced by this cause.</p>
+
+<p>I am really at a loss how to measure it, but I have no
+hesitation in saying that it exceeds the most furious squall or
+gust of wind I have ever met with in any part of the world. The
+direction of the blast is generally slanting upwards, from the
+surface of the pool, and is chiefly directed against the face of
+the cliff, which being of a friable, shaly character, is
+gradually eaten away so that the top of the precipice now
+overhangs the base 35 or 40 feet and in a short time I should
+think the upper strata will prove too weak for the enormous load
+of water, which they bear, when the whole cliff will tumble
+down.</p>
+
+<p>These vehement blasts are accompanied by floods of water, much
+more compact than the heaviest thunder shower, and as the light
+is not very great the situation of the experimenter with a
+delicate barometer in his hand is one of some difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>By the assistance of the guide, however, who proved a steady and
+useful assistant, I managed to set the instrument up within a
+couple of feet of the "termination rock" as it is called, which
+is at the distance of 153 feet from the side of the waterfall
+measured horizontally along the top of the bank of shingle. This
+measurement, it is right to mention, was made a few days
+afterward by Mr. Edward Deas-Thompson of London, the guide, and
+myself with a graduated tape.</p>
+
+<p>While the guide held the instrument firmly down, which required
+nearly all his force, I contrived to adjust it, so that the
+spirit level on the top indicated that the tube was in the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+perpendicular position. It would have been utterly useless to
+have attempted any observation without this contrivance. I then
+secured all tight, unscrewed the bag, and allowed the mercury to
+subside; but it was many minutes before I could obtain even a
+tolerable reading, for the water flowed over my brows like a
+thick veil, threatening to wash the whole affair, philosophers
+and all, into the basin below. I managed, however, after some
+minutes' delay to make a shelf or spout with my hand, which
+served to carry the water clear of that part of the instrument
+which I wished to look at and also to leave my eyes
+comparatively free. I now satisfied myself by repeated trials
+that the surface of the mercurial column did not rise higher
+than 29.72. It was sometimes at 29.70 and may have vibrated two
+or three hundredths of an inch. This station was about 10 or 12
+feet lower than the external ones and therefore I should have
+expected a slight rise in the mercury; but I do not pretend to
+have read off the scale to any great nicety, though I feel quite
+confident of having succeeded in ascertaining that there was no
+sensible difference between the elasticity of the air at the
+station on the outside of the Falls and that, 153 feet within
+them.</p>
+
+<p>I now put the instrument up and having walked back towards the
+mouth of this wonderful cave about 30 feet, tried the experiment
+again. The mercury stood now at 29.68, or at 29.70 as near as I
+could observe it. On coming again into the open air I took the
+barometer to one of the first stations, but was much
+disappointed though I cannot say surprised to observe it full of
+air and water and consequently for the time quite destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>My only surprise, indeed, was that under such circumstances the
+air and water were not sooner forced in. But I have no doubt
+that the two experiments on the outside as well as the two
+within the sheet of water were made by the instrument when it
+was in a correct state: though I do not deny that it would have
+been more satisfactory to have verified this by repeating the
+observations at the first station.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="AMERICAN_FALL" id="AMERICAN_FALL"></a>
+<img src="images/p0085.jpg" width="503" height="398" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>The American Fall.<br />
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</h4>
+
+<p>On mentioning these results to the contending parties in the
+controversy, both asked me the same question, "How then do you
+account for the difficulty in breathing which all persons
+experience who go behind the sheet of water?" To which I
+replied: "That if any one were exposed to the spouts of half a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+dozen fire engines playing full in his face at the distance of a
+few yards, his respiration could not be quite free, and for my
+part I conceived that this rough discipline would be equally
+comfortable in other respects and not more embarrassing to the
+lungs than the action of the blast and falling water behind this
+amazing cataract."</p></div>
+
+<p>It is almost impossible to conceive of the immense mass of water
+tumbling over this precipice. It has been estimated in tons, cubic feet,
+and horse-power, but the figures are so large as to stagger the human
+mind. Out there at the apex of the angle, the water, over twenty feet
+deep, is drawn from almost half a continent, forming a picture to make
+one's nerves thrill with awe and delight, where the international
+boundary line swings back and forth as the apex of the angle formed
+sways from side to side.</p>
+
+<p>Just off the shore of the island are seen Terrapin Rocks. Why this name
+was applied is uncertain. These rocks are scattered in the flood to the
+very brink of the fall and in the titanic struggle with the rush of
+waters seem hardly able to maintain their position. Upon these rocks on
+the very brink of the Falls in 1833 was erected, by Judge Porter,
+Terrapin Tower, for many years one of the centres visited by every
+person journeying to the Falls. From its summit could be seen the wild
+rapids rushing on toward the precipice; below shimmering green of the
+fall. Down, far down, in the depths beneath was the boiling, seething
+caldron, from which arose beautiful columns of spray. From this
+position, forty-five feet above the surface of the water, probably a
+more comprehensive view of the many features of Niagara could be
+obtained than from any other point. Forty years later it was blown up,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+not because it was unsafe, as alleged, but that it might not prove a
+rival attraction to Prospect Point. Recently suggestions have been made
+looking toward the restoration of this ancient landmark, but no definite
+action has been taken.</p>
+
+<p>Over a half-century ago, almost opposite this tower on the Canadian
+side, was to be seen the immense Table Rock hanging far out over the
+current below. On the 25th of June, 1850, this large mass of rock fell.
+Fortunately the fall occurred at noon with no loss of life; it was one
+of the greatest falls of rock known to have taken place at the cataract,
+for the dimensions of the rock were two hundred feet long, sixty feet
+wide, and a hundred feet deep. Like the roar of muffled thunder the
+crash was heard for miles around.</p>
+
+<p>It was from the Terrapin Rocks to the Canadian side that Blondin wished
+to stretch his rope, elsewhere described, and it was over the very
+centre of Niagara's warring powers he desired to perform his daring
+feat, looking down upon that shimmering guarded secret of the "Heart of
+Niagara." The Porters, who owned Goat Island, however, refused to become
+parties to what they considered an improper exposure of life and Blondin
+stretched his cable farther down the river, near the site of the
+crescent steel arch bridge.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="STONE_PIERS" id="STONE_PIERS"></a>
+<img src="images/p0089.jpg" width="396" height="517" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Remains of Stone Piers of the "First Railway in
+America"&mdash;the British Tramway up Lewiston Heights, 1763.</h4>
+
+<p>Standing upon these rocks and looking out over that hurrying mass of
+waters, it seems almost impossible to imagine any power being able to
+stop them; but on the 29th of March, 1848, the impossible happened, the
+Niagara ran dry. From the American shore across the rapids to Goat
+Island one could walk dry-shod. From Goat Island and the Canadian shore
+the waters were contracted to a small stream flowing over the centre of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+what was then the Horseshoe; only a few tiny rivulets remained falling
+over the precipice at other points. The cause of this unnatural
+phenomenon was wind and ice. Lake Erie was full of floating ice. The day
+previous the winds had blown this ice out into the lake. In the evening
+the wind suddenly changed and blew a sharp gale from exactly the
+opposite direction, driving the mass of ice into the river and gorging
+it there, thus cutting off almost the whole water supply, and in the
+morning people awoke to find that the Niagara had departed. The American
+Fall was no more, the Horseshoe was hardly a ghost of its former self.
+Gone were the rapids, the fighting, struggling waters. Niagara's
+majestic roar was reduced to a moan. All day people walked on the rock
+bed of the river, although fearful lest the dam formed at its head
+should give way at any moment. By night, the warmth of the sun and the
+waters of the lake had begun to make inroads on the barrier and by the
+morning of the next day Niagara had returned in all its grandeur.</p>
+
+<p>However cold Niagara's winter may be, the moan of falling water here can
+always be heard, though at times the volume is very small. The winter
+scenes here often take rank in point of wonder and beauty with the
+cataract itself. When the river is frozen over below the Falls the
+phenomenon is called an "Ice Bridge," the blowing spray sometimes
+building a gigantic sparkling mound of wonderful beauty. The island
+trees above the Falls, covered by the same spray, assume curiously
+beautiful forms which, as they glitter in the sun, turn an already
+wonder-land into a strange fairyland of incomparable whiteness and
+glory.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+<p>A short distance up the river along the shore a position just opposite
+the apex of the Falls is reached. Here, along the shore of the island,
+the waters are comparatively shallow, but toward the Canadian shore
+races the current which carries fully three fourths of Niagara's volume.
+Out in the very midst of the current is a small speck of land, all that
+is now left of what was once Gull Island, so named from its having been
+a favourite resting place for these birds, which can hardly find a
+footing now on its contracted shores. From what can be learned of the
+past history of this island, it must have occupied about two acres three
+quarters of a century ago. Its gradual disappearance shows to what
+degree the mighty forces of Niagara are removing all obstacles placed in
+their path. Goat Island is gradually suffering the same fate. At points
+the shore line has encroached upon the island to a distance of twenty
+feet in a half-century. At this point the carriage road used to run out
+beyond the present edge of the bluff.</p>
+
+<p>Passing on along the shore of the island, Niagara's scenery is present
+everywhere. At quite a distance up stream the Three Sister Islands are
+reached. These islands were named from the three daughters of General P.
+Whitney, they being the first women to visit them, probably in winter
+when the waters were low.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="AMID_GOAT" id="AMID_GOAT"></a>
+<img src="images/p0093.jpg" width="507" height="399" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Amid the Goat Island Group.<br />
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</h4>
+
+<p>To the first Sister Island leads a massive stone bridge. From this
+bridge is to be obtained a fine view of the Hermit's Cascade beneath.
+This little fall receives its name from having been the favourite
+bathing place of the Hermit of Niagara, a strange half-witted young
+Englishman by the name of Francis Abbott who lived in solitude here for
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+two years preceding his death by drowning in 1831, during his sojourn at
+the Falls.</p>
+
+<p>These three islands are replete with small bits of scenery and
+overflowing with beauty. In them are to be found the smaller attractions
+of Niagara; not so much of the stern majesty and awful grandeur, but
+smaller and more comprehensible features come before the view following
+each other in rapid succession. On the second Sister Island is one point
+which should be visited by every one. Just before reaching the bridge to
+third Sister Island, by turning to the right and proceeding along a
+somewhat difficult path for a short distance one comes to a point at the
+water's edge and finds lying right below him the boiling waters with
+their white, feathery spray; here also is the small cataract between the
+second and third islands fed by the most rapid although small stream of
+Niagara. From this point is to be obtained one of the most varied of
+scenic effects of any point at the Falls. The scenery from the third
+Sister must be seen to be appreciated. From its upper end one looks
+directly at the low cliff which forms the first descent of the Rapids.
+Here the waters start from the peaceful stream above on their maddening
+race for the Falls. Out along the line of the cliff the waters deepen
+and increase in rapidity toward the Canadian shore. Just below this
+ledge, probably three hundred feet from the head of the island, the
+current is directed against some obstruction which causes it to spout up
+into the air, causing what is called the Spouting Rock.</p>
+
+<p>Many have been the changes wrought by the waters themselves since white
+men knew the Falls; but a thousand years hence the visitor to Niagara
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+will behold the main fall not from Terrapin Rocks or Porter's Bluff, but
+from this third Sister Island. The Rapids then shall have almost
+entirely disappeared, but their beauty will be compensated for by the
+additional grandeur of the fall itself. The gorge will have widened and
+the fall itself shall have added fifty feet to its height, making it two
+hundred feet high. Third Sister Island should be gone over thoroughly,
+for it offers some of the finest views, especially of colouring, above
+the Falls, and many of them.</p>
+
+<p>Niagara owes its sublime array of colour to the purity of its water.
+Nothing finer has been written on this subject than the words of the
+artist Mrs. Van Rensselaer, whom we quote:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>To this purity Niagara owes its exquisite variety of colour. To
+find the blues we must look, of course, above Goat Island, where
+the sky is reflected in smooth if quickly flowing currents. But
+every other tint and tone that water can take is visible in or
+near the Falls themselves. In the quieter parts of the gorge we
+find a very dark, strong green, while in its rapids all shades
+of green and grey and white are blended. The shallower rapids
+above the Falls are less strongly coloured, a beautiful light
+green predominating between the pale-grey swirls and the snowy
+crests of foam&mdash;semi-opaque, like the stone called aquamarine,
+because infused with countless air-bubbles, yet deliciously
+fresh and bright. The tense, smooth slant of water at the margin
+of the American fall is not deep enough to be green. In the
+sunshine it is a clear amber, and when shadowed, a brown that is
+darker, yet just as pure. But wherever the Canadian fall is
+visible its green crest is conspicuous. Far down-stream, nearly
+two miles away, where the railroad-bridge crosses the gorge, it
+shows like a little emerald strung on a narrow band of pearl.
+Its colour is not quite like that of an emerald, although the
+term must be used because no other is more accurate. It is a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+purer colour, and cooler, with less of yellow in it&mdash;more pure,
+more cool, and at the same time more brilliant than any colour
+that sea-water takes even in a breaking wave, or that man has
+produced in any substance whatsoever. At this place, we are
+told, the current must be twenty feet deep; and its colour is so
+intense and so clear because, while the light is reflected from
+its curving surface, it also filters through so great a mass of
+absolutely limpid water. It always quivers, this bright-green
+stretch, yet somehow it always seems as solid as stone, smoothly
+polished for the most part, but, when a low sun strikes across
+it, a little roughened, fretted. That this is water and that the
+thinnest smoke above it is water also, who can believe? In other
+places at Niagara we ask the same question again.</p>
+
+<p>From a distance the American fall looks quite straight. When we
+stand beside it we see that its line curves inward and outward,
+throwing the falling sheet into bastion-like sweeps. As we gaze
+down upon these, every change in the angle of vision and in the
+strength and direction of the light gives a new effect. The one
+thing that we never seem to see, below the smooth brink, is
+water. Very often the whole swift precipice shows as a myriad
+million inch-thick cubes of clearest glass or ice or solidified
+light, falling in an envelope of starry spangles. Again, it
+seems all diamond-like or pearl-like, or like a flood of flaked
+silver, shivered crystal, or faceted ingots of palest amber. It
+is never to be exhausted in its variations. It is never to be
+described. Only, one can always say, it is protean, it is most
+lovely, and it is not water.</p>
+
+<p>Then, as we look across the precipice, it may be milky in
+places, or transparent, or translucent. But where its mass falls
+quickly it is all soft and white&mdash;softer then anything else in
+the world. It does not resemble a flood of fleece or of down,
+although it suggests such a flood. It is more like a crumbling
+avalanche, immense and gently blown, of smallest snowflakes;
+but, again, it is not quite like this. Now we see that, even
+apart from its main curves, no portion of the swiftly moving
+wall is flat. It is all delicately fissured and furrowed, by the
+broken edges of the rock over which it falls, into the
+suggestion of fluted buttresses, half-columns, pilasters. And
+the whiteness of these is not quite white. Nor is it
+consistently iridescent or opalescent. Very faintly, elusively,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+it is tinged with tremulous stripes and strands of pearly grey,
+of vaguest straw, shell-pink, lavender, and green&mdash;inconceivably
+ethereal blues, shy ghosts of earthly colours, abashed and
+deflowered, we feel, by definite naming with earthly names. They
+seem hardly to tinge the whiteness; rather, to float over it as
+a misty bloom. We are loath to turn our eyes from them, fearing
+they may never show again. Yet they are as real as the keen
+emerald of the Horseshoe.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>One should walk through the New York State Reservation, which extends
+for some distance above the commencement of the Rapids, to get a more
+complete view of the scenery above the Falls, the wooded shores of Goat
+Island, the swiftly moving waters, the broad river, the beginning of the
+Canadian Rapids, and the Canadian shore in the distance. On up the river
+at a distance are to be seen those forest-clad shores of Navy Island and
+Grand Island.</p>
+
+<p>On the Canadian side of the river, after crossing the steel arch bridge
+just below the Falls, beautiful Victoria Park is first reached. From
+this position a new and entirely different view of the American Fall is
+obtained from almost directly in front. Turning and going up the river a
+fine view of the Horseshoe is obtained from a distance. Just opposite
+the American Fall is Inspiration Point, from which the best view of the
+Falls is to be obtained. From here one can watch the little <i>Maid of the
+Mist</i> as she makes her trips through the boiling waters below.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="HORSESHOE_FALLS" id="HORSESHOE_FALLS"></a>
+<img src="images/p0099.jpg" width="548" height="398" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian Shore.<br />
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</h4>
+
+<p>On up the river one wanders, past Goat Island, whose cliff is seen from
+directly in front. Just before reaching the edge of the Horseshoe the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+position of old Table Rock is seen. Little is left of this old and once
+famous point for observing Niagara's wonders. Several different falls of
+immense masses of rock, one of which has been mentioned, have reduced it
+to its present state. Here the Indian worshipped the Great Spirit of the
+Falls, gazing across at his supposed home on Goat Island; and here comes
+the white man to look upon the wonders of that mighty cataract with a
+feeling almost akin to that of his red brother. Here one could stand
+with the maddening waters rushing beneath, the Falls near at hand, its
+incessant roar assailing the ears while the spray was wafted all round.
+Little wonder that the red man worshipped, or that the white man looks
+on with feelings of awe, admiration, and wonder.</p>
+
+<p>Passing on up the river and around the pumping station for the
+neighbouring village, one reaches the point at the water's edge from
+which the "Heart of Niagara" can best be seen, where millions of tons of
+water are continually pouring over the cliff and causing some of the
+most beautiful effects produced by the spray called the "Darting Lines
+of Spray" to be seen anywhere at the Falls. From this point one sees up
+the river over a mile of the Rapids with their madly hurrying waters
+rushing on as if to engulf everything below.</p>
+
+<p>Along the water's edge, the journey should be pursued. A short distance
+farther up stream, a crib work has been built as a protection to the
+bank. Here is to be gained one of the finest views of the Canadian
+Rapids, one feature of which can not be seen to so great advantage from
+any other point. The "Shoreless Sea," as this view has been called, is a
+grand and inspiring sight. Gazing up the stream the Rapids are seen
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+tumbling on toward one, with no land in sight. The clouds form the
+sky-line and it is as if the very chambers of heaven had been opened for
+a second deluge. It is, indeed, a "Shoreless Sea," tumbling on, a grand
+and awful sight.</p>
+
+<p>Pursuing one's way on up the river, Dufferin Islands are reached. These
+are formed by a bend in the current. Here is a sylvan retreat, full of
+lovers' walks and beauties of nature. Here is the burning
+spring&mdash;escaping natural gas from a rift in the rock. Not far from this
+point, on up the river, was fought the battle of Chippewa. About a mile
+above these islands, at the mouth of Chippewa Creek, stood Fort
+Chippewa, built by the British in 1790 to protect this, their most
+important portage.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="PARADISE_GROVE" id="PARADISE_GROVE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0103.jpg" width="671" height="398" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Looking up the Lower Niagara from Paradise Grove.<br />
+
+From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.</h4>
+
+<p>To reach the points of interest, just mentioned, on the Canadian side,
+as well as those down the river, it is best to make the trip from one
+scenic position to another by electric car. Returning to the Horseshoe
+one will doubtless have called to his mind that about a mile back to the
+left occurred the famed battle of Lundy's Lane on July 5, 1814. At the
+edge of the cliff on the right was the position of the "Old Indian
+Ladder," by means of which the Indians used to descend to the lower
+level for the purpose of fishing. This ladder was only a long cedar
+tree, which had been deprived of its limbs and had been placed almost
+perpendicularly against the cliff. On down the way a short distance, the
+road which leads down the face of the cliff, to the <i>Maid of the Mist's</i>
+landing, is reached. Just beyond this point, at the top of the inclined
+railway, is to be obtained the best view of the steel arch bridge. Just
+below the bridge, opposite, on the American shore, a maddened torrent
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+comes pouring from the base of the cliff as if anxious to add its fury
+to that of the waters round. It is the outlet of the tunnel which
+disposes of the tail water from the electric power-house over a mile
+above, mentioned in our chapter on power development at Niagara. The
+manufacturing plants of the Hydraulic Company, the first to use
+Niagara's waters to any great extent for power, are situated just
+opposite.</p>
+
+<p>A short distance on down the stream, and after descending a slight
+incline, the point where Blondin stretched his rope across the gorge in
+1859 is reached.</p>
+
+<p>Next on the journey the cantilever bridge is reached. This bridge was
+constructed in 1882. Just below this is the steel arch bridge, both
+being railroad bridges. The second one was first constructed as a
+suspension bridge by John A. Roebling, being the first railroad bridge
+of its kind in the country. It has been several times replaced, the
+present structure having been erected in 1897. Just below the railroad
+bridges several persons have made the trip across the gorge on ropes.</p>
+
+<p>Soon the Whirlpool is reached, and the madly rushing waters are seen as
+at no other place on the surface of the earth. Rounding the rapids, the
+car runs over a trestle work in crossing the old pre-glacial channel of
+the river referred to in our geologic chapter. Here one can look down on
+the waters almost directly beneath him, with the forests covering the
+sloping incline of the ancient bed of the river stretching up to the
+level above. Just as the car finishes the rounded curve of the
+Whirlpool, at the point of the cliff at the outlet, one catches the best
+view of both inlet and outlet at the same time, flowing directly at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+right angles to each other. The car continues on its course, now near,
+now farther back from the edge of the gorge. One catches occasional
+glimpses of the bridge far below, over which the electric line passes
+back to the American shore. For over three miles the car continues its
+course along the cliff before the next point of special interest
+presents itself in Brock's monument.</p>
+
+<p>From this monument one of the finest panoramic views of the surrounding
+regions can be obtained. The monument stands on Queenston Heights, with
+the remains of old Fort Drummond just back of it.</p>
+
+<p>All about is historic ground. On the surrounding plain and slopes was
+fought the battle of Queenston Heights. Every inch of ground has some
+story to tell of that struggle. The car soon begins to descend the
+incline which, ages ago, formed the shores of Lake Ontario. Below, at
+the end of the gorge, the river seems to forget its tumultuous rush, and
+spreading out pursues a placid and well-behaved course to the lower
+lake.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="MOUTH_GORGE" id="MOUTH_GORGE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0107.jpg" width="510" height="402" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>The Mouth of the Gorge.<br />
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</h4>
+
+<p>About half-way down the descent, the point where General Brock fell is
+reached, which point is marked by a massive stone monument set in place
+in 1861 by King Edward VII., then Prince of Wales. Just below to the
+right is seen an old, ruined stone house which was General Brock's
+shelter after being wounded, and in which was printed, in 1792, the
+first newspaper of Upper Canada. The bridge is soon reached, in the
+crossing of which, a fine view of the last mad rush of the waters is
+gained as they issue from the gorge into the placid stream leading to
+the lake below. On they come with the waves piled high in the centre,
+tearing along in a mad fury, until they seem to be pacified by a power
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+stronger even than their own; and they glide smoothly along to the end
+of their course in the lower lake.</p>
+
+<p>On the American heights stood old Fort Gray, connected with the history
+of the War of 1812. On the American shore was the head of navigation,
+and up the cliff all the freight sent over the old portage was hoisted
+by hand and later by machinery. High up on the American cliffs, half-way
+between the Whirlpool and Lewiston, is the famous "Devil's Hole," an
+interesting cave known among the Indians, we are told, as the "Cave of
+the Evil Spirit." Here, it has been stated, geologists find some of the
+clearest evidences of the former existence of the presence of the Falls
+in that far day when the migration had extended thus far up the river
+from the escarpment at Lewiston.</p>
+
+<p>Much has been said about the rapids of the river below the Falls&mdash;the
+lesser Rapids of Niagara. What of this seething, spouting, tumbling mass
+that races along below these towering cliffs, maddening, ungovernable,
+almost horrifying to gaze upon? It is very singular how little is said
+about this torrent. They illustrate very significantly the fact that
+mere power has little of charm for the mind of man; it interests, but
+often it does not please or delight. In our chapter on the foolhardy
+persons to whom these bounding billows have been a challenge, and who
+have attempted to navigate or pass through them, are descriptions of
+their savage fury and wonderful eccentricities. The most interesting
+fact respecting these great rapids is the unbelievable depth of the
+channel through which they race, since it sometimes approximates,
+according to the best sources of information, the height of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+towering cliffs that compose the canyon. By government survey we know
+that the depth of the river between the Falls and the cantilever bridge
+is two hundred feet. The Whirlpool is estimated as four hundred feet
+deep, and the rapids above the Whirlpool as forty feet deep; the rapids
+below the Whirlpool are thought to be about sixty.</p>
+
+<p>The romantic situation of the two ancient towns, Lewiston and Queenston,
+at the foot of the two escarpments, on opposite sides of the river, is
+only equalled by the absorbing story of their part in history when they
+were thriving, bustling frontier outposts. The beauty of the locations
+of these interesting towns contains in itself sufficient promise of
+growth and prosperity equal to, or exceeding, that of beautiful
+Youngstown, near Fort Niagara, or Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Canadian
+shore. This lower stretch of river teems with historic interest of the
+French era and especially of the days when the second war with Great
+Britain was progressing; in our chapters relating to those days will be
+found references to these points of present-day interest in their
+relation to the great questions that were being settled by sword and
+musket, by friend and foe, who met beside the historic river that
+empties into Lake Ontario between old Fort George and old Fort Niagara.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="WHIRLPOOL_RAPIDS" id="WHIRLPOOL_RAPIDS"></a>
+<img src="images/p0111.jpg" width="613" height="398" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>The Whirlpool Rapids.</h4>
+
+<p>For ease of access, romantic situation, historic interest, and many of
+the advantages usually desired during a hot vacation recess, these towns
+along the lower Niagara offer a varied number of important advantages;
+if by some magic touch a dam could be raised between Fort Mississauga
+and the American shore, rendering that marvellously beautiful stretch
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+of river&mdash;unmatched in some ways by any American stream&mdash;slack water,
+one of the most lovely boating lakes on the Continent could be created,
+whereon international regattas in both winter and summer could be held
+of unusual interest. Is it supposable that this could be effected
+without great detriment to either the yachting fraternity, whose sails,
+from the verandah of the Queen's Royal, are always a delight, or the
+steamboat interests, which could land as well at Fort Niagara, perhaps,
+as at Lewiston, or at Niagara-on-the-Lake, which could be connected with
+the Gorge Route. The river's current is all now that keeps the lower
+Niagara from being as popular a resort of its kind as can be suggested.
+All the elements of popularity are in fair measure present here, and
+immensely enjoyed yearly by increasing multitudes.</p>
+
+<p>A little beyond the mouth of the Niagara, just over those blue waves,
+rise the spires of the queen city of Canada, Toronto. To all practical
+purposes this beautiful city stands at one end of Niagara River, as
+Buffalo stands at the other. Historically and commercially this is
+altogether true, and we elsewhere weave its history into our record.</p>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+<h2>Chapter III</h2>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">The Birth of Niagara</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">G</span>eologic time presents to the scientist one of the most difficult
+problems with which he has to deal. When the different divisions into
+which he would divide the ages are numbered by thousands and even
+millions of years, the human mind is appalled at the prospect; and when
+the calculations of different geologists vary by hundreds of thousands
+of years, the lay mind can not help growing somewhat credulous, and at
+times be tempted to discard the whole mass of scientific data relating
+to the subject.</p>
+
+<p>Niagara River forms one of the best, if not the best, means of studying
+the lapse of time since the Ice Age. Finding, as students do here, the
+best material in existence for this study, leads to exhaustive
+scientific analysis of every clue presented by the Cataract and the deep
+Gorge it has cut for itself through the solid lime rock and Niagara
+shale forming its bed.</p>
+
+<p>We are prone to look upon the great wonders of the world as destined to
+last as long as the earth itself. We do not realise that the mountains,
+miles in height, are slowly crumbling before our eyes, or realise that
+the rivers are carrying them slowly toward the sea, filling the lakes
+and lower portions of land along their courses. These slow but ceaseless
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+forces are continually at work, reducing the surface of the earth to
+that of a level plain and at the same time depriving the land of its
+lakes by filling their depressions with silt. The winds and the waters,
+together with the wearing power effected by frost, are the forces
+struggling at this great levelling task. The work is partly done; in
+many of the older regions the lakes and elevations have almost entirely
+disappeared. Other parts of the land are comparatively new; and it is
+here that one sees the rough mountain or the deep canyon of the river;
+sufficient time not having elapsed to wear away the elevation in the one
+case nor the steep banks in the other.</p>
+
+<p>One needs but to look at a relief map of the Niagara district to note
+the Falls and the outline of the Gorge to see at once that this is a
+comparatively new region or, at least, that the formative forces which
+gave it its present characteristics were at the highest stage of their
+career when the lands to the south had almost reached their present
+stage. These facts can be observed by any person visiting the Niagara
+district; it does not require a geologist to trace roughly their course.</p>
+
+<p>Questions naturally arise in calculating the age of Niagara. If, as all
+the facts seem to indicate, this river has had a very recent beginning,
+what then did it do before it occupied its present course? What will be
+its final destiny? What will happen when it has worn its Gorge back to
+Lake Erie? Or will the general level of the land be so changed that the
+Falls will never recede to the lake? The last and most important of all
+is: How long has it taken the Falls to grind out the Gorge thus far?
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+This latter question, viewed in its relation to the first one, forms
+the basis of the present chapter. The great work of the Cataract is
+going on before our very eyes. The history of this great river is
+working itself out at the height of its glory, in an age when all can
+behold. It is the more interesting since it is the only example of the
+kind known. One can easily look back to the time when the water flowed
+along the top of the plateau to Lewiston and the Falls were situated at
+that point. This date, of course, witnessed the birth of Niagara, for,
+wherever the waters flowed before, they could not have taken this course
+before the Falls began their work. The day that witnessed the beginning
+of the one witnessed also the birth of the other. Likewise one can not
+help looking forward to the day when Niagara shall have accomplished its
+work, when its waters shall have completely ground the plateau in two,
+and so drained Lake Erie to its bottom.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="AMERICAN_FALL_JULY" id="AMERICAN_FALL_JULY"></a>
+<img src="images/p0117.jpg" width="645" height="407" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>The American Fall, July, 1765.<br />
+From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.</h4>
+
+<p>What did the waters of the lakes do before the Niagara began its
+history? How long has it been at its present work? These are the
+questions interesting to every one; and by far more interesting to one
+who is making a study of the formative forces now contributing, and
+which have contributed to bring about the present characteristics of
+surface structure. A few important facts exist, and these now are beyond
+doubt, upon which rest the inferences concerning the age of the Falls.
+In ancient times the waters of Lake Erie did not find an outlet through
+Niagara River, so there was no channel ready made for the river when it
+began its present course. Even after the beginning of the river the
+upper lakes, Huron, Michigan, and Superior, did not discharge their
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+waters through Niagara. Until comparatively recent times only the
+waters from Lake Erie discharged through this channel and therefore for
+many ages only a small fraction of the present volume could possibly
+have been at work on the Falls.</p>
+
+<p>The striking features of the Gorge are modern, and have been very little
+affected by those agencies which are continually moulding the contours
+of land surfaces. The inclination of the river's bed has varied greatly
+with the ages, due to gradual uplifting or depressing of the earth's
+crust; consequently the current has varied greatly in velocity with
+these changes. A calculation of the work done by the river during each
+epoch of its history is indeed fraught with many difficulties. Much
+investigation, however, has been made along this line and with a rather
+satisfactory degree of success.</p>
+
+<p>Niagara appears to have had a life peculiar to itself; but what is
+unique in its history, is the presentation of characteristics which in
+the case of other rivers have long since passed away. Rivers, and
+especially very large ones, appeal to us as "unchangeable as the hills
+themselves"; but the truth is, that the very hills and mountains are
+changing as a result of the forces exerted by water. Niagara, as viewed
+by the geologist, is unique, not on account of its having a different
+history than any other river, but for the reason that it had a more
+recent beginning. The calculation of the life of such a stream is
+interesting in itself, besides the other great questions settled by the
+solution of such a problem as the probable number of years that the
+river shall exist in its present form, the centuries which have elapsed
+since the ice retreated from this region, and the ascertaining of
+certain facts concerning the antiquity of man. In order to make a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+thorough study of these topics, one must take a view of the relief
+features of the Niagara region, and make a careful review of what
+conditions existed at the time that this district was covered by the
+great ice sheet, together with the changes effected during the retreat
+of the Great Glacier to the north.</p>
+
+<p>Niagara River has its origin in the eastern end of Lake Erie, about
+three hundred feet higher than the surface of Lake Ontario. Passing from
+Erie to the last-mentioned lake the descent is not gradual, but one
+finds a gently rolling plain with almost no slope for nineteen miles
+until almost at the very shore of Lake Ontario, where almost
+unexpectedly one comes upon a high precipice from which a magnificent
+view of the lower lake may be gained, only a narrow strip of beach
+intervening. This cliff is called by geologists the Niagara escarpment.</p>
+
+<p>When the river leaves Lake Erie its waters are interfered with by a low
+ledge of rock running across its channel. After passing this its waters
+meet no more troublesome obstructions until coming to the head of Goat
+Island. The river can scarcely be said to have a valley. One is reminded
+more of an arm of the lake extending out over this region. The country
+from Lake Erie to near the head of the Rapids above the Falls rests on a
+stratum of soft rock; from the Falls northward the underlying stratum is
+formed by a ledge of hard limestone, and beneath this a shale and two
+thin strata of sandstone. By the descent of the Rapids and the Falls,
+the waters are dropped two hundred feet, and thence through the Gorge
+they rush along at an appalling rate over the descent, through the
+Whirlpool and on to Queenston for a distance of seven miles. From this
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>
+city to the lake there is little fall and so only a moderate current.</p>
+
+<p>The deep, narrow gorge extending from the Falls to Lewiston is the
+especial subject of study to the geologist. This canyon is scarcely a
+quarter of a mile wide, varying little in the distance from cliff to
+cliff throughout most of its course. This chasm opens up before the
+student with almost appalling suddenness, while travelling over an
+otherwise regular plain. Its walls are so precipitous that few
+opportunities are offered for scaling them; and their height from the
+bottom of the river varies from two hundred to five hundred feet. An
+examination of both sides of the Gorge shows the same order in the
+layers of rock and shale on comparatively the same level, with the same
+thickness of each corresponding stratum. If a superstitious person had
+come unexpectedly upon this gigantic fissure ages ago, he might easily
+have imagined it to have been the work of some mighty mythological hero;
+but the modern scientist has reached a much better, as well as a much
+more satisfactory conclusion, namely, that this immense cleft has been
+sawed by the force of the water, from a structure whose features were
+continuous, as is manifest by the similarity of the exposed strata on
+the two sides of the stream. To be convinced of the fact that the Falls
+are gradually receding, it is only necessary to observe them closely for
+a few years. The breaking away of an immense mass of rock previously
+described is one of the recent events in the history of the river. This
+establishes the fact that the Gorge is growing longer from its northern
+end through the agency of the waterfall.</p>
+
+<p>These facts show us the river working at a monstrous task. Its work is
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+only partly done. Two questions come to us almost immediately: When this
+work is done what will it do? and, What did it do before its present
+work begun? The waters of Lake Erie could never have flowed to Lake
+Ontario without wearing away at the Gorge we now see. The birth of the
+river and the cutting of the canyon were simultaneous. Of this much we
+are assured.</p>
+
+<p>A superficial study of a map of North America will show at once a great
+difference in the northern and the southern sections. From the region of
+the Great Lakes northward the district is one continuation of lakes,
+ponds, swamps, and rivers with many rapids. South of the Ohio there are
+few lakes, and the rivers flow on with almost unbroken courses. Here is
+a region much older than that to the north; and its waters have had ages
+more in which to mould down elevations and fill up depressions. The
+cause of this difference in the characteristics of the streams of the
+North and those of the South is to be explained by the great Ice Age. As
+far as we now know there may have been little difference in relief forms
+between the two sections before the encroachment of the ice. During the
+glacial epoch the whole northern part of the continent was covered with
+a thick ice sheet, which was continually renewed at the north, and as
+continually drifted slowly in a general southerly direction. As this
+heavy ice cap passed over the surface, it acted somewhat like a river in
+its erosive power, only working much greater changes. It not only picked
+up loose particles, but also scoured and wore away solid rocks along its
+bed. Thus the whole configuration of the country was changed.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+<p>At the southern terminal of the glacier, where it ended in the ocean,
+the ice broke away in large bergs, as in the northern seas to-day; but
+where the advancing ice met the warmer climate on land, it was melted
+and thus deposited at its terminal all the material it carried. The
+eroding power of this ice sheet, together with the deposit of its
+materials on melting, brought about a great change in the configuration
+of the country. Many old valleys were obliterated, while a number of new
+ones were carved. As the ice retreated northward with the change of
+climate, new lakes and rivers were formed. Many times the streams
+escaping from the lower level of lakes were forced to find an entirely
+new course, and so to carve a new channel of their own. The region of
+the Great Lakes and the Niagara River is no exception to this rule; and
+it is with the ending of the Ice Age that the history of the river
+begins.</p>
+
+<p>A glance at a map shows a low range of hills or rather a gentle swell in
+the land surface forming the watershed between the lakes and the streams
+flowing to the south. At the time of the farthest southerly extension of
+the glacier it reached beyond this elevation; and its waters were
+discharged into the rivers flowing to the south. When the southern
+terminal had retreated to the north of this divide, but still blocked
+all outlet to the north or east, there was doubtless a number of lakes
+here discharging their waters across the present low watershed to the
+south. Some of these ancient valleys can still be traced for long
+distances of their course. These lakes passed through their varying
+history as those of to-day, their surface troubled by wind and storm and
+their waves leaving indelible carvings upon their shores.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+<p>One of these lakes occupied what is now the western end of Lake Erie,
+shortly after the ice front had passed to the north of the watershed
+mentioned. There are still very definite markings which show that its
+waters were discharged across the divide by a channel into the present
+Wabash River and thence into the Ohio. This channel can be traced
+throughout most of its course very easily. There are at least four
+distinct shore lines preserved to us, which show four successive levels
+of the lake as it reached lower outlets before the Niagara River was
+born. All of these old shore lines can be traced throughout most of
+their courses.</p>
+
+<p>As the ice continued to retreat, next we notice the greatest change in
+elevation of the surface of the water. The ice front finally passed to
+the north of the present Mohawk River, thus allowing the waters to
+escape by that outlet, and, as a consequence, lowering the surface of
+the lakes by over five hundred feet. This drained a great extent of land
+and dropped the surface of Ontario far below the present level of the
+Niagara escarpment. Then for the first time the Niagara began to flow,
+and its Falls began their work. Immediately upon the formation of this
+new, lower lake it began the work of leaving its history carved upon the
+rocks, sands, and gravels which formed its shores. Its first ancient
+beach is more easily traced for almost its entire course than any of the
+other old levels. It does not even take the trained eye of the scientist
+to see its unmistakable history written in the sands. The earliest
+western travellers describe the Ridge Road running along this old,
+deserted beach as showing unmistakable signs of having been an ancient
+shore line of the lake.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="HORSESHOE_FALL_JULY" id="HORSESHOE_FALL_JULY"></a>
+<img src="images/p0125.jpg" width="649" height="399" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>The Horseshoe Fall, July, 1765.<br />
+
+From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.</h4>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+<p>In following the course of this old shore line a gradual slope is
+noticed, and if this was a shore line, we must account for this
+variation in elevation, since the surface of the water is always level.
+The explanation is to be found in the fact that portions of the earth's
+surface are gradually rising while others are as gradually sinking. On
+comparing the old coast line with the level of the present one, we find
+that the lake has gradually inclined to the south and the west. This
+change in elevation had its share in determining the configuration of
+the lake as well as the relief features of the surrounding region. The
+point of discharge was at Rome, New York, as long as the barrier blocked
+the regions north of the Adirondack Mountains. As soon as the
+encroaching warmth of the south had removed this barrier to the level of
+the Rome outlet, the water began flowing by the St. Lawrence course.
+True the first outlet was not the same as the present one; but it must
+have been many times shifted in the course of the retreat of the ice. As
+a result of this alternate shifting, together with the changing of the
+level of the lake, there are to be found the markings of numerous shore
+lines, some of which pass under the present level of the waters.</p>
+
+<p>These different variations must of necessity have had a great effect on
+the work of Niagara River. When the Niagara began to flow, instead of
+its terminal being nearly seven miles from the escarpment, it was only
+between one and two miles away, and the surface of the lake was about
+seventy-five feet higher than now. While the outlet remained at Rome,
+the eastern end of the lake was continually rising, which caused the
+waters at the western end to rise over one hundred feet. This placed
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+the shore of Ontario almost at the foot of the beautiful cliff at
+Queenston and Lewiston. After having occupied this position for a long
+period, the surface of the waters again fell over two hundred feet,
+carving an old shore line which is now submerged. After this, various
+changes of level in the land and shiftings of the ice barrier caused
+numerous old shore lines to be faintly carved. These changes continued
+until the present outlet was established and the waters began to flow
+along the present course of the St. Lawrence.</p>
+
+<p>One might think that with these changes all the variable factors of our
+problem have been discussed; but these same factors also had their
+effect upon the upper lakes. In a study of the old markings of all the
+lakes of this region, it seems that the northern shores were continually
+rising; this, of course, points to an occupation of a more northerly
+position by the lakes than at present, and also a laying bare of
+northern parts, and shifting of waters south, or possibly both of these
+changes at once.</p>
+
+<p>In the most ancient system of which we can obtain an approximately
+definite knowledge, Lake Huron was not more than half its present size,
+while Georgian Bay formed the main body, connecting with Huron by a
+narrow strait. Michigan and Superior occupied about their present
+limits, but were connected with Huron by rivers rather than short
+straits; Erie occupied only a fraction of its present position, having
+no connection with Huron. The waters of the upper lakes were doubtless
+discharged from the eastern end of Georgian Bay, which then included
+Lake Nipissing, by way of the Ottawa River, into the St. Lawrence. Thus
+the Niagara was deprived of about seven-eighths of its present drainage
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+area, and consequently was totally unlike its present self. There is
+some indication that there may have been an outlet from Georgian Bay by
+a more southerly route, namely, the Trent River. If this were so, the
+northern route must have been blocked by the ice, since the Trent Pass
+is much higher than the one leading from Lake Nipissing, by way of the
+Ottawa. These are some of the possibilities which must be taken into
+consideration before any sure calculation can be made as to the age of
+the Falls, for there must have been an epoch in the history of the
+river, were it short or long, during which it carried only a very small
+fraction of the waters which it bears at present.</p>
+
+<p>Let us turn again to the gorge of the river itself. We have noted the
+similarity of structure of its two sides. This similarity is continuous
+throughout except at about half-way from Queenston to the Falls, where
+the river makes a turn in its course of almost ninety degrees. On the
+outside of this angle is the only place in the whole course where the
+material of the cliff changes. Here there is a break in the solid rock
+of the bank, which is filled with loose rock and gravel. This rift, to
+whatever it may be due, is of pre-glacial origin, for it is filled with
+the same material, the glacial drift, which covers the whole region. The
+cliff along Lake Ontario also presents very few breaks; but a few miles
+to the west of Queenston at St. Davids a broad gap is found in the
+otherwise unbroken wall. This gap is also filled with glacial drift. On
+its first discovery it was supposed to be a buried valley, and no
+connection with the Whirlpool was attributed to it. Later it was
+supposed that the break in the side of the Gorge, and the one at St.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+Davids, were parts of one and the same course of some pre-glacial
+stream. This supposition has been proven by the course having been
+traced through most of its distance by the wells sunk in the region.
+Later this interpretation of the facts found was destined to furnish
+further explanations. The question at once arose: How far and where did
+the upper course of this ancient valley extend? If it had cut across the
+course of the modern river, there would have been a break in the
+continuity of the cliff somewhere on the opposite side of the Gorge; but
+this can nowhere be found to be the case. The upper course of this
+ancient channel, therefore, must have coincided with that of the present
+channel. When, then, the Falls had receded to the side of the present
+Whirlpool, it reached a point where the greater part of its work had
+been performed. From here to whatever distance the upper course of the
+ancient river extended, the only work to do was to remove the loose
+gravel and boulders with which the glacier had filled its channel. This,
+of course, was effected much more rapidly than the wearing away of the
+hard limestone bed. Just what was the depth, and how far this old
+deserted valley extended, it is almost impossible to estimate. These
+changes are some of the most potent with which one must reckon in any
+calculation of the time since the beginning of Niagara's history.
+However, some work has been done in this line; and a broad field is
+still open for future investigation.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="ICE_MOUNTAIN" id="ICE_MOUNTAIN"></a>
+<img src="images/p0131.jpg" width="401" height="534" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Ice Mountain on Prospect Point.</h4>
+
+<p>At a very early date (1790), and when it was supposed by many to be
+almost sacrilegious to discuss the antiquity of the earth, Andrew
+Ellicott made an estimate of the age of the Falls by dividing the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+length of the Gorge by the supposed rate of recession. This gave as a
+result 55,000 years as the age of Niagara River. The next estimates
+which commanded attention were those of Bakewell and Sir Charles Lyell.
+Each of these men made separate estimates, but were compelled to take as
+the basis of their calculation the recession as given by residents of
+the district. Bakewell's calculations preceded Lyell's by several years,
+and resulted in ascribing to the Falls an age of 12,000 years. Lyell
+found the age to be about 36,000 years. The popularity of the latter
+caused his estimate to be accepted for a long period; many persons
+undoubtedly placing more faith in his results than he himself did. This
+method of dividing the distance by the rate of recession would be
+correct if there were no variables entering into the problem, and if the
+rate of recession were known; but these first calculations involved
+errors in the rate of movement of the Falls besides making no allowance
+for the variations which have been mentioned above.</p>
+
+<p>In order to obtain a sure means for measuring the recession of the
+Falls, Professor James Hall made a survey of the Horseshoe Falls in
+1842, under the authority of the New York Geological Survey. This survey
+plotted the position of the crest of the Falls, and established
+monuments at the points at which the angles were taken; thus leaving
+lasting marks of reference to which any future survey might be referred.
+In 1886, Professor Woodward of the United States Geological Survey, by
+reference to the markings left by Hall, found the rate of recession for
+the period to be about five feet per annum. It would, however, be
+necessary to extend these observations over a long period of time,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+since certain periods are marked by large falls of rock. Sometimes the
+centre of the Falls recedes very rapidly, while at other times the
+centre is almost stationary and the sides show the greater action. One
+of the most recent calculations of the age of the Falls was made by J.
+W. Spencer. Having made a thorough study of the history of the river
+revealed in its markings, and also of the Lakes, making allowance for
+all the variable factors, he calculated the duration of each epoch
+separately; and found the age of the river to be about 32,000 years.
+This result is about the same as that obtained from those based upon the
+relative elevations of different parts of the old deserted shore lines;
+and another based upon the rate of the rising of the land in the Niagara
+district.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="CAVE_WINDS_WINTER" id="CAVE_WINDS_WINTER"></a>
+<img src="images/p0135.jpg" width="399" height="560" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Cave of the Winds in Winter.</h4>
+
+<p>The many variable factors entering into the calculations so far
+discussed, have led to an earnest search for some means of determining
+the age of the river, which does not involve so many indeterminate and
+unknown quantities. This means of calculation, and one which seems to be
+much more free from unknown factors, seems to have been hit upon by
+Professor George Frederick Wright, whose calculations are based upon the
+rate of enlargement of the mouth of the river at the Niagara escarpment,
+where the Falls first began their existence. The cliffs at the mouth of
+the Gorge, as is the case with the newer portions of the river and
+indeed is characteristic of all canyons when first formed, were
+undoubtedly almost perpendicular when they were first cut by the rushing
+waters of the Niagara River. The mouth of the Gorge at Lewiston is of
+course the oldest part of the river; and if it were possible to measure
+the age of this part, this would surely give the date of the birth of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>
+Niagara. Immediately upon the formation of the Falls at Lewiston, the
+waters began the cutting of the Gorge; and immediately upon the
+formation of a gorge there was set to work upon its walls the
+disintegrating agencies of the atmosphere, free from indeterminate
+variables, tending to pull down the cliffs upon each side of the stream
+which jealously walled it in.</p>
+
+<p>This work has gone on year after year and century after century, without
+being affected by either the volume of the river's waters or the
+shifting in the elevation of the land. The work of the atmospheric
+agencies in enlarging the mouth of the Gorge has had the effect of
+changing its shape from that of a rectangle, whose perpendicular sides
+were 340 feet, to a figure with a level base formed by the river, whose
+sides slope off at the same angle on each side. Now if it were possible
+to measure the rate at which this enlargement is taking place, the
+problem of determining the age of the river would be a more simple one.</p>
+
+<p>The relative thickness of the different layers of material forming the
+walls of the Gorge is not the same throughout; at the escarpment at
+Lewiston, the summit is found to consist of a stratum of Niagara
+limestone, about twenty-five feet thick. Beneath this layer of lime is
+to be found about seventy feet of Niagara shale. The Niagara shale rests
+upon a twenty foot layer of hard Clinton limestone, which in turn is
+supported by a shale seventy feet thick. Forming the base is twenty feet
+of hard Medina sandstone, beneath which is another sandstone which is
+much softer and much more susceptible to erosion and the disintegrating
+forces of the atmosphere. These thick layers of shale form the part
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+upon which the atmospheric powers exert their energies, undermining the
+strata composed of material which with much more effect resists the
+attempt of any agency to break it down. As the shale is removed from
+beneath the harder layers immense masses of the latter fall and form a
+talus along the lower part of the cliff. This in brief is the manner in
+which the mouth of the Gorge is growing wider.</p>
+
+<p>The present width of the mouth of the Gorge at the water's level is 770
+feet. It is not likely that the river was ever any wider than now at
+this point, since its narrowest portion is over 600 feet, and this where
+the hard layer of Niagara limestone is much thicker than at the mouth.
+The current here is comparatively weak, so that there has been little
+erosion due to it. On the contrary the falling masses of sandstone and
+limestone have probably encroached somewhat upon the ancient margin of
+the stream, its weak current being unable to sweep out these
+obstructions which have formed an effectual protection to the bank.</p>
+
+<p>The observations necessary to Dr. Wright's calculations were taken along
+the line of a railroad, which, very opportunely, had been constructed
+along the eastern cliff. Here for a distance of about two miles the
+course of the road runs diagonally down the face of the cliff,
+descending in that distance about two hundred feet, and in its descent
+laying bare the layers of shale upon which the observations must be
+made. Along the course of the road at this point, watchmen are
+continually employed to remove obstructions falling down or to give
+warning of danger when any large masses fall. The disintegration goes on
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>
+much more rapidly in wet thawing weather than at other times of the
+year. Often in the spring the whole force of section hands is required
+for several days to dispose of the material of one single fall. At the
+rate of one-fourth of an inch a year of waste along this cliff there
+ought to fall slightly over six hundred cubic yards annually for each
+mile where the wall is 150 feet high. At this rate the enlargement at
+the terminal of the Gorge would take place, Dr. Wright estimates, in
+somewhat less than ten thousand years. No accounts have been kept by the
+railroad of the amount of fallen material, but some estimate can be made
+from the cost of removal of the falling stone, together with the
+observations of the watchmen, one of whom has been in the employ of the
+railroad in this capacity for twelve years, and also by noticing the
+distance to which the cliff has receded since the construction of the
+road.</p>
+
+<p>Only a superficial observer can see at once that the amount of removal
+has been greatly in excess of the rate mentioned above. The watchman, of
+whom mention has been made, was in the employ of the company which
+constructed the road in 1854, and therefore knows where the original
+face of the cliff was located. At one point, where the road descends to
+the Clinton limestone, the whole face of the Niagara shale is laid bare.
+Here the shale has been removed to a distance of twenty feet from its
+original position, and the rocks forming the roof overhang to about that
+distance. Now this mass of shale must have been removed since 1854. This
+would require a rate of disintegration much in excess of the one
+assumed. Necessarily some allowance must be made for the fact that the
+atmospheric agencies have here had a fresh section of the shale upon
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+which to work. Yet making all due allowance for the above condition, the
+rate at the mouth of the Gorge could not have been much less than that
+assumed above. The actual process of the enlargement has been periodic.
+As the falling shale undermines more and more the capping hard layers,
+from time to time these latter fall in immense masses. Any calculation
+of age based upon a few years of disintegration would be worthless; but
+one based upon centuries would come very near a true average. The walls
+of the Gorge were at first perpendicular, but as the undermining,
+process goes on they become sloped more and more, the falling masses
+forming a protection to the lower parts of the softer strata. One fact,
+however, to be noticed is that this protecting talus has never as yet
+reached so high as to stop the work of the disintegrating agencies. The
+horizontal distance from the water's edge back to the face of the
+Niagara limestone, which forms the top of the cliff, is 380 feet. On the
+above assumption of the rate of recession as one-fourth of an inch
+annually, the rate at the top of the cliff must have been about one-half
+inch for each year. From the observations made, it is difficult to
+believe that the retreat of this upper portion has been at a lower rate
+than a half-inch yearly; if this be true, this new line of evidence
+places the birth of the Niagara and the beginning of the cutting of the
+Gorge at Lewiston at about ten thousand years ago.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="MAID_MIST" id="MAID_MIST"></a>
+<img src="images/p0141.jpg" width="557" height="399" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>"Maid of the Mist" under Steel Arch Bridge.</h4>
+
+<p>The history of the Great Lakes and the birth of Niagara have a different
+interest for us, than alone to form the connecting link between the
+present and a past age devoid of life. Closely connected with this
+geologic history is the history of the human race. Unfortunately for us,
+the men inhabiting these parts in prehistoric ages have not left the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+traces of their existence upon the rocks and sands as have the waters of
+Niagara and the Lakes. Meagre, however, as is our knowledge we are still
+confident that man has been a comrade of the river during its entire
+history. Much to our disappointment, he was not possessed with the means
+of recording his knowledge for the satisfaction of future generations.
+Probably no such thought ever entered his brain. All that we know is,
+that along the old deserted shores of Lake Ontario in New York, which
+now form the Ridge Road, he constructed a rude hearth and built a fire
+thereon. The shifting of elevation or the rising of the surface of the
+lake buried beneath the waters hearth, ashes, and charred sticks, and
+thus by a mere accident do we know that human history extends back at
+least as far as the Ice Age.</p>
+
+<p>In these modern days, when we are prone to believe that all forms of
+animate existence and inanimate as well have been the result of an
+evolution, we cannot think of the man who possessed the art of fire as
+the primeval man. Whatever age may be assigned to the Niagara, whatever
+may be the antiquity of that great cataract, upon which we are wont to
+look as everlasting, the age of the human race must be considered
+greater.</p>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
+<h2>Chapter IV</h2>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">Niagara Bond and Free</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">N</span>o one acquainted with the Niagara of to-day can imagine what were the
+conditions existing here before the days of the New York State
+Reservation and Queen Victoria Park. That old Niagara of private
+ownership, with a new fee for every point of vantage, was a barbarous
+incongruity only matched by the wonder and beauty of the spectacle
+itself. The admission to Goat Island was fifty cents, and to the Cave of
+the Winds, one dollar. To gain Prospect Park, the "Art Gallery," the
+inclined railway, or the ferry, the charge was twenty-five cents. It
+cost one dollar to go to the "Shadow of the Rock," or go behind the
+Horseshoe Fall. The admission to the Burning Spring was fifty cents,
+likewise to Lundy's Lane battle-ground, the Whirlpool Rapids, the
+Whirlpool. It cost twenty-five cents to go upon either of the suspension
+bridges. In addition to this a swarm of pedlars were hawking their wares
+at your elbows, and tents were pitched at every vantage point,
+containing the tallest man or the fattest woman, or the most astonishing
+reptile then in a state of captivity in all the world.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="BEACON_BUFFALO" id="BEACON_BUFFALO"></a>
+<img src="images/p0145.jpg" width="653" height="627" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Beacon on Old Breakwater at Buffalo.</h4>
+
+<p>Not even the five-legged calves missed their share of plunder at
+Niagara, according to Mr. Howells, who paid his money out to assure
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+himself, as he affirms, that this marvel was in no wise comparable to
+the Falls. "I do not say that the picture of the calf on the outside of
+the tent," he observes, "was not as good as some pictures of Niagara I
+have seen. It was, at least, as much like." A writer of a decade before
+this (1850) speaks very strongly of the impositions to which a traveller
+is subjected at Niagara. How early in the century complaints began to
+appear cannot be stated; it would be interesting to be able to get
+information on this point since it would determine a more important
+matter still&mdash;the time when the Falls began to attract visitors in
+sufficient proportions to bring into existence the evils we find very
+prevalent at the middle of the century. The latter writer observes:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It would be paying Niagara a poor compliment to say that,
+practically she does not hurl off this chaffering by-play from
+her cope; but as you value the integrity of your impression, you
+are bound to affirm that it hereby suffers appreciable
+abatement; you wonder, as you stroll about, whether it is
+altogether an unrighteous dream that with the slow progress of
+culture, and the possible or impossible growth of some larger
+comprehension of beauty and fitness, the public conscience may
+not tend to ensure to such sovereign phases of nature something
+of the inviolability and privacy which we are slow to bestow,
+indeed, upon fame, but which we do not grudge, at least, to art.
+We place a great picture, a great statue, in a museum; we erect
+a great monument in the centre of our largest square, and if we
+can suppose ourselves nowadays building a cathedral, we should
+certainly isolate it as much as possible and subject it to no
+ignoble contact. We cannot build about Niagara with walls and a
+roof, nor girdle it with a palisade; but the sentimental tourist
+may muse upon the chances of its being guarded by the negative
+homage of empty spaces, and absent barracks, and decent
+forbearance. The actual abuse of the scene belongs evidently to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
+that immense class of iniquities which are destined to grow very
+much worse in order to grow a very little better. The good
+humour engendered by the main spectacle bids you suffer it to
+run its course.</p></div>
+
+<p>There was at least no bettering of conditions at Niagara between 1850
+and 1881, when more or less active steps began to be taken for the
+freeing of the beautiful shrine. True, Goat Island was kept ever in its
+primeval beauty, which by far counterbalanced the Porter mills on Bath
+Island; as William Dean Howells wrote, while these "were impertinent to
+the scenery they were picturesque with their low-lying, weatherworn
+masses in the shelter of the forest trees beside the brawling waters'
+head. But nearly every other assertion of private rights in the
+landscape was an outrage to it."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="WINTER_SCENE" id="WINTER_SCENE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0149.jpg" width="400" height="555" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Winter Scene in Prospect Park.</h4>
+
+<p>One of the strongest direct appeals to the nation's conscience in behalf
+of enslaved Niagara appeared in 1881 and is worthy of reproduction, if
+only for its vivid description of the status of affairs at the Falls at
+that time:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The homage of the world has thrown a halo round Niagara for
+those who have not seen it, and Niagara has left its own impress
+upon every thoughtful person who has seen it, and every
+unpleasant feature therefore is brought into bold relief. Where
+the carcass is, there also will the eagles be gathered together.
+A continuous stream of open-mouthed travellers has offered rare
+opportunities to the quick-witted money-makers of all kinds; the
+contrast between the place and its surroundings, perceived at
+first by the few, has been for years trumpeted throughout the
+country by the number of correspondents who write periodical
+accounts of the season, and to-day every sane adult citizen may
+be said to know two things about Niagara: first, that there is a
+great waterfall there, and second, that a man's pockets will be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+emptied more quickly there than anywhere else in the Union. . .
+. Niagara is being destroyed as a summer resort. It has long
+since ceased to be a place where people stay for a week or more,
+and it is now given up to second-class tourists, and
+excursionists who are brought by the car-load. The constant
+fees, the solicitation of the hackmen, the impertinences of the
+store-keepers, have actually been so potent that it is a rare
+thing to find any of the best people here. The hotels are not to
+blame; the Cataract House for instance, is a quiet, comfortable
+hotel, excellently managed, and in the hands of gentlemanly
+proprietors, and it is probably by no means alone in this
+respect. The hotel-keepers are aware of the state of things;
+they do not encourage the excursion traffic. Some even seek to
+avoid the patronage of the excursionists. From all over the
+country&mdash;from places as far as Louisville&mdash;the railway company
+bring the people by thousands: they pour out of the station in a
+stream half a mile long. Of course, like locusts, they sweep
+everything before them. Several places&mdash;Prospect Park, for
+instance&mdash;cater to the tastes of this class alone. Several
+evenings in the week Prospect Park is filled with a crowd of
+free-and-easy men and women, fetching their own tea and coffee
+and provisions and enjoying a rollicking dance in the Pavilion.
+And all this within fifty yards of the American fall! For their
+entertainment there is an illuminated spray-fountain, and their
+appreciation knows no bounds when various coloured lights are
+thrown upon the Falls. Then a crowd of fifty swoops down upon
+one of the hotels&mdash;men, women, and children&mdash;all in brown linen
+dusters; all hot, hungry, and careless. These people must not be
+deprived of their recreation. Heaven forbid! None have a greater
+right than they to the influence of Niagara. But this way of
+visiting the place is all wrong; they derive little benefit, and
+they do infinite harm.</p>
+
+<p>In this second sense the destruction of Niagara is making rapid
+strides in a far more dangerous direction. The natural
+attractions of the place are being undermined. On the American
+side the bank of the river above the Falls is covered for a
+quarter of a mile with structures of all kinds, from the
+extensive parlors and piazzas of the Cataract House to the
+little shanty where the Indian goods of Irish manufacture are
+sold.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+<p>For the purpose of securing bathrooms and water-power, dams of
+all kinds have been built; these are wooden trenches filled with
+rough paving-stones. Some of the structures project over the
+Rapids, being supported by piles. The spaces between the various
+buildings are used to store lumber, and as dust heaps. One of
+them contains a great heap of saw-dust, another a pile of
+scrap-iron. The banks and fences bear invitations to purchase
+Parker's hair-balsam and ginger tonic. The proprietor of
+Prospect Park has made a laudable attempt to plant trees upon
+his land; these extend for a few yards above the Falls. In
+return, however, he has erected coloured arbours, and a station
+for his electric light, which are almost as unpleasant as the
+other buildings.</p>
+
+<p>Just below the Suspension Bridge the gas-works discharge their
+tar down the bank into the river; a few yards further on there
+are five or six large manufactories, whose tail-races empty
+themselves over the cliff. The spectator on Goat Island, on the
+Suspension Bridge, or on the Canadian side cannot help seeing
+this mass of incongruous and ugly structures extending along the
+whole course of the Rapids and to the brink of the Falls. Of
+course, under these circumstances the Rapids are degraded into a
+mill-race, and the Fall itself seems to be lacking a
+water-wheel.</p>
+
+<p>One half of Bath Island&mdash;which lies between Goat Island and the
+shore&mdash;is filled with the ruins of a large paper-mill which was
+burnt in 1880. It is now being rebuilt and greatly enlarged.
+Masses of charred timbers, old iron, calcined stones and bricks,
+two or three great rusty boilers, the dirty heaps surmounted by
+a tall chimney&mdash;such are the surroundings of a spot, which, for
+grandeur and romantic beauty, is not equalled in the world. A
+short distance below Bath Island lies Bird Island, a mere clump
+of trees in the midst of the rushing water, a mass of dark-green
+foliage overhanging its banks and trailing its branches
+carelessly in the foam. This little spot has been untrodden by
+man&mdash;the most fearless savage would not risk his birch-bark boat
+in these waters. But what those who profit by it call the rapid
+strides of commercial industry, or possibly the development of
+our national resources, will soon destroy this little piece of
+Nature; already the owners of the paper-mill have built their
+dam within twenty yards of it, extending through the waters like
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+the limb of some horrid spider, slowly but surely reaching its
+prey. Let the connection be made, and a couple of men with axes
+turned loose in this little green island, and before long the
+rattle of a donkey-engine or the howl of a saw-mill swells the
+chorus of this <i>soi-disant</i> civilisation. The following does not
+sound very encouraging for the preservation of Niagara's
+scenery. It is taken from a paper, <i>Niagara as a Water Power:</i></p>
+
+<p>" . . . Hence it is that we are soon to see a development of
+this peculiar power of Niagara which will stand unrivalled among
+motors of its class in the world.</p>
+
+<p>"Already people talk of the storage of electricity and quote the
+opinions of scientists about the possibilities of the future.
+Sir William Thompson&mdash;it is said&mdash;gave as his opinion that it
+would be perfectly feasible to light London with electricity
+generated at Niagara.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no assurance that Goat Island may not be sold at any
+moment for the erection of a mill or factory. Indeed if a rapid
+development of the mechanical application of electricity should
+take place&mdash;thus enabling speculators to offer very high prices
+for the immense power that could be controlled from Goat Island,
+it is almost certain that such a sale would result. And with its
+accomplishment would disappear the last chance of saving
+Niagara!"</p></div>
+
+<p>The honour of first suggesting the preservation of Niagara Falls has
+been claimed by many persons. But the first real suggestion dates back
+as early as 1835, though made without details. It came from two
+Scotchmen, Andrew Reed and James Matheson, who, in a volume describing
+their visits to Congregational churches of this country, first broached
+the idea that Niagara should "be deemed the property of civilised
+mankind."</p>
+
+<p>In 1885, by the labours of several distinguished men, principally Mr.
+Frederick Law Olmsted, a bill was passed in the Legislature of New York
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>
+instructing the commissioners of the State Survey to prepare a report
+on the conditions and prospects of Niagara. This report was prepared by
+Mr. James T. Gardner, the director of the New York State Survey, and Mr.
+Olmsted. It strongly protested against such waste and degradation of the
+scenery as have been described in this chapter; it set forth the dangers
+of ultimate destruction, and made an eloquent appeal in favour of State
+action to preserve this natural treasure. The report strongly urged the
+establishment of an "International Park," and gave details of its
+construction with maps and views. It proposed that a strip of land a
+mile long and varying from one hundred feet to eight hundred feet broad,
+together with the buildings on it, should be condemned by the State,
+appraised by a commission, and purchased. The erections on Bath Island
+and in the Rapids were to be swept away. Trees and shrubberies were to
+be planted, roads and foot-paths appropriately laid out. The cost was
+estimated at one million dollars.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p>
+
+<p>Why the bill should have met with so much opposition before it was
+finally passed, is to-day a question hard to answer; at any rate the
+political history of the bill is interesting.</p>
+
+<p>As in the case of most modern propositions the question was generally
+asked:</p>
+
+<p>"Is the game worth the candle? Is it worth while to spend a million
+dollars&mdash;to take twenty-five cents out of the pocket of each tax-payer
+in the State of New York&mdash;in order to destroy a lot of good buildings
+and plant trees in place of them, and, moreover, to do this for the sake
+of a few persons whose nerves are so delicate that the sight of a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+tremendous body of water rushing over a precipice is spoiled for them by
+a pulp-mill standing on the banks?"</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, it is said on good authority, that Governor Cornell, after
+listening to a description of the shameful condition at the Falls and
+the surroundings at the time when he sat in the gubernatorial chair
+remarked: "Well, the water goes over just the same doesn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cleveland, being elected Governor of New York in 1882 seemed always
+in favour of the preservation of the scenery at Niagara Falls. Governor
+Robinson, in 1879, likewise an advocate of the idea, even caused some
+preliminary steps to be taken but the following gentlemen especially
+deserve to be entered in the <i>Golden Book of Niagara</i>: Thomas K.
+Beecher, James J. Belden, R. Lenox Belknap, Prof. E. Chadwick, Erastus
+Corning, Geo. W. Curtis, Hon. James Daly, Benjamin Doolittle, Edgar van
+Etter, R. E. Fenton, H. H. Frost, General James W. Husted, Thomas L.
+James, Thomas Kingsford, Benson J. Lossing, Seth Low, Luther R. Marsh,
+Randolph B. Martine, Rufus H. Peckham, Howard Potter, D. W. Powers,
+Pascal P. Pratt, Ripley Ropes, Horatio Seymour, Geo. B. Sloan, Samuel J.
+Tilden, Senator Titus, Theodore Vorhees, Francis H. Weeks, Wm. A.
+Wheeler. They all made strenuous efforts to advance the bill introduced
+into the Legislature by Jacob F. Miller of New York City. One of its
+foremost promoters also was Mr. Thomas V. Welch, Superintendent of the
+New York State Reservation at Niagara, whose valuable pamphlet <i>How
+Niagara was Made Free</i> affords much of our material for this chapter. A
+bill entitled "Niagara Reservation Act" passed the New York Assembly and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+the Senate, and was signed by Grover Cleveland on April 30, 1883.
+Commissioners were appointed consisting of William Dorsheimer, Sherman
+S. Rogers, Andrew H. Green, J. Hampden Robb, and Martin B. Anderson. But
+the final bill had to undergo many vicissitudes ere it was lastly
+amended and passed. The appraisals alone amounted to $1,433,429.50, and
+the then existing financial depression had to be dispelled before
+anything definite could be done. Between 1883 and 1885 there arose a
+most unjustifiable raid against the measure. I have already alluded to
+it above. John J. Platt of the <i>Poughkeepsie Eagle</i> wrote for instance:
+"We regard this Niagara scheme as one of the most unnecessary and
+unjustifiable raids upon the State Treasury ever attempted." Mr. Platt
+became later on a warm advocate of the plan, but the wrong was done.
+Some denounced the bill as a "job" and a "steal" and berated Niagara
+Falls and its citizens, particularly the hackmen, hotel-men, and
+bazaar-keepers as sharks and swindlers, who had robbed the people
+individually and were now seeking to rob them collectively. They said
+they would oppose the bill by every means, hoped it would be
+defeated&mdash;bursts of temper mildly suggestive of strangers who had
+visited Niagara and had suffered at the hands of her showmen in the
+golden days of Niagara's army of fakirs and extortionists.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="BATH_ISLAND" id="BATH_ISLAND"></a>
+<img src="images/p0157.jpg" width="663" height="393" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Bath Island, American Rapids, in 1879.<br />
+
+From New York Commissioners' Report.</h4>
+
+<p>Thus the matter dragged and great fears were entertained that the case
+would be lost. Meanwhile the above-named prominent citizens had not been
+idle. They had sent to their friends and constituents a kind of a
+circular and obtained about four thousand signatures in favour of the
+measure. Clergymen, educators, editors, and attorneys were well
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+represented; medical men without exception signed the petition, which
+was finally submitted to Governor Hill. For a time it almost seemed that
+the Governor shared the views of Governor Cornell. He was "pestered to
+death" in behalf of the bill until the matter actually created a stir,
+as though the very welfare of the State depended on it. Great pressure
+was brought on Mr. Hill to sign the bill; he visited the Falls himself,
+went over the ground, but he was non-committal and even his intimates
+had no idea whether he would affix his signature. Yet he seemed
+apparently more favourably disposed than heretofore.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>There was left a feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty [writes
+Mr. Welch], concerning the fate of the bill. Another week
+passed. Rumours were rife concerning the intention of the
+Governor to let the bill die, in lack of his signature, and thus
+arrived the 30th of April, 1885, the last day for the scheme
+allowed by law.</p>
+
+<p>The forenoon was spent in a state of feverish anxiety&mdash;not
+lessened by frequent rumours of a veto in the Senate or
+Assembly; some of them started in a spirit of mischief by the
+newspaper reporters. When noon came, it seemed as if the bill
+would surely fail for lack of executive approval. But the
+darkest hour is just before daybreak. Shortly after noon a
+newspaper man hurriedly came to the writer<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> in the Assembly
+chamber and said that the Governor had just signed the Niagara
+Bill. A hurried passage was made to the office of the Secretary
+of State to see if the bill had been received from the Governor.
+It had not been received. At that moment the door was opened by
+the Governor's messenger who placed the bill in the hands of the
+writer saying "Here is your little joker." A glance at the bill
+showed it to be the "Niagara Reservation Bill," and on the last
+page was the much coveted signature of David B. Hill, rivalling
+that of Mr. Grover Cleveland in diminutive handwriting.</p>
+
+<p>It is reported that the "King of the Lobby," a man notorious for
+years in Albany, expressed his satisfaction at the approval of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>
+the bill, saying "The 'boys' wanted to 'strike' that bill, but I
+told them that they must not do it; that it was a bill which
+ought to pass without the expenditure of a dollar&mdash;and it did."</p></div>
+
+<p>The Report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara lies
+before me. It is dated February 17, 1885.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> The commissioners were
+appointed in 1883 to consider and report what, if any, measures it might
+be expedient for the State to adopt carrying out the project to place
+Niagara under the control of Canada and New York according to the
+suggestions contained in the annual message of Governor Cleveland with
+respect to Niagara Falls. The report states that the attractions of the
+scenery and climate in the neighbourhood of the Falls are such that with
+their ready accessibility by several favourite routes of travel it might
+reasonably be expected that Niagara would be a popular summer resort;
+that there was nevertheless, no desirable summer population, attributed
+chiefly to the constant annoyances to which the traveller is subjected:
+pestering demands and solicitations, and petty exactions and impositions
+by which he is everywhere met. While it is true that such annoyances are
+felt wherever travellers are drawn in large numbers, at Niagara the
+inconvenience becomes greater because the distinctive interest of
+Niagara as compared with other attractive scenery is remarkably
+circumscribed and concentrated. That the value of Niagara lies in its
+appeal to the higher emotion and imaginative faculties and should not be
+disturbed and irritated; that tolls and fees had to be removed; traffic
+was to be excluded from the limits from whence the chief splendour of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+the scenery was visible. That the only prospect of relief was to be
+found in State control; that the forest was rapidly destroyed which once
+formed the perfect setting of one of Nature's most gorgeous panoramas,
+and that the erection of mills and factories upon the margin of the
+river had a most injurious effect upon the character of the scene.</p>
+
+<p>It was therefore resolved on June 9, 1883, that</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>in the judgment of this board it is desirable to select as
+proper and necessary to be reserved for the purpose of
+preserving the scenery of the falls of Niagara and of restoring
+the said scenery to its natural condition, the following lands
+situate in the village of Niagara and the County of Niagara
+to-wit: Goat Island, Bath Island, the Three Sisters, Bird
+Island, Luna Island, Chapin Island, and the small islands
+adjacent to said islands in the Niagara River, and the bed of
+said river between said islands and the main land of the State
+of New York; and, also, the bed of said river between Goat
+Island and the Canadian boundary; also a strip of land beginning
+near "Port Day" in said village, running along the shore of said
+river, to and including "Prospect Park" and the cliff and debris
+slope, under the same, substantially as shown by that part
+coloured green on the map accompanying the fourth report of the
+Board of Commissioners of the State Survey, dated March 22,
+1880; and including also at the east end of said strip
+sufficient land not exceeding one acre for purposes convenient
+for said reservation, and also all lands at the foot of said
+falls, and all lands in said river adjoining said islands and
+the other lands hereinbefore described.</p></div>
+
+<p>By the adoption of the foregoing resolution, the area of a reservation
+was preliminarily defined. A commission of appraisement was installed.
+As was to be expected the claims for the condemned land were about four
+million dollars. The awards, however, amounted to $1,433,429.50 only.
+Some interesting and important questions were raised as to the rights
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+of the riparian owners to use the power afforded by the Niagara River
+for hydraulic purposes and to receive compensation therefor. Upon this
+basis the owners were prepared to present claims aggregating twenty or
+thirty millions of dollars. After full argument and careful
+consideration, the commissioners of appraisement rejected all such
+claims, except where the water power had been actually reduced to use
+and used for a period long enough to create a prescriptive right. They
+held:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>(1) that Niagara is a public stream, and its bed and waters
+belong to the State; (2) that as against the State private
+riparian owners have no right to encroach on its bed to divert
+its waters or to subject them to the burden of manufacturing
+uses, unless they have acquired such right by grant from the
+State or by prescription.</p></div>
+
+<p>The preamble of the Preservation Act<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> which was to make Niagara free
+read:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>Whereas</i>, the State Engineer and Surveyor has completed and
+submitted to this board a map of the lands selected and located
+by it in the village of Niagara Falls and the County of Niagara
+and State of New York, which, in the judgment of this board are
+proper and necessary to be reserved for the purpose of
+preserving the scenery of the falls of Niagara, and restoring
+the said scenery to its natural condition; now, therefore, it is
+Resolved, etc.</p></div>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
+<p>On the morning of July 15th the Seventh Battery unlimbered its howitzers
+to salute the rising sun with a hundred salvos. The day unfortunately
+proved dark and foreboding. A storm burst in the morning and drove the
+crowds to shelter, and the last drops had hardly ceased pattering, when
+the hour of noon, the time fixed for the ceremony, arrived. The grounds
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+of Prospect Park were wet and the trees shook their water freely in the
+light breeze, but some thousands collected on the grass around the
+pavilion, notwithstanding these disheartening circumstances. When
+President Dorsheimer, however, began his speech the sun smiled through
+the clouds, and the day thereafter was perfect overhead.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="PATH_LUNA" id="PATH_LUNA"></a>
+<img src="images/p0165.jpg" width="397" height="551" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Path to Luna Island.</h4>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+<p>The excursion trains began to pour their passengers into the village
+early. They came from the counties bordering on the Pennsylvania line
+and from the northern and western ends of the State and from the towns
+in the Canadian dominion. It is estimated that at least thirty thousand
+strangers were unloaded in the village. The visitors included country
+folk and residents of the city, and about two thousand militiamen,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+principally from the Fourth Division, although there were several
+organisations among them representing Cleveland, Detroit, Utica,
+Buffalo, and Rochester. There was a sprinkling of British redcoats among
+the gold-laced officers who dotted the village streets. One of the
+Canadian battalions desired to come over and join in the celebration.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+The United States authorities extended a welcome but the Canadian
+authorities declined to allow their soldiers to cross the river. A few
+of the officers got permit to come.</p>
+
+<p>Governor Hill and his staff were met by a committee appointed to receive
+them, consisting of Thomas V. Welch and O. W. Cutter. There were also
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+Senators Bowen, Low, Lansing, Ellsworth, Baker, Van Schaick, Titus and
+"Tim" Campbell. Of Assemblymen there were present Mr. Hubbell of
+Rochester, who fathered the bill in the last Legislature which led to
+the day's ceremonies; Hon. Jacob L. Miller, who, in 1883, introduced the
+bill creating the Niagara Park Commission; Hendricks, Kruse, McEwen,
+Bailey, Scott, Raines, Haskell, Dibble, Connelly, Major Haggerty,
+General Barnum, Whitmore, Storm, Ely, Secretary of the Senate John W.
+Vrooman, and Ex-Senators MacArthur and Loomis.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+<p>Of editors and other public men well known "up in the State" there were
+Carroll E. Smith and W. H. Northrup of Syracuse; S. Callicott and John
+A. Sleicher of Albany; Willard S. Cobb of Lockport; William Purcell of
+Rochester; Congressman Wadsworth; Ex-Congressmen Brewer and Van Abram
+and Solomon Scheu. Of State officials were mentioned Civil Service
+Commissioner Henry A. Richmond; Professor Gardner of the old State
+survey; Secretary Carr; Attorney-General O'Brien; Treasurer Maxwell;
+Engineer Sweet; Insurance Superintendent John A. McCall; and
+Superintendent of Public Instruction William H. Ruggles. Letters of
+regret were received from Governor-General Lansdowne of Canada, Samuel
+J. Tilden, and President Cleveland.</p>
+
+<p>The last admission fee to Prospect Park was collected in the night of
+July 15, 1885, and a till full of quarters was taken before the gates
+were thrown open at midnight. The owners of Goat Island left their gates
+open all night. Everything was free, however, on the 15th and such a
+company as swarmed over the islands in consequence was never seen
+before. They crowded the walks and fringed the cliffs and shores at
+every available point. They recklessly clambered down to the bottom of
+the Falls and clustered on the ledge of rocks overlooking the Horseshoe
+and American Falls. Persons who had lived all their lives within twenty
+miles of the Falls now beheld them for the first time. They brought
+their luncheons, and when the sun came out they picnicked on the
+greensward.</p>
+
+<p>The hurdy-gurdy shows which had sprung up like mushrooms within
+twenty-four hours all over the village were doing a brisk business. The
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+Indian shops also were all open but the other stores and places of
+business in the village were closed for the day. The air was filled from
+morning till night with the blare of military bands, the monotonous
+sound of numberless organs, and the shouts and cries of venders and
+showmen. Every building in the village was decorated with bunting.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="GREEN_ISLAND_BRIDGE" id="GREEN_ISLAND_BRIDGE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0173.jpg" width="550" height="398" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Green Island Bridge.</h4>
+
+<p>The pavilion in the park was reserved for invited guests and for those
+who participated in the ceremonies. Near the Governor and his staff sat
+the Commissioners of the Niagara Park Reservation. Among the
+distinguished guests were prominent Canadians who took a warm interest
+in the project of an International Park at Niagara. They were
+Lieutenant-Governor Robinson, Captain Geddes, and Lieutenant-Colonel
+Gowski, members of the Niagara Park Association; the Hon. O. S. Hardy,
+Secretary of Ontario, and the Attorney-General of that Province, the
+Hon. O. Mowat.</p>
+
+<p>The opening-prayer was offered by the Right-Reverend A. Cleveland Coxe.
+He was followed by Erastus Brooks, who, in a brief speech, introduced
+the subject of the day's celebration, and concluded by saying that no
+better investment had ever been made by any State, corporation, or
+people, and added that Lord Dufferin had promised that Canada would join
+in establishing a free park on their own side of the Falls. Great
+enthusiasm followed, and the whole audience of five thousand people then
+joined in singing <i>America</i>. President Dorsheimer, in behalf of the
+Commission, then formally presented the Park to the State of New York.
+After briefly reciting what the Commission had done he said: "From this
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+hour Niagara is free. But not free alone; it shall be clothed with
+beauty again, and the blemishes which have been planted among these
+scenes will presently be removed. As soon as the forces of Nature,
+nowhere more powerful than at this favoured place, can do the work,
+these banks will be covered with trees, these slopes made verdant, and
+the Cataract once more clothed with the charms which Nature gave it."</p>
+
+<p>As he concluded the firing of guns signalled to the crowds on the
+islands and on the Canadian side that Niagara was the possession of the
+State of New York, and that Governor Hill was about to accept the gift
+in the name of the people of the State. The Governor was warmly cheered
+when he stepped forward to speak. He gave a brief sketch of the history
+of the Falls, and likewise alluded to the opening of the Erie Canal, the
+laying of the corner-stone of the State's magnificent Capitol at Albany
+and the opening of the East River bridge. Then he accepted the Park with
+some appropriate words, concluding as follows: "The preservation of
+Niagara Park, the greatest of wonders is, indeed, a noble work. Its
+conception is worthy the advanced thought, the grand liberality, and the
+true spirit of the nineteenth century."</p>
+
+<p>After this followed the singing of the <i>Star Spangled Banner</i>, the
+audience joining earnestly in the chorus. The oration was delivered by
+that polished member of the New York Bar, Mr. James C. Carter, giving a
+full history of the region. The two Canadian officials,
+Lieutenant-Governor Robinson and Attorney-General Mowat were then
+introduced, and congratulated the State of New York for the enterprise
+and public spirit shown by the people and the public officers. The
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>
+exercise concluded with the Doxology and a benediction. In the afternoon
+Governor Hill with Generals Jewett and Rogers reviewed the militia. In
+the evening fireworks were set off from Prospect Park, Goat Island, and
+the brink of the Falls from the Canadian side. Earlier in the day the
+Comptroller's check for five hundred thousand dollars was received by
+the Porter family, the Goat Island property had been transferred to the
+commissioners, and Niagara was free.</p>
+
+<p>There had been, of course, strong objection on the part of the army of
+landholders and monopolists who were to be thrown out of their "easy
+money" livelihoods. Of this the excellent "leader" in the New York
+<i>Times</i> of July 15th deals as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It would be alike idle and unjust to blame the people of Niagara
+Falls for this state of mind. They have done what the members of
+any other community would have done in making the most of their
+neighbourhood as a wonder of nature. Even the obstinate . . .
+who declines to be bought out, and insists upon his right to
+make merchandise out of the river, is entitled to respect for
+the tenacity with which he proposes to resist the acquisition of
+his property by the State upon the ground that the law
+authorising the acquisition is unconstitutional.</p>
+
+<p>He would very possibly be willing to acknowledge the right of
+eminent domain if it were proposed to take his land for a
+railroad, but the idea that it shall be taken in order that a
+river . . . shall be kept for dudes to look at undoubtedly
+strikes him as unmixed foolishness. However excusable this state
+of mind may have been, nobody who does not own a point of view
+or at least a hack at Niagara will dispute that its consequences
+have been deplorable. Though Niagara has continued to be a
+frequential resort it has by no means been as popular as it
+would have become with the increasing facilities of travel and
+the increasing advantages taken of them, if the fame of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+gross and petty extortions had not been almost as widely spread
+as the fame of Niagara itself. While the local monopolies have
+deterred people from visiting the Falls, they have nevertheless
+been so lucrative that the most important of them is reported
+upon the authority of one of its managers to have returned a net
+annual profit, of thirty thousand dollars, and the report is not
+incredible, prodigious as the figure seems as a profit upon the
+mere command of a point of view. This hedging about and looking
+up of a boon of nature was perhaps the most objectionable
+incident of the private shore of Niagara. To a tourist who goes
+to Niagara from any other motive than that of saying that he had
+been there the importunity to which he had been subjected at
+every turn was absolutely destructive of the object of his
+visit. The prosaic and incongruous surroundings of the cataract
+completed the disillusion which importunity and extortion were
+calculated to produce. Many tourists would have been glad to pay
+down, once for all, as much as their persecutors could have
+reasonably hoped to extract from them for the privilege of being
+allowed to look without molestation upon the work of nature
+undisfigured by the handiwork of man. "For many years this has
+been impossible, and for several years it has been evident that
+it could be made possible only by the resumption on the part of
+the State, as a trustee of its citizens and for all mankind, of
+the ownership and control of the shore. This resumption will be
+formally made to-day. But it was really brought about in the
+Legislature in the winter of 1884, when the full force of the
+opposition to the project was brought out and fairly defeated.
+The State of New York has in effect decided that the
+preservation of a sublime work of nature under conditions which
+will enable it to affect men's minds most strongly is an object
+for which it is worth while to pay the money of the State. It is
+this emphatic decision which marks a real advance in
+civilisation over the state of mind of the Gradgrinds of the
+last generation and of the contemporaneous wood-pulp grinder
+that the proper function of the greatest waterfall in the world
+is to turn mill-wheels and produce pennies by being turned into
+a peep show."</p></div>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+<p>The Reservation forms a beautiful State Park within the growing city of
+Niagara Falls, N. Y., which lies just back of it numbering now a
+population of nearly twenty-five thousand people. The city is well laid
+out, and its promoters "point with pride" to the advances made during
+the last decade and bespeak for "Industrial Niagara" a future of great
+distinction in the commercial world.</p>
+
+<p>The first town worthy of the name here on the American side of the Falls
+was named Manchester by Judge Porter when he settled here in 1806, 102
+years ago, believing that the site could eventually be occupied by the
+"Manchester of America." Judge Porter's many inducements to promoters
+were not accepted until about the middle of last century (1853) when the
+present canal was begun. For many years even this improvement lay
+unused; it was not until 1878 that the present company was organised and
+any real advance was made. Of the recent wonderful development along
+power lines at Niagara we treat in another chapter under the title of
+"Harnessing Niagara Falls." But the supreme interest in these lines of
+activity must not let us lose sight of the important element of local
+environment.</p>
+
+<p>It is of almost national interest that Niagara is so centrally located,
+that within seven hundred miles of this great cataract live two-thirds
+of the population of the United States and Canada. This of itself, were
+there no Niagara Falls, would guarantee the growth of the town of
+Niagara Falls. Add to this strategic location the exceptional advantages
+to be found here by industrial plants looking for a home, and also the
+evident fact that Niagara Falls is a delightful spot in which to reside,
+it is clear that if a great and beautiful city does not develop here in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>
+the next century human prophecy will have missed its guess and tons of
+advertising will have been wasted. Twenty-five million dollars are, it
+is said, invested in capital now in the present town, and the value of
+imports and exports in 1906 was over two millions and over twelve
+millions, respectively. Fourteen railways here find terminals and the
+town has over one hundred mails daily. With splendid educational
+advantages, with twenty miles and more of pavement already laid, with a
+beautiful and efficiently conducted public library, with a city water
+pumping plant capable of handling twenty million gallons daily, and
+nearly forty miles of drains, with a citizenship active, patriotic, and
+capable, is it any wonder that Niagara Falls' real estate agents and
+suburban resident promoters are thriving like the old cabmen and
+side-show operators thrived in the "good old days" of private ownership
+along the Niagara's bank?</p>
+
+<p>There is no discounting the advances this interesting little city has
+made in the past ten years and more, and there is very little
+possibility, on the face of things of a tremendously accelerated growth
+in the coming century. Big problems are here being worked out; big
+schemes are afoot, big things will happen&mdash;an advance will come because
+of the plain merit of the bare facts of the case without unnecessary
+inducement or overcapitalisation of the advertising agencies. The world
+needs power to do its work, and until we sit down calmly and figure out
+a way for the ocean tides to do our work, as ought in all conscience to
+be the case to-day, Niagara Falls will hold out extraordinary inducement
+to all industrial promoters which cannot be rivalled in many ways at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+any other point. If only the ends of industry can be achieved without
+destroying this great continental scenic wonder! There are those who are
+unwilling to take a single rainbow from that ocean of rainbows amidst
+the Falls to drive another wheel. But there is surely a sane middle
+ground to be found here, and it is certain that brave, thinking men are
+on the sure track to find it.</p>
+
+<p>Similar in geographic position, quite as much could be said for Niagara
+Falls, Ont., as has been said of her twin city on the American shore. In
+point of beauty nothing can excel the magnificent Queen Victoria Park,
+opened in 1888, which lies opposite the New York State Reservation; the
+view of the two falls from it, or from the airy piazzas of the superb
+Clifton Hotel which flanks it, is unmatched. At present writing the
+guardians of the New York State Reservation, and other sensitive
+persons, are justly exercised over a genuine "Yankee trick," more or
+less connived in, they darkly hint, by the authorities, who have
+permitted a series of hideous signboards to be erected on the Canadian
+shore to serve the purpose of bringing out more vividly by contrast the
+unrivalled beauties of Queen Victoria Park.</p>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Chapter V</h2>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">Harnessing Niagara Falls</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">L</span>ord Kelvin, when visiting Niagara Falls, was not moved by that which
+appeals to the ordinary tourist, the roaring of the cataract, the waters
+in their mad rush from the Falls to the whirlpool and thence to Lake
+Ontario, nor the mists rising night and day from the waters churned into
+foam. For him, Niagara was a monster piece of machinery, accomplishing
+nothing but the pounding out of its own life on the rocks which formed
+its bed. In his mind's eye there appeared vast factories, deriving their
+power from the Falls, furnishing hundreds of men employment and
+distributing millions of dollars' worth of products to be placed nearer
+the hands of the poorer classes because of having been created by the
+cheap power furnished here by nature.</p>
+
+<p>Various estimates have been made regarding the volume of water flowing
+over the Falls; but the calculations by United States engineers
+extending over a number of years places the amount at about 224,000
+gallons a foot per second. These are the figures taken as the basis of
+many calculations; upon this basis the Falls would furnish 3,800,000
+horse-power exclusive of the rapids. If the fall of about fifty feet
+which is produced by the rapids in their descent from the Dufferin
+Islands be added to this amount, the sum total of power would be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+greatly increased. To make some use of this almost inconceivable amount
+of power which has been wasting itself for ages has been the problem
+which has caused much investigation and to-day it seems to be nearing a
+practical solution.</p>
+
+<p>Niagara Falls were first used as a source of power in 1725, when a
+primitive saw-mill was built just opposite Goat Island to saw lumber for
+the construction of Fort Niagara. For years men have made many attempts
+to use some of the power to be had here for the taking, and in a very
+small way have been successful. A number of establishments for several
+decades have been making use of power developed by the Falls by means of
+the Hydraulic Canal on the American side. This canal was begun in 1853
+and passes through the city of Niagara Falls, terminating on the cliff
+half a mile below the cataract; here are to be found a number of mills,
+which however utilise only a small fraction of the fall available,
+probably because at the time of their construction, the high grade
+water-wheels of to-day were not in existence. Some of the waste water
+from the tail races of these mills is now being collected into large
+iron-tubes and is used again by mills situated at the base of the cliff.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="BIRDS-EYE_VIEW" id="BIRDS-EYE_VIEW"></a>
+<img src="images/p0183.jpg" width="505" height="399" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Bird's-eye View of the Canadian Rapids and Fall.<br />
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</h4>
+
+<p>In 1885, the late Thomas Evershed, of Rochester, New York, devised a
+plan for wheel-pits a mile and a half above the Falls. The water was to
+be conducted to these pits by lateral canals, from which it was to be
+taken to the river below the Falls by means of a tunnel cut through the
+solid rock. This plan seemed more practicable than any proposed
+heretofore, and commanded the attention of many leading engineers of the
+country. The present great developments at the Falls had their
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>
+inception in the organisation of the Niagara Falls Power Company. This
+company obtained a charter from the State of New York in 1886, giving
+them permission to use water sufficient to generate two hundred thousand
+horse-power. This company could accomplish very little on account of its
+limited capital. In a short time, however, New York capitalists and
+bankers, perceiving the practicability of the company's plans, became
+interested in the project, and furnished the necessary funds. The first
+earth was turned for this great work in October 1890 and the tunnel was
+completed in the autumn of 1893. The first main wheel-pit was ready for
+its machinery by the following March.</p>
+
+<p>The device for applying Niagara's power to the turbines is on the same
+principle of construction, in each of the recently erected plants as in
+this first one. In the case of the Niagara Falls Power Company, a broad
+deep inlet leads from the river at a point a mile and a half above the
+American Falls, two thousand feet back in a north-easterly direction.
+The canal is protected by a lining of heavy masonry, which is pierced at
+its upper end by a number of gateways; through these water is admitted
+by short canals to pits emptying into huge steel pipes or penstocks, as
+they are called. These penstocks terminate at the bottom in wheel boxes,
+in which are placed the bronze turbine wheels, connected with the
+surface by means of steel shafts parallel to the penstocks. From the
+turbine wheels the water whirls and rushes on through a subterranean
+passage to the main tunnel. Here it starts on its long journey of over a
+mile under-ground, beneath the heart of the city, until it emerges again
+at an opening in the cliff just below what is known as the new
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+suspension bridge. A very ingenious plan was adopted for the application
+of the power to the turbines. The penstocks are brought down under the
+wheels and are made to discharge their waters upward into the boxes.
+This contrivance causes the water to bear up the great weight of the
+wheels, from the bearings beneath for their support, besides that of the
+hundred and forty feet of shafting connected with the turbines for
+transmitting power to the surface.</p>
+
+<p>The tunnel which receives these waters after leaving the turbines is no
+less than six thousand seven hundred feet long, and discharges below the
+Falls just past the suspension bridge. Its cross-section somewhat
+resembles a horseshoe in shape, and this sectional area is three hundred
+and eighty-six square feet throughout, the average height and width
+being twenty-one and sixteen feet respectively. The company owning the
+mills connected with this tunnel, together with the Niagara Falls
+Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company, of which mention has been
+made, are the only ones using water to any great extent on the American
+side.</p>
+
+<p>On the Canadian side, three great canals are drawing water from the
+river. It is the construction of these mammoth Canadian power plants,
+and the devising of means for leading water to the turbines together
+with the development of a plan for the disposal of the waste water by
+means of some form of tail race, which must necessarily consist of a
+monster tunnel broken through the solid rock, which has developed some
+of the greatest and most unique engineering problems ever before dreamed
+of, and which has presented a work hazardous and spectacular in the
+extreme.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+<p>To meet the engineering problems concerned in locating the three
+Canadian plants along the shore of the river, involving the taking of
+water by some form of canal, and the disposal of waste water through
+tunnel or by other means to the lower river, each without interfering
+with any of the other plants, taxed even Yankee engineering ingenuity.
+One company had to unwater a considerable area of Niagara River at
+Tempest Point where the waters have a great depth and the current is of
+high velocity. From here then a tunnel, the largest in the world, must
+be broken through solid rock, under the bed of the river, to a point
+directly behind the great sheet of water plunging over the apex of the V
+formed by Horseshoe Falls. A second company takes its water through a
+short canal to its wheel-pits, which are sunk about half a mile above
+Horseshoe Falls in Queen Victoria Park, discharging it through a tunnel
+two thousand feet long into the lower river. To find room for the third
+of these companies was a puzzling problem for some time. Finally the
+difficulty was solved by a departure from the plan of the other
+companies, both in the manner of taking water from the river and in the
+location of the power-house. Instead of locating the wheel-pits above
+the Falls as in the case of the others, this company has it power-house
+located in the Gorge below the Falls along the lower level. It takes its
+water from farther up the river than any of the companies, thus being
+further removed from any difficulties arising from recession of the
+Falls besides obtaining the additional power to be given by the descent
+of the rapids to the crest of the cliff, which amounts to about fifty
+feet. The water is taken from near the Dufferin Islands through the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+largest steel conduit in the world, which runs not far from the shore of
+the river, skirting the other plants, and terminates at the power-house
+situated in the canyon below the Falls.</p>
+
+<p>It is interesting to visit and survey these hydro-electric
+power-generating stations, to note the different methods for taking the
+water from the river and for carrying it to the lower river after having
+passed through turbine wheels. It is well here to take a brief r&eacute;sum&eacute; of
+the main features connected with the obtaining of this water supply and
+its disposal. The first American company, that of the Niagara Falls
+Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company, takes its water through a
+canal from the upper river. This canal passes through the centre of the
+city of Niagara Falls to the cliff just below the first steel cantilever
+bridge, the power plant and industries making use of its waters are
+located here at the top of the cliff. The other American company known
+as the Niagara Falls Power Company takes its water by a short canal,
+about a mile above the Falls and discharges the dead water through a
+tunnel that runs under the city of Niagara Falls to a point near the
+water's edge in the lower river directly below the first steel bridge.
+The Canadian Niagara Falls Power Company, allied with the American
+company, takes its water from Queen Victoria Park and discharges it
+below the Falls through a two thousand foot tunnel. The Toronto and
+Niagara Power Company, with its power plant built in the bed of the
+river near Tempest Point takes water through massive stone forebays in
+the river and sends it to the lower level through a tunnel beneath the
+river's bed opening directly behind the V in the Horseshoe Falls. The
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+Ontario Power Company takes its water into large steel conduits near
+Dufferin Islands. These underground pipes conduct the water along the
+shore of the river to the power house situated on the lower level. The
+waste water is discharged through draft tubes directly into the river.</p>
+
+<p>With this general picture of these great power companies in mind, it is
+proper to survey some of the more interesting details of construction
+which may appeal to individual taste and curiosity. Space forbids
+entering into the minutia either of construction or machinery used. Only
+the main principles of interest to the general reader can be touched
+upon.</p>
+
+<p>Let us descend first into the tunnel under the bed of the river, which
+discharges the tail water from the power-house of the Toronto Company,
+hurling it with almost inconceivable fury against the mass of foaming
+water plunging over the Horseshoe precipice. Here is a sight to thrill
+even the most jaded traveller hunting for new wonders. A trip through
+this underground passage which American genius has shot through a mass
+of solid shale and limestone, beneath the bed of the river, will in
+itself more than compensate for a trip to Niagara Falls. Some idea of
+the size of this tunnel is indicated by the fact that two lines of
+railways were maintained in it to dispose of the rock and shale
+excavated by the workmen. Clad in rubber coat and boots the visitor to
+the Falls may wend his way down along the visitors' gallery which is
+suspended from the roof of the tunnel, one hundred and fifty-eight feet
+below the river bed, to where the outrushing waters join the great
+volume of the river in its headlong plunge over Horseshoe Falls. Here
+standing behind that mighty veil of rushing water, with the spray swept
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+into the opening by furious storms of howling winds, one beholds a
+spectacle, almost terrifying in its grandeur, the equal of which perhaps
+can not be found in any of the numerous attractions of the Falls.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="AMERICAN_FALLS_BELOW" id="AMERICAN_FALLS_BELOW"></a>
+<img src="images/p0193.jpg" width="398" height="529" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>American Falls from Below.</h4>
+
+<p>Before work on the main tunnel was begun, a shaft was sunk on the river
+bank just opposite the crest of Horseshoe Falls. From this shaft a
+tunnel was dug to the point where the lower end of the main tunnel would
+terminate. No difficulties were experienced in the driving of this
+opening until near the face of the cliff behind Horseshoe Falls. Here,
+with only fifteen feet to go, water began to rush into the cavern
+through a fissure in the rocks. The engineers fought against the water
+for several days but could not stop its flow. Finally eighteen holes
+were drilled into the cliff between the end of the tunnel and where the
+final opening was to be made; these holes were loaded with dynamite,
+which, together with a large charge placed against the end of the
+passage, was exploded, after the tunnel had been flooded. This only
+accomplished a part of what was desired. An opening was made in the
+cliff but too near the roof of the tunnel to allow of any work. What to
+do now was a difficult problem, but American daring accomplished the
+work. Volunteers were called for to crawl along the ledge of rock
+running along the cliff behind the Falls to where the opening had been
+made. Several men offered to make this almost impossible trip. Lashed
+together with cords, with the thunder of the Falls in their ears,
+blinded by spray which was driven into their faces with cyclonic fury,
+the men at last reached the opening and placed a heavy charge of
+dynamite against the opposing wall. This was discharged, making a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>
+sufficiently large opening for the water to run out, and the work was
+continued.</p>
+
+<p>In the design of the main tunnel, ingenious provision was made for
+recession of the Falls. From the opening in the cliff for three hundred
+feet the lining will be put in in rings six feet long; this arrangement
+will allow a joint to drop out whenever the Falls recede so that it is
+exposed, thus leaving a smooth section always at the end of the tunnel.
+Through this main tunnel and through the branch races, the water, after
+having left the turbines, will whirl along at the rate of twenty-six
+feet per second, having generated a total of 125,000 electric
+horse-power. In engineering problems connected with the tunnel and the
+construction of the plant, the work of this company far surpasses that
+of any of the others. In order to secure a place for the wheel-pit and
+gathering dam, an area of about twelve acres in the bed of the river was
+converted into dry land. To do this a coffer dam was constructed 2153
+feet in length and from twenty feet to forty-six feet wide in water
+varying in depth from seven feet to twenty-four feet, besides being very
+swift in most places. About two thousand feet above the Falls, in the
+space thus deprived of its water, an immense wheel-pit was sunk into the
+solid rock. On the bottom of this pit, 150 feet below the surface rest
+the monster turbines, from which two tail-races conduct the water to the
+main tunnel. A large gathering dam sufficient to supply the maximum
+capacity of this plant runs obliquely across the river for a distance of
+750 feet. The height of this dam varies from ten to twenty-three feet;
+it is constructed of concrete, the top being protected by a course of
+cut granite. The power plant is located on the original shore line and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>
+parallel to it in Queen Victoria Park. In the power room are to be found
+eleven monster generators capable of developing 12,500 horse-power each.</p>
+
+<p>A short distance farther up the river at the Dufferin Islands is the
+beginning of the mammoth steel conduits of the Ontario Power Company.
+These pass about a hundred yards from the shore and conduct the water to
+the power-house situated in the canyon below the Falls. This contrivance
+for water transmission consists of three steel pipes, the largest in the
+world, eighteen feet in diameter, and a little over six thousand feet
+long. This plant has the advantage of the others in several respects.
+While it draws its water from farther up the river, it preserves it for
+a longer time from the recession of the Falls, besides securing to it
+the greater amount of power per volume by obtaining the additional
+advantage of the descent of the rapids which amounts to about fifty-five
+feet. The power plant located as it is in the Gorge discharges its waste
+waters directly into the lower river without the necessity of an
+intervening tunnel. Lastly, the plan of applying the power to the
+turbines is slightly different in this case from the others, being made
+possible by its different plan. Here the turbines are placed vertical
+instead of horizontal, and are directly connected with the main
+generators, which are the only machines located on the floor of the
+station.</p>
+
+<p>A departure from the ordinary construction of the dynamo is noticed in
+those for use at Niagara. The ordinary one is built with the
+field-magnets so placed that the armature revolves between them, the
+field-magnets being stationary. In these monster dynamos, developing
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>
+thousands of horse-power, and weighing many tons, the field-magnets
+revolve around the armature which remains stationary. With such an
+enormous weight of swiftly revolving parts, it became necessary to
+lessen the immense centrifugal force tending to tear the machine to
+pieces. Engineering skill surmounted this problem as it did all others
+in what might be called this mighty scientific drama, and, by reversing
+the parts of the dynamo, secured the desired result. The field-magnets,
+being placed on the outside and being made the revolving part, by their
+mutual attraction for its armature within their ring are pulled, as it
+were, toward the centre, thus lessening the great strain produced by the
+centrifugal force upon the large steel ring upon whose inner
+circumference they are mounted.</p>
+
+<p>The currents furnished by the power-houses at Niagara are all
+alternating. This kind of current being decided upon for various
+reasons. It can be used for driving dynamos as well as any, and as
+nearly all the power developed at the Falls is used in this way no
+provision is made for a direct current. Where a direct current is
+desired the electricity is made to drive a dynamo of the alternating
+type which in turn is made to drive another of the kind of current
+desired. Establishments on or near the grounds use the power furnished
+them direct from the power-house. When the power must be transmitted to
+a distance, it becomes necessary to use a step-up transformer for the
+purpose of losing as little power as necessary in the transmission, this
+to produce a higher voltage. When the current reaches those places where
+it is to be used a low voltage is again obtained by the step-down
+transformer.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>
+<p>Almost, if not quite as interesting as the development of all this
+power, together with its transmission, are the manufacturing
+establishments springing up here to take advantage of the great
+opportunities offered by the harnessing of this mighty cataract. Among
+those which stretch along the river for several miles are to be found
+those interested in the manufacture of carborundum, aluminum, carbide,
+graphite, caustic potash, muriatic acid, emery wheels, railway supplies,
+hook-and-eye fastenings, and shredded wheat, which are of special
+interest to the visitor.</p>
+
+<p>Industrialism has seized upon the immense power of Niagara and is now
+shaping it into commodities for the use of man. Now what is the real
+menace to the Falls? Many lament the erection of the power plants and
+manufacturing establishments in the vicinity; but those, at least
+already in existence, have come to stay. So we may turn our attention
+from the marring of the surrounding beauty to the Falls themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Geological changes are taking place so slowly that they need not be
+reckoned with as a probable destroyer of the Falls for ages yet to come.
+Moreover, their effect is treated in another chapter. The history of the
+Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company, as a user of
+power from the Falls, antedates even its legislative recognition.
+Between the years of 1888 and 1894 nine companies were recognised or
+chartered in the State of New York. These charters were granted very
+freely, no revenue was required for the use of the waters, and in some
+cases no limitation was placed upon the amount to be used. Of these
+charters, all were granted in good faith; but it is very doubtful if all
+were received in that spirit. Some of the companies failed to effect an
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>
+organisation, others offered to sell their rights as soon as obtained.
+Various limitations were put upon the time in which work must be begun.
+At least three of the charters have lapsed by their own time
+limitations, one franchise was sold by its original owners; one other
+shows at times faint signs of life; another is leading a questionable
+existence, while two, the Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company and
+the Niagara Falls Power Company, are producing and selling power. To
+these two organisations are to be credited the great industrial
+development on the American side and they are not yet using the amount
+of water allowed them by their charters.</p>
+
+<p>As a result, of course, the flow of water is of smaller volume; but this
+cannot be perceived by the casual observer. However, citizens of Niagara
+Falls insist that the decreased flow is manifested in other ways; such
+as the annual gorging of ice at the head of the American channel almost
+laying this channel bare and sending its water to the Canadian side.
+This happens very rarely with a normal depth. Besides this it became
+necessary not long ago to move the dock at which the <i>Maid of the Mist</i>
+lands, the water line having retreated as a result of decreased volume.</p>
+
+<p>The two American companies are not expecting to diminish their
+consumption of water in any way. The growing demands for power have
+caused each continually to enlarge its plants. The Niagara Falls Power
+Company, realising the great growing demand for cheap power, has
+obtained a large interest in one of the Canadian companies. The amount
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>
+of water which may be used by these companies according to charter
+limits is as follows:</p>
+
+<table summary="Power_1" width="60%">
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Co.</td>
+<td class="tdr">7,700 cu. ft. per sec.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">Niagara Falls Power Company</td>
+<td class="tdr">8,600&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdr">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Total</td>
+<td class="tdr">16,300&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>The power produced by these companies at present is no fair estimate of
+the amount of water taken from the river. On the American side, below
+the steel arch bridge, may be seen what is called the "back yard view of
+Niagara." Here a number of small cascades are seen spouting from the
+side of the cliff, only a small part of the fall being utilised by the
+factories situated there. Some of this water is now being collected into
+penstocks, to be utilised again at the base of the cliff.</p>
+
+<p>On turning to the three Canadian companies, those of the American side
+pale beside their gigantic proportions. In contrast with the companies
+chartered, it may be said that none of these is inactive; on the
+contrary they are giving the strongest manifestations of energy.
+Following are the limits to which they may make use of Niagara's waters:</p>
+
+<table summary="Power_2" width="60%">
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">Canadian Niagara Power Co.</td>
+<td class="tdr">8,900 cu. ft. per sec.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">Ontario Power Co.</td>
+<td class="tdr">12,000&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">Toronto and Niagara Power Co.</td>
+<td class="tdr">11,200&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl"></td>
+<td class="tdr">&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdl">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Total</td>
+<td class="tdr">32,100&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>Adding to this total the charter limits of the two American companies
+now operating, the grand total is raised to 48,400 cubic feet per
+second. This of itself is a dry fact and does not form much of a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+percentage of the whole volume going over the Falls. Such a loss would
+not mean so much if it would manifest itself the same along the whole
+crest of the line of the cliff; but here must be taken into
+consideration the configuration of the bed of the river.</p>
+
+<p>The bed of Niagara is composed of rock which dips gradually and
+uniformly westward. The ledge is ten feet higher on the American side
+than on the Canadian. The water of the American fall is therefore ten
+feet shallower. The amount of water going over the Falls has been
+variously estimated, engineers differing in their conclusions as much as
+sixty thousand cubic feet per second. Averages based upon the estimates
+of United States engineers for forty years, of the amount of mean flow
+of water passing Buffalo from Lake Erie, shows 222,400 cubic feet per
+second. This of course does not make allowance for that taken by the
+Welland and the Erie canals. This is probably about equalised by the
+amount entering the lake and river between this city and the Falls, so
+that the figures forming the basis of most computations are 224,000
+cubic feet per second. The amount of power capable of development by the
+Falls is about 3,800,000 horse-power, which would be greatly increased
+by adding the fall from the beginning of the rapids to the crest of the
+cataract. Goat Island, situated just off the American shore, divides the
+waters very unevenly, sending more than three-fourths the volume toward
+the Canadian shore. Now, as has been seen, less than one-fourth the
+whole volume pours down the American channel; and as this is much
+shallower than the main body of water, it is here that any diminished
+flow will be first felt. At the head of the island the great body of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+the current turns toward the west, by far the larger amount converging
+into the funnel of the magnificent Horseshoe Falls. The American channel
+in contrast contains a very feeble flow, and therefore would be the
+first to exhibit any dearth of water.</p>
+
+<p>Calculations based upon the preceding figures, taking into consideration
+the length of the Falls, and the difference in elevation of the river's
+bed at the crest, show that when the flow has been reduced by 184,000
+cubic feet per second, or by 40,000 cubic feet, the water in the
+American channel will be brought down to the rock bottom of the shore's
+edge. Then, although the Horseshoe Falls will continue to be an object
+of admiration to the traveller, and although the current will continue
+to sweep through the American channel and over the American Falls, the
+beauty and grandeur of the latter will fade away. Let the amount of
+water abstracted from the river be doubled, and, though the Canadian
+Falls would still continue an object of admiration, the American channel
+would be entirely dry.</p>
+
+<p>Returning to the present and immediately contemplated draft upon the
+river's waters, we find that the two American and the three Canadian
+companies, when using their charter limits, will take 48,000 cubic feet
+per second. This will bring the level at the crest of the Falls down to
+the bottom of the river at the American shore. This, then, is the
+immediate prospect. Many things may intervene before this point is
+reached. We are not permitted to stop, however, with the consideration
+of these five companies alone. One of the last organisations chartered
+by the State of New York to obtain water from Niagara is the Niagara
+Lockport and Ontario Power Company. In 1894, this company obtained a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+franchise placing no restriction upon the amount of water to be used,
+and limited to ten years in which to begin work. In 1904, they came
+again to the Legislature, asking for an improved charter in several
+respects, especially a lengthening of time in which to begin operations.
+This company proposed to take water from near La Salle and not to return
+it to the river at all, but to take it overland by canal to Lockport and
+then empty it directly into Lake Ontario. The bill providing for this
+charter passed both houses, but it was vetoed by Governor Odell. The
+veto took place on May 15, 1904. The original charter was granted on May
+21, 1894. Six days of grace yet remained of the ten years allowed the
+company. There is said to be a slender, shallow ditch south of Lockport,
+which represents the work done in the six days left. It has been
+rumoured that the most of this company's stock has passed into the hands
+of a great corporation. Undoubtedly, under some form of reorganisation,
+there will, in the near future, be an attempt on the part of its members
+to gain a share of the great free power of Niagara. Under the old
+charter, which does not limit the amount of water to be consumed, it
+will probably not consume less than the other large companies, say
+10,000 cubic feet per second.</p>
+
+<p>But the only danger to the life of the Falls is not to be found alone in
+the Niagara power companies. Six hundred miles to the west is the
+Chicago Main Drainage Canal, which at first took from the Lakes about
+three thousand cubic feet per minute. Many propositions have been made
+to enlarge this canal. These are fraught with taxing engineering
+problems; but it is difficult to say just what the future has in store
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+in this line. This, however, is not all; Canada, in the hope of gaining
+part of the commerce of the Great Lakes for the St. Lawrence, has
+proposed a canal by way of Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River, thus
+shortening the lake route by five hundred miles. To these may be added
+propositions for a deep-water connection between the Lakes and the
+Hudson, between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Superior, between Toronto and
+Lake Huron, the demands of Cincinnati and Pittsburg for canals,
+Wisconsin's desire for a canal connecting the Lakes through her
+territory with the Mississippi, the plan for a canal from Duluth to the
+Mississippi; and one may see with what danger this great natural wonder
+is threatened. Many of these proposed plans, doubtless, will never be
+realised; some on account of engineering difficulties, others on account
+of the failure of their projectors to count upon the true relation
+between cost of construction and what would likely be the revenue
+obtained. All these subjects, however, must be given due consideration
+by one who desires to know what is considered to be the immediate danger
+to the Falls, or that which may effect them at no very distant future
+date.</p>
+
+<p>On January 18, 1907, Secretary of War Taft rendered a decision under the
+Burton Act for the preservation of Niagara Falls on the applications of
+American companies for the use of water and of Canadian companies
+wishing to send electric power into the United States, and at the same
+time announced the appointment of a commission to beautify the vicinity
+of the Falls. The amount of water allowed to companies in New York is
+practically that now used, and substantially as limited by the Act of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>
+Congress as a maximum. The Secretary found no evidence that the flow
+over the American Falls has been injuriously affected in recent years.
+The claims of the Canadian companies, acting in conjunction with
+electric companies on this side of the river, had to be materially cut
+down to come within the law limiting the total current to 160,000
+horse-power. The allotments in electric horse-power to be transmitted to
+the United States are as follows:</p>
+
+<p>The International Railway Company, 1500. (8000 asked).</p>
+
+<p>The Ontario Power Company, 60,000 (90,000 asked).</p>
+
+<p>The Canadian Niagara Falls Power Company, 52,500 (121,500 asked).</p>
+
+<p>The Electrical Development Company, 46,000 (62,000 asked).</p>
+
+<p>All these permits are revocable at pleasure, and, in the absence of
+further legislation in Congress, will expire on June 29, 1909.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of his decision, after discussing the intent of the law,
+Mr. Taft says:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Acting upon the same evidence which Congress had, and upon the
+additional statement made to me at the hearing by Dr. John M.
+Clark, state geologist of New York, who seems to have been one
+of those engaged from the beginning in the whole movement for
+the preservation of Niagara Falls, and who has given close
+scientific attention to the matter, I have reached the
+conclusion that with the diversion of 15,600 cubic feet on the
+American side and the transmission of 160,000 horse-power from
+the Canadian side the scenic grandeur of the Falls will not be
+affected substantially or perceptibly to the eye.</p>
+
+<p>With respect to the American Falls, this is an increase of only
+2500 cubic feet a second over what is now being diverted and has
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+been diverted for many years, and has not affected the Falls as
+a scenic wonder.</p>
+
+<p>With respect to the Canadian side, the water is drawn from the
+river in such a way as not to affect the American Falls at all,
+because the point from which it is drawn is considerably below
+the level of the water at the point where the waters separate
+above Goat Island, and the Waterways Commission and Dr. Clark
+agree that the taking of 13,000 cubic feet from the Canadian
+side will not in any way affect or reduce the water going over
+the American Falls. The water going over the Falls on the
+Canadian side of Goat Island is about five times the volume of
+that which goes over the American Falls, or, counting the total
+as 220,000 cubic feet a second, the volume of the Horseshoe
+Falls would be about 180,000 cubic feet. If the amount withdrawn
+on the Canadian side for Canadian use were 5000 cubic feet a
+second, which it is not likely to be during the three years'
+life of these permits, the total to be withdrawn would not
+exceed ten per cent. of the volume of the stream, and,
+considering the immense quantity which goes over the Horseshoe
+Falls, the diminution would not be perceptible to the eye.</p>
+
+<p>Taking up first the application for permits for diversion on the
+American side, there is not room for discussion or difference.
+The Niagara Falls Power Company is now using about 8600 cubic
+feet of water a second and producing about 76,630 horse-power.
+There is some question as to the necessity of using some water
+for sluicing. This must be obtained from the 8600 cubic feet
+permitted, and the use of the water for other purposes when
+sluicing is being done must be diminished. The Niagara Falls
+Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company is now using 4000
+cubic feet a second and has had under construction for a period
+long antedating the Burton Act a plant arranged to divert 2500
+cubic feet a second and furnish 36,000 horse-power to the
+Pittsburg Reduction and Mining Company. A permit will therefore
+issue to the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing
+Company for the diversion of 6500 cubic feet a second, and the
+same rule must obtain as to sluicing, as already stated.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="RIVERSIDE" id="RIVERSIDE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0205.jpg" width="397" height="550" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>The Riverside at Willow Island.</h4>
+
+<p>As the object of the act is to preserve the scenic beauty of
+	<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+Niagara Falls, I conceive it to be within my power to impose
+conditions upon the granting of these permits, compliance with
+which will remedy the unsightly appearance that is given the
+American side of the canyon just below the falls on the American
+side, where the tunnel of the Niagara Falls Power Company
+discharges and where the works of the hydraulic company are
+placed.</p>
+
+<p>The representative of the American Civic Association has
+properly described the effect upon the sightseer of the view
+toward the side of the canyon to be that of looking into the
+back yard of a house negligently kept. For the purpose of aiding
+me in determining what ought to be done to remove this eyesore,
+including the appearance of the buildings at the top, I shall
+appoint a committee consisting of Charles F. McKim, Frank D.
+Millet, and F. L. Olmsted to advise me what changes, at an
+expense not out of proportion to the extent of the investment,
+can be made which will put the side of the canyon at this point
+from bottom to top in natural harmony with the Falls and the
+other surroundings, and will conceal, as far as possible, the
+raw commercial aspect that now offends the eye. This
+consideration has been in view in the construction of works on
+the Canadian side and in the buildings of the Niagara Falls
+Power Company, above the Falls. There is no reason why similar
+care should not be enforced here.</p>
+
+<p>Water is being withdrawn from the Erie Canal at the lake level
+for water-power purposes, and applications have been made for
+permits authorising this. Not more than four hundred cubic feet
+are thus used in the original draft of water that is not
+returned to the canal in such a way as not to lower the level of
+the lake. The water is used over and over again. It seems to me
+that the permit might very well be granted to the first user. As
+the water is taken from the canal, which is state property, and
+the interest and jurisdiction of the federal government grow out
+of the direct effect upon the level of the lake, the permit
+should recite that this does not confer any right upon a
+consumer of the water to take the water from the canal without
+authority and subject to the conditions imposed by the canal
+authorities, but that it is intended to operate and its
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+operation is limited to confer, so far as the federal government
+is concerned and the Secretary of War is authorised, the right
+to take the water and to claim immunity from any prosecution or
+legal objection under the fifth section of the Burton Act.</p></div>
+
+<p>When Sir Hiram S. Maxim, the distinguished inventor and scientist, made
+his recent announcement to Peter Cooper Hewitt that the next great
+achievement of science would be the harnessing of the whole energy of
+Niagara and the sending of a message to Mars, he hit the nail, in the
+opinion of Nikola Tesla, squarely on the head.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tesla announces that with the co-operation of power-producing
+companies at Niagara Falls he is preparing to hail Mars with Niagara's
+voice. A way has been found at last for transmitting a wireless message
+across the gulf, varying from 40,000,000 to 100,000,000 miles, which
+separates this earth from Mars. Once that has been accomplished and
+Mars, which is considerably older and supposedly more advanced in
+science than we, has acknowledged the receipt of our signal and sent
+back flash for flash, it will remain to devise an interplanetary code
+through the medium of which the scientists of this world and of Mars
+will be able to understand what each is saying to the other.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tesla has been quietly working for several years on a wireless power
+plant capable of transmitting 10,000 horse-power to any part of the
+world, or to any of our neighbouring planets, for that matter. The mere
+matter of distance between despatching and receiving points is
+absolutely no object whatever. Wireless power, Mr. Tesla says may be
+sent one million or more miles just as easily as one mile.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+<p>Several of the electric power companies with immense generating plants
+at Niagara Falls, it is reported, have agreed to co-operate with Mr.
+Tesla in an effort to reach Mars by wireless.</p>
+
+<p>The development of the hydraulic power of Niagara on the Canadian side
+is leading to some interesting sequences.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A tribunal called the hydro-electric power commission has been
+created [says a writer in a recent issue of <i>Cassier's
+Magazine</i>], and in the hands of this body has been placed the
+entire domestic regulation of the power product of stations
+coming within government control.</p>
+
+<p>In addition there has been given to the various municipalities
+the right to undertake the distribution of electrical energy
+within their respective limits.</p>
+
+<p>In order that the commission may be in a position to dictate
+terms to the existing private companies it is important that the
+co-operation of the municipalities be obtained, and this appears
+to be partially accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>The city of Toronto has already arranged for 15,000 horse-power
+of electric energy from Niagara, the price being $14 to $16 per
+horse-power for a supply for a 24-hour day, including
+transmission to Toronto, the local distribution to be in the
+hands of the municipality, and it is believed that a number of
+other cities and towns will make similar arrangements.</p>
+
+<p>These arrangements are made with the hydro-electric power
+commission, and it in turn must either secure the power supply
+from the existing private companies or else proceed to develop
+its own stations.</p>
+
+<p>It is hardly probable that the latter alternative will be found
+necessary, since the result would be to leave the private
+corporations with the greater part of their prospective custom
+permanently taken away, so that the real consequence of the
+recent legislation is to compel the companies to supply the
+municipalities through the commission at prices determined by
+the engineers of the new body.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+<p>It is possible that such measures will prove advantageous to the
+public, but much will depend upon the manner in which the law is
+carried out. It has been intimated that this legislation will
+render it exceedingly difficult for promoters to induce outside
+capital to engage in the development of natural resources in
+Canada hereafter.</p></div>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Chapter VI</h2>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">A Century of Niagara Cranks</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he swirling waters of Niagara have ever been a challenge to a vast army
+of adventurers who found in their own daring heedlessness a means here
+of gaining money and a mushroom glory. Of all these "Niagara Cranks," as
+they are known locally, the tight-rope walkers undoubtedly have the
+strongest claim to our admiration for the utter daring of their feats,
+however mercenary may have been the motives. "Tut, tut! my friends,"
+would reply one of these brave, popular heroes if you had mentioned
+fear, "'tis nothing at all"; then, confidentially, he would have
+whispered in your ear: "You can't help getting across. You get out to
+the middle of the rope, and there you are. If you turn back you lose
+your money, and if you go on you get it. That's all."</p>
+
+<p>It was the great Blondin who stands king of the tight-rope walkers of
+Niagara, leaving behind him a reputation as the greatest tight-rope
+walker of the century.</p>
+
+<p>Charles Emile Gravelet was born at Hesdin, near Calais, on the
+twenty-eighth of February, 1824, and died in Ealing, near London,
+February 22, 1897. His father, whose nickname, "Blondin," from the
+colour of his hair, descended to his son, was a soldier of the First
+Empire who had seen service under Napoleon at Austerlitz, Wagram, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+Moscow, but died when his son was in his ninth year. The pluck and
+strength that young Blondin had was displayed as early as his fourth
+year; when only a few years older he was trained by the principal of
+<i>l'&Eacute;cole de Gymnase</i> at Lyons in many gymnastic feats, and after six
+months there, was brought out as "The Little Wonder." He excelled
+especially at tight-rope dancing, jumping, and somersault-throwing. One
+of his notable jumps was over a double rank of soldiers with bayonets
+fixed. The agent of an American Company&mdash;the Ravels&mdash;aware of his
+success in the French provinces finally gave him a two years' engagement
+for the United States, which afterwards was extended to eight years. He
+came to America in 1855; and it was not long after, when looking across
+the Niagara Falls, that he remarked to Mr. Ravel:</p>
+
+<p>"What a splendid place for a tight-rope performance."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="GOAT_ISLAND_BRIDGE" id="GOAT_ISLAND_BRIDGE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0213.jpg" width="520" height="396" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Goat Island Bridge. Showing Niagara's Famous Cataract and
+International Hotels.</h4>
+
+<p>The idea was impressive and as a result, after laborious preparations,
+Blondin was ready to cross a wire, June 30, 1859. Despite the unanimous
+howl of derision at the idea, people could not resist the temptation to
+see the rash performer throw his life away; and the crowd that gathered
+was the largest ever seen at the Falls. It is interesting, from more
+than one standpoint, to quote the New York <i>Herald</i> of July 1, 1859, on
+the exploit:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Monsieur Blondin has just successfully accomplished the feat of
+walking across the Niagara on a tight-rope, in the presence of a
+crowd variously estimated at from five thousand to ten thousand
+persons. He first crossed from the American side, stopping
+midway to refresh himself with water raised in a bottle with a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+rope from the deck of the steamer <i>Maid of the Mist</i>. The time
+occupied in the first crossing was seventeen minutes and a half.
+The return from the British to the American side was
+accomplished in twelve minutes.</p></div>
+
+<p>According to other sources, the crowd was estimated at fifty thousand.
+Blondin did considerably more than merely pass over, for he carried a
+pole weighing forty pounds, and did some extraordinary feats of
+balancing and came ashore amid the huzzas of the crowd, with the whole
+country ringing with the news of the daring exploit.</p>
+
+<p>Some little difficulty was always encountered by tight-rope walkers from
+proprietors of the river banks where the rope was to be attached on
+their theory that nothing could be allowed to occur at Niagara of a
+money-making nature unless they were a party to the plunder. One Hamblin
+stood surety for the payment for Blondin's rope, which was over fifteen
+hundred feet long and cost thirteen hundred dollars.</p>
+
+<p>A few months later Blondin carried his manager, Harry Colcourt or
+Colcord, across on his back. It is said (and also has been denied) that
+on this occasion Blondin had a quarrel with Colcord. The latter had
+previously been trained to balance himself in order that he might be let
+down on the rope in the middle of the river, to permit Blondin to take
+breath. The wind was strong, and the manager showed visible signs of
+nervousness, while the rope swayed in a sickly manner. Then, according
+to the story, Blondin threatened to leave his manager on the rope at the
+mercy of the waters underneath, unless he kept himself under control.
+Needless to say, the threat was successful, and the trip across was
+safely made. For this special feat Blondin received a gold medal from
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+the inhabitants of the village, as a tribute of admiration, with the
+following inscription:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Presented to Mons. T. F. Blondin by the citizens of Niagara
+Falls in appreciation of a feat never before attempted by man,
+but by him successfully performed on the 19th of August, 1859,
+that of carrying a man upon his back over the Falls of Niagara
+on a tight-rope.</p></div>
+
+<p>Of the ordinary run of mortals few would care to attempt Blondin's feat,
+but it is not impossible that many an actor envied the daring athlete's
+position of utter mastery over his manager.</p>
+
+<p>A few days later the fearless Blondin again crossed the river chained
+hand and foot. On his return he carried a cooking stove and made an
+omelet which he lowered to the passengers on the deck of the <i>Maid of
+the Mist</i> below. At another time he crossed with a bushel basket on each
+foot, and once carried a woman on his back. On September 8, 1860,
+Blondin performed before the Prince of Wales, now Edward VII., the rope
+being stretched 230 feet above the rapids, between two of the steepest
+cliffs on the river. The cool actor turned somersaults before His Royal
+Highness, and successfully managed to cross on a pair of stilts. The
+Prince watched every movement through a telescope and was highly
+interested, but it is reported that he exclaimed, when Blondin safely
+reached the end of the rope, "Thank God, he is over!" and hurried him a
+check for the perilous feat.</p>
+
+<p>Apparently Blondin did not know what nervousness meant; his secret has
+been described as confidence in himself, obtained by long practice in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+rope-walking. There is no doubt some of the victims he has carried
+across his rope have suffered; it is said that Blondin would talk to his
+companions on the most indifferent subjects; he would urge them to sit
+perfectly still, avoid catching him around the neck or looking downward.
+What he considered as one of his greatest feats was in walking on a rope
+from the mainmast to the mizzen on board the Peninsular and Oriental
+steamer <i>Poonah</i>, while on her way to Australia, between Aden and Galle,
+in 1874. He had to sit down five times while heavy waves were
+approaching the ship. Blondin's last performance was in Agricultural
+Hall, London, on Christmas, 1894, where he appeared as active and nimble
+as ever. The fact is certainly wonderful that for nearly seventy years
+he walked the tight-rope without accident.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. W. D. Howells was an eye-witness to three crossings of Blondin's in
+1860, which he has graphically described:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The man himself looked cool and fresh enough but I, who was not
+used to such violent fatigues as he must have undergone in these
+three transits, was bathed in a cold perspiration, and so weak
+and worn with making them in sympathy that I could scarcely walk
+away.</p>
+
+<p>Long afterwards I was telling about this experience of mine&mdash;it
+was really more mine than Blondin's&mdash;in the neat shop of a
+Venetian pharmacist, to a select circle of the physicians who
+wait in such places in Venice for the call of their patients.
+One of these civilised men, asked: "Where was the government?"
+And I answered in my barbarous pride of our individualism: "The
+government had nothing to do with it. In America the government
+has nothing to do with such things." But now I think that this
+Venetian was right, and that such a show as I have tried to
+describe ought no more to have been permitted than the fight of
+a man with a wild beast. It was an offence to morality, and it
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+thinned the frail barrier which the aspiration of centuries has
+slowly erected between humanity and savagery.</p></div>
+
+<p>Enough savage criticism met Blondin in England; his rope-walking in
+Crystal Palace, Sydenham, upon a rope 240 feet long and at a height of
+170 feet, in imitation of the Niagara feat, was considered a sickening
+spectacle. Said <i>Once a Week</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We wish Mr. Blondin no sort of harm, but if his audiences were
+to dwindle down to nothing, so as to cause him to retire upon
+his savings, we should congratulate him upon having escaped a
+great danger, and the country upon getting rid of a disgrace to
+the intelligence of the age.</p></div>
+
+<p>Blondin ended his career as an English country gentleman at Niagara
+House, South Haling. He was wont to display a profusion of diamond rings
+and studs, all gifts of admirers, and the cherished gold medal from the
+citizens of Niagara Falls; he, too, was the proud possessor of one of
+the two gold medals struck in commemoration of the Crystal Palace in
+1854, Queen Victoria having the other. He had also the cross from
+ex-Queen Isabel of Spain, entitling him to the title of Chevalier. The
+athlete's baggage, when on a tour, consisted of a main rope of eight
+hundred feet, six and a half inches in circumference, and weighing eight
+hundredweight; twenty-eight straining ropes, eighty tying-bars, the
+average weight, not including poles, being five and a half tons. The
+freight of his outfit, including a huge travelling-tent, which could
+encompass fourteen thousand people, amounted to five thousand dollars
+between Southampton and Melbourne. About three days were consumed in
+making his preparations by the aid of a dozen assistants. The due
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>
+adjustment of the rope was his principal care, and he superintended
+every detail.</p>
+
+<p>Like many a Frenchman, Blondin never mastered the intricacies of the
+English language. In a rather queer and rambling fragment of
+autobiography written some years ago, he tells us that the rope he
+generally used was formed with a flexible core of steel-wire covered
+with the best manila-hemp, about an inch or three quarters in diameter,
+several hundred yards in length, and costing about fifteen hundred
+dollars. A large windlass at either end of the rope served to make it
+taut, while it was supported by two high poles. His balancing poles of
+ash wood varied in length and were of three sections, and weighed from
+thirty-seven to forty-seven pounds. He was indifferent as to the height
+at which he was to perform. Blondin has never confessed to any
+nervousness on the rope, and, while walking, he generally looked
+eighteen or twenty feet ahead, and whistled or hummed some snatch of a
+song. The time kept by a band frequently aided him in preserving his
+balance. He was something of both carpenter and blacksmith, and was able
+to make his own models and fit up his own apparatus.</p>
+
+<p>While Blondin yet performed at the Falls there appeared Signor Farini in
+1860, and stretched a cable across the Gorge near the hydraulic canal
+basin. On August 8, 1864, Farini reappeared walking about the Rapids
+above the American fall on stilts. He was certainly an expert on the
+rope and commanded much attention, but he was not able to snatch the
+laurel from the Frenchman's brow&mdash;he has been forgotten, while Blondin's
+fame has lived. We must, however, chronicle a thrilling incident
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+attached to his performance in 1864. Between Robinson's Island and the
+precipice Farini was suddenly delayed. He claimed his stilts caught in a
+crevice. His brother succeeded in reaching a log between the old
+paper-mill and Robinson's Island, from which he threw a line, with a
+weight attached, to the adventurer, and by this line a pail of
+provisions was sent to Farini. A larger line was thrown and both reached
+shore by way of Goat Island.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="PATH_CAVE" id="PATH_CAVE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0221.jpg" width="396" height="494" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>The Path to the Cave of the Winds.<br />
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.</h4>
+
+<p>There has hardly been a year in which some tight-rope exhibition has not
+taken place at Niagara Falls.</p>
+
+<p>Harry Leslie crossed the Gorge on a rope-cable in July and August, 1865.
+He achieved the title of "The American Blondin."</p>
+
+<p>In 1873, when Signor Balleni (Ballini?) stretched a cable from a point
+opposite the old Clifton House to Prospect Park, he leaped three times
+into the river as an extra inducement, aided in his descent by a rubber
+cord. In 1886 he reappeared, climbed to the iron railing on the upper
+suspension bridge, knocked the ice from under his feet to secure a
+footing, and at the signal of a pistol shot jumped into the air. He
+struck the water in four seconds, broke a rib, lost his senses, and came
+to the surface some sixty feet from where he entered. This was the same
+man who jumped from Hungerford Bridge, London, in 1888, and was drowned.
+In July, 1876, Signorina Maria Spelterini crossed the Gorge on a
+tight-rope with baskets on her feet. The performance brought out a
+tremendous crowd, probably because she was the first woman daring to try
+conclusions with Blondin and his many imitators. She got across safely
+with her baskets and her name. She won great favour and forever
+established the fact that a woman is as level-headed as a man. In the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>
+seventies of the last century, a young fellow, Stephen Peere, a painter
+by trade, stretched a cable across the Falls. In 1878 he gave variety to
+his career by jumping from one of the bridges, and in 1887 he finished
+it by jumping to his death. He had previously, on June 22, 1887, walked
+across the Gorge on a wire cable six-eighths of an inch in diameter.
+This was a wonderful performance, considering the fact that all the
+others had used a rope two inches in diameter. Only three days later he
+was found dead on a bank beneath his rope, stretched between the old
+suspension and the cantilever bridges. It is supposed he attempted to
+practise in night time, but as nobody saw him he met his fate; this is
+only supposition. A man, "Professor" De Leon, aspiring to become Peere's
+successor, started out on August 15, 1887, to cross the latter's cable.
+After going a short distance he became frightened, slid down a rope, and
+disappeared in the bushes. He was later seen ascending the bank by a
+ladder, and thus came back to the bosom of his family. MacDonald made
+several very creditable attempts, and proved himself an excellent
+walker. He also went across with baskets on his feet, and frightened the
+gaping crowd by hanging with his legs from the wire, head downwards.</p>
+
+<p>Another freak, I. F. Jenkins, stretched his cable across the Gorge over
+the Rapids. With a keen eye for effect and sensation he selected as one
+of his principal feats, crossing by velocipede. The machine, however,
+was specially constructed for this purpose; it was a turned-down
+contrivance, only resembling a bicycle, and had an ingeniously devised
+balancing apparatus in lieu of a pole attached by a metal framework to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+the wheels. Thus this <i>pi&egrave;ce de r&eacute;sistance</i> was not so remarkable after
+all. Samuel John Dixon, a Toronto photographer, was on his way to a
+Photographers' Annual Convention when he observed Peere's cable still
+stretched across the Rapids of Niagara. He remarked that he too could
+cross on it, but the remark was not taken seriously; to prove that he
+was in earnest, Dixon, on his return, actually made the dangerous trip
+on the three-quarter inch cable, measuring 923 feet in length. One of
+this amateur's crack feats was laying down with his back on the wire. He
+has made several other passages since,&mdash;the first occurring on September
+6, 1890&mdash;always with great <i>&eacute;clat</i>. Dixon has always been vigorously
+applauded. James E. Hardy has also successful crossings at the Gorge to
+his credit. He also holds the "record" of being the youngest man that
+ever performed the feat. Another Toronto man, Clifford M. Calverley, has
+been styled "The World's Champion," and "The American Blondin," but
+although very clever, many of his feats are just those which made the
+Frenchman famous over forty years ago. His wheelbarrow feat is certainly
+middle-aged although it still remains as difficult to perform as it was
+in Blondin's days. People never tire of it and Calverley was, indeed, a
+remarkable gymnast. He erected a wire cable at about the same point
+between the bridges at which Peere and Dixon had crossed, and gave
+public exhibitions on October 12, 1892, and July 1, 1893. He performed
+numerous stunning feats as high-kicking, walking with baskets on his
+feet, cooking meals on the rope, and chair-balancing; he also gave night
+exhibitions, which was original.</p>
+
+<p>One man at least took the tight-rope route across Niagara who had not
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+practised the feat. This was a criminal who escaped his captors near
+this locality in 1883; the sheriff was behind him, the river in front,
+and only the wires of the old bridge at Lewiston to help him across.
+Hand over hand he began the passage. His hands quickly blistered, and
+then they bled. Again and again he rested his arms by hanging by his
+legs, and at last reached the opposite bank where he lay panting fully
+an hour before he continued his flight.</p>
+
+<p>We have seen that all the tight-rope walkers at Niagara met with
+extraordinary luck while crossing the Gorge; in fact, we have no record
+that anybody ever lost his life while performing on the wire. Peere met
+with an accident, and was killed in night-time; it is said he was
+intoxicated and tried to cross with his boots on. Ballini met his death
+in the Thames River. Many lives, however, have been lost in attempting
+to brave the waters of the canyon at Niagara.</p>
+
+<p>Attracted by the sensational setting adrift of the condemned brig
+<i>Michigan</i> over the Falls in 1829, Sam Patch, a man who had won fame at
+Pawtucket Falls and other Eastern points as a high-jumper, erected a
+ladder on the foot-path under Goat Island, and announced to the world
+that he would jump into Niagara River. The hotel keepers patted him on
+the back, and left no stone unturned to enable him to draw the biggest
+crowd of the season. Patch rested the bottom of his ladder on the edge,
+just north of the Biddle Stairs, with the top inclining over the river,
+staying it with ropes to the trees on the bank. At the top was a small
+platform, and from this Patch dived ninety-seven feet; he jumped a
+second time to prove that the first feat was not a fluke. Shortly
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+afterwards he leaped to his death from the Genesee Fall in Rochester, N.
+Y.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Matthew Webb, of Niagara fame, was born in Shropshire, England,
+in 1840. He went to sea at an early age and became captain of a
+merchantman, and first attracted notice by jumping from a Cunard steamer
+to save a man who had fallen overboard, for which he was awarded a gold
+medal by the Royal Humane Society. In 1875 he accomplished the feat of
+swimming the English Channel from Dover to Calais, a distance of
+twenty-five miles.</p>
+
+<p>The disastrous attempt to swim the rapids at Niagara took place on July
+2, 1883. Webb wore no life preserver and scorned a barrel, depending
+solely on his own strength to put him through. Leaving his hotel, the
+old Clifton House, since destroyed by fire, at 4 P.M., before an immense
+crowd on the cliffs and bridges (for the event had been well heralded),
+he entered a small boat with Jack McCloy at the oars, and was carried to
+a point on the lower river several hundred feet above the lower bridges.
+It was 4.25 when, clad in a pair of red trunks, he leaped from the boat
+into the water, and boldly swam towards the Rapids. It was 4.32 when he
+passed under the bridges. He then stroked out gracefully and
+beautifully. In three minutes more he had reached the fiercest part of
+the Rapids when a great wave struck him&mdash;and he disappeared from the
+sight of the thousands of eyes that watched the boiling waters, praying
+that his life might be spared. He came once again into view but then
+disappeared forever in the raging waters.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>
+<p>The <i>Saturday Review</i> of July 28, 1883,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> voiced the British feeling
+when it said:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It was unquestionably very appropriate that Mr. Webb should have
+met his death in America, and in sight of the United States.
+That country has a passion for big shows, and has now been
+indulged in the biggest thing of its kind which has been seen in
+this generation. Nothing was to be gained by success&mdash;if success
+had been possible&mdash;beyond a temporary notoriety and the applause
+of a mob. . . .</p>
+
+<p>As long as there is a popular demand for these essentially
+barbarous amusements, men and women will be found who are
+desperate, or greedy, or vain enough to risk their lives and
+ruin their health for money or applause. . . . The death of Mr.
+Webb is shocking in the last degree; but it will not be wholly
+useless if it at least awakens the sight-seeing world to some
+sense of what it is they have been encouraging.</p></div>
+
+<p>It is interesting to compare this just criticism with that passed on
+Blondin's exhibition at Crystal Palace previously quoted.</p>
+
+<p>When Webb swam across the channel, the feat was a remarkable instance of
+strength and endurance. It showed that a powerful man who was a good
+swimmer could continue to make progress through the water on a very fine
+day for over twenty hours. Indeed, shipwrecked sailors have done nearly
+as much under far less favorable circumstances; but as far as it went,
+Webb's was a very creditable performance. But in the Channel many
+vessels were following him and would have picked him up the moment he
+became exhausted. Yet it was nowise to his credit to throw his life away
+at Niagara, and render his children orphans, for the ignoble object of
+pleasing a mob.</p>
+
+<p>It was not long before another swimmer appeared who wore a harness over
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+his shoulders to which was attached a wire running loosely over a
+cylinder on the bridge, which kept his feet straight towards Davy
+Jones's locker; he survived the leap to his considerable personal
+profit. From bridge to water he went in four seconds&mdash;the only time on
+record. Another foolhardy feat was performed by some of the reckless men
+who decorate almost inaccessible landscapes with possibly truthful but
+most annoying, puffs of ague-pills, liver-pads, tooth-powder, and such.
+A log once lodged forty rods above Goat Island, where for four years it
+lay seemingly beyond human reach. It touched the pride of certain
+shameless and professional advertisers, who were famous for their
+ingenious vandalism, that such a chance should be wasted. So, when the
+Rapids were thinly frozen over, they made their cautious way to the log,
+and soon there was a gorgeous sign fixed, twelve feet by four, on the
+very fore-front of one of the world's grandest spots, to-wit:</p>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Go East via Lake Winipiseogee R. R.</span></h3>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="AMERICAN_FALLS_GOAT" id="AMERICAN_FALLS_GOAT"></a>
+<img src="images/p0229.jpg" width="398" height="522" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>American Falls from Goat Island.</h4>
+
+<p>Nothing daunted by the sad fate of Captain Webb, a burly Boston
+policeman, W. I. Kendall, went through the Rapids on August 22, 1886,
+protected by only a cork life-preserver. All previous trips had been
+publicly announced, but Kendall slipped through with only a few
+spectators, accidentally on the cliffs or bridges, to bear witness. For
+this reason some have felt that the trip was never made, but men of
+integrity are known who witnessed the performance. On Sunday, August 14,
+1887, "Professor" Alphonse King crossed the river below the Falls and
+bridge on a water bicycle. The wheel with paddles was erected between
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>
+two water-tight cylinders, eight inches in diameter and ten feet long.</p>
+
+<p>"Steve" Brodie, who had achieved great notoriety by jumping from
+Brooklyn Bridge, created a greater sensation by going over the Falls.
+This occurred on September 7, 1889. Brodie wore an india-rubber suit,
+surrounded by thick steel bands. The suit was very thickly padded, yet
+Brodie was brought ashore bruised and insensible. His victories won, he
+became the proprietor of a Bowery bar-room, and the pride of the
+neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p>The cranks that were trying to get through the Whirlpool did not arrive
+at Niagara until about 1886, but from that on we find an <i>embarras de
+richesse</i> of them for a decade or so until the peculiar mania for
+notoriety died out.</p>
+
+<p>The fate that befell Webb could not discourage others to venture the
+perilous trip, and, probably, the pioneer of them was C. D. Graham, an
+English cooper of Philadelphia, who conceived the idea that, though no
+regular boat could live in the rush of the waters below the Falls of
+Niagara, it would perhaps be possible for a novel kind of boat, a cask
+shaped like a buoy, with a man in it, to get down to Lewiston in safety.
+He therefore made a series of such casks at an expenditure of a great
+deal of time and labour; and, at last finding a shape to his mind,
+filled two or three in succession with bags of sand equal to his own
+weight, and set them afloat at Niagara. They arrived safely in smooth
+water, threading the Rapids and the Whirlpool after a journey of some
+five miles; the inventor thereupon resolved to keep one side uppermost,
+in which was left an air-hole, and fastened in the cask a long canvas
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+bag, made like a suit of clothes, and waterproof. Getting into this bag
+on July 11, 1886, he grasped two iron handles fixed to the staves on the
+inner side of the cask; a movable cover being fastened on, the odd craft
+was shoved into the rushing waters. The cask, of course, turned over and
+over; and though water got into the air-hole, it did not get into the
+canvas bag; the surging waters handled the cask so roughly that Graham
+straightway fell sick, but clung to his iron staples, and in a space of
+time exceeding thirty minutes&mdash;accounts differ here&mdash;reached smooth
+water at Lewiston, five miles away, and was safely taken out, able to
+boast that he had performed a feat hitherto deemed impossible.</p>
+
+<p>His record trip in a cask was made on August 19, 1886. On this occasion
+he announced that he would make the trip with his head protruding from
+the top of the barrel. This was actually done; he went as far as the
+Whirlpool, but it left him very little hearing, for a big wave gave him
+a furious slap on the side of the head. Graham made other trips in 1887
+and 1889, and his last, probably, in 1901. This nearly ended his life,
+as he was caught in an eddy where he was held for over twenty minutes;
+when he finally reached the Whirlpool and was taken out he was nearly
+suffocated.</p>
+
+<p>Graham's performances, possibly, were also of some practical value. It
+was proven to the observant that a particular shape of cask might, under
+certain conditions, be used to draw feeble or sickly passengers from a
+wrecked ship in bad weather, for a woman or a child could have lived in
+Graham's machine as well as the cooper himself; however, the
+circumstances are few under which it would be useful, and Graham, by
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+his own account, had no idea of applying his contrivance in any such
+way.</p>
+
+<p>It is a question whether the barrel-cranks made any money by their
+foolhardy feats. That nothing interests callous men like the risk of a
+human life is undoubtedly true and has been proved by the whole history
+of amusement. The interest must depend on sight. Nobody would pay merely
+to know that at a specified hour Blondin was risking his life a hundred
+miles off. The man in the cask would not be seen, and to see a closed
+cask go bobbing about down five miles of rapids would not be an exciting
+amusement, more especially as, after two or three successful trials, the
+notion of any imminency or inevitableness of actual danger would
+disappear from the spectator's mind. Captain Webb, of course, expected
+his speculation to pay him; but then, it was in a somewhat different
+way. He did not expect any money from those who gazed from the shore,
+but believed,&mdash;as did also the speculators who paid him&mdash;that if he swam
+Niagara, he would revive the waning interest in his really splendid
+feats of customary swimming.</p>
+
+<p>Copying somewhat the idea that Graham had developed so successfully,
+George Hazlett and William Potts, also coopers of Buffalo, made a trip
+through the Rapids in a barrel of their own construction on August 8,
+1886. The barrel they used more closely resembled the familiar type of
+barrel, having no unusual features of form. In this same barrel used by
+the two coopers, Miss Sadie Allen and George Hazlett made a trip through
+the Niagara Gorge on November 28, 1886. There was then, I believe, a
+cessation of the barrel-fiends, who, nevertheless, re-appeared in the
+twentieth century.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+<p>At the end of the summer of 1901, Martha E. Wagenfuhrer, the wife of a
+professional wrestler, announced that she would go through the river in
+a barrel, the date of September 6th being selected, possibly because the
+woman believed that she might have a President of the United States in
+her audience, for on that day President McKinley visited Niagara. Quite
+a crowd collected, for she was the first woman to try the feat alone.
+She was rescued after being in the water over an hour.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It was nearly six o'clock in the afternoon [to quote the New
+York <i>Times</i> of September 7, 1901,] when the barrel containing
+Martha E. Wagenfuhrer was set adrift on the lower Niagara River,
+to be carried by the currents into the rapids and vortex of the
+Whirlpool. The trip through the rapids was quickly made, but the
+rescue from the Whirlpool was delayed. Night fell before the
+barrel was recovered, and the woman's friends had availed
+themselves of the help of a powerful searchlight to illuminate
+the rushing tossing waters of the pool. She started at 5.56
+o'clock, and it was 7 o'clock when the barrel was landed. The
+head of the cask had to be broken in in order to get the woman
+out. She was in a semi-conscious condition. Before entering the
+barrel she had indulged freely in liquor, but when she got out
+her first call was for water.</p></div>
+
+<p>Female barrel-fiends now followed in rapid succession. Maud Willard of
+Canton, Ohio, lost her life on the 7th of September, 1901, in navigating
+the Whirlpool Rapids in Graham's barrel. Graham, as we have seen, had
+made five successful trips, and Miss Willard desired to attain fame by
+doing the same. She and Graham were good friends, and to please her he
+was to swim from the Whirlpool to Lewiston following her trip through
+the Rapids. The barrel was taken to the river in the morning. It was an
+enormous affair, made of oak, and at 4 o'clock Miss Willard got into it,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+accompanied by her pet dog. The cover was put over the manhole, and she
+was taken out into the stream in tow of a small boat, and left to the
+mercy of the currents.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Willard passed safely through the Rapids, but the mighty maelstrom
+then held her far out from shore, where her friends and would-be
+rescuers could not reach her. From 4.40 o'clock until after 10 o'clock
+at night she was whirled about in the peculiar formation of the Niagara
+here. Messengers were sent to Niagara Falls to have the searchlight car
+of the electric line sent down the Gorge; huge bonfires were built to
+warm the spectators, and likewise to illuminate the river. Soon a beam
+of white light shot across the waters from the American to the Canadian
+side; now and then the tossing barrel could be seen tumbling and
+bobbing, and rolling in the currents. The latter were then suddenly
+changing&mdash;first a piece of wood came in drifting toward shore&mdash;within a
+short time the barrel hove in sight within the light of the beacons, and
+men swam out to catch it.</p>
+
+<p>When the manhole cover was removed, Miss Willard was limp and lifeless.
+Death probably came gradually, and possibly without much suffering. The
+little dog came out alive, and none the worse for the perilous trip.</p>
+
+<p>While she was tossing in the Whirlpool, Graham made his trip to
+Lewiston, the only person who ever swam from the pool to Lewiston. When
+he returned up the Gorge he found the barrel and Miss Willard still in
+the terrible pool.</p>
+
+<p>A widow, Mrs. Anna Edson Taylor, safely passed over Niagara Falls in a
+barrel on Friday, October 24, 1901, the trip from end to end being
+witnessed by several thousand people. The fact that Mrs. Taylor failed
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+to appear, as advertised, on the Sunday before, and again on Wednesday,
+did not lessen the confidence of the public. It was beyond belief that
+she would live to tell the story, but she came out alive and well so
+soon as she recovered from the shock.</p>
+
+<p>This initial voyage over Niagara's cataract began at Port Day, nearly a
+mile from the brink of the Falls. At this point the daring woman and her
+barrel were taken out to Grass Island, where she entered; at 3.50 she
+was in tow of a boat speeding well out into the Canadian current. Soon
+after the barrel was cast adrift on the current that never before was
+known to spare a human life once fallen in its grasp. From the spot
+where the rowboat left the barrel the current runs frightfully swift,
+soon boiling on the teeth of the upper rifts; the barrel was weighted
+with a two hundred pound anvil, and it floated nicely in the water, Mrs.
+Taylor apparently retaining an upright position for the greater part of
+the trip down the river and through the rapids. Fortunately the cask
+kept well within the deep water, and except for passing out of sight
+several times, in the white-crested waves, it was in view for the
+greater part of a mile. In passing over the Horseshoe Fall the barrel
+kept toward the Canadian side at a point three hundred feet from the
+centre.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="HORSESHOE_FALLS_GOAT" id="HORSESHOE_FALLS_GOAT"></a>
+<img src="images/p0237.jpg" width="398" height="530" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Horseshoe Falls from Goat Island.</h4>
+
+<p>It dropped over the Fall at 4.23 o'clock, the bottom well down. In less
+than a minute it appeared at the base of the Fall, and was swept down
+stream. The current cast it aside in an eddy, and, floating back
+up-stream, it was held between two eddies until captured at 4.40
+o'clock. As it was grounded on a rock, out in the river, it was
+difficult to handle, but several men soon had the hatch off. Mrs. Taylor
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+was alive and conscious but before she could be taken out of the barrel
+it was necessary to saw a portion of the top away. Her condition was a
+surprise to all. She walked along the shore to a boat, and was taken
+down the river to the <i>Maid of the Mist</i> dock, where she entered a
+carriage and was brought to Niagara Falls. The woman was suffering
+greatly from the shock, and had a three-inch cut in her scalp, back of
+the right ear, but how or when she got it she did not know. She
+complained of pains between the shoulders, but it is thought that this
+was due to the fact that her shoulders were thrown back during the
+plunge, as she had her arms in straps, and these undoubtedly saved her
+neck from breaking.</p>
+
+<p>She admitted having lost consciousness in passing over the Falls. While
+thanking God for sparing her life, she warned every one not to repeat
+her foolhardy trip. So severe was the shock that she wandered in her
+talk, with three doctors attending her; she, however, soon recovered.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Taylor was forty-three years old when she made this marvellous
+trip. She was born in Auburn, N. Y., and was a school teacher in Bay
+City, Mich., before she came East. She had crossed the American
+continent from ocean to ocean eight times, and during her stay East
+impressed everybody with her wonderful nerve.</p>
+
+<p>The barrel in which Mrs. Taylor made the journey was four and one-half
+feet high, and about three feet in diameter. A leather harness and
+cushions inside protected her body. Air was secured through a rubber
+tube connecting with a small opening near the top of the barrel. Her
+warning evidently has been heeded. To our knowledge no barrel-fiend has
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+reappeared at the shores of Niagara within the last five years.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1846, a small steamer was built in the eddy just above the
+suspension bridge to run up to the Falls, and very appropriately named
+the <i>Maid of the Mist</i>. Her engine was rather weak, but she safely
+accomplished the trip. Since she took passengers aboard only from the
+Canada side, however, she did little more than pay expenses, and in
+1854, a larger, better boat, with a more powerful engine, a new <i>Maid of
+the Mist</i>, was put on the route and many persons since have made this
+most exciting and impressive voyage along the foot of the Falls.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Owing to some change in the appointments of the <i>Maid of the
+Mist</i> which confined her landings to the Canadian shore she too
+became unprofitable and her owner having decided to leave the
+place wished to sell her as she lay on her dock. This he could
+not do, but having received an offer of more than half of her
+cost, if he would deliver her at Niagara-on-the-Lake, he
+determined a consultation with Joel Robinson, who had acted as
+her captain and pilot on her trips under the Falls to make the
+attempt to take her down the river. Mr. Robinson agreed to act
+as pilot on the fearful voyage; the engineer, Mr. Jones,
+consented to go with him and a courageous machinist by the name
+of McIntyre volunteered to share the risk with them. The boat
+was in complete trim, removing from deck and hold all
+superfluous articles and as notice was given of the time of
+starting, a large number of people assembled to watch the
+spectacular plunge, few expecting to see either boat or crew
+again. About three o'clock in the afternoon of June 15, 1861,
+the engineer took his place in the hold, and, knowing that their
+drifting would be short at the longest, and might be only the
+preface to a swift destruction, set his steam valve at the
+proper gauge and awaited&mdash;not without anxiety&mdash;the tinkling
+signal that should start them on their flying voyage. McIntyre
+joined Robinson at the wheel on the upper deck. Self-possessed,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>
+and with the calmness which results from undoubted courage and
+confidence, yet with the humility which recognises all
+possibilities, Robinson took his place at the wheel and pulled
+the starting bell. With a shriek from her whistle and a white
+puff from the escape-pipe to take leave, as it were, of the
+multitude gathered at the shores, she soon swung around to the
+right, cleared the smooth water and shot like an arrow into the
+rapid under the bridge. She took the outside course of the rapid
+and when a third of the way down it, a jet of water struck
+against her rudder, a column dashed up under her starboard side,
+hurled her over, carried away her smoke-stack, threw Robinson
+flat on his back, and thrust McIntyre against her starboard
+wheel-house with such a force as to break it through. The little
+boat emerged from the fearful baptism, shook her wounded sides,
+and slid into the Whirlpool riding for the moment again on an
+even keel. Robinson rose at once, seized the helm, set her to
+the right of the large pot in the pool, then turned her directly
+through the neck of it. Thence, after receiving another
+drenching from its combing waves, the craft dashed on without
+further accident to the quiet of the river at Lewiston.</p></div>
+
+<p>Thus was accomplished one of the most remarkable and perilous voyages
+ever made by man; the boat was seventy-two feet long with seventeen feet
+breadth of beam and eight feet depth of hold, and carried an engine of
+one hundred horse-power.</p>
+
+<p>Robinson stated after the voyage that the greater part of it was like
+what he had always imagined must be the swift sailing of a large bird in
+a downward flight; that when the accident occurred the boat seemed to be
+struck from all directions at once, that she trembled like a
+fiddlestring and felt as if she would crumble away and drop into atoms;
+that both he and McIntyre were holding to the wheel with all their
+strength, but this produced no more effect than if they had been two
+flies; that he had no fear of striking the rocks, for he knew that the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>
+strongest suction must be in the deepest channels, and that the boat
+must remain in that. Finding that McIntyre was somewhat bruised and
+bewildered by excitement on account of his fall, and did not rise,
+Robinson quickly put his foot on him to keep him from rolling round the
+deck, and thus finished the voyage.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The effect of this trip upon Robinson was decidedly marked. To
+it, as he lived but few years afterward, his death was commonly
+attributed. "He was," said Mrs. Robinson in an interview,
+"twenty years older when he came home that day, than when he
+went out. He sank into his chair like a person overcome with
+weariness. He decided to abandon the water, and advised his sons
+to venture no more about the Rapids. Both his manner and
+appearance were changed." Calm and deliberate before, he became
+thoughtful and serious afterwards. He had been borne, as it
+were, in the arms of a power so mighty, that its impress was
+stamped on his features and on his mind. Through a slightly
+opened door he had seen a vision which awed and subdued him. He
+became reverent in a moment. He grew venerable in an hour.</p></div>
+
+<p>As an illustration of the lengths unscrupulous sensationalists will go
+at Niagara to satisfy the curious throngs, in September, 1883, several
+enterprising citizens of Niagara Falls purchased a small boat which they
+fitted up to represent the <i>Maid of the Mist</i>, and sent it through the
+Rapids. Men were stationed about the boat in effigy, but no human beings
+were allowed on board, although, indeed there were many applications for
+passage. The boat passed through the Gorge in good shape.</p>
+
+<p>On August 28, 1887, Charles Alexander Percy, a waggon-maker of
+Suspension Bridge, went over the Rapids to win fame. He had conceived
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>
+the idea of constructing a boat, and, having been previously a sailor he
+knew how to build a staunch craft. The vessel was of hickory, seventeen
+feet long and four feet ten and one-quarter inches wide. It had
+sixty-four oak ribs, and an iron plate weighing three hundred pounds was
+fastened to the bottom. The boat as completed weighed nine hundred
+pounds, and was covered with white canvas. At 3.30 o'clock in the
+afternoon on the day mentioned, Percy, having with great difficulty
+transported his craft to the old <i>Maid of the Mist</i> landing above the
+cantilever bridge, took off his coat and waistcoat, put them in a valise
+and stowed it away in one of the compartments. Then he sat in the middle
+part of the boat, which had no deck, rowed out into the Niagara, just
+above the cantilever, unshipped his oars and fastened them to the boat
+and then crawled into one of his air-tight compartments. Many people
+watched his white craft from the bridges and banks, but the excursion
+had not been advertised and many visitors to the Falls knew nothing of
+it. The boat shot down toward the Whirlpool. On the theory that there
+was an undercurrent which ran stronger than the surface current, Percy
+had attached a thirty-pound weight to a ten-foot line, which he threw
+overboard to act as a drag; this had no apparent effect; the two-mile
+trip to the Whirlpool occupied less than five minutes, and while the
+boat was submerged repeatedly, it did not turn over. When near the
+Whirlpool it drifted close to the American shore, Percy, thinking he was
+in the quiet water on the further side of the Whirlpool, stuck out his
+head, but closed the aperture just in time to escape a tremendous wave.
+The boat passed straight across the Whirlpool, and on the other side
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>
+Percyl crawled out of the compartment, took his oars, and rowed
+leisurely around to the foot of the inclined railway on the Canadian
+side, where he landed, his voyage having lasted twenty-five minutes. He
+gave much the same account of the adventure as was given by Graham of
+barrel fame, and Kendall, the Boston policeman, who swam into the
+Whirlpool in 1886. He thought he struck rocks in the passage down, but
+the boat showed no marks.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="ICE_BRIDGE_FALLS" id="ICE_BRIDGE_FALLS"></a>
+<img src="images/p0245.jpg" width="547" height="398" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Ice Bridge and American Falls.</h4>
+
+<p>Percy and a friend, William Dittrick, repeated the trip on September 25,
+1887, through the lower half of the Gorge from the Whirlpool to
+Lewiston, having a thrilling experience. Dittrick occupied one of the
+air compartments, while Percy sat in the cockpit.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, on September 16, 1888, Percy again risked his life in making a
+voyage through the waters of the Gorge near Lewiston. In this trip he
+narrowly escaped death and the boat was lost.</p>
+
+<p>Elated by his success, Percy now made a wager with Robert William Flack
+of Syracuse, "for a race through the Whirlpools in life-boats for five
+hundred dollars a side." The race was set for August 1, 1888, but on
+July 4th, Flack was first to show that his craft was seaworthy. The boat
+was of the clinker pattern, had no air-cushions, and was partly
+constructed of cork. In the presence of an immense concourse of
+spectators it went first along gaily, but in three minutes the boat was
+upset and carried into the Whirlpool bottom upwards. It was a frightful
+spectacle, witnessed by thousands of people. The boat capsized three
+times; the last time it tossed high in the air. It stood on end for an
+instant and then it toppled over on poor Flack, who was strapped to the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+boat helpless and floated about the pool upside down for about an hour,
+until captured on the Canadian side. Flack's body was only a mass of
+bruised flesh. Percy meantime, having witnessed the tragedy from the
+American side, jumped into a trap, and drove to the Whirlpool on the
+Canadian side where, throwing off his clothes, he leaped into the river
+and swam for the boat which was now approaching the shore. But he was
+too late. His courageous feat could not help Flack, who was found dead,
+hanging on the straps he had placed there to aid him to save his life.</p>
+
+<p>In 1889 Walter G. Campbell tried to make the perilous trip in an open,
+flat-bottomed boat, which he launched above the Rapids. His only
+companion was a black dog. Campbell, with a life-preserver about his
+body, stood up, using his oar as a paddle, and boldly drifted with
+increasing speed toward the seething pool. The trip took about twenty
+minutes, but, fortunately, the boat capsized before the worst water was
+reached, and Campbell just managed to struggle to the shore. The poor
+black dog paid the penalty of his master's folly.</p>
+
+<p>Peter Nissen, of Chicago, made a successful trip through the Whirlpool
+Rapids of Niagara on July 9, 1900, being the first man to go through in
+an open boat and come out unharmed. He entered the Rapids at 5 P.M., the
+boat gliding down easily bow first, entering the first wave end on, and
+going partly over and partly under the water, drenched its occupant
+completely. The second wave struck him with terrific force almost
+broadside, the boat being partly turned by the first wave, smashing
+Nissen against the cockpit, knocking off his hat and nearly smothering
+him. A moment later he entered the frightful mass of warring waters
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+opposite the Whirlpool Rapids station, and for a few moments it looked
+as though his end had come, the boat being tossed with terrific force
+out of the water, broadside up, the iron keel, weighing 1250 pounds,
+being plainly seen. Boat and occupant then disappeared altogether, not
+being again seen for several seconds until the worst was feared.
+Suddenly both man and boat reappeared farther down the stream, and the
+hundreds of onlookers gave vent to their feelings in cheers. The hardy
+navigator now went under the waters again receiving a crushing blow as
+he entered every succeeding wave when the staunch craft and its master
+raced into the Whirlpool. But Nissen was not yet safe. Having no means
+of guiding or propelling the boat, Nissen was compelled to sit in the
+water in the cockpit for fifty minutes, being carried around the
+Whirlpool four times. Once the boat approached the vortex and was sucked
+down about half its length, the other half standing out of the water in
+an almost vertical position. It was immediately thrown out, however, and
+resumed its course around the pool. When at the farther end, where the
+current has the least strength the boat then being about fifty feet from
+shore, three young men swam out with a rope and fastened it to the boat,
+which was then drawn in by very willing hands. Nissen, when questioned,
+said he was not injured in the least, only feeling cold and weak. He was
+stripped and given dry clothing, and he then declared he felt all right.
+In making the trip he wore his usual clothing, pulling on an ordinary
+life-preserver to aid him if he should be thrown out. He did not intend
+to fasten himself in the boat, but at the last moment passed a rope over
+his shoulder, which probably saved his life.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>
+<p>The boat, which he had named the <i>Fool-Killer</i>, was twenty feet long,
+four feet wide, and four feet deep. The deck was slightly raised in the
+centre, gently sloping to the gunwales. In the centre of the deck a
+cockpit four feet long and twenty inches wide extended down to the keel,
+a distance of four feet. The side-planking of the cockpit was carried
+above the deck, forming a combing six inches in height; six water-tight
+compartments were built in the boat, two at each end and one on each
+side of the cockpit; three hundred pounds of cork were also used, so
+that the boat was unsinkable. The main feature of the boat was the keel.
+This was a shaft of round iron, four inches in diameter and twenty feet
+long, hanging two feet below the bottom of the boat, and held in
+position by five one-inch iron bars.</p>
+
+<p>Our record of sensationalism at Niagara would be lacking in fulness, at
+least, if mention were not made of the many gruesome suicides that have
+occurred here, but we forbear. A story of what a dog endured, however,
+is quite in place:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>A large dog lately survived the passage over Niagara Falls and
+through the rapids to the whirlpool. He was first noticed while
+he was within the influence of the upper rapids. As he was
+whirled rapidly down over the Falls, every one imagined that
+that was the last of him. Shortly afterwards, however, he was
+discovered in the gorge below the Falls vainly endeavouring to
+clamber up upon some of the debris from the remains of the great
+ice bridge which recently covered the water at this point, but
+which had nearly all gone down the river. The news spread
+rapidly through the village, and a large crowd gathered at the
+shore. Strenuous efforts were made to get the struggling animal
+on shore, for an animal which had gone safely over the Falls
+would be a prize worth having, but without success. Finally the
+dog succeeded in getting upon a large cake of ice, and floated
+off upon it down towards Suspension Bridge and the terrible
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+Whirlpool Rapids. Information of the dog's coming was telephoned
+to Suspension Bridge village, and a large crowd collected on the
+bridge to watch for the coming wonder. In due time the poor
+fellow appeared upon his ice-cake, howling dismally the while,
+as if he appreciated the terrors of his situation. An
+express-train crossing the bridge at the time stopped in order
+to let the passengers witness the unusual spectacle. Round and
+round whirled the cake, in a dizzy way, and louder and more
+prolonged grew the howls of the poor dog. As the influence of
+the Whirlpool Rapids began to be felt, the cake increased in
+speed, whirled suddenly into the air, broke in two, and the dog
+disappeared from view. No one thought that he could possibly
+survive the wild rush through the rapids. When, therefore, word
+was received that the dog was in the whirlpool, still living,
+and once more struggling vainly to swim to land, it was received
+with marked incredulity. This story was substantiated by several
+trustworthy witnesses. It seems incredible that an animal could
+go through the upper rapids, over the Falls, through the Gorge,
+through the Whirlpool Rapids, and into the whirlpool itself, a
+distance of several miles, and still be alive. The poor animal
+perished in the whirlpool.</p></div>
+
+<p>In various instances dogs have been sent over the Falls and survived the
+plunge.</p>
+
+<p>As early as November, 1836, a troublesome female bull-terrier was put in
+a coffee sack by a couple of men who had determined to get rid of her,
+and thrown off from the middle of Goat Island Bridge. In the following
+spring she was found alive and well about sixty rods below the Ferry,
+having lived through the winter on a deceased cow that was thrown over
+the bank the previous fall. In 1858, another dog, a male of the same
+breed, was thrown into the Rapids, also near the middle of the bridge.
+In less than an hour he came up the Ferry stairs, very wet and not at
+all gay. He was ever after a sadder, if not a better dog.</p>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+<h2>Chapter VII</h2>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">The Old Niagara Frontier</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>hat has been loosely called the "Niagara Frontier" embraces all the
+beautiful stretch of territory south of Lakes Ontario and Erie,
+extending westward quite to Cleveland, the Forest City on the latter
+lake. It would be difficult to point to a tract of country in all
+America the history of which is of more inherent interest than this
+far-flung old-time frontier of which the Niagara River was the strategic
+key. The beautiful cities now standing here, Buffalo, Cleveland, and
+Toronto, as well as the ancient Falls, forever new and wonderful, bring
+to this fair country, in large volume, the modern note that would drown
+the memory of the long ago; but here, as elsewhere, and particularly
+here, the Indian left his names upon the rivers and the shores of the
+lakes, beautiful names that will neither die nor permit the days of
+Iroquois, Eries, and Hurons to pass forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>Historically, the Niagara frontier is memorable, firstly, because it
+embraced in part the homes and hunting-grounds of the Six Nations, the
+pre-eminent Indian confederacy of the continent. The French name for the
+confederacy was Iroquois; their own, "Ho-de-no-sote," or the "Long
+House," which extended from the Hudson to Lake Erie and from the St.
+Lawrence to the valleys of the Delaware, Susquehanna, and Allegheny.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>
+This domain was divided between the several nations by well-defined
+boundary lines, called "lines of property." The famous Senecas were on
+the Niagara frontier.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="COLONEL_MAP" id="COLONEL_MAP"></a>
+<img src="images/p0253.jpg" width="521" height="391" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Colonel R&ouml;mer's Map of the Country of the Iroquois, 1700.</h4>
+
+<p>In this pleasant land the Iroquois dwelt in palisaded villages upon the
+fertile banks of the lakes and streams which watered their country.
+Their houses were built within a protecting circle of palisades, and,
+like all the tribes of the Iroquois family, were long and narrow, not
+more than twelve or fifteen feet in width, but often exceeding one
+hundred and fifty in length. They were made of two parallel rows of
+poles stuck upright in the ground, of sufficient widths at the bottom to
+form the floor, and bent together at the top to form the roof; the whole
+was entirely covered with strips of peeled bark. At each end of the long
+house was a strip of bark or a bear skin hung loosely for a door.
+Within, they built their fires at intervals along the centre of the
+floor, the smoke rising through the opening in the top, which served, as
+well, to let in light. In every house were fires and many families, and
+every family having its own fire within the space allotted to it.</p>
+
+<p>Among all the Indians of the New World, there were none so politic and
+intelligent, none so fierce and brave, none with so many heroic virtues
+mingled with savagery, as the people of the Long House. They were a
+terror to all the surrounding tribes, whether of their own or of
+Algonquin speech. In 1650 they overran the country of the Huron; in 1651
+they destroyed the neutral nation along the Niagara; in 1652 they
+exterminated the Eries. They knew every war-path and "their war-cry was
+heard westward to the Mississippi and southward to the great gulf."
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>
+They were, in fact, the conquerors of the New World, perhaps not
+unjustly styled the "Romans of the West." Wrote the Jesuit Father
+Ragueneau, in 1650, "My pen has no ink black enough to describe the fury
+of the Iroquois." In 1715, the Tuscaroras, a branch of the Iroquois
+family, in the Carolinas, united with the Five Nations, after which the
+confederacy was known as the Six Nations, of which the other five tribes
+were named in order of their rank, Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Oneidas,
+and Cayugas.</p>
+
+<p>Iroquois government was vested in a general council composed of fifty
+hereditary sachems, but the order of succession was always in the female
+and never in the male line. Each nation was divided into eight clans or
+tribes. The spirit of the animal or bird after which the clan was named,
+called its "To-tem," was the guardian spirit of the clan, and every
+member used its figure in his signature as his device. It was the rule
+that men and women of the same tribe could intermarry. In this manner
+relationships were interlocked forever by the closest of ties. The name
+of each sachemship was permanent. When a sachem died the people of the
+league selected the most competent from among those of his family, who
+by right inherited the title, and the one so chosen was raised in solemn
+council to the high honour, and dropping his own received the name of
+the sachemship. Two sachemships, however, after the death of the
+original sachems ever remained vacant, those of the Onondagas and
+"Ha-yo-went-ha" (Hi-a-wat-ha) immortalised by Longfellow, of the
+Mohawks. Daganoweda was the founder of the league, whose head was
+represented as covered with tangled serpents; Hi-a-wat-ha (meaning "he
+who combs") put the head in order and this aided the formation of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>
+league. In honour of these great services this sachemship was afterward
+held vacant.</p>
+
+<p>The entire body of sachems formed the council league; their authority
+was civil, confined to affairs of peace, and was advisory rather than
+otherwise. Every member of the confederacy followed, to a great extent,
+the dictates of his own will, controlled very much by the customs of his
+people and "a sentiment that ran through their whole system of affairs
+which was as inflexible as iron."</p>
+
+<p>The character of the Iroquois confederacy has a bearing on the history
+of the Niagara country of prime importance; while their immediate seats
+were somewhat south of Niagara River itself, they were the red masters
+of the eastern Great Lake region when white men came to know it,
+conquering, as we have noted, the earlier red races, the Eries and
+Neutrals, who lived beside Lake Erie and the Niagara River. Of these
+very little is known; placed between the Iroquois on the South and the
+Hurons on the North both are accounted to have been fierce and brave
+peoples, for a long time able to withstand the savage inroads of the
+people of the Long House. The Eries occupied the territory just south of
+Lake Erie, while the Neuter or Neutral towns lay on the north side of
+the lake&mdash;stretching up perhaps near to Niagara Falls. They claimed the
+territory lying west of the Genesee River, and extending northward to
+the Huron land about Georgian Bay as their hunting-ground, and could, it
+was affirmed by Jesuits, number twelve thousand souls or four thousand
+fighting men in 1641, only a decade before annihilation by the southern
+foe.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Although the French applied to them the name of "neuter" [writes
+Marshall, the historian of the Niagara frontier], it was always
+an allusion to their neutrality between the Hurons and the
+Iroquois. These contending nations traversed the territories of
+the Neutral Nation in their wars against each other, and if, by
+chance, they met in the wigwams or villages of this people, they
+were forced to restrain their animosity and to separate in
+peace.</p></div>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding this neutrality, they waged cruel wars with other
+nations, toward whom they exercised cruelties even more inhuman than
+those charged upon their savage neighbours. The early missionaries
+describe their customs as similar to those of the Hurons, their land as
+producing Indian corn, beans, and squashes in abundance, their rivers as
+abounding in fish of endless variety, and their forests as filled with
+animals yielding the richest furs.</p>
+
+<p>They exceeded the Hurons in stature, strength, and symmetry of form, and
+wore their dress with a superior grace, and regarded their dead with
+peculiar affection; hence arose a custom which is worthy of notice, and
+explains the origin of the numerous burial mounds which are scattered
+over this vicinity. Instead of burying the bodies of their deceased
+friends, they deposited them in houses or on scaffolds erected for the
+purpose. They collected the skeletons from time to time and arranged
+them in their dwellings, in anticipation of the feast of the dead, which
+occurred once in ten or twelve years. On this occasion the whole nation
+repaired to an appointed place, each family, with the greatest apparent
+affection, bringing the bones of their deceased relatives enveloped in
+the choicest furs.</p>
+
+<p>The final disruption between Neuters and Senecas came, it would seem,
+	<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>
+in 1648, in the shape of a challenge sent by the latter and accepted;
+the war raged until 1651, when two whole villages of Neuters were
+destroyed, the largest containing more than sixteen hundred men. Father
+Fremin in 1669 found Neuters still living in captivity in Gannogarae, a
+Seneca town east of the Genesee. Some two years later, seemingly by
+accident, a rupture between Senecas and Eries, farther to the westward,
+took place, resulting in a similar Seneca victory; thus the Iroquois
+came to be the masters of the Niagara country.</p>
+
+<p>What this meant becomes very evident with the advance of France to this
+old-time key of the continent; here lay the strongest, most civilised
+Indian nations, conquerors of half a continent; what the friendship of
+the Iroquois meant to these would-be white conquerors of the self-same
+empire no words could express; as we have noted, the Niagara River was
+the direct passageway to the Mississippi basin. It is one of the most
+interesting caprices of Fate that France should have been given the
+great waterway&mdash;key of the continent; now, with a friendly alliance with
+the Six Nations the progress of French arms could hardly be challenged.
+But France, in the early hours of her progress, and by the hand of her
+best friend and wisest champion, Champlain, incurred the inveterate
+hatred of these powerful New York confederates. This he did in 1609 by
+joining a war-party of Algonquins of the lower St. Lawrence region on
+one of their memorable raids into the Iroquois country by way of the
+Richelieu River and Lake Champlain. Dr. Bourinot,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> perhaps most
+clearly of all, has explained Champlain's own comprehension of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+matter by saying that the dominating purpose of his life in New France
+was the exploration of the vast region from which came the sweeping
+tides of the St. Lawrence; supposing, naturally, that the Canadian red
+men were to be eventually the victors in the ancient war, especially if
+aided by the government of New France, it was politic for Champlain to
+espouse their cause since no general scheme of exploration "could have
+been attempted had he by any cold or unsympathetic conduct alienated the
+Indians who guarded the waterways over which he had to pass before he
+could unveil the mysteries of the Western wilderness."</p>
+
+<p>In June this eventful invasion of the Iroquois country was undertaken,
+and on the last day of July but one, near what was to become the
+historic site of Fort Ticonderoga, a pitched battle was fought.
+Champlain's own account of this the first decisive battle of America
+cannot be excelled in its quaint and picturesque simplicity:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>At night [he wrote] we embarked in our canoes, and, as we were
+advancing noiselessly onward, we encountered a party of Iroquois
+at the point of a cape which juts into the lake on the west
+side. It was on the twenty-ninth of the month and about ten
+o'clock at night. They, as well as we, began to shout, seizing
+our arms. We withdrew to the water, and the Iroquois paddled to
+the shore, arranged their canoes, and began to hew down trees
+with villainous-looking axes and fortified themselves very
+securely. Our party kept their canoes alongside of the other,
+tied to poles, so as not to run adrift, in order to fight all
+together if need be. When everything was arranged they sent two
+canoes to know if their enemies wished to fight. They answered
+that they desired nothing else but that there was not then light
+enough to distinguish each other and that they would fight at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>
+sunrise. This was agreed to. On both sides the night was spent
+in dancing, singing, mingled with insults and taunts. Thus they
+sang, danced, and insulted each other until daybreak. My
+companions and I were concealed in separate canoes belonging to
+the savage Montagnoes. After being equipped with light armour,
+each of us took an arquebus and went ashore. I saw the enemy
+leaving their barricade. They were about two hundred men, strong
+and robust, who were coming toward us with a gravity and
+assurance that greatly pleased me, led on by three chiefs. Ours
+were marching in similar order, and told me that those who bore
+the three lofty plumes were chiefs and that I must do all I
+could. The moment we landed they began to run toward the enemy,
+who stood firm and had not yet perceived my companions who went
+into the bush with some savages. Ours commenced calling me with
+a loud voice, opening the way for me and placing me at their
+head, about twenty paces in advance, until I was about thirty
+paces from the enemy. The moment they saw me they halted, gazing
+at me and I at them. When I saw them preparing to shoot at us, I
+raised my arquebus, and aiming directly at one of the chiefs,
+two of them fell to the ground by this shot, and one of their
+companions received a wound of which he died afterwards. I had
+put four balls into my arquebus. Ours, on witnessing a shot so
+favourable to them, set up such tremendous shouts that thunder
+could not have been heard, and yet there was no lack of arrows
+on the one side or the other. The Iroquois were greatly
+astonished at seeing two men killed so instantaneously,
+notwithstanding that they were provided with arrow-proof armour
+woven of cotton thread and wood. This frightened them very much.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="CHAMPLAIN" id="CHAMPLAIN"></a>
+<img src="images/p0223.jpg" width="388" height="379" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Champlain.</h4>
+
+<p>Whilst I was unloading, one of my companions fired a shot which
+so astonished them anew, seeing their chiefs slain, that they
+lost courage, took to flight, and abandoned the field and their
+fort, hiding in the depths of the forest, whither pursuing them
+I killed some others. Our savages also killed several of them
+and took ten or twelve of them prisoners. The rest carried off
+the wounded. These were promptly treated.</p>
+
+<p>After having gained this victory, our party amused themselves
+plundering Indian corn and meal from the enemy, and also their
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>
+arms which they had thrown away the better to run. And having
+feasted, danced, and sung, we returned three hours afterwards
+with the prisoners.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>No victory could have been so costly as this; indeed, one is led to
+wonder whether any battle in America ever cost more lives than this; for
+one hundred and fifty years and forty-five days, or until the fall of
+Quebec and New France, this strongest of Indian nations remembered
+Champlain, and was the implacable enemy of the French; and, what was of
+singular ill-fortune, these very Iroquois, in addition to holding the
+key of the West in their grasp, lay exactly between the French and their
+English rivals at the point of nearest and most vital contact. After the
+Ticonderoga victory an Iroquois prisoner, previous to being burned at
+the stake, chanted a song; wrote the humane Champlain, "the song was sad
+to hear." For a century and a half sad songs were sung by descendants of
+those Algonquin and French victors who listened in the wavering light of
+that cruel fire to the song of the captive from the land of Long Houses
+below the Lakes! True, the Iroquois and the French were not continually
+at war through this long series of years; and French blandishments had
+their effect, sometimes, even on their immemorial foe, especially at the
+Seneca end of the Long House, nearest Niagara.</p>
+
+<p>Six years later, in 1615, Champlain set out on his most important tour
+of western discovery, largely for the purpose of fulfilling a promise
+made to one of his lieutenants on the upper Ottawa to assist him in the
+continual quarrel between the Hurons to the northward and the Iroquois.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+Here again is forced upon our attention one of the most important
+sequences of the battle of Lake Champlain. The two routes to the Great
+Lakes of Montreal were by the St. Lawrence River and by the Ottawa
+River. Either route the voyage was long and difficult, but by the Ottawa
+the voyageur came into the "back door" of the Lakes, Georgian Bay, by a
+taxing portage route; while, once stemming the St. Lawrence, Lake
+Ontario was gained and, with the Niagara portage accomplished the
+traveller was afloat on Lake Erie beyond which the waterway lay fair and
+clear to the remotest corner of Superior. But the St. Lawrence led into
+the Iroquois frontier, and the Ottawa to the country of the French
+allies, the Hurons. The result was that, to a great extent, French
+movement followed the northerly course; no one could bring this out more
+clearly than Hinsdale and those whom he quotes:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>[The Iroquois] turned the Frenchmen aside from the St. Lawrence
+and the Lower Lakes to the Ottawa and Nipissing; they ruined the
+fur trade "which was the life-blood of New France"; they "made
+all her early years a misery and a terror"; they retarded the
+growth of Absolutism until Liberty was equal to the final
+struggle; and they influence our national history to this day,
+since "populations formed in the ideas and habits of a feudal
+monarchy, and controlled by a hierarchy profoundly hostile to
+freedom of thought, would have remained a hindrance and a
+stumbling-block in the way of that majestic experiment of which
+America is the field."<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>Two insignificant historical facts illustrate this power exerted on
+westward movement from Canada: Lake Erie was not discovered until half a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>
+century after Lake Superior, in fact was practically unknown even for
+fifty years after Detroit was founded in 1701.</p>
+
+<p>From the rendezvous in the Huron country this second army of invasion,
+at the head of which rode Champlain, set out for the Iroquois land, to
+carry fire and sword to the homes of the enemy and forge so much the
+more firmly the chains of prejudice and hatred. Crossing Lake Ontario at
+its western extremity the march was taken up from a point near Sacketts
+Harbour for the Onondaga fort, which was located, probably, a few miles
+south of Lake Oneida.</p>
+
+<p>The importance of the campaign on the Niagara frontier history is
+sufficient for us to include again Champlain's account of it:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We made about fourteen leagues in crossing to the other side of
+the Lake, in a southerly direction, towards the territories of
+the enemy. The Indians concealed all their canoes in the woods
+near the shore. We made by land about four leagues over a sandy
+beach, where I noticed a very agreeable and beautiful country,
+traversed by many small streams, and two small rivers which
+empty into the said Lake. Also many ponds and meadows, abounding
+in an infinite variety of game, numerous vines, and fine woods,
+a great number of chestnut trees, the fruit of which was yet in
+its covering. Although very small, it was of good flavour. All
+the canoes being thus concealed, we left the shore of the Lake,
+which is about eighty leagues long and twenty-five wide, the
+greater part of it being inhabited by Indians along its banks,
+and continued our way by land about twenty-five or thirty
+leagues. During four days we crossed numerous streams and a
+river issuing from a lake which empties into that of the
+<i>Entouhonorons</i>. This Lake, which is about twenty-five or thirty
+leagues in circumference, contains several beautiful islands,
+and is the place where our Iroquois enemies catch their fish,
+which are there in great abundance. On the 9th of October, our
+people being on a scout, encountered eleven Indians whom they
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+took prisoners, namely, four women, three boys, a girl, and
+three men, who were going to the fishery, distant four leagues
+from the enemies' fort. . . . The next day, about three o'clock
+in the afternoon, we arrived before the fort. . . . Their
+village was enclosed with four strong rows of interlaced
+palisades, composed of large pieces of wood, thirty feet high,
+not more than half a foot apart and near an unfailing body of
+water. . . . We were encamped until the 16th of the month. . . .
+As the five hundred men did not arrive, the Indians decided to
+leave by an immediate retreat and began to make baskets in which
+to carry the wounded, who were placed in them doubled in a heap,
+and so bent and tied as to render it impossible for them to
+stir, any more than an infant in its swaddling clothes, and not
+without great suffering, as I can testify, having been carried
+several days on the back of one of our Indians, thus tied and
+imprisoned, which made me lose all patience. As soon as I had
+strength to sustain myself I escaped from this prison, or to
+speak plainly, from this hell.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy pursued us about half a league, in order to capture
+some of our rear guard, but their efforts were useless and they
+withdrew. . . . The retreat was very tedious, being from
+twenty-five to thirty leagues, and greatly fatigued the wounded,
+and those who carried them, though they relieved each other from
+time to time. On the 18th considerable snow fell which lasted
+but a short time. It was accompanied with a violent wind, which
+greatly incommoded us. Nevertheless we made such progress, that
+we reached the banks of the lake of the <i>Entouhonorons</i>, at the
+place where we had concealed our canoes, and which were found
+all whole. We were apprehensive that the enemy had broken them
+up.</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="MAP_FRENCH_FORTS" id="MAP_FRENCH_FORTS"></a>
+<img src="images/p0268.jpg" width="465" height="333" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Map of French Forts in America, 1750-60.</h4>
+
+<p>As the roar of Niagara greets from afar the listening ears of the
+innumerable host of pilgrims who come to it to-day, so the fame of the
+cataract reached the first explorers of the continent long before they
+came to it, indeed almost as soon as their feet touched the shore of the
+New World. Four centuries ago Niagara was the wonder of the world as it
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+must be four centuries hence and four times four.</p>
+
+<p>In May, 1535, Jacques Cartier left France on his second voyage to
+America in three ships; reaching the St. Lawrence, which he so named
+from the Saint, he asked concerning its sources and</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>was told that, after ascending many leagues among rapids and
+waterfalls, he would reach a lake 140 or 150 leagues broad, at
+the western extremity of which the waters were wholesome and the
+winters mild; that a river emptied into it from the south, which
+had its source in the country of the Iroquois; that beyond the
+lake he would find a cataract and portage, then another lake
+about equal to the former, which they had never explored.</p></div>
+
+<p>This is the first known mention of Niagara Falls. Champlain mapped the
+Niagara frontier, and his map of 1613 shows the position of the great
+Falls; he refers to it only as a "waterfall," which was "so very high
+that many kinds of fish are stunned in its descent." He probably never
+saw Niagara but wrote his description from hearsay. During the half
+century between Champlain's Lake Ontario tour and the coming of La Salle
+and Hennepin the Niagara must have been often visited by the Catholic
+missionaries, but few of them left mention of it.</p>
+
+<p>In 1615, Champlain's interpreter, Etienne Brule, was sent southward to
+seek aid from the Andastes and is lost to sight in the western forests
+for three years; it is possible that Brule even reached the copper
+region of Lake Superior at this time, and it is fairly probable that
+this intrepid wanderer, first of all Frenchmen, followed the Niagara
+River and gazed upon its mighty cataract. The first knowledge we have,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>
+however, of a Frenchman's presence on Niagara River is of Father Joseph
+de la Roche Dallion, who crossed it near Lewiston eleven years later,
+1626. Nicolet was in the Straits of Mackinac and at Sault Ste. Marie in
+1634, at the time that Champlain (now in the last year of his eventful
+life) founded Three Rivers on the St. Lawrence above Quebec for the
+defence of this endangered capital!</p>
+
+<p>Father L'Allemant, in his <i>Relation</i> of 1640-41, refers to the Niagara
+River as the <i>Onaguiaahra</i>, and calls it the "celebrated" river of the
+Neutral Nation.</p>
+
+<p>Montreal was founded in 1642, simultaneously with the memorable capture
+of Father Jogues, who now, first of Europeans, passed through Lake
+George en route to the homes of the merciless Iroquois. In fact it was
+Father Jogues who first named this beautiful sheet of water, when he
+entered it on the eve of Corpus Christi, "Lake Saint Sacrament"; Sir
+William Johnson, at a later date rechristened it Lake George. Jogues may
+have heard the Niagara cataract.</p>
+
+<p>Ragueneau, writing to France in 1648, affirmed that "North of the Eries
+is a great lake, about two hundred leagues in circumference, called
+Erie, formed by the discharge of the <i>mer-douce</i>, or Lake Huron, and
+which falls into a third lake called Ontario, over a cataract of
+frightful height." The description by La Salle's Sulpician companion,
+Galinee, in 1669, is the most accurate of all early accounts. After La
+Salle's visit to the Senecas the party struck westward toward Niagara.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="FATHER_HENNEPIN" id="FATHER_HENNEPIN"></a>
+<img src="images/p0271.jpg" width="491" height="400" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Niagara Falls by Father Hennepin.<br />
+
+The first known picture of Niagara, dated 1697.</h4>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We found [wrote Galinee] a river, one-eighth of a league broad
+and extremely rapid, forming the outlet of communication from
+Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The depth of the river (for it is
+properly the St. Lawrence), is, at this place extraordinary,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>
+for, on sounding close by the shore, we found 15 or 16 fathoms
+of water. The outlet is 40 leagues long, and has, from 10 to 12
+leagues above its embouchure into Lake Ontario, one of the
+finest cataracts, or falls of water, in the world, for all the
+Indians of whom I have enquired about it, say, that the river
+falls at that place from a rock higher than the tallest pines,
+that is about 200 feet. In fact we heard it from the place where
+we were, although from 10 to 12 leagues distant, but the fall
+gives such a momentum to the water, that its velocity prevented
+our ascending the current by rowing, except with great
+difficulty. At a quarter of a league from the outlet where we
+were, it grows narrower, and its channel is confined between two
+very high, steep, rocky banks, inducing the belief that the
+navigation would be very difficult quite up to the cataract. As
+to the river above the falls, the current very often sucks into
+this gulf, from a great distance, deer and stags, elk and
+roebucks, that suffer themselves to be drawn from such a point
+in crossing the river, that they are compelled to descend the
+falls, and to be overwhelmed in its frightful abyss.</p>
+
+<p>Our desire to reach the little village called Ganastogue
+Sonono-toua O-tin-a-oua prevented our going to view the wonder,
+which I consider as so much the greater in proportion as the
+river St. Lawrence is one of the largest in the world. I will
+leave you to judge if that is not a fine cataract in which all
+the water of that large river, having its mouth three leagues
+broad, falls from a height of 200 feet, with a noise that is
+heard not only at the place where we were, 10 or 12 leagues
+distant, but also from the other side of Lake Ontario, opposite
+its mouth, where M. Trouve told me he had heard it.</p>
+
+<p>We passed the river, and finally, at the end of five days'
+travel arrived at the extremity of Lake Ontario, where there is
+a fine large sandy bay, at the end of which is an outlet of
+another small lake which is there discharged. Into this our
+guide conducted us about half a league, to a point nearest the
+village, but distant from it some 5 or 6 leagues, and where we
+unloaded our canoes.</p></div>
+
+<p>The first eye-witness to describe Niagara Falls was Father Hennepin who
+visited them in the winter of 1678-79, and made the first pictorial
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>
+representation of them.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Betwixt the Lake <i>Ontario</i> and <i>Erie</i>, there is a vast and
+prodigious Cadence of Water which falls down after a surprizing
+and astonishing manner, insomuch that the Universe does not
+afford its Parallel. 'T is true, <i>Italy</i> and <i>Suedeland</i> boast
+of some such Things; but we may well say they are but sorry
+Patterns, when compared to this of which we now speak. At the
+foot of this horrible Precipice we meet with the River
+<i>Niagara</i>, which is not above half a quarter of a League broad,
+but is wonderfully deep in some places. It is so rapid above
+this Descent, that it violently hurries down the Wild Beasts
+while endeavouring to pass it, to feed on the other side; they
+not being able to withstand the force of its Current, which
+inevitably casts them down head-long above Six hundred foot.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p>
+
+<p>This wonderful Downfall is compounded of two great Cross-streams
+of Water, and two Falls, with an Isle slopeing along the middle
+of it. The Waters which fall from this vast height do foam and
+boil after the most hideous manner imaginable, making an
+outrageous Noise, more terrible than that of Thunder; for when
+the Wind blows from off the South, their dismal roaring may be
+heard above fifteen Leagues off.</p>
+
+<p>The River <i>Niagara</i> having thrown itself down this incredible
+Precipice continues its impetuous course for two Leagues
+together, to the great Rock above-mentioned, with an
+inexpressible Rapidity: But having pass'd that, its Impetuosity
+relents, gliding along more gently for two Leagues, till it
+arrives at the Lake <i>Ontario</i> or <i>Frontenac</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Any Barque or greater Vessel may pass from the Fort to the foot
+of this huge Rock above-mention'd. This Rock lies to the
+Westward, and is cut off from the Land by the River <i>Niagara</i>,
+about two Leagues farther down than the great Fall; for which
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>
+two Leagues the People are oblig'd to carry their Goods
+overland; but the way is very good, and the Trees are but few,
+and they chiefly Firrs and Oaks.</p>
+
+<p>From the great Fall unto this Rock, which is to the West of the
+River, the two Brinks of it are so prodigious high, that it
+would make one tremble to look steadily upon the Water, rolling
+along with a Rapidity not to be imagin'd. Were it not for this
+vast Cataract, which interrupts Navigation, they might sail with
+barques or greater Vessels, above four hundred and fifty Leagues
+further, cross the Lake of <i>Hurons</i>, and up to the farther end
+of the Lake <i>Illinois</i>; which two Lakes, we may well say, are
+little Seas of fresh Water.</p></div>
+
+<p>In 1646 Father Jogues was killed in the Long House, and though in 1647
+eighteen priests were at work in the eleven missions in the West (most
+of them in the Huron country), the Iroquois carried the war to their
+very altars, the mission of St. Joseph being destroyed and the Hurons,
+blasted as a nation, scattered to the four winds of heaven. In 1656
+Mohawks even descended upon fugitive Hurons hovering about Quebec under
+the very guns of Fort St. Louis; it is interesting to compare these
+far-eastwardly onslaughts with the simultaneous far-eastern progress of
+the French explorers, for, as the Mohawks were falling upon Quebec those
+adventurous pioneers, Radisson and Grossilliers, were (it is now
+believed) on the point of discovering the Mississippi River, which they
+probably did in 1659.</p>
+
+<p>The plan of a grand Iroquois campaign against Canada in 1660 probably
+had its part in the awakening of the monarchy at home to the real state
+of affairs in America; if New France was to be more than a myth
+something must now be done or the entire European population of the St.
+Lawrence&mdash;not yet numbering more than two thousand souls&mdash;might be swept
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+away as were the Hurons. The energy of Louis's famous minister,
+Colbert, is now in evidence as Marquis de Tracy, special envoy, appeared
+on the scene, as the population of Canada doubled in a score of months,
+the Richilieu was manned with forts and an army of thirteen hundred men
+invaded the Iroquois country and secured a comparatively lasting peace.</p>
+
+<p>A new era dawned, renewed spirit enthused the explorer, missionary,
+<i>coureur-de-bois</i>, and soldier. In 1669 the boldest man after Champlain,
+as Frontenac was the most chivalrous, La Salle, crossed Lake Ontario and
+in the two following years probably discovered and followed the Ohio, if
+not the Mississippi itself. In 1671 the noblest soldier of the cross in
+early American annals, Marquette, founded St. Ignace, and, two years
+later, in company with Joliet, found and descended the "Missipi."
+Simultaneously, as if to end once for all fear of Iroquois opposition,
+Frontenac erected the fort named for himself near the present site of
+Kingston, Canada. But French activity proved a little too successful,
+for it not only awed the Iroquois but alarmed the English, who had taken
+New York from the Dutch nine years before.</p>
+
+<p>La Salle was in France during 1677, where he received letters-patent
+concerning forts to be built south and west, in which direction "it
+would seem a passage to Mexico can be discovered," while Father
+Hennepin, soon to be the great discoverer's companion and mouthpiece,
+was among the Senecas near the Niagara frontier gaining a useful fund of
+information for the grand campaign of empire founding that La Salle had
+planned with Fort Frontenac as his base of supplies.</p>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+<h2>Chapter VIII</h2>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">From La Salle to De Nonville</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">R</span>eceiving authority to explore the Mississippi to its mouth, as well as
+a grant made in 1675 of Fort Frontenac and surrounding lands as a
+seigniory, La Salle returned from France in 1678, and began the
+wonderful career that will hand his name down through countless years as
+the greatest explorer in the annals of America. He allied with him Tonty
+and Father Hennepin, the latter already known, as we have seen, along
+the Niagara frontier.</p>
+
+<p>La Salle at once advanced to Fort Frontenac, which was to be his point
+of rendezvous and eastern base of supplies. His first act was to fortify
+this point strongly as though already foreseeing the recall of the
+sturdy Frontenac and the consequential uprising of the slumbering
+Iroquois.</p>
+
+<p>The plan of Fort Frontenac published by Faillon shows that Frontenac's
+hasty palisades were replaced by La Salle with hewed stone on at least
+two landward sides, and within were to be found a barrack, bakery, and
+mill; by 1780 fourteen families replaced the four lone <i>habitans</i> left
+at the fort in 1677; his improvements had cost La Salle thirty-five
+thousand francs. In Parkman's graphic words we see La Salle reigning</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>the autocrat of his lonely little empire, as feudal lord of the
+forests around him, commander of a garrison raised and paid by
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>
+himself, founder of the mission, patron of the church. But he
+had no thought of resting here. He had gained what he sought, a
+fulcrum for bolder and broader action. His plans were ripened
+and his time was come. He was no longer a needy adventurer,
+disinherited of all but his fertile brain and his intrepid
+heart. He had won place, influence, credit, and potent friends.
+Now, at length, he might hope to find the long-sought path to
+China and Japan, and secure for France those boundless regions
+of the west.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>La Salle now pushed his impetuous campaign, showing as much foresight as
+daring in this conception. To hold the golden West in fee three
+important projects at once demanded attention: fitting out two ships,
+one for Lake Ontario and one for the upper Niagara River and the lakes
+from which its waters came, and the acquiring at some proper rendezvous
+of the first invoice of furs. A brigantine of ten tons was building
+simultaneously with Fort Frontenac, and in the fall of the year (1678)
+was ready for its cargo of material for a sister-ship to be built above
+the great falls. A party in canoes, carrying some six thousand francs'
+worth of goods, had gone forward to the further lakes to engage and
+secure from the Indian tribes provisions for the expedition and a
+consignment of furs for the homeward voyage.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="CAVELIER" id="CAVELIER"></a>
+<img src="images/p0279.jpg" width="341" height="409" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>R. R&eacute;n&eacute; Cavelier, Sieur De La Salle.</h4>
+
+<p>On November 18th, the brigantine with its singular freight weighed
+anchor and sped from sight of La Salle and the watchers at Fort
+Frontenac; the party was under the temporal command of Sieur la Motte de
+Lussi&egrave;re and the spiritual guidance of the famous historian Father
+Hennepin, "who belonged," writes one scholar, "to that class of writers
+who speak the truth by accident"; of him La Salle generously said that
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+he wrote more in conformity to his wishes than his knowledge. After a
+rough voyage this unknown craft entered "the beautiful river Niagara,"
+as Hennepin truthfully stated, on St. Nicholas's Day, December 6th and
+the <i>Te Deum Laudamus</i> was sung feelingly by the crew, which had barely
+escaped shipwreck near the mouth of Humber River.</p>
+
+<p>Here, near the mouth of the Niagara River, La Salle had planned to build
+a fort to bear the name Fort Conti in honour of his chief patron, the
+Prince of Conti; Lake Erie he had already named Lac de Conti. "It is
+situated," he wrote Conti, before it was built, "near that great
+cataract, more than a hundred and twenty toises [780 feet] in height, by
+which the lakes of higher elevation precipitate themselves into Lake
+Frontenac." A party of Senecas welcomed the little party, listening
+wonderingly to their anthem, supplying them with no end of white fish
+which they had come to catch here, living the while in a sort of a
+village near by, comprising probably a few huts erected for temporary
+purposes. It is possible these dwellings were of a more permanent
+character; at any rate Seneca sovereignty was assured, as the Frenchmen
+discovered just as soon as post-holes for Fort Conti were being dug.
+Concerning this, as well as the other features of this early Niagara
+River history, the record of Father Hennepin is about our only source of
+information; let us, therefore, quote from his <i>A New Discovery</i>
+concerning Frontenac and Niagara days:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>That very same Year, on the Eighteenth of November, I took leave
+of our Monks at Fort Frontenac, and after mutual Embraces and
+Expressions of Brotherly and Christian Charity, I embark'd in a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+Brigantine of about ten Tuns. The Winds and the Cold of the
+Autumn were then very violent, insomuch that our Crew was afraid
+to go into so little a Vessel. This oblig'd us and the Sieur de
+la Motte our Commander, to keep our course on the North-side of
+the Lake, to shelter ourselves under the Coast, against the
+North-west Wind, which otherwise would have forced us upon the
+Southern Coast of the Lake. This Voyage prov'd very difficult
+and dangerous, because of the unseasonable time of the Year,
+Winter being near at hand.</p>
+
+<p>On the 26th, we were in great danger about Two large Leagues off
+the Land, where we were oblig'd to lie at an Anchor all that
+Night at sixty Fathom Water and above; but at length the Wind
+coming to the North-East, we sail'd on, and arriv'd safely at
+the further end of the Lake Ontario, call'd by the Iroquese,
+Skannadario. We came pretty near to one of their Villages call'd
+Tajajagon, lying about Seventy Leagues from Fort Frontenac, or
+Catarakouy.</p>
+
+<p>We barter'd some Indian Corn with the Iroquese, who could not
+sufficiently admire us, and came frequently to see us on board
+our Brigantine, which for our greater security, we had brought
+to an Anchor into a River, though before we could get in, we run
+aground three times, which oblig'd us to put Fourteen Men into
+Canou's, and cast the Balast of our Ship overboard to get her
+off again. That River falls into the Lake; but for fear of being
+frozen up therein, we were forced to cut the Ice with Axes and
+other Instruments.</p>
+
+<p>The Wind turning then contrary, we were oblig'd to tarry there
+till the 15th of December, 1678, when we sailed from the
+Northern Coast to the Southern, where the River Niagara runs
+into the Lake; but could not reach it that Day, though it is but
+Fifteen or Sixteen Leagues distant, and therefore cast Anchor
+within Five Leagues of the Shore, where we had very bad Weather
+all the Night long.</p>
+
+<p>On the 6th, being St. Nicholas's Day, we got into the fine River
+Niagara, into which never any such Ship as ours entred before.
+We sung there Te Deum, and other Prayers, to return our Thanks
+to God Almighty for our prosperous Voyage. The Iroquese
+Tsonnontouans inhabiting the little Village, situated at the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>
+Mouth of the River, took above Three Hundred Whitings which are
+bigger than Carps, and the best relish'd, as well as the
+wholsomest Fish in the World; which they presented all to us,
+imputing their good luck to our Arrival. They were much
+surprized at our Ship, which they call'd the Great Woodden
+Canou.</p>
+
+<p>On the 7th, we went in a Canou two Leagues up the River to look
+for a convenient Place for Building; but not being able to get
+the Canou farther up, because the Current was too rapid for us
+to master, we went over land about three Leagues higher, though
+we found no Land fit for culture. We lay that Night near a
+River, which runs from the Westward, within a League above the
+great Fall of Niagara, which, as we have already said, is the
+greatest in the World. The Snow was then a Foot deep, and we
+were oblig'd to dig it up to make room for our Fire.</p>
+
+<p>The next day we return'd the same way we went, and saw great
+Numbers of Wild Goats, and Wild Turkey-Cocks, and on the 11th we
+said the first Mass that ever was said in that Country. The
+Carpenters and the rest of the Crew were set to work; but
+Monsieur de la Motte, who had the Direction of them, being not
+able to endure the Fatigues of so laborious a Life, gave over
+his Design, and return'd to Canada, having about two hundred
+Leagues to Travel.</p>
+
+<p>The 12th, 13th, and 14th, the Wind was not favourable enough to
+sail up the River as far as the rapid Current above mention'd
+where we had resolv'd to build some Houses.</p>
+
+<p>Whosoever considers our Map, will easily see, that this New
+Enterprise of building a Fort and some Houses on the River
+Niagara, besides the Fort of Frontenac, was like to give
+Jealousie to the Iroquese, and even to the English, who live in
+this Neighbourhood, and have a great Commerce with them.
+Therefore to prevent the ill Consequences of it, it was thought
+fit to send an Embassie to the Iroquese, as it will be mention'd
+in the next Chapter.</p>
+
+<p>The 15th I was desired to sit at the Helm of our Brigantine
+while three of our Men hall'd the same from the Shore with a
+Rope; and at last we brought her up, and moor'd her to the Shore
+with a Halser, near a Rock of a prodigious heighth lying upon
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+the rapid Currents we have already mentioned. The 17th, 18th,
+and 19th, we were busie in making a Cabin with Pallisado's, to
+serve for a Magazine; but the Ground was so frozen, that we were
+forc'd to throw several times boiling Water upon it to
+facilitate the beating in and driving down the Stakes. The 20th,
+21st, 22d, and 23d, our Ship was in great danger to be dash'd in
+pieces, by the vast pieces of Ice that were hurl'd down the
+River; to prevent which, our Carpenters made a Capstone to haul
+her ashore; but our great Cable broke in three pieces; whereupon
+one of our Carpenters surrounded the Vessel with a Cable, and
+ty'd it to several Ropes, whereby we got her ashore, tho' with
+much difficulty, and sav'd her from the danger of being broke to
+pieces, or carryed away by the Ice, which came down with an
+extream violence from the great Fall of Niagara.</p></div>
+
+<p>Returning to Niagara with little or no promise of success, yet La
+Salle's <i>avant-couriers</i> were in no way dissuaded from their purposes of
+fortifying the important Niagara portage and building a vessel for the
+upper lakes in which to carry the produce of those regions to Niagara
+and from thence to Canada. Reaching the Niagara January 14th, the French
+party was joined six days later by the indomitable La Salle who, he
+reported, had paused on his way thither from Fort Frontenac and visited
+the unmoved Iroquois and secured their consent to the plan of
+fortification. Yet even La Salle was too optimistic as to his success,</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>for certain Persons [wrote Hennepin], who made it their Business
+to Cross our Design, inspired the <i>Iroquese</i> with many
+suspicions, about the fort we were building at <i>Niagara</i>, which
+was in great forwardness; and their Suspicions grew so high,
+that we were obliged to give over our Building for some time,
+contenting ourselves with an Habitation encompass'd with
+Pallisado's.</p></div>
+
+<p>The embassy to the Iroquois mentioned by Hennepin was duly organised and
+sent forward through the winter snows to seek the good-will of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+famous owners of the soil in a fort-building project; in order to allay
+the suspicions of the Senecas in what Hennepin calls "the little village
+of Niagara," they were told that their purpose was, not to build a fort,
+but "a Hangar, or Store-house, to keep the Commodities we had brought to
+supply their Occasions." Nevertheless it was necessary to supply gifts
+and make assurances that an embassy would forthwith depart for the
+Iroquois council house. Anything less than Hennepin's own account would
+not fairly describe this interesting mission:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We travelled with Shoes made after the Indian way, of a single
+Skin, but without Soles, because the Earth was still cover'd
+with Snow, and past through Forests for thirty two Leagues
+together carrying upon our Backs our Coverings and other
+Baggage, lying often in open Field, and having with us no other
+Food but some roasted Indian Corn: 'T is true, we met upon our
+Road some Iroquese a hunting, who gave us some wild Goats, and
+Fifteen or Sixteen black Squirrels, which are excellent Meat.
+However, after five Days' Journey, we came to Tagarondies, a
+great Village of the Iroquese Tsonnontouans, and were
+immediately carry'd to the Cabin of their Principal Chief, where
+Women and Children flock'd to see us, our Men being very well
+drest and arm'd. An old Man having according to Custom made
+publick Cries, to give Notice of our arrival to their Village;
+the younger Savages wash'd our Feet, which afterwards they
+rubb'd over with the Grease of Deers, wild Goats, and other
+Beasts, and the Oil of Bears.</p>
+
+<p>The next Day was the First of the Year 1679. After the ordinary
+Service I preach'd in a little Chapel made of Barks of Trees, in
+presence of two Jesuites, viz. Father Garnier and Rafeix; and
+afterwards we had a Conference with 42 old Men, who make up
+their Council. These Savages are for the most part tall, and
+very well shap'd, cover'd with a sort of Robe made of Beavers
+and Wolves-Skins, or of black Squirrels, holding a Pipe or
+Calumet in their Hands. The Senators of Venice do not appear
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+with a graver Countenance, and perhaps don't speak with more
+Majesty and Solidity, than those Ancient Iroquese.</p>
+
+<p>This Nation is the most cruel and barbarous of all America,
+especially to their Slaves, whom they take above two or three
+hundred Leagues from their Country, . . . however, I must do
+them the Justice to observe, that they have many good qualities;
+and that they love the Europeans, to whom they sell their
+Commodities at very reasonable Rates. They have a mortal Hatred
+for those, who being too self-interested and covetous, are
+always endeavouring to enrich themselves to the Prejudice of
+others. Their chief Commodities are Beavers-Skins, which they
+bring from above a hundred and fifty Leagues off their
+Habitations, to exchange them with the English and Dutch, whom
+they affect more than the inhabitants of Canada, because they
+are more affable, and sell them their Commodities cheaper.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="FRONTENAC" id="FRONTENAC"></a>
+<img src="images/p0287.jpg" width="246" height="582" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Frontenac, from H&eacute;bert's Statue at Quebec.</h4>
+
+<p>One of our own Men nam'd Anthony Brossard, who understood very
+well the Language of the Iroquese, and therefore was Interpreter
+to M. de la Motte; told their Assembly:</p>
+
+<p>First, That we were come to pay them a Visit, and smoak with
+them in their Pipes, a Ceremony which I shall describe anon: And
+then we deliver'd our Presents, consisting of Axes, Knives, a
+great Collar of white and blue Porcelain, with some Gowns. We
+made Presents upon every Point we propos'd to them, of the same
+nature as the former.</p>
+
+<p>Secondly, We desir'd them, in the next place to give notice to
+the five Cantons of their Nation, that we were about to build a
+Ship, or great woodden Canou above the great Fall of the River
+Niagara, to go and fetch European Commodities by a more
+convenient passage than the ordinary one, by the River St.
+Laurence, whose rapid Currents make it dangerous and long; and
+that by these means we should afford them our Commodities
+cheaper than the English and Dutch of Boston and New-York. This
+Pretence was specious enough, and very well contriv'd to engage
+the barbarous Nation to extirpate the English and Dutch out of
+America: For they suffer the Europeans among them only for the
+Fear they have of them, or else for the Profit they make in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>
+Bartering their Commodities with them.</p>
+
+<p>Thirdly, We told them farther, that we should provide them at
+the River Niagara with a Black-smith and a Gun-smith, to mend
+their Guns, Axes, &amp;c. having no body among them that understood
+that Trade, and that for the conveniency of their whole Nation,
+we would settle those Workmen on the Lake of Ontario, at the
+Mouth of the River Niagara. We threw again among them seven or
+eight Gowns, and some Pieces of fine Cloth, which they cover
+themselves with from the Wast to the Knees. This was in order to
+engage them on our side, and prevent their giving ear to any who
+might suggest ill things of us, entreating them first to
+acquaint us with the Reports that should be made unto them to
+our Prejudice, before they yielded their Belief to the same.</p>
+
+<p>We added many other Reasons which we thought proper to persuade
+them to favour our Design. The Presents we made unto them,
+either in Cloth or Iron, were worth above 400 Livres besides
+some other European Commodities, very scarce in that Country:
+For the best Reasons in the World are not listened to among
+them, unless they are enforc'd with Presents.</p>
+
+<p>The next Day the Iroquese answered our Discourse and Presents
+Article by Article, having laid upon the Ground several little
+pieces of Wood, to put them in mind of what had been said the
+Day before in the Council; their Speaker, or President held in
+his Hand one of these Pieces of Wood, and when he had answer'd
+one Article of our Proposal, he laid it down, with some Presents
+of black and white Porcelain, which they use to string upon the
+smallest Sinews of Beasts; and then took up another Piece of
+Wood; and so of all the rest, till he had fully answer'd our
+Speech, of which those Pieces of Wood, and our Presents put them
+in mind. When this Discourse was ended, the oldest Man of their
+Assembly cry'd aloud three times, Niaoua; that is to say, It is
+well, I thank thee, which was repeated with a full Voice; and in
+a tuneful manner by all the other Senators.</p>
+
+<p>'T is to be observ'd here, that the Savages, though some are
+more cunning than others, are generally all addicted to their
+own Interests; and therefore tho' the Iroquese seem'd to be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>
+pleas'd with our Proposals, they were not really so; for the
+English and Dutch affording them the European Commodities at
+cheaper Rates than the French of Canada, they had a greater
+Inclination for them than for us. That People, tho' so barbarous
+and rude in their Manners, have however a Piece of Civility
+peculiar to themselves; for a Man would be counted very
+impertinent if he contradicted anything that is said in their
+Council, and if he does not approve even the greatest
+Absurdities therein propos'd; and therefore they always answer
+Niaoua; that is to say Thou art in the right Brother; that is
+well.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding that seeming Approbation, they believe what they
+please and no more; and therefore 't is impossible to know when
+they are really persuaded of those things you have mention'd
+unto them, which I take to be one of the greatest Obstructions
+to their Conversion: For their Civility hindering them from
+making any Objection, or contradicting what is said unto them,
+they seem to approve of it, though perhaps they laugh at it in
+private, or else never bestow a moment to reflect upon it, such
+being their indifference for a future Life. From these
+Observations, I conclude that the Conversion of these People is
+to be despair'd of, 'till they are subdu'd by the Europeans, and
+that their Children have another sort of Education, unless God
+be pleas'd to work a Miracle in their Favour.</p></div>
+
+<p>On the 22nd of the month the party struck out for the upper Niagara for
+the purpose of carrying out the original design of building a ship for
+the upper lake trade. Hennepin gives the site of this interesting
+adventure as "two leagues above the great Fall&mdash;this was the most
+convenient place we could pitch upon, being upon a River which falls
+into the Streight [Niagara River] between the Lake <i>Erie</i>, and the great
+Fall of Niagara." Even had the common portage around the Falls and
+Rapids been on the American side Hennepin's account makes it fairly
+clear that the boat building took place on Cayuga Creek; the only other
+"river" above the Falls falling into the Niagara is the Chippewa, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>
+Hennepin clearly notes this stream in his first tour of exploration
+above the Falls as "within a league above the great Fall"; it is clear
+that the Cayuga, therefore, is the probable site of this first boat
+building along the Niagara frontier.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> The little village at this
+point has been appropriately named La Salle from the famous adventurer
+who here dreamed that emparadising dream of discovery and
+empire-founding. Hennepin's account, quaintly worded, again becomes of
+more interest than any record of those days to be made from it:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The 26th, the Keel of the Ship and some other Pieces being
+ready, M. de la Salle sent the Master-Carpenter, to desire me to
+drive in the first Pin; but my Profession obliging me to decline
+that Honour, he did it himself, and promis'd Ten Louis d'Or's,
+to encourage the Carpenter, and further the Work. The Winter
+being not half so hard in that Country as in Canada, we employ'd
+one of the two Savages of the Nation call'd the Wolf, whom we
+kept for Hunting, in building some Cabins made of Rinds of
+Trees; and I had one made on purpose to perform Divine Service
+therein on Sundays, and other occasions.</p>
+
+<p>M. de la Salle having some urgent Business of his own, return'd
+to Fort Frontenac, leaving for our Commander one Tonti, an
+Italian by Birth, who had been forc'd to retire into France
+after the Revolution of Naples, in which his Father was
+concern'd. I conducted M. de la Salle as far as the Lake Ontario
+at the Mouth of the River Niagara, where we order'd a House to
+be built for the Smith he had promis'd to the Iroquese; but this
+was only to amuze them, and therefore I cannot but own that the
+Savages are not to be blam'd for having not believ'd every thing
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>
+they were told by M. la Motte in his Embassie already related.</p>
+
+<p>He undertook his Journey a-foot over the Snow, having no other
+Provisions, but a little Sack of Indian Corn roasted, which
+fail'd him two Days before he came to the Fort, which is above
+fourscore Leagues distant from the Place where he left us.
+However he got home safely with two Men, and a Dog, who dragg'd
+his Baggage over the Ice or frozen Snow.</p>
+
+<p>When I return'd to our Dock, I understood that most of the
+Iroquese were gone to wage War with a Nation on the other side
+of the Lake Erie. In the mean time, our Men continu'd with great
+Application to build our Ship; for the Iroquese who were left
+behind, being but a small number, were not so insolent as
+before, though they come now and then to our Dock, and express'd
+some Discontent at what we were doing. One of them in
+particular, feigning himself drunk, attempted to kill our Smith,
+but was vigorously repuls'd by him with a red-hot Iron-barr,
+which, together with the Reprimand he receiv'd from me, oblig'd
+him to be gone. Some few Days after, a Savage Woman gave us
+notice, that the Tsonnontouans had resolv'd to burn our Ship in
+the Dock, and had certainly done it, had we not been always upon
+our Guard.</p>
+
+<p>These frequent Alarms from the Natives, together with the Fears
+we were in of wanting Provisions, having lost the great Barque
+from Fort Frontenac, which should have reliev'd us, and the
+Tsonnontouans at the same time refusing to give us of their Corn
+for Money, were a great discouragement to our Carpenters, whom
+on the other hand, a Villain amongst us endeavour'd to reduce:
+That pitiful Fellow had several times attempted to run away from
+us into New-York, and would have been likely to pervert our
+Carpenters, had I not confirm'd them in their good Resolution,
+by the Exhortations I us'd to make every Holy-day after Divine
+Service; in which I represented to them, that the Glory of God
+was concern'd in our Undertaking, besides the Good and Advantage
+of our Christian Colonies; and therefore exhorted them to
+redouble their Diligence, in order to free our selves from all
+those Inconveniences and Apprehensions we then lay under.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>
+<p>The two Savages we had taken into our Service, went all this
+while a Hunting, and supply'd us with Wild-Goats, and other
+Beasts for our Subsistence; which encouraged our Workmen to go
+on with their Work more briskly than before, insomuch that in a
+short time our Ship was in a readiness to be launched; which we
+did, after having bless'd the same according to the use of the
+Romish Church. We made all the haste we could to get it afloat,
+though not altogether finish'd, to prevent the Designs of the
+Natives, who had resolv'd to burn it.</p>
+
+<p>The Ship was call'd the Griffon, alluding to the Arms of Count
+Frontenac, which have two Griffons for Supporters; and besides,
+M. la Salle us'd to say of the Ship, while yet upon the Stocks,
+that he would make the Griffon fly above the Ravens. We fir'd
+three Guns, and sung Te Deum, which was attended with loud
+Acclamations of Joy; of which those of the Iroquese, who were
+accidentally present at this Ceremony, were also Partakers; for
+we gave them some Brandy to drink, as well as our Men, who
+immediately quitted their Cabins of Rinds of Trees, and hang'd
+their Hammocks under the Deck of the Ship, there to lie with
+more security than ashore. We did the like, insomuch that the
+very same Day we were all on Board, and thereby out of the reach
+of the Insults of the Savages.</p>
+
+<p>The Iroquese being returned from hunting Beavers, were mightily
+surprised to see our Ship a-float, and call'd us Otkon, which is
+in their Language, Most penetrating Wits: For they could not
+apprehend how in so short a time we had been able to build so
+great a Ship, though it was but 60 Tuns. It might have been
+indeed call'd a moving Fortress; for all the Savages inhabiting
+the Banks of those Lakes and Rivers I have mentioned, for five
+hundred Leagues together, were filled with fear as well as
+Admiration when they saw it. . . .</p>
+
+<p>Being thus prepar'd against all Discouragements, I went up in a
+Canou with one of our Savages to the Mouth of the Lake Erie,
+notwithstanding the strong Current which I master'd with great
+difficulty. I sounded the Mouth of the Lake and found, contrary
+to the Relation that had been made unto me, that a Ship with a
+brisk Gale might sail up to the Lake, and surmounted the
+Rapidity of the Current; and that therefore with a strong North,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+North-East Wind, we might bring our Ship into the Lake Erie. I
+took also a view of the Banks of the Streight, and found that in
+case of Need, we might put some of our Men a-shore to hall the
+Ship, if the Wind was not strong enough.</p></div>
+
+<p>The <i>Griffon</i> being more or less completed Father Hennepin followed La
+Salle in returning to Fort Frontenac to secure necessaries for the tour
+of the upper lakes. Returning, La Salle and Hennepin did not reach
+Niagara again until the 30th of July, but found the <i>Griffon</i> riding
+safely at anchor within a league of Lake Erie.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>We were very kindly receiv'd [writes the Father], and likewise
+very glad to find our Ship well rigg'd, and ready fitted out
+with all the Necessaries for sailing. She carry'd five small
+Guns, two whereof were Brass, and three Harquebuze a-crock. The
+Beak-head was adorn'd with a flying Griffon, and an Eagle above
+it; and the rest of the Ship had the same Ornaments as Men of
+War use to have.</p>
+
+<p>The Iroquese were then returning from a Warlike Expedition with
+several Slaves, and were much surpriz'd to see so big a Ship,
+which they compar'd to a Fort, beyond their Limits. Several came
+on board, and seem'd to admire above all things the bigness of
+our Anchors; for they could not apprehend how we had been able
+to bring them through the rapid Currents of the River St.
+Laurence. This oblig'd them to use often the Word Gannorom,
+which in their Language signifies, That is wonderful. They
+wonder'd also to find there a Ship, having seen none when they
+went; and did not know from whence it came, it being about 250
+Leagues from Canada.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="LUNA_ISLAND_BRIDGE" id="LUNA_ISLAND_BRIDGE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0295.jpg" width="397" height="527" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Luna Island Bridge.</h4>
+
+<p>Having forbid the Pilot to attempt to sail up the Currents of
+the Streight till farther order, we return'd the 16th and 17th
+to the Lake Ontario, and brought up our Bark to the great Rock
+of Niagara, and anchor'd at the foot of the three Mountains
+Lewiston, where we were oblig'd to make our Portage; that is, to
+carry over-land our Canou's and Provisions, and other Things,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+above the great Fall of the River, which interrupts the
+Navigation: and because most of the Rivers of that Country are
+interrupted with great Rocks, and that therefore those who sail
+upon the same, are oblig'd to go overland above those Falls, and
+carry upon their Backs their Canou's and other Things. They
+express it with this Word, To make our Portage; of which the
+Reader is desir'd to take notice, for otherwise the following
+Account, as well as the Map, would be unintelligible to many.</p>
+
+<p>Father Gabriel, though of Sixty five Years of Age, bore with
+great Vigour the Fatigue of that Voyage, and went thrice up and
+down those three Mountains, which are pretty high and steep. Our
+Men had a great deal of trouble; for they were oblig'd to make
+several Turns to carry the Provisions and Ammunition, and the
+Portage was two Leagues long. Our Anchors were so big that four
+Men had much ado to carry one; but the Brandy we gave them was
+such an Encouragement, that they surmounted cheerfully all the
+Difficulties of that Journey; and so we got on board our Ship
+all our Provisions, Ammunitions, and Commodities. . . .</p>
+
+<p>We endeavour'd several times to sail up that Lake; but the Wind
+being not strong enough, we were forc'd to wait for it. In the
+mean time, M. la Salle caus'd our Men to grub up some Land, and
+sow several sorts of Pot-Herbs and Pulse, for the conveniency of
+those who should settle themselves there, to maintain our
+Correspondence with Fort Frontenac. We found there a great
+quantity of wild Cherries and Rocambol, a sort of Garlick, which
+grow naturally in that Ground. We left Father Melithon, with
+some Work-men, at our Habitation above the Fall of Niagara; and
+most of our Men went a-shore to lighten our Ships, the better to
+sail up the Lake.</p>
+
+<p>The Wind veering to the North-East, and the Ship being well
+provided, we made all the Sail we could, and with the help of
+Twelve Men who hall'd from the Shoar, overcame the Rapidity of
+the Current, and got into the Lake. The Stream is so violent,
+that our Pilot himself despair'd of Success. When it was done,
+we sung Te Deum, and discharg'd our Cannon and other Fire-Arms,
+in presence of a great many Iroquese, who came from a Warlike
+Expedition against the Savages of Tintonha; that is to say, the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+Nation of the Meadows, who live above four hundred Leagues from
+that Place. The Iroquese and their Prisoners were much surpriz'd
+to see us in the Lake and did not think before that, we should
+be able to overcome the Rapidity of the Current: They cry'd
+several times Gannorom, to shew their Admiration. Some of the
+Iroquese had taken the measure of our Ship, and immediately went
+for New-York to give notice to the English and Dutch of our
+Sailing into the Lake: For those Nations affording their
+Commodities Cheaper than the French, are also more belov'd by
+the Natives. On the 7th of August, 1679, we went on board being
+in all four and thirty men, including two Recollets who came to
+us, and sail'd from the Mouth of the Lake Erie.</p></div>
+
+<p>The loss of the <i>Griffon</i> by shipwreck on its initial voyage and the
+subsequent misfortunes that seemed to follow the brave La Salle up to
+the very day that witnessed his brutal murder in a far Texan prairie in
+1687, are, in a measure only a part of the story of Niagara. Had that
+great man lived to realise any fair fraction of his emparadising dream
+of empire the effect on the history of the Niagara frontier would have
+been momentous; a mere comparison of what now did transpire at the mouth
+of the Niagara, in the very year of La Salle's death, illustrates
+perfectly the lack of enterprise that seems suddenly to have faded from
+the situation. With La Salle gone, the whole attitude of the regime in
+power at Quebec seems to change; whereas La Salle was on the very point
+of establishing at Niagara an important station on the communication to
+Louisiana. What actually did happen here is pitiful by comparison.</p>
+
+<p>The new Governor, De Nonville, in order to bring the Iroquois into a
+proper state of submission and compell them to desist from annoying
+travellers on the St. Lawrence, determined to repeat Champlain's feat
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+of invading their homeland. The record of this expedition from the mouth
+of its commanding officer, the Governor himself, is a very interesting
+document, especially to those interested in the study of that famous
+Long House that lay south of Lake Ontario.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> Embarking at Fort
+Frontenac July 4, 1687, the expedition landed at Irondequoit Bay six
+days later, where De Nonville was reinforced by a party of French which
+had rendezvoused at Niagara from the West. Of this party little is
+known; possibly some of La Salle's crew were here, coming from their
+cabins at either end of the Niagara portage path, or possibly from the
+ship yard at the present La Salle. "It clearly appears," writes
+Marshall, "from De Nonville's narrative, that the party which he met at
+the mouth of the bay, was composed of French and Indians from the far
+west, who sailed from . . . Niagara, to join the expedition pursuant to
+his orders." These Indians, Mr. Browne affirms, were from
+Michilimackinac. Marching inland to the region Mr. Marshall believed, in
+the neighbourhood of the village of Victor, ten miles north-west of
+Canandaigua, a party of Senecas was put to flight and the entire region
+devastated until the 23rd; it was estimated that in the four Seneca
+villages the soldiers had destroyed about 1,200,000 bushels of
+corn&mdash;350,000 minots, of which all but 50,000 were green. On the 24th
+the lake was again reached.</p>
+
+<p>The situation on the Niagara frontier at this moment could not better be
+described than it has been by Mr. Browne in his <i>The St. Lawrence
+River</i>, as follows:</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+<div class="blockquot"><p>De Nonville had now a clear way to build his fort at Niagara,
+which he proceeded to do, and then armed it with one hundred
+men. If triumphant in his bold plans, he had to learn that the
+viper crushed might rise to sting. The Senecas had their
+avengers. Maddened by the cowardly onset of De Nonville and his
+followers, the Iroquois to a man rose against the French. This
+was not done by any organised raid, but, shod with silence,
+small, eager war-parties haunted the forests of the St.
+Lawrence, striking where they were the least expected, and never
+failing to leave behind them the smoke of burning dwellings and
+the horrors of desolated lives. From Fort Frontenac to Tadousac
+there was not a home exempt from this deadly scourge; not a life
+that was not threatened. Unable to cope with so artful a foe,
+De Nonville was in despair. He sued for peace, but to obtain this
+he had to betray his allies, the Indians of the Upper Lakes, who
+had entered his service under the conditions that the war should
+continue until the Iroquois were exterminated. The latter sent
+delegates to confer with the French commander at Montreal.</p>
+
+<p>While this conference was under way, a Huron chief showed that
+he was the equal of even De Nonville in the strategies of war
+where the code of honour was a dead letter. Anticipating the
+fate in store for his race did the French carry out their scheme
+of self-defence, this chief, whose name was Kandironk, "the
+Rat," lay in ambush for the envoys on their way home from their
+conference with De Nonville, when the latter had made so many
+fair promises. These Kandironk captured, claiming he did it
+under orders from De Nonville, bore them to Michilimackinac, and
+tortured them as spies. This done, he sent an Iroquois captive
+to tell his people how fickle the French could be. Scarcely was
+this accomplished when he gave to the French his exultant
+declaration, "I have killed the peace!" The words were
+prophetic. Nothing that De Nonville could say or do cleared him
+of connection with the affair. His previous conduct was enough
+to condemn him. To avenge this act of deceit, as the Iroquois
+considered it, they rallied in great numbers, and on the night
+of August 4, 1689, dealt the most cruel and deadly blow given
+during all the years of warfare in the St. Lawrence valley.
+Fifteen hundred strong, under cover of the darkness, they stole
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>
+down upon the settlement of La Chine situated at the upper end
+of the island of Montreal, and surprised the inhabitants while
+they slept in fancied security. More than two hundred men,
+women, and children were slain in cold blood, or borne away to
+fates a hundred times more terrible to meet than swift death.
+The day already breaking upon the terror-stricken colonists was
+the darkest Canada ever knew.</p></div>
+
+<p>The result of the expedition, so far as result appears, was effected
+when the ships bearing his men turned toward the Niagara River and were
+anchored off the point of land where now stands historic Fort Niagara.
+Here a fort was to be built forthwith, as much to secure the fur trade
+and to overawe the Indians as to keep the English from making any
+advance toward the territory of the Lakes. On the very day of his
+arrival De Nonville set his men to work. The fortification was
+constructed partly of earth surmounted by palisades. The building of the
+structure was no easy matter. There were no trees in the immediate
+vicinity, so the soldiers had to obtain their timber to the east along
+the lake or across the river. After the timber had been obtained from
+these forests, it was a very difficult matter to drag it up the high
+bank. However, De Nonville was so energetic and his men worked so
+faithfully that in three days a fort was built with four bastions, where
+were mounted two large guns. Several cabins were also built. As the work
+progressed, many of those who had come with De Nonville, both French and
+Indians, began to leave. Du Luth, Durantaye, and Tonty, together with
+the Illinois Indians who had allied themselves with the French against
+the Iroquois, departed for the trading-posts of Detroit and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+Michilimackinac. Soon after De Nonville himself left for Montreal, taking
+with him all but a hundred men. Those whom he left behind were placed
+under the command of De Troyes, with promises to send provisions as soon
+as possible, and fresh troops in the spring.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p>
+
+<p>The men left behind were truly in a surly mood. In spite of De Nonville's
+assurance of provisions, and his assertion that the Senecas had been
+subdued, these men knew only too well not to depend too much on the
+first, and as to the second, that the Indians had only been enraged,
+rather than vanquished.</p>
+
+<p>For a time there was enough work to keep all hands busy. M. de Brissay
+left on the 3d of August, commanding M. de Vaudreuil to help in the
+constructing of the cabins and the completion of the fort. There was an
+immense amount of work to be accomplished in the cutting, dragging,
+hewing, and sawing of the timbers; but, despite the hot weather, there
+was soon completed a house with a chimney of sticks and clay for the
+commandant. Three other cabins were afterward built in the square and in
+the midst of these a well was dug; but its waters were always roiled
+from improper curbing.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="FRENCH_MAP" id="FRENCH_MAP"></a>
+<img src="images/p0303.jpg" width="582" height="446" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>"Carte du Lac Ontario." A Specimen French Map of the
+Niagara Frontier.<br />
+
+Dated October 4, 1757.<br />
+
+From the original in the British Museum.</h4>
+
+<p>Vaudreuil left toward the latter part of August after having seen the
+company well roofed. Many of the number, who were at first fired by the
+spirit of adventure and a desire to remain at Niagara, now, foreseeing
+the suffering to be undergone, desired to return with Vaudreuil; but
+nearly all were compelled to remain at the fort.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+<p>Although the expedition when it set out against the Senecas was
+tolerably well supplied with necessaries for an Indian campaign, those
+who were left at the fort were left in a bad condition indeed. About
+three thousand bushels of corn had been destroyed which belonged to the
+Senecas; but scarcely a week's rations had been brought along to their
+destination. Very few had brought any seeds, and not much gardening
+could have been done anyway, on account of the lateness of the season.
+The few attempts that were made brought no returns on account of a
+drought. No hunting could be undertaken except in large parties so as to
+be secure from the savages. Almost the only food supply was the fish
+caught in the lake.</p>
+
+<p>There was unbounded joy at the fort when the sail of the ship with
+supplies, which had been promised by De Nonville, was seen on the
+horizon. But even then the unlading was delayed two days by calms which
+prevented the vessel from coming nearer than several miles from the
+shore. Finally a landing was effected; and the cargo was quickly stowed
+in the fort. The ship immediately returned to Canada.</p>
+
+<p>From the very first the provisions proved to be bad. Still with these,
+together with the few herbs of the forest, a small amount of game and
+fish, the men managed to eke out an existence. There was no labour to
+perform&mdash;nothing to do but complain of the food and hard life which they
+were compelled to live.</p>
+
+<p>Toward the latter part of September, the Indians made their first
+appearance. A hunting party in the vicinity of the Falls lost two men.
+Another party was cut off from the fort. Their dead bodies were found
+scalped and mutilated by the savages. The commander, De Troyes, soon
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>
+fell ill, as did also Jean de Lamberville, the only priest in the
+colony. Thus at almost the same time was the company deprived of
+leadership and religious consolation. Christmas season drew on; but it
+was a sorry time for those at the fort. The weather had become severe,
+and fierce snow-storms were frequent. No one ventured beyond the
+palisades except in quest of firewood; and it was almost impossible at
+times to obtain this. Many were nearly frozen in their cabins. One day
+the wood-choppers were overwhelmed in the snow in sight of the fort. No
+one dared to go to their succour for fear of suffering the same fate.
+Two days after, those within the stockade saw their dead comrades
+devoured by wolves. Not a charge of powder was left. The food was almost
+unbearable. The biscuits were full of weevil from the first, and the
+meat was in such a putrefied condition that no one could eat it. Scurvy
+broke out. De Troyes could not leave his cabin and was compelled to
+trust everything to his men.</p>
+
+<p>From a band of gallant soldiers, they had been reduced to a mere handful
+of disease-infected skeletons. In six weeks there were sixty deaths; and
+this was only the middle of February. Only a few of the stronger were
+left able to do the work which was absolutely necessary, such as
+supplying firewood and burying the dead, and these duties were performed
+with infinite toil and danger. More than twenty died in the month of
+March; in this number was the brave commander De Troyes. With their
+leader seemed to perish all the little spirit left in his followers.
+Almost no hope was left for the suffering inmates of the fort. It was
+still many weeks until the promised succour could possibly come from
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+Montreal. The Western savages had promised an alliance and aid to the
+French against the Iroquois, but little confidence was to be placed in
+their promises.</p>
+
+<p>Just as the men left in the fort were reduced to the very last
+extremity, and were wishing for death to relieve them of their miseries,
+a war-party from the Miamis on an expedition against the Senecas reached
+the fort and gave that relief so long vainly looked for by the inmates.
+Several of these who first regained their strength set out for Montreal
+to carry the news of their sore straits to the government; and on one
+pleasant, beautiful day in April the long expected sail was seen on the
+horizon bringing relief to the remnant of those who had been left in the
+fort the preceding summer.</p>
+
+<p>In command of the expedition was D'esbergeres, and with him Father
+Milet, besides a large company of companions. As soon as they landed,
+Father Milet conducted mass and then put all the men who were able to
+work constructing a large cross. While they were at the work, Father
+Milet traced upon its arms: "Regnat, Vincit, Imperat Christus."</p>
+
+<p>On Good Friday, the priest again held mass, and erected the cross in the
+centre of the square of the fort, thus symbolising a victory wrung from
+the clutches of defeat itself.</p>
+
+<p>With spring, the new companions, and a goodly supply of provisions, was
+born new hope in the fort. The little company were very busy during the
+summer, despite the fact that the Iroquois, stirred on by the English,
+gave them continual trouble. In September Mahent came with the vessel
+<i>La G&eacute;n&eacute;ral</i>, with orders to D'esbergeres to abandon the fort. This was
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>
+quite a blow to the commander, as having held the post all summer he
+hoped to continue to do so. The outer barracks were all destroyed, which
+was not so difficult a task, as the severe storms of the previous winter
+had done much of this work; but the cabins were all left standing. On
+the morning of the 15th of September, 1688, the garrison sailed away,
+once more leaving the shores of the great Niagara untroubled by the
+contentions of white men, and open to the nation who should seize it or
+conciliate the savages who held the surrounding regions.</p>
+
+<p>Yet De Nonville had done something for which to be remembered beyond
+raiding the Long House and fortifying the river of the Neuters; he had
+left it a name that should live as he had, first of white men, so far as
+we know, written it. The orthography of the name Niagara seems to have
+now been established&mdash;1687. Champlain did not use any name in 1613,
+though on his map we find the following words attached to the stream
+connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario, <i>chute d'eau</i>, giving us our first
+genuine record of Niagara Falls.</p>
+
+<p>We have seen that L'Allemant spelled the name <i>Onguiaahra</i> in 1640. In
+1657 it appears on Sanson's map as <i>Ongiara</i>, and is applied to the
+Falls; in 1660 Ducreux's map shows us "<i>Ongiara</i> Cataractes." In 1687
+De Nonville gives us our present Niagara. Of the name Mr. Marshall has
+left this authoritative opinion:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Onguiaahra and Ongiara are evidently identical, and present the
+same elements as Niagara. They are undoubtedly compounds of
+words expressive of some meaning, as is usual with aboriginal
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>
+terms, but which meaning is now lost. The "o" which occurs in
+both the French and English orthography is probably a neuter
+prefix, similar to what is used by the Senecas and Mohawks. One
+writer contends that Niagara is derived from Nyah&acute;-gaah&acute;, or as
+he writes it, "Ne-ah&acute;-gah," said to be the name of a Seneca
+village which formerly existed on the Niagara River below
+Lewiston, and now applied by the Senecas to Lake Ontario. This
+derivation, however, cannot be correct, for Onguiaahra, and its
+counterpart Ongiara, were in use as names of the river and falls
+long before the Seneca village in question was in existence. The
+Neutral Nation, from whose language the words were taken, lived
+on <i>both</i> borders of the Niagara until they were exterminated by
+the Senecas in 1643. It is far more probable the Nyah&acute;-gaah&acute; is
+a reappearance of Ongiara in the Seneca dialect, and this view
+is strengthened by the fact that the former, unlike most
+Iroquois names, is without meaning, and as the aborigines do not
+confer arbitrary names, it is an evidence that it has been
+borrowed or derived from a foreign language. The conclusion then
+is, that the French derived Niagara from Ongiara, and the
+Senecas, when they took possession of the territories of the
+Neutral Nation, adopted the name Ongiara, as near as the idiom
+of their language would allow, and hence their name Nyah&acute;-gaah&acute;.</p></div>
+
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p>
+<h2>Chapter IX</h2>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">Niagara under Three Flags</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">T</span>he abdication of De Nonville at Niagara marks, as nothing else perhaps
+can, the rise of English influence along the Lakes and among the crafty
+Iroquois. Slowly but surely this influence made itself felt among the
+Six Nations in the attempt to swing the entire current of the fur trade
+from the north-west through the Long House to New York.</p>
+
+<p>With the destruction of the little fort built by De Nonville, however,
+it becomes clear that when on the same basis the English were no match
+for the French, so far as winning the redskins to their interests was
+concerned; it may be that with the withdrawal of the French there
+followed a natural diminution of English anxiety and activity in the
+matter: whether this was true or not there immediately ensued a notable
+increase of French attention to the Six Nations who, after all,
+controlled the destinies of this key of the continent. As days of war
+and days of peace came and went the governors both of New York and
+Quebec sought permission to fortify the Niagara River, but the
+eighteenth century dawned with no step taken by either side, though each
+had most jealously been watching the other.</p>
+
+<p>It was characteristic of Frenchmen, however, to meet and mingle with
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>
+the Indians as the English seldom did; it was not wholly out of the
+common, indeed, for them to adopt Indian dress and customs and be, in
+turn, adopted into some Indian tribe. Through the fortunate influence
+exerted by one of these adopted sons of the wilderness was New France
+now able to refortify the strategic Niagara region, temporarily besting
+England in the contest for the supremacy here. Chabert Joncaire, taken
+prisoner by the Senecas and adopted into their tribe, married an Indian
+woman and became an important factor among the warriors and war councils
+of the western end of the Long House. In the year 1700 Joncaire became a
+missionary for the French political cause, and he seems to have managed
+affairs so diplomatically that he in no wise lost caste among the
+Iroquois, for six years later they suggested to him "to establish
+himself among them, granting him liberty to select on their territory
+the place most acceptable to himself for the purpose of living and in
+peace, even to remove their villages to the neighbourhood of his
+residence in order to protect him."<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p>
+
+<p>In the next decade France made considerable headway in undoing the
+miserable work of De Nonville by disarming the hostility of the Iroquois,
+especially with the Senecas who held the Niagara frontier, through
+Joncaire, who in 1719 was sent to "try the minds of the Seneca nation
+and ascertain if it would permit the building of a French house in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+their country." As a result, in 1720, Joncaire built a bark cabin at
+Lewiston which he called "Magazine Royal." In November of that year,
+according to English report, which was undoubtedly exaggerated through
+prejudice, the "cabin" is described as a blockhouse forty feet in length
+and thirty in width, enclosed with palisades, musket-proof and provided
+with port-holes. The location of this post signifies of itself alone the
+larger strategic nature of Niagara geographically, for it was not at the
+mouth of the river but at the beginning of the portage around the Rapids
+and Falls, at Lewiston, just where La Salle's storehouse, built in 1679,
+had stood. It is believed that the former building had disappeared by
+this time. Charlevoix, who came here the next year, 1721, confounds the
+sites of De Nonville's fort and the "Magazine Royal." Mr. Porter brings
+out well the office of Joncaire's cabin, in which, by the way, a few
+soldiers were maintained as "traders" by saying:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>. . . The trade in furs was brisk, the Indians from the north,
+west, and south coming there to barter. The chain of friendship
+with the Senecas was kept bright by friendly intercourse with
+their warriors, who constantly came there; French trading
+vessels came often to its rude wharf bringing merchandise to
+Frontenac and returning laden with furs. Thus the English for
+the first time failed to overcome the French, while the English
+in New York did not delay their expostulations regarding what
+they called French incroachment at Niagara; but so far were they
+from being successful that the French were able within four
+years to begin a more important fortification on the site of the
+"Magazine Royal."</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="JONCAIRES_CABIN" id="JONCAIRES_CABIN"></a>
+<img src="images/p0313.jpg" width="399" height="504" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Stones on the Site of Joncaire's Cabin under Lewiston
+Heights, where the Magazine Royal was Erected in 1719.</h4>
+
+<p>American history furnishes many illustrations of the genius of the
+French <i>coureurs-de-bois</i> for winning to themselves the friendship of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+the Indians, but perhaps there is no specific illustration of this more
+clear than this reabsorption of the Niagara region after having once
+abandoned it. Said Sir Guy Carleton:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>France did not depend upon the number of her troops, but upon
+the discretion of her officers who, learned the language of her
+natives, distributed the king's presents, excited no jealousy,
+entirely gained the affections of an ignorant, credulous, but
+brave people, whose ruling passions are independence, gratitude,
+and revenge.</p></div>
+
+<p>Governor Duquesne once said to a deputation of Indians:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Are you ignorant of the defence between the king of France and
+the English? Look at the forts which the king has built; you
+will find that under their very walls the beasts of the forests
+are hunted and slain; that they are, in fact, fixed in places
+most frequented by you merely to gratify more conveniently your
+necessities.</p></div>
+
+<p>M. Garneau, the historian, frankly acknowledges that the Marquis
+accurately stated the route of Indian admiration for the Frenchmen they
+saw; but it should not be overlooked that the French also were "the most
+romantic and poetic characters ever known in American frontier life.
+Their every moment attracts the rosiest colour of imagination"; all this
+helps to fascinate the savage.</p>
+
+<p>In 1725, the Marquis De Vaudreuil proposed the erection of a storehouse
+at Niagara, and soon the agent met the council of the Five Nations and
+got their permission to build what was really a fort at Niagara, which
+was to cost $5592; one hundred men were instantly sent to begin the
+work.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> Thus the historic pile known as the "Mess House" or "Castle"
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>
+was begun in 1725 and completed in 1726; at a council fire at Niagara
+the Senecas gave their final ratification to this project, July 14,
+1726.</p>
+
+<p>Joncaire's "Magazine Royal" was permitted to fall into decay, being
+abandoned in 1728 despite the fact that Louis XV. gave his approval to a
+plan for spending twenty thousand livres for its repair although
+approving strongly the erection of the castle, as it would prevent the
+English from trading on the north shore of Lake Ontario as well as
+getting a foothold on the Niagara River. Mr. Porter brings out well the
+service of Joncaire's "Magazine Royal" by saying:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>That building had done good service; it had given the French the
+desired foothold on the Niagara River; it had held and fostered
+the trade in furs; it had established French supremacy in this
+region, and furnished them with the key to the possession of the
+Upper Lakes and the Ohio Valley; and last, and most important of
+all, it had been the means of France obtaining a real fortress
+at the point where her diplomats and armies had been waiting to
+erect one; for over half a century it had served its purposes; a
+fort had been built at the mouth of the river, its usefulness
+was ended, and it was abandoned forever.</p></div>
+
+<p>The story that the foundations of the castle were laid within a gigantic
+wigwam at a time when the French had induced the Indians to go on a
+hunting expedition is probably no less true than most legends of the
+kind with which our history is filled; and if it is not literally true,
+the spirit of it undoubtedly is, for there must have been a fine story
+of stratagem and diplomacy in the conception and the erection of this
+massive old building upon which the tourist looks to-day with much
+interest. It is also a legend that the stone for the fort was brought
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>
+from Fort Frontenac; this in a way threatens the authenticity of the
+former legend of the magical erection of the building. De Witt Clinton
+writing in 1810 explains that as the stones about the windows are
+different and more handsome than those in the rest of the building it is
+possible that they were brought from Kingston; he gave the measurements
+of the building as 105 by 47 feet.</p>
+
+<p>It is interesting and informing to observe from whence the fort here at
+the mouth of the Niagara received, first and last, its armament; it
+appears that upon the capture of Oswego twenty-four guns "of the largest
+calibre" were sent to Fort Niagara, and we know that during the final
+siege in 1759 some of the guns trained upon Johnson's army were lost by
+Braddock away down in the forests beside the Monongahela River. The
+position held by Fort Niagara in the French scheme of western occupation
+is clearly suggested by these facts.</p>
+
+<p>The modern tourist looking upon the massive, picturesque "Mess House"
+must not forget that "Fort Niagara" was a thing of slow growth. The
+first work here was undoubtedly the foundation and first story of the
+Mess House, surrounded by the common picket wall always found around the
+frontier fort. The first picket wall was falling down by 1739, when it
+was repaired. At this time Niagara was fast losing its hold on western
+trade because of the enforcing of the policy of not selling the Indians
+liquor; however, in 1741, the Governor of New York affirmed that he held
+the Six Nations only by presents and that Fort Niagara must be captured.
+In 1745, when the French policy regarding the Indians was changed, Fort
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>
+Niagara contained only a hundred men and four guns. It is said that the
+fort had been used to some extent as a State prison; surely few French
+prisons, at home or abroad, had a more gloomy dungeon than that in Fort
+Niagara which is shown visitors to-day; the apartment measures six by
+eighteen feet and ten feet in height, of solid stone with no opening for
+light or air. The well of the castle was located here, and many a weird
+story attaches, especially of the headless trunk of the French general
+that haunted the curbstone moaning over his sorry lot. This dungeon is
+one of the places named as the scene of imprisonment of the anti-Masonic
+agitator William Morgan in later days.</p>
+
+<p>As the middle of the eighteenth century drew on France and England
+turned from the European battlefields to America to settle their
+immemorial quarrel for the possession of the continent. It is
+interesting to note that the opening of the struggle occurred not in the
+North or East, as would naturally be expected, but in the West to which
+Niagara offered "the communication."</p>
+
+<p>In 1747 the Ohio Company was formed in Virginia and received its grant
+of land beyond the Alleghanies from the British King. With the exception
+of Lederer, whose explorations did not reach westward of Harper's Ferry,
+and Batts, who had visited the Falls of the Great Kanawha, the English
+colonies knew little or nothing of the West, save only the fables
+brought back by Spottswood's <i>Knights of the Golden Horseshoe</i>. But the
+doughty Irish and Scotch-Irish traders had pierced the mountains and
+made bold to challenge the trade of the French with the western
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>
+nations. Immediately Celoron was sent from Montreal on the long voyage
+by way of Niagara to bury his leaden plates on the Ohio to re-establish
+the brave claim incised on La Salle's plate buried at the mouth of the
+Mississippi in 1682, which vaunted French possession of all lands
+drained by waters entering the Gulf of Mexico through the mouth of the
+Mississippi.</p>
+
+<p>Celoron's expedition is interesting because this was the first open
+advance upon the Ohio Valley by France, leading to the building of a
+chain of forts westward from the key position, Fort Niagara. Celoron's
+Journal reads:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I arrived at Niagara on the 6th of July, where I found him [Mr.
+Labrevois]; we conferred together, and I wrote to the Chevalier
+de Longnaiul that which I had learned from Mr. de la Nardiere,
+and desired him, that if these nations of Detroit were in the
+design to come and join me, and not delay his departure, I would
+give the rendezvous at Strotves<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> on the 9th or 10th of
+August; that if they had changed their mind I would be obliged
+to him to send me couriers to inform me of their intentions, so
+that I may know what will happen to me. On the 7th of July, I
+sent M. de Contrecoeur, captain and second in command of the
+detachment, with the subaltern officers and all my canoes to
+make the portage. I remained at the fort, to wait for my savages
+who had taken on Lake Ontario another route than I had; having
+rejoined me I went to the portage which M. de Contrecoeur had
+made, on the 14th of the same month we entered Lake Erie; a high
+wind from the sea made me camp some distance from the little
+rapid; there I formed three companies to mount guard, which were
+of forty men commanded by an officer.</p></div>
+
+<p>Returning from the Ohio trip Celoron reached Niagara again the 19th of
+February, 1750, and Montreal the 10th of March. At last reaching Quebec
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>
+the frank leader of this spectacular expedition rendered his report
+concerning French possession of the West. "All that I can say is, that
+the [Indian] nations of these places are very ill-disposed against the
+French," were his words, "and entirely devoted to the English. I do not
+know by what means they can be reclaimed." Then followed one of the
+earliest suggestions of the use of French arms to retain possession of
+the great interior. "If violence is employed they [Indians] would be
+warned and take to flight . . . if we send to trade with them, our
+traders can never give our merchandize at the price the English do . . .
+people our old posts and perpetuate the nations on the Belle Riviere and
+who are within the reach of the English Government."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="SPECIMEN_MANUSCRIPT" id="SPECIMEN_MANUSCRIPT"></a>
+<img src="images/p0321.jpg" width="728" height="275" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Specimen Manuscript Map of Niagara Frontier of Eighteenth Century.<br />
+
+From the original in the British Museum.</h4>
+
+<p>The plates of lead along the Ohio had very little effect in retarding
+the Ohio Company of Virginians, and Celoron had hardly left the Ohio
+Valley when Christopher Gist entered it to pick out and mark the
+boundaries of the Ohio Company's grant of land. This was in 1750. The
+Quebec Government, too, acted. If leaden plates would not hold the Ohio,
+then forts well guarded and manned would accomplish the end sought; and
+English spies on watch at Fort Oswego now saw a strange flotilla
+crossing Lake Ontario and knew something extraordinary was in the air.
+It was Marin's party on its way to fortify Celoron's route by building a
+chain of posts from Fort Niagara to the present site of Pittsburg at the
+junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. After a rest at
+Niagara the fort-building party proceeded along Lake Erie to Presqu'
+Isle, now Erie, Pennsylvania. There they built Fort Presqu' Isle; at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>
+Watertown Fort La Boeuf was erected and Fort Machault at Franklin on the
+Allegheny, and Fort Duquesne at the junction of the Allegheny and
+Monongahela. All this between 1752 and 1754, despite the message sent by
+Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia by the hand of Major Washington
+requesting that the French withdraw from the Ohio Valley. In the latter
+year Washington marched westward to support the party of Virginian
+fort-builders who had been sent to fortify the strategic position on the
+Ohio, but was forced to capitulate by the French army, which drove back
+the English and on their beginnings erected Fort Duquesne.</p>
+
+<p>The line of forts from Quebec to Fort Duquesne was now complete, and of
+them Fort Niagara was the key. To wrest from the French this western
+empire it was necessary to strike Fort Niagara, but, with the rare lack
+of foresight characteristic of the government headed by the impossible
+Newcastle, the great campaign of 1755 was as poorly conceived as it was
+executed. It was composed of three spectacular advances on this curling
+line of French forts that hemmed in the colonies; one army, under Sir
+William Johnson, should attack the forts on Lakes George and Champlain;
+Governor Shirley of Massachusetts should leap at Fort Niagara, and
+General Braddock, formerly commander of Gibraltar, should lead an army
+from Virginia across the mountains upon Fort Duquesne, after capturing
+which he should then join forces with Shirley for the conquest of
+Niagara if that post had not been previously reduced.</p>
+
+<p>From almost any view-point the scheme of conquest seems a glaring
+inconsistency, but from what is this so conspicuous as by looking upon
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>
+this French line of fortresses as a serpent whose head was Quebec,
+whose heart was Fort Niagara, and whose tail rattled luringly on the
+Ohio at Fort Duquesne? The chief expedition, on which the eyes of the
+ministry were centred, was the one which launched at this serpent's
+tail. Moreover, in addition to being wrongly directed it was improperly
+routed, since there were both waggons and wheat in Pennsylvania but
+comparatively none in Virginia, and the ill-fated commander of the
+expedition, General Edward Braddock, was the victim of the lethargy and
+indifference of the colonies.</p>
+
+<p>It is pitifully interesting to observe in the letter of instruction
+issued by Cumberland to Braddock that the latter seemed to have held the
+view that his most proper course was to strike at Niagara at the outset,
+undoubtedly appreciating the significant fact that to capture that key
+position of communication was to doom the Allegheny line of forts to
+starvation itself. "As to your design," read those instructions, "of
+making yourself master of Niagara, which is of the greatest consequence,
+his Royal Highness recommends you to leave nothing to chance in the
+prosecution of that enterprise." In all that was planned for this grand
+campaign those words give us the only hint of Braddock's own notion.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a>
+Those instructions also advise that if the Ohio campaign should progress
+slowly Braddock was to consider whether he should not give over the
+command of that campaign to another officer and proceed to Niagara.
+Nothing could illustrate more clearly than this the importance of the
+position of Niagara in the old French War. But as Braddock did not deem
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+it wise to give over the command of the Ohio campaign, Governor Shirley
+was left in charge of it.</p>
+
+<p>The Northern campaigns, however, were of little more success than that
+of the ill-fated Braddock. True, Johnson won his knighthood beside the
+lake to which he gave his master's name, but the victory was as much of
+an accident as was Braddock's defeat, and was not followed up with the
+capture of the forts on Lake Champlain which was the object of the
+campaign. Shirley, on the other hand, made an utter failure of his
+<i>coup</i>, after reaching Oswego with incredible hardship; the news of
+Braddock's defeat demoralised whatever spirit was left in his sickly
+army; and Fort Niagara was not even threatened. We note here again the
+interdependence of the Braddock and Shirley campaigns, and the pity that
+the two armies could not have been combined for a strong movement
+against Fort Niagara. The Ohio fortress could not have existed with the
+line of communication once cut, and Braddock's as well as Forbes's
+campaigns, costing such tremendous sums, would have been unnecessary&mdash;or
+Prideaux's in '59 either, for that matter.</p>
+
+<p>And yet the English campaigns of this year played their part in
+awakening the French to the situation; and Niagara was taken in hand at
+once, as though the presentiment was plain that the flag of the Georges
+would wave over the Niagara some day. Writes Mr. Porter:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The contemplated attack on Fort Niagara, in 1755, under Shirley,
+had told the French that that fort must be further strengthened,
+and Pouchot, a captain in the regiment of Bearn, and a competent
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>
+engineer, was sent to reconstruct it. He reached the fort with a
+regiment in October, 1755. Houses for these troops were at once
+constructed in the Canadian manner. These houses consisted of
+round logs of oak, notched into each other at the corners, and
+were quickly built. Each had a chimney in the middle, some
+windows, and a plank roof. The chimneys were made by four poles,
+placed in the form of a truncated pyramid, open from the bottom
+to a height of three feet on all sides, above which was a kind
+of basket work, plastered with mud; rushes, marsh grass or straw
+rolled in diluted clay were driven in between the logs, and the
+whole plastered. The work of strengthening the fort was pushed
+on all winter, 300 men being in the garrison, and in March,
+1756, the artillery taken from Braddock arrived. By July, 1756,
+the defences proposed were nearly completed, and Pouchot left
+the fort. Vaudreuil stated that he [Pouchot] "had almost
+entirely superintended the fortifications to their completion,
+and the fort, which was abandoned and beyond making the smallest
+resistance, is now a place of considerable importance in
+consequence of the regularity, solidity, and utility of its
+works." Pouchot was sent back to Niagara, as commandant, with
+his own regiment, in October, 1756, and remained there for a
+year. He still further strengthened the fort during this period,
+and when he left he reported that "Fort Niagara and its
+buildings were completed and its covered ways stockaded." On
+April 30, 1759, he again arrived at Niagara to assume command
+and "began to work on repairing the fort, to which nothing had
+been done since he left it. He found the ramparts giving way,
+the turfing all crumbled off, and the escarpment and counter
+escarpment of the fosses much filled up. He mounted two pieces
+to keep up appearances in case of a siege." From the general
+laudatory tone of his own work we are led to feel that Pouchot
+overpraised his own work of fortifying Niagara in 1756 and 1757,
+when no immediate attack was looked for, otherwise it could
+hardly have been in so poor a condition eighteen months
+afterwards (1759, as just quoted), unless, as is very likely, he
+foresaw defeat when attacked, as he was advised it would be, and
+wanted to gain special credit for a grand defence under very
+disadvantageous conditions. By July Pouchot had finished
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>
+repairing the ramparts. He gives this description of the
+defence: "The batteries of the bastions which were in barbette
+had not yet been finished. They were built of casks and filled
+with earth. He had since his arrival constructed some pieces of
+blindage of oak, fourteen inches square and fifteen feet long,
+which extended behind the great house on the lake shore, the
+place most sheltered for a hospital. Along the faces of the
+powder magazine, to cover the wall and serve as casemates, he
+had built a large storehouse with the pieces secured at the top
+by a ridge. Here the guns and gunsmiths were placed. We may
+remark that this kind of work is excellent for field-forts in
+wooded countries, and they serve very well for barracks and
+magazines; a bullet could only fall upon an oblique surface and
+could do little harm, because this structure is very solid."
+Pouchot says that the garrison of the fort at this time
+consisted of 149 regulars, 183 men of colonial companies, 133
+militia and 21 cannoniers. A total of 486 soldiers and 39
+employees, of whom 5 were women or children. These served in the
+infirmary, as did also two ladies, and sewed cartridge bags and
+made bags for earth. There were also some Indians in the fort,
+and the officers may not have been included in this number. The
+fort was capable of accommodating 1000 men.</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="DRAWING_FORT_NIAGARA" id="DRAWING_FORT_NIAGARA"></a>
+<img src="images/p0327.jpg" width="639" height="454" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>A Drawing of Fort Niagara and Environs Showing Plan of
+English Attack under Johnson.</h4>
+
+<p>The great campaigns of 1759 were planned by the new commander-in-chief,
+Sir Jeffrey Amherst. The Niagara attack was placed in the hands of
+General John Prideaux, who was ready to sail from Oswego to his death at
+Fort Niagara on the 1st of July, 1759, with twenty-two hundred regulars
+and provincials and seven hundred of the Six Nations, brought very
+quickly to their senses after the successes of British arms in the year
+previous when Fort Duquesne was captured, under Sir William Johnson. On
+the 6th of July a hunter brought word to Pouchot that the English were
+at the doors of Niagara, the army having landed down the shore of the
+lake at a distance of four miles. The commander, realising that the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>
+crucial moment had come, sent a messenger post-haste to Little Fort
+Niagara, at the upper end of the portage, and on to the forts in the
+West for aid; Niagara had assisted Fort Duquesne and the Allegheny forts
+in their days of trial and it was now turn for them to help her. Little
+Fort Niagara, or, more properly, Fort du Portage, previously mentioned,
+was erected probably about ten years before this to defend the portage
+landing. It was now commanded by the Joncaire&mdash;son of the famous French
+emissary among the Senecas who had given New France a foothold at
+Niagara&mdash;who had proved such a diplomatic guide to Celoron in his
+western trip; Pouchot ordered him to move the supplies at Fort du
+Portage across to the mouth of the Chippewa Creek and hasten to Fort
+Niagara. It is worth while to pause a moment to observe that we have
+here one of the first references to that shadowy western shore of the
+Niagara, where Forts Erie, George, and Mississauga were soon to appear;
+though the town of Newark, or Niagara-on-the-Lake, as it is known
+to-day, was the first settlement on this side of the river, it is clear
+that there was at least a storehouse at Chippewa Creek in 1759;
+unquestionably the portage path on the western shore of the river was a
+well-worn highway long before even Fort Niagara itself was proposed, for
+we know that it was the northern shore of Lake Erie that was the common
+route of the French rather than the southern from the record left by the
+Celoron expedition and Bonnecamp's map.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="SKETCH_FORT_NIAGARA" id="SKETCH_FORT_NIAGARA"></a>
+<img src="images/p0331.jpg" width="439" height="567" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>A Sketch of Fort Niagara and Environs; by the French
+Commander Pouchot, Showing Improvements of 1756-1758.</h4>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<img src="images/p0333.jpg" width="445" height="551" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>A Sketch of Fort Niagara and Environs; by the French
+Commander Pouchot, Showing Improvements of 1756-1758.</h4>
+
+<p>Prideaux forced the siege by digging a series of trenches toward the
+fort, each one in advance of the last. Finally, just before merited
+success was achieved, a bursting cohorn killed Prideaux and thrust the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>
+command upon that deserving but lucky son of fortune, Sir William
+Johnson. The siege was pressed most diligently&mdash;as though Johnson was
+fearful that the honour thrust upon him would escape him through the
+arrival of General Gage, who was on his way to assume command. The fort
+was completely hemmed in, and its surrender was peremptorily demanded.
+Johnson was more than a match for the intriguing French Indians who
+attempted to alienate his Iroquois. He likewise played the clever
+soldier in handling the relieving army that was already on its Way from
+the West. Three of the four messages sent by Pouchot had been
+intercepted by the English commander's scouts. The one that went through
+successfully accomplished its purpose and twelve hundred recruits were
+en route for the besieged fortress. The scouts told of their progress,
+to which captured letters from the commanding officers, D'Aubrey and De
+Lignery, to General Pouchot, gave added information. Descending the
+Niagara from its head to Navy Island, the reinforcements awaited the
+commands of their general. The order was to hasten on. Johnson
+redistributed his force to meet the crisis, at once detailing a
+sufficient part to cope with the relieving party and retaining a
+sufficient quota to prevent a sortie from the rapidly crumbling fort,
+which at best could not hold out longer unless succoured. At an eighth
+of a mile from the fort, in olden times called <i>La Belle Famille</i>, now
+within the limits of the beautiful village of Youngstown, the clash
+occurred that settled the fate of the brave Pouchot. With the Iroquois
+posted in hiding on either flank and the regulars waiting behind slight
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+breastworks, the French force rushed headlong to the attack within the
+carefully laid ambuscade. After the opening fire of the Indians, the
+English troop made a savage charge&mdash;and the affair was over; the
+retreating French were followed and nearly a hundred and fifty were
+captured, including the officers.</p>
+
+<p>Sir William Johnson used his leverage thus gained upon the commander of
+the doomed fortress with alacrity and success, sending with the officer
+who went to demand its surrender some of the prisoners captured at the
+scrimmage up the river, who told the story of their defeat and rout. Had
+they known it, they might have added that the terror-stricken fugitives
+from that field of strife hastened to the fleet of boats (in which they
+had descended the Niagara) and, steering them all into what is called
+even to this day Burnt Ship Bay, on the shore of Grand Island, set fire
+to the entire flotilla, lest the English secure an added advantage; and
+from this fact may we not draw the conclusion that these French hoped to
+hold the remainder of the great western waterway even if Fort Niagara
+fell? They could not use those boats very well on the lower Niagara,
+though with them once in hand they could easily strike at Presqu' Isle
+and Detroit.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="CANADIAN_TRAPPER" id="CANADIAN_TRAPPER"></a>
+<img src="images/p0337.jpg" width="305" height="513" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Canadian Trapper, from La Potherie.</h4>
+
+<p>Poor Pouchot demanded the best terms that he dared; it was agreed that
+the garrison should retain arms and baggage and one cannon as they
+marched out of the battered shell of a fort they had endeavoured to
+hold, and, upon laying down their arms, should be transported, in
+vessels furnished by the English, to New York; it was also demanded that
+they should be protected from the insults of the redskin allies of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>
+English. That the latter stipulation was agreed to and honestly enforced
+illustrates the genuine hold Johnson had upon his brown brethren of the
+Long House. The articles were signed on the night of July 24th and on
+the 25th the flag of England rose to the breeze that fanned the lake and
+the wide-sweeping Niagara frontier&mdash;the second flag that had dominated
+that strategic spot in the century. The garrison numbered over six
+hundred men and eleven officers; the French total loss was about two
+hundred including the action at Youngstown; the English loss was sixty
+killed and 180 wounded. Forty-three iron cannon were found within the
+fort, fifteen hundred round shot, forty thousand pounds of musket-balls,
+five hundred hand grenades, and many tools, etc. The important result,
+however, was the removal of French domination over the warlike Seneca
+nation in this region and the natural inheritance that came with
+Niagara, the trade of which it was the centre. Near the site of the
+destroyed Fort du Portage, at the upper end of the portage, Captain
+Schlosser erected Fort Schlosser. Fort Niagara itself was improved; the
+present "bakehouse" was built in 1762. The Niagara of this time has been
+well described by Mr. Porter:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It was the head centre of the military life of the entire
+region, the guardian of the great highway and portage to and
+from the West; and hereabouts, as the forerunners of a coming
+civilisation and frontier settlement, the traders were securing
+for themselves the greatest advantages. To the rude transient
+population&mdash;red hunters, trappers, Indianised
+bush-rangers&mdash;starting out from this centre, or returning from
+their journeys of perhaps hundreds of miles, trooping down the
+portage to the fort, bearing their loads of peltries, and
+assisted by Indians who here made a business of carrying packs
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>
+for hire, Fort Niagara was a business headquarters. There the
+traders brought their guns and ammunition, their blankets, and
+cheap jewelry, to be traded for furs; there the Indians
+purchased, at fabulous prices, the white man's "fire water," and
+many, yes, numberless were the broils and conflicts in and
+around the fort, when the soldiers under orders tried to calm or
+eject the savage element which so predominated in the life of
+the Garrison.</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="YOUNGSTOWN" id="YOUNGSTOWN"></a>
+<img src="images/p0341.jpg" width="629" height="401" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Youngstown, N. Y., from Paradise Grove.</h4>
+
+<p>Pontiac's rebellion came fast on the heels of the old French War, so
+fast indeed that we cannot really distinguish the line of division
+except for the fact of English occupation of Fort Niagara; with
+astonishing alacrity the incorrigible Senecas took up Pontiac's bloody
+belt, especially disgruntled with English rule in the Niagara country
+because the carrying business at the Niagara portage had been taken away
+from them upon the introduction of clumsy carts which carried to Fort
+Schlosser what had before been transported on the backs of Seneca
+braves. The retaliation for this serious loss of business was the
+terrible Devil's Hole Massacre of September 14, 1763, which occurred on
+the new portage road between Fort Schlosser and Lewiston at the head of
+what is known as Bloody Brook, in the ravine of which at the Gorge lies
+the Devil's Hole. Here a party of five hundred Senecas from Chenussio,
+seventy miles to the eastward of Niagara, waylaid a train of twenty-five
+waggons and a hundred horses and oxen, guarded, probably indifferently,
+by a detachment of troops variously estimated from twenty-five to three
+hundred in number, on its way from Lewiston to the upper fort. But three
+seem to have escaped that deadly ambuscade, and a relieving party,
+coming hurriedly at the instance of one of the survivors, ran into a
+second ambush, in which all but eight out of two companies of men
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>
+escaped. On the third attempt the commander of the fort hastened to the
+bloody scene with all of the troops at his command except what were
+needed to defend the fort. But the redskins had gone, leaving eighty
+scalped corpses on the ground. The first convoy probably numbered about
+twenty-five and the relieving party probably twice that number. The
+Indians had thrown or driven every team and all the whites surviving the
+fire of their thirsty muskets over the brink of the great ravine in
+which lies the Devil's Hole, fitly named.</p>
+
+<p>At the great treaty that Sir William Johnson now held at Niagara with
+all the western Indians&mdash;one of the most remarkable convocations ever
+convened on this continent&mdash;the Senecas were compelled to surrender to
+the English Government all right to a tract four miles wide on each side
+of the Niagara River from Fort Niagara to Fort Schlosser. When it came
+time to sign the articles agreeing to this grant, Johnson, at the
+suggestion of General Bradstreet, who had in mind a fortification of the
+present site of Fort Erie, asked to extend the grant to include all land
+bordering the entire river from mouth to source and for four miles back.
+To this the Senecas agreed, but signed the treaty, as it were, with
+their left hands, never intending to keep it. However, it is to this
+date that we trace first actual white man's ownership of the first foot
+of land on the Niagara frontier, save perhaps the enclosure at Fort
+Niagara. Until this agreement was reached Sir William refused to deal
+with the gathered host of Indians from the West; thus was the Devil's
+Hole Massacre avenged.</p>
+
+<p>Over two thousand Indians had met to treat with the now famous Indian
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>
+Commissioner for the Crown, coming from Nova Scotia in the East and the
+head streams of the Mississippi River in the West; that Niagara should
+have been the chosen meeting-place illustrates again its geographical
+position on the continent. Shrewd at this form of procrastinating
+business, Sir William laid down the policy of treaty with each tribe
+separately and not with the nations as such, and this, added to the
+formality observed, tended to make the procedure of almost endless
+duration. But Johnson knew his host and it is said on good authority
+that the vast sum now invested by the Crown paid good interest; the
+congress cost about ten thousand dollars in New York currency, and about
+two hundred thousand was distributed in presents to the vast assemblage.
+"Though this assemblage consisted of peace-desiring savages, their
+friendly disposition was not certain. Several straggling soldiers were
+shot at, and great precautions were taken by the English garrison to
+avert a rupture." Writes the graphic Parkman: "The troops were always on
+their guard, while the black muzzles of the cannons, thrust from the
+bastions of the fort, struck a wholesome awe into the savage throng
+below."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="STONE_REDOUBT" id="STONE_REDOUBT"></a>
+<img src="images/p0345.jpg" width="628" height="449" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>The Stone Redoubt at Fort Niagara, Built in 1770.<br />
+
+From the original in the British Museum.</h4>
+
+<p>The Fort Niagara of that day little resembled the sight that greets
+the tourist's eye at that point to-day. When the French built the "Mess
+House" or "Castle" they built one story only, but afterward added a
+second, the walls of which probably extended above the roof to serve as
+a breastwork for gunners. The present roof is an English addition,
+comparatively modern. The French built also the two famous block-houses,
+the walls of which also protruded from the ancient roof for the same
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+purpose as on the "Mess House," and these were used as late as the War
+of 1812. The old Magazine was built by the French, but its present-day
+roof is, of course, of modern construction, being in reality nothing but
+a covering over the stone arch which was the ancient roof. So far as
+appearance goes the waters of the hungry lake have probably done more
+altering of the natural aspect than has the hand of man. The fantastic
+"castle" now stands close to the water's edge, whereas, in the olden
+time there were upwards of thirty rods of ground between the "Mess
+House" and the lake, supporting an orchard. The present stone wall was
+erected in 1839, and the brick walls constructed outside the old line of
+breastworks in 1861; four years later the lighthouse was established in
+the upper story of the "Castle"; in 1873 the present lighthouse was
+erected.</p>
+
+<p>No serious conflict now marked England's rule in her new territory,
+and the people of Canada, and especially of the Niagara region, had now
+comparatively a few years' repose, but then came one of the most
+important periods in its history. Their country was invaded, and for a
+time seemed on the point of passing under the control of the Congress of
+the old Thirteen Colonies, now in rebellion against England. Only the
+genius of an able governor-general saved the valley of the St. Lawrence
+to the British Crown.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1774, Parliament intervened for the first time in
+Canadian affairs, and passed what was known as the "Quebec Act," which
+greatly extended the boundaries of the province of Quebec, as defined by
+the Proclamation of 1763. On one side the province now extended to the
+frontiers of New England, Pennsylvania, New York Province, the Ohio, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>
+the left bank of the Mississippi; on the other to the Hudson's Bay
+Territory; Labrador, Anticosti, and the Magdalen Islands, annexed to
+Newfoundland by the Proclamation of 1763, were made part of the province
+of Quebec. The "Quebec Act" created much debate in the House of Commons.
+The Earl of Chatham, in the House of Lords, described it as a "most
+cruel and odious measure." The opposition in the province was among the
+British inhabitants, who sent over a petition for its repeal or
+amendment, their principal grievance being that it substituted the laws
+and usages of Canada for English law. The "Act of 1774" was exceedingly
+unpopular in the English-speaking colonies, then at the commencement of
+the Revolution, on account of the extension of the limits of the
+province so as to include the country long known as the "Old North-west"
+in American history, and the consequent confinement of the Thirteen
+Colonies between the Atlantic coast and the Alleghany Mountains, beyond
+which the hardy and bold frontiersmen of Virginia and Pennsylvania were
+already passing into the great valley of the Ohio. Parliament, however,
+appears to have been influenced by a desire to adjust the government of
+the province so as to conciliate the majority of the Canadian people at
+the critical time.</p>
+
+<p>The advice of Sir Guy Carleton, afterwards Lord Dorchester, who
+succeeded General Murray as Governor-General, had much to do with the
+liberality of the "Quebec Act" towards the French Canadians. He crossed
+the Atlantic in 1769 and remained absent from Canada for four years. He
+returned to carry out the "Quebec Act," which was the foundation of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>
+large political and religious liberties which French Canada has ever
+since enjoyed. The "Act" aroused the indignation of the older American
+colonies, and had considerable influence in directing the early course
+of the Revolution which ended in the establishment of a federal
+republic. To it the Declaration of Independence refers as follows:
+"Abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring province,
+establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its
+boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for
+introducing the same absolute rule in other colonies." During the
+Revolution the Continental Congress attempted to secure the active
+alliance of Canada, and to that end sent a commission made up of
+Franklin, Chase, Charles Carroll, and John Carroll to Quebec; but the
+province remained loyal throughout. It will be noticed in another
+chapter that General Brock, in answering the "Proclamation" issued by
+Hull in 1812, voiced the belief that Canada was the price the American
+Colonies had promised to pay France in return for her valuable aid in
+the Revolution!</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="PFISTERS_SKETCH" id="PFISTERS_SKETCH"></a>
+<img src="images/p0351.jpg" width="582" height="454" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Pfister's Sketch of Fort Niagara and the "Communication,"
+Two Years before the Outbreak of the Revolutionary War.</h4>
+
+<p>It is not necessary to dwell here on the events of a war the history
+of which is so familiar to every one.<a name="FNanchor_28_28"
+id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28"
+class="fnanchor">[28]</a> When the first Continental Congress met at
+Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, the colonies were on the eve of
+independence as a result of the coercive measures forced on Parliament
+by the King's pliable ministers led by Lord North. The "Declaration,"
+however, was not finally proclaimed until nearly two years later, on
+July 4, 1776, when the Thirteen Colonies declared themselves "free and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>
+independent States," absolved of their allegiance to the British Crown.
+But many months before this great epoch-making event, war had actually
+commenced on Lake Champlain. On an April day, in the now memorable year
+1775, the "embattled farmers" had fired at Concord and Lexington, the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>
+shots "heard round the world," and a few weeks later the forts at Crown
+Point and Ticonderoga, then defended by very feeble garrisons, were in
+the possession of colonial troops, led by Ethan Allen and Seth Warner,
+the two "Green Mountain Boys" who organised this expedition. Canada was
+at this time in a very defenceless condition. Burgoyne was defeated at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>
+Saratoga, and his army, from which so much was expected, made prisoners
+of war. This great misfortune of the British cause was followed by the
+alliance of France with the States. French money, men, and ships
+eventually assured the independence of the Republic, whose fortunes were
+very low at times despite the victory at Saratoga. England was not well
+served in this American war; she had no Washington to direct her
+campaign, and Gage, Burgoyne, and Cornwallis were not equal to the
+responsibilities thrown upon them. Cornwallis's defeat at Yorktown,
+October 19, 1781, was the death blow to the hopes of England in North
+America.</p>
+
+<p>Had General Sullivan's campaign of 1779, as planned, been successful, he
+would have attacked Fort Niagara, but disaster overtook him, though he
+led an expedition against the Iroquois, routed a force of Indians and
+Tories at Newtown, near the present Elmira, and wrought wide devastation
+in the country of the Cayugas and Senecas.</p>
+
+<p>Yorktown led to the Treaty of Versailles and independence, but oddly
+enough it was almost a generation before a third flag arose above the
+historic "Castle" at the mouth of the Niagara. In 1784 the United States
+came into the control of the territory extending from Nova Scotia (which
+then included New Brunswick) to the head of the Lake of the Woods and to
+the Mississippi River in the West, and in the North from Canada to the
+Floridas in the South, the latter having again become Spanish
+possessions. The boundary between Nova Scotia and the Republic was so
+ill defined that it took over fifty years to fix the St. Croix and the
+Highlands which were, by the treaty, to divide the two countries. In
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+the Far West the line of division was to be drawn through the Lake of
+the Woods "to the most north-western point thereof, and from thence on a
+due west course to the River Mississippi"&mdash;a physical impossibility,
+since the head of the Mississippi, as was afterwards found, was a
+hundred miles or so to the south! In later times this geographical error
+was corrected, and the curious distortion of the boundary line that now
+appears on the maps was necessary at the Lake of the Woods in order to
+strike the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, which was
+subsequently arranged as the boundary line as far as the Rocky
+Mountains.</p>
+
+<p>A strip of land one mile wide along the American shore from Lake Ontario
+to Lake Erie had been exempted when New York ceded the ownership of what
+is now the western part of this State to Massachusetts, which ownership
+New York subsequently reacquired. Finally the Indians, who, in spite of
+their former cessions to England, still claimed an ownership, ceded to
+New York, for one thousand dollars and an annuity of one thousand five
+hundred dollars, their title to all the islands in the Niagara River.
+The State of New York patented the mile-strip to individuals, commencing
+in the first decade of the nineteenth century.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, as noted, neither Niagara
+nor Detroit was surrendered by the British until 1796. Both forts were
+held as English outposts and strengthened. We have shown that the
+boundary-line between Canada and the United States was improperly
+conceived; but it is a fact that during the Revolutionary War the people
+of the North-west had been warned from Niagara and Detroit to take up
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>
+arms in behalf of the Americans. Nothing aggressive, however, had been
+accomplished. The wilderness of three hundred miles between Detroit and
+the Eastern States made an attack upon the posts by the Americans
+impracticable; moreover, most of the fighting in this region was done by
+the British and the Indians and the people of Pennsylvania and Ohio.</p>
+
+<p>It is due to the statesmanship of John Jay that the posts still
+garrisoned by British troops in the United States, contrary to the
+stipulations of the Treaty of Paris, were finally evacuated in 1796. Jay
+had been sent by President Washington to go to Great Britain in 1794 as
+special envoy to settle differences growing out of the failure of that
+country to keep the obligations of the Treaty of 1784, differences which
+had aroused a strong war-spirit all over the States. It was easy to
+foresee, as Jay recognised, that the outcome of the situation would in
+all probability be unpopular with the people, but he did not hesitate to
+meet the responsibility that Washington believed he could meet better
+than any other man, partially because of the reputation he had
+established in England while negotiating the Treaty of 1784. Jay set
+sail on May 12, 1794 in the ship <i>Ohio</i>, with his son Peter Augustus,
+and with John Trumbull as secretary. On June 8th he landed at Falmouth
+and at once entered into relation with Lord Grenville, the Secretary of
+Foreign Affairs, who was commissioned by the King to treat with Mr. Jay.
+The sincerity and candour of the two negotiators soon led to a degree of
+mutual confidence that both facilitated and lightened their labours. A
+treaty resulted known on this side of the ocean as "Jay's Treaty,"
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+which settled the eastern boundary of Maine, recovered for illegal
+captures by British cruisers $10,000,000, secured the surrender of the
+western forts still garrisoned by the British, and contained an article
+about the West India trade. With the exception of the latter article,
+the treaty was approved by the President and ratified by the Senate. But
+many were not satisfied, and denounced Jay with tongue and pen, and even
+burned him in effigy in Boston, Philadelphia, and at his own home in New
+York. How different was the homecoming from that after the negotiation
+of the other treaty, when the freedom of the city was presented to him
+in a golden box, and each one seemed to vie with every other in
+extending a welcome! In a letter to a friend, Jay said at that time,
+"Calumny is seldom durable, it will in time yield to truth," and he bore
+himself at that time as one having full confidence that he had acted
+both wisely and skilfully, and expected the people to realise it in
+time. The British, however, would not evacuate Niagara and the other
+forts without a semblance of fighting on paper. They held, amongst other
+reasons, that they were yet justified in maintaining a garrison on
+American soil because "it was <i>alleged</i> by divers merchants and others,
+His Majesty's subjects," that they had sustained various losses by the
+legal impediments they had experienced in collecting debts in America
+due to them before the war. Mr. Jay, however, with great diplomacy,
+removed this obstacle by the appointment of Commissioners of Award, and
+as the British finally were deprived of all pretence for maintaining the
+posts, it was agreed that they should be surrendered on or before the
+first of June, 1796. This was finally done and the third and last flag
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>
+floated lazily in the Lake Ontario breezes over the historic point. The
+settlers and traders within the jurisdiction of the posts were permitted
+to remain and to enjoy their property without becoming citizens of the
+United States unless they should think proper to do so.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="FORT_ERIE_MOUTH" id="FORT_ERIE_MOUTH"></a>
+<img src="images/p0359.jpg" width="663" height="404" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Fort Erie and the Mouth of the Niagara, by Pfister, in
+1764.<br />
+
+From the original in the British Museum.</h4>
+
+<p>Anthony Wayne's army now took full possession of the Niagara region.
+With the exception of a small strip of land on the river and lake, all
+the present State of Michigan was occupied by Indians&mdash;Pottawattomies,
+Miamis, Wyandots, Chippewas, Winnebagoes, and Ottawas. The first
+American commander of the post was Colonel John Francis Hamtramck, who
+died in 1803. At that period Detroit was headquarters of the Western
+Army, but the whole garrison only consisted of three hundred men.</p>
+
+<p>Niagara-on-the-Lake may be called the Plymouth Rock of upper Canada. It
+was once its proud capital. Variously known in the past as Loyal
+Village, Butlersbury, Nassau, and Newark, it had a daily paper as early
+as 1792, and was a military post of distinction at the same period, its
+real beginnings, however, being contemporaneous with the War of
+Independence. Here, within two short hours' ride of the most populous
+and busy city of western New York, typical of the material forces that
+have moulded the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we come upon a spot
+of intensest quiet, in the shadow of whose ivy-mantled church tower
+sleep trusted servants of the Georges, Loyalists and their Indian
+allies.</p>
+
+<p>The place has been overtaken by none of that unpicturesque commercial
+prosperity which further up the frontier threatens to destroy all the
+natural beauties of the river-banks.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>
+<p>The Welland Canal and the Grand Trunk and Great Western Railway systems
+diverted the great part of the carrying trade, and with it that growth
+and activity which have signalised the neighbouring cities of Canada.
+"Refuse the Welland Canal entrance to your town," said the
+Commissioners, "and the grass will grow in your streets." Here General
+Simcoe opened the first Upper Canadian Legislature; and later, from here
+the noble Brock planned the defence of Upper Canada. While the cities of
+western New York, which have now far eclipsed it, were rude log
+settlements, at "Newark" some little attempt was made at decorum and
+society.</p>
+
+<p>Here landed in 1783-'84 ten thousand United Empire Loyalists, who, to
+keep inviolate their oaths of allegiance to the King, quitted their
+freeholds and positions of trust and honour in the States to begin life
+anew in the unbroken wilds of Upper Canada. History has made us somewhat
+familiar with the settlement of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by the
+expatriated Loyalists. Little has been written of the sufferings and
+privations endured by the "makers" of Upper Canada. Students and
+specialists who have investigated the story of a flight equalled only by
+that of the Huguenots after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes have
+been led to admire the spirit of unselfish patriotism which led these
+one hundred thousand fugitives to self-exile. While the Pilgrims came to
+America leisurely, bringing their household goods and their charters
+with them, the United Empire Loyalists, it has well been said, "bleeding
+with the wounds of seven years of war, left ungathered the crops of
+their rich farms on the Mohawk and in New Jersey, and, stripped of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>
+every earthly possession, braved the terrors of the unbroken wilderness
+from the Mohawk to Lake Ontario." Inhabited to-day by the descendants of
+these pioneers, the old-fashioned loyalty and conservatism of the
+Niagara district is the more conspicuous by contrasting it with
+neighbouring republicanism over the river.</p>
+
+<p>Here, over a century ago, near Fort George, stood the first Parliament
+House of Upper Canada. Here, seventy years before President Lincoln's
+Emancipation Proclamation, the first United Empire Loyalist Parliament,
+like the embattled farmers at Concord, "fired a shot heard round the
+world." For one of the first measures of the exiled patricians was to
+pass an act forbidding slavery. Few readers know that at Newark, now
+Niagara, was enacted that law by which Canada became not only the first
+country in the world to abolish slavery, but, as such, a safe refuge for
+the fugitive slaves from the Southern States.</p>
+
+<p>General Simcoe, the first governor, was born in 1752 and died in 1806. A
+landed gentleman of England and likewise a member of the British House
+of Commons he voluntarily relinquished all the luxuries of his beautiful
+English home and estates to bury himself in the wilderness of Canada and
+the Niagara region. As governor-general he exemplified the extremest
+simplicity. His guard consisted of four soldiers who came from Fort
+George, close by, to Newark, every morning and returned thither in the
+evening. Mrs. Simcoe not only performed the duties of wife and mother,
+but also acted as her husband's secretary. The name of Simcoe is
+indelibly entered in the history of the development of the Niagara, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>
+it is doubly appropriate that her interesting drawings should illustrate
+a volume dealing with this region she loved.</p>
+
+<p>Here Cooper is said to have written his admirable novels of border and
+Indian life, novels which have been devoured by me and millions of
+readers; it is fair to predict that the stories will be read for another
+century to come.<a name="FNanchor_29_31" id="FNanchor_29_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_31" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> Many other interesting characters have at different
+periods made Fort George their abode. In 1780, a handsome house within
+its enclosure was occupied by General Guy Johnson.</p>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>
+<h2>Chapter X</h2>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">The Hero of Upper Canada</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">G</span>eneral Isaac Brock, the Hero of Upper Canada, was the kind of man men
+delight to honour&mdash;honest, capable, ambitious, faithful, kind. Nothing
+less than a tremendous gorge, such as separates Queenston from Lewiston
+Heights, could keep the people of one nation from knowing and loving
+this hero of another; since Brock's day this gorge has been spanned by
+beautiful bridges, and it is full time now, as the centennial of the
+second war with England approaches, that the appreciation of the
+characters of the worthy, patriotic heroes of that olden day o'erleap
+the chasm of bitter rivalry and hostility and become common and genuine
+to the northward and the southward of the Niagara.</p>
+
+<p>Isaac Brock was the eighth son of John Brock, Esq., born on the sixth
+day of October, 1769, in the parish of St. Peter-Port, Guernsey&mdash;the
+famous birth-year of Wellington and Napoleon. Tall, robust, and mentally
+conspicuous as a lad, Isaac followed his elder brother into the British
+Army, purchasing the ensigncy in the 8th, or King's Regiment, in 1785.
+His promotion was the result of merit in addition to possessing the
+means to purchase higher office; in 1790 we find him a lieutenant in the
+49th Regiment, advancing to his majority in 1795 and two years later
+becoming senior lieutenant-colonel. Supplanting now an officer accused
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>
+of peculation who had brought the whole regiment into public notice,
+Brock exerted an influence that seemed to transform the regiment, making
+it "from one of the worst," said the Duke of York himself, "one of the
+best regiments in the service."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="MAJOR-GENERAL_BROCK" id="MAJOR-GENERAL_BROCK"></a>
+<img src="images/p0367.jpg" width="338" height="460" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Major-General Brock.</h4>
+
+<p>The opportunity of active service soon came, as the 49th was thrown into
+Holland, Brock being wounded at Egmont-op-Zee, or Bergen. His simple
+statement concerning being struck in the breast by a spent bullet is
+interesting: "I got knocked down soon after the enemy began to retreat,"
+he remarks, "but never quitted the field, and returned to my duty in
+less than half an hour."<a name="FNanchor_30_32" id="FNanchor_30_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_32" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> Here Brock fought under Sir John Moore and
+Sir Ralph Abercrombie; in 1801 he was second in command of the land
+forces at Copenhagen and saw Lord Nelson on the <i>Elephant</i> write his
+famous letter to the Crown Prince of Denmark. During the next year the
+49th was sent to Canada and was quartered at Fort George near Newark,
+the present Niagara-on-the-Lake. The character of Brock's management of
+the troops under him is well illustrated in the case of a strange mutiny
+that came near to breaking out at this time at Fort George due to the
+useless annoyance, or alleged actual severity, which so exasperated the
+men that an almost inconceivable plot to kill the officers was
+discovered. After the crime the soldiers were to cross the river into
+the United States and escape. One of the confederates was sent by the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>
+commanding officer to Brock at York with a letter describing the
+horrifying discovery. The incensed commander compelled the soldier at
+the point of a musket to disclose the chief conspirators. Hastening to
+Fort George the ringleaders were apprehended at the dinner table and
+hurried off to Quebec, where they were summarily shot. As a result Brock
+himself was ordered to make Fort George his headquarters, whereupon all
+trouble seems to have ceased.</p>
+
+<p>In 1805 Brock received his colonelcy and with it leave of absence. While
+at home he made a report to the commander-in-chief which throws an
+interesting light on affairs at that period, favouring the formation of
+a veteran battalion for service in Upper Canada. He wrote:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The artifices employed to wean the soldier from his duty,
+conspire to render almost ineffectual every effort of the
+officers to maintain the usual degree of order and discipline.
+The lures to desertion continually thrown out by the Americans,
+and the facility with which it can be accomplished, exacting a
+more than ordinary precaution on the part of the officers,
+insensibly produces mistrust between them and the men, highly
+prejudicial to the service.</p>
+
+<p>Experience has taught me that no regular regiment, however high
+its claim to discipline, can occupy the frontier posts of Lower
+and Upper Canada without suffering materially in its numbers. It
+might have been otherwise some years ago; but now that the
+country, particularly the opposite shore, is chiefly inhabited
+by the vilest characters, who have an interest in debauching the
+soldier from his duty; since roads are opened into the interior
+of the States, which facilitate desertion, it is impossible to
+avoid the contagion. A total change must be effected in the
+minds and views of those who may hereafter be sent on this duty,
+before the evil can be surmounted.<a name="FNanchor_31_33" id="FNanchor_31_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_33" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p></div>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>
+<p>Such was the warlike tenor of despatches now at hand from Canada that
+Brock, eager to be at the post of duty at a critical time, hastened from
+London in June, 1806, cutting short his leave of absence. Throughout
+that year and its successor he was actively engaged in studying his
+province with regard to military demands that might suddenly be made
+upon it; it is noteworthy that the commander feared that in case of an
+outbreak between England and America a considerable part of the
+inhabitants of Upper Canada (Loyalists) would prove friendly to the
+young Republic. Discussing a new militia law he wrote as follows to the
+Council:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In thus complying with the dictates of his duty, Colonel Brock
+was not prepared to hear that the population of the province,
+instead of affording him ready and effectual support, might
+probably add to the number of his enemies; and he feels much
+disappointment in being informed by the first authority, that
+the only law in any degree calculated to answer the end proposed
+was likely, if attempted to be enforced, to meet with such
+general opposition as to require the aid of the military to give
+it even a momentary impulse.</p></div>
+
+<p>If such were the apprehensions of the commanding officer in Canada
+little wonder General Hull, in later days, counted on the co-operation
+of many of the inhabitants of the trans-Niagara country. In September,
+1807, Brock, who was acting-governor in Canada pending the arrival of
+Sir James Craig, was fortifying Quebec in anticipation of an immediate
+outbreak of the impending war. In this connection a little incident
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>
+displays his character. He had caused to be erected at Quebec a very
+powerful battery, and of it he wrote his brothers:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I erected . . . a famous battery, which the public voice named
+after me; but Sir James, thinking very properly that anything so
+very pre-eminent should be distinguished by the most exalted
+appellation, has called it the King's Battery, the greatest
+compliment, I conceive, that he could pay to my judgment.</p></div>
+
+<p>The true modesty of the really great man shines out in these charming
+words.</p>
+
+<p>As the war cloud seemed to dissipate toward the close of 1808, General
+Brock seems to have set his eyes toward Europe in the hope of
+opportunity of active service; on November 19th he writes quite
+despondently:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>My object is to get home as soon as I can obtain permission; but
+unless our affairs with America be amicably adjusted, of which I
+see no probability, I scarcely can expect to be permitted to
+move. I rejoice Savery [Brock] has begun to exert himself to get
+me appointed to a more active situation. I must see service, or
+I may as well, and indeed much better, quit the army at once,
+for no one advantage can I reasonably look to hereafter if I
+remain buried in this inactive, remote corner, without the least
+mention being made of me.</p></div>
+
+<p>It is exceedingly noticeable that Brock now seems to pin all his hope to
+being recalled in order that he might win his laurels in the
+tremendously spectacular campaigns against Napoleon in Spain. From his
+letters we learn that the French-Canadians looked for the Corsican's
+ultimate triumph and his final possession of Canada itself, and adds
+that under like circumstances Englishmen would be even more restless
+under French rule than the French-Canadians were under English; "Every
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>
+victory which Napoleon has gained," he observes, "for the last nine
+years has made the disposition here to resist more manifest."</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of July Brock writes his sister-in-law, Mrs. William
+Brock, that the die is cast and that he is ordered to Upper Canada. If
+it is character, rather than mere performance that, in the last
+analysis, gives every man his historic position in the annals of the
+world, the truth is nowhere better shown than here in the case of this
+splendid Canadian hero. Could his Governor have spared him Brock would
+have, ere this, been at home or en route to Spain and fame; but the
+conditions demanded a strong, diplomatic officer at Fort George, and
+there was nothing for it but that Brock must go; and there followed
+war&mdash;and bloody Queenston Heights. "Since I cannot get to Europe," are
+his gloomy words, "I care little where I am placed."</p>
+
+<p>By September 13th he is writing his brothers from Fort George, but still
+hinting of his hopes to get leave to return to England eventually. What
+an out-of-the-way place for fame to seek and find a man&mdash;a man repining
+that he cannot go in search of her! Yet he writes: "I should stand
+evidently in my own light if I did not court fortune elsewhere." The
+attitude of Sir James Craig in the matter of his transfer to the
+European service was candidly stated by a letter from Colonel Baynes as
+follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>In reply to an observation of mine, that you regretted the
+inactive prospect before you, and looked with envy on those
+employed in Spain and Portugal, he said: "I make no doubt of it,
+but I can in no shape aid his plans in that respect; I would
+not, however, be the means of preventing them, and although from
+his local knowledge I should regret losing him in this country,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>
+yet I would not oppose it if he could obtain an appointment to
+the staff on service; but in that case I would ask for another
+general officer being sent in his place immediately to Upper
+Canada." I tell you this, my dear general, without reserve, and
+give you, as far as I can recollect, Sir James's words. If he
+liked you less, he might, perhaps, be more readily induced to
+let you go; as matters stand, I do not think he will, although I
+am convinced that he will feel very sincere regret in refusing
+you on a subject upon which you appear to be so anxious.</p></div>
+
+<p>In his correspondence we now and then get a glimpse of the General's
+tastes and inclinations; that he was not a frugal entertainer we have
+considerable proof,<a name="FNanchor_32_34" id="FNanchor_32_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_34" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> likewise evidence of his temperate tastes. In
+his lonely life by the Niagara he had recourse to such books as were to
+be found.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>But books are scarce [he writes], and I hate borrowing. I like
+to read a book quickly, and afterwards revert to such passages
+as have made the deepest impression, and which appear to me most
+important to remember&mdash;a practice I cannot conveniently pursue
+unless the book be mine. Should you find that I am likely to
+remain here, I wish you to send me some choice authors in
+history, particularly ancient, with maps, and the best
+translations of ancient works. I read in my youth Pope's
+Translation of Homer, but till lately never discovered its
+exquisite beauties. As I grow old, I acquire a taste for study.
+I firmly believe that the same propensity was always inherent in
+me, but, strange to tell, although many were paid extravagantly,
+I never had the advantage of a master to guide and encourage me.
+But it is now too late to repine. I rejoice that my nephews are
+more fortunate.</p></div>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>
+<p>Colonel Vesey, writing to Brock, states that he regrets not having a
+daughter of marriageable age. "You should be married," runs the letter,
+"particularly as fate seems to detain you so long in Canada&mdash;but pray do
+not marry there." In another letter, dated Portsmouth, June 10, 1811,
+the same correspondent refers to Brock's appointment as Major-General.
+Oddly enough General Vesey says, referring to his friend's probable
+future: "It may perhaps be your fate to go to the Mediterranean, but the
+Peninsula is the most direct road to the honour of the Bath, and as you
+are an ambitious man, that is the station you should prefer. . . ." Only
+sixteen months from the day this letter was written Brock was gazetted
+Knight of the Bath&mdash;the lonely, patient, splendid man winning the great
+honour in the very land he was longing so sincerely to leave. On October
+17th a communication from Lieutenant-Colonel Torrens gives General Brock
+permission to return to England, but it was too late; both honour and
+necessity demanded his presence in Canada as the exciting days of 1812
+drew on apace.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="PLAN_FORT_NIAGARA" id="PLAN_FORT_NIAGARA"></a>
+<img src="images/p0375.jpg" width="634" height="445" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>A Plan of Fort Niagara after English Occupation, by Montresor.</h4>
+
+<p>At the outbreak of hostilities in this year the United States embraced
+an immense territory, extending from the St. Lawrence to Mexico,
+excepting Florida&mdash;which remained in the possession of Spain until
+1819&mdash;and from the Atlantic indefinitely westward to the Spanish
+possessions on the Pacific coast, afterwards acquired by the United
+States. The total population of the United States was upwards of eight
+million souls, of whom a million and a half were negro slaves in the
+South. Large wastes of wild land lay between the Canadian settlements
+and the thickly populated sections of New England, New York, and Ohio.
+It was only with great difficulty and expense that men, munitions of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>
+war, and provisions could be brought to the frontier during the contest.</p>
+
+<p>The principal causes of the war are quite intelligible to the historical
+student. Great Britain was engaged in a great conflict at the beginning
+of the nineteenth century, not only for her own national security but
+also for the integrity of Europe, then threatened by the insatiable
+ambition of Bonaparte. It was on the sea that her strength mainly lay.
+To ensure her maritime supremacy England reserved the right of searching
+neutral, especially American, vessels. This so-called right meant that
+wherever an English warship met American merchantmen or war-vessels, the
+latter were required to stop, order their men on deck, and permit as
+many sailors to be seized and forced into the English service as were
+unable to prove their nationality. It was maintained that only deserters
+from the English navy were wanted; but in the period from 1796 to 1802,
+nearly two thousand American seamen were pressed into the English naval
+service on the plea that they were deserters. Likewise England became
+jealous of American trade. French, Spanish, and even English traders
+raised the American flag in order to get the advantages of neutrals.
+Thus it appeared that English commerce would fall into the hands of her
+rivals. It cannot be denied that illicit trade and outrages were really
+committed and brought back to American doors. The Lion roared. English
+vessels were stationed just outside the ports of more or less importance
+to the United States. British cruisers virtually blocked the Atlantic
+coast from Maine to Georgia. Then happened the <i>Chesapeake</i> affair. On
+June 27, 1803, the British war-vessel <i>Leopard</i> signalled the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>
+<i>Chesapeake</i> to stop as she was leaving Norfolk Harbour. An officer was
+sent on board, but Commodore Barron refused to muster his men. The
+<i>Leopard</i> thereupon opened fire, took the <i>Chesapeake</i> by surprise,
+three men being killed and eighteen wounded. One Englishman was found
+when the search was completed; nevertheless, three American sailors (one
+being a negro) were taken away. This affair excited the American people
+almost beyond precedent. Indignation meetings were held all over. War
+soon became the cry. President Jefferson sent an agent to England to
+demand reparation for the attack on the <i>Chesapeake</i>, but England paid
+no attention to the President's representations.</p>
+
+<p>The Embargo Act of President Jefferson and similar measures solved none
+of the difficulties they were intended to solve. The South suffered much
+hardship, tobacco and wheat shrinking to one-half their former value.</p>
+
+<p>Then came the <i>Little Belt</i> affair, when, in May, 1811, the United
+States frigate <i>President</i> encountered the British sloop <i>Little Belt</i>,
+and, after a hot chase of several hours practically annihilated her.
+Never was news more welcome to American ears, and the <i>Chesapeake</i>
+affair had been revenged. But the incident did not help to improve the
+situation. Lastly it was generally believed that England instigated the
+Indian attacks which led to the battle of Tippecanoe, where the
+Americans, under General William Henry Harrison, gained a complete
+victory, to which our readers' attention will be directed later.</p>
+
+<p>All these causes would, perhaps, have been ineffective but for the
+revolution in the following year which took place in the American
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>
+Republican party&mdash;the controlling party since 1801. Henry Clay of
+Kentucky, and John S. Calhoun of South Carolina, advocated war; others
+followed and President Madison joined them. They hoped to compel Europe
+to respect the American flag; they had confidence in the young Republic;
+they dreamed, perhaps, of an alliance with France, of an annexation of
+Canada. After long and stormy debates war was declared June 18th, the
+invasion of Canada had already begun!</p>
+
+<p>The War of 1812 officially commenced on June 18th. Great Britain,
+indeed, had extended a reconciliatory hand but it was too late. The army
+of the United States numbered at that time 6744 regulars. Congress had
+authorised its increase to 25,000, and provided, at least by law, for a
+second volunteer army of 50,000 men. The militia of several States was
+likewise called on to co-operate with the regulars and the volunteers.
+But the result was very unsatisfactory. The regular army during the war
+never reached 10,000; the volunteers appeared only in small numbers, and
+the militia offered to serve only for short terms and preferably in
+their own States. The Treasury, with its "sinews of war" was in a
+precarious condition. The Union had to resort to loans to which the
+capitalists did not respond with alacrity. On the other hand the British
+troops in Canada numbered barely seven thousand men; their line of
+defence was one thousand miles long. England was contending in Europe
+with her great enemy, Napoleon. The English Navy was, however, the
+undisputed mistress of all the seas; the British North Atlantic Squadron
+counted three battleships, twenty cruisers, and fifty smaller ships.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>
+<p>The mind of the man who had been unwittingly awaiting the impossible in
+the Upper Province for so many gloomy months is well displayed now in a
+letter written to headquarters at the first intimation of the
+declaration of war which reached him through round-about sources:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Fort George</span>, July 3, 1812.</p>
+
+<p>I have been anxiously expecting for some days to receive the
+honour of your excellency's commands in regard to the measures
+the most proper to be pursued on the present emergency.</p>
+
+<p>The accounts received, first through a mercantile channel, and
+soon after repeated from various quarters, of war having been
+declared by the United States against Great Britain, would have
+justified, in my opinion, offensive operations. But the
+reflection that at Detroit and Michilimakinack the weak state of
+the garrisons would prevent the commanders from accomplishing
+any essential service, connected in any degree with their future
+security, and that my means of annoyance on this communication
+were limited to the reduction of Fort Niagara, which could
+easily be battered at any future period, I relinquished my
+original intention, and attended only to defensive measures. My
+first object has been the calling out of the flank companies of
+militia, which has produced a force on this line of about eight
+hundred men. They turned out very cheerfully, but already show a
+spirit of impatience. The king's stores are now at so low an
+ebb, that they scarcely furnish any article of use or comfort.
+Blankets, hammocks, and kettles, are all to be purchased; and
+the troops, when watching the banks of the river, stand in the
+utmost need of tents. Mr. Couche has adopted the most
+efficacious means to pay the militia in paper currency. I cannot
+positively state the number of militia that will be embodied,
+but they cannot exceed throughout the province four thousand
+men.</p>
+
+<p>The Americans are very active on the opposite side, in the
+erection of redoubts; we are not idle on our part, but
+unfortunately having supplied Amherstburg with the guns which
+that post required from Fort George, depending upon getting
+others from Kingston to supply their place, we find ourselves at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>
+this moment rather short of that essential arm. I have, however,
+every reason to think that they are embarked on board the <i>Earl
+Moira</i>, which vessel, according to Major M'Pherson's report, was
+to have sailed on the 28th ultimo. The Americans have, I
+believe, about 1200 regulars and militia between Fort Niagara
+and Black Rock, and I consider myself at this moment perfectly
+safe against any attempt they can make. About one hundred
+Indians from the Grand River have attended to my summons; the
+remainder promise to come also, but I have too much reason to
+conclude that the Americans have been too successful in their
+endeavours to sow dissension and disaffection among them. It is
+a great object to get this fickle race interspersed among the
+troops. I should be unwilling, in the event of a retreat, to
+have three or four hundred of them hanging on my flank. I shall
+probably have to sacrifice some money to gain them over, and the
+appointment of a few officers with salaries will be absolutely
+necessary.</p>
+
+<p>The Americans make a daily parade of their force, and easily
+impose on the people on this side in regard to their numbers. I
+do not think they exceed 1200, but they are represented as
+infinitely more numerous.</p>
+
+<p>For the last fortnight every precaution has been taken to guard
+against the least communication, and to this day we are ignorant
+whether the President has sanctioned the war resolutions of the
+two houses of Congress; that is, whether war be actually
+declared.</p>
+
+<p>I have not been honoured with a line from Mr. Foster,<a name="FNanchor_33_35" id="FNanchor_33_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_35" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> nor
+with all my endeavours have I been able to retain information of
+any consequence. The <i>Prince Regent</i> made her first voyage this
+morning, and I purpose sending her to Kingston this evening, to
+bring such articles as are absolutely necessary, which we know
+have arrived from Quebec. I trust she will out-sail the <i>Oneida</i>
+brig.</p></div>
+
+<p>The arrival of General Hull at Detroit and his "invasion" of Canada
+followed hard on the declaration of war; as a preliminary step previous
+to invasion he issued the Proclamation for which he was afterward so
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>
+roundly scored. The proclamation was really an invitation to all
+disaffected persons in the Upper Provinces to join Hull's army. That it
+had no more success than it did, was due, it may be believed, to the
+personal magnetism of the able man in control of affairs&mdash;to the trust
+that the people had as a whole in General Brock. To counteract Hull's
+proclamation Brock replied in one of his own, and it contains several
+statements of interest as displaying the character of its author:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The unprovoked declaration of war by the
+United States of America against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
+Ireland, and its dependencies, has been followed by the actual invasion
+of this province, in a remote frontier of the western district, by a
+detachment of the armed force of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>The officer commanding that detachment has thought proper to invite
+his majesty's subjects, not merely to a quiet and unresisting
+submission, but insults them with a call to seek voluntarily the
+protection of his government.</p>
+
+<p>Without condescending to repeat the illiberal epithets bestowed in
+this appeal of the American commander to the people of Upper Canada, on
+the administration of his majesty, every inhabitant of the province is
+desired to seek the confutation of such indecent slander in the review
+of his own particular circumstances. Where is the Canadian subject who
+can truly affirm to himself that he has been injured by the government,
+in his person, his property, or his liberty? Where is to be found, in
+any part of the world, a growth so rapid in prosperity and wealth, as
+this colony exhibits? Settled not thirty years, by a band of veterans,
+exiled from their former possessions on account of their loyalty, not a
+descendant of these brave people is to be found, who, under the
+fostering liberality of their sovereign, has not acquired a property and
+means of enjoyment superior to what were possessed by their
+ancestors.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="NAVY_HALL" id="NAVY_HALL"></a>
+<img src="images/p0383.jpg" width="676" height="424" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>"Navy Hall Opposite Niagara."<br />
+
+A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.</h4>
+
+<p>The unequalled prosperity would not have been attained by the utmost
+liberality of the government, or the persevering industry <span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> of the
+people, had not the maritime power of the mother-country secured to its
+colonists a safe access to every market, where the produce of their
+labour was in request.</p>
+
+<p>The unavoidable and immediate consequences of a separation from Great
+Britain must be the loss of this inestimable advantage; and what is
+offered you in exchange? To become a territory of the United States, and
+share with them that exclusion from the ocean which the policy of their
+government enforces; you are not even flattered with a participation of
+their boasted independence; and it is but too obvious that, once
+estranged from the powerful protection of the United Kingdom, you must
+be re-annexed to the dominion of France, from which the provinces of
+Canada were wrested by the arms of Great Britain, at a vast expense of
+blood and treasure, from no other motive than to relieve her ungrateful
+children from the oppression of a cruel neighbour. This restitution of
+Canada to the empire of France, was the stipulated reward for the aid
+afforded to the revolted colonies, now the United States; the debt is
+still due, and there can be no doubt but the pledge has been renewed as
+a consideration for commercial advantages, or rather for an expected
+relaxation in the tyranny of France over the commercial world. Are you
+prepared, inhabitants of Canada, to become willing subjects, or rather
+slaves, to the despot who rules the nations of continental Europe with a
+rod of iron? If not, arise in a body, exert your energies, co-operate
+cordially with the King's regular forces to repel the invader, and do
+not give cause to your children, when groaning under the oppression of a
+foreign master, to reproach you with having so easily parted with the
+richest inheritance of this earth&mdash;a participation in the name,
+character, and freedom of Britons!</p>
+
+<p>The same spirit of justice, which will make every reasonable
+allowance for the unsuccessful efforts of zeal and loyalty, will not
+fail to punish the defalcation of principle. Every Canadian freeholder
+is, by deliberate choice, bound by the most solemn oaths to defend the
+monarchy, as well as his own property; to shrink from that engagement is
+a treason not to be forgiven. Let no man suppose that if, in this
+unexpected struggle, his majesty's arms should be compelled to yield to
+an overwhelming force, the province will be eventually abandoned; the
+endeared relations of its first settlers, the intrinsic value of its
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>
+commerce, and the pretensions of its powerful rival to possess the
+Canadas, are pledges that no peace will be established between the
+United States and Great Britain and Ireland, of which the restoration of
+these provinces does not make the most prominent condition.</p>
+
+<p>Be not dismayed at the unjustifiable threat of the commander of the
+enemy's forces to refuse quarter, should an Indian appear in the ranks.
+The brave bands of aborigines which inhabit this colony were, like his
+Majesty's other subjects, punished for their zeal and fidelity, by the
+loss of their possessions in the late colonies, and requited by his
+Majesty with lands of superior value in this province. The faith of the
+British government has never yet been violated&mdash;the Indians feel
+that the soil they inherit is to them and their posterity protected from
+the base arts so frequently devised to over-reach their simplicity. By
+what new principle are they to be prohibited from defending their
+property? If their warfare, from being different to that of the white
+people, be more terrific to the enemy, let him retrace his
+steps&mdash;they seek him not&mdash;and cannot expect to find women and
+children in an invading army. But they are men, and have equal rights
+with all other men to defend themselves and their property when invaded,
+more especially when they find in the enemy's camp a ferocious and
+mortal foe; using the same warfare which the American commander affects
+to reprobate.</p>
+
+<p>This inconsistent and unjustifiable threat of refusing quarter, for
+such a cause as being found in arms with a brother sufferer, in defence
+of invaded rights, must be exercised with the certain assurance of
+retaliation, not only in the limited operations of war in this part of
+the King's dominions, but in every quarter of the globe; for the
+national character of Britain is not less distinguished for humanity
+than strict retributive justice, which will consider the execution of
+this inhuman threat as deliberate murder, for which every subject of the
+offending power must make expiation.</p></div>
+
+<p>Few men ever had the task that General Brock now essayed thrown upon
+their shoulders. With some fifteen hundred men he had to occupy the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>
+forts St. Joseph, Amherstburg (Malden), Chippewa, Erie, and George,
+together with York (Toronto) and Kingston; maintain British supremacy,
+if possible, on three great lakes; preserve the long communication and
+defend a frontier eight hundred and more miles in length. And it is to
+be remembered that even in time of peace there had been no little
+trouble in keeping the British regulars from deserting to the American
+side of the Niagara&mdash;probably to take advantage of the splendid
+agricultural and commercial opportunities in the West just then being
+thrown open to the pioneer hosts and to which Easterners were flocking
+"in shoals," as one observer put it. His position was the more peculiar
+because of the nature of the larger portion of the inhabitants of the
+upper province, the loyalists. Having fled from the United States in the
+hours of the Revolution, fancy now the thoughts of these honest people
+as they faced the prospect of their land of refuge being invaded by an
+army from the land below the lakes! Seldom did a people have more cause
+for apprehension; seldom did the inhabitants of an invaded land look
+less for commiseration on the part of the invaders. The result was that
+a very few fled back again to the land of their birth; but the vast
+majority resolved to trust the issue to Providence&mdash;and these looked to
+General Brock to preserve the land.</p>
+
+<p>The situation was unique and gave the man at the helm a singular
+opportunity to prove himself and win the deathless devotion of a whole
+people. Little wonder that the man who proved himself equal to this
+critical hour will forever be known as "The Hero of Upper Canada."</p>
+
+<p>Brigadier-General Hull had advanced into Upper Canada from Detroit
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>
+early in July, but it was not until the capture of Hull's despatches by
+Colonel Proctor in the affair near Brownsville when Van Horne's party
+was ambushed that Brock planned to execute the daring advance which
+ended in the astonishing capture of Detroit and Hull's entire army. On
+the 6th of August Brock departed from York, with five hundred additional
+volunteers, largely sons of loyalists, who were very true to their
+adopted country in this crisis&mdash;or, perhaps we should say, loyal to this
+brave leader in whom were suddenly found the qualities required by the
+extraordinary occasion. Being compelled to leave a part of the little
+force he was leading westward along the Niagara River, General Brock
+reached Amherstburg (Malden) in five days and nights with some three
+hundred followers. It is plain on this showing that whatever the result
+of the bold enterprise there was now no hesitation in carrying it out.
+Tecumseh's salute in his honour was suppressed as quickly as possible,
+such was the scarcity of powder! There is something pathetically
+interesting in two despatches issued by Brock on two successive
+days,&mdash;August 14th and 15th. One was an appeal to his troops to prevent
+desertion among the country folk who felt it imperative to get in their
+crops; the other was an ultimatum to Hull summoning him to surrender.
+The incongruity of the two epistles is almost amusing, especially when
+it is remembered that the British had very little powder and a force
+smaller than that opposed to it beyond the Detroit River. And yet the
+bombastic order reads:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The force at my disposal authorises me to require of you the
+immediate surrender of Fort Detroit. It is far from my
+inclination to join in a war of extermination; but you must be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>
+aware that the numerous body of Indians who have attached
+themselves to my troops will be beyond my control the moment the
+contest commences. You will find me disposed to enter into such
+conditions as will satisfy the most scrupulous sense of honour.
+Lieut.-Colonel M'Donell and Major Glegg are fully authorised to
+conclude any arrangement that may lead to prevent the
+unnecessary effusion of blood.</p></div>
+
+<p>An answer of bold and frank tenor from Hull was received by the
+desperate Brock, who immediately chose his course; there was nothing for
+it but to retreat or attack the enemies' position; he could not sit
+still; he was in George Rogers Clark's shoes at Kaskaskia a generation
+before when Hamilton had captured Vincennes&mdash;he must capture Hull or be
+captured by Hull. It was true to the kind of man he was that Brock
+should spurn the advice of his officers to retreat and should determine,
+despite their objections, to put his threat into execution. On Sunday,
+the 16th of August, Brock's determined men were crossing the Strait. His
+force included less than four hundred regulars and about that many
+militia supported by some six hundred Indians. The American troops
+numbered upwards of two thousand. As is well known Brock received
+notification as his force was moving upon the fort that General Hull was
+ready to treat with him. The resolute deportment of the desperate Brock
+had won for him and his King a bloodless conquest that will go down in
+history as one of the most heroic on the part of one commander and most
+despicable on the part of the other to be found in the annals of
+warfare. Congressmen who had been boasting in debate that it was
+unnecessary to even send troops into the Canadas since officers alone,
+by appearing there, could rally armies of disaffected persons about
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>
+them, now read that one determined man, acting against the advice of his
+officers had appeared at the gates of Detroit with half an army and
+taken its keys as readily as though they were voted to him by the city
+fathers and brought to him on a silver salver. "We have the Canadas,"
+rang the silvery voice of Henry Clay in Congress, "as much under our
+command as Great Britain has the ocean; and the way to conquer her on
+the ocean is to drive her from the land." No one could have more
+completely misjudged an enemy or his own country as did the great
+Kentuckian in this instance.</p>
+
+<p>It is interesting in the extreme to survey the man who had won a signal
+triumph as he now marches back to York and Fort George where he had
+spent so many useless, fruitless years, as it seemed to him&mdash;yearning in
+season and out of season for the opportunity to get away to the
+Peninsula, or somewhere where fame might be achieved. Brock's success is
+a great lesson to all ambitious men. Doing the humble drudgery of the
+duty that lay next his hand, despite the regret and even pain occasioned
+by lack of opportunity, this man suddenly came into a fame world-wide
+and the honour of the Bath that he thought could come to him only in
+sunny Spain. On the 10th of the following October General Brock's
+brother William was asked by his wife why the park and tower guns were
+saluting. "For Isaac, of course," he answered, playfully; "don't you
+know that this is Isaac's birthday?" A little later he learned that the
+news of the surrender of Detroit had just been received, and that his
+playful answer was very near the truth after all!</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="QUEENSTON_MONUMENT" id="QUEENSTON_MONUMENT"></a>
+<img src="images/p0391.jpg" width="612" height="399" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Queenston and Brock's Monument.<br />
+
+From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.</h4>
+
+<p>It is fruitless to imagine what might have been the trend of events in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>
+Canada but for the daring decision made by Brock to move upon Detroit;
+his courage in running in the teeth of the wind and trusting to
+Providence to fetch the quay by hook or crook, is the very quality of
+the human heart that mankind most delights to honour; it is remarkable
+that the imbecility of Hull could have so completely blinded our
+American eyes to this display of splendid daring of Brock's, which ranks
+with Clark's bold march through the drowned lands of the Wabash, or
+Wayne's attack on Stony Point. The capture of Hull and Detroit
+unquestionably saved Upper Canada to England; for though American arms
+were successful to some degree beyond the line, as we shall see, the
+successes did not count toward conquest and annexation as would have
+been the case, perhaps, had they come at the outbreak of the war. All
+Canada felt the heartening effect of Brock's inexplicable victory;
+thousands who had feared instant and ruthless invasion now felt strong
+to repel any and all invaders; and the effect extended to the Indian
+allies and across the ocean to the home-country, as well. Had Clay's
+theory been true and the war had to be settled by land battles, Detroit
+would have delayed the end for many years; but America was soon to show
+a power on the sea as surprising as the stupidity of some of her
+commanders on shore and play England at her own sea-dog game with her
+own weapons and gain the victory.</p>
+
+<p>The General's letter to his brothers is interesting as exhibiting the
+man's private views on his great success:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>I have received [he writes] so many letters from people whose
+opinion I value, expressive of their admiration of the exploit,
+that I begin to attach to it more importance than I was at first
+inclined. Should the affair be viewed in England in the light it
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>
+is here, I cannot fail of meeting reward, and escaping the
+horror of being placed high on a shelf, never to be taken down.
+Some say that nothing could be more desperate than the measure;
+but I answer, that the state of the province admitted of nothing
+but desperate remedies. I got possession of the letters my
+antagonist addressed to the secretary of war, and also of the
+sentiments which hundreds of his army uttered to their friends.
+Confidence in the General was gone, and evident despondency
+prevailed throughout. I have succeeded beyond expectation. I
+crossed the river, contrary to the opinion of Colonel Proctor, .
+. . etc.<a name="FNanchor_34_36" id="FNanchor_34_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_36" class="fnanchor">[34]</a>; it is, therefore, no wonder that envy should
+attribute to good fortune what, in justice to my own
+discernment, I must say, proceeded from a cool calculation of
+the <i>pours</i> and <i>contres</i>.</p></div>
+
+<p>General Brock, along with most other British leaders who operated along
+the American frontier, has been accused of using the savages to fight in
+savage ways the battles of white men against fellow whites. Rossiter
+Johnson, in his <i>War of 1812</i>, to cite one of the careful students who
+has thus referred to Brock, in speaking of the minute-guns fired on the
+American shore during Brock's funeral, says:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>There was perhaps no harm in this little bit of sentiment,
+though if the Americans remembered that two months before, in
+demanding the surrender of Detroit, General Brock had threatened
+to let loose a horde of savages upon the garrison and town, if
+he were compelled to capture it by force, they must have seen
+that their minute-guns were supremely illogical, not to say
+silly.<a name="FNanchor_35_37" id="FNanchor_35_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_37" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p></div>
+
+<p>One who has any reason to know how much basis Washington had for his
+sweeping remark that most of the trouble the United States had with the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>
+western Indians was due to the demeanour of British officers to them,
+could only with difficulty become prejudiced in favour of any British
+officers who had actual dealings with the Canadian Indians and actually
+led them in person to battle. And yet the present writer has found
+sufficient ground in Brock's correspondence for holding that Brock was
+above reproach personally on this score&mdash;that he was a gentleman here as
+elsewhere, a true nobleman. We cannot here enter into a lengthy
+discussion of such a difficult problem. A letter extant, written by
+Brock to General Prevost, shows his attitude in this delicate matter
+during those desperate days when Harrison was fighting the wily
+Tecumseh:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>My first care, on my arrival in this province, was to direct the
+officers of the Indian department at Amherstburg to exert their
+whole influence with the Indians to prevent the attack which I
+understood a few tribes meditated against the American frontier.
+But their efforts proved fruitless, as such was the infatuation
+of the Indians, that they refused to listen to advice.</p></div>
+
+<p>It will always be an open question how much control the responsible men,
+either American or British, had over their red-skinned "brothers"
+compared with their half-renegade, forest-running underlings who
+dispensed the powder, blankets, and fire-water and directed affairs much
+as they pleased.</p>
+
+<p>Before the outbreak of the war Brock wrote to his superiors concerning
+his province as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The first point to which I am anxious to call your excellency's
+attention is the district of Amherstburg. I consider it the most
+important, and, if supplied with the means of commencing active
+operations, must deter any offensive attempt on this province,
+from Niagara westward. The American government will be compelled
+to secure their western frontier from the inroads of the
+Indians, and this cannot be effected without a very considerable
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>
+force. But before we can expect an active co-operation on the
+part of the Indians, the reduction of Detroit and
+Michilimakinack must convince that people, who conceive
+themselves to have been sacrificed, in 1794, to our policy,<a name="FNanchor_36_38" id="FNanchor_36_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_38" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>
+that we are earnestly engaged in the war. The Indians, I am made
+to understand, are eager for an opportunity to avenge the
+numerous injuries of which they complain. A few tribes, at the
+instigation of a Shawnese, of no particular note, have already,
+although explicitly told not to look for assistance from us,
+commenced the contest. The stand which they continue to make
+upon the Wabash, against about two thousand Americans, including
+militia and regulars, is a strong proof of the large force which
+a general combination of the Indians will render necessary to
+protect so widely extended a frontier.</p></div>
+
+<p>Again, Brock was in a very different position from the British
+commanders during the Revolution; his province was being invaded and the
+Indians who had settled under the auspices of the British Government in
+that province were threatened with destruction as seriously as the
+loyalists or the native Englishmen transplanted from the mother-country.
+Surely, no one would expect Indians whose homes lay in the upper
+province to remain neutral when that province was invaded. Indeed, in
+February, 1812, we find Brock complaining to his superior of the lax
+attention that was paid by the Government to the Indians settled in the
+province he had been sent to govern.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Divisions are thus uninterruptedly sowed among our Indian
+friends [he wrote, meaning, of course, sowed by Americans], and
+the minds of many altogether estranged from our interests. Such
+must inevitably be the consequence of our present inert and
+neutral proceedings in regard to them. It ill becomes me to
+determine how long true policy requires that the restrictions
+imposed upon the Indian department ought to continue; but this I
+will venture to assert, that each day the officers are
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>
+restrained from interfering in the concerns of the Indians, each
+time they advise peace and withhold the accustomed supply of
+ammunition, their influence will diminish, till at length they
+lose it altogether.</p></div>
+
+<p>Nothing shows better the activity of the American officers in seeking to
+line the Indians up on the side of the fighting Republic than Brock's
+letters to his superiors. We have already seen that Brock had, as late
+as July 3d, little hope of keeping the Indians of the Grand River true
+to him because of the American influence exerted over them by active
+agents. And we have seen, in his counter-proclamation answering that
+issued by General Hull, that Brock places the employment of the Indians
+on the ground of territorial rights: "By what new principle," he asks,
+"are they to be prohibited from defending their property?"</p>
+
+<p>The ominous words used by General Brock in his summons to Hull to
+surrender have, it must be admitted, all the ring of a threat; but, for
+one, I do not take them to be that primarily, but rather the honest,
+frank words of a gentleman. In case of the sacking of Detroit Brock
+could not have controlled those redskins of his, and he knew it. In like
+circumstances what general had been able to control the Indians attached
+to him? In the single instance of Sir William Johnson at the fall of
+Fort Niagara, we find an illustration of approximate control, yet
+nothing in the world but the power of that great man would have answered
+under the circumstances. I would believe that Brock knew he could not
+control his Iroquois allies,<a name="FNanchor_37_39" id="FNanchor_37_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_39" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> whether in victory or in defeat, and
+made a plain statement to Hull to that effect. That he told the truth I
+think no one can doubt after examining the situation; whether he would
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>
+have told the truth if the truth had not carried a threat may be
+questioned. The truth usually answers a gentleman's purposes, and Brock
+was that to the marrow of his bones.</p>
+
+<p>Brock had not overestimated the effect and influence of his bloodless
+victory upon the English, but, by strange caprice of Fate, was not
+permitted to live to receive the high honours bestowed upon him. On the
+thirteenth of the following October, in the battle of Queenston Heights,
+elsewhere described, while reforming the broken British ranks for a
+second time, a bullet in the breast cut short a life that promised very
+high attainment. As was his custom the General had arisen before
+daybreak on this fatal day and had left Fort George at the first sound
+of the battle on the heights. His conspicuous presence, bright uniform,
+and animated deportment in attempting to reform the broken lines, made
+him a plain target for Wool's heroic men, who had climbed up a pathway
+steeper than any Wolfe's troops ever saw at Quebec. "Push on the York
+volunteers," were the words of the brave man's last order; but as he lay
+in the arms of his aides he begged that his injury might not be noticed
+by the troops or disconcert their advance; and with one half-understood
+wish concerning a token of love to be given to his sister, Isaac Brock
+fell dead.</p>
+
+<p>It is not given to many notable men to fall in the very midst of
+spectacular success; it can easily be believed that General Brock, being
+the man we know him to have been, would have made the best use of his
+triumph, and that it would have been but a stepping-stone to enlarged
+opportunities where each duty in its turn would have received the same
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>
+decent, earnest attention that the man gave to his work throughout those
+half-unhappy days when he felt marooned in the wilds of a dreary ocean,
+where no one could prove his merit, calibre, or knowledge. And so, after
+all is said for this fine man, I, for one, like best to go back to those
+days of impatient longing for opportunity amid the dull grind of routine
+at Fort George, and see the real spirit of Brock who, in all truth,
+deserves the honourable title of "Hero of Upper Canada"; and when you
+have caught the spirit displayed by him in those dispiriting days,
+realise his careful faithfulness in the humdrum life he was asked to
+live, while his schoolmates of war were winning great glory on the
+epoch-making European battlefields, join to it that sudden burst of
+splendid grit and heroism that provoked the Detroit attack despite the
+advice of the staff officers, and you have a combination that thrills
+the heart of friend and enemy&mdash;of all who love patient doing of duty and
+real displays of undiluted heroism.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the best tributes to Brock, were, as should have been the case,
+those paid by persons who knew of his place in the hearts of the people
+of his adopted land of service:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The news of the death of this excellent officer [observed the
+Quebec <i>Gazette</i>] has been received here as a public calamity.
+The attendant circumstances of victory scarcely checked the
+painful sensation. His long residence in this province, and
+particularly in this place, had made him in habits and good
+offices almost a citizen; and his frankness, conciliatory
+disposition, and elevated demeanour, an estimable one. The
+expressions of regret as general as he was known, and not
+uttered by friends and acquaintances only, but by every
+gradation of class, not only by grown persons, but young
+children, are the test of his worth. Such, too, is the only
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>
+eulogium worthy of the good and brave, and the citizens of
+Quebec have, with solemn emotions, pronounced it on his memory.
+But at this anxious moment other feelings are excited by his
+loss. General Brock had acquired the confidence of the
+inhabitants within his government. He had secured their
+attachment permanently by his own merits. They were one people
+animated by one disposition, and this he had gradually wound up
+to the crisis in which they were placed. Strange as it may seem,
+it is to be feared that he had become too important to them. The
+heroic militia of Upper Canada, more particularly, had knit
+themselves to his person; and it is yet to be ascertained
+whether the desire to avenge his death can compensate the many
+embarrassments it will occasion. It is indeed true that the
+spirit, and even the abilities, of a distinguished man often
+carry their influence beyond the grave; and the present event
+furnishes its own example, for it is certain notwithstanding
+General Brock was cut off early in the action, that he had
+already given an impulse to his little army, which contributed
+to accomplish the victory when he was no more. Let us trust that
+the recollection of him will become a new bond of union, and
+that, as he sacrificed himself for a community of patriots, they
+will find a new motive to exertion in the obligation to secure
+his ashes from the pestilential dominion of the enemy.</p></div>
+
+<p>A Montreal newspaper of the day also contained the following
+observations:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The private letters from Upper Canada, in giving the account of
+the late victory at Queenstown, are partly taken up with
+lamentations upon the never-to-be-forgotten General Brock, which
+do honour to the character and talents of the man they deplore.
+The enemy have nothing to hope from the loss they have
+inflicted; they have created a hatred which panteth for revenge.
+Although General Brock may be said to have fallen in the midst
+of his career, yet his previous services in Upper Canada will be
+lasting and highly beneficial. When he assumed the government of
+the province, he found a divided, disaffected, and, of course, a
+weak people. He has left them united and strong, and the
+universal sorrow of the province attends his fall. The father,
+to his children, will make known the mournful story. The
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>
+veteran, who fought by his side in the heat and burthen of the
+day of our deliverance, will venerate his name.</p></div>
+
+<p>And the sentiments of the British Government, on the melancholy
+occasion, were thus expressed in a despatch from Earl Bathurst, the
+secretary of state for the colonies, to Sir George Prevost, dated
+December 8, 1812:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>His Royal Highness the Prince Regent is fully aware of the
+severe loss which his Majesty's service has experienced in the
+death of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. This would have been
+sufficient to have clouded a victory of much greater importance.
+His Majesty has lost in him not only an able and meritorious
+officer, but one who, in the exercise of his functions of
+provisional lieutenant-governor of the province, displayed
+qualities admirably adapted to awe the disloyal, to reconcile
+the wavering, and to animate the great mass of the inhabitants
+against successive attempts of the enemy to invade the province,
+in the last of which he unhappily fell, too prodigal of that
+life of which his eminent services had taught us to understand
+the value.</p></div>
+
+<p>The body of the fallen hero lay in state at the government house until
+the 16th of October, when, with that of Colonel McDonell, it was buried
+with due honours in a cavalier bastion of Fort George, at the spot now
+marked by the tablet indicating the first burial-place. On the 13th of
+October, 1824, the remains were moved to the summit of the heights,
+whereon a beautiful monument had been erected by the Provincial
+Legislature, 135 feet in height, bearing this "splendid tribute to the
+unfading remembrance of a grateful people":</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+UPPER CANADA<br />
+HAS DEDICATED THIS MONUMENT<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>
+TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE<br />
+MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC BROCK, K.B.<br />
+PROVISIONAL LIEUT.-GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER OF THE FORCES<br />
+IN THIS PROVINCE<br />
+WHOSE REMAINS ARE DEPOSITED IN THE VAULT BENEATH<br />
+OPPOSING THE INVADING ENEMY<br />
+HE FELL IN ACTION NEAR THESE HEIGHTS<br />
+ON THE 13TH OCTOBER, 1812<br />
+IN THE 43D YEAR OF HIS AGE<br />
+REVERED AND LAMENTED<br />
+BY THE PEOPLE WHOM HE GOVERNED<br />
+AND DEPLORED BY THE SOVEREIGN<br />
+TO WHOSE SERVICE HIS LIFE HAD BEEN DEVOTED.<br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="BROCKS_MONUMENT" id="BROCKS_MONUMENT"></a>
+<img src="images/p0403.jpg" width="378" height="534" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Brock's Monument.</h4>
+
+<p>The following description of this interesting pageant portrays the
+genuine feeling of devotion felt for the "Hero of Upper Canada" that
+filled the hearts of his countrymen:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>There is something so grand and imposing in the spectacle of a
+nation's homage to departed worth, which calls for the exercise
+of so many interesting feelings, and which awakens so many
+sublime contemplations, that we naturally seek to perpetuate the
+memory of an event so pregnant with instruction, and so
+honourable to our species. It is a subject that in other and in
+older countries has frequently exercised the pens, and has
+called forth all the descriptive powers of the ablest writers.
+But here it is new; and for the first time, since we became a
+separate province, have we seen a great public funeral
+procession of all ranks of people, to the amount of several
+thousands, bearing the remains of two lamented heroes to their
+last dwelling on earth, in the vaults of a grand national
+monument, overtopping the loftiest heights of the most
+magnificent section of one of the most magnificent countries in
+the world.</p>
+
+<p>The 13th of October, being the anniversary of the battle of
+Queenstown, and of the death of Brock, was judiciously chosen as
+the most proper day for the removal of the remains of the
+general, together with those of his gallant aide-de-camp,
+Lieutenant-Colonel M'Donell, to the vaults prepared for their
+reception on Queenstown Heights.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>
+<p>The weather was remarkably fine, and before ten o'clock a very
+large concourse of people, from all parts of the country, had
+assembled on the plains of Niagara, in front of Fort George, in
+a bastion of which the bodies had been deposited for twelve
+years.</p>
+
+<p>One hearse covered with black cloth, and drawn by four black
+horses, each with a leader, contained both the bodies. Soon
+after ten, a lane was formed by the 1st and 4th regiments of
+Lincoln militia, with their right on the gate of Fort George,
+and their left extending along the road towards Queenstown, the
+ranks being about forty paces distant from each other; within
+this line was formed a guard of honour of the 76th Regiment, in
+parade order, having its left on the fort. As the hearse moved
+slowly from the fort, to the sound of solemn music, a detachment
+of royal artillery began to fire the salute of nineteen guns,
+and the guard of honour presented arms.</p>
+
+<p>On moving forwards in ordinary time, the guard of honour broke
+into a column of eight divisions, with the right in front, and
+the procession took the following order:</p></div>
+
+<p class="center">
+A Staff Officer.<br />
+Subdivision of Grenadiers.<br />
+Band of Music.<br />
+Right Wing of 76th Regiment.<br />
+<span class="smcap">THE BODY.</span><br />
+Aide-de-Camp to the late Major-General Sir Isaac Brock.<br />
+Chief Mourners.<br />
+Commissioners for the Monument.<br />
+Heads of Public Departments of the Civil Government.<br />
+Judges.<br />
+Members of the Executive Council.<br />
+His Excellency and Suite.<br />
+Left Wing of the 76th Regiment.<br />
+Indian Chiefs of the Five Nations.<br />
+Officers of Militia not on duty&mdash;Junior Ranks&mdash;First Forward.<br />
+Four deep.<br />
+Magistrates and Civilians.<br />
+With a long Cavalcade of Horsemen, and Carriages of every description.<br />
+</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>
+<p>On the 17th of April, 1840, a miscreant by the name of Lett laid a train
+to a quantity of gunpowder secreted beneath the monument to General
+Brock and fired it, partially wrecking both the base and the pillar. The
+criminal had been compelled to flee the country during the rebellion
+then just over, and, returning, took this outrageous method of
+gratifying his malice. As we look upon the beautiful monument that
+stands above Brock's remains to-day it is with a feeling almost of
+pleasure that such a wretched deed was necessary to result in the fine
+pillar that is one of the scenic beauties of the Niagara country to-day.
+This fine shaft bears the following inscription:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The Legislature of Upper Canada has dedicated this Monument to
+the very distinguished, eminent, civil, and military services of
+the late Sir Isaac Brock, Knight of the Most Hon. Order of the
+Bath, Provisional Lieutenant-Governor, and Major-General
+commanding the Forces in this Province, whose remains are
+deposited in the vault beneath. Having expelled the Northwestern
+Army of the United States, achieved its capture, received the
+surrender of Fort Detroit, and the territory of Michigan, under
+circumstances which have rendered his name illustrious he
+returned to the protection of this frontier; and advancing with
+his small force to repel a second invasion of the enemy, then in
+possession of these heights, he fell in action, on the 13th of
+October, 1812, in the forty-third year of his age, honoured and
+beloved by the people whom he governed and deplored by his
+Sovereign, to whose service his life had been devoted.</p></div>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>
+<h2>Chapter XI</h2>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">The Second War with England</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">W</span>e have explained the influence of the life and death of General Brock
+in the upper province sufficiently for the reader to conceive, perhaps,
+an unusual interest in the course of the war that soon was raging, in
+reality or in burlesque, as it sometimes appeared, along the northern
+border; no one can take any interest in Brock's career without wondering
+whether his province was invaded or conquered despite the sacrifices of
+this undefeated but dead hero.</p>
+
+<p>Upon Brock's return from Detroit he found General Stephen Van Rensselaer
+commanding the American shore of the river, preparing, according to
+report, to begin the conquest of the upper province. There was much
+cause for delay, which in turn provoked criticism and unrest, but as
+October of 1812 drew near it was considered necessary and possible to
+execute the advance upon Brock's positions along the river and on
+Queenston Heights and Fort George. The first attempt to advance on the
+night of the 10th proved abortive through the treachery of an
+irresponsible lieutenant. Instead of quieting the ardour of the army
+this disgusting mishap made the troops the more eager for the conflict,
+and a new plan was very secretly arranged, with such success that it is
+pretty sure that General Brock was in doubt up to the last moment where
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>
+the attack was to be made. A strong force had been kept at Fort Niagara,
+and this, with the stationing of Colonel Chrystie's troops at Four Mile
+Creek, caused Brock to believe that the attack was to be made on Fort
+George.</p>
+
+<p>The night of the twelfth was set as the time for the second attempt to
+cross the Niagara. Soon after dark, Chrystie with his three hundred men
+marched from Fort Niagara by interior routes to Lewiston, reaching his
+destination before midnight. Re-enforcements had also come from the
+Falls, as well as Colonel Scott who had just arrived at Schlosser,
+aroused by the information that a battle was soon to be fought and glory
+to be won. Scott presented himself to the General asking permission to
+take part in the engagement, and though Van Rensselaer could not change
+his plans he offered to let Scott take position on Lewiston Heights and
+co-operate with the rest of the army as he saw fit.</p>
+
+<p>Solomon Van Rensselaer was again placed in command but Colonel Chrystie
+was allowed to lead an equal force, thus recognising his rank. Three
+o'clock in the morning, October 13th, was the time set for crossing the
+river. The night was very dark. The plan was for Chrystie and Van
+Rensselaer to cross and storm the heights, when the rest of the army
+should follow on the second trip and attack Queenston. The boats,
+however, would not carry more than half the desired number; these with
+their leaders landed on the Canadian shore not more than ten minutes
+after leaving Lewiston landing, at the very spot aimed at, at the foot
+of the cliff under Lewiston suspension bridge. The British were found
+very much on the alert and opened fire from the heights the moment the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>
+boats touched land. Lovett's battery on Lewiston Heights immediately
+opened fire in answer, and this, with a charge by the regulars of the
+Thirteenth under Wool, soon drove the enemy backward toward Queenston.
+Wool took position just above Queenston when orders were given him to
+storm the heights. Eager and anxious for the struggle, his troops were
+immediately put in motion, but he soon received orders countermanding
+the first just as he was moving rapidly toward the heights. No sooner
+had his men taken position in accord with it than the right flank was
+fiercely attacked by Dennis's full force. At the same moment the British
+opened fire upon the little body from the heights. Wool immediately,
+without tarrying for orders, faced about and poured such a fierce fire
+into Dennis's command that it was compelled to fall back. In the
+meantime Van Rensselaer had come up with his command and taken position
+on Wool's left. In this short engagement, the Americans suffered most
+severely. Van Rensselaer was so severely wounded that he was forced to
+relinquish the command, and Wool had been wounded though refusing to
+leave the field.</p>
+
+<p>The British on the heights kept up a continual fire on the Americans,
+which from their position could not be returned with effect, and the
+little invading army fell back to the shore below the hill where they
+occupied a more sheltered position.</p>
+
+<p>Daybreak had now come, and a storm which had raged all morning had
+ceased with the retreat of the Americans; but the storm of lead was soon
+to break more furiously than before, although the little army was in a
+sorry plight. Wool was only twenty-three years old. The commanding
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>
+officer, Solomon Van Rensselaer, was forced to retire. What was to be
+done? Wool had asked for orders. The heights must be taken or the
+enterprise abandoned; Wool was ordered to storm the heights and Lush
+commanded to follow and shoot the first man that wavered&mdash;for signs of
+disaffection were already showing themselves. No sooner did Wool receive
+his orders than, fired by the frenzy of the battle, forgetting wounds
+and all else, he sprang forward to its execution. Up the ascent the men
+rushed, protected from fire to a degree by bushes and rocks. Many parts
+of the hill were so steep that there was nothing for it but to pull
+themselves along by the roots and shrubs. General Brock, in the
+meantime, hardly knew what to expect. He was at Fort George and seems to
+have had a determined suspicion that the main attack would be made upon
+Fort George from Fort Niagara. He heard the early cannonading but
+supposed that it was only a feint to conceal the point of real movement.
+However, the true soldier mounted his horse and raced away immediately
+to the scene of action and death. On arriving and taking a view of the
+field Brock considered affairs favourable to the British; however, he
+had hardly dismounted at the redan battery than Wool's men scrambled
+upon the heights and opened up a galling fire. So hot was the attack
+that the Canadians were immediately forced from their stronghold; a few
+moments later the flag of the Union waved there.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="QUEENSTON" id="QUEENSTON"></a>
+<img src="images/p0411.jpg" width="679" height="406" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>"Queenston or Landing near Niagara."<br />
+
+A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.</h4>
+
+<p>Brock immediately sent to Fort George for re-enforcements, rallied the
+disorganised force, and with Williams's and Dennis's commands attempted
+to turn the American right flank; Wool perceived the move and tried to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>
+anticipate it by sending fifty men to its protection. These were forced
+back by superior numbers, and the whole command was compelled to give
+ground until the edge of the precipice was reached with the rushing
+river flood two hundred feet below. It seemed that they must either
+surrender or perish; one captain attempted to raise a white flag but was
+stopped by Wool, who, having addressed a few hurried words to his men,
+led them to the charge with such fierce zeal that the British in turn
+gave back. The brave Brock saw this movement in dismay; with a stinging
+rebuke, which called every man back to a realisation of his duty, the
+General placed himself at the head of the column to lead it back to
+victory. His tall form, towering above that of the soldiers around him,
+made a conspicuous mark for the American sharpshooter, and he was soon
+struck in the wrist but bravely pressed on; shortly after a ball entered
+his breast and passed out of his side, inflicting a death wound. He
+scarcely had time to make a few last requests when he died. As soon as
+the soldiers knew of their commander's death, they became infuriated.
+The column charged up the hill toward the Americans. Wool's little
+command, doubtful of victory, spiked the cannon in the redan. The
+struggle was fierce for a few moments; but the British were again made
+to retire, leaving Wool master of Queenston Heights.</p>
+
+<p>Re-enforcements were slowly crossing the river. Colonel Scott had
+arrived early in the morning and had placed his cannon to protect the
+crossing as far as possible. Later he received permission to cross over
+as a volunteer. Having met with Wadsworth of the New York militia, that
+officer unselfishly waived his rank on account of Scott's superior
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>
+military experience, and allowed him to take command of regulars and
+militia, amounting in all to some six hundred. While Scott was
+superintending the unspiking of the cannon in the redan his command on
+the heights was assailed by a band of Indians under John Brant, son of
+the famous Mohawk chieftain. So furious and unexpected was their attack
+that the pickets were driven in immediately and the main body began to
+draw back. This was shortly after one o'clock in the afternoon. The
+militia, unused to being under fire, were beginning to break away when
+Scott appeared and by his commanding presence and steady nerve led the
+men back to order. A charge was immediately ordered, which was executed
+so fiercely that the Indians retired; however, they kept up a fire on
+the Americans from sheltered positions until Scott ordered a general
+assault and drove them from the heights. Lieutenant-Colonel Chrystie
+then appeared on the field for the first time and ordered Wool to the
+American shore to have his wounds dressed.</p>
+
+<p>General Sheaffe now arrived from Fort George with re-enforcements and
+took command of the British forces; these now numbered about thirteen
+hundred while the Americans could not count over six hundred. Sheaffe
+marched to the east to St. Davids and by brilliantly counter-marching
+gained the rear of the American army. Van Rensselaer was on the heights
+at this time; seeing these movements he returned to send over
+re-enforcements. But to his surprise, and their own eternal disgrace,
+the American militia, which had been crying out so long for action,
+refused to budge. He, as well as others, threatened, entreated, and
+implored; all in vain. The men who but a few hours before had demanded
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>
+to be led to the war, now, at sight of blood and the smell of
+gun-powder, refused to help their comrades threatened with destruction
+on the heights across the river. Van Rensselaer transmitted this
+information to Wadsworth and promised boats if he wished to retreat, but
+he could not even make this promise good, as the frightened boatmen
+refused to raise an oar. Nothing was left for the little band on the
+heights but surrender or death! It has been offered in extenuation of
+the action of the militia that there had been gross mismanagement of the
+boats, only one or two being at hand, necessitating their being sent
+across the river in dangerously small parties. Wherever the blame should
+be placed, there was enough of it to go around and to make any patriot
+blush. The militia were within their legal rights in refusing to pass
+beyond the boundaries of their State, and may have been entirely right
+in refusing to attempt the crossing if it could not be made in force.</p>
+
+<p>The final engagement of the battle of Queenston Heights was inaugurated
+about four o'clock in the afternoon by General Sheaffe directing a large
+body of Indians and regulars against the American right. The superior
+numbers, together with the impetuous advance, threw the Americans into
+confusion. Sheaffe ordered an advance along the whole line and the
+American ranks were soon broken, most of those fleeing toward the city
+being cut off by the Indians; some few escaped by letting themselves
+down the steep hill by roots and bushes. Several attempts were made to
+surrender, but it is said that even those bearing the flag were shot
+down by the Indians. Colonel Scott was attacked by two savages while on
+this mission, but was valiantly rescued by a British officer. On
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>
+reaching headquarters terms were soon agreed upon by which all the
+Americans on the Canada side became prisoners of war.</p>
+
+<p>Thus ended this, the spectacular battle of Queenston Heights. In many
+ways it was typical of so many battles in American military annals; the
+eagerness of hot-headed militia to hear the guns popping, the daring
+attack, the heroism of cool, undaunted officers, the loss of enthusiasm
+as the struggle wore on, the final conflict of regular and militia, the
+seemingly inexcusable lack of interest on the part of the
+non-combatants, the flight and surrender&mdash;all are typical.</p>
+
+<p>The death of the noble Brock has thrown a halo over the Niagara frontier
+for Briton and American alike. As you wander to-day across the pleasant
+commons at Niagara-on-the-Lake to the site of old Fort George, or
+scramble up the steep sides of beautiful Queenston Heights, you will
+find yourself thinking of the heroic leaders at the battle of
+Queenston&mdash;Brock, Wool, Chrystie, and the impetuous Scott; to one
+rambler, at least, amid these striking scenes, the battle, as such,
+quite faded out of the perspective, leaving the fine military figure of
+the British commander looming up alone beside that of the
+twenty-three-year-old boy Wool, who had jumped from his law books down
+in New York to come here as captain of militia and give the world
+another clear picture of absolute daring not surpassed in any point by
+Wolfe's at Quebec; the young Scott appears too, so willing to be in the
+fracas across the river that he crosses as a private soldier. Had the
+faltering militia caught his spirit there would have been, perhaps,
+another story to tell of the outcome of the battle! It is to be hoped
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>
+that the year 1912 will not pass without seeing raised on Lewiston
+Heights a monument to these noble men equal in point of beauty to the
+splendid shaft raised across the river to the memory of Brock.</p>
+
+<p>On the 17th of November, a bombardment was opened on Black Rock from
+batteries which had been constructed across the river. The firing was
+kept up all day; but little damage was done to the Americans, and almost
+none to the British, as few cannon were mounted against them. On the
+21st of November a fierce cannonade was opened from a number of
+batteries which had been erected opposite Fort Niagara. At the same time
+the guns of Fort George, and all those of the vicinity which could be
+brought to bear, directed their fire against Fort Niagara, and kept up
+all day. The fort was fired several times by red-hot shot as were also
+the works of the enemy. Two Americans were killed and two by the
+bursting of a cannon, while four were wounded; night ended the fight and
+it was not renewed.</p>
+
+<p>General Smyth had succeeded in the command of the American forces in Van
+Rensselaer's place after the engagement at Queenston. He had given it as
+his opinion that the invasion should have taken place at some point
+between Black Rock and Chippewa Creek and was now in position to carry
+out his own plans. After a number of boastful proclamations, orders were
+given the army on the 25th to be ready to march at a moment's notice.
+The line of advance was planned and the whole campaign marked out. Boats
+sufficient for men and artillery were provided, and Lieutenant-Colonel
+Boerstler was to cross in the darkness and destroy a bridge about five
+miles below Fort Erie, capture all men and supplies possible, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>
+return to the American shore. Captain King was to cross higher up the
+river and storm the batteries. But the enemy was not to be caught
+napping; Smyth's idle boasts and proclamations, together with his
+statements as to the proper place for crossing, had put the British on
+their guard with the result that the whole upper river was well guarded.</p>
+
+<p>The advance parties embarked at three o'clock on the morning of the
+29th. Of King's ten boats only four were able to effect a landing. His
+small command jumped ashore into the very thickest of the fire and
+almost immediately captured two batteries. Angus and his seamen who had
+accompanied King rushed upon the Red House, captured the field-pieces
+stationed there, spiked them, and threw them and the caissons into the
+river. Angus returned to the river, and, not knowing that the other six
+boats had been unable to land, supposed King had either returned or been
+taken prisoner. It being too dark to reconnoitre, he struck away to the
+American shore in the four boats, leaving King and his handful of men
+helpless in Canada. King, on the other hand, not receiving
+re-enforcements, returned to the landing and found all the boats gone,
+and passing down the river about two miles he discovered two boats in
+which he placed his prisoners and half his command, and started them for
+the American shore. Only a few moments later he and all with him were
+taken prisoners.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="PIERIES_SKETCH" id="PIERIES_SKETCH"></a>
+<img src="images/p0419.jpg" width="664" height="386" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Lieutenant Pierie's Sketch of Niagara, 1768.<br />
+
+From an old print.</h4>
+
+<p>The firing had roused the British all along the line. A number of
+Boerstler's boats were not able to find the point designated as their
+landing-place, and of those that did all were driven off but Boerstler's
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>
+own. In the face of a hot fire, he landed, forced back the enemy to the
+bridge, but when he attempted to destroy that structure he found that in
+the excitement the axes, militia-like, had been left behind, so that his
+work was only partly accomplished. While thus engaged he received the
+interesting intelligence that the whole force at Fort Erie were only
+five minutes distant. In the darkness the enemy could not be seen; but
+their advancing tramp could be easily heard. Boerstler, addressing his
+subordinates as field officers, succeeded in deceiving the British as to
+the size of his command. The Americans fired one volley and then charged
+with such spirit that the British fell back, and the little command
+recrossed the river without being further molested.</p>
+
+<p>It was late in the afternoon before all was in readiness for a general
+advance and the enemy were on the alert ready to give a warm reception.
+Smyth had not been seen all day. When finally all was prepared orders
+came to disembark and dine and, as nothing could be done, the soldiers
+retired to their quarters.</p>
+
+<p>A council was called, but no agreement could be reached. Smyth ordered
+another advance on the 30th which never took place. Disagreements
+between officers and insubordination among the soldiers soon led to the
+abandonment of the plan entirely. General Porter openly attributed the
+failure to Smyth, which shortly led to a duel in which neither was
+injured and each one's honour was vindicated.</p>
+
+<p>While these absurd pantomime war measures were transpiring on land the
+little American navy covered itself with glory. By hard work Lieutenant
+Oliver H. Perry had gotten ready nine vessels and fifty-five guns at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>
+Erie, Pennsylvania, to oppose six vessels and sixty-three guns under the
+English commander Barclay. After a careful cruise of the Lake, Perry met
+the enemy in ill condition for a battle near Put-in-Bay on the 10th of
+September, 1813. The completeness of his victory was described in his
+famous despatch to Harrison: "We have met the enemy and they are ours;
+two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop."</p>
+
+<p>Shortly before the victory on Lake Erie, Gen. W. H. Harrison, who now
+commanded the North-western army, accompanied by Johnson and his
+Kentucky rifles, crossed into Canada and during the last week of August
+and the first week of September was kept busy by the enemy. Proctor did
+not, however, seem anxious to fight but kept falling back before the
+Americans, much to the disgust of the famous Shawanese chieftain
+Tecumseh, who was anxious for a battle. The army at last took position
+on the Thames River on the 5th of August. Here they were attacked by
+Harrison's forces, Johnson's Kentuckians leading the successful charge.
+In a few minutes the British army with its Indian allies was routed and
+Tecumseh killed. The North-west was relieved of further danger; and much
+that was lost by Hull was regained with something in addition.</p>
+
+<p>The Army of the North under General Dearborn, during the year of 1813
+was to co-operate in the invasion of Canada, and on the 27th of April,
+1813, the American army crossed Lake Ontario to York, now Toronto, and
+were entirely successful in capturing that point, as more fully noted in
+our chapter on that city.</p>
+
+<p>It was part of Dearborn's plan on capturing York to press on over the
+thirty miles to the River Niagara and take Fort George. On account of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>
+unfavourable weather the army did not leave York until the 8th of May,
+the fleet being under command of Chauncey and being joined in the
+evening of the 25th by Perry, who had come hastily from Erie. The attack
+was to be made on the morning of the 27th. Dearborn was himself sick,
+being confined to his bed most of the time, but his orders were
+faithfully carried out by his under officers. An attempt to launch
+several boats on the evening of the 26th brought on a cannonade from the
+batteries along both shores as well as from Fort George and Fort
+Niagara. Darkness, however, came on and the preparations were made by
+the Americans under its cover without further molestation. The morning
+was somewhat foggy but a light breeze soon dissipated this and revealed
+a fine sight for friend and foe alike. The waters of the lake were
+covered with boats large and small, crowded with guns and soldiers, all
+advancing bravely on the British position.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the fog lifted the batteries of both sides began a brisk
+fire. Colonel Scott was in command of the landing party, assisted by
+Chauncey with four hundred seamen to be used if necessary. Lieutenant
+Brown directed such a hot fire against the battery at the landing that
+it was finally silenced and Perry then, being in command of the boats,
+rushed in despite a somewhat rough sea, to effect a landing, many of the
+troops in their eagerness leaping into the water before the boats
+touched land. The landing party was assailed by a heavy, well-directed
+musketry fire from a neighbouring ravine, which caused them to scurry
+for shelter under the bank. Perry seemed everywhere present, urging the
+gunners on the boats to greater efforts and cheering on the landing
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>
+parties with words of confidence. In attempting to scale the bank, the
+Americans were several times hurled back to the beach, but Scott was
+finally successful in gaining a sheltered position in a neighbouring
+ravine where a sharp conflict ensued for several minutes, but between
+the execution of the American rifles and a well-directed cannonade from
+one of the vessels the doughty British were compelled to retreat.</p>
+
+<p>General Vincent, being persuaded that Fort George could not be saved,
+ordered its destruction, which information reached Scott by two escaped
+prisoners. He immediately attempted to save it if possible, but a short
+distance from its walls one magazine blew up, though he reached his
+destination in time to extinguish two other fuses and save the remainder
+of the fort. He then continued his pursuit but was ordered to return and
+had to give up what he thought half the glory of the contest.</p>
+
+<p>Hearing that Colonel Proctor was coming from the West to help regain the
+Niagara region, General Winder was sent in pursuit of Vincent. On the
+5th he was joined by Chandler with five hundred men, who took the chief
+command. At Forty-mile Creek they encountered a body of the enemy and
+drove them off; twice now they drove the pickets in on the main body of
+the army, causing no little alarm, but finally on account of treacherous
+negligence in the American camp the British effected a night attack so
+well planned and brilliantly executed that the force was in the heart of
+the American camp while the soldiers were still sleeping. In the
+confusion that followed, the Americans several times attacked their own
+men. The British loss was the heavier, and they were compelled to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>
+retire, but the victory was felt to be a decided one from the fact that
+they captured two American generals.</p>
+
+<p>The Americans, fearing a renewal of the attack, began to retreat. Near
+Forty-mile Creek they were joined by Colonel Miller with reinforcements,
+and retreat was continued with a fleet watching them from the lake and a
+small army of regulars and a body of savages following in the rear. The
+army finally reached Fort George after having lost several prisoners who
+had been picked up in the rear. For several days the vessels were a
+continual menace to the passage of American supplies, but on the 20th
+the squadron sailed for Oswego. Not daring to make an attack here, they
+again turned westward and took position off Niagara River.</p>
+
+<p>While the operations were going on against the Niagara frontier, a
+British squadron appeared against Sacketts Harbour. On the morning of
+May 29th the attack was made, but so vigilant a defence was made by
+General Brown with his raw militia that the enemy were forced to
+withdraw.</p>
+
+<p>General Dearborn, now at Fort George, sent a force to attack the enemy
+at Beaver Dam and Ten-mile Creek, by way of St. Davids, on June 23d. It
+was annoyed for a greater part of the way by Indians, and when near the
+enemy's camp, having been deceived as to the opposing force, the whole
+command was surrendered. The British, emboldened by this success,
+suddenly retook Queenston and shortly after invaded Fort George, General
+Dearborn being relieved of command by the still more incompetent General
+Wilkinson.</p>
+
+<p>The British, encouraged by their success, now began to make raids into
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>
+the American territory. One of these expeditions was directed against
+Black Rock on July 11th. The expedition put to flight the American
+guards with almost no fighting, took the city and supplies, and obtained
+a large amount of booty. General Porter, however, rallied a small body
+of the retreating militia and with these and reinforcements which had
+arrived from Buffalo and about fifty citizens he fell with such force
+upon the invaders that they retreated precipitately to their boats.
+During the remainder of the summer little fighting was done in the
+vicinity of Fort George except by foraging parties.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the troops had been withdrawn from the fort in the early winter,
+leaving only about sixty men within its walls; news was being
+continually received of forces marching to the Niagara region and,
+fearful of losing the fort, McClure, its commander, determined to
+destroy it and retreat to Fort Niagara. The fort was partially
+demolished, December 10th, but Newark was wantonly fired, leaving
+hundreds of people homeless in the severest weather and rousing the
+British to a revenge which they now visited on the Americans.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="OLD_VIEW" id="OLD_VIEW"></a>
+<img src="images/p0427.jpg" width="575" height="399" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Old View of Fort Mississauga.</h4>
+
+<p>On the 12th, Fort Niagara was invested. So negligent were the officers
+that on the morning of the 13th one of the gates was found open, and the
+enemy entered without opposition to a victory which might have been
+almost bloodless had not the attacking force, incensed by the burning of
+Newark, been led to revenge; a number of the garrison were bayoneted;
+Lewiston was sacked, plundered, and almost entirely destroyed. A body of
+soldiers pressed on to the town of Niagara Falls. They were met on the
+heights by a small force which was not able to check them and the whole
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>
+Niagara region was laid waste. The Indians were turned loose and many
+innocent persons perished at their hands. The advance on Buffalo and
+Black Rock was only temporarily checked and on the 30th these cities
+were captured and plundered as elsewhere described. Only four houses
+were left in Buffalo and one in Black Rock. Such was the revenge of the
+burning of Newark. These were dark days along the Niagara, when hatred
+never bred in honest warfare flamed up in the hearts of men, and the
+beginning of the story goes back to the inhuman destruction of old
+Newark.</p>
+
+<p>Toward the latter part of March the campaign of 1814 was opened by
+General Wilkinson in the north, but little being accomplished he was
+soon superseded by General Brown. By the end of June the Northern army
+was gathered under Brown, once more prepared to carry the war into
+Canada, Buffalo being the headquarters. On the morning of the 3d of
+July, before daylight, General Scott crossed the river from Black Rock
+to invest Fort Erie. General Ripley was to have followed immediately,
+but he was delayed so long that it was broad day before he reached the
+Canadian shore. Scott pushed forward and drove the enemy's pickets into
+the fort. Brown, not waiting for Ripley, pushed into the forest in the
+rear of the fort, extending his lines so as to enclose the post. Ripley
+then appeared and took position in connection with Scott's command. The
+fort was then summoned to surrender, which summons, on account of its
+weak condition, was soon complied with just as reinforcements were on
+their way to give aid.</p>
+
+<p>To stop the advance of these troops, Scott was sent with his command
+down the river. His march of about sixteen miles was a continual
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>
+skirmish with the British, and finding the enemy in force across the
+Chippewa Creek he encamped for the night. Before morning of the fifth he
+was joined by the main body of Brown's army. On the east was the river,
+on the west a heavy wood, and between the armies the Chippewa and
+Street's creeks. The British had also received reinforcements during the
+night, and the battle of Chippewa was opened by each army attempting to
+test the other's strength.</p>
+
+<p>The American pickets on Scott's left were in trouble by four o'clock and
+Porter was sent to relieve them; he drove back the British and Indians,
+but in following up his success found himself suddenly confronted by
+almost the whole of the enemy's army which attacked immediately. Porter
+maintained his ground at first but was finally compelled to give the
+order to retreat and this soon became a panic. General Brown noticed
+this and correctly supposed that the whole force of the enemy was
+advancing. Ripley and Scott were immediately rushed to the rescue,
+Ripley to fall on the rear of the British right by stealing through the
+wood, Scott to make a frontal attack.</p>
+
+<p>The latter advanced across Street's Creek and the engagement became
+general along the whole line of both armies. Time and again the British
+line was broken but it sternly closed and continued the contest. Scott
+finally decided to take advantage of what he considered the unskilful
+manoeuvres of his foe; advancing, he ordered his forces to charge
+through an opening in the lines. Almost at the same instant Leavenworth
+executed a like movement, while Towson's battery poured canister into
+the British ranks. They were completely demoralised and gave back.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>
+Jesup on the American left had suffered greatly during the battle;
+forced to fall back, he finally found a better position, and now poured
+such a well-directed fire that the troops before him also retired. The
+British retreat did not stop until the troops were behind their
+entrenchments below Chippewa and the bridge across its waters destroyed.
+This stronghold could not be taken by the Americans; the command was
+given to retreat, and the same relative positions were occupied by the
+armies the night after the battle as the night before.</p>
+
+<p>On the eighth the whole American force again moved forward. The British
+broke camp and retreated down the river closely pursued by Brown, who
+took possession of Queenston on the 10th. The enemy occupied Fort George
+and Fort Mississauga. Here Brown decided to await reinforcements from
+Chauncey and his fleet. News, however, soon came of the commander's
+illness and his blockade in Sacketts Harbour, whereupon Brown on the 23d
+fell back to the Chippewa. In case Riall did not follow, he expected to
+unlimber and fight wherever the enemy might be found; the night of the
+24th, the army encamped on the battle-ground of the 5th, unconscious of
+the laurels to be won in a few short hours at far-famed Lundy's Lane.</p>
+
+<p>The morning of the 25th dawned clear and beautiful. Unconscious of the
+proximity of the enemy, the Americans were enjoying a much-needed rest
+behind the village of Chippewa, when about noon news came that the
+British were in force at Queenston and on the heights, and that Yea's
+fleet had appeared in the river. Next came information that the British
+were landing at Lewiston and were threatening the supplies at Fort
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>
+Schlosser. These reports were partly true. Pearson had advanced, unknown
+to the Americans, and taken position at Lundy's Lane a short distance
+from the Falls. Brown seemed impressed with the idea that the British
+were after the supplies at Schlosser and he was ignorant of the size of
+the force opposed to him. He at once determined that the best way to
+recall the British was to threaten the forts at the mouth of the river
+and Scott was detailed to accomplish this task. Eager for the conflict
+his whole command was in motion twenty minutes after having received the
+order. Between four and five o'clock the march of twelve hundred men
+began toward the forts.</p>
+
+<p>Near Table Rock, Scott was informed that General Riall and his staff had
+just departed. In fact the Americans saw the troops move off from the
+house as they were advancing toward it, and the informant also stated
+that the enemy were in force behind a small strip of woods in front; but
+so convinced was the American leader that Fort Schlosser was the
+objective point of the British movement that he would not credit the
+story. Believing that but a small force was in front, he dashed into the
+woods to dispel them. Imagine his surprise when he found himself faced
+at Lundy's Lane by Riall's whole force! Scott's position was indeed
+perilous. To advance seemed destruction, to stand still would be equally
+fatal, while to retreat would probably throw the whole army into
+confusion. With that resource which always distinguished him, he quickly
+decided to engage the enemy, and if possible deceive them into believing
+that the whole American army was present while he sent back for
+reinforcements.</p>
+
+<p>General Brown had been misinformed as to the enemy's movements. No
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>
+soldiers had crossed to Lewiston, but the whole force was with Riall
+preparing for the present move. Scott found himself opposed to fully
+eighteen hundred men. The English lines extended over the hill in a
+crescent form with the horns extending forward. In its centre and on the
+brow of the hill, the strongest point of the position, was placed a
+battery of seven guns. Into the very centre of this crescent he had
+unconsciously led his army.</p>
+
+<p>Scott immediately perceived on the enemy's left flank an unprotected
+space of brushwood along the river and instantly he ordered Major Jesup
+to seize this and turn the flank if possible. While this move was being
+accomplished Scott's troops engaged the enemy in front, only hoping to
+hold the army in check until the reserves arrived.</p>
+
+<p>Jesup was more than successful. He turned the left flank of the enemy,
+gained his rear, and kept the reinforcements sent to Riall's aid from
+joining the body of the army. Besides this he had captured Riall himself
+with a number of his staff. By nine o'clock at night Jesup had
+accomplished this and in the meantime Scott had beaten back a fierce
+charge made by the British right; only the centre stood firm now.</p>
+
+<p>Informed of the true state of affairs, and leaving orders for Ripley to
+make all haste possible with the whole reserve force, Brown mounted his
+horse and rode to the field, arriving just at this critical juncture. He
+immediately saw that the hill crowned with cannon was the key to the
+enemy's position; Ripley was advancing along the Queenston road; Scott's
+worn men had been recalled. The commander turned to Colonel Miller,
+saying, "Colonel, take your regiment, storm that work, and take it."
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>
+"I'll try, Sir," said Miller, and at once moved forward. At this moment
+the regiment under Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholas, which was to draw the
+enemy's fire from Miller, gave way. Nothing daunted, the young
+commander, with three hundred followers, crept up the hill in the shadow
+of an old rail fence thickly grown over with shrubbery. In this way they
+reached unobserved a point only several rods distant from the enemy,
+whom they saw around the guns waiting the order to fire. Resting their
+pieces across the old fence the little command took deliberate aim, the
+order was given by Miller in a whisper, a sheet of flame broke from the
+shrubbery, and not a man was left to apply a match to the British
+artillery. The men then broke from cover with a shout and rushed
+forward, and all seven of the cannon were captured. A fierce
+hand-to-hand contest was waged for a short time with the body of
+infantry stationed behind the guns, but they were finally forced from
+the hill. Four different attempts were made to recapture the position
+but all were unsuccessful.</p>
+
+<p>While these events were taking place Scott was maintaining his position
+with great difficulty. His regiments were being literally cut to pieces
+and, finally, he gathered the remnants into one mass, formed in line for
+storming, and had given the order to move forward when the battery was
+taken by Miller. Scott countermanded his order and returned to his
+position at the base of the hill.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="LUNDYS_LANE" id="LUNDYS_LANE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0435.jpg" width="335" height="452" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Monument at Lundy's Lane.</h4>
+
+<p>Brown and Scott were both severely wounded and the command devolved now
+on Ripley. When the battle was finally won Brown ordered Ripley to fall
+back to the Chippewa to give the soldiers a much-needed rest during the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>
+night, but to be back at Lundy's Lane by daybreak the next morning to
+obtain the fruits of the victory. Day came and Ripley had not moved from
+his quarters, but the British had returned and the two armies occupied
+almost the same ground as before the battle. Ripley advanced but the
+enemy's position was too strong to attack, so he discreetly returned to
+camp. Brown was so disgusted that he sent to Sacketts Harbour for
+General Gaines to come and assume command.</p>
+
+<p>Generals Brown and Scott's troops were moved from the field supposing
+that Ripley would at least hold his position. Hardly had they gotten out
+of sight when Ripley ordered a retreat to Black Rock. Here he was
+forbidden by Brown to cross the river, so he took up a position above
+Fort Erie; at the same time the fortifications were strengthened in
+order to repel the expected siege.</p>
+
+<p>The work on Fort Erie went forward unmolested until the 3d of August.
+Drummond then appeared before the fort with his army, which had been
+resting at Lundy's Lane since the battle of the 20th of July.
+Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker was sent across the river with a body of
+troops to capture Black Rock and Buffalo. These were met so gallantly by
+Morgan and his riflemen that they were compelled to return. Drummond at
+the same time opened fire on the fort; this was discontinued until the
+seventh, the respite being spent by both parties in preparing for the
+siege. Gaines arrived on the 5th and assumed command while Ripley
+returned to the head of his own brigade. On the 6th Morgan and his
+riflemen attempted to draw the enemy from his trenches but were
+unsuccessful; the cannonade was opened on the fort on the morning of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>
+the 7th and was continued until the 13th. On the next day all the guns
+possible were brought to bear on the fort, causing its commander to
+believe that an assault was planned and arrangements were made to
+receive the enemy. The guns were heavily shotted, vigilance of the
+guards doubled, and things made ready for the warm reception of the
+enemy. At midnight of the 14th, all was still quiet; a body of a hundred
+men under Belknap had been thrown out toward the British army to do
+picket duty as the night was so dark that the movements of the enemy
+could not be seen. Their stealthy advance, though cautious, was detected
+by the sharp ears of the waiting men; an alarm gun was fired and the
+advance party fell back toward the fort. Fifteen hundred men came
+charging against Towson's battery on the left, expecting to find the
+soldiers asleep, but a broad sheet of flame burst from the long
+twenty-four pounders here which made the line waver in its advance. At
+the same moment the line of the 21st shone forth in its own light, then
+all was darkness except as the guns were loaded and fired. Five times
+the attack was renewed by the two columns; each time they were beaten
+back.</p>
+
+<p>Almost simultaneous with the attack on the left, another was made on the
+American right, against the old fort; this was repelled, but Drummond,
+valiant man, could not be held in check, and under cover of a heavy
+cloud of smoke, followed by a hundred of the Royal Artillery, he crept
+silently around the fort and by means of scaling ladders gained the
+parapet almost unobserved. All attempts to dislodge the enemy failed.
+Time and again they were charged, but each time they beat back their
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>
+assailants. Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond commanded his men to give no
+quarter, and in a short time he fell, pierced through the heart by a man
+to whom he refused mercy. Daylight dawned with the enemy repulsed on the
+left. Reinforcements were brought to the right but there was no room to
+use them. The Americans were finally gathered for a furious charge, when
+that part of the fort which the British had seized was blown suddenly a
+hundred feet into the air and fell in ruins. At the same instant a
+galling fire was opened from the batteries and the enemy was compelled
+to retire.</p>
+
+<p>Both armies now received reinforcements and kept preparing for a second
+engagement. A continual cannonade was kept up, when on the 28th of
+August General Gaines was so injured by a shell that he had to retire
+from action. General Brown, though shattered in health then resumed
+command. The British were continually strengthening their works and he
+saw that his only hopes lay in a sortie. The weather had been rainy
+which inconvenienced the enemy as their works were located on the low
+ground. Their numbers had also been greatly reduced by fever. These
+facts were learned from prisoners which had been captured. The sortie
+was planned for the 17th of September, all the officers acquiescing
+except General Ripley. The plan was laid with great secrecy and was
+favoured by heavy fog on the morning of the proposed action. The
+Americans were entirely successful, the enemy being driven from their
+works and almost all their supplies captured. This victory was hailed
+with delight by the whole country. This, with the brilliant achievement
+at Plattsburg, and the repulse of the British from Baltimore caused
+rejoicing all over the nation, and restored the people from that gloom
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>
+into which they had been cast by the fall of the national capital.</p>
+
+<p>On the 5th day of October General Izard arrived with reinforcements and
+took command. With almost eight thousand troops he now prepared to
+attack Drummond, but all attempts to draw him out of his trenches
+failed.</p>
+
+<p>Learning that there was a large store of grain at the mill on Lyons
+Creek, Bissell was sent to destroy it. On the night of the 18th, he was
+attacked but was successful in driving off the enemy and accomplishing
+his task. Drummond, now perceiving that he could not hope to cope
+successfully with the superior forces brought against him, fell back to
+Fort George and Burlington Heights. General Izard soon removed his whole
+force from Canada. On the 5th of November Fort Erie was blown up, to
+keep it from falling again into the hands of the British.</p>
+
+<p>On September 11th, the brilliant victory, mentioned before, was gained
+by the Americans at Plattsburg and with the opening of winter, the
+militia was disbanded and the war closed on the Canadian frontier.</p>
+
+<p>In 1837 the Niagara was again the scene of military operations on a
+slight scale when the Patriot War broke out, an uprising of
+revolutionists who planned the overturning of the Canadian Government.
+Navy Island was for a time the headquarters of the ferment, and from
+here, under the date of December 17th, the leader, William Lyon
+Mackenzie, issued a proclamation to the citizens of Canada. This strong,
+misguided man is most perfectly described in Bourinot's <i>The Story of
+Canada</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>He had a deep sense of public wrongs, and placed himself
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>
+immediately in the front rank of those who were fighting for a
+redress of undoubted grievances. He was thoroughly imbued with
+the ideas of English radicalism, and had an intense hatred of
+Toryism in every form. He possessed little of that strong
+common-sense and power of acquisitiveness which make his
+countrymen, as a rule, so successful in every walk of life. When
+he felt he was being crushed by the intriguing and corrupting
+influences of the governing class, aided by the
+lieutenant-governor, he forgot all the dictates of reason and
+prudence, and was carried away by a current of passion which
+ended in rebellion. His journal, <i>The Colonial Advocate</i>, showed
+in its articles and its very make-up the erratic character of
+the man. He was a pungent writer, who attacked adversaries with
+great recklessness of epithet and accusation. So obnoxious did
+he become to the governing class that a number of young men,
+connected with the best families, wrecked his office, but the
+damages he recovered in a court of law enabled him to give it a
+new lease of existence. When the "family compact" had a majority
+in the assembly, elected in 1830, he was expelled five times for
+libellous reflections on the government and house, but he was
+re-elected by the people, who resented the wrongs to which he
+was subject, and became the first mayor of Toronto, as York was
+now called. He carried his grievances to England, where he
+received much sympathy, even in conservative circles. In a new
+legislature, where the "compact" were in a minority, he obtained
+a committee to consider the condition of provincial affairs. The
+result was a famous report on grievances which set forth in a
+conclusive and able manner the constitutional difficulties under
+which the country laboured, and laid down clearly the necessity
+for responsible government. It would have been fortunate both
+for Upper Canada and Mackenzie himself at this juncture, had he
+and his followers confined themselves to a constitutional
+agitation on the lines set forth in this report. By this time
+Robert Baldwin and Egerton Ryerson, discreet and prominent
+reformers, had much influence, and were quite unwilling to
+follow Mackenzie in the extreme course on which he had clearly
+entered. He lost ground rapidly from the time of his indiscreet
+publication of a letter from Joseph Hume, the English radical,
+who had expressed the opinion that the improper proceedings of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>
+the legislature, especially in expelling Mackenzie, "must hasten
+the crisis that was fast approaching in the affairs of Canada,
+and which would terminate in independence and freedom from the
+baneful domination of the mother-country." Probably even
+Mackenzie and his friends might have been conciliated and
+satisfied at the last moment had the imperial government been
+served by an able and discreet lieutenant-governor. But never
+did the imperial authorities make a greater mistake than when
+they sent out Sir Francis Bond Head, who had no political
+experience whatever.</p>
+
+<p>From the beginning to the end of his administration he did
+nothing but blunder. He alienated even the confidence of the
+moderate element of the Reformers, and literally threw himself
+into the arms of the "family compact," and assisted them at the
+elections of the spring of 1836, which rejected all the leading
+men of the extreme wing of the Reform party. Mackenzie was
+deeply mortified at the result, and determined from that moment
+to rebel against the government, which, in his opinion, had no
+intention of remedying public grievances. At the same time
+Papineau, with whom he was in communication, had made up his
+mind to establish a republic, <i>une nation Canadienne</i>, on the
+banks of the St. Lawrence.</p>
+
+<p>The disloyal intentions of Papineau and his followers were made
+very clear by the various meetings which were held in the
+Montreal and Richelieu districts, by the riots which followed
+public assemblages in the city of Montreal, by the names of
+"Sons of Liberty" and "Patriots" they adopted in all their
+proceedings, by the planting of "trees" and raising of "caps" of
+liberty. Happily for the best interests of Canada the number of
+French Canadians ready to revolt were relatively insignificant,
+and the British population were almost exclusively on the side
+of the government. Bishop Lartigue and the clergy of the Roman
+Catholic Church now asserted themselves very determinedly
+against the dangerous and seditious utterances of the leaders of
+the "Patriots." Fortunately a resolute, able soldier, Sir John
+Colborne, was called from Upper Canada to command the troops in
+the critical situation of affairs, and crushed the rebellion in
+its very inception. A body of insurgents, led by Dr. Wolfred
+Nelson, showed some courage at St. Denis, but Papineau took the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>
+earliest opportunity to find refuge across the frontier. Thomas
+Storrow Brown, an American by birth, also made a stand at St.
+Charles, but both he and Nelson were easily beaten by the
+regulars. A most unfortunate episode was the murder of
+Lieutenant Wier, who had been captured by Nelson while carrying
+despatches from General Colborne, and was butchered by some
+insurgent <i>habitants</i>, in whose custody he had been placed. At
+St. Eustache the rebels were severely punished by Colborne
+himself, and a number burned to death in the steeple of a church
+where they had made a stand. Many prisoners were taken in the
+course of the rebellious outbreak. The village of St. Benoit and
+isolated houses elsewhere were destroyed by the angry loyalists,
+and much misery inflicted on all actual or supposed sympathisers
+with Papineau and Nelson. Lord Gosford now left the country, and
+Colborne was appointed administrator. Although the insurrection
+practically ended at St. Denis and St. Charles, bodies of rebels
+and American marauders harassed the frontier settlements for
+some time, until at last the authorities of the United States
+arrested some of the leaders and forced them to surrender their
+arms and munitions of war.</p></div>
+
+<p>The <i>Caroline</i> incident most closely connects the immediate Niagara
+region with the Patriot rebellion. This small steamer was chartered by
+Buffalo parties to run between that city, Navy Island, and Schlosser,
+the American landing above the Falls. The Canadian authorities very
+properly looked upon this as a bold attempt to provide the freebooters
+on Navy Island with the sinews of rebellion. Colonel Allan McNab was
+sent to seize the vessel, and the fact that it was found moored at the
+American shore in no way troubled the determined loyalists. It was about
+midnight December 29th when the attacking party found the ship. In the
+mel&eacute;e one man was killed; the boat was fired and set adrift in the
+river, passing over the Horseshoe Fall while still partly afire.</p>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>
+<h2>Chapter XII</h2>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">Toronto</a></h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="dropcap">I</span>t is believed that the word Toronto is of Huron origin, and that it
+signified "Place of Meeting." This has been contested; in any case it
+should be spelled <i>To-ron-tah</i>. The word is also interpreted as "Oak
+Trees beside the Lake," a derivation rather divergent from the above
+version and we must leave this to the learned etymologists.</p>
+
+<p>Glancing over maps of the middle of the eighteenth century designed
+after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), we see the names of many
+forts and posts intended to keep up "the communications" between Canada
+and Louisiana, and overawe the English colonies then confined to their
+narrow strip of territory on the Atlantic coast. Conscious of the
+mistake that they had made in giving up Acadia, the French at this
+moment claimed that its "ancient limits" did not extend beyond the
+isthmus of Chignecto&mdash;in other words, included Nova Scotia. Accordingly
+they proceeded to construct the forts of Gaspereau and Beaus&eacute;jour on
+that neck of land, and also one on the St. John River, so that they
+might control the land and sea approaches to Cape Breton from the St.
+Lawrence, where Quebec, enthroned on her picturesque heights, and
+Montreal at the confluence of the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence, held the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>
+keys to Canada. The approaches from New England by the way of Lake
+Champlain and the Richelieu were defended by the fort of St. John, near
+the northern extremity of the lake, and by the more formidable works
+known as Fort Frederick or Crown Point&mdash;to give the better known English
+name&mdash;on a peninsula at the narrows towards the South. The latter was
+the most advanced post of the French until they built Fort Ticonderoga
+or Carillon on a high, rocky promontory at the head of Lake St.
+Sacrament. At the foot of this lake, associated with so many memorable
+episodes in American history, Sir William Johnson erected Fort William
+Henry, about fourteen miles from Fort Edward or Layman, at the great
+carrying place on the upper waters of the Hudson. Returning to the St.
+Lawrence and the Lakes, we find Fort Frontenac at the eastern end of
+Lake Ontario, where the old city of Kingston now stands.</p>
+
+<p>Within the limits of the present city of Toronto, La Gallissoni&egrave;re then
+built Fort Rouille<a name="FNanchor_38_40" id="FNanchor_38_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_40" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> as an attempt to control the trade of the Indians
+of the North, who were finding their way to the English fort of Oswego
+which had been commenced with the consent of the Iroquois by Governor
+Burnet of New York, and was now a menace to the French dominion of Lake
+Ontario. At the other extremity lay Fort Niagara. When the French were
+establishing this chain of forts or posts through the West and down the
+Mississippi valley Fort Rouille was founded on a site even then
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span>
+commonly called "Fort Toronto." It does not seem ever to have been a
+dominant strategic point; the probabilities are there was no force
+stationed here worth mentioning and, possibly, it was a mere dependency
+of Fort Niagara. It was destroyed in 1756 to prevent its fall into the
+hands of the English.</p>
+
+<p>Little is known about the region of Toronto prior to Revolutionary times
+save the above records. It was untrodden wilderness. But when the fort
+was erected here the district in a general sense appears to have been
+known as "Toronto." Under French dominion it was a royal trading post
+and in the course of time the name attached itself to the fort and
+village at the neighbouring bay, which have grown to be the beautiful
+Capital City of Ontario. But the Toronto of the river Don and the great
+bay is strictly of English origin, and had for its Romulus
+Lieutenant-General Simcoe (1752-1806), first governor of Upper Canada.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="LIEUTENANT-GENERAL_SIMCOE" id="LIEUTENANT-GENERAL_SIMCOE"></a>
+<img src="images/p0447.jpg" width="262" height="364" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Lieutenant-General Simcoe.</h4>
+
+<p>When John Graves Simcoe arrived in Canada in 1792, the site of the
+present city of Toronto was covered by the primeval forest, its only
+human tenants being two or three families of wandering savages who had
+happened to select the spot for the erection of their temporary wigwams.
+One hundred years later we find at that very spot a magnificent city
+having a population of 250,000 people, a prosperous and enterprising
+community, possessed of all the comforts and appliances of modern
+civilisation and refinement,&mdash;and, instead of the sombre, impenetrable
+wilderness, the most wealthy and populous city of Upper Canada, with
+streets and private dwellings, and public edifices that will compare
+favourably with those of many other cities which have had centuries for
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>
+their development. For its rapid rise to its present eminence Toronto
+is almost exclusively indebted to its admirable commercial position, its
+advantages in that respect having been appreciated by the far-seeing
+sagacity of Governor Simcoe, when selecting the site for a capital.</p>
+
+<p>In 1791, when the former province of Quebec was divided into the
+provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, Upper Canada contained about ten
+thousand inhabitants, chiefly Loyalists, who, as noted elsewhere, when
+the United States threw off allegiance to Great Britain, sought new hope
+in the wilds of Canada; where, though deprived of many comforts, they
+had the satisfaction of feeling that they kept inviolate their loyalty
+to their sovereign and preserved their connection with the beloved
+mother country.</p>
+
+<p>In 1792 General Simcoe was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Upper
+Canada; and in the summer of that year arrived in the colony. In the
+first instance the Government was established at Niagara, and there the
+first Legislature of Upper Canada was convened on the 17th of September,
+1792. It was seen, however, that from its position on the frontier,
+Niagara was not well adapted for being the seat of government, and one
+of the first subjects which occupied the attention of Governor Simcoe
+was the selection of another site for a capital. On this point he very
+soon came into collision with the views of the Governor-General, Lord
+Dorchester, who was in favour of making Kingston the capital on account
+of its proximity to Lower Canada which he regarded as a matter of the
+first importance from a standpoint of trade, and also because of its
+possibility of defence, as, in the event of an invasion, troops from
+Lower Canada could be more easily forwarded to Kingston than to a more
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>
+westerly point. Governor Simcoe, however, had visited Toronto Harbour,
+and had traversed the route thence to Penetanguishene on the Georgian
+Bay. He perceived that that was the most advantageous route for the then
+existing North-west trade,&mdash;the vast development of which since his time
+he may have dimly foreseen&mdash;and that so soon as a road was opened up to
+Lake Simcoe (then <i>Lacaux Claics</i>) merchandise from New York for the
+North-west, would be sent by Oswego to Toronto, and then <i>via</i> Lake
+Simcoe to Lake Huron, avoiding the circuitous passage of Lake Erie.
+Finally the Lieutenant-Governor's views prevailed, and the site of a
+town having been surveyed on the margin of Toronto Bay, his first step
+thereafter was to commence the construction of a road (Yonge Street) to
+Lake Simcoe. In recent years the idea which thus originated with the
+first governor has been completely carried out until to-day Toronto is,
+with Montreal, the chief railway centre and the second city of the
+Dominion. How long ere it will outrank its rival?</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="YORK_HARBOR" id="YORK_HARBOR"></a>
+<img src="images/p0451.jpg" width="663" height="412" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>"York Harbor."<br />
+
+A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.</h4>
+
+<p>The very next year after his assumption of the government of Upper
+Canada General Simcoe ordered the survey of Toronto Harbour, and
+entrusted the task to Colonel Bouchette, the Surveyor-General of Lower
+Canada, who gives us our first historical glimpse of Toronto a hundred
+years ago, or so, in the following passage:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It fell to my lot to make the first survey of York Harbour in
+1793. Lieutenant-Governor, the late General Simcoe, who then
+resided at Navy Hall, Niagara, having formed extensive plans for
+the improvement of the colony, had resolved upon laying the
+foundation of a Provincial capital. I was at that period in the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>
+naval service of the lakes, and the survey of Toronto (York
+Harbour), was entrusted by His Excellency to my performance. I
+still distinctly recollect the untamed aspect which the country
+exhibited when first I entered the beautiful basin which thus
+became the scene of my early hydrographical operations. Dense
+and trackless forests lined the margin of the lake, and
+reflected their inverted images in its glassy surface. The
+wandering savage had constructed his ephemeral habitation
+beneath their luxuriant foliage&mdash;the group then consisting of
+two families of Missassagas&mdash;and the Bay and neighbouring
+marshes were the hitherto uninvaded haunts of the wild fowl;
+indeed they were so abundant as in some measure to annoy us
+during the night. In the spring following, the
+Lieutenant-Governor removed to the site of the new capital,
+attended by the regiment of Queen's Rangers and commenced at
+once the realisation of his favourite project. His Excellency
+inhabited, during the summer and through the winter, a canvas
+house which he imported expressly for the occasion, but, frail
+as was its substance, it was rendered exceedingly comfortable,
+and soon became as distinguished for the social and urbane
+hospitality of its venerated and gracious host, as for the
+peculiarity of its structure.</p></div>
+
+<p>Governor Simcoe gave the name of York to the capital he had selected,
+and the rivers on either side received the names of the Don and Humber.
+His own residence he built at the brow of the hill overlooking the
+valley of the Don, at the junction of what was a few generations later
+Saint James Cemetery with the property of F. Cayley, Esq., calling it
+"Castle Frank," the name which the property still retains.</p>
+
+<p>While the gubernatorial residence was being erected Governor Simcoe
+returned to Niagara, where he opened the third session of the Upper
+Canada Parliament on June 20, 1794. In the fall of that year, orders
+were given for the construction of Parliament buildings at York on a
+site at the foot of what in 1857 was Parliament Street, adjoining the
+place where the "gaol stands." In 1795 the Duc de Rochefoucauld was in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>
+Upper Canada, and in his published <i>Travels</i> alludes to a visit paid to
+York by some of his companions:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>During our stay at Navy Hall, Messrs. Du Petit Thouars and
+Guillemard, took the opportunity of the return of a gun-boat, to
+pay a visit to York. Indolence, courtesy towards the Governor
+(with whom the author was then residing at Navy Hall), and the
+conviction that I would meet with few objects of interest in
+that place, combined to dissuade me from this journey. My
+friends informed me on their return, that this town, which the
+Governor had fixed upon as the Capital of Upper Canada, has a
+fine, extensive bay, detached from the lake by a tongue of land
+of unequal breadth, being in some places a mile, in others only
+six score yards broad; that the entrance of this bay, about a
+mile in width, is obstructed in the middle by a shoal or
+sand-bank, the narrow passages on each side of which may be
+easily defended by works erected on the two points of land at
+the entrance, on which two block-houses have already been
+constructed; that this bay is two miles and a half long, and a
+mile wide, and that the elevation of its banks greatly increases
+its capability of defence by fortifications thrown up at
+convenient points. There have not been more than a dozen houses
+built hitherto in York, and these are situated in the inner
+extremity of the bay, near the river Don. The inhabitants, it is
+said, do not possess the fairest character. One of them is the
+noted Batzy, the leader of the German families, whom Captain
+Williamson accuses the English of decoying away from him, in
+order to injure and obstruct the prosperity of his settlement.
+The barracks which are occupied by the Governor's Regiment,
+stand on the bay near the lake, about two miles from the town.
+The Indians are for one hundred and fifty miles round the sole
+neighbours of York.</p></div>
+
+<p>Nothing shows better than this that we must remember that Old World
+measurements of growth and cultural life cannot be applied to the
+condition of a new continent where every foot of land had to be taken
+from the aborigines, a continent in its agricultural infancy,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span>
+devastated by wars, changing ownership thrice within one hundred years.
+The Indians in the district one hundred and fifty miles around Toronto
+have been replaced to-day by a million of people as enterprising as they
+can be found on the surface of the globe. In lieu of the dozen huts
+described by our noble writer in 1795, you will find to-day a city of a
+quarter million inhabitants, steamships, railroads, telegraph, electric
+light&mdash;the "City of Churches."</p>
+
+<p>Toronto, as noted, owes the progress it has made almost entirely to its
+advantageous commercial position, which was the chief circumstance that
+originally weighed with General Simcoe in selecting this as a site for
+the capital of Upper Canada. The city is built on a slope, rising with a
+very slight inclination from the bay, sufficient to secure its
+salubrity, and to admit of a complete system of sewerage; but not enough
+to give its architectural beauties the advantage they deserve to gratify
+the &aelig;sthetic taste which would be disposed to seek on the shores of Lake
+Ontario for a parallel to the grand old cities of Europe.</p>
+
+<p>Governor Simcoe's amenities and hospitalities, his simplicity, his cares
+and troubles are all parts of the early history of the province; his
+administration in Canada has been generally commended, despite the
+displays of prejudice against the United States. His schemes for
+improving the province were "extremely wise and well arranged." But his
+stay was abruptly cut short. It seems to-day that England was fearful he
+might involve the mother-country in a new war with the young Republic
+and he was rather hastily recalled to England in 1796, although at the
+same time promoted a full lieutenant-general in the army.</p>
+
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>
+<p>In 1804 a census of the inhabitants of Toronto was taken, and it was
+found that they numbered 456. At that time the town was bounded by
+Berkeley Street on the east, Lot, now Queen Street on the north, and
+New, now Nelson Street on the west. In 1806, Toronto or York was visited
+by George Heriot, Esq., Deputy Postmaster-General of British North
+America, and from the terms in which he speaks of it in his <i>Travels
+through the Canadas</i>, it appears that it had then made considerable
+progress. He says:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Many houses display a considerable progress. The advancement of
+this place to its present condition has been effected within the
+lapse of six or seven years, and persons who have formerly
+travelled in this part of the country, are impressed with
+sentiments of wonder, on beholding a town which may be termed
+handsome, reared as if by enchantment in the midst of a
+wilderness.</p></div>
+
+<p>The Parliament buildings, when Heriot visited Toronto, were two
+buildings of brick, at the eastern extremity of the town, which had been
+designed as wings to a centre, and which were occupied as chambers for
+the Upper and Lower House of Assembly.</p>
+
+<p>In 1807 the inhabitants numbered 1058, and continued slowly to rise till
+1813, when the American War brought calamities on to Toronto, from the
+disastrous effects of which it took more than a decade to recover.</p>
+
+<p>In 1813 the campaigns of the war centred, as we have seen, around Lake
+Erie. The Navy had lately restored American confidence, and a second
+invasion of Canada was a principal feature in the programme. At the
+middle of April Dearborn and Chauncey matured a plan of operations. A
+joint land and naval expedition was proposed, to first capture York, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>
+then to cross Lake Ontario and reduce Fort George. At the same time
+troops were to cross the Niagara, from Buffalo and Black Rock, capture
+Fort Erie and Chippewa, join the fleet and army at Fort George, and all
+proceed to attack Kingston. Everything being arranged, Dearborn embarked
+about 1700 men on Chauncey's fleet, at Sacketts Harbour on the 22d of
+April, and on the 25th the fleet, crowded with soldiers, sailed for
+York. After a boisterous voyage it appeared before the little town early
+in the morning of the 27th, when General Dearborn, suffering from ill
+health, placed the land forces under charge of General Pike, and
+resolved to remain on board the Commodore's flagship during the attack.</p>
+
+<p>The little village of York, numbering somewhat more than one thousand
+inhabitants at the time, was then chiefly at the bottom of the bay near
+a marshy flat, through which the Don, coming down from the beautiful
+fertile valleys, flowed sluggishly into Lake Ontario, and, because of
+the softness of the earth there, it was often called "Muddy Little
+York." It gradually grew to the westward, and, while deserting the Don,
+it wooed the Humber, once a famous salmon stream, that flows into a
+broad bay two or three miles west of Toronto. In that direction stood
+the remains of old Fort Toronto, erected by the French. On the shore
+eastward of it, between the present new barracks and the city, were two
+batteries, the most easterly one being in the form of a crescent. A
+little farther east, on the borders of a deep ravine and small stream,
+was a picketed block-house, some intrenchments with cannon, and a
+garrison of about eight hundred men under Major-General Sheaffe. On
+"Gibraltar Point," the extreme western arm of the peninsula, that
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>
+embraced the harbour with its protecting arm, was a small blockhouse;
+another stood on the high east bank of the Don, just beyond a bridge at
+the eastern termination of King and Queen streets. These defences had
+been strangely neglected. Some of the cannon were without trunnions,
+others, destined for the war-vessel then on the stocks, were in frozen
+mud and half covered with snow. Fortunately for the garrison, the <i>Duke
+of Gloucester</i> was then in port, undergoing some repairs, and her guns
+furnished some armament for the batteries. These, however, only amounted
+to a few six-pounders. The whole country around, excepting a few spots
+on the lake shore, was covered with a dense forest.</p>
+
+<p>On the day when the expedition sailed from Sacketts Harbour General Pike
+issued minute instructions concerning the manner of landing and attack.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>It is expected [he said] that every corps will be mindful of the
+honour of the American, and the disgraces which have recently
+tarnished our arms, and endeavour, by a cool and determined
+discharge of their duty, to support the one and wipe off the
+other. [He continued:] The unoffending citizens of Canada are
+many of them our own countrymen, and the poor Canadians have
+been forced into the war. Their property, therefore, must be
+held sacred; and any soldier who shall so far neglect the honour
+of his profession as to be guilty of plundering the inhabitants,
+shall, if convicted, be punished with death. But the commanding
+general assures the troops that, should they capture a large
+quantity of public stores, he will use his best endeavours to
+procure them a reward from his government.</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="GARRISON_YORK" id="GARRISON_YORK"></a>
+<img src="images/p0459.jpg" width="667" height="410" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>"The Garrison at York."<br />
+
+A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.</h4>
+
+<p>It was intended to land at a clearing near old Fort Toronto. An easterly
+wind, blowing with violence, drove the small boats in which the troops
+left the fleet full half a mile farther westward, and beyond an
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>
+effectual covering by the guns of the navy. Major Forsyth and his
+riflemen, in two bateaux led the van, and when within rifle shot of the
+shore they were assailed by a deadly volley of bullets by a company of
+Glengary Fencibles and a party of Indians under Major Givens, who were
+concealed in the woods that fringe the shore. "Rest on your oars!
+Prime!" said Forsyth in a low tone. Pike, standing on the deck of the
+<i>Madison</i>, saw this halting, and impatiently exclaimed, with an
+expletive: "I cannot stay here any longer! Come," he said, addressing
+his staff, "jump into the boat." He was instantly obeyed, and very soon
+they and their gallant commander were in the midst of a fight, for
+Forsyth's men had opened fire, and the enemy at the shore were returning
+it briskly. The vanguard soon landed, and were immediately followed, in
+support, by Major King and a battalion of infantry. Pike and the main
+body soon followed, and the whole column, consisting of the Sixth,
+Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Twenty-First Regiments of Infantry, and
+detachments of light and heavy artillery, with Major Forsyth's riflemen
+and Lieutenant McClure's volunteers as flankers, pressed forward into
+the woods.</p>
+
+<p>The British skirmishes meanwhile had been re-enforced by two companies
+of the Eighth or King's Regiment of Regulars, two hundred strong, a
+company of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, a large body of militia, and
+some Indians. They took position in the woods, and were soon encountered
+by the advancing Americans, whose artillery it was difficult to move.
+Perceiving this, the British, led by General Sheaffe in person, attacked
+the American flank with a six-pounder and howitzer. A very sharp
+conflict ensued, and both parties suffered much. Captain McNeil, of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>
+King's Regiment, was killed. The British were overpowered, and fell
+back, when General Pike, at the head of the American column, ordered his
+bugler to sound, and at the same time dashed gallantly forward. That
+bugle blast thrilled like electric fire along the nerves of the Indians.
+They gave one horrid yell, then fled like frightened deer to cover, deep
+into the forest. That bugle blast was heard in the fleet, in the face of
+the wind and high above the voices of the gale, and evoked long and loud
+responsive cheers. At the same time Chauncey was sending to the shore,
+under the direction of Commander Elliott, something more effective than
+huzzas for he was hurling deadly grape-shot upon the foe, which added to
+the consternation of the savages, and gave fleetness to their feet. They
+also hastened the retreat of Sheaffe's white troops to their defences in
+the direction of the village, while the drum and fife of the pursuers
+were briskly playing <i>Yankee Doodle</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The Americans now pressed forward rapidly along the lake shore in
+platoons by sections. They were not allowed to load their muskets, and
+were compelled to rely upon the bayonet. Because of many ravines and
+little streams the artillery was moved with difficulty, for the enemy
+had destroyed the bridges. By great exertions a field-piece and a
+howitzer, under Lieutenant Fanning, of the Third Artillery, was moved
+steadily with the column. As that column emerged from thick woods,
+flanked by McClure's volunteers, divided equally as light troops under
+Colonel Ripley, it was confronted by twenty-four pounders on the Western
+Battery. Upon this battery the guns of some of Chauncey's vessels which
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>
+had beat up against the wind in range of the enemy's works were pouring
+heavy shot. Captain Walworth was ordered to storm it with his
+grenadiers, of the Sixteenth. They immediately trailed their arms,
+quickened their pace, and were about to charge, when the wooden magazine
+of the battery, that had been carelessly left open, blew up, killing
+some of the men, and seriously damaging the defences. The dismayed enemy
+spiked their cannon, and fled to the next, or Half-Moon, Battery.
+Walworth pressed forward; when that, too, was abandoned and he found
+nothing within but spiked cannon. Sheaffe and his little army, deserted
+by the Indians, fled to the garrison near the Governor's house, and
+there opened a fire of round and grape-shot upon the Americans. Pike
+ordered his troops to halt, and lie flat upon the grass, while Major
+Eustis, with his artillery-battery moved to the front, and soon silenced
+the great guns of the enemy.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The firing from the garrison ceased, and the Americans expected
+every moment to see a white flag displayed from the block-house
+in token of surrender. Lieutenant Riddle, whose corps had
+brought up the prisoners taken in the woods, was sent forward
+with a small party to reconnoitre. General Pike, who had just
+assisted with his own hands in removing a wounded soldier to a
+comfortable place, was sitting upon a stump conversing with a
+huge British sergeant who had been taken prisoner, his staff
+standing around him. At that moment was felt a sudden tremor of
+the ground, followed by a tremendous explosion near the British
+garrison. The enemy, despairing of holding the place, had blown
+up their powder magazine, situated upon the edge of the water at
+the mouth of a ravine, near where the buildings of the Great
+Western Railway now stand. The effect was terrible. Fragments of
+timber and huge stone of which the magazine walls were built
+were scattered in every direction over a space of several
+hundred yards. When the smoke floated away the scene was
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>
+appalling. Fifty-two Americans lay dead, and one hundred and
+eighty others were wounded. So badly had the affair been managed
+that forty of the British also lost their lives by the
+explosion. General Pike, two of his aids, and the British
+sergeant were mortally hurt, while Riddle and his party were
+unhurt, the missiles passing entirely over them. The terrified
+Americans scattered in dismay, but they were soon rallied by
+Brigade-Major Hunt and Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell. The column
+was re-formed and the general command was assumed by the gallant
+Pennsylvanian colonel, Cromwell Pearce, of the Sixteenth, the
+senior officer. After giving three cheers, the troops pressed
+forward toward the village, and were met by the civil
+authorities and militia officers with propositions of a
+capitulation in response to a peremptory demand for surrender
+made by Colonel Pearce. An arrangement was concluded for an
+absolute surrender, when, taking advantage of the confusion that
+succeeded the explosion, and the time intentionally consumed in
+the capitulation, General Sheaffe and a large portion of his
+regulars, after destroying the vessels on the stocks, and some
+storehouses and their contents, stole across the Don, and fled
+along Dundas Street toward Kingston. When several miles from
+York they met a portion of the King's Regiment on their way to
+Fort George. These turned back, covered Sheaffe's retreat, and
+all reached Kingston in safety. Sheaffe (who was the military
+successor of Brock) was severely censured for the loss of York.
+He was soon afterward superseded in command in Upper Canada by
+Major-General De Rottenburg and retired to Montreal to take
+command of the troops there.</p></div>
+
+<p>On hearing of the death of General Pike, General Dearborn went on shore,
+and assumed command after the capitulation. At sunset the work was
+finished; both Chauncey and Dearborn wrote brief despatches to the
+government at Washington; the former saying: "We are in full possession
+of the place," and the latter: "I have the satisfaction to inform you
+that the American flag is flying upon the fort at York." The post, with
+about two hundred and ninety prisoners besides the militia, the war
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>
+vessel <i>Duke of Gloucester</i>, and a large quantity of naval and military
+stores, passed into the possession of the Americans. Such of the latter
+as could not be carried away by the squadron were destroyed. Before the
+victors left, the public buildings were fired by some unknown hand, and
+consumed.</p>
+
+<p>Four days after the capitulation, the troops were re-embarked,
+preparatory to a descent upon Fort George. The post and village of York,
+possessing little value to the Americans, were abandoned. The British
+repossessed themselves of the spot, built another block-house, and on
+the site of the garrison constructed a regular fortification.</p>
+
+<p>The loss of the Americans in the capture of York was sixty-six killed
+and two hundred and three wounded on land, and seventeen killed and
+wounded on the vessels. The British lost, besides the prisoners, sixty
+killed and eighty-nine wounded. General Pike was crushed beneath a heavy
+mass of stones that struck him in the back. He was carried immediately
+after discovery to the water's edge, placed in a boat, and conveyed
+first on board the <i>Pert</i>, and then to the Commodore's flagship. Just as
+the surgeons and attendants, with the wounded general, reached the
+little boat, the huzzas of the troops fell upon his benumbed ears. "What
+does it mean?" he feebly asked. "Victory," said a sergeant in
+attendance. "The British union-jack is coming down from the blockhouse,
+and the Stars and Stripes are going up." The dying hero's face was
+illuminated by a smile of great joy. His spirit lingered several hours,
+and then departed. Just before his breath ceased the captured British
+flag was brought to him. He made a sign for them to place it under his
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>
+head, and thus he expired. His body was taken to Sacketts Harbour, and
+with that of his pupil and aid, Captain Nicholson, was buried with
+military honours within Fort Tompkins there.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 80%;">
+<a name="SOWERS_DRAWINGS" id="SOWERS_DRAWINGS"></a>
+<img src="images/p0467.jpg" width="637" height="403" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+<h4>Captain Sowers's drawings of Fort Niagara, 1769.<br />
+
+From the original in the British Museum.</h4>
+
+<p>It was not till 1821 that the town recovered from these disasters, and
+then the population only amounted to 1559. In 1830 it was 2860; but in
+1834, a strong tide of emigration into Canada having set in, the
+population increased to 9254. In that year the town was incorporated as
+a city, and Mr. William Lyon Mackenzie was elected the first mayor of
+Toronto, April 3, 1834. In 1838 the inhabitants numbered 12,571; in
+1848, 15,336; in 1861, they had increased to 44,821; in 1871, to 56,039;
+in 1881, 86,415; in 1891, 181,220; and finally, in 1903, to 266,989.</p>
+
+<p>In 1821, E. A. Talbot, the author of some works of travel<a name="FNanchor_39_41" id="FNanchor_39_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_41" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> visited
+the town. He states that the public edifices at that time were a
+Protestant Episcopal Church ("a wooden building with a wooden belfry"),
+a Roman Catholic Chapel (a brick building "not then completed, but
+intended to be very magnificent"&mdash;the present St. Paul's Church in Power
+Street), a Presbyterian Meeting House (a brick building, occupying the
+site of what is now Knox's Church), a Methodist Meeting House, situated
+in a field, nearly on the present site of the <i>Globe</i> office, the
+Hospital (the brick building on King Street now known as the Old
+Hospital, and occupied as Government offices), which Talbot describes as
+the most important building of the province, "bearing a very fine
+exterior," the Parliament House (a brick building erected in 1820 on the
+former site, and destroyed by fire in 1824), and the residence of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, a wooden building, "inferior to several private
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>
+houses of the town, particularly that of Rev. Dr. Strachan," says
+Talbot. The streets, he adds, are regularly laid out, but "only one of
+them is in a finished state, and in wet weather those of them which are
+unfinished, are if possible more muddy than the streets of Kingston."</p>
+
+<p>How different to-day, when Toronto has been called the "City of
+Churches," because of the large number of fine churches that have been
+erected in it! The distinctive feature of church architecture in Toronto
+consists in the fact that all denominations have built a considerable
+number of fine churches instead of concentrating their efforts on the
+erection of a few of greater magnificence. The large churches are not
+confined to the central portion but are found widely distributed
+throughout. Toronto to-day is the see of both Anglican and Roman
+Catholic archbishops. The city has suffered from destructive
+conflagrations, notably in 1890, and in April, 1904, when more than one
+hundred buildings in the wholesale business section were burned down,
+some five thousand persons were thrown out of work, and about eleven
+millions' worth of property was destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>The year 1866 is a memorable one in the history of Toronto as well as
+all Canada as the year of the Fenian raids. The Toronto regiments of
+volunteers were promptly sent to drive the Fenians out of the Niagara
+peninsula. The "Queen's Own" met the enemy at Ridgeway, and sustained a
+loss of seven killed and twenty-three wounded. The beautiful monument
+erected to the memory of those who fell at Ridgeway is decorated each
+year on June 2d by their comrades and by the school children of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>
+city. Another monument in Queen's Park commemorates the loyalty and
+bravery of Toronto volunteers. It records the gallantry of those who
+were killed during the North-west rebellion of 1885.</p>
+
+<p>Toronto is a notable educational centre. The university is one of the
+best equipped in America. The first step towards its establishment was
+taken as early as 1797, but the university was not founded until 1827,
+chartered and endowed somewhat later, and opened for students in 1843.
+Until then it had rather a sectarian character, but nowadays it
+embraces, besides the four principal faculties, the following
+institutions: Ontario Agricultural College, Royal College of Dental
+Surgeons, the College of Pharmacy, the Toronto College of Music, the
+School of Practical Science, and the Ontario Veterinary College. The
+students in 1905-06 numbered 2547. The University buildings, it is said,
+are the best specimen of Norman architecture in America. The most
+beautiful other public buildings of Toronto are: the new Parliament
+buildings, the new City Hall, Osgood Hall, the Seat of the Provincial
+Courts and Law School, Trinity University, McMaster University, the
+Normal School, Upper Canada College, and the Provincial Asylum.</p>
+
+<p>Toronto is pre-eminently a city of homes. It claims to have a larger
+proportion of good homes and a much smaller proportion of saloons than
+any city of its size in America. One of the gratifying features of
+Toronto that distinguishes it from most large cities is the fact that
+there is no part of the city that can be fairly regarded as a "slum"
+district.</p>
+
+<p>The city covers a very large area so that there is no overcrowding.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>
+Working men have no difficulty in obtaining homes with separate gardens,
+and it is a common practice to use these gardens in growing both flowers
+and vegetables.</p>
+
+<p>The Park System is extensive and beautiful, possessing about 1350 acres,
+the chief being Queen's Park, adjoining the university, and the
+extensive High Park on the west of the city. But the most popular is
+probably Island Park, on Hiawatha Island, which lies immediately in
+front of the city in the form of a crescent about three miles in length.</p>
+
+<p>The following great Canadians were born in Toronto: Professor Egerton
+Ryerson; Sir John MacDonald; Sir Daniel Wilson; Reverend Wm. Morley
+Puncheon; Hon. George Brown; Sir Oliver Mowat; but the most widely known
+Toronto citizen is probably Goldwin Smith, the great historian and
+economist. Toronto has ever shown itself fervently British in sentiment.
+Its later history has been purely civic without other interest than that
+attaching to prosperous growth. A pleasant society and an attractive
+situation make it a favourite place of residence.</p>
+
+<p>In the first quarter of the nineteenth century, there was a certain Mr.
+Hetherington in Toronto, one of the clerks of St. James. Now the music
+of those primitive times seems to have been managed altogether after the
+old country village choirs. Mr. Hetherington was wont, after giving out
+the Psalm, to play the air on a bassoon; and then to accompany with
+fantasias on the same instrument, when any vocalist could be found to
+take the singing in hand. By-and-by the first symptoms of progress are
+apparent in the addition of a bass-viol and clarinet to help Mr.
+Hetherington's bassoon&mdash;"the harbinger and foreshadow," as Dr. Scadding
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>
+says, "of the magnificent organ presented in after-times to the
+congregation of the 'Second Temple of St. James' by Mr. Dunn, but
+destroyed by fire, together with the whole church, in 1839, after only
+two years of existence."</p>
+
+<p>Incidents of a different character no less strongly mark the changes
+which a period of only ninety years has witnessed. In 1811, namely, we
+find William Jarvis, Esq., His Excellency's Secretary, lodging a
+complaint in open court against a negro boy and girl, his slaves. The
+Parliament at Newark had, indeed, enacted in 1793&mdash;in those patriarchal
+days already described, when they could settle the affairs of the young
+province under the shade of an umbrageous tree&mdash;that no more slaves
+should be introduced into Upper Canada, and that all slave children born
+after the 9th of July of that year should be free on attaining the age
+of twenty-five.</p>
+
+<p>But even by this creditable enactment slavery had a lease of life of
+fully a quarter of a century longer, and the <i>Gazette Public
+Advertiser</i>, and other journals, continue for years thereafter to
+exhibit such announcements as this of the Hon. Peter Russell, President
+of the Legislative Council, of date, February 19, 1806: "To be sold: a
+black woman, named Peggy, aged forty years, and a black boy, her son,
+named Jupiter, aged about fifteen years." The advertisement goes on to
+describe the virtues of Peggy and Jupiter. Peggy is a tolerable cook and
+washerwoman, perfectly understands making soap and candles, and may be
+had for one hundred and fifty dollars, payable in three years, with
+interest, from the day of sale. Jupiter, having various acquirements
+besides his specialty as a good house servant, is offered for two
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>
+hundred dollars, but a fourth less will be taken for ready money. So
+recently as 1871, John Baker, who had been brought to Canada as the
+slave of Solicitor-General Gray, died at Cornwall, Ontario, in extreme
+old age. But before that the very memory of slavery had died out in
+Canada; and it long formed the refuge which the fugitive slave made for,
+with no other guide than the pole-star of our northern sky.</p>
+
+<p>The history of Toronto, as already noted, is necessarily to a great
+extent that of the province, and of the whole region of Canada.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Upper Canada [says Dr. Scadding], in miniature, and in the space
+of a century, curiously passed through conditions and processes,
+physical and social, which old countries on a large scale, and
+in the course of long ages passed through. Upper Canada had its
+primeval and barbaric, but heroic age, its medi&aelig;val and high
+prerogative era; and then, after a revolutionary period of a few
+weeks, its modern, defeudalised, democratic era.</p></div>
+
+
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>
+<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX">Index</a></h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot">A</div>
+<br />
+Abbott, Francis, the "Hermit of Niagara," <a href="#Page_40">40</a> <br />
+<br />
+Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, Brock under, <a href="#Page_232">232</a> <br />
+<br />
+Allen, Ethan, mentioned, <a href="#Page_222">222</a> <br />
+<br />
+Allen, Sadie, shoots the Rapids, <a href="#Page_139">139</a> <br />
+<br />
+"American Blondin," the, see Calverly<br />
+<br />
+<i>American Canals, Great</i>, see Hulbert<br />
+<br />
+American Civic Association mentioned, <a href="#Page_119">119</a> <br />
+<br />
+Amherst, Sir Jeffrey, campaign of 1759, <a href="#Page_209">209</a> <br />
+<br />
+Anderson, M. B., on first Niagara Commission, <a href="#Page_80">80</a> <br />
+<br />
+"Angevine place," building-site of <i>Griffon</i>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">B</div>
+<br />
+Bakewell's estimate of Niagara's age, <a href="#Page_65">65</a> <br />
+<br />
+Balleni, tight-rope artist, <a href="#Page_130">130</a> <br />
+<br />
+Barton, J. L., reminiscences of early Buffalo, <a href="#Page_7">7</a> <br />
+<br />
+Bath Island, <a href="#Page_76">76</a> <br />
+<br />
+Biddle Stairs, <a href="#Page_32">32</a> <br />
+<br />
+Bird Island, <a href="#Page_30">30</a> , <a href="#Page_76">76</a> <br />
+<br />
+Black Rock, origin of name, <a href="#Page_8">8</a> <br />
+<br />
+Blondin, career of, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>-<a href="#Page_129">129</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">W. D. Howells's description of, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>-<a href="#Page_128">128</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Blossom, I. A., agent of Holland Land Co., <a href="#Page_7">7</a> <br />
+<br />
+Bourinot, Dr., quoted, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>-<a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>-<a href="#Page_291">291</a><br />
+<br />
+Braddock, plans to capture Ft. Niagara, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>-<a href="#Page_207">207</a><br />
+<br />
+Brock, Gen. Isaac, sketch of life, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>-<a href="#Page_238">238</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">replies to Hull's Proclamation, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>-<a href="#Page_246">246</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">captures Hull, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>-<a href="#Page_253">253</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">relations with the Indians, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>-<a href="#Page_253">253</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">death, <a href="#Page_256">256</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">eulogies, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">monuments to, <a href="#Page_48">48</a> , <a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a href="#Page_262">262</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Brodie, "Steve," goes over the Falls, <a href="#Page_137">137</a> <br />
+<br />
+Browne, G. W., on St. Lawrence, <a href="#Page_4">4</a> , <a href="#Page_161">161</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on De Nonville at Niagara, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>-<a href="#Page_189">189</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Brul&eacute; on Niagara frontier, <a href="#Page_165">165</a> <br />
+<br />
+Buckley, A. B., <i>Fairyland of Science</i>, cited, <a href="#Page_168">168</a> <br />
+<br />
+Buffalo, N. Y., growth of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_8">8</a><br />
+<br />
+Buffalo Historical Society mentioned, <a href="#Page_6">6</a> <br />
+<br />
+Burnt Ship Bay, <a href="#Page_10">10</a> , <a href="#Page_212">212</a> <br />
+<br />
+Burton Act for preservation of Niagara, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>-<a href="#Page_120">120</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">C</div>
+<br />
+Calverly, C. M., the "American Blondin," <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br />
+<br />
+Campbell, W. G., Niagara crank, <a href="#Page_149">149</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Canada</i> (<i>Story of the Nations</i>), see Bourinot<br />
+<br />
+Canadian Niagara Falls Power Co., <a href="#Page_104">104</a> , <a href="#Page_112">112</a> , <a href="#Page_117">117</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Canals, Great American</i>, see Hulbert<br />
+<br />
+Cantilever bridge, <a href="#Page_46">46</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Caroline</i>, the, incident, <a href="#Page_291">291</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Cassier's Magazine</i> quoted, <a href="#Page_121">121</a> <br />
+<br />
+Cataract House, the, <a href="#Page_75">75</a> <br />
+<br />
+"Cave of the Winds," the, <a href="#Page_28">28</a> , <a href="#Page_31">31</a>-<a href="#Page_33">33</a><br />
+<br />
+Cayuga Creek mentioned, <a href="#Page_10">10</a> <br />
+<br />
+C&eacute;loron at Niagara, <a href="#Page_203">203</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Century Magazine</i> quoted, <a href="#Page_29">29</a> , <a href="#Page_42">42</a>-<a href="#Page_44">44</a><br />
+<br />
+Champlain on Niagara frontier, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>-<a href="#Page_163">163</a><br />
+<br />
+Chippewa Creek, <a href="#Page_46">46</a> ; battle of, <a href="#Page_279">279</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Chrystie, Col., in War of 1812, <a href="#Page_264">264</a> <br />
+<br />
+Church's "Niagara" mentioned, <a href="#Page_14">14</a> <br />
+<br />
+Clark, George Rogers, compared with Brock, <a href="#Page_249">249</a> <br />
+<br />
+Clark, Dr. John M., on "destruction of Niagara," <a href="#Page_117">117</a><br />
+<br />
+Colcourt, Henry, Blondin's assistant, <a href="#Page_125">125</a> <br />
+<br />
+Colour of Niagara water explained by Mrs. Van Rensselaer, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>-<a href="#Page_44">44</a><br />
+<br />
+Commissioners of N. Y. State Reservation, first report of, <a href="#Page_82">82</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Crystal Palace, Blondin at, <a href="#Page_128">128</a> <br />
+<br />
+Cutter, O. W., Niagara committeeman, <a href="#Page_89">89</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">D</div>
+<br />
+Dallion, Father, at Niagara, <a href="#Page_166">166</a> <br />
+<br />
+"Darting Lines of Spray" explained, <a href="#Page_45">45</a> <br />
+<br />
+Day, D. A., report, <a href="#Page_17">17</a> <br />
+<br />
+Dearborn, Gen., in War of 1812, <a href="#Page_274">274</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+De Leon, "Prof.," Niagara crank, <a href="#Page_131">131</a> <br />
+<br />
+De Nonville, Gov., on Niagara frontier, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>-<a href="#Page_194">194</a><br />
+<br />
+"Destruction of Niagara" discussed, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>-<a href="#Page_120">120</a><br />
+<br />
+De Troyes at Fort Niagara, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>-<a href="#Page_194">194</a><br />
+<br />
+"Devil's Hole," <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">massacre, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>-<a href="#Page_215">215</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Dittrick, W., Niagara crank, <a href="#Page_148">148</a> <br />
+<br />
+Dixon, S. J., tight-rope artist, <a href="#Page_132">132</a> <br />
+<br />
+Dogs go over Falls, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>-<a href="#Page_152">152</a><br />
+<br />
+Dorsheimer, William, on first Niagara Commission, <a href="#Page_80">80</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">presents the park to New York State, <a href="#Page_92">92</a> </span><br />
+<br />
+Dufferin Islands, <a href="#Page_46">46</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">E</div>
+<br />
+Electrical Development Co., <a href="#Page_117">117</a> <br />
+<br />
+Ellicott, Andrew, estimates Niagara's age, <a href="#Page_63">63</a> <br />
+<br />
+Erie Canal, importance to Niagara frontier, <a href="#Page_6">6</a> <br />
+<br />
+Evershed, Thomas, devises wheel-pits, <a href="#Page_101">101</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">F</div>
+<br />
+Farini, Signor, tight-rope artist, <a href="#Page_129">129</a> <br />
+<br />
+Flack, R. W., killed in race in Niagara River, <a href="#Page_148">148</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Fool-Killer</i>, see Nissen<br />
+<br />
+Forts: Chippewa, <a href="#Page_46">46</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Drummond, <a href="#Page_48">48</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">du Portage, <a href="#Page_15">15</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Erie, <a href="#Page_8">8</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">battle of, <a href="#Page_285">285</a> <i>seq.</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Frontenac, <a href="#Page_17">17</a> , <a href="#Page_170">170</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">George, <a href="#Page_50">50</a> , <a href="#Page_274">274</a>-<a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Niagara, the first, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>-<a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">building, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>-<a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">during French War and Revolution, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>-<a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Sir William Johnson captures, <a href="#Page_278">278</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Rouille, <a href="#Page_293">293</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Schlosser, <a href="#Page_15">15</a> </span><br />
+<br />
+Fuller, Margaret, describes Niagara by night, <a href="#Page_12">12</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on Goat Island flora, <a href="#Page_18">18</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">quoted, <a href="#Page_28">28</a> </span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">G</div>
+<br />
+Galinee on Niagara frontier, <a href="#Page_166">166</a> <br />
+<br />
+Geology of Niagara, <a href="#Page_52">52</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Goat Island, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>-<a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a> , <a href="#Page_29">29</a> , <a href="#Page_40">40</a> , <a href="#Page_74">74</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Golden Book of Niagara</i>, names in the, <a href="#Page_79">79</a> <br />
+<br />
+Gorge of Niagara, its history, <a href="#Page_63">63</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Graham, C. D., performs at Niagara, <a href="#Page_137">137</a> <br />
+<br />
+Gravelet, see Blondin<br />
+<br />
+Gray, Dr. Asa, on Goat Island flora, <a href="#Page_16">16</a> <br />
+<br />
+Great Lakes, drainage, <a href="#Page_3">3</a> <br />
+<br />
+Green, A. H., on first Niagara Commission, <a href="#Page_80">80</a> <br />
+<br />
+Green Island, <a href="#Page_30">30</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Griffon</i>, the, built at La Salle, N. Y., <a href="#Page_180">180</a>-<a href="#Page_186">186</a>. See Remington<br />
+<br />
+Gull Island, <a href="#Page_40">40</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">H</div>
+<br />
+Hall, Capt. Basil, experiment at Niagara, <a href="#Page_34">34</a> <br />
+<br />
+Hall, Prof. James, survey of Falls, <a href="#Page_65">65</a> <br />
+<br />
+Hardy, J. E., tight-rope artist, <a href="#Page_132">132</a> <br />
+<br />
+Hazlett, George, Niagara crank, <a href="#Page_139">139</a> <br />
+<br />
+"Heart of Niagara," <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a> <br />
+<br />
+Hennepin, Father, Narrative, quoted, <a href="#Page_168">168</a> , <a href="#Page_173">173</a>-<a href="#Page_184">184</a><br />
+<br />
+Hennepin's View, <a href="#Page_21">21</a> <br />
+<br />
+Heriot, George, quoted, <a href="#Page_300">300</a> <br />
+<br />
+"Hermit of Niagara," see Abbott<br />
+<br />
+"Hermit's Cascade," <a href="#Page_40">40</a><br />
+<br />
+Hill, Gov. D. B., signs Niagara Reservation Bill, <a href="#Page_81">81</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Historic Highways of America</i>, cited, <a href="#Page_206">206</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Historic Towns of the Middle West</i>, quoted, <a href="#Page_5">5</a> <br />
+<br />
+Holland Land Co., mentioned, <a href="#Page_7">7</a> <br />
+<br />
+Hooker, Sir J., on Goat Island, <a href="#Page_16">16</a> <br />
+<br />
+Houghton, George, "The Upper Rapids," quoted, <a href="#Page_13">13</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>How Niagara was Made Free</i>, see Welch<br />
+<br />
+Howells, W. D., quoted, <a href="#Page_28">28</a> , <a href="#Page_29">29</a> , <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a> , <a href="#Page_127">127</a>-<a href="#Page_128">128</a><br />
+<br />
+Hulbert, A. B., <i>The Ohio River</i>, cited, <a href="#Page_3">3</a> , <a href="#Page_4">4</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Great American Canals</i>, cited, <a href="#Page_6">6</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Historic Highways</i>, cited, <a href="#Page_206">206</a> </span><br />
+<br />
+Hull, General, surrenders to Brock, <a href="#Page_243">243</a> , <a href="#Page_277">277</a>-<a href="#Page_279">279</a><br />
+<br />
+Hunt, William M., painting of Niagara, <a href="#Page_14">14</a> <br />
+<br />
+Hunter, Colin, view of Niagara rapids, <a href="#Page_11">11</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">I</div>
+<br />
+Ice Age, Niagara in the, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>-<a href="#Page_59">59</a><br />
+<br />
+Ice Bridge, <a href="#Page_39">39</a> <br />
+<br />
+Inspiration Point, <a href="#Page_44">44</a> <br />
+<br />
+International Railway Co., <a href="#Page_117">117</a> <br />
+<br />
+Iris Island, see Goat Island<br />
+<br />
+Iroquois, dominate Niagara frontier, <a href="#Page_153">153</a> <i>seq.</i>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hennepin's embassy to, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>-<a href="#Page_180">180</a></span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">J</div>
+<br />
+Jay's treaty, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>-<a href="#Page_226">226</a><br />
+<br />
+Jenkins, I. J., tight-rope artist, <a href="#Page_131">131</a> <br />
+<br />
+Johnson, Sir William, captures Fort Niagara, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>-<a href="#Page_213">213</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">treaty at Fort Niagara, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>-<a href="#Page_216">216</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Joncaire, Chabert, erects "Magazine Royale," <a href="#Page_197">197</a>-<a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">K</div>
+<br />
+Kendall, W. I., swims Niagara rapids, <a href="#Page_136">136</a> <br />
+<br />
+King, Alphonse, performs at Niagara, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>-<a href="#Page_137">7</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">L</div>
+<br />
+<i>La Belle Famille</i>, see Youngstown, N. Y.<br />
+<br />
+La Salle, on Niagara frontier, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>-<a href="#Page_186">186</a><br />
+<br />
+La Salle N. Y., the <i>Griffon</i> built at, <a href="#Page_183">183</a> <br />
+<br />
+Lewiston Heights, <a href="#Page_50">50</a> , <a href="#Page_264">264</a>-<a href="#Page_265">265</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, K. B.</i>, see Tupper<br />
+<br />
+<i>Life and Times of General Brock</i>, see Read<br />
+<br />
+Luna Island, <a href="#Page_31">31</a> <br />
+<br />
+Lundy's Lane, <a href="#Page_46">46</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">battle of, <a href="#Page_282">282</a> </span><br />
+<br />
+Lyell, Sir Charles, estimates Niagara's age, <a href="#Page_65">65</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">M</div>
+<br />
+Mackenzie, William Lyon, Bourinot describes, <a href="#Page_288">288</a> <br />
+<br />
+"Magazine Royale," Joncaire builds, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>-<a href="#Page_200">200</a><br />
+<br />
+Mahany, R. B., in <i>Historic Towns of the Middle States</i>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Maid of the Mist</i>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">voyage through lower rapids, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>-<a href="#Page_146">146</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Manchester, see Niagara Falls, N. Y.<br />
+<br />
+Mars, Tesla's project to signal, <a href="#Page_120">120</a> <br />
+<br />
+Marshall, O. H., mentioned, <a href="#Page_157">157</a> , <a href="#Page_187">187</a> , <a href="#Page_194">194</a>-<a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a> <br />
+<br />
+Matheson, James, advocates reclamation of Niagara, <a href="#Page_77">77</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Michigan</i>, brig, sent over the Falls, <a href="#Page_133">133</a> <br />
+<br />
+Milet, Father, at Fort Niagara, <a href="#Page_193">193</a> <br />
+<br />
+Mohawk River in the Ice Age, <a href="#Page_60">60</a> <br />
+<br />
+Montresor, Capt., blockhouse, <a href="#Page_15">15</a> <br />
+<br />
+Morgan, William, mentioned, <a href="#Page_202">202</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">N</div>
+<br />
+<i>Nation, The</i>, on the "desecration of Niagara," <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br />
+<br />
+Neuter Nation first inhabit Niagara frontier, <a href="#Page_156">156</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Newark, see Niagara-on-the-Lake<br />
+<br />
+"New Jerusalem," Major Noah's, <a href="#Page_9">9</a> <br />
+<br />
+New York State Reservation, history of, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_96">96</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>New York Times</i>, on opening of New York Reservation, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>-<a href="#Page_95">95</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Niagara Book, The</i>, cited, <a href="#Page_28">28</a> <br />
+<br />
+Niagara Falls, N. Y., described, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>-<a href="#Page_98">98</a><br />
+<br />
+Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Co., <a href="#Page_102">102</a> , <a href="#Page_104">104</a> , <a href="#Page_110">110</a> ,
+<a href="#Page_111">111</a>-<a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>-<a href="#Page_119">119</a><br />
+<br />
+Niagara Falls Power Co., <a href="#Page_101">101</a> , <a href="#Page_104">104</a> ,
+<a href="#Page_111">111</a>-<a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>-<a href="#Page_119">119</a><br />
+<br />
+Niagara, Lockport, and Ontario Power Co., <a href="#Page_114">114</a>-<a href="#Page_115">115</a><br />
+<br />
+Niagara-on-the-Lake, <a href="#Page_50">50</a> , <a href="#Page_227">227</a>-<a href="#Page_230">230</a><br />
+<br />
+Niagara Reservation Act, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>-<a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a> <br />
+<br />
+Niagara River, historic importance, <a href="#Page_2">2</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">drainage area, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>-<a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">description of the upper, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>-<a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">upper rapids of, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>-<a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">islands of, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>-<a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">historic sites of upper, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>-<a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Falls of, <a href="#Page_20">20</a> <i>seq.</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">bridges over, <a href="#Page_21">21</a> <i>seq.</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">music of, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>-<a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Howells on repose of, <a href="#Page_28">28</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">air pressure at Falls of, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>-<a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">when dry, <a href="#Page_38">38</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in winter, <a href="#Page_39">39</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">changes in, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>-<a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mrs. Van Rensselaer on colour of, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>-<a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">view of, from Queen Victoria Park, <a href="#Page_44">44</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a tour around, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>-<a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the lower, described, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>-<a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the geology of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">recession of Falls of, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">George Frederick Wright on age of, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>-<a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">during era of private ownership, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">struggle for passage of "Reservation Act," <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Golden Book of</i>, names in, <a href="#Page_79">79</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as producer of power, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">volume of, <a href="#Page_99">99</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">tunnel beneath, <a href="#Page_106">106</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">manufacturing companies, use of, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>-<a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">use of water of, discussed, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Burton Act concerning, Taft on, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>-<a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Blondin, career on, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>-<a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">performances of cranks on, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>-<a href="#Page_152">152</a> (see Farini, Dixon, Webb, Graham, etc.),</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Maid of the Mist</i> sails lower, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>-<a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">controlled by Iroquois, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>-<a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Neuter Nation inhabit banks of, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">French occupation of, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>-<a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cartier hears of, <a href="#Page_165">165</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">described by Galinee, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>-<a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hennepin describes, <a href="#Page_167">167</a> <i>seq.</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reached by La Salle, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>-<a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the <i>Griffon</i> built on, <a href="#Page_181">181</a> <i>seq.</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first fort built on, <a href="#Page_189">189</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sufferings of first French troops on, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>-<a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">name of, discussed by Marshall, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>-<a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Joncaire on, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>-<a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Old French War, <a href="#Page_200">200</a> <i>seq.</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">French lose, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>-<a href="#Page_212">212</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Revolutionary War, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fixed as international boundary line, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>-<a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Loyalists settle upon, <a href="#Page_227">227</a> <i>seq.</i>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the War of 1812, <a href="#Page_263">263</a> <i>seq.</i></span><br />
+<br />
+Nissen, Peter, exploits at Niagara, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>-<a href="#Page_151">151</a><br />
+<br />
+Noah, Maj. N. N., "New Jerusalem," <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">O</div>
+<br />
+Official opening of New York Reservation, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>-<a href="#Page_95">95</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Ohio River, The</i>, see Hulbert<br />
+<br />
+"Old Indian Ladder," <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br />
+<br />
+Old Stone Chimney mentioned, <a href="#Page_15">15</a> <br />
+<br />
+Olmsted, F. A., on Goat Island flora, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>-<a href="#Page_18">18</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mentioned, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a> </span><br />
+<br />
+Ontario Power Co., <a href="#Page_104">104</a> , <a href="#Page_108">108</a> , <a href="#Page_112">112</a> , <a href="#Page_117">117</a> <br />
+<br />
+Ottawa River, in Ice Age, <a href="#Page_63">63</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">P</div>
+<br />
+Papineau in Patriot War, <a href="#Page_290">290</a> <br />
+<br />
+Parkman's works quoted, <a href="#Page_171">171</a> , <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Patch, Sam, jumps at Niagara, <a href="#Page_133">133</a> <br />
+<br />
+Patriot War, Bourinot on the, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>-<a href="#Page_291">291</a><br />
+<br />
+Peere, Stephen, tight-rope artist, <a href="#Page_131">131</a> <br />
+<br />
+Percy, C. A., goes through rapids, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>-<a href="#Page_149">149</a><br />
+<br />
+Perry, Lieut. O. H., captures Fort George, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>-<a href="#Page_276">276</a><br />
+<br />
+Pike at the capture of York, <a href="#Page_302">302</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Pittsburg Reduction and Mining Co., <a href="#Page_118">118</a> <br />
+<br />
+Platt, John J., mentioned, <a href="#Page_80">80</a> <br />
+<br />
+Portage, old Niagara, <a href="#Page_15">15</a> , <a href="#Page_18">18</a> <br />
+<br />
+Porter's Bluff, <a href="#Page_33">33</a> <br />
+<br />
+Porter, Judge, <a href="#Page_37">37</a> , <a href="#Page_38">38</a> , <a href="#Page_96">96</a> <br />
+<br />
+Porter, Hon. Peter A., <i>Guide Book</i>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Old Fort Niagara</i>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a> , <a href="#Page_197">197</a> ,
+	<a href="#Page_200">200</a> , <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-<a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Goat Island</i>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a> , <a href="#Page_19">19</a> ;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on proposed attack on Fort Niagara in 1755, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>-<a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on commercial importance of Fort Niagara, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>-<a href="#Page_214">214</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Potts, William, Niagara crank, <a href="#Page_139">139</a> <br />
+<br />
+Pouchot, Gen., surrenders Fort Niagara, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>-<a href="#Page_213">213</a><br />
+<br />
+<i>Poughkeepsie Eagle</i> quoted, <a href="#Page_80">80</a> <br />
+<br />
+Power development at Niagara, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a><br />
+<br />
+Prideaux, Gen. John, captures Fort Niagara, <a href="#Page_209">209</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Prospect Point, <a href="#Page_20">20</a> , <a href="#Page_21">21</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">Q</div>
+<br />
+"Quebec Act," effect of, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_218">218</a><br />
+<br />
+Queen Victoria Park, <a href="#Page_44">44</a> , <a href="#Page_108">108</a> <br />
+<br />
+Queen's Royal Hotel, <a href="#Page_51">51</a> <br />
+<br />
+Queenston, <a href="#Page_50">50</a> <br />
+<br />
+Queenston Heights, <a href="#Page_48">48</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">battle on, <a href="#Page_263">263</a> <i>seq.</i></span><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">R</div>
+<br />
+Rapids of Niagara, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>-<a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a> ,
+<a href="#Page_45">45</a> , <a href="#Page_46">46</a> , <a href="#Page_49">49</a>-<a href="#Page_50">50</a>;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hunter's painting of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a> , <a href="#Page_14">14</a> </span><br />
+<br />
+Read, D. B., <i>The Life and Times of General Brock</i>, cited, <a href="#Page_232">232</a> <br />
+<br />
+Red Jacket, anecdote of, <a href="#Page_22">22</a> <br />
+<br />
+Reed, Andrew, suggests reclamation of Niagara, <a href="#Page_77">77</a> <br />
+<br />
+Remington, C. K., on the building-site of the <i>Griffon</i>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Road to Frontenac, The</i>, mentioned, <a href="#Page_162">162</a> <br />
+<br />
+Robb, J. H., on first Niagara Commission, <a href="#Page_80">80</a> <br />
+<br />
+Robinson, Joel, sails the <i>Maid of the Mist</i> through lower rapids, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>-<a href="#Page_146">146</a><br />
+<br />
+Rogers, Sherman S., on first Niagara Commission, <a href="#Page_80">80</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">S</div>
+<br />
+St. Davids, Ont., in the history of geologic Niagara, <a href="#Page_63">63</a> <br />
+<br />
+St. Lawrence drainage, <a href="#Page_3">3</a> <br />
+<br />
+St. Lawrence River, George Waldo Browne on, <a href="#Page_4">4</a> <br />
+<br />
+Schlosser, Capt., <a href="#Page_15">15</a> , <a href="#Page_213">213</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">see Fort Schlosser</span><br />
+<br />
+Scott, Gen. Winfield, in War of 1812, <a href="#Page_267">267</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+<i>Scribner's Monthly</i> quoted, <a href="#Page_25">25</a> <br />
+<br />
+Senecas dominate Niagara frontier, <a href="#Page_5">5</a> <br />
+<br />
+Severance, F. H., <i>Old Trails of the Niagara Frontier</i>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a> , <a href="#Page_219">219</a>-<a href="#Page_222">222</a><br />
+<br />
+Sheaffe, Gen., mentioned, <a href="#Page_268">268</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Ship Island, <a href="#Page_30">30</a> <br />
+<br />
+"Shipyard of the <i>Griffon</i>," the, see Remington<br />
+<br />
+Shirley, Gov., plans Niagara attack, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br />
+<br />
+"Shoreless Sea," the, <a href="#Page_45">45</a> <br />
+<br />
+Silliman, Prof., Basil Hall writes, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>-<a href="#Page_35">35</a><br />
+<br />
+Simcoe, Gov., John Graves, mentioned, <a href="#Page_229">229</a> , <a href="#Page_294">294</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Smyth, Gen., in War of 1812, <a href="#Page_271">271</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Spelterini, Signorina, tight-rope artist, <a href="#Page_130">130</a> <br />
+<br />
+Spencer, J. W., estimates Niagara's age, <a href="#Page_66">66</a> <br />
+<br />
+Spouting Rock, <a href="#Page_41">41</a> <br />
+<br />
+Steadman Bluff, <a href="#Page_30">30</a> <br />
+<br />
+Steadman, John, first owner of Goat Island, <a href="#Page_18">18</a> <br />
+<br />
+Steel arch bridge, built by Roebling, <a href="#Page_46">46</a> <br />
+<br />
+<i>Story of Canada, The</i>, by Bourinot, quoted, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>-<a href="#Page_291">291</a><br />
+<br />
+Sullivan's campaign of 1779, <a href="#Page_223">223</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">T</div>
+<br />
+Table Rock, <a href="#Page_38">38</a> , <a href="#Page_45">45</a> <br />
+<br />
+Taft, Sec'y William H., on the "destruction of Niagara," <a href="#Page_117">117</a>-<a href="#Page_120">120</a><br />
+<br />
+Talbot, E. A., description of early Toronto, <a href="#Page_308">308</a> <br />
+<br />
+Taylor, Mrs. A. E., barrel-fiend, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>-<a href="#Page_143">143</a><br />
+<br />
+Tempest Point, <a href="#Page_104">104</a> <br />
+<br />
+Terrapin Rocks, <a href="#Page_33">33</a> , <a href="#Page_37">37</a>-<a href="#Page_38">38</a><br />
+<br />
+Terrapin Tower, <a href="#Page_33">33</a> , <a href="#Page_37">37</a> <br />
+<br />
+Tesla, Nikola, on Niagara electrical power, <a href="#Page_120">120</a> <br />
+<br />
+Thayer, Eugene, on the music of Niagara, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>-<a href="#Page_26">26</a><br />
+<br />
+Thompson, Sir William, prophesies era of electricity, <a href="#Page_77">77</a> <br />
+<br />
+Three Sister Island, <a href="#Page_40">40</a> <br />
+<br />
+Tonawanda, N. Y., mentioned, <a href="#Page_10">10</a> <br />
+<br />
+Toronto, Ont., <a href="#Page_51">51</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">history of, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>-<a href="#Page_313">313</a></span><br />
+<br />
+Toronto and Niagara Power Co., <a href="#Page_104">104</a> , <a href="#Page_105">105</a> , <a href="#Page_112">112</a> , <a href="#Page_121">121</a> <br />
+<br />
+Tupper, Ferdinand Brock, <i>The Life and Correspondence of Major-General</i><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Sir Isaac Brock, K. B.</i>, cited, <a href="#Page_232">232</a> </span><br />
+<br />
+Tyndall, Prof., on Terrapin Rocks, <a href="#Page_33">33</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">U</div>
+<br />
+United Empire Loyalists, <a href="#Page_228">228</a> <br />
+<br />
+Upper Canada, and Lower, divided, <a href="#Page_295">295</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">V</div>
+<br />
+Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler, on Niagara, quoted, <a href="#Page_24">24</a> , <a href="#Page_27">27</a> , <a href="#Page_42">42</a>-<a href="#Page_44">44</a><br />
+<br />
+Van Rensselaer, Col. Solomon, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>-<a href="#Page_266">266</a><br />
+<br />
+Van Rensselaer, Gen. Stephen, <a href="#Page_263">263</a> <br />
+<br />
+Victoria Falls compared with Niagara Falls, <a href="#Page_13">13</a> <br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">W</div>
+<br />
+Wagenfuhrer, Martha E., barrel-crank at Niagara, <a href="#Page_140">140</a> <br />
+<br />
+War of 1812, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>-<a href="#Page_291">291</a><br />
+<br />
+Webb, Capt. Matthew, drowned at Niagara, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>-<a href="#Page_135">135</a><br />
+<br />
+Welch, Thomas V., labours to enfranchise Niagara, <a href="#Page_79">79</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>How Niagara was Made Free</i>, cited, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>-<a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mentioned, <a href="#Page_81">81</a> , <a href="#Page_89">89</a> </span><br />
+<br />
+Whirlpool, the, <a href="#Page_47">47</a> , <a href="#Page_50">50</a> <br />
+<br />
+Whitney, Gen. P., <a href="#Page_40">40</a> <br />
+<br />
+Willard, Maud, Niagara crank, killed, <a href="#Page_140">140</a> <br />
+<br />
+Woodward, Prof., surveys Niagara Falls, <a href="#Page_65">65</a> <br />
+<br />
+Wool, Capt., hero of Queenston Heights, <a href="#Page_265">265</a> <i>seq.</i><br />
+<br />
+Wright, Dr. Geo. Frederick, makes new estimate of Niagara's age, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>-<a href="#Page_70">70</a><br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">Y</div>
+<br />
+York, Ont., Americans capture, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>-<a href="#Page_306">306</a><br />
+<br />
+York Harbour, early description, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>-<a href="#Page_297">297</a><br />
+<br />
+Youngstown, N. Y., <a href="#Page_50">50</a> ;<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">skirmish at, <a href="#Page_211">211</a> </span><br />
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>The Ohio River; A Course of Empire</i>, p. 359.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Frank H. Severance in his delightful <i>Old Trails of the
+Niagara Frontier</i> has several most interesting chapters relating to the
+Buffalo neighbourhood. Mr. Severance has done, through the Buffalo
+Historical Society, much good work in keeping warm the affection of the
+present generation for the memory of the past, its heroes and its
+sacrifices.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> See A. B. Hulbert, <i>The Great American Canals</i>, vol. ii.,
+p. 111.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Congressman Peter A. Porter's Guide Book may be recommended
+highly; its use to the present writer, taken in addition to its author's
+personal assistance and advice, must be acknowledged in the most
+unreserved way. Numerous references to Mr. Porter's various monographs,
+especially his <i>Old Fort Niagara</i> and <i>Goat Island</i>, in addition to his
+Guide, will be met with frequently in this volume. To one really
+interested in Niagara history <i>Old Fort Niagara</i> will be found most
+attractive and comprehensive; its numerous references to authorities put
+it quite in a class by itself among local histories.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Frederick Almy in <i>The Niagara Book</i>, p. 51. This volume
+has been of perennial interest to the author because of the
+contributions of the venerable William Dean Howells and E. S. Martin. No
+one who in early life has essayed the life of journalist and
+correspondent can read Mr. Howells's article in this little book without
+immense relish: its humour is contagious, and its descriptions of
+Niagara in 1860, fascinating.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>Goat Island</i>, p. 28. This most interesting pamphlet by Mr.
+Porter will be found quite a complete guide to a study of Niagara Falls,
+and is most worthy the perusal of those who care to examine more than
+the mere surface of things at Niagara.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <i>Scribner's Monthly</i>, vol. xxi., pp. 583-6.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <i>The Niagara Book</i>, p. 15.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <i>The Century Magazine</i>, vol. xxxvi., p. 197.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <i>The Century Magazine</i>, xxxvi., 198-201.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <i>The Nation</i>, No. 84 (September 1, 1881).</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Mr. Thomas V. Welch, <i>loc. cit.</i></div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Senate Document, No. 35, Albany, N. Y.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a>
+<i>Resolved</i>, That this board hereby selects and locates the
+lands hereafter described, situate in the village of Niagara Falls, and
+the County of Niagara and State of New York, as in the opinion of this
+board proper and necessary to be reserved for the purpose of preserving
+the scenery of the falls of Niagara, and restoring the said scenery to
+its natural condition, and does hereby determine to take such land for
+the purposes aforesaid, and which said land is bounded and described as
+follows, to-wit: All that certain piece or parcel of land situate in the
+village of Niagara Falls, town and County of Niagara, State of New York,
+distinguished in part as part of lots numbers forty-two (42),
+forty-three (43), and forty-four (44) of the mile strip, as the same was
+surveyed and conveyed by the State of New York, in part as islands known
+as Goat island, Bath island, the Three Sisters, Bird island, Luna
+island, Chapin island, Ship island, Brig island, Robinson's island, and
+other small islands lying in Niagara river adjacent and near to the
+islands above-named, and in part as lands lying under the Niagara river,
+bounded and described as follows, to-wit:
+<br />
+Beginning at a point on the easterly bank of the Niagara river, where
+the same is met and intersected by the division line between lands now
+or formerly occupied by Albert H. Porter, and lands now or formerly
+owned or occupied by the Niagara Falls Hydraulic and Manufacturing Canal
+Company; running thence on a course north three degrees forty-nine and
+one-fourth minutes west; along said last mentioned division line, one
+(1) chain and ninety-five (95) links to a stone monument standing in the
+southerly line of Buffalo street, in the village of Niagara Falls;
+thence on a course south eighty-six degrees forty-five and one-fourth
+minutes west along said southerly line of Buffalo street ninety and
+nine-tenths (90.9) links to a point in the division line between lands
+now or formerly owned or occupied by Albert H. Porter, and lands now or
+formerly owned or occupied by the estate of Augustus S. Porter; thence
+on a course south eighty-six degrees forty-five and one-fourth minutes
+west along said southerly line of Buffalo street ninety and nine-tenths
+(90.9) links to a point in the division line between lands now or
+formerly owned or occupied by the estate of Augustus S. Porter and lands
+owned or occupied by Jane S. Townsend; thence on a course south
+eighty-six degrees forty-five and one-fourth minutes west, along said
+southerly line of Buffalo street, two (2) chains and seventy (70) links
+to the intersection of the same with the easterly line of Seventh
+street; thence on the same course south eighty-six degrees forty-five
+and one-fourth minutes west, across said Seventh street, one (1) chain
+and three-tenths (.3) of a link to the westerly boundary thereof; thence
+along said westerly boundary of Seventh street and on a course south
+three degrees forty-nine and one-half minutes east, one (1) chain and
+fifty-four and seventy-seven one-hundredths (54.77) links to a point in
+said westerly line of Seventh street, distant seventy-six (76) links
+northerly, measuring on said westerly line of Seventh street, from the
+intersection of the same with the northerly line of River street; thence
+on a course south fifty-seven degrees forty-seven and one-fourth
+minutes, west one (1) chain and sixteen (16) links to a point in the
+division line between lands now or formerly owned or occupied by Albert
+H. Porter and lands now or formerly owned or occupied by Mrs. George W.
+Holley, which said point is distant northerly measuring along said
+division line seventy (70) links from the northerly line of River
+street; thence on a course south fifty-six degrees fifty-five and
+one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and sixteen (16) links to a point;
+thence south fifty-eight degrees forty minutes west, one (1) chain and
+fifteen (15) links to a point; thence south sixty-three degrees
+forty-three and one-fourth minutes west one (1) chain and eleven (11)
+links to a point; thence south sixty-seven degrees nineteen and
+one-fourth minutes west, one (1) chain and sixty (60) links to a point
+in the division line between lands owned or occupied by Mrs. George W.
+Holley and lands owned or occupied by Jane S. Townsend distant sixty
+(60) links northerly measured on said division line from the northerly
+boundary of River street; thence on a course south seventy-two degrees
+nineteen minutes west, two (2) chains and ten (10) links to a point in
+the division line between lands owned or occupied by Jane S. Townsend,
+and lands owned or occupied by Josephine M. Porter, distant, measuring
+on said division line sixty-four (64) links northerly from the northerly
+boundary of River street; thence on a course south seventy-three degrees
+thirty-four and one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and four (4) links
+to a point; thence south seventy-six degrees twenty-eight and one-half
+minutes west, one (1) chain and two (2) links to a point; thence south
+eighty-two degrees four and three-fourths minutes west, one (1) link to
+a point, thence south eighty-six degrees forty-three and one-fourth
+minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence south eighty-nine degrees
+fifty-six minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence north
+eighty-eight degrees forty-three minutes west one (1) chain and one (1)
+link to a point in the easterly boundary of Fourth street, distant
+ninety (90) links northerly, measuring on said easterly boundary of
+Fourth street, from the intersection of the same with the northerly
+boundary of River street; thence across said Fourth street and on a
+course north eighty-two degrees thirty-two and one-half minutes west,
+one (1) chain and one (1) link to a point in the westerly boundary of
+Fourth street, distant eighty-six (86) links northerly measuring on said
+westerly boundary of Fourth street; from the intersection of the same
+with the northerly line of River street: thence on a course north
+seventy-eight degrees fifty-three minutes west, two (2) chains and six
+(6) links to a point in the division line between lands owned or
+occupied by Peter A. Porter, and land owned or occupied by S. M.
+Whitney, which point is distant seventy (70) links northerly, measuring
+on said division line, from the northerly line of River street; thence
+on a course north seventy-nine degrees seventeen and three-fourths
+minutes west, one (1) chain and three (3) links to a point; thence north
+seventy-six degrees eight minutes west, one (1) chain and four (4) links
+to a point; thence north seventy-three degrees seven and one-fourth
+minutes west, ninety-five (95) links to a point; thence north
+seventy-one degrees twenty-five and one-fourth minutes west, fifty (50)
+links to a point in the division line between lands owned or occupied by
+S. M. Whitney, and lands owned or occupied by Albert H. Porter which
+point is distant northerly, measuring on said division line, seventy
+(70) links from the northerly line of River street; thence on a course
+north sixty-eight degrees thirty-five and one-fourth minutes west,
+sixty-eight (68) links to a point; thence north sixty-three degrees
+thirty-eight and one-fourth minutes-west, ninety-eight (98) links to a
+point; thence north fifty-three degrees fifteen and one-fourth minutes
+west, one (1) chain and thirteen (13) links to a point in the division
+line between lands owned or occupied by Albert H. Porter and lands owned
+or occupied by Jane S. Townsend, which point is distant northerly,
+measuring on said division line, ninety-two (92) links from the
+northerly line of River street; running thence on a course north
+forty-eight degrees fifty-six and one-fourth minutes west, eighty-nine
+(89) links to a point; thence north fifty degrees one and one-half
+minutes west, one (1) chain and two (2) links to a point; thence north
+fifty-five degrees two and one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and one
+(1) link to a point; thence north sixty degrees ten minutes west, fifty
+(50) links to a point in the division line between lands owned or
+occupied by Jane S. Townsend and lands owned or occupied by the heirs of
+Augustus S. Porter, which point is distant northerly, measuring on said
+division-line, one (1) chain and fifty-six (56) links from the northerly
+line of River street; thence on a course north sixty degrees fifteen and
+one-half minutes west, fifty (50) links to a point; thence north
+sixty-seven degrees ten and one-half minutes west, ninety-nine (99)
+links to a point; thence north sixty-eight degrees nineteen and
+three-fourths minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence north
+seventy-one degrees forty-five and one-fourth minutes west, one (1)
+chain to a point distant one (1) chain and twenty-eight (28) links,
+measuring on a course north twenty-seven degrees east from the northerly
+line of River street; thence on a course north sixty-three degrees
+fifty-five and one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and eleven (11)
+links to a point; thence north fifty-five degrees one and one-fourth
+minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence north fifty-one degrees
+forty-one and one-half minutes west, eighty-nine (89) links to a point;
+thence north forty-seven degrees fifty minutes west eighty-three (83)
+links to a point; thence north forty-five degrees forty-two minutes
+west, one (1) chain and two (2) links to a point; thence north forty-two
+degrees twenty-five minutes west, two (2) chains and two (2) links to a
+point; thence north forty-three degrees seventeen and three-fourths
+minutes west, one (1) chain and nine (9) links to a point in the
+easterly boundary of Mill street, distant northerly, measuring along
+said easterly boundary of Mill street, twenty (20) links from the
+intersection of the same with the northerly boundary of River street;
+thence on a course north twenty-eight degrees nineteen and one-fourth
+minutes east, and along said easterly boundary of Mill street, two (2)
+chains and thirty (30) links to the intersection of said easterly line
+of Mill street with the southerly line of Buffalo street; thence on a
+course north sixty-two degrees forty-five minutes west, across said Mill
+street, one (1) chain to the westerly boundary line thereof, and to the
+point of intersection of the westerly line of Mill street with the
+southerly line of Buffalo street; thence on a course north sixty-one
+degrees thirty-two minutes west, along the southerly boundary of Buffalo
+street, five (5) chains and thirty-two (32) links to the point of
+intersection of the southerly line of Buffalo street with the easterly
+boundary line of the Mill slip (so called), which point is distant
+northerly measuring on said easterly line of the Mill slip, seventy-one
+(71) links from the intersection of the same with the northerly line of
+River street; thence on a course north sixty-one degrees thirty-two
+minutes west, across said Mill slip, fifty-one and forty-two
+one-hundredths (51.42) links to a point in the westerly boundary line
+thereof, distant northerly, measuring along said westerly line of said
+Mill slip, seventy-five and twenty-three one-hundredths (75.23) links
+from the intersection of the same with the northerly line of River
+street; thence along said westerly boundary line of said Mill slip and
+on a course south fifty-four degrees four and three-fourths minutes
+west, seventy-five and twenty-three one-hundredths (75.23) links to the
+intersection of said westerly boundary line of said Mill slip with the
+northeasterly boundary line of River street; thence on a course north
+thirty-three degrees ten minutes west, along said north-easterly
+boundary line of River street, five (5) chains and seventy-four and
+two-tenths (74.2) links to a point in said northeasterly line of River
+street, where the same is intersected by the southerly line of Bridge
+street, which point is marked by a stone monument erected at the
+intersection of said lines of said streets; thence on a course north six
+degrees thirty-six and one-fourth minutes east, across said Bridge
+street, one (1) chain and three (3) links to the northerly boundary line
+thereof, and to the point of intersection of the northerly boundary line
+of Bridge street with the northeasterly line of Canal street; thence on
+a course north thirty-seven degrees thirty-three and one-half minutes
+west, and along said northeasterly boundary line of Canal street four
+(4) chains and eighty-seven (87) links to the intersection of said
+northeasterly line of Canal street with the southerly line of Falls
+street; thence on a course north thirty-seven degrees thirty-six and
+three-fourths minutes west, one (1) chain and eighty-two (82) links
+across Falls street to the northerly boundary thereof; thence on a
+course north thirty-seven degrees thirty-six and three-fourths minutes
+west, and along said north-easterly line of Canal street, one (1) chain
+and twenty-two (22) links to an angle in said north-easterly line of
+Canal street; thence on a course north two degrees thirty-eight and
+one-fourth minutes west, and along the easterly line of Canal street,
+ten (10) chains and one and eighty-five one-hundredths (1.85) links to
+the intersection of the easterly line of Canal Street with the southerly
+line of Niagara street; thence on a course south eighty-seven degrees
+fourteen minutes west, across said Canal street, one (1) chain and fifty
+and thirty-four one-hundredths (50.34) links to the westerly boundary
+line thereof; thence on a course south two degrees fifty-one minutes
+east, along said westerly boundary line of Canal street, two (2) chains
+and sixty-seven and twelve one-hundredths (67.12) links to a point in
+the westerly line of Canal street, supposed to be the northeasterly
+corner of Prospect Park (so called); thence on a course south eighty-six
+degrees nineteen and one-half minutes west, along the north boundary of
+said Prospect Park, one (1) chain and three (3) links to an angle in
+said boundary line; thence on a course north fifty-two degrees eighteen
+minutes west, along said northerly boundary of said Prospect Park, six
+(6) chains and eighty-five (85) links to the water's edge of the Niagara
+river; thence along said line prolonged into said river, and on a course
+north fifty-two degrees eighteen minutes west, more or less, to the
+boundary line between the United States of America and the Dominion of
+Canada; thence along said boundary line up the middle of said river to
+the Great Falls; thence up the falls through the point of the Horse
+Shoe, keeping to the west of Iris or Goat island and the group of small
+islands at its head, and following the bends of the river, and along
+said boundary line to a point at which said boundary line meets, and is
+intersected by the prolongation of the line running north three degrees
+forty-nine and one-fourth minutes west, first above mentioned; thence
+following said line, and on a course north three degrees forty-nine and
+one-fourth minutes west, more or less, to the point or place of
+beginning.
+<br />
+Together with all the right, title, and interest of all persons or corporations
+of, in, and to the premises embraced within said boundary lines,
+including all water-rights, made-land (so called), d&eacute;bris, titles, or claims
+(if any) to lands lying under the Niagara river, rights of riparian owners,
+easements, and appurtenances of every name and nature whatsoever,
+including all the rights of, in, and to all streets, or portions of streets,
+embraced and included within said boundary lines.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Vol. lvi., p. 106, seq.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <i>Canada</i>, p. 72, Story of the Nations Series.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> A very excellent account of the battle of Lake Champlain
+is found in <i>The St. Lawrence River</i>, Ch. vi., by George Waldo Browne.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <i>The Old Northwest</i>, p. 25. A novel, <i>The Road to
+Frontenac</i>, presents a clear picture of French-Iroquois hostility on the
+St. Lawrence.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Hennepin's exaggerations add a spice to his
+marvellous stories as is true of Arabella B. Buckley's <i>The
+Fairyland of Science</i> (p. 122) wherein we read: "The river
+Niagara first wanders through a flat country and then reaches
+the Great Lake Erie in a hollow plain. After that it flows
+gently down for about fifteen miles and then the slope becomes
+greater and it rushes on to the Falls of Niagara." Every age has
+its Hennepins!</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> <i>Discovery of the West</i>, pp. 115-16.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> The exact spot of building is the subject of a monograph
+<i>The Shipyard of the Griffon</i> by Cyrus Kingsbury Remington (Buffalo, N.
+Y. 1891), in which the author, while advocating his own theory, presents
+liberally views held by those in disagreement with himself. We find O.
+H. Marshall in accord with Mr Remington that what is known as the "Old
+Ship Yard" or Angevine place, at La Salle, was the site of the building
+of the <i>Griffon</i>.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> The Narrative is given in full with careful introduction
+and explanations in Marshall's <i>Writings</i>, pp. 123-186.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> A most thrilling account of this fort-building effort at
+the mouth of the Niagara is to be found in Severance, <i>Old Trails of the
+Niagara Frontier</i>, on which the present writer has based his description
+here given.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> <i>Colonial Documents of New York</i>, vol. ix., p. 773; in the
+history of the French r&eacute;gime at Niagara special acknowledgment must be
+made to Porter's <i>Brief History of Old Fort Niagara</i> (Niagara Falls,
+1896), which is particularly rich in references to the important sources
+of information concerning the French along and at the mouth of the
+Niagara River.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <i>Colonial Documents of New York</i>, vol. ix., pp. 952, 958.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Logstown?</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> In the author's <i>Historic Highways of America</i>, vol. iv.,
+chap. 2, this whole problem is discussed and Cumberland's instructions quoted.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> The record of these bloody years is hinted in the number of prisoners
+brought to Niagara. On this topic Frank H. Severance writes
+[In <i>Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier</i>, pp. 89-91. Mr. Severance,
+Secretary of the Buffalo Historical Society, has ably taken the place of
+the eminent scholar of the Niagara country O. H. Marshall. In his volume
+above quoted Mr. Severance provides a most interesting, scholarly
+series of papers which no one who loves New York's old frontier should
+miss. Our story of the famine at De Nonville's fort was written with
+Mr. Severance's book open before us.]:<br /><br />
+
+"Just how many American prisoners were brought into Fort Niagara
+during this period I am unable to say, though it is possible that from the
+official correspondence of the time figures could be had on which a very
+close estimate could be based. My examination of the subject warrants
+the assertion that several hundred were brought in by the war-parties
+under Indian, British, and Tory leaders. In this correspondence, very
+little of which has ever been published, one may find such entries as the
+following:<br /><br />
+
+<div class="blockquot">"Guy Johnson wrote from Fort Niagara, June 30, 1781:<br /><br />
+
+"'In my last letter of the 24th inst. I had just time to enclose a copy
+of Lieut. Nelles's letter with an account of his success, since which he
+arrived at this place with more particular information by which I find
+that he killed thirteen and took seven (the Indians not having reckoned
+two of the persons whom they left unscalped). . . .'<br /><br />
+
+"Again:<br /><br />
+
+"'I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency a general letter
+containing the state of the garrison and of my Department to the 1st
+inst., and a return, at the foot, of the war parties that have been on
+service this year, . . . by which it will appear that they have killed
+and taken during the season already 150 persons, including those last
+brought in. . . .'<br /><br />
+
+"Again he reports, August 30, 1781:<br /><br />
+
+"'The party with Capt. Caldwell and some of the Indians with Capt.
+Lottridge are returning, having destroyed several settlements in Ulster
+County, and about 100 of the Indians are gone against other parts of
+the frontiers, and I have some large parties under good leaders still on
+service as well as scouts towards Fort Pitt. . . .'<br /><br />
+
+"Not only are there many returns of this sort, but also tabulated
+statements, giving the number of prisoners sent down from Fort Niagara
+to Montreal on given dates, with their names, ages, names of their
+captors, and the places where they were taken. There were many shipments
+during the summer of '83, and the latest return of this sort which
+I have found in the archives is dated August 1st of that year, when
+eleven prisoners were sent from the fort to Montreal. It was probably
+not far from this time that the last American prisoner of the Revolution
+was released from Fort Niagara. But let the reader beware of forming
+hasty conclusions as to the cruelty or brutality of the British at Fort
+Niagara. In the first place, remember that harshness or kindness in the
+treatment of the helpless depends in good degree&mdash;and always has
+depended&mdash;upon the temperament and mood of the individual custodian.
+There were those in command at Fort Niagara who appear to have been
+capable of almost any iniquity. Others gave frequent and conspicuous
+proofs of their humanity. Remember, secondly, that the prisoners
+primarily belonged to the Indians who captured them. The Indian
+custom of adoption&mdash;the taking into the family circle of a prisoner in
+place of a son or husband who had been killed by the enemy&mdash;was an
+Iroquois custom, dating back much further than their acquaintance with
+the English. Many of the Americans who were detained in this fashion
+by their Indian captors, probably never were given over to the British.
+Some, as we know, like Mary Jemison, the White Woman of the Genesee,
+adopted the Indian mode of life and refused to leave it. Others died in
+captivity, some escaped. Horatio Jones and Jasper Parrish were first
+prisoners, then utilised as interpreters, but remained among the Indians.
+And in many cases, especially of women and children, we know that they
+were got away from the Indians by the British officers at Fort Niagara,
+only after considerable trouble and expense. In these cases the British
+were the real benefactors of the Americans, and the kindness in the
+act cannot always be put aside on the mere ground of military exchange,
+prisoner for prisoner. Gen. Haldimand is quoted to the effect that he
+'does not intend to enter into an exchange of prisoners, but he will not
+add to the distresses attending the present war, by detaining helpless
+women and children from their families.'"<br /><br />
+
+In justice to Col. Guy Johnson's administration at Fort Niagara,
+as well as to give one of the clearest (if biased) views of the
+trials and perplexities of those hard days, we reproduce a "Review
+of Col. Johnson's Transactions"; as Mr. Severance notes, this review
+shows "the real state of affairs at Fort Niagara towards the close
+of the Revolutionary war" better than does almost any other document
+[I quote Mr. Severance's copy from _Canadian Archives_, Series B,
+vol. 106, p. 122, _et seq._]:<br /><br />
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p class="right">"<span class="smcap">Montreal</span>, 24th March, 1782.</p>
+
+<p>"Before Colonel Johnson arrived at Niagara in 1779 the Six Nations
+lived in their original possessions the nearest of which was about 100
+and the farthest about 300 miles from that post. Their warriors were
+called upon as the service required parties, which in 1776 amounted to
+about 70 men, and the expenses attending them, and a few occasional
+meetings ought to have been and he presumes were a mere Trifle when
+compared with what must attend their situation when all [were] driven
+to Niagara, exposed to every want, to every temptation, and with every
+claim which their distinguished sacrifices and the tenor of Soloman
+[solemn] Treaties had entitled them to from Government. The years
+1777 &amp; 1778 exhibited only a larger number occasionally employed and
+for their fidelity and attachment to Government they were invaded in
+1779 by a rebel army reported to be from 5 to 600 men with a train of
+Artillery who forced them to retire to Niagara leaving behind them very
+fine plantations of corn and vegetables, with their cloathing, arms, silver
+works, Wampum Kettles and Implements of Husbandry, the collection
+of ages of which were destroyed in a deliberate manner and march of the
+rebels. Two villages only escaped that were out of their route.</p>
+
+<p>"The Indians having always apprehended that their distinguished
+loyalty might draw some such calamity towards them had stipulated
+that under such circumstances they effected [expected] to have their losses
+made up as well as a liberal continuation of favours and to be supported
+at the expence of Government till they could be reinstated in their former
+possessions. They were accordingly advised to form camps around Niagara
+which they were beginning to do at the time of Colonel Johnson's arrival
+who found them much chagrined and prepared to reconcile them to their
+disaster which he foresaw would be a work of time requiring great judgment
+and address in effecting which he was afterwards successful beyond
+his most sanguine expectations, and this was the state of the Indians at
+Colonel Johnson's arrival. As to the state and regulation of Colonel
+Johnson's officers and department at that period he found the duties
+performed by 2 or three persons the rest little acquainted with them
+and considered as less capable of learning them, and the whole number
+inadequate to that of the Indians, and the then requisite calls of the
+service, and that it was necessary after refusing the present wants of the
+Indians to keep their minds occupied by constant military employment,
+all which he laid before the Commander in Chief who frequently honoured
+his conduct with particular approbation."</p></div></div></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_29_31" id="Footnote_29_31"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_29_31"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Here, the story runs, the brother of Sir Walter Scott
+concocted the plots and outlines of Sir Walter's famous novels and sent
+them on to England to be polished up for publication&mdash;a story worthy of
+a Hennepin.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_30_32" id="Footnote_30_32"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_30_32"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> <i>The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir Isaac
+Brock, K.B.</i>, by Ferdinand Brock Tupper, p. 16. This most interesting
+volume has furnished very much of the material for this chapter. D. B.
+Read's <i>Life and Times of General Brock</i> is an excellent book for
+popular use and will be found quoted herein.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_31_33" id="Footnote_31_33"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_31_33"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> One cause of desertion seems to have been the ubiquitous
+American girl. In a later letter Brock wrote:
+<br />
+<div class="blockquot">"Not a desertion has been attempted by any of the 49th for the last ten
+months, with the exception, indeed, of Hogan. He served Glegg, who took
+him with him to the Falls of Niagara, where a fair damsel persuaded him
+to this act of madness, for the fellow cannot possibly gain his bread by
+labour, as he has half killed himself with excessive drinking; and we
+know he cannot live upon love alone."</div></div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_32_34" id="Footnote_32_34"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_32_34"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> A letter from Colonel Kempt runs: "I have just received a
+long letter . . . giving me an account of a splendid ball given by you
+to the <i>beau monde</i> of Niagara and its vicinity, and the manner in which
+she speaks of your liberality and hospitality reminds me of the many
+pleasant hours I have passed under your roof. We <i>have no such parties
+now</i>, and the indisposition of Sir James having prevented the usual
+public days at the castle, nothing more stupid than Quebec now is can be
+imagined."</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_33_35" id="Footnote_33_35"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_33_35"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> British Ambassador to the United States.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_34_36" id="Footnote_34_36"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_34_36"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> In the face of the fact here divulged concerning Proctor's
+attitude toward Brock's determination to move upon Detroit it is
+interesting to remember Brock's very high praise of Proctor in his
+report of the capture. His words, so characteristic of the gentleman,
+were: "I have been admirably supported by Colonel Proctor. . . ."</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_35_37" id="Footnote_35_37"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_35_37"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> P. 60.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_36_38" id="Footnote_36_38"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_36_38"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> The reference here is to the failure of the British to
+assist the Indian confederacy withstand General Wayne's invasion of the
+Maumee Valley which ended in the victory of Fallen Timber.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_37_39" id="Footnote_37_39"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_37_39"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> That Brock feared the Indians when acting in unison, that
+is, when not "interspersed" among the troops, is perfectly plain from
+his letter to General Prevost of July 3d.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_38_40" id="Footnote_38_40"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_38_40"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Named in honour of a French Minister of Colonies. The
+<i>Rouill&eacute;s</i> are a celebrated family, later on styled Rouille-de-Marboeuf.
+The above-named Rouille is highly praised by St. Simon as a statesman of
+ability and integrity.</div><br />
+
+<div class="footnote"><a name="Footnote_39_41" id="Footnote_39_41"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_39_41"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> <i>Five Years' Residence in the Canadas.</i></div><br />
+
+</div>
+
+
+<br /><br />
+<b>Transcriber's Notes:</b><br />
+original hyphenation, spelling and grammar have been preserved as in
+the original<br />
+various "Denonville" changed to "De Nonville" [Ed. for consistency]<br />
+Page xii, "Fort Missisagga" changed to "Fort Mississauga"<br />
+Page 2, "Lake Superior. 381 miles" changed to "Lake Superior, 381 miles"<br />
+Page 3, "length. the Niagara" changed to "length, the Niagara"<br />
+Page 50, "Fort Mississagua" changed to "Fort Mississauga"<br />
+Page 82, "Albany, N Y" changed to "Albany, N. Y."<br />
+Page 88, "with the nortnerly" changed to "with the northerly"<br />
+Page 95, "made to day." changed to "made to-day."<br />
+Pages 124,126,127 "tight rope" changed to "tight-rope" [Ed. for consistency]<br />
+Page 169, "Raddison" changed to "Radisson"<br />
+Page 179, "Belief to the fame." changed to "Belief to the same."<br />
+Page 187, "Writings, 123-186." changed to "Writings, pp. 123-186."<br />
+Page 210, "Mississaga" changed to "Mississauga"<br />
+Page 262, "this Monuument" changed to "this Monument"<br />
+Page 268, 269, "Scheaffe" changed to "Sheaffe"<br />
+Page 278 plate, "Fort Missisagua" changed to "Fort Mississauga"<br />
+Page 281, "Mississaga" changed to "Mississauga"<br />
+Page 317, "Magazine Royale" changed to "Magazine Royale,"<br />
+Page 317, "MagazineRoyale," changed to "Magazine Royale,"<br />
+Page 317, "see Niagara-on-the Lake" changed to "see Niagara-on-the-Lake"<br />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Niagara River, by Archer Butler Hulbert
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+  </body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Niagara River, by Archer Butler Hulbert
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Niagara River
+
+Author: Archer Butler Hulbert
+
+Release Date: February 7, 2011 [EBook #35194]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NIAGARA RIVER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Marcia Brooks, Ross Cooling and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Canada Team at
+http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This file was produced from
+images generously made available by The Internet
+Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  The
+  Niagara
+  River
+
+  Archer Butler Hulbert
+
+
+
+
+  _By Archer Butler Hulbert_
+
+  The Ohio River
+
+  A Course of Empire
+
+  _Large Octavo, with 100 Full-page Illustrations and a Map. Net, $3.50.
+  By express, prepaid, $3.75_
+
+  The Niagara River
+
+  _Large Octavo, with many Full-page Illustrations and Maps. Net, $3.50.
+  By express, prepaid, $3.75_
+
+
+  G. P. Putnam's Sons
+  New York                  London
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+  The Niagara River
+
+
+  By
+
+  Archer Butler Hulbert
+
+  Professor of American History, Marietta College; Author of "The Ohio
+  River," "Historic Highways of America," "Washington and the West";
+  Editor of "The Crown Collection of American Maps."
+
+
+  With Maps and Illustrations
+
+
+  G. P. Putnam's Sons
+  New York and London
+  The Knickerbocker Press
+  1908
+
+
+
+
+  Copyright, 1908
+  BY
+  G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
+
+
+  The Knickerbocker Press, New York
+
+
+
+
+  TO
+  HENRY CARLTON HULBERT
+  IN
+  APPRECIATION OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND FRIENDSHIP
+  AND AS A TOKEN OF
+  ESTEEM
+
+
+
+
+  Note
+
+
+In the endeavour to gather into one volume a proper description of the
+various interests that centre in and around the Niagara River the author
+of this book felt very sincerely the difficulties of the task before
+him. As the geologic wonder of a continent and the commercial marvel of
+the present century, the Niagara River is one of the most remarkable
+streams in the world. In historic interest, too, it takes rank with any
+American river. To combine, then, into the pages of a single volume a
+proper treatment of this subject would be a task that perhaps no one
+could accomplish satisfactorily.
+
+Works to which the author is most indebted, especially the historical
+writings of Hon. Peter A. Porter, Severance's _Old Trails of the Niagara
+Frontier_, _The Niagara Book_, and the writings of the scholar of the
+old New York frontier, the late O. H. Marshall, and the collections of
+the historical societies along the frontier, are indicated frequently in
+footnotes and in text. The author's particular indebtedness to Mr.
+Porter is elsewhere described; he is also in the debt of F. H. Mautz,
+Henry Guttenstein, Superintendent Edward H. Perry, whose kindness to the
+author was so characteristic of his treatment of all comers to the
+shrine over which he presides, E. O. Dunlap, and many others mentioned
+elsewhere. He has appreciated Mr. Howells's characteristic
+conscientiousness when he wrote concerning Niagara, "I have always had
+to take myself in hand, to shake myself up, to look twice, and recur to
+what I have heard and read of other people's impressions, before I am
+overpowered by it. Otherwise I am simply charmed." The author has
+laboured under the difficulty of attempting to remain "overpowered"
+during a period of several years. That there have been serious lapses
+in the shape of lucid intervals, the critic will find full soon!
+
+It has seemed best to treat of modern Niagara under what might have been
+called "Part I." of this volume. The history of the Niagara region
+proper begins in Chapter VII., the problems of present-day interest
+occupying the preceding six chapters.
+
+  A. B. H.
+
+  Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio,
+  _January 26, 1908_.
+
+
+
+
+  Contents
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                   PAGE
+
+     I.--Buffalo and the Upper Niagara         1
+
+    II.--From the Falls to Lake Ontario       23
+
+   III.--The Birth of Niagara                 52
+
+    IV.--Niagara Bond and Free                72
+
+     V.--Harnessing Niagara Falls             99
+
+    VI.--A Century of Niagara Cranks         123
+
+   VII.--The Old Niagara Frontier            153
+
+  VIII.--From La Salle to De Nonville        171
+
+   IX.--Niagara under Three Flags            196
+
+    X.--The Hero of Upper Canada             231
+
+   XI.--The Second War with England          263
+
+  XII.--Toronto                              292
+
+  Index                                      315
+
+
+
+
+  List of Illustrations
+
+
+                                                          PAGE
+
+  View of Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian Side
+  From a photograph.                        _Frontispiece_
+
+  A Glimpse of Buffalo Harbor                                4
+
+  Lafayette Square                                           8
+
+  St. Paul's Church, Buffalo                                12
+
+  Niagara Falls                                             14
+  From the original painting by Frederick Edwin Church, in
+  Corcoran Gallery.
+
+  The American Rapids                                       16
+
+  The View from Prospect Point                              20
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  Goat Island Bridge and Rapids                             24
+
+  Horseshoe Falls from Below                                26
+
+  "The Shoreless Sea"                                       28
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  Rustic Bridge, Willow Island                              30
+
+  The Cave of the Winds                                     32
+
+  The American Fall                                         36
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  Remains of Stone Piers of the "First Railway in
+  America"--the British Tramway up Lewiston
+  Heights, 1763                                             38
+
+  Amid the Goat Island Group                                40
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian Shore                   44
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  Looking up the Lower Niagara from Paradise Grove          46
+  From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.
+
+  The Mouth of the Gorge                                    48
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  The Whirlpool Rapids                                      50
+
+  The American Fall, July, 1765                             54
+  From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.
+
+  The Horseshoe Fall, July, 1765                            60
+  From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.
+
+  Ice Mountain on Prospect Point                            64
+
+  Cave of the Winds in Winter                               66
+
+  "Maid of the Mist" under Steel Arch Bridge                70
+
+  Beacon on Old Breakwater at Buffalo                       72
+
+  Winter Scene in Prospect Park                             74
+
+  Bath Island, American Rapids, in 1879                     80
+  From New York Commissioners' Report.
+
+  Path to Luna Island                                       86
+
+  Green Island Bridge                                       92
+
+  Bird's-eye View of the Canadian Rapids and Fall          100
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  American Falls from Below                                106
+
+  The Riverside at Willow Island                           118
+
+  Goat Island Bridge, Showing Niagara's Famous Cataract
+  and International Hotels                                 124
+
+  The Path to the Cave of the Winds                        130
+  From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.
+
+  American Falls from Goat Island                          136
+
+  Horseshoe Falls from Goat Island                         142
+
+  Ice Bridge and American Falls                            148
+
+  Colonel Roemer's Map of the Country of the Iroquois,
+  1700                                                     154
+
+  Champlain                                                160
+
+  Map of French Forts in America                           164
+
+  Niagara Falls by Father Hennepin                         166
+  The first known picture of Niagara, dated 1697.
+
+  R. Rene Cavelier, Sieur De La Salle                      172
+
+  Frontenac, from Hebert's Statue at Quebec                178
+
+  Luna Island Bridge                                       184
+
+  "Carte du Lac Ontario." A Specimen French Map
+  of the Niagara Frontier Dated October 4, 1757            190
+  From the original in the British Museum.
+
+  Stones on the Site of Joncaire's Cabin under Lewiston
+  Heights, where the "Magazine Royale" was
+  Erected in 1719                                          198
+
+  Specimen Manuscript Map of Niagara Frontier of
+  Eighteenth Century                                       204
+  From the original in the British Museum.
+
+  A Drawing of Fort Niagara and Environs Showing
+  Plan of English Attack under Johnson                     208
+
+  A Sketch of Fort Niagara and Environs by the
+  French Commander Pouchot Showing Improvements
+  of 1756-1758                                     210 and 211
+
+  Canadian Trapper, from La Potherie                       212
+
+  Youngstown, N. Y., from Paradise Grove                   214
+
+  The Stone Redoubt at Fort Niagara, Built in 1770         216
+  From the original in the British Museum.
+
+  Pfister's Sketch of Fort Niagara and the "Communication."
+  Two Years before the Outbreak
+  of the Revolutionary War                                 220
+
+  Fort Erie and the Mouth of the Niagara, by Pfister,
+  in 1764                                                  226
+  From the original in the British Museum.
+
+  Major-General Brock                                      232
+
+  A Plan of Fort Niagara after English Occupation,
+  by Montresor                                             238
+
+  "Navy Hall Opposite Niagara"                             244
+  A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.
+
+  Queenston and Brock's Monument                           250
+  From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.
+
+  Brock's Monument                                         260
+
+  "Queenston or Landing near Niagara"                      266
+  A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.
+
+  Lieutenant Pierie's Sketch of Niagara, 1768              272
+  From an old print.
+
+  Old View of Fort Mississauga                             278
+
+  Monument at Lundy's Lane                                 284
+
+  Lieutenant-General Simcoe                                294
+
+  "York Harbor"                                            296
+  A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.
+
+  "The Garrison at York"                                   302
+  A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.
+
+  Captain Sowers's Drawings of Fort Niagara, 1769          308
+  From the original in the British Museum.
+
+
+
+
+  The Niagara River
+
+  Chapter I
+
+  Buffalo and the Upper Niagara
+
+
+The Strait of Niagara, or the Niagara River, as it is commonly called,
+ranks among the wonders of the world. The study of this stream is of
+intense and special interest to many classes of people, notably
+historians, archaeologists, botanists, geologists, artists, mechanics,
+and electricians. It is doubtful if there is anywhere another thirty-six
+miles of riverway that can, in this respect, compare with it.
+
+The term "strait" as applied to the Niagara correctly suggests the
+river's historic importance. The expression, recurring in so many of the
+relations of French and English military officers, "on this
+communication" also indicates Niagara's position in the story of the
+discovery, conquest, and occupation of the continent. It is probably the
+Falls which, technically, make Niagara a river; and so, in turn, it is
+the Falls that rendered Niagara an important strategic key of the vast
+waterway stretching from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the head of
+Lake Superior. The lack--so far as it does exist--of historic interest
+in the immediate Niagara region, the comparative paucity of military
+events of magnitude along that stream during the old French and the
+Revolutionary wars proves, on the one hand, what a wilderness separated
+the English on the South from the French on the North, and, on the
+other, how strong "the communication" was between Quebec and the French
+posts in the Middle West. It does not prove that Niagara was the less
+important.
+
+The Falls increased the historic importance of Niagara because it
+limited navigation and made a portage necessary; the purposes of trade
+and missionary enterprise, as well as those of conquest, demanded that
+this point be occupied, and occupation necessarily meant defence. Here,
+from Lewiston and Queenston to Chippewa and Port Day (to use modern
+names) ran the two most famous portage paths of the continent. Here were
+to be seen at one time or another the footprints of as famous explorers,
+noble missionaries, and brave soldiers as ever went to conquest in
+history.
+
+The Niagara River was important in the olden time to every mile of
+territory drained by the waters that flowed through it. What an empire
+to hold in fee! Here lies more than one-half the fresh water of the
+world--the solid contents being, according to Darby
+1,547,011,792,300,000; it would form a solid cubic column measuring
+nearly twenty-two miles on each side.
+
+The most remote body of water tributary to Niagara River is Lake
+Superior, 381 miles long and 161 miles broad with a circumference of
+1150 miles. The Niagara of Lake Superior is the St. Mary's River,
+twenty-seven miles in length, its current very rapid, with water
+flowing over great masses of rock into Lake Huron. Lake Huron is 218
+miles long and 20 miles wider than Lake Superior, but with a
+circumference of only 812 miles. Lake Michigan is 345 miles long and 84
+broad and enters Lake Huron through Mackinaw Straits which are four
+miles in length, with a fall of four feet. In turn Lake Huron empties
+into the St. Clair and Detroit rivers which, with a total fall of eleven
+feet in fifty-one miles, forms the Niagara of Lake Erie. This sheet of
+water is 250 miles long and 60 miles broad at its widest part. The area
+drained by these lakes is as follows, including their own area:
+
+  Lake Superior          85,000 sq. m.
+    "  Huron             74,000    "
+    "  Michigan          70,040    "
+    "  Erie              39,680    "
+                       --------
+        Total           268,720    "
+
+Considering this as a portion of the St. Lawrence drainage, we have the
+marvellous spectacle of a navigable waterway from the St. Louis River,
+Lake Superior, to Cape Gaspe at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, of
+twenty-one hundred miles in length, the Niagara River being paralleled
+to-day by the Welland Canal, and lesser canals affording a passageway
+around the rapids of the St. Mary's in the West and the St. Lawrence in
+the East. In a previous volume in the present series[1] it was seen that
+the improved rivers in the Ohio basin now offered a navigable pathway
+over four thousand miles in length; how insignificant is that prospect
+in view of this great transcontinental waterway two thousand miles in
+length but including the 268,000 square miles in the four great lakes
+alone! Well does George Waldo Browne in his beautiful volume on this
+subject, _The St. Lawrence River_, say:
+
+    Treated in a more extended manner, according to the ideas of the
+    early French geographers, and taking either the river and lake
+    of Nipigon, on the north of Superior, or the river St. Louis,
+    flowing from the south-west, it has a grand total length of over
+    two thousand miles. With its tributaries it drains over four
+    hundred thousand square miles of country, made up of fertile
+    valleys and plateaux inhabited by a prosperous people, desolate
+    barrens, deep forests, where the foot of man has not yet left
+    its imprint.
+
+    Seldom less than two miles in width, it is two and one-half
+    miles wide where it issues from Ontario, and with several
+    expansions which deserve the name of lake it becomes eighty
+    miles in width where it ceases to be considered a river. The
+    influence of the tide is felt as far up as Lake St. Peter, about
+    one hundred miles from the gulf, while it is navigable for
+    sea-going vessels to Montreal, eighty miles farther inland.
+    Rapids impede navigation above this point, but by means of
+    canals continuous communication is obtained to the head of Lake
+    Superior.
+
+    If inferior in breadth to the mighty Amazon, if it lacks the
+    length of the Mississippi, if without the stupendous gorges and
+    cataracts of the Yang-tse-Kiang of China, if missing the ancient
+    castles of the Rhine, if wanting the lonely grandeur that still
+    overhangs the Congo of the Dark Continent, the Great River of
+    Canada has features as remarkable as any of these. It has its
+    source in the largest body of fresh water upon the globe, and
+    among all of the big rivers of the world it is the only one
+    whose volume is not sensibly affected by the elements. In rain
+    or in sunshine, in spring floods or in summer droughts, this
+    phenomenon of waterways seldom varies more than a foot in its
+    rise and fall.
+
+[Illustration: A Glimpse of Buffalo Harbor.]
+
+The history of the Niagara is so closely interwoven with that of the
+great "Queen City of the Lakes," Buffalo, that it would seem as though
+the famous waterway was in the suburb of the city and its greatest
+scenic attraction. However true this is to-day, it was very far from the
+case a century ago, for though the site of Buffalo was historic and
+important, the city, as such, is of comparative recent origin, coming to
+its own with giant strides in those last decades of the nineteenth
+century. Writes Mr. Rowland B. Mahany in his excellent chapter on
+"Buffalo" in _The Historic Towns of the Middle States:_
+
+    Few cities of the United States have a history more picturesque
+    than Buffalo, or more typical of the forces that have made the
+    Republic great. At the time of the adoption of the Federal
+    constitution, in 1787, not a single white settler dwelt on the
+    site of what is now the Queen of the Lakes; and it was not until
+    after the second presidency of Washington, that Joseph Ellicott,
+    the founder of Buffalo, laid out the plan of the town, which he
+    called New Amsterdam.
+
+On February 10, 1810, the "Town of Buffaloe" was created by act of the
+State Legislature, a name originally given to the locality by the Seneca
+Indians, who, we shall see, dominated the old Niagara frontier; it is
+believed that the name came from the animals which visited the
+neighbouring salt licks; and the name therefore may be much older than
+any settlement or even camping site. The village of New Amsterdam was
+now merged into the town of Buffalo, which boasted a newspaper in the
+second year of its existence, 1811. The story of the following years
+falls naturally into that of the disastrous war with England from 1812
+to 1814, in which Buffalo suffered severely. As Mr. Mahany suggests, the
+story of Buffalo is characteristically American, and its phases, as such
+offer an inviting field, but one too wide for full examination in the
+present history.[2]
+
+The important position of the city with reference to the Great Lakes was
+very greatly increased with the building of the Erie Canal from 1817 to
+1825. It is interesting to recall the fact that it was in reality fear
+of the possibility of another war with England that caused the deciding
+vote for the Erie Canal project to be cast in its favour.[3] In the
+proper place we shall have impressed upon us the great distance that
+separated the Niagara frontier from the inhabited portion of the
+Republic at this early period, the great length of the land route and
+the difficulty of it; it was said to be far more than a cannon was worth
+to haul it to the frontier during the War of 1812. All this shows very
+distinctly the early condition surrounding the rise of the metropolis of
+the Niagara country, and, from being strange that little Buffalo did not
+grow faster, it is amazing to find such rapid growth during the first
+twenty-five years of her life.
+
+With the opening of the canal in 1825 a new era dawned; the work of the
+great land companies in north-eastern New York drew vast armies of
+people thither, and the canal proved to be the great route for a much
+longer migration from the seaboard to the further north-west, to
+Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as to neighbouring Ohio. All this helped
+Buffalo. Numbers of travellers arriving at the future site of the Queen
+City of the Lakes at once decided that they could at least go farther
+and fare very much worse, and so sat down to grow up with the Niagara
+frontier. The proximity of the Falls had something to do, of course,
+with bringing increasingly larger numbers of travellers and transients
+to the Lake Erie village. But it was slow work, this building up a great
+city, and no doubt the very fact that the stones of the mighty edifice
+one finds beside that beautiful harbour to-day were laid slowly accounts
+for the solidity of the structure; Buffalo was not built on a boom.
+
+From James L. Barton's reminiscences, for instance, we have clear
+pictures of the early struggle for business in this frontier town, which
+prove it to have been typically American. Mr. Barton owned a line of
+boats on the Lakes and canal but found it very difficult to find freight
+for the boats to carry down the State:
+
+    A few tons of freight [he writes], was all that we could furnish
+    each boat to carry to Albany. This they would take in, and fill
+    up at Rochester, which place, situated in the heart of the
+    wheat-growing district of Western New York, furnished nearly all
+    the down freight that passed on the canal. Thus we lived and
+    struggled on until 1830. Our population had increased largely,
+    and that year numbered six thousand and thirty-one. In the fall
+    of 1831, I received from Cleveland one thousand bushels of
+    wheat. . . . The next winter I made arrangement with the late
+    Colonel Ira A. Blossom, the resident agent of the Holland Land
+    Company, to furnish storage for all the wheat the settlers
+    should bring in, towards the payment on their land contracts
+    with the company. The whole amount did not exceed three thousand
+    bushels. . . . In 1833 the Ohio canal was completed, which gave
+    us a little more business. Northern Ohio was then the only
+    portion of the great West that had any surplus agricultural
+    products to send to an eastern market. In 1833 a little stir
+    commenced in land operations, which increased the next year, and
+    in 1835 became a perfect fever and swallowed up almost
+    everything else. Nearly every person who had any enterprise got
+    rich from buying and selling land; using little money in these
+    transactions, but paying and receiving in pay, bonds and
+    mortgages to an illimitable amount.
+
+In 1837 the panic affected the young lake city as it did all parts of
+the land, but by 1840 the population of Buffalo had swelled to over
+eighteen thousand. The record of growth of the past century is a matter
+of figures strung on the faith of a great company of active,
+enterprising, far-sighted business men, until Buffalo ranks among the
+cities of half a million population, with a future unquestionably secure
+and brilliant.
+
+The Niagara River is some nineteen hundred feet in width at its mouth
+here at Buffalo and forty-eight feet deep; the average rate of current
+here is under six miles per hour, but when south-west gales drive the
+lake billows in gigantic gulps down the river's mouth the current
+sometimes races as fast as twelve miles per hour. Old Fort Erie, built
+here at the mouth of the Niagara immediately after England won the
+continent from France, in 1764, was formerly the only settlement
+hereabouts, Black Rock, now part of Buffalo, at the mouth of the Erie
+Canal, was not settled until near the close of that century. It is
+believed that five forts have guarded the mouth of this strategic river,
+all known as Fort Erie. When the people of the opposite sides of the
+river were in conflict in 1812, Black Rock was the rival of Fort Erie.
+The large black rock which formed the landing-place of the ferry across
+the river here, and which gave the hamlet its name, was destroyed when
+the Erie Canal was built. Black Rock was formally laid out in 1804 and
+in 1853 was incorporated with the city of Buffalo.
+
+[Illustration: Lafayette Square.]
+
+The upper Niagara with its even current and low-lying banks is not
+specially attractive. Grand Island, two miles below the mouth, divides
+the river into two narrow arms. This beautiful island, the Indian name
+of which was Owanunga, so popular to-day as a summering place, is
+remembered in history especially as the site selected in 1825 for Major
+M. M. Noah's "New Jerusalem," the proposed industrial centre of the Jews
+of the New World, but nothing was accomplished on the island itself
+toward the object in view.
+
+At Buffalo, however, Noah took the title "Judge of Israel," and held a
+meeting in the old St. Paul's Church, where remarkable initiatory rites
+took place. In resplendent robes covered by a mantle of crimson silk,
+trimmed with ermine, the Judge held what he termed "impressive and
+unique ceremony," in which he read a proclamation to "all the Jews
+throughout the world," bringing them the glad tidings that on the
+ancient isle Owanunga "an asylum was prepared and offered to them," and
+that he did "revive, renew, and establish (in the Lord's name), the
+government of the Jewish nation, . . . confirming and perpetuating all
+our rights and privileges, our rank and power, among the nations of the
+earth as they existed and were recognised under the government of the
+Judges." Mr. Noah ordered a census of all the Hebrews in the world to be
+taken and did not forget, incidentally, to levy a tax of about one
+dollar and a half on every Jew in order to carry on the project. A
+"foundation stone" was prepared to be erected on the site of the future
+New Jerusalem; the following inscription was engraved upon it:
+
+    Hear, O Israel, the Lord
+  is our God--the Lord is one.
+
+  ARARAT,
+  A CITY OF REFUGE FOR THE JEWS,
+  FOUNDED BY MORDECAI MANUEL NOAH,
+  IN THE MONTH OF TISRI 5586--SEPT. 1825
+  IN THE FIFTIETH YEAR OF
+  AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.
+
+At the lower extremity of Grand Island is historic Burnt Ship Bay, made
+famous, as hereafter related, in the old French War.
+
+The little town of Tonawanda, with its immense lumber interests, and La
+Salle, famous in history as the building site of the _Griffon_,
+elsewhere described, lie opposite Grand Island on the American shore,
+the former at the mouth of Cayuga Creek. On the opposite shore, a little
+below the beautiful Navy Island, is the historic town of Chippewa.
+
+Below Navy Island the river spreads out to a width of over two miles; it
+has fallen twenty feet since leaving Lake Erie, and now gathers into a
+narrower channel for its magnificent rush to the falls one mile below.
+In this mile the river drops fifty-two feet, through what are known as
+the American and Canadian Rapids, on their respective sides of the
+river.
+
+From a scenic standpoint it is questionable whether any of the delights
+of Niagara surpass those afforded by this beautiful series of cascades;
+sightseers are prepared from their earliest days for the magnificent
+beauty of the Falls themselves, but of the Rapids above little is known
+until their insidious charm gradually works its way into the heart to
+remain forever an image of beauty and rapture that cannot be effaced.
+Guide books will give adequate advice as to the best points of vantage
+from which to view the various rifts and cascades.[4]
+
+    Some years ago [writes Mr. Porter], Colin Hunter, then an
+    Associate, now a Royal Academician, came over from London to
+    paint Niagara. Of all the points of view he selected the one as
+    seen up stream from the head of the Little Brother Island. A
+    temporary bridge was built to it, and here, with a guard at the
+    bridge, so as to be secure from intrusion, he painted his grand
+    view, looking up stream. The upper ledge of rocks, with its
+    long, rapid cascade, was his sky-line; in the foreground were
+    the tumbling Rapids; far to the right of the picture the tops of
+    a few trees appearing on the Canada shore above the waters alone
+    showed the presence of any land. We advise . . . the visitor to
+    clamber over the rocks on the Canadian shore of the Island . . .
+    go out as near the water's edge as possible, and you will
+    appreciate the difference that a few feet in a point of
+    observation may make in what is apparently the same scenery.
+    Just before you reach the foot of the island a gnarled cedar
+    tree and a rock, accessible by leaping from stone to stone,
+    gives you access to a point of observation than which there is
+    nothing more beautiful at Niagara. Do not fail to get this view,
+    for it is the Colin Hunter view, as nearly as you can get it,
+    and you will appreciate the artistic sense of the great painter
+    who chose this incomparable view in preference to the Falls
+    themselves for a reproduction of the very best at Niagara.
+
+Another beautiful point from which to view the Rapids is on Terrapin
+Rocks, the so-called scenic and geographical centre of Niagara. Here the
+power of the magnificent river, the "shoreless sea" above you, the
+clouds for its horizon, grows more impressive with every visit. By day
+the sight is marvellously impressive; by night, under some
+circumstances, it is yet more wonderful. Of this night view Margaret
+Fuller wrote, most feelingly:
+
+    After nightfall as there was a splendid moon, I went down to the
+    bridge and leaned over the parapet, where the boiling rapids
+    came down in their might. It was grand, and it was also
+    gorgeous: the yellow rays of the moon made the broken waves
+    appear like auburn tresses twining around the black rocks. But
+    they did not inspire me as before. I felt a foreboding of a
+    mightier emotion to rise up and swallow all others, and I passed
+    on to the Terrapin Bridge. Everything was changed, the misty
+    apparition had taken off its many coloured crown which it had
+    worn by day, and a bow of silvery white spanned its summit. The
+    moonlight gave a poetical indefiniteness to the distant parts of
+    the waters, and while the rapids were glancing in her beams, the
+    river below the Falls was as black as night, save where the
+    reflection of the sky gave it the appearance of a shield of blue
+    steel.
+
+As the Falls of Niagara slowly creep backward in tune to their
+stupendous recessional toward Lake Erie they encroach more and more on
+the magnificent domain of the Rapids, nor will their gradual increase in
+height atone for this savage invasion nor palliate the offence
+committed. A thousand years more, we are told, and the visitor will view
+the "Horseshoe" Fall from the upper end of the Third Sister Island, and
+the marvellous canvas of Colin Hunter will be as meaningless as
+Hennepin's picture of two centuries and more ago. The American Fall,
+receding much more slowly than the Horseshoe Fall, will invade the
+beautiful rapids above Goat Island bridge at a very much later date,
+for, as we shall see, the greater fall recedes almost as many feet per
+year as the lesser recedes inches. And in this connection it is
+interesting to note that if the recession continued to Lake Erie and
+onward into that lake until the line of fall was a mile long at its
+crest, with the water falling 336 feet, Victoria Falls in the Zambesi
+River would still exceed their American rival by sixty-four feet in
+height!
+
+[Illustration: St. Paul's Church, Buffalo.]
+
+The accessibility of the Niagara Rapids, because of the fortunate
+location of the Goat Island group is, in itself, one of the great charms
+of the region, and this may explain in part the insuppressible desire of
+early visitors to reach these glorious points of vantage. The view of
+the rapids from the Goat Island bridge to-day is said to be the source
+of chief pleasure "to half the visitors to Niagara."[5]
+
+George Houghton's beautiful lines on "The Upper Rapids" express with
+fine feeling the effect of these racing cascades on the sensitive mind:
+
+  Still with the wonder of boyhood, I follow the race of the Rapids,
+  Sirens that dance, and allure to destruction,--now lurking in shadows,
+  Skirting the level stillness of pools and the treacherous shallows,
+  Smiling and dimple-mouthed, coquetting,--now modest, now forward;
+
+  Tenderly chanting, and such the thrall of the weird incantation,
+  Thirst it awakes in each listener's soul, a feverish longing.
+  Thoughts all absorbent, a torment that stings and ever increases,
+  Burning ambition to push bare-breast to thy perilous bosom.
+
+  Thus, in some midnight obscure, bent down by the storm of temptation
+  (So hath the wind, in the beechen wood, confided the story).
+  Pine-trees, thrusting their way and trampling down one another,
+  Curious, lean and listen, replying in sobs and in whispers;
+
+  Till of the secret possessed, which brings sure blight to the hearer,
+  (So hath the wind, in the beechen wood, confided the story),
+  Faltering, they stagger brinkward,--clutch at the roots of the grasses,
+  Cry,--a pitiful cry of remorse,--and plunge down in the darkness.
+
+  Art thou all-merciless then,--a fiend, ever fierce for new victims?
+  Was then the red-man right (as yet it liveth in legend),
+  That, ere each twelvemonth circles, still to thy shrine is allotted
+  Blood of one human heart, as sacrifice due and demanded?
+
+  Butterflies have I followed, that leaving the red-top and clover,
+  Thinking a wind-harp thy voice, thy froth the fresh whiteness of daisies,
+  Ventured too close, grew giddy, and catching cold drops on their pinions,
+  Balanced--but vainly,--and falling, their scarlet was blotted forever.
+
+When, about 1880, William M. Hunt was commissioned to decorate the
+immense panels of the Assembly Chamber of the Capitol at Albany, N. Y.,
+he chose, with true artistic feeling, the view of the rapids above Goat
+Island bridge as the choice picture to represent the great marvel and
+chief wonder of the Empire State--Niagara. It is generally conceded that
+Church's _Horseshoe Falls_ takes rank over all other paintings of
+Niagara, but Colin Hunter's _Rapids of Niagara_ excel any other view of
+either the Falls, Gorge, or Rapids on canvas to-day.
+
+[Illustration: Niagara Falls.
+
+From the original painting by Frederick Edwin Church, in Corcoran
+Gallery.]
+
+But we must observe here that these Rapids were something aside from
+beautiful to the French and English officers whose duty it was to
+defend and supply "the communication" from Fort Frontenac to Fort
+Chartres; they probably seemed very "horrid," in the old time sense, to
+those who struggled under the burdens of the ancient portage path. The
+southern termini of the two pathways--one on either side of the
+river--were Chippewa and Port Day, respectively. The route from Lewiston
+to Port Day was evidently the common portage until after the War of 1812
+when the Canadian path was opened. A little below what is known as
+Schlosser Dock stood the French fort guarding this end of their old
+portage path. Fort du Portage or Little Fort Niagara, built about 1750,
+nine years before England conquered the region. Near by stands the one
+famous relic of the old regime, the Old Stone Chimney of Fort du
+Portage, later a chimney of the English mess-house at Fort Schlosser. As
+will be noted later Fort du Portage was destroyed by the retreating
+French, after the capture of Fort Niagara by Sir William Johnson: to
+guard that end of the portage the English under Colonel Schlosser built
+Fort Schlosser in 1761. The road occupying the course of the ancient
+portage does not extend to the river now, but it bears the old name, and
+on it you may see, not half a mile back, outlines of the earthen works
+of one of the eleven block-houses built in 1764 by Captain Montresor the
+first of which was erected on the hill above Lewiston: these
+block-houses guarded the important roadway from the assaults of Indians
+such as the famous Bloody Run Massacre of 1763. Frenchman's Landing is
+the modern name for the cove below the Old Stone Chimney where was the
+terminus of the earliest portage path guarded by the block-house known
+as the first Little Fort Niagara. This whole district is now the site
+of the power-houses and mills that are making Niagara a word to conjure
+with in the centres of trade as certainly as in the ancient day it was a
+mesmeric word in the courts and camps of the Old World.
+
+The thunder of Niagara Falls reaches our ears even amid the music of
+these beautiful Rapids, and we are drawn on to the marvellous group of
+islands that impinge upon the cataract.
+
+[Illustration: The American Rapids.]
+
+What is commonly known as the Goat Island group consists of the island
+of that name, containing some seventy acres of land, and sixteen other
+islands or rocks contiguous thereto. Without undertaking to dispute or
+defend many of the extravagant assertions made in behalf of Goat Island,
+to which have been given the titles "Temple of Nature," "Enchanted
+Isles," "Isle of Beauty," "Shrine of the Deity," "Fairy Isles," etc. it
+would, I think, be difficult to disprove the statement often made that
+no other seventy acres on the continent are more interesting than these
+bearing this homely name. From the standpoint of the artist and
+naturalist this statement would probably pass unquestioned. The views
+already alluded to of the American and Canadian rapids to be gained from
+this delightful vantage point are probably unparalleled. To the botanist
+Goat Island is a paradise. Sir Joseph Hooker affirmed that he found here
+a greater variety of vegetation within a given space than he had found
+in Europe or in America east of the Sierras, and Dr. Asa Gray confirmed
+the extravagant statement. Wrote Frederick Law Olmsted:
+
+    I have followed the Appalachian chain almost from end to end,
+    and travelled on horseback "in search of the picturesque" over
+    four thousand miles of the most promising parts of the continent
+    without finding elsewhere the same quality of forest beauty
+    which was once abundant about the Falls, and which is still to
+    be observed on those parts of Goat Island where the original
+    growth of trees and shrubs has not been disturbed, and where
+    from caving banks trees are not now exposed to excessive dryness
+    at the root.
+
+In a report, prepared by David F. Day for the New York State Reservation
+Commissioners, we find explained, in part, the notable fertility of this
+little plot of ground, although the oft-returning misty rain from the
+Falls, and the fact that Goat Island never experiences the dangers of a
+"forward" spring have much to do in preserving its beautiful robe of
+colours:
+
+    A calcareous soil enriched with an abundance of organic matter
+    like that of Goat Island would necessarily be one of great
+    fertility. For the growth and sustentation of a forest and of
+    such plants as prefer the woods to the openings it would far
+    excel the deep and exhaustless alluvians of the prairie states.
+
+    It would be difficult to find within another territory so
+    restricted in its limits so great a diversity of trees and
+    shrubs and still more difficult to find in so small an area such
+    examples of arboreal symmetry and perfection as the island has
+    to exhibit.
+
+    The island received its flora from the mainland, in fact the
+    botanist is unable to point out a single instance of tree,
+    shrub, or herb, now growing upon the island not also to be found
+    upon the mainland. But the distinguishing characteristic of its
+    flora is not the possession of any plant elsewhere unknown, but
+    the abundance of individuals and species, which the island
+    displays. There are to be found in Western New York about 170
+    species of trees and shrubs. Goat Island and the immediate
+    vicinity of the river near the Falls can show of these no less
+    than 140. There are represented on the island four maples, three
+    species of thorn, two species of ash, and six species,
+    distributed in five genera, of the cone-bearing family. The one
+    species of basswood belonging to the vicinity is also there.
+
+Mr. Day has a catalogue of plants in his report to the Reservation
+Commissioners, giving 909 species of plants to be found on the
+Reservation, of which 758 are native and 151 foreign. Wrote Margaret
+Fuller:
+
+    The beautiful wood on Goat Island is full of flowers, many of
+    the fairest love to do homage there. The wake robin and the May
+    apple are in bloom, the former white, pink, green, purple,
+    copying the rainbow of the Falls, and fit it for its presiding
+    Deity when He walks the land, for they are of imperial size and
+    shaped like stones for a diadem. Of the May apple I did not
+    raise one green tent without finding a flower beneath.
+
+Explaining the climatic advantages of the island Mr. Olmsted remarks:
+
+    First, the masses of ice which every winter are piled to a great
+    height below the Falls and the great rushing body of ice cold
+    water coming from the northern lakes in the spring prevent at
+    Niagara the hardship under which trees elsewhere often suffer
+    through sudden checks to premature growth. And second, when
+    droughts elsewhere occur, as they do every few years, of such
+    severity that trees in full foliage droop and dwindle and even
+    sometimes cast their leaves, the atmosphere at Niagara is more
+    or less moistened by the constantly evaporating spray of the
+    Falls, and in certain situations bathed by drifting clouds of
+    spray.
+
+It is a very irony of fate that this marvellous gem among the islands of
+earth could not bear a name befitting its place in the admiration and
+esteem of a world; it was, I believe, Judge Porter himself that named
+this beautiful spot "Iris Island," a name altogether fitting in both
+wealth of suggestion and beauty of association. One John Steadman,
+remembered as a contractor to widen the old portage path from Lewiston
+to Fort Schlosser, and former owner of the island under a "Seneca
+patent," planted some turnips here, we are told, in the year 1770 A.D.,
+and in the following autumn placed here "a number of animals, among them
+a male goat," to get them out of the reach of the bears and wolves that
+infested the neighbouring shore near his home two miles up the river. In
+the spring of 1771 it was found that the severe winter had been too much
+for all but the "male goat," who, unfortunately, survived the ordeal,
+and by so doing bids fair to hand his name down through the centuries
+attached to the most beautiful island in the world. In the Treaty of
+Ghent, which set our boundary line here, the island bears the name
+"Iris." Mr. Porter has stated that even if it were desirable to change
+the name now "it would seem impossible now to do so."[6] Is this the
+truth? Could not the commissioners who have the matters in hand do a
+great deal toward inaugurating a change to the old official name that
+would in the long run prove effective? The present writer is most
+positive that this could be done and that it is a thing that ought
+certainly to be attempted immediately. It would be surprising how much
+the change would be favoured if once attempted, if guide books and maps
+followed the new nomenclature. The only possible satisfaction that one
+can have in the present name is in the horrifying reflection that if the
+male goat had died the island would probably have been "Turnip Island"
+if not "Colic Island."
+
+Below the islands resound the Falls. Perhaps there is no better method
+of describing this almost indescribable wonder than by taking the
+familiar walk about them beginning at the common point of commencement,
+Prospect Point.
+
+[Illustration: The View from Prospect Point.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+It is important on visiting the Falls for the first time to obtain as
+good a view as possible, as the first view comes but once. Many are
+somewhat disappointed with it, since from a distance the Falls give the
+idea of a long low wall of water, their great height being offset by
+their great breadth of almost a mile. The best view is from the top of
+the bank on the Canadian side; but as most of the tourists reach the
+American side first it is from this standpoint that most visitors gain
+their first impression. No better vantage ground can be gained on the
+American side than Prospect Point. Here, placed at the northern end of
+the American cataract, is the best position to make a study of the
+geography of Niagara. Stretching from your feet along the line of sight
+extends the American Fall to a distance of 1060 feet. At the other side
+of the American Fall is the Goat Island group. This group stretches
+along the cliff for a distance of 1300 feet more. Beyond this extends
+the line of the Horseshoe Fall for a further distance of 3010 feet,
+making in all a total of slightly over a mile. To the right, down the
+river is the gorge which Niagara has been chiseling and scouring for
+unnumbered centuries; this chasm extends almost due north for a distance
+of seven miles to Lewiston. Down the gorge the gaze is uninterrupted for
+a distance of nearly two miles, almost to the Whirlpool where the river
+turns abruptly to the left on entering this whirling maelstrom, issuing
+again almost at right angles to continue its mad plunges. To the left,
+up the river lie the American Rapids, where the water rushes on in its
+madness to hurl its volume over the 160 feet of precipice and into the
+awful chasm below. Just below Prospect Point and somewhat higher in
+altitude than it, is what has been called Hennepin's View, so named
+after Father Hennepin, who gave the first written description of the
+Niagara. Here one sees not only the Horseshoe Fall in the foreground, as
+at Prospect Point, but the American Fall also, which lies several feet
+lower than our point of vantage.
+
+Proceeding up the river the next point of interest reached is the steel
+bridge to Goat Island. The first bridge to this island was constructed
+by Judge Porter in 1817 about forty rods above the site of the present
+one. In the spring of the next year this bridge was swept away by the
+large cakes of ice coming down the river. It was rebuilt at its present
+site, its projector judging that the added descent of the rapids would
+so break up the ice as to eliminate any danger to the structure; and the
+results proved his theory true. This structure stood until 1855 when its
+place was taken by a steel arch bridge, which served the public until
+1900. In that year the present structure authorised by the State of New
+York took its place.
+
+Looking upon this structure, one wonders how the foundations could
+possibly have been laid in such an irresistible current of water. First,
+two of the largest trees to be found in the vicinity were cut down and
+hewn flat on two sides. A level platform was erected on the shore at the
+water's edge and on this the hewn logs were placed about eight feet
+apart, supported on rollers with their shore ends heavily weighted with
+stone. These logs were then run as far out over the river as possible,
+and a man walked out on each one armed with an iron pointed staff. On
+finding a crevice in the rock forming the bottom of the river, these
+staffs were driven firmly into the rock and then lashed to the ends of
+the timbers, thus forming a stay to them and furnishing the means
+necessary for beginning the construction of the crib. The timbers were
+planked, and the same process was pursued until the island was reached.
+
+While the second bridge was under construction, the famous Indian
+chieftain and orator, Red Jacket, visited the Falls. The old veteran is
+said to have sat for a long time watching the process of bridging the
+angry waters, the transforming power of the white man at work,
+conquering a force which to him appeared more than able to baffle all
+the ingenuity of man. On being asked by a bystander what he thought of
+the work of construction he seemed mortified that the white man's hand
+should so desecrate these sacred waters; folding his blanket slowly
+about him, with his eyes fixed upon the works, he is said to have given
+forth the stereotyped Indian grunt, adding "D----n Yankee!"
+
+Upon this bridge we find one of the best positions, as we have noted,
+from which to view the Rapids. From the point of their beginning, about
+a mile above the Falls to the crest of the cliff the descent is over
+fifty feet. Here, standing upon what seems in comparison but a frail
+structure, one can realise the grandeur of the Rapids. In the terrible
+race they seem to be trying to tear away the piers of the bridge which
+are fretting their current.
+
+[Footnote 1: _The Ohio River; A Course of Empire_, p. 359.]
+
+[Footnote 2: Frank H. Severance in his delightful _Old Trails of the
+Niagara Frontier_ has several most interesting chapters relating to the
+Buffalo neighbourhood. Mr. Severance has done, through the Buffalo
+Historical Society, much good work in keeping warm the affection of the
+present generation for the memory of the past, its heroes and its
+sacrifices.]
+
+[Footnote 3: See A. B. Hulbert, _The Great American Canals_, vol. ii.,
+p. 111.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Congressman Peter A. Porter's Guide Book may be recommended
+highly; its use to the present writer, taken in addition to its author's
+personal assistance and advice, must be acknowledged in the most
+unreserved way. Numerous references to Mr. Porter's various monographs,
+especially his _Old Fort Niagara_ and _Goat Island_, in addition to his
+Guide, will be met with frequently in this volume. To one really
+interested in Niagara history _Old Fort Niagara_ will be found most
+attractive and comprehensive; its numerous references to authorities put
+it quite in a class by itself among local histories.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Frederick Almy in _The Niagara Book_, p. 51. This volume
+has been of perennial interest to the author because of the
+contributions of the venerable William Dean Howells and E. S. Martin. No
+one who in early life has essayed the life of journalist and
+correspondent can read Mr. Howells's article in this little book without
+immense relish: its humour is contagious, and its descriptions of
+Niagara in 1860, fascinating.]
+
+[Footnote 6: _Goat Island_, p. 28. This most interesting pamphlet by Mr.
+Porter will be found quite a complete guide to a study of Niagara Falls,
+and is most worthy the perusal of those who care to examine more than
+the mere surface of things at Niagara.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter II
+
+  From the Falls to Lake Ontario
+
+
+These American rivers of ours have their messages, historical, economic,
+and social, to both reader and loiterer. And, too, are not these streams
+so very much alive that through the years their personalities remain
+practically unchanged, while generations of loiterers come and go on
+forever? Are not the eccentricities of these great living forces forever
+recurrent, however whimsical they may seem, to us as we stop for our
+brief instant at the shore?
+
+The word Niagara stands to-day representing power; the most common
+metaphor used, perhaps, to represent perpetual irresistible force is
+found in the name Niagara. Now it is admitted that nothing is more
+interesting than to observe the contradictions noticeable in most strong
+personalities. View the Niagara from this personal standpoint. I think
+its most attractive features may be summed up in a catalogue of its
+eccentric contradictions. It is famous as a waterfall, yet its greatest
+beauty is to be found in its smallest rapids. Its thundering fall
+outrivals all other sounds of Nature, yet you can hear a sparrow sing
+when the spray of the torrent is drenching you; the "noise" of Niagara
+is often spoken of as the greatest sound ever heard, yet most of the
+cataract's music has never been heard because it is pitched too low for
+human ears. Niagara's Whirlpool is a placid, mirrored lake compared to
+the rapids above and below it and brings from the lips of the majority
+of sightseers, looking only at the surface of things, words of
+disappointment. The great message and influence of the foaming cataract
+and rapids and terrible pool, to all awake to the finer meanings, as has
+been so beautifully brought out by Mr. Howells, should be one of
+singular repose. The louder the music the more certain the strange
+influence of this message of quiet and calm.
+
+Take, for instance, what is so commonly called the roar of Niagara, but
+which ought to be known as the music of Niagara, first at the Rapids and
+then the Falls.
+
+There is sweet music in Niagara's lesser rapids. Mrs. Schuyler Van
+Rensselaer observes, most felicitously:
+
+    It is a great and mighty noise, but it is not, as Hennepin
+    thought, an "outrageous noise." It is not a roar. It does not
+    drown the voice or stun the ear. Even at the actual foot of the
+    falls it is not oppressive. It is much less rough than the sound
+    of heavy surf--steadier, more homogeneous, less metallic, very
+    deep and strong, yet mellow and soft; soft, I mean, in its
+    quality. As to the noise of the rapids, there is none more
+    musical. It is neither rumbling nor sharp. It is clear,
+    plangent, silvery. It is so like the voice of a steep
+    brook--much magnified, but not made coarser or more harsh--that,
+    after we have known it, each liquid call from a forest hillside
+    will seem, like the odour of grapevines, a greeting from
+    Niagara. It is an inspiriting, an exhilarating sound, like
+    freshness, coolness, vitality itself made audible. And yet it is
+    a lulling sound. When we have looked out upon the American
+    rapids for many days, it is hard to remember contented life amid
+    motionless surroundings; and so, when we have slept beside them
+    for many nights, it is hard to think of happy sleep in an empty
+    silence.
+
+[Illustration: Goat Island Bridge and Rapids.]
+
+A most original and interesting study of the music of the great Falls
+was made some years ago in a more or less technical way by Eugene
+Thayer.[7] It had been this gentleman's theory that Niagara had never
+been heard as it should be heard, and his mission at the cataract was
+accomplished when there met his ears, not the "roar," but, rather, a
+perfectly constructed musical tone, clear, definite, and unapproachable
+in its majestic proportions; in fact Mr. Thayer affirms that the trained
+ear at Niagara should hear "a complete series of tones, all uniting in
+one grand and noble unison, as in the organ, and all as easily
+recognisable as the notes of any great chord in music." He had heard it
+rumoured that persons had been known to secure a pitch of the tone of
+Niagara; he essayed to secure not only the pitch of the chief or ground
+tone, but that of all accessory or upper tones otherwise known as
+harmonic or overtones, together with the beat or accent of the Falls and
+its rhythmical vibrations.
+
+    All the tones above the ground tone have been named overtones or
+    harmonics; the tones below are called the subharmonics, or
+    undertones. It will be noticed that they form the complete
+    natural harmony of the ground tone. What is the real pitch of
+    this chord? According to our regular musical notation, the
+    fourth note given represents the normal pitch of diapason; the
+    reason being that the eight-foot tone is the only one that gives
+    the notes as written. According to nature, I must claim the
+    first, or lowest note, as the real or ground tone. In this
+    latter way I shall represent the true tone or pitch of Niagara.
+
+    How should I prove all this? My first step was to visit the
+    beautiful Iris Island, otherwise known as Goat Island. Donning a
+    suit of oilcloth and other disagreeable loose stuff, I followed
+    the guide into the Cave of the Winds. Of course, the sensation
+    at first was so novel and overpowering that the question of
+    pitch was lost in one of personal safety. Remaining here a few
+    minutes, I emerged to collect my dispersed thoughts. After
+    regaining myself, I returned at once to the point of beginning,
+    and went slowly in again (alone), testing my first question of
+    pitch all the way; that is, during the approach, while under the
+    fall, while emerging, and while standing some distance below the
+    face of the fall, not only did I ascertain this (I may say in
+    spite of myself, for I could hear but one pitch), but I heard
+    and sang clearly the pitch of all the harmonic or accessory
+    tones, only of course several octaves higher than their actual
+    pitch. Seven times have I been under these singing waters
+    (always alone except the first time), and the impression has
+    invariably been the same, so far as determining the tone and its
+    components. I may be allowed to withhold the result until I
+    speak of my experience at the Horseshoe Fall, and the American
+    Fall proper--it being scarcely necessary to say that the Cave of
+    the Winds is under the smaller cascade, known as the Central
+    Fall.
+
+    My next step was to stand on Luna Island, above the Central
+    Fall, and on the west side of the American Fall proper. I went
+    to the extreme eastern side of the island, in order to lose as
+    far as possible the sound of the Central Fall, and get the full
+    force of the larger Fall. Here were the same great ground tone
+    and the same harmonics, differing only somewhat in pitch.
+
+    I then went over to the Horseshoe Fall and sat among the Rapids.
+    There it was again, only slightly higher in pitch than on the
+    American side. Not then knowing the fact, I ventured to assert
+    that the Horseshoe Fall was less in height, by several feet,
+    than the American Fall; the actual difference is variously given
+    at from six to twelve feet. Next I went to the Three Sister
+    Islands, and here was the same old story. The higher harmonics
+    were mostly inaudible from the noise of the Rapids, but the same
+    two low notes were ringing out clear and unmistakable. In fact,
+    wherever I was I could not hear anything else! There was no roar
+    at all, but the same grand diapason--the noblest and completest
+    one on earth! I use the word completest advisedly, for nothing
+    else on earth, not even the ocean, reaches anywhere near the
+    actual depth of pitch, or makes audible to the human ear such a
+    complete and perfect harmonic structure.
+
+[Illustration: Horseshoe Falls from Below.]
+
+Remembering always that the actual pitch is four octaves lower, here are
+the notes which form this matchless diapason:
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Mrs. Van Rensselaer tells us there is yet another music at Niagara that
+must be listened for only on quiet nights. It is like the music of an
+orchestra so very far away that its notes are attenuated to an
+incredible delicacy and are intermittently perceived, as though wafted
+to us on variable zephyrs.
+
+    It is the most subtle, the most mysterious music in the world.
+    What is its origin? Such fairy-like sounds are not to be
+    explained. Their appeal is to the imagination only. They are so
+    faint, so far away, that they almost escape the ear, as the
+    lunar bow and the fluted tints of the American Fall almost
+    escape the eye. And yet we need not fear to lose them, for they
+    are as real as the deep bass of the cataracts.
+
+Whether it be the resounding waterfall producing this wondrous harmony
+of the floods, or the most charming choral of the Rapids, the music of
+Niagara on the mind properly adjusted and attuned must create a most
+profound impression of repose. The exception to this rule, most
+terrible to contemplate, is certainly to be found in the cases of the
+unfortunates whose minds are so distraught or unbalanced that this same
+call of the waters acts like poison and lures them to death.
+
+    I still think [wrote Mr. Howells in his most delightful sketch,
+    _Niagara, First and Last_] that, above and below the Falls, the
+    Rapids are the most striking features of the spectacle. At least
+    you may say something about them, compare them to something;
+    when you come to the cataract itself you can say nothing; it is
+    incomparable. My sense of it first, and my sense of it last, was
+    not a sense of the stupendous, but a sense of beauty, of
+    serenity, of repose.
+
+In her beautiful description, given elsewhere in our story, Margaret
+Fuller explains the effect of the Rapids by moonlight on the heart of
+one who, during the day, had passed through the familiar throb of
+disappointment in the great spectacle at Niagara.
+
+Now I take it one must see in Niagara this element of repose or find in
+it something less than was hoped for. To one who expects an ocean
+pouring from the moon, a rush of wind and foam like that to be met with
+only in the Cave of the Winds, there is bound to come that common
+feeling that the fact is not equal to the picture imagination had
+previously created. Take the Whirlpool; seen from the heights above, it
+
+    has that effect of sculpturesque repose [writes Mr. Howells],
+    which I have always found the finest thing in the Cataract
+    itself. From the top the circling lines of the Whirlpool seemed
+    graven in a level of chalcedony. . . . I have no impression to
+    impart except this sense of its worthy unity with the Cataract
+    in what I may call its highest aesthetic quality, its repose.[8]
+
+[Illustration: "The Shoreless Sea."
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+All this is most impressively true of the central wonder of the entire
+spectacle, the Falls themselves. That mighty flood of water, reborn as
+it dies, forms a marvellous spectacle. Writes Mrs. Schuyler Van
+Rensselaer:
+
+    Very soon we realise that Niagara's true effect is an effect of
+    permanence. Many as are its variations, it never alters. It
+    varies because light and atmosphere alter. Tremendous movement
+    thus pauseless and unmodified gives, of course, a deeper
+    impression of durability than the most imposing solids. . . . As
+    soon as this fact is felt, the Falls seem to have been created
+    as a voucher for the permanence of all the world.[9]
+
+But how conform this repose and spirit of permanency with the echoing
+tones of that never-ending, never-satisfied dominant chord? How
+reconcile the repose of those dropping billows with the tantalising
+unrest of that for ever incomplete, unfinished recessional that has been
+playing down this gorge since, perhaps, darkness brooded over the
+deep--that seems to await its fulfilment in the thunders of Sinai at
+that Last Day?
+
+And what could be more human than this in any river--a seeming calm with
+over it all a never-ending cry of unrest, of wonder, of unsatisfied
+longing never to find repose until in that far resting-place of which
+Augustine thought when he wrote:
+
+  Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.
+
+Across the American Rapids lies the Goat Island group which divides the
+waters into the two falls. Goat Island is about half a mile long and
+half as wide at its broadest part, but slopes to a point at its eastern
+extremity. Its area is about seventy acres. Besides this there are a
+number of smaller islands and rocks varying in diameter from four
+hundred feet to ten feet. Of these smaller islands five are connected
+with Goat Island by bridges, as are also the Terrapin Rocks.
+
+At the end of the first bridge is situated Green Island, named after the
+first president of the Board of Commissioners of the New York
+Reservation. The former name was Bath Island because of the "old
+swimming hole"--the only place where one could dip in the fierce current
+of Niagara without danger. Just a short distance above Green Island are
+two small patches of land called Ship Island and Bird Island from
+supposed resemblances to these objects in general contour, the tall
+leafless trees in winter supposed to be suggestive of masts. These
+islands were formerly both connected with Goat Island by bridges; one,
+known as "Lover's Bridge," from its romantic name was so greatly
+patronised that both bridges were destroyed by the owners on account of
+danger.
+
+On Green Island formerly stood the immense Porter paper-mill, which not
+only contributed its own ugliness to the beautiful prospect but also ran
+out into the current long gathering dams for the purpose of collecting
+water. All this was removed when the State of New York assumed control.
+
+Passing from the bridge and ascending the steps which lead to the top of
+the bank, the shelter house is reached. All around and, in fact,
+covering nearly all the island, is the primeval forest in its ancient
+splendour--fit companion of the Falls, which defy the puny power of man.
+
+[Illustration: Rustic Bridge, Willow Island.]
+
+Occasional glimpses of the river may be had through the dense foliage as
+one proceeds to Stedman Bluff, where one of the grandest panoramas to
+be seen anywhere on earth bursts upon the view. Here one appreciates the
+beauty of the American Fall better than at Prospect Point. Turning
+towards the American shore stone steps lead down to the water's edge,
+and thence a small bridge spans the stream separating Goat Island and
+Luna Island, so called from the fact that it has been considered the
+best place from which to view the lunar bow. The small stream dividing
+these islands in its plunge over the precipice forms the "Cave of the
+Winds." Half-way across Luna Island is to be seen a large rock on whose
+face have been carved by an unknown hand the following lines:
+
+  All is change.
+  Eternal progress.
+  No Death!
+
+The author of the sentiment is unknown, but no one has more truly voiced
+the spirit of the great cataract. From the edge of the cliff on Luna
+Island is to be obtained the finest view down the gorge. Along the front
+of the American Fall are to be seen the immense masses of wave-washed
+rocks which have fallen from the cliff above. From rock to rock stretch
+frail wooden bridges, the more important of which lead to the cave.
+
+Luna Island is the last point which one can reach from Goat Island
+toward the American shore. Proceeding toward the Canadian Fall, one
+reaches at a short distance the Biddle Stairs. Here a break in the
+foliage reveals a grand view down the gorge with the Canadian Fall
+directly in front. A stairway leads to a wooden building down which runs
+a spiral stairway to the rocks below. This stairway received its name
+from Nicholas Biddle, of old National Bank fame, who proposed this
+means of reaching the rocks below and offered a contribution for its
+construction. The offer was rejected, but his name was given to the
+structure. A trip to the rocks below this point is well worth while,
+difficult though it be; the descent of the spiral stairway is eighty
+feet. Turning to the right one comes out upon a ledge of rock with the
+roaring waters below and the line of the cliff above, along the top of
+which objects appear at only half their real size. Passing around a
+short curve there bursts upon one's view the fall which forms the Cave
+of the Winds--a most beautiful sheet of water. The passage of the cave
+can hardly be described by the pen. Here one is assailed on all sides by
+fierce storms and clouds of angry spray. The cave seems at first dark
+and repelling, for in this maddening whirl of wind and water one is at
+first almost blinded; but as soon as the eye becomes accustomed to the
+darkness, it can follow the graceful curve of the water to where it
+leaves the cliff above. The dark, forbidding, terraced rocks are seen
+dripping with water. The passage of the cave is too exciting to be
+essayed by persons with weak hearts, but the return across the rocks in
+front of it on a bright day is genuinely inspiring. Here the symbol of
+promise is brought down within one's very reach; above, around, on all
+sides are to be seen colours rivalling the conception of any
+artist--whole circles of bows, quarter circles, half circles, here
+within one's very grasp. The far fabled pot of gold is here a boiling,
+seething mass of running, shimmering silver. If possible, more glorious
+than all else, up above, along the sky-line, there appears the shining
+crest of the American Fall, glimmering in the sunlight like the silvery
+range of some snow-covered mountains.
+
+[Illustration: The Cave of the Winds.]
+
+In size the cave is about one hundred feet wide, a hundred feet deep,
+and about one hundred and sixty feet high. At one point in the cave, on
+a bright day, by standing in the very edge of the spray, one becomes the
+centre of a complete circle of rainbows, an experience probably
+unequalled elsewhere.
+
+About half-way between the stairway and the cave is the point from
+which, in 1829, Sam Patch made his famous leap, elsewhere described.
+
+On the side of the Horseshoe Fall is to be found a fine position from
+which to view the mighty force of the greater mass of waters. For some
+distance along the front of the fall immense masses of rock have
+accumulated. The trip over these rocks is fraught with danger and is
+taken by very few. For those who care to take the risk, the sight is
+well worth the effort. Just above at the crest are Terrapin Rocks, where
+formerly stood Terrapin Tower. Professor Tyndall went far out beyond the
+line of Terrapin Rocks to a point which has been reached by very few of
+the millions of visitors to this shrine. Passing along the cliff toward
+Canada, Porter's Bluff is soon reached, which furnishes one of the
+grandest views of the Horseshoe Fall. Fifty years ago, from this point
+one could see the whole line of the graceful curve of the Horseshoe;
+since that time the rapid erosion in the middle of the river (where the
+volume is greatest) has destroyed almost all trace of what the name
+suggests. The sides meet now at a very acute angle, the old contour
+having been entirely destroyed.
+
+One of the most interesting experiments conducted under these great
+masses of falling water was essayed by the well-known English traveller
+Captain Basil Hall in 1827. It seems that Babbage and Herschel had said
+that there was reason to expect a change of elastic pressure in the air
+near a waterfall. Bethinking himself of the opportunity of testing this
+theory at Niagara during his American tour, Captain Hall secured a
+mountain barometer of most delicate workmanship for this specific
+purpose. In a letter to Professor Silliman the experimenter described
+his experience as follows, the question being of interest to every one
+who has attempted to breathe when passing behind any portion of this
+wall of falling water:
+
+    I think you told me that you did not enter this singular cave on
+    your late journey, which I regret very much, because I have no
+    hope of being able to describe it to you. In the whole course of
+    my life, I never encountered anything so formidable in
+    appearance; and yet, I am half ashamed to say so, I saw it
+    performed by many other people without emotion, and it is daily
+    accomplished by ladies, who think they have done nothing
+    remarkable.
+
+    You are perhaps aware that it is a standing topic of controversy
+    every summer by the company at the great hotels near the Falls,
+    whether the air within the sheet of water is condensed or
+    rarefied. I have therefore a popular motive as well as a
+    scientific one, in conducting this investigation, and the
+    result, I hope, will prove satisfactory to the numerous persons
+    who annually visit Niagara.
+
+    As a first step I placed the barometer at a distance of about
+    150 feet from the extreme western end of the Falls, on a flat
+    rock as nearly as possible on a level with the top of the
+    "talus" or bank of shingle lying at the base of the overhanging
+    cliff, from which the cataract descends. This station was about
+    30 perpendicular feet above the pool basin into which the water
+    falls.
+
+    The mercury here stood at 29.68 inches. I then moved the
+    instrument to another rock within 10 or 12 feet of the edge of
+    the fall, where it was placed, by means of a levelling
+    instrument, exactly at the same height as in the first instance.
+
+    It still stood at 29.68 and the only difference I could observe
+    was a slight continuous vibration of about two or three
+    hundredths of an inch at intervals of a few seconds.
+
+    So far, all was plain sailing; for, though I was soundly ducked
+    by this time, there was no particular difficulty in making these
+    observations. But within the sheet of water, there is a violent
+    wind, caused by the air carried down by the falling water, and
+    this makes the case very different. Every stream of falling
+    water, as you know, produces more or less a blast of this
+    nature; but I had no conception that so great an effect could
+    have been produced by this cause.
+
+    I am really at a loss how to measure it, but I have no
+    hesitation in saying that it exceeds the most furious squall or
+    gust of wind I have ever met with in any part of the world. The
+    direction of the blast is generally slanting upwards, from the
+    surface of the pool, and is chiefly directed against the face of
+    the cliff, which being of a friable, shaly character, is
+    gradually eaten away so that the top of the precipice now
+    overhangs the base 35 or 40 feet and in a short time I should
+    think the upper strata will prove too weak for the enormous load
+    of water, which they bear, when the whole cliff will tumble
+    down.
+
+    These vehement blasts are accompanied by floods of water, much
+    more compact than the heaviest thunder shower, and as the light
+    is not very great the situation of the experimenter with a
+    delicate barometer in his hand is one of some difficulty.
+
+    By the assistance of the guide, however, who proved a steady and
+    useful assistant, I managed to set the instrument up within a
+    couple of feet of the "termination rock" as it is called, which
+    is at the distance of 153 feet from the side of the waterfall
+    measured horizontally along the top of the bank of shingle. This
+    measurement, it is right to mention, was made a few days
+    afterward by Mr. Edward Deas-Thompson of London, the guide, and
+    myself with a graduated tape.
+
+    While the guide held the instrument firmly down, which required
+    nearly all his force, I contrived to adjust it, so that the
+    spirit level on the top indicated that the tube was in the
+    perpendicular position. It would have been utterly useless to
+    have attempted any observation without this contrivance. I then
+    secured all tight, unscrewed the bag, and allowed the mercury to
+    subside; but it was many minutes before I could obtain even a
+    tolerable reading, for the water flowed over my brows like a
+    thick veil, threatening to wash the whole affair, philosophers
+    and all, into the basin below. I managed, however, after some
+    minutes' delay to make a shelf or spout with my hand, which
+    served to carry the water clear of that part of the instrument
+    which I wished to look at and also to leave my eyes
+    comparatively free. I now satisfied myself by repeated trials
+    that the surface of the mercurial column did not rise higher
+    than 29.72. It was sometimes at 29.70 and may have vibrated two
+    or three hundredths of an inch. This station was about 10 or 12
+    feet lower than the external ones and therefore I should have
+    expected a slight rise in the mercury; but I do not pretend to
+    have read off the scale to any great nicety, though I feel quite
+    confident of having succeeded in ascertaining that there was no
+    sensible difference between the elasticity of the air at the
+    station on the outside of the Falls and that, 153 feet within
+    them.
+
+    I now put the instrument up and having walked back towards the
+    mouth of this wonderful cave about 30 feet, tried the experiment
+    again. The mercury stood now at 29.68, or at 29.70 as near as I
+    could observe it. On coming again into the open air I took the
+    barometer to one of the first stations, but was much
+    disappointed though I cannot say surprised to observe it full of
+    air and water and consequently for the time quite destroyed.
+
+    My only surprise, indeed, was that under such circumstances the
+    air and water were not sooner forced in. But I have no doubt
+    that the two experiments on the outside as well as the two
+    within the sheet of water were made by the instrument when it
+    was in a correct state: though I do not deny that it would have
+    been more satisfactory to have verified this by repeating the
+    observations at the first station.
+
+    On mentioning these results to the contending parties in the
+    controversy, both asked me the same question, "How then do you
+    account for the difficulty in breathing which all persons
+    experience who go behind the sheet of water?" To which I
+    replied: "That if any one were exposed to the spouts of half a
+    dozen fire engines playing full in his face at the distance of a
+    few yards, his respiration could not be quite free, and for my
+    part I conceived that this rough discipline would be equally
+    comfortable in other respects and not more embarrassing to the
+    lungs than the action of the blast and falling water behind this
+    amazing cataract."
+
+[Illustration: The American Fall.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+It is almost impossible to conceive of the immense mass of water
+tumbling over this precipice. It has been estimated in tons, cubic feet,
+and horse-power, but the figures are so large as to stagger the human
+mind. Out there at the apex of the angle, the water, over twenty feet
+deep, is drawn from almost half a continent, forming a picture to make
+one's nerves thrill with awe and delight, where the international
+boundary line swings back and forth as the apex of the angle formed
+sways from side to side.
+
+Just off the shore of the island are seen Terrapin Rocks. Why this name
+was applied is uncertain. These rocks are scattered in the flood to the
+very brink of the fall and in the titanic struggle with the rush of
+waters seem hardly able to maintain their position. Upon these rocks on
+the very brink of the Falls in 1833 was erected, by Judge Porter,
+Terrapin Tower, for many years one of the centres visited by every
+person journeying to the Falls. From its summit could be seen the wild
+rapids rushing on toward the precipice; below shimmering green of the
+fall. Down, far down, in the depths beneath was the boiling, seething
+caldron, from which arose beautiful columns of spray. From this
+position, forty-five feet above the surface of the water, probably a
+more comprehensive view of the many features of Niagara could be
+obtained than from any other point. Forty years later it was blown up,
+not because it was unsafe, as alleged, but that it might not prove a
+rival attraction to Prospect Point. Recently suggestions have been made
+looking toward the restoration of this ancient landmark, but no definite
+action has been taken.
+
+Over a half-century ago, almost opposite this tower on the Canadian
+side, was to be seen the immense Table Rock hanging far out over the
+current below. On the 25th of June, 1850, this large mass of rock fell.
+Fortunately the fall occurred at noon with no loss of life; it was one
+of the greatest falls of rock known to have taken place at the cataract,
+for the dimensions of the rock were two hundred feet long, sixty feet
+wide, and a hundred feet deep. Like the roar of muffled thunder the
+crash was heard for miles around.
+
+It was from the Terrapin Rocks to the Canadian side that Blondin wished
+to stretch his rope, elsewhere described, and it was over the very
+centre of Niagara's warring powers he desired to perform his daring
+feat, looking down upon that shimmering guarded secret of the "Heart of
+Niagara." The Porters, who owned Goat Island, however, refused to become
+parties to what they considered an improper exposure of life and Blondin
+stretched his cable farther down the river, near the site of the
+crescent steel arch bridge.
+
+[Illustration: Remains of Stone Piers of the "First Railway in
+America"--the British Tramway up Lewiston Heights, 1763.]
+
+Standing upon these rocks and looking out over that hurrying mass of
+waters, it seems almost impossible to imagine any power being able to
+stop them; but on the 29th of March, 1848, the impossible happened, the
+Niagara ran dry. From the American shore across the rapids to Goat
+Island one could walk dry-shod. From Goat Island and the Canadian shore
+the waters were contracted to a small stream flowing over the centre of
+what was then the Horseshoe; only a few tiny rivulets remained falling
+over the precipice at other points. The cause of this unnatural
+phenomenon was wind and ice. Lake Erie was full of floating ice. The day
+previous the winds had blown this ice out into the lake. In the evening
+the wind suddenly changed and blew a sharp gale from exactly the
+opposite direction, driving the mass of ice into the river and gorging
+it there, thus cutting off almost the whole water supply, and in the
+morning people awoke to find that the Niagara had departed. The American
+Fall was no more, the Horseshoe was hardly a ghost of its former self.
+Gone were the rapids, the fighting, struggling waters. Niagara's
+majestic roar was reduced to a moan. All day people walked on the rock
+bed of the river, although fearful lest the dam formed at its head
+should give way at any moment. By night, the warmth of the sun and the
+waters of the lake had begun to make inroads on the barrier and by the
+morning of the next day Niagara had returned in all its grandeur.
+
+However cold Niagara's winter may be, the moan of falling water here can
+always be heard, though at times the volume is very small. The winter
+scenes here often take rank in point of wonder and beauty with the
+cataract itself. When the river is frozen over below the Falls the
+phenomenon is called an "Ice Bridge," the blowing spray sometimes
+building a gigantic sparkling mound of wonderful beauty. The island
+trees above the Falls, covered by the same spray, assume curiously
+beautiful forms which, as they glitter in the sun, turn an already
+wonder-land into a strange fairyland of incomparable whiteness and
+glory.
+
+A short distance up the river along the shore a position just opposite
+the apex of the Falls is reached. Here, along the shore of the island,
+the waters are comparatively shallow, but toward the Canadian shore
+races the current which carries fully three fourths of Niagara's volume.
+Out in the very midst of the current is a small speck of land, all that
+is now left of what was once Gull Island, so named from its having been
+a favourite resting place for these birds, which can hardly find a
+footing now on its contracted shores. From what can be learned of the
+past history of this island, it must have occupied about two acres three
+quarters of a century ago. Its gradual disappearance shows to what
+degree the mighty forces of Niagara are removing all obstacles placed in
+their path. Goat Island is gradually suffering the same fate. At points
+the shore line has encroached upon the island to a distance of twenty
+feet in a half-century. At this point the carriage road used to run out
+beyond the present edge of the bluff.
+
+Passing on along the shore of the island, Niagara's scenery is present
+everywhere. At quite a distance up stream the Three Sister Islands are
+reached. These islands were named from the three daughters of General P.
+Whitney, they being the first women to visit them, probably in winter
+when the waters were low.
+
+[Illustration: Amid the Goat island Group.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+To the first Sister Island leads a massive stone bridge. From this
+bridge is to be obtained a fine view of the Hermit's Cascade beneath.
+This little fall receives its name from having been the favourite
+bathing place of the Hermit of Niagara, a strange half-witted young
+Englishman by the name of Francis Abbott who lived in solitude here for
+two years preceding his death by drowning in 1831, during his sojourn at
+the Falls.
+
+These three islands are replete with small bits of scenery and
+overflowing with beauty. In them are to be found the smaller attractions
+of Niagara; not so much of the stern majesty and awful grandeur, but
+smaller and more comprehensible features come before the view following
+each other in rapid succession. On the second Sister Island is one point
+which should be visited by every one. Just before reaching the bridge to
+third Sister Island, by turning to the right and proceeding along a
+somewhat difficult path for a short distance one comes to a point at the
+water's edge and finds lying right below him the boiling waters with
+their white, feathery spray; here also is the small cataract between the
+second and third islands fed by the most rapid although small stream of
+Niagara. From this point is to be obtained one of the most varied of
+scenic effects of any point at the Falls. The scenery from the third
+Sister must be seen to be appreciated. From its upper end one looks
+directly at the low cliff which forms the first descent of the Rapids.
+Here the waters start from the peaceful stream above on their maddening
+race for the Falls. Out along the line of the cliff the waters deepen
+and increase in rapidity toward the Canadian shore. Just below this
+ledge, probably three hundred feet from the head of the island, the
+current is directed against some obstruction which causes it to spout up
+into the air, causing what is called the Spouting Rock.
+
+Many have been the changes wrought by the waters themselves since white
+men knew the Falls; but a thousand years hence the visitor to Niagara
+will behold the main fall not from Terrapin Rocks or Porter's Bluff, but
+from this third Sister Island. The Rapids then shall have almost
+entirely disappeared, but their beauty will be compensated for by the
+additional grandeur of the fall itself. The gorge will have widened and
+the fall itself shall have added fifty feet to its height, making it two
+hundred feet high. Third Sister Island should be gone over thoroughly,
+for it offers some of the finest views, especially of colouring, above
+the Falls, and many of them.
+
+Niagara owes its sublime array of colour to the purity of its water.
+Nothing finer has been written on this subject than the words of the
+artist Mrs. Van Rensselaer, whom we quote:
+
+    To this purity Niagara owes its exquisite variety of colour. To
+    find the blues we must look, of course, above Goat Island, where
+    the sky is reflected in smooth if quickly flowing currents. But
+    every other tint and tone that water can take is visible in or
+    near the Falls themselves. In the quieter parts of the gorge we
+    find a very dark, strong green, while in its rapids all shades
+    of green and grey and white are blended. The shallower rapids
+    above the Falls are less strongly coloured, a beautiful light
+    green predominating between the pale-grey swirls and the snowy
+    crests of foam--semi-opaque, like the stone called aquamarine,
+    because infused with countless air-bubbles, yet deliciously
+    fresh and bright. The tense, smooth slant of water at the margin
+    of the American fall is not deep enough to be green. In the
+    sunshine it is a clear amber, and when shadowed, a brown that is
+    darker, yet just as pure. But wherever the Canadian fall is
+    visible its green crest is conspicuous. Far down-stream, nearly
+    two miles away, where the railroad-bridge crosses the gorge, it
+    shows like a little emerald strung on a narrow band of pearl.
+    Its colour is not quite like that of an emerald, although the
+    term must be used because no other is more accurate. It is a
+    purer colour, and cooler, with less of yellow in it--more pure,
+    more cool, and at the same time more brilliant than any colour
+    that sea-water takes even in a breaking wave, or that man has
+    produced in any substance whatsoever. At this place, we are
+    told, the current must be twenty feet deep; and its colour is so
+    intense and so clear because, while the light is reflected from
+    its curving surface, it also filters through so great a mass of
+    absolutely limpid water. It always quivers, this bright-green
+    stretch, yet somehow it always seems as solid as stone, smoothly
+    polished for the most part, but, when a low sun strikes across
+    it, a little roughened, fretted. That this is water and that the
+    thinnest smoke above it is water also, who can believe? In other
+    places at Niagara we ask the same question again.
+
+    From a distance the American fall looks quite straight. When we
+    stand beside it we see that its line curves inward and outward,
+    throwing the falling sheet into bastion-like sweeps. As we gaze
+    down upon these, every change in the angle of vision and in the
+    strength and direction of the light gives a new effect. The one
+    thing that we never seem to see, below the smooth brink, is
+    water. Very often the whole swift precipice shows as a myriad
+    million inch-thick cubes of clearest glass or ice or solidified
+    light, falling in an envelope of starry spangles. Again, it
+    seems all diamond-like or pearl-like, or like a flood of flaked
+    silver, shivered crystal, or faceted ingots of palest amber. It
+    is never to be exhausted in its variations. It is never to be
+    described. Only, one can always say, it is protean, it is most
+    lovely, and it is not water.
+
+    Then, as we look across the precipice, it may be milky in
+    places, or transparent, or translucent. But where its mass falls
+    quickly it is all soft and white--softer then anything else in
+    the world. It does not resemble a flood of fleece or of down,
+    although it suggests such a flood. It is more like a crumbling
+    avalanche, immense and gently blown, of smallest snowflakes;
+    but, again, it is not quite like this. Now we see that, even
+    apart from its main curves, no portion of the swiftly moving
+    wall is flat. It is all delicately fissured and furrowed, by the
+    broken edges of the rock over which it falls, into the
+    suggestion of fluted buttresses, half-columns, pilasters. And
+    the whiteness of these is not quite white. Nor is it
+    consistently iridescent or opalescent. Very faintly, elusively,
+    it is tinged with tremulous stripes and strands of pearly grey,
+    of vaguest straw, shell-pink, lavender, and green--inconceivably
+    ethereal blues, shy ghosts of earthly colours, abashed and
+    deflowered, we feel, by definite naming with earthly names. They
+    seem hardly to tinge the whiteness; rather, to float over it as
+    a misty bloom. We are loath to turn our eyes from them, fearing
+    they may never show again. Yet they are as real as the keen
+    emerald of the Horseshoe.[10]
+
+One should walk through the New York State Reservation, which extends
+for some distance above the commencement of the Rapids, to get a more
+complete view of the scenery above the Falls, the wooded shores of Goat
+Island, the swiftly moving waters, the broad river, the beginning of the
+Canadian Rapids, and the Canadian shore in the distance. On up the river
+at a distance are to be seen those forest-clad shores of Navy Island and
+Grand Island.
+
+On the Canadian side of the river, after crossing the steel arch bridge
+just below the Falls, beautiful Victoria Park is first reached. From
+this position a new and entirely different view of the American Fall is
+obtained from almost directly in front. Turning and going up the river a
+fine view of the Horseshoe is obtained from a distance. Just opposite
+the American Fall is Inspiration Point, from which the best view of the
+Falls is to be obtained. From here one can watch the little _Maid of the
+Mist_ as she makes her trips through the boiling waters below.
+
+[Illustration: Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian Shore.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+On up the river one wanders, past Goat Island, whose cliff is seen from
+directly in front. Just before reaching the edge of the Horseshoe the
+position of old Table Rock is seen. Little is left of this old and once
+famous point for observing Niagara's wonders. Several different falls of
+immense masses of rock, one of which has been mentioned, have reduced it
+to its present state. Here the Indian worshipped the Great Spirit of the
+Falls, gazing across at his supposed home on Goat Island; and here comes
+the white man to look upon the wonders of that mighty cataract with a
+feeling almost akin to that of his red brother. Here one could stand
+with the maddening waters rushing beneath, the Falls near at hand, its
+incessant roar assailing the ears while the spray was wafted all round.
+Little wonder that the red man worshipped, or that the white man looks
+on with feelings of awe, admiration, and wonder.
+
+Passing on up the river and around the pumping station for the
+neighbouring village, one reaches the point at the water's edge from
+which the "Heart of Niagara" can best be seen, where millions of tons of
+water are continually pouring over the cliff and causing some of the
+most beautiful effects produced by the spray called the "Darting Lines
+of Spray" to be seen anywhere at the Falls. From this point one sees up
+the river over a mile of the Rapids with their madly hurrying waters
+rushing on as if to engulf everything below.
+
+Along the water's edge, the journey should be pursued. A short distance
+farther up stream, a crib work has been built as a protection to the
+bank. Here is to be gained one of the finest views of the Canadian
+Rapids, one feature of which can not be seen to so great advantage from
+any other point. The "Shoreless Sea," as this view has been called, is a
+grand and inspiring sight. Gazing up the stream the Rapids are seen
+tumbling on toward one, with no land in sight. The clouds form the
+sky-line and it is as if the very chambers of heaven had been opened for
+a second deluge. It is, indeed, a "Shoreless Sea," tumbling on, a grand
+and awful sight.
+
+Pursuing one's way on up the river, Dufferin Islands are reached. These
+are formed by a bend in the current. Here is a sylvan retreat, full of
+lovers' walks and beauties of nature. Here is the burning
+spring--escaping natural gas from a rift in the rock. Not far from this
+point, on up the river, was fought the battle of Chippewa. About a mile
+above these islands, at the mouth of Chippewa Creek, stood Fort
+Chippewa, built by the British in 1790 to protect this, their most
+important portage.
+
+[Illustration: Looking up the Lower Niagara from Paradise Grove.
+
+From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.]
+
+To reach the points of interest, just mentioned, on the Canadian side,
+as well as those down the river, it is best to make the trip from one
+scenic position to another by electric car. Returning to the Horseshoe
+one will doubtless have called to his mind that about a mile back to the
+left occurred the famed battle of Lundy's Lane on July 5, 1814. At the
+edge of the cliff on the right was the position of the "Old Indian
+Ladder," by means of which the Indians used to descend to the lower
+level for the purpose of fishing. This ladder was only a long cedar
+tree, which had been deprived of its limbs and had been placed almost
+perpendicularly against the cliff. On down the way a short distance, the
+road which leads down the face of the cliff, to the _Maid of the Mist's_
+landing, is reached. Just beyond this point, at the top of the inclined
+railway, is to be obtained the best view of the steel arch bridge. Just
+below the bridge, opposite, on the American shore, a maddened torrent
+comes pouring from the base of the cliff as if anxious to add its fury
+to that of the waters round. It is the outlet of the tunnel which
+disposes of the tail water from the electric power-house over a mile
+above, mentioned in our chapter on power development at Niagara. The
+manufacturing plants of the Hydraulic Company, the first to use
+Niagara's waters to any great extent for power, are situated just
+opposite.
+
+A short distance on down the stream, and after descending a slight
+incline, the point where Blondin stretched his rope across the gorge in
+1859 is reached.
+
+Next on the journey the cantilever bridge is reached. This bridge was
+constructed in 1882. Just below this is the steel arch bridge, both
+being railroad bridges. The second one was first constructed as a
+suspension bridge by John A. Roebling, being the first railroad bridge
+of its kind in the country. It has been several times replaced, the
+present structure having been erected in 1897. Just below the railroad
+bridges several persons have made the trip across the gorge on ropes.
+
+Soon the Whirlpool is reached, and the madly rushing waters are seen as
+at no other place on the surface of the earth. Rounding the rapids, the
+car runs over a trestle work in crossing the old pre-glacial channel of
+the river referred to in our geologic chapter. Here one can look down on
+the waters almost directly beneath him, with the forests covering the
+sloping incline of the ancient bed of the river stretching up to the
+level above. Just as the car finishes the rounded curve of the
+Whirlpool, at the point of the cliff at the outlet, one catches the best
+view of both inlet and outlet at the same time, flowing directly at
+right angles to each other. The car continues on its course, now near,
+now farther back from the edge of the gorge. One catches occasional
+glimpses of the bridge far below, over which the electric line passes
+back to the American shore. For over three miles the car continues its
+course along the cliff before the next point of special interest
+presents itself in Brock's monument.
+
+From this monument one of the finest panoramic views of the surrounding
+regions can be obtained. The monument stands on Queenston Heights, with
+the remains of old Fort Drummond just back of it.
+
+All about is historic ground. On the surrounding plain and slopes was
+fought the battle of Queenston Heights. Every inch of ground has some
+story to tell of that struggle. The car soon begins to descend the
+incline which, ages ago, formed the shores of Lake Ontario. Below, at
+the end of the gorge, the river seems to forget its tumultuous rush, and
+spreading out pursues a placid and well-behaved course to the lower
+lake.
+
+[Illustration: The Mouth of the Gorge.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+About half-way down the descent, the point where General Brock fell is
+reached, which point is marked by a massive stone monument set in place
+in 1861 by King Edward VII., then Prince of Wales. Just below to the
+right is seen an old, ruined stone house which was General Brock's
+shelter after being wounded, and in which was printed, in 1792, the
+first newspaper of Upper Canada. The bridge is soon reached, in the
+crossing of which, a fine view of the last mad rush of the waters is
+gained as they issue from the gorge into the placid stream leading to
+the lake below. On they come with the waves piled high in the centre,
+tearing along in a mad fury, until they seem to be pacified by a power
+stronger even than their own; and they glide smoothly along to the end
+of their course in the lower lake.
+
+On the American heights stood old Fort Gray, connected with the history
+of the War of 1812. On the American shore was the head of navigation,
+and up the cliff all the freight sent over the old portage was hoisted
+by hand and later by machinery. High up on the American cliffs, half-way
+between the Whirlpool and Lewiston, is the famous "Devil's Hole," an
+interesting cave known among the Indians, we are told, as the "Cave of
+the Evil Spirit." Here, it has been stated, geologists find some of the
+clearest evidences of the former existence of the presence of the Falls
+in that far day when the migration had extended thus far up the river
+from the escarpment at Lewiston.
+
+Much has been said about the rapids of the river below the Falls--the
+lesser Rapids of Niagara. What of this seething, spouting, tumbling mass
+that races along below these towering cliffs, maddening, ungovernable,
+almost horrifying to gaze upon? It is very singular how little is said
+about this torrent. They illustrate very significantly the fact that
+mere power has little of charm for the mind of man; it interests, but
+often it does not please or delight. In our chapter on the foolhardy
+persons to whom these bounding billows have been a challenge, and who
+have attempted to navigate or pass through them, are descriptions of
+their savage fury and wonderful eccentricities. The most interesting
+fact respecting these great rapids is the unbelievable depth of the
+channel through which they race, since it sometimes approximates,
+according to the best sources of information, the height of the
+towering cliffs that compose the canyon. By government survey we know
+that the depth of the river between the Falls and the cantilever bridge
+is two hundred feet. The Whirlpool is estimated as four hundred feet
+deep, and the rapids above the Whirlpool as forty feet deep; the rapids
+below the Whirlpool are thought to be about sixty.
+
+The romantic situation of the two ancient towns, Lewiston and Queenston,
+at the foot of the two escarpments, on opposite sides of the river, is
+only equalled by the absorbing story of their part in history when they
+were thriving, bustling frontier outposts. The beauty of the locations
+of these interesting towns contains in itself sufficient promise of
+growth and prosperity equal to, or exceeding, that of beautiful
+Youngstown, near Fort Niagara, or Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Canadian
+shore. This lower stretch of river teems with historic interest of the
+French era and especially of the days when the second war with Great
+Britain was progressing; in our chapters relating to those days will be
+found references to these points of present-day interest in their
+relation to the great questions that were being settled by sword and
+musket, by friend and foe, who met beside the historic river that
+empties into Lake Ontario between old Fort George and old Fort Niagara.
+
+[Illustration: The Whirlpool Rapids.]
+
+For ease of access, romantic situation, historic interest, and many of
+the advantages usually desired during a hot vacation recess, these towns
+along the lower Niagara offer a varied number of important advantages;
+if by some magic touch a dam could be raised between Fort Mississauga
+and the American shore, rendering that marvellously beautiful stretch
+of river--unmatched in some ways by any American stream--slack water,
+one of the most lovely boating lakes on the Continent could be created,
+whereon international regattas in both winter and summer could be held
+of unusual interest. Is it supposable that this could be effected
+without great detriment to either the yachting fraternity, whose sails,
+from the verandah of the Queen's Royal, are always a delight, or the
+steamboat interests, which could land as well at Fort Niagara, perhaps,
+as at Lewiston, or at Niagara-on-the-Lake, which could be connected with
+the Gorge Route. The river's current is all now that keeps the lower
+Niagara from being as popular a resort of its kind as can be suggested.
+All the elements of popularity are in fair measure present here, and
+immensely enjoyed yearly by increasing multitudes.
+
+A little beyond the mouth of the Niagara, just over those blue waves,
+rise the spires of the queen city of Canada, Toronto. To all practical
+purposes this beautiful city stands at one end of Niagara River, as
+Buffalo stands at the other. Historically and commercially this is
+altogether true, and we elsewhere weave its history into our record.
+
+[Footnote 7: _Scribner's Monthly_, vol. xxi., pp. 583-6.]
+
+[Footnote 8: _The Niagara Book_, p. 15.]
+
+[Footnote 9: _The Century Magazine_, vol. xxxvi., p. 197.]
+
+[Footnote 10: _The Century Magazine_, xxxvi., 198-201.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter III
+
+  The Birth of Niagara
+
+
+Geologic time presents to the scientist one of the most difficult
+problems with which he has to deal. When the different divisions into
+which he would divide the ages are numbered by thousands and even
+millions of years, the human mind is appalled at the prospect; and when
+the calculations of different geologists vary by hundreds of thousands
+of years, the lay mind can not help growing somewhat credulous, and at
+times be tempted to discard the whole mass of scientific data relating
+to the subject.
+
+Niagara River forms one of the best, if not the best, means of studying
+the lapse of time since the Ice Age. Finding, as students do here, the
+best material in existence for this study, leads to exhaustive
+scientific analysis of every clue presented by the Cataract and the deep
+Gorge it has cut for itself through the solid lime rock and Niagara
+shale forming its bed.
+
+We are prone to look upon the great wonders of the world as destined to
+last as long as the earth itself. We do not realise that the mountains,
+miles in height, are slowly crumbling before our eyes, or realise that
+the rivers are carrying them slowly toward the sea, filling the lakes
+and lower portions of land along their courses. These slow but ceaseless
+forces are continually at work, reducing the surface of the earth to
+that of a level plain and at the same time depriving the land of its
+lakes by filling their depressions with silt. The winds and the waters,
+together with the wearing power effected by frost, are the forces
+struggling at this great levelling task. The work is partly done; in
+many of the older regions the lakes and elevations have almost entirely
+disappeared. Other parts of the land are comparatively new; and it is
+here that one sees the rough mountain or the deep canyon of the river;
+sufficient time not having elapsed to wear away the elevation in the one
+case nor the steep banks in the other.
+
+One needs but to look at a relief map of the Niagara district to note
+the Falls and the outline of the Gorge to see at once that this is a
+comparatively new region or, at least, that the formative forces which
+gave it its present characteristics were at the highest stage of their
+career when the lands to the south had almost reached their present
+stage. These facts can be observed by any person visiting the Niagara
+district; it does not require a geologist to trace roughly their course.
+
+Questions naturally arise in calculating the age of Niagara. If, as all
+the facts seem to indicate, this river has had a very recent beginning,
+what then did it do before it occupied its present course? What will be
+its final destiny? What will happen when it has worn its Gorge back to
+Lake Erie? Or will the general level of the land be so changed that the
+Falls will never recede to the lake? The last and most important of all
+is: How long has it taken the Falls to grind out the Gorge thus far?
+This latter question, viewed in its relation to the first one, forms
+the basis of the present chapter. The great work of the Cataract is
+going on before our very eyes. The history of this great river is
+working itself out at the height of its glory, in an age when all can
+behold. It is the more interesting since it is the only example of the
+kind known. One can easily look back to the time when the water flowed
+along the top of the plateau to Lewiston and the Falls were situated at
+that point. This date, of course, witnessed the birth of Niagara, for,
+wherever the waters flowed before, they could not have taken this course
+before the Falls began their work. The day that witnessed the beginning
+of the one witnessed also the birth of the other. Likewise one can not
+help looking forward to the day when Niagara shall have accomplished its
+work, when its waters shall have completely ground the plateau in two,
+and so drained Lake Erie to its bottom.
+
+[Illustration: The American Fall, July, 1765.
+
+From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.]
+
+What did the waters of the lakes do before the Niagara began its
+history? How long has it been at its present work? These are the
+questions interesting to every one; and by far more interesting to one
+who is making a study of the formative forces now contributing, and
+which have contributed to bring about the present characteristics of
+surface structure. A few important facts exist, and these now are beyond
+doubt, upon which rest the inferences concerning the age of the Falls.
+In ancient times the waters of Lake Erie did not find an outlet through
+Niagara River, so there was no channel ready made for the river when it
+began its present course. Even after the beginning of the river the
+upper lakes, Huron, Michigan, and Superior, did not discharge their
+waters through Niagara. Until comparatively recent times only the
+waters from Lake Erie discharged through this channel and therefore for
+many ages only a small fraction of the present volume could possibly
+have been at work on the Falls.
+
+The striking features of the Gorge are modern, and have been very little
+affected by those agencies which are continually moulding the contours
+of land surfaces. The inclination of the river's bed has varied greatly
+with the ages, due to gradual uplifting or depressing of the earth's
+crust; consequently the current has varied greatly in velocity with
+these changes. A calculation of the work done by the river during each
+epoch of its history is indeed fraught with many difficulties. Much
+investigation, however, has been made along this line and with a rather
+satisfactory degree of success.
+
+Niagara appears to have had a life peculiar to itself; but what is
+unique in its history, is the presentation of characteristics which in
+the case of other rivers have long since passed away. Rivers, and
+especially very large ones, appeal to us as "unchangeable as the hills
+themselves"; but the truth is, that the very hills and mountains are
+changing as a result of the forces exerted by water. Niagara, as viewed
+by the geologist, is unique, not on account of its having a different
+history than any other river, but for the reason that it had a more
+recent beginning. The calculation of the life of such a stream is
+interesting in itself, besides the other great questions settled by the
+solution of such a problem as the probable number of years that the
+river shall exist in its present form, the centuries which have elapsed
+since the ice retreated from this region, and the ascertaining of
+certain facts concerning the antiquity of man. In order to make a
+thorough study of these topics, one must take a view of the relief
+features of the Niagara region, and make a careful review of what
+conditions existed at the time that this district was covered by the
+great ice sheet, together with the changes effected during the retreat
+of the Great Glacier to the north.
+
+Niagara River has its origin in the eastern end of Lake Erie, about
+three hundred feet higher than the surface of Lake Ontario. Passing from
+Erie to the last-mentioned lake the descent is not gradual, but one
+finds a gently rolling plain with almost no slope for nineteen miles
+until almost at the very shore of Lake Ontario, where almost
+unexpectedly one comes upon a high precipice from which a magnificent
+view of the lower lake may be gained, only a narrow strip of beach
+intervening. This cliff is called by geologists the Niagara escarpment.
+
+When the river leaves Lake Erie its waters are interfered with by a low
+ledge of rock running across its channel. After passing this its waters
+meet no more troublesome obstructions until coming to the head of Goat
+Island. The river can scarcely be said to have a valley. One is reminded
+more of an arm of the lake extending out over this region. The country
+from Lake Erie to near the head of the Rapids above the Falls rests on a
+stratum of soft rock; from the Falls northward the underlying stratum is
+formed by a ledge of hard limestone, and beneath this a shale and two
+thin strata of sandstone. By the descent of the Rapids and the Falls,
+the waters are dropped two hundred feet, and thence through the Gorge
+they rush along at an appalling rate over the descent, through the
+Whirlpool and on to Queenston for a distance of seven miles. From this
+city to the lake there is little fall and so only a moderate current.
+
+The deep, narrow gorge extending from the Falls to Lewiston is the
+especial subject of study to the geologist. This canyon is scarcely a
+quarter of a mile wide, varying little in the distance from cliff to
+cliff throughout most of its course. This chasm opens up before the
+student with almost appalling suddenness, while travelling over an
+otherwise regular plain. Its walls are so precipitous that few
+opportunities are offered for scaling them; and their height from the
+bottom of the river varies from two hundred to five hundred feet. An
+examination of both sides of the Gorge shows the same order in the
+layers of rock and shale on comparatively the same level, with the same
+thickness of each corresponding stratum. If a superstitious person had
+come unexpectedly upon this gigantic fissure ages ago, he might easily
+have imagined it to have been the work of some mighty mythological hero;
+but the modern scientist has reached a much better, as well as a much
+more satisfactory conclusion, namely, that this immense cleft has been
+sawed by the force of the water, from a structure whose features were
+continuous, as is manifest by the similarity of the exposed strata on
+the two sides of the stream. To be convinced of the fact that the Falls
+are gradually receding, it is only necessary to observe them closely for
+a few years. The breaking away of an immense mass of rock previously
+described is one of the recent events in the history of the river. This
+establishes the fact that the Gorge is growing longer from its northern
+end through the agency of the waterfall.
+
+These facts show us the river working at a monstrous task. Its work is
+only partly done. Two questions come to us almost immediately: When this
+work is done what will it do? and, What did it do before its present
+work begun? The waters of Lake Erie could never have flowed to Lake
+Ontario without wearing away at the Gorge we now see. The birth of the
+river and the cutting of the canyon were simultaneous. Of this much we
+are assured.
+
+A superficial study of a map of North America will show at once a great
+difference in the northern and the southern sections. From the region of
+the Great Lakes northward the district is one continuation of lakes,
+ponds, swamps, and rivers with many rapids. South of the Ohio there are
+few lakes, and the rivers flow on with almost unbroken courses. Here is
+a region much older than that to the north; and its waters have had ages
+more in which to mould down elevations and fill up depressions. The
+cause of this difference in the characteristics of the streams of the
+North and those of the South is to be explained by the great Ice Age. As
+far as we now know there may have been little difference in relief forms
+between the two sections before the encroachment of the ice. During the
+glacial epoch the whole northern part of the continent was covered with
+a thick ice sheet, which was continually renewed at the north, and as
+continually drifted slowly in a general southerly direction. As this
+heavy ice cap passed over the surface, it acted somewhat like a river in
+its erosive power, only working much greater changes. It not only picked
+up loose particles, but also scoured and wore away solid rocks along its
+bed. Thus the whole configuration of the country was changed.
+
+At the southern terminal of the glacier, where it ended in the ocean,
+the ice broke away in large bergs, as in the northern seas to-day; but
+where the advancing ice met the warmer climate on land, it was melted
+and thus deposited at its terminal all the material it carried. The
+eroding power of this ice sheet, together with the deposit of its
+materials on melting, brought about a great change in the configuration
+of the country. Many old valleys were obliterated, while a number of new
+ones were carved. As the ice retreated northward with the change of
+climate, new lakes and rivers were formed. Many times the streams
+escaping from the lower level of lakes were forced to find an entirely
+new course, and so to carve a new channel of their own. The region of
+the Great Lakes and the Niagara River is no exception to this rule; and
+it is with the ending of the Ice Age that the history of the river
+begins.
+
+A glance at a map shows a low range of hills or rather a gentle swell in
+the land surface forming the watershed between the lakes and the streams
+flowing to the south. At the time of the farthest southerly extension of
+the glacier it reached beyond this elevation; and its waters were
+discharged into the rivers flowing to the south. When the southern
+terminal had retreated to the north of this divide, but still blocked
+all outlet to the north or east, there was doubtless a number of lakes
+here discharging their waters across the present low watershed to the
+south. Some of these ancient valleys can still be traced for long
+distances of their course. These lakes passed through their varying
+history as those of to-day, their surface troubled by wind and storm and
+their waves leaving indelible carvings upon their shores.
+
+One of these lakes occupied what is now the western end of Lake Erie,
+shortly after the ice front had passed to the north of the watershed
+mentioned. There are still very definite markings which show that its
+waters were discharged across the divide by a channel into the present
+Wabash River and thence into the Ohio. This channel can be traced
+throughout most of its course very easily. There are at least four
+distinct shore lines preserved to us, which show four successive levels
+of the lake as it reached lower outlets before the Niagara River was
+born. All of these old shore lines can be traced throughout most of
+their courses.
+
+As the ice continued to retreat, next we notice the greatest change in
+elevation of the surface of the water. The ice front finally passed to
+the north of the present Mohawk River, thus allowing the waters to
+escape by that outlet, and, as a consequence, lowering the surface of
+the lakes by over five hundred feet. This drained a great extent of land
+and dropped the surface of Ontario far below the present level of the
+Niagara escarpment. Then for the first time the Niagara began to flow,
+and its Falls began their work. Immediately upon the formation of this
+new, lower lake it began the work of leaving its history carved upon the
+rocks, sands, and gravels which formed its shores. Its first ancient
+beach is more easily traced for almost its entire course than any of the
+other old levels. It does not even take the trained eye of the scientist
+to see its unmistakable history written in the sands. The earliest
+western travellers describe the Ridge Road running along this old,
+deserted beach as showing unmistakable signs of having been an ancient
+shore line of the lake.
+
+[Illustration: The Horseshoe Fall, July, 1765.
+
+From an unsigned original drawing in the British Museum.]
+
+In following the course of this old shore line a gradual slope is
+noticed, and if this was a shore line, we must account for this
+variation in elevation, since the surface of the water is always level.
+The explanation is to be found in the fact that portions of the earth's
+surface are gradually rising while others are as gradually sinking. On
+comparing the old coast line with the level of the present one, we find
+that the lake has gradually inclined to the south and the west. This
+change in elevation had its share in determining the configuration of
+the lake as well as the relief features of the surrounding region. The
+point of discharge was at Rome, New York, as long as the barrier blocked
+the regions north of the Adirondack Mountains. As soon as the
+encroaching warmth of the south had removed this barrier to the level of
+the Rome outlet, the water began flowing by the St. Lawrence course.
+True the first outlet was not the same as the present one; but it must
+have been many times shifted in the course of the retreat of the ice. As
+a result of this alternate shifting, together with the changing of the
+level of the lake, there are to be found the markings of numerous shore
+lines, some of which pass under the present level of the waters.
+
+These different variations must of necessity have had a great effect on
+the work of Niagara River. When the Niagara began to flow, instead of
+its terminal being nearly seven miles from the escarpment, it was only
+between one and two miles away, and the surface of the lake was about
+seventy-five feet higher than now. While the outlet remained at Rome,
+the eastern end of the lake was continually rising, which caused the
+waters at the western end to rise over one hundred feet. This placed
+the shore of Ontario almost at the foot of the beautiful cliff at
+Queenston and Lewiston. After having occupied this position for a long
+period, the surface of the waters again fell over two hundred feet,
+carving an old shore line which is now submerged. After this, various
+changes of level in the land and shiftings of the ice barrier caused
+numerous old shore lines to be faintly carved. These changes continued
+until the present outlet was established and the waters began to flow
+along the present course of the St. Lawrence.
+
+One might think that with these changes all the variable factors of our
+problem have been discussed; but these same factors also had their
+effect upon the upper lakes. In a study of the old markings of all the
+lakes of this region, it seems that the northern shores were continually
+rising; this, of course, points to an occupation of a more northerly
+position by the lakes than at present, and also a laying bare of
+northern parts, and shifting of waters south, or possibly both of these
+changes at once.
+
+In the most ancient system of which we can obtain an approximately
+definite knowledge, Lake Huron was not more than half its present size,
+while Georgian Bay formed the main body, connecting with Huron by a
+narrow strait. Michigan and Superior occupied about their present
+limits, but were connected with Huron by rivers rather than short
+straits; Erie occupied only a fraction of its present position, having
+no connection with Huron. The waters of the upper lakes were doubtless
+discharged from the eastern end of Georgian Bay, which then included
+Lake Nipissing, by way of the Ottawa River, into the St. Lawrence. Thus
+the Niagara was deprived of about seven-eighths of its present drainage
+area, and consequently was totally unlike its present self. There is
+some indication that there may have been an outlet from Georgian Bay by
+a more southerly route, namely, the Trent River. If this were so, the
+northern route must have been blocked by the ice, since the Trent Pass
+is much higher than the one leading from Lake Nipissing, by way of the
+Ottawa. These are some of the possibilities which must be taken into
+consideration before any sure calculation can be made as to the age of
+the Falls, for there must have been an epoch in the history of the
+river, were it short or long, during which it carried only a very small
+fraction of the waters which it bears at present.
+
+Let us turn again to the gorge of the river itself. We have noted the
+similarity of structure of its two sides. This similarity is continuous
+throughout except at about half-way from Queenston to the Falls, where
+the river makes a turn in its course of almost ninety degrees. On the
+outside of this angle is the only place in the whole course where the
+material of the cliff changes. Here there is a break in the solid rock
+of the bank, which is filled with loose rock and gravel. This rift, to
+whatever it may be due, is of pre-glacial origin, for it is filled with
+the same material, the glacial drift, which covers the whole region. The
+cliff along Lake Ontario also presents very few breaks; but a few miles
+to the west of Queenston at St. Davids a broad gap is found in the
+otherwise unbroken wall. This gap is also filled with glacial drift. On
+its first discovery it was supposed to be a buried valley, and no
+connection with the Whirlpool was attributed to it. Later it was
+supposed that the break in the side of the Gorge, and the one at St.
+Davids, were parts of one and the same course of some pre-glacial
+stream. This supposition has been proven by the course having been
+traced through most of its distance by the wells sunk in the region.
+Later this interpretation of the facts found was destined to furnish
+further explanations. The question at once arose: How far and where did
+the upper course of this ancient valley extend? If it had cut across the
+course of the modern river, there would have been a break in the
+continuity of the cliff somewhere on the opposite side of the Gorge; but
+this can nowhere be found to be the case. The upper course of this
+ancient channel, therefore, must have coincided with that of the present
+channel. When, then, the Falls had receded to the side of the present
+Whirlpool, it reached a point where the greater part of its work had
+been performed. From here to whatever distance the upper course of the
+ancient river extended, the only work to do was to remove the loose
+gravel and boulders with which the glacier had filled its channel. This,
+of course, was effected much more rapidly than the wearing away of the
+hard limestone bed. Just what was the depth, and how far this old
+deserted valley extended, it is almost impossible to estimate. These
+changes are some of the most potent with which one must reckon in any
+calculation of the time since the beginning of Niagara's history.
+However, some work has been done in this line; and a broad field is
+still open for future investigation.
+
+[Illustration: Ice Mountain on Prospect Point.]
+
+At a very early date (1790), and when it was supposed by many to be
+almost sacrilegious to discuss the antiquity of the earth, Andrew
+Ellicott made an estimate of the age of the Falls by dividing the
+length of the Gorge by the supposed rate of recession. This gave as a
+result 55,000 years as the age of Niagara River. The next estimates
+which commanded attention were those of Bakewell and Sir Charles Lyell.
+Each of these men made separate estimates, but were compelled to take as
+the basis of their calculation the recession as given by residents of
+the district. Bakewell's calculations preceded Lyell's by several years,
+and resulted in ascribing to the Falls an age of 12,000 years. Lyell
+found the age to be about 36,000 years. The popularity of the latter
+caused his estimate to be accepted for a long period; many persons
+undoubtedly placing more faith in his results than he himself did. This
+method of dividing the distance by the rate of recession would be
+correct if there were no variables entering into the problem, and if the
+rate of recession were known; but these first calculations involved
+errors in the rate of movement of the Falls besides making no allowance
+for the variations which have been mentioned above.
+
+In order to obtain a sure means for measuring the recession of the
+Falls, Professor James Hall made a survey of the Horseshoe Falls in
+1842, under the authority of the New York Geological Survey. This survey
+plotted the position of the crest of the Falls, and established
+monuments at the points at which the angles were taken; thus leaving
+lasting marks of reference to which any future survey might be referred.
+In 1886, Professor Woodward of the United States Geological Survey, by
+reference to the markings left by Hall, found the rate of recession for
+the period to be about five feet per annum. It would, however, be
+necessary to extend these observations over a long period of time,
+since certain periods are marked by large falls of rock. Sometimes the
+centre of the Falls recedes very rapidly, while at other times the
+centre is almost stationary and the sides show the greater action. One
+of the most recent calculations of the age of the Falls was made by J.
+W. Spencer. Having made a thorough study of the history of the river
+revealed in its markings, and also of the Lakes, making allowance for
+all the variable factors, he calculated the duration of each epoch
+separately; and found the age of the river to be about 32,000 years.
+This result is about the same as that obtained from those based upon the
+relative elevations of different parts of the old deserted shore lines;
+and another based upon the rate of the rising of the land in the Niagara
+district.
+
+[Illustration: Cave of the Winds in Winter.]
+
+The many variable factors entering into the calculations so far
+discussed, have led to an earnest search for some means of determining
+the age of the river, which does not involve so many indeterminate and
+unknown quantities. This means of calculation, and one which seems to be
+much more free from unknown factors, seems to have been hit upon by
+Professor George Frederick Wright, whose calculations are based upon the
+rate of enlargement of the mouth of the river at the Niagara escarpment,
+where the Falls first began their existence. The cliffs at the mouth of
+the Gorge, as is the case with the newer portions of the river and
+indeed is characteristic of all canyons when first formed, were
+undoubtedly almost perpendicular when they were first cut by the rushing
+waters of the Niagara River. The mouth of the Gorge at Lewiston is of
+course the oldest part of the river; and if it were possible to measure
+the age of this part, this would surely give the date of the birth of
+Niagara. Immediately upon the formation of the Falls at Lewiston, the
+waters began the cutting of the Gorge; and immediately upon the
+formation of a gorge there was set to work upon its walls the
+disintegrating agencies of the atmosphere, free from indeterminate
+variables, tending to pull down the cliffs upon each side of the stream
+which jealously walled it in.
+
+This work has gone on year after year and century after century, without
+being affected by either the volume of the river's waters or the
+shifting in the elevation of the land. The work of the atmospheric
+agencies in enlarging the mouth of the Gorge has had the effect of
+changing its shape from that of a rectangle, whose perpendicular sides
+were 340 feet, to a figure with a level base formed by the river, whose
+sides slope off at the same angle on each side. Now if it were possible
+to measure the rate at which this enlargement is taking place, the
+problem of determining the age of the river would be a more simple one.
+
+The relative thickness of the different layers of material forming the
+walls of the Gorge is not the same throughout; at the escarpment at
+Lewiston, the summit is found to consist of a stratum of Niagara
+limestone, about twenty-five feet thick. Beneath this layer of lime is
+to be found about seventy feet of Niagara shale. The Niagara shale rests
+upon a twenty foot layer of hard Clinton limestone, which in turn is
+supported by a shale seventy feet thick. Forming the base is twenty feet
+of hard Medina sandstone, beneath which is another sandstone which is
+much softer and much more susceptible to erosion and the disintegrating
+forces of the atmosphere. These thick layers of shale form the part
+upon which the atmospheric powers exert their energies, undermining the
+strata composed of material which with much more effect resists the
+attempt of any agency to break it down. As the shale is removed from
+beneath the harder layers immense masses of the latter fall and form a
+talus along the lower part of the cliff. This in brief is the manner in
+which the mouth of the Gorge is growing wider.
+
+The present width of the mouth of the Gorge at the water's level is 770
+feet. It is not likely that the river was ever any wider than now at
+this point, since its narrowest portion is over 600 feet, and this where
+the hard layer of Niagara limestone is much thicker than at the mouth.
+The current here is comparatively weak, so that there has been little
+erosion due to it. On the contrary the falling masses of sandstone and
+limestone have probably encroached somewhat upon the ancient margin of
+the stream, its weak current being unable to sweep out these
+obstructions which have formed an effectual protection to the bank.
+
+The observations necessary to Dr. Wright's calculations were taken along
+the line of a railroad, which, very opportunely, had been constructed
+along the eastern cliff. Here for a distance of about two miles the
+course of the road runs diagonally down the face of the cliff,
+descending in that distance about two hundred feet, and in its descent
+laying bare the layers of shale upon which the observations must be
+made. Along the course of the road at this point, watchmen are
+continually employed to remove obstructions falling down or to give
+warning of danger when any large masses fall. The disintegration goes on
+much more rapidly in wet thawing weather than at other times of the
+year. Often in the spring the whole force of section hands is required
+for several days to dispose of the material of one single fall. At the
+rate of one-fourth of an inch a year of waste along this cliff there
+ought to fall slightly over six hundred cubic yards annually for each
+mile where the wall is 150 feet high. At this rate the enlargement at
+the terminal of the Gorge would take place, Dr. Wright estimates, in
+somewhat less than ten thousand years. No accounts have been kept by the
+railroad of the amount of fallen material, but some estimate can be made
+from the cost of removal of the falling stone, together with the
+observations of the watchmen, one of whom has been in the employ of the
+railroad in this capacity for twelve years, and also by noticing the
+distance to which the cliff has receded since the construction of the
+road.
+
+Only a superficial observer can see at once that the amount of removal
+has been greatly in excess of the rate mentioned above. The watchman, of
+whom mention has been made, was in the employ of the company which
+constructed the road in 1854, and therefore knows where the original
+face of the cliff was located. At one point, where the road descends to
+the Clinton limestone, the whole face of the Niagara shale is laid bare.
+Here the shale has been removed to a distance of twenty feet from its
+original position, and the rocks forming the roof overhang to about that
+distance. Now this mass of shale must have been removed since 1854. This
+would require a rate of disintegration much in excess of the one
+assumed. Necessarily some allowance must be made for the fact that the
+atmospheric agencies have here had a fresh section of the shale upon
+which to work. Yet making all due allowance for the above condition, the
+rate at the mouth of the Gorge could not have been much less than that
+assumed above. The actual process of the enlargement has been periodic.
+As the falling shale undermines more and more the capping hard layers,
+from time to time these latter fall in immense masses. Any calculation
+of age based upon a few years of disintegration would be worthless; but
+one based upon centuries would come very near a true average. The walls
+of the Gorge were at first perpendicular, but as the undermining,
+process goes on they become sloped more and more, the falling masses
+forming a protection to the lower parts of the softer strata. One fact,
+however, to be noticed is that this protecting talus has never as yet
+reached so high as to stop the work of the disintegrating agencies. The
+horizontal distance from the water's edge back to the face of the
+Niagara limestone, which forms the top of the cliff, is 380 feet. On the
+above assumption of the rate of recession as one-fourth of an inch
+annually, the rate at the top of the cliff must have been about one-half
+inch for each year. From the observations made, it is difficult to
+believe that the retreat of this upper portion has been at a lower rate
+than a half-inch yearly; if this be true, this new line of evidence
+places the birth of the Niagara and the beginning of the cutting of the
+Gorge at Lewiston at about ten thousand years ago.
+
+[Illustration: "Maid of the Mist" under Steel Arch Bridge.]
+
+The history of the Great Lakes and the birth of Niagara have a different
+interest for us, than alone to form the connecting link between the
+present and a past age devoid of life. Closely connected with this
+geologic history is the history of the human race. Unfortunately for us,
+the men inhabiting these parts in prehistoric ages have not left the
+traces of their existence upon the rocks and sands as have the waters of
+Niagara and the Lakes. Meagre, however, as is our knowledge we are still
+confident that man has been a comrade of the river during its entire
+history. Much to our disappointment, he was not possessed with the means
+of recording his knowledge for the satisfaction of future generations.
+Probably no such thought ever entered his brain. All that we know is,
+that along the old deserted shores of Lake Ontario in New York, which
+now form the Ridge Road, he constructed a rude hearth and built a fire
+thereon. The shifting of elevation or the rising of the surface of the
+lake buried beneath the waters hearth, ashes, and charred sticks, and
+thus by a mere accident do we know that human history extends back at
+least as far as the Ice Age.
+
+In these modern days, when we are prone to believe that all forms of
+animate existence and inanimate as well have been the result of an
+evolution, we cannot think of the man who possessed the art of fire as
+the primeval man. Whatever age may be assigned to the Niagara, whatever
+may be the antiquity of that great cataract, upon which we are wont to
+look as everlasting, the age of the human race must be considered
+greater.
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter IV
+
+  Niagara Bond and Free
+
+
+No one acquainted with the Niagara of to-day can imagine what were the
+conditions existing here before the days of the New York State
+Reservation and Queen Victoria Park. That old Niagara of private
+ownership, with a new fee for every point of vantage, was a barbarous
+incongruity only matched by the wonder and beauty of the spectacle
+itself. The admission to Goat Island was fifty cents, and to the Cave of
+the Winds, one dollar. To gain Prospect Park, the "Art Gallery," the
+inclined railway, or the ferry, the charge was twenty-five cents. It
+cost one dollar to go to the "Shadow of the Rock," or go behind the
+Horseshoe Fall. The admission to the Burning Spring was fifty cents,
+likewise to Lundy's Lane battle-ground, the Whirlpool Rapids, the
+Whirlpool. It cost twenty-five cents to go upon either of the suspension
+bridges. In addition to this a swarm of pedlars were hawking their wares
+at your elbows, and tents were pitched at every vantage point,
+containing the tallest man or the fattest woman, or the most astonishing
+reptile then in a state of captivity in all the world.
+
+[Illustration: Beacon on Old Breakwater at Buffalo.]
+
+Not even the five-legged calves missed their share of plunder at
+Niagara, according to Mr. Howells, who paid his money out to assure
+himself, as he affirms, that this marvel was in no wise comparable to
+the Falls. "I do not say that the picture of the calf on the outside of
+the tent," he observes, "was not as good as some pictures of Niagara I
+have seen. It was, at least, as much like." A writer of a decade before
+this (1850) speaks very strongly of the impositions to which a traveller
+is subjected at Niagara. How early in the century complaints began to
+appear cannot be stated; it would be interesting to be able to get
+information on this point since it would determine a more important
+matter still--the time when the Falls began to attract visitors in
+sufficient proportions to bring into existence the evils we find very
+prevalent at the middle of the century. The latter writer observes:
+
+    It would be paying Niagara a poor compliment to say that,
+    practically she does not hurl off this chaffering by-play from
+    her cope; but as you value the integrity of your impression, you
+    are bound to affirm that it hereby suffers appreciable
+    abatement; you wonder, as you stroll about, whether it is
+    altogether an unrighteous dream that with the slow progress of
+    culture, and the possible or impossible growth of some larger
+    comprehension of beauty and fitness, the public conscience may
+    not tend to ensure to such sovereign phases of nature something
+    of the inviolability and privacy which we are slow to bestow,
+    indeed, upon fame, but which we do not grudge, at least, to art.
+    We place a great picture, a great statue, in a museum; we erect
+    a great monument in the centre of our largest square, and if we
+    can suppose ourselves nowadays building a cathedral, we should
+    certainly isolate it as much as possible and subject it to no
+    ignoble contact. We cannot build about Niagara with walls and a
+    roof, nor girdle it with a palisade; but the sentimental tourist
+    may muse upon the chances of its being guarded by the negative
+    homage of empty spaces, and absent barracks, and decent
+    forbearance. The actual abuse of the scene belongs evidently to
+    that immense class of iniquities which are destined to grow very
+    much worse in order to grow a very little better. The good
+    humour engendered by the main spectacle bids you suffer it to
+    run its course.
+
+There was at least no bettering of conditions at Niagara between 1850
+and 1881, when more or less active steps began to be taken for the
+freeing of the beautiful shrine. True, Goat Island was kept ever in its
+primeval beauty, which by far counterbalanced the Porter mills on Bath
+Island; as William Dean Howells wrote, while these "were impertinent to
+the scenery they were picturesque with their low-lying, weatherworn
+masses in the shelter of the forest trees beside the brawling waters'
+head. But nearly every other assertion of private rights in the
+landscape was an outrage to it."
+
+[Illustration: Winter Scene in Prospect Park.]
+
+One of the strongest direct appeals to the nation's conscience in behalf
+of enslaved Niagara appeared in 1881 and is worthy of reproduction, if
+only for its vivid description of the status of affairs at the Falls at
+that time:
+
+    The homage of the world has thrown a halo round Niagara for
+    those who have not seen it, and Niagara has left its own impress
+    upon every thoughtful person who has seen it, and every
+    unpleasant feature therefore is brought into bold relief. Where
+    the carcass is, there also will the eagles be gathered together.
+    A continuous stream of open-mouthed travellers has offered rare
+    opportunities to the quick-witted money-makers of all kinds; the
+    contrast between the place and its surroundings, perceived at
+    first by the few, has been for years trumpeted throughout the
+    country by the number of correspondents who write periodical
+    accounts of the season, and to-day every sane adult citizen may
+    be said to know two things about Niagara: first, that there is a
+    great waterfall there, and second, that a man's pockets will be
+    emptied more quickly there than anywhere else in the Union. . . .
+    Niagara is being destroyed as a summer resort. It has long
+    since ceased to be a place where people stay for a week or more,
+    and it is now given up to second-class tourists, and
+    excursionists who are brought by the car-load. The constant
+    fees, the solicitation of the hackmen, the impertinences of the
+    store-keepers, have actually been so potent that it is a rare
+    thing to find any of the best people here. The hotels are not to
+    blame; the Cataract House for instance, is a quiet, comfortable
+    hotel, excellently managed, and in the hands of gentlemanly
+    proprietors, and it is probably by no means alone in this
+    respect. The hotel-keepers are aware of the state of things;
+    they do not encourage the excursion traffic. Some even seek to
+    avoid the patronage of the excursionists. From all over the
+    country--from places as far as Louisville--the railway company
+    bring the people by thousands: they pour out of the station in a
+    stream half a mile long. Of course, like locusts, they sweep
+    everything before them. Several places--Prospect Park, for
+    instance--cater to the tastes of this class alone. Several
+    evenings in the week Prospect Park is filled with a crowd of
+    free-and-easy men and women, fetching their own tea and coffee
+    and provisions and enjoying a rollicking dance in the Pavilion.
+    And all this within fifty yards of the American fall! For their
+    entertainment there is an illuminated spray-fountain, and their
+    appreciation knows no bounds when various coloured lights are
+    thrown upon the Falls. Then a crowd of fifty swoops down upon
+    one of the hotels--men, women, and children--all in brown linen
+    dusters; all hot, hungry, and careless. These people must not be
+    deprived of their recreation. Heaven forbid! None have a greater
+    right than they to the influence of Niagara. But this way of
+    visiting the place is all wrong; they derive little benefit, and
+    they do infinite harm.
+
+    In this second sense the destruction of Niagara is making rapid
+    strides in a far more dangerous direction. The natural
+    attractions of the place are being undermined. On the American
+    side the bank of the river above the Falls is covered for a
+    quarter of a mile with structures of all kinds, from the
+    extensive parlors and piazzas of the Cataract House to the
+    little shanty where the Indian goods of Irish manufacture are
+    sold.
+
+    For the purpose of securing bathrooms and water-power, dams of
+    all kinds have been built; these are wooden trenches filled with
+    rough paving-stones. Some of the structures project over the
+    Rapids, being supported by piles. The spaces between the various
+    buildings are used to store lumber, and as dust heaps. One of
+    them contains a great heap of saw-dust, another a pile of
+    scrap-iron. The banks and fences bear invitations to purchase
+    Parker's hair-balsam and ginger tonic. The proprietor of
+    Prospect Park has made a laudable attempt to plant trees upon
+    his land; these extend for a few yards above the Falls. In
+    return, however, he has erected coloured arbours, and a station
+    for his electric light, which are almost as unpleasant as the
+    other buildings.
+
+    Just below the Suspension Bridge the gas-works discharge their
+    tar down the bank into the river; a few yards further on there
+    are five or six large manufactories, whose tail-races empty
+    themselves over the cliff. The spectator on Goat Island, on the
+    Suspension Bridge, or on the Canadian side cannot help seeing
+    this mass of incongruous and ugly structures extending along the
+    whole course of the Rapids and to the brink of the Falls. Of
+    course, under these circumstances the Rapids are degraded into a
+    mill-race, and the Fall itself seems to be lacking a
+    water-wheel.
+
+    One half of Bath Island--which lies between Goat Island and the
+    shore--is filled with the ruins of a large paper-mill which was
+    burnt in 1880. It is now being rebuilt and greatly enlarged.
+    Masses of charred timbers, old iron, calcined stones and bricks,
+    two or three great rusty boilers, the dirty heaps surmounted by
+    a tall chimney--such are the surroundings of a spot, which, for
+    grandeur and romantic beauty, is not equalled in the world. A
+    short distance below Bath Island lies Bird Island, a mere clump
+    of trees in the midst of the rushing water, a mass of dark-green
+    foliage overhanging its banks and trailing its branches
+    carelessly in the foam. This little spot has been untrodden by
+    man--the most fearless savage would not risk his birch-bark boat
+    in these waters. But what those who profit by it call the rapid
+    strides of commercial industry, or possibly the development of
+    our national resources, will soon destroy this little piece of
+    Nature; already the owners of the paper-mill have built their
+    dam within twenty yards of it, extending through the waters like
+    the limb of some horrid spider, slowly but surely reaching its
+    prey. Let the connection be made, and a couple of men with axes
+    turned loose in this little green island, and before long the
+    rattle of a donkey-engine or the howl of a saw-mill swells the
+    chorus of this _soi-disant_ civilisation. The following does not
+    sound very encouraging for the preservation of Niagara's
+    scenery. It is taken from a paper, _Niagara as a Water Power:_
+
+    " . . . Hence it is that we are soon to see a development of
+    this peculiar power of Niagara which will stand unrivalled among
+    motors of its class in the world.
+
+    "Already people talk of the storage of electricity and quote the
+    opinions of scientists about the possibilities of the future.
+    Sir William Thompson--it is said--gave as his opinion that it
+    would be perfectly feasible to light London with electricity
+    generated at Niagara.
+
+    "There is no assurance that Goat Island may not be sold at any
+    moment for the erection of a mill or factory. Indeed if a rapid
+    development of the mechanical application of electricity should
+    take place--thus enabling speculators to offer very high prices
+    for the immense power that could be controlled from Goat Island,
+    it is almost certain that such a sale would result. And with its
+    accomplishment would disappear the last chance of saving
+    Niagara!"
+
+The honour of first suggesting the preservation of Niagara Falls has
+been claimed by many persons. But the first real suggestion dates back
+as early as 1835, though made without details. It came from two
+Scotchmen, Andrew Reed and James Matheson, who, in a volume describing
+their visits to Congregational churches of this country, first broached
+the idea that Niagara should "be deemed the property of civilised
+mankind."
+
+In 1885, by the labours of several distinguished men, principally Mr.
+Frederick Law Olmsted, a bill was passed in the Legislature of New York
+instructing the commissioners of the State Survey to prepare a report
+on the conditions and prospects of Niagara. This report was prepared by
+Mr. James T. Gardner, the director of the New York State Survey, and Mr.
+Olmsted. It strongly protested against such waste and degradation of the
+scenery as have been described in this chapter; it set forth the dangers
+of ultimate destruction, and made an eloquent appeal in favour of State
+action to preserve this natural treasure. The report strongly urged the
+establishment of an "International Park," and gave details of its
+construction with maps and views. It proposed that a strip of land a
+mile long and varying from one hundred feet to eight hundred feet broad,
+together with the buildings on it, should be condemned by the State,
+appraised by a commission, and purchased. The erections on Bath Island
+and in the Rapids were to be swept away. Trees and shrubberies were to
+be planted, roads and foot-paths appropriately laid out. The cost was
+estimated at one million dollars.[11]
+
+Why the bill should have met with so much opposition before it was
+finally passed, is to-day a question hard to answer; at any rate the
+political history of the bill is interesting.
+
+As in the case of most modern propositions the question was generally
+asked:
+
+"Is the game worth the candle? Is it worth while to spend a million
+dollars--to take twenty-five cents out of the pocket of each tax-payer
+in the State of New York--in order to destroy a lot of good buildings
+and plant trees in place of them, and, moreover, to do this for the sake
+of a few persons whose nerves are so delicate that the sight of a
+tremendous body of water rushing over a precipice is spoiled for them by
+a pulp-mill standing on the banks?"
+
+Indeed, it is said on good authority, that Governor Cornell, after
+listening to a description of the shameful condition at the Falls and
+the surroundings at the time when he sat in the gubernatorial chair
+remarked: "Well, the water goes over just the same doesn't it?"
+
+Mr. Cleveland, being elected Governor of New York in 1882 seemed always
+in favour of the preservation of the scenery at Niagara Falls. Governor
+Robinson, in 1879, likewise an advocate of the idea, even caused some
+preliminary steps to be taken but the following gentlemen especially
+deserve to be entered in the _Golden Book of Niagara_: Thomas K.
+Beecher, James J. Belden, R. Lenox Belknap, Prof. E. Chadwick, Erastus
+Corning, Geo. W. Curtis, Hon. James Daly, Benjamin Doolittle, Edgar van
+Etter, R. E. Fenton, H. H. Frost, General James W. Husted, Thomas L.
+James, Thomas Kingsford, Benson J. Lossing, Seth Low, Luther R. Marsh,
+Randolph B. Martine, Rufus H. Peckham, Howard Potter, D. W. Powers,
+Pascal P. Pratt, Ripley Ropes, Horatio Seymour, Geo. B. Sloan, Samuel J.
+Tilden, Senator Titus, Theodore Vorhees, Francis H. Weeks, Wm. A.
+Wheeler. They all made strenuous efforts to advance the bill introduced
+into the Legislature by Jacob F. Miller of New York City. One of its
+foremost promoters also was Mr. Thomas V. Welch, Superintendent of the
+New York State Reservation at Niagara, whose valuable pamphlet _How
+Niagara was Made Free_ affords much of our material for this chapter. A
+bill entitled "Niagara Reservation Act" passed the New York Assembly and
+the Senate, and was signed by Grover Cleveland on April 30, 1883.
+Commissioners were appointed consisting of William Dorsheimer, Sherman
+S. Rogers, Andrew H. Green, J. Hampden Robb, and Martin B. Anderson. But
+the final bill had to undergo many vicissitudes ere it was lastly
+amended and passed. The appraisals alone amounted to $1,433,429.50, and
+the then existing financial depression had to be dispelled before
+anything definite could be done. Between 1883 and 1885 there arose a
+most unjustifiable raid against the measure. I have already alluded to
+it above. John J. Platt of the _Poughkeepsie Eagle_ wrote for instance:
+"We regard this Niagara scheme as one of the most unnecessary and
+unjustifiable raids upon the State Treasury ever attempted." Mr. Platt
+became later on a warm advocate of the plan, but the wrong was done.
+Some denounced the bill as a "job" and a "steal" and berated Niagara
+Falls and its citizens, particularly the hackmen, hotel-men, and
+bazaar-keepers as sharks and swindlers, who had robbed the people
+individually and were now seeking to rob them collectively. They said
+they would oppose the bill by every means, hoped it would be
+defeated--bursts of temper mildly suggestive of strangers who had
+visited Niagara and had suffered at the hands of her showmen in the
+golden days of Niagara's army of fakirs and extortionists.
+
+[Illustration: Bath Island, American Rapids, in 1879.
+
+From New York Commissioners' Report.]
+
+Thus the matter dragged and great fears were entertained that the case
+would be lost. Meanwhile the above-named prominent citizens had not been
+idle. They had sent to their friends and constituents a kind of a
+circular and obtained about four thousand signatures in favour of the
+measure. Clergymen, educators, editors, and attorneys were well
+represented; medical men without exception signed the petition, which
+was finally submitted to Governor Hill. For a time it almost seemed that
+the Governor shared the views of Governor Cornell. He was "pestered to
+death" in behalf of the bill until the matter actually created a stir,
+as though the very welfare of the State depended on it. Great pressure
+was brought on Mr. Hill to sign the bill; he visited the Falls himself,
+went over the ground, but he was non-committal and even his intimates
+had no idea whether he would affix his signature. Yet he seemed
+apparently more favourably disposed than heretofore.
+
+    There was left a feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty [writes
+    Mr. Welch], concerning the fate of the bill. Another week
+    passed. Rumours were rife concerning the intention of the
+    Governor to let the bill die, in lack of his signature, and thus
+    arrived the 30th of April, 1885, the last day for the scheme
+    allowed by law.
+
+    The forenoon was spent in a state of feverish anxiety--not
+    lessened by frequent rumours of a veto in the Senate or
+    Assembly; some of them started in a spirit of mischief by the
+    newspaper reporters. When noon came, it seemed as if the bill
+    would surely fail for lack of executive approval. But the
+    darkest hour is just before daybreak. Shortly after noon a
+    newspaper man hurriedly came to the writer[12] in the Assembly
+    chamber and said that the Governor had just signed the Niagara
+    Bill. A hurried passage was made to the office of the Secretary
+    of State to see if the bill had been received from the Governor.
+    It had not been received. At that moment the door was opened by
+    the Governor's messenger who placed the bill in the hands of the
+    writer saying "Here is your little joker." A glance at the bill
+    showed it to be the "Niagara Reservation Bill," and on the last
+    page was the much coveted signature of David B. Hill, rivalling
+    that of Mr. Grover Cleveland in diminutive handwriting.
+
+    It is reported that the "King of the Lobby," a man notorious for
+    years in Albany, expressed his satisfaction at the approval of
+    the bill, saying "The 'boys' wanted to 'strike' that bill, but I
+    told them that they must not do it; that it was a bill which
+    ought to pass without the expenditure of a dollar--and it did."
+
+The Report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara lies
+before me. It is dated February 17, 1885.[13] The commissioners were
+appointed in 1883 to consider and report what, if any, measures it might
+be expedient for the State to adopt carrying out the project to place
+Niagara under the control of Canada and New York according to the
+suggestions contained in the annual message of Governor Cleveland with
+respect to Niagara Falls. The report states that the attractions of the
+scenery and climate in the neighbourhood of the Falls are such that with
+their ready accessibility by several favourite routes of travel it might
+reasonably be expected that Niagara would be a popular summer resort;
+that there was nevertheless, no desirable summer population, attributed
+chiefly to the constant annoyances to which the traveller is subjected:
+pestering demands and solicitations, and petty exactions and impositions
+by which he is everywhere met. While it is true that such annoyances are
+felt wherever travellers are drawn in large numbers, at Niagara the
+inconvenience becomes greater because the distinctive interest of
+Niagara as compared with other attractive scenery is remarkably
+circumscribed and concentrated. That the value of Niagara lies in its
+appeal to the higher emotion and imaginative faculties and should not be
+disturbed and irritated; that tolls and fees had to be removed; traffic
+was to be excluded from the limits from whence the chief splendour of
+the scenery was visible. That the only prospect of relief was to be
+found in State control; that the forest was rapidly destroyed which once
+formed the perfect setting of one of Nature's most gorgeous panoramas,
+and that the erection of mills and factories upon the margin of the
+river had a most injurious effect upon the character of the scene.
+
+It was therefore resolved on June 9, 1883, that
+
+    in the judgment of this board it is desirable to select as
+    proper and necessary to be reserved for the purpose of
+    preserving the scenery of the falls of Niagara and of restoring
+    the said scenery to its natural condition, the following lands
+    situate in the village of Niagara and the County of Niagara
+    to-wit: Goat Island, Bath Island, the Three Sisters, Bird
+    Island, Luna Island, Chapin Island, and the small islands
+    adjacent to said islands in the Niagara River, and the bed of
+    said river between said islands and the main land of the State
+    of New York; and, also, the bed of said river between Goat
+    Island and the Canadian boundary; also a strip of land beginning
+    near "Port Day" in said village, running along the shore of said
+    river, to and including "Prospect Park" and the cliff and debris
+    slope, under the same, substantially as shown by that part
+    coloured green on the map accompanying the fourth report of the
+    Board of Commissioners of the State Survey, dated March 22,
+    1880; and including also at the east end of said strip
+    sufficient land not exceeding one acre for purposes convenient
+    for said reservation, and also all lands at the foot of said
+    falls, and all lands in said river adjoining said islands and
+    the other lands hereinbefore described.
+
+By the adoption of the foregoing resolution, the area of a reservation
+was preliminarily defined. A commission of appraisement was installed.
+As was to be expected the claims for the condemned land were about four
+million dollars. The awards, however, amounted to $1,433,429.50 only.
+Some interesting and important questions were raised as to the rights
+of the riparian owners to use the power afforded by the Niagara River
+for hydraulic purposes and to receive compensation therefor. Upon this
+basis the owners were prepared to present claims aggregating twenty or
+thirty millions of dollars. After full argument and careful
+consideration, the commissioners of appraisement rejected all such
+claims, except where the water power had been actually reduced to use
+and used for a period long enough to create a prescriptive right. They
+held:
+
+    (1) that Niagara is a public stream, and its bed and waters
+    belong to the State; (2) that as against the State private
+    riparian owners have no right to encroach on its bed to divert
+    its waters or to subject them to the burden of manufacturing
+    uses, unless they have acquired such right by grant from the
+    State or by prescription.
+
+The preamble of the Preservation Act[14] which was to make Niagara free
+read:
+    _Whereas_, the State Engineer and Surveyor has completed and
+    submitted to this board a map of the lands selected and located
+    by it in the village of Niagara Falls and the County of Niagara
+    and State of New York, which, in the judgment of this board are
+    proper and necessary to be reserved for the purpose of
+    preserving the scenery of the falls of Niagara, and restoring
+    the said scenery to its natural condition; now, therefore, it is
+    Resolved, etc.
+
+On the morning of July 15th the Seventh Battery unlimbered its howitzers
+to salute the rising sun with a hundred salvos. The day unfortunately
+proved dark and foreboding. A storm burst in the morning and drove the
+crowds to shelter, and the last drops had hardly ceased pattering, when
+the hour of noon, the time fixed for the ceremony, arrived. The grounds
+of Prospect Park were wet and the trees shook their water freely in the
+light breeze, but some thousands collected on the grass around the
+pavilion, notwithstanding these disheartening circumstances. When
+President Dorsheimer, however, began his speech the sun smiled through
+the clouds, and the day thereafter was perfect overhead.
+
+[Illustration: Path to Luna Island.]
+
+The excursion trains began to pour their passengers into the village
+early. They came from the counties bordering on the Pennsylvania line
+and from the northern and western ends of the State and from the towns
+in the Canadian dominion. It is estimated that at least thirty thousand
+strangers were unloaded in the village. The visitors included country
+folk and residents of the city, and about two thousand militiamen,
+principally from the Fourth Division, although there were several
+organisations among them representing Cleveland, Detroit, Utica,
+Buffalo, and Rochester. There was a sprinkling of British redcoats among
+the gold-laced officers who dotted the village streets. One of the
+Canadian battalions desired to come over and join in the celebration.
+The United States authorities extended a welcome but the Canadian
+authorities declined to allow their soldiers to cross the river. A few
+of the officers got permit to come.
+
+Governor Hill and his staff were met by a committee appointed to receive
+them, consisting of Thomas V. Welch and O. W. Cutter. There were also
+Senators Bowen, Low, Lansing, Ellsworth, Baker, Van Schaick, Titus and
+"Tim" Campbell. Of Assemblymen there were present Mr. Hubbell of
+Rochester, who fathered the bill in the last Legislature which led to
+the day's ceremonies; Hon. Jacob L. Miller, who, in 1883, introduced the
+bill creating the Niagara Park Commission; Hendricks, Kruse, McEwen,
+Bailey, Scott, Raines, Haskell, Dibble, Connelly, Major Haggerty,
+General Barnum, Whitmore, Storm, Ely, Secretary of the Senate John W.
+Vrooman, and Ex-Senators MacArthur and Loomis.
+
+Of editors and other public men well known "up in the State" there were
+Carroll E. Smith and W. H. Northrup of Syracuse; S. Callicott and John
+A. Sleicher of Albany; Willard S. Cobb of Lockport; William Purcell of
+Rochester; Congressman Wadsworth; Ex-Congressmen Brewer and Van Abram
+and Solomon Scheu. Of State officials were mentioned Civil Service
+Commissioner Henry A. Richmond; Professor Gardner of the old State
+survey; Secretary Carr; Attorney-General O'Brien; Treasurer Maxwell;
+Engineer Sweet; Insurance Superintendent John A. McCall; and
+Superintendent of Public Instruction William H. Ruggles. Letters of
+regret were received from Governor-General Lansdowne of Canada, Samuel
+J. Tilden, and President Cleveland.
+
+The last admission fee to Prospect Park was collected in the night of
+July 15, 1885, and a till full of quarters was taken before the gates
+were thrown open at midnight. The owners of Goat Island left their gates
+open all night. Everything was free, however, on the 15th and such a
+company as swarmed over the islands in consequence was never seen
+before. They crowded the walks and fringed the cliffs and shores at
+every available point. They recklessly clambered down to the bottom of
+the Falls and clustered on the ledge of rocks overlooking the Horseshoe
+and American Falls. Persons who had lived all their lives within twenty
+miles of the Falls now beheld them for the first time. They brought
+their luncheons, and when the sun came out they picnicked on the
+greensward.
+
+The hurdy-gurdy shows which had sprung up like mushrooms within
+twenty-four hours all over the village were doing a brisk business. The
+Indian shops also were all open but the other stores and places of
+business in the village were closed for the day. The air was filled from
+morning till night with the blare of military bands, the monotonous
+sound of numberless organs, and the shouts and cries of venders and
+showmen. Every building in the village was decorated with bunting.
+
+[Illustration: Green Island Bridge.]
+
+The pavilion in the park was reserved for invited guests and for those
+who participated in the ceremonies. Near the Governor and his staff sat
+the Commissioners of the Niagara Park Reservation. Among the
+distinguished guests were prominent Canadians who took a warm interest
+in the project of an International Park at Niagara. They were
+Lieutenant-Governor Robinson, Captain Geddes, and Lieutenant-Colonel
+Gowski, members of the Niagara Park Association; the Hon. O. S. Hardy,
+Secretary of Ontario, and the Attorney-General of that Province, the
+Hon. O. Mowat.
+
+The opening-prayer was offered by the Right-Reverend A. Cleveland Coxe.
+He was followed by Erastus Brooks, who, in a brief speech, introduced
+the subject of the day's celebration, and concluded by saying that no
+better investment had ever been made by any State, corporation, or
+people, and added that Lord Dufferin had promised that Canada would join
+in establishing a free park on their own side of the Falls. Great
+enthusiasm followed, and the whole audience of five thousand people then
+joined in singing _America_. President Dorsheimer, in behalf of the
+Commission, then formally presented the Park to the State of New York.
+After briefly reciting what the Commission had done he said: "From this
+hour Niagara is free. But not free alone; it shall be clothed with
+beauty again, and the blemishes which have been planted among these
+scenes will presently be removed. As soon as the forces of Nature,
+nowhere more powerful than at this favoured place, can do the work,
+these banks will be covered with trees, these slopes made verdant, and
+the Cataract once more clothed with the charms which Nature gave it."
+
+As he concluded the firing of guns signalled to the crowds on the
+islands and on the Canadian side that Niagara was the possession of the
+State of New York, and that Governor Hill was about to accept the gift
+in the name of the people of the State. The Governor was warmly cheered
+when he stepped forward to speak. He gave a brief sketch of the history
+of the Falls, and likewise alluded to the opening of the Erie Canal, the
+laying of the corner-stone of the State's magnificent Capitol at Albany
+and the opening of the East River bridge. Then he accepted the Park with
+some appropriate words, concluding as follows: "The preservation of
+Niagara Park, the greatest of wonders is, indeed, a noble work. Its
+conception is worthy the advanced thought, the grand liberality, and the
+true spirit of the nineteenth century."
+
+After this followed the singing of the _Star Spangled Banner_, the
+audience joining earnestly in the chorus. The oration was delivered by
+that polished member of the New York Bar, Mr. James C. Carter, giving a
+full history of the region. The two Canadian officials,
+Lieutenant-Governor Robinson and Attorney-General Mowat were then
+introduced, and congratulated the State of New York for the enterprise
+and public spirit shown by the people and the public officers. The
+exercise concluded with the Doxology and a benediction. In the afternoon
+Governor Hill with Generals Jewett and Rogers reviewed the militia. In
+the evening fireworks were set off from Prospect Park, Goat Island, and
+the brink of the Falls from the Canadian side. Earlier in the day the
+Comptroller's check for five hundred thousand dollars was received by
+the Porter family, the Goat Island property had been transferred to the
+commissioners, and Niagara was free.
+
+There had been, of course, strong objection on the part of the army of
+landholders and monopolists who were to be thrown out of their "easy
+money" livelihoods. Of this the excellent "leader" in the New York
+_Times_ of July 15th deals as follows:
+
+    It would be alike idle and unjust to blame the people of Niagara
+    Falls for this state of mind. They have done what the members of
+    any other community would have done in making the most of their
+    neighbourhood as a wonder of nature. Even the obstinate . . .
+    who declines to be bought out, and insists upon his right to
+    make merchandise out of the river, is entitled to respect for
+    the tenacity with which he proposes to resist the acquisition of
+    his property by the State upon the ground that the law
+    authorising the acquisition is unconstitutional.
+
+    He would very possibly be willing to acknowledge the right of
+    eminent domain if it were proposed to take his land for a
+    railroad, but the idea that it shall be taken in order that a
+    river . . . shall be kept for dudes to look at undoubtedly
+    strikes him as unmixed foolishness. However excusable this state
+    of mind may have been, nobody who does not own a point of view
+    or at least a hack at Niagara will dispute that its consequences
+    have been deplorable. Though Niagara has continued to be a
+    frequential resort it has by no means been as popular as it
+    would have become with the increasing facilities of travel and
+    the increasing advantages taken of them, if the fame of the
+    gross and petty extortions had not been almost as widely spread
+    as the fame of Niagara itself. While the local monopolies have
+    deterred people from visiting the Falls, they have nevertheless
+    been so lucrative that the most important of them is reported
+    upon the authority of one of its managers to have returned a net
+    annual profit, of thirty thousand dollars, and the report is not
+    incredible, prodigious as the figure seems as a profit upon the
+    mere command of a point of view. This hedging about and looking
+    up of a boon of nature was perhaps the most objectionable
+    incident of the private shore of Niagara. To a tourist who goes
+    to Niagara from any other motive than that of saying that he had
+    been there the importunity to which he had been subjected at
+    every turn was absolutely destructive of the object of his
+    visit. The prosaic and incongruous surroundings of the cataract
+    completed the disillusion which importunity and extortion were
+    calculated to produce. Many tourists would have been glad to pay
+    down, once for all, as much as their persecutors could have
+    reasonably hoped to extract from them for the privilege of being
+    allowed to look without molestation upon the work of nature
+    undisfigured by the handiwork of man. "For many years this has
+    been impossible, and for several years it has been evident that
+    it could be made possible only by the resumption on the part of
+    the State, as a trustee of its citizens and for all mankind, of
+    the ownership and control of the shore. This resumption will be
+    formally made to-day. But it was really brought about in the
+    Legislature in the winter of 1884, when the full force of the
+    opposition to the project was brought out and fairly defeated.
+    The State of New York has in effect decided that the
+    preservation of a sublime work of nature under conditions which
+    will enable it to affect men's minds most strongly is an object
+    for which it is worth while to pay the money of the State. It is
+    this emphatic decision which marks a real advance in
+    civilisation over the state of mind of the Gradgrinds of the
+    last generation and of the contemporaneous wood-pulp grinder
+    that the proper function of the greatest waterfall in the world
+    is to turn mill-wheels and produce pennies by being turned into
+    a peep show."
+
+The Reservation forms a beautiful State Park within the growing city of
+Niagara Falls, N. Y., which lies just back of it numbering now a
+population of nearly twenty-five thousand people. The city is well laid
+out, and its promoters "point with pride" to the advances made during
+the last decade and bespeak for "Industrial Niagara" a future of great
+distinction in the commercial world.
+
+The first town worthy of the name here on the American side of the Falls
+was named Manchester by Judge Porter when he settled here in 1806, 102
+years ago, believing that the site could eventually be occupied by the
+"Manchester of America." Judge Porter's many inducements to promoters
+were not accepted until about the middle of last century (1853) when the
+present canal was begun. For many years even this improvement lay
+unused; it was not until 1878 that the present company was organised and
+any real advance was made. Of the recent wonderful development along
+power lines at Niagara we treat in another chapter under the title of
+"Harnessing Niagara Falls." But the supreme interest in these lines of
+activity must not let us lose sight of the important element of local
+environment.
+
+It is of almost national interest that Niagara is so centrally located,
+that within seven hundred miles of this great cataract live two-thirds
+of the population of the United States and Canada. This of itself, were
+there no Niagara Falls, would guarantee the growth of the town of
+Niagara Falls. Add to this strategic location the exceptional advantages
+to be found here by industrial plants looking for a home, and also the
+evident fact that Niagara Falls is a delightful spot in which to reside,
+it is clear that if a great and beautiful city does not develop here in
+the next century human prophecy will have missed its guess and tons of
+advertising will have been wasted. Twenty-five million dollars are, it
+is said, invested in capital now in the present town, and the value of
+imports and exports in 1906 was over two millions and over twelve
+millions, respectively. Fourteen railways here find terminals and the
+town has over one hundred mails daily. With splendid educational
+advantages, with twenty miles and more of pavement already laid, with a
+beautiful and efficiently conducted public library, with a city water
+pumping plant capable of handling twenty million gallons daily, and
+nearly forty miles of drains, with a citizenship active, patriotic, and
+capable, is it any wonder that Niagara Falls' real estate agents and
+suburban resident promoters are thriving like the old cabmen and
+side-show operators thrived in the "good old days" of private ownership
+along the Niagara's bank?
+
+There is no discounting the advances this interesting little city has
+made in the past ten years and more, and there is very little
+possibility, on the face of things of a tremendously accelerated growth
+in the coming century. Big problems are here being worked out; big
+schemes are afoot, big things will happen--an advance will come because
+of the plain merit of the bare facts of the case without unnecessary
+inducement or overcapitalisation of the advertising agencies. The world
+needs power to do its work, and until we sit down calmly and figure out
+a way for the ocean tides to do our work, as ought in all conscience to
+be the case to-day, Niagara Falls will hold out extraordinary inducement
+to all industrial promoters which cannot be rivalled in many ways at
+any other point. If only the ends of industry can be achieved without
+destroying this great continental scenic wonder! There are those who are
+unwilling to take a single rainbow from that ocean of rainbows amidst
+the Falls to drive another wheel. But there is surely a sane middle
+ground to be found here, and it is certain that brave, thinking men are
+on the sure track to find it.
+
+Similar in geographic position, quite as much could be said for Niagara
+Falls, Ont., as has been said of her twin city on the American shore. In
+point of beauty nothing can excel the magnificent Queen Victoria Park,
+opened in 1888, which lies opposite the New York State Reservation; the
+view of the two falls from it, or from the airy piazzas of the superb
+Clifton Hotel which flanks it, is unmatched. At present writing the
+guardians of the New York State Reservation, and other sensitive
+persons, are justly exercised over a genuine "Yankee trick," more or
+less connived in, they darkly hint, by the authorities, who have
+permitted a series of hideous signboards to be erected on the Canadian
+shore to serve the purpose of bringing out more vividly by contrast the
+unrivalled beauties of Queen Victoria Park.
+
+[Footnote 11: _The Nation_, No. 84 (September 1, 1881).]
+
+[Footnote 12: Mr. Thomas V. Welch, _loc. cit._]
+
+[Footnote 13: Senate Document, No. 35, Albany, N. Y.]
+
+[Footnote 14: _Resolved_, That this board hereby selects and locates the
+lands hereafter described, situate in the village of Niagara Falls, and
+the County of Niagara and State of New York, as in the opinion of this
+board proper and necessary to be reserved for the purpose of preserving
+the scenery of the falls of Niagara, and restoring the said scenery to
+its natural condition, and does hereby determine to take such land for
+the purposes aforesaid, and which said land is bounded and described as
+follows, to-wit: All that certain piece or parcel of land situate in the
+village of Niagara Falls, town and County of Niagara, State of New York,
+distinguished in part as part of lots numbers forty-two (42),
+forty-three (43), and forty-four (44) of the mile strip, as the same was
+surveyed and conveyed by the State of New York, in part as islands known
+as Goat island, Bath island, the Three Sisters, Bird island, Luna
+island, Chapin island, Ship island, Brig island, Robinson's island, and
+other small islands lying in Niagara river adjacent and near to the
+islands above-named, and in part as lands lying under the Niagara river,
+bounded and described as follows, to-wit:
+
+Beginning at a point on the easterly bank of the Niagara river, where
+the same is met and intersected by the division line between lands now
+or formerly occupied by Albert H. Porter, and lands now or formerly
+owned or occupied by the Niagara Falls Hydraulic and Manufacturing Canal
+Company; running thence on a course north three degrees forty-nine and
+one-fourth minutes west; along said last mentioned division line, one
+(1) chain and ninety-five (95) links to a stone monument standing in the
+southerly line of Buffalo street, in the village of Niagara Falls;
+thence on a course south eighty-six degrees forty-five and one-fourth
+minutes west along said southerly line of Buffalo street ninety and
+nine-tenths (90.9) links to a point in the division line between lands
+now or formerly owned or occupied by Albert H. Porter, and lands now or
+formerly owned or occupied by the estate of Augustus S. Porter; thence
+on a course south eighty-six degrees forty-five and one-fourth minutes
+west along said southerly line of Buffalo street ninety and nine-tenths
+(90.9) links to a point in the division line between lands now or
+formerly owned or occupied by the estate of Augustus S. Porter and lands
+owned or occupied by Jane S. Townsend; thence on a course south
+eighty-six degrees forty-five and one-fourth minutes west, along said
+southerly line of Buffalo street, two (2) chains and seventy (70) links
+to the intersection of the same with the easterly line of Seventh
+street; thence on the same course south eighty-six degrees forty-five
+and one-fourth minutes west, across said Seventh street, one (1) chain
+and three-tenths (.3) of a link to the westerly boundary thereof; thence
+along said westerly boundary of Seventh street and on a course south
+three degrees forty-nine and one-half minutes east, one (1) chain and
+fifty-four and seventy-seven one-hundredths (54.77) links to a point in
+said westerly line of Seventh street, distant seventy-six (76) links
+northerly, measuring on said westerly line of Seventh street, from the
+intersection of the same with the northerly line of River street; thence
+on a course south fifty-seven degrees forty-seven and one-fourth
+minutes, west one (1) chain and sixteen (16) links to a point in the
+division line between lands now or formerly owned or occupied by Albert
+H. Porter and lands now or formerly owned or occupied by Mrs. George W.
+Holley, which said point is distant northerly measuring along said
+division line seventy (70) links from the northerly line of River
+street; thence on a course south fifty-six degrees fifty-five and
+one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and sixteen (16) links to a point;
+thence south fifty-eight degrees forty minutes west, one (1) chain and
+fifteen (15) links to a point; thence south sixty-three degrees
+forty-three and one-fourth minutes west one (1) chain and eleven (11)
+links to a point; thence south sixty-seven degrees nineteen and
+one-fourth minutes west, one (1) chain and sixty (60) links to a point
+in the division line between lands owned or occupied by Mrs. George W.
+Holley and lands owned or occupied by Jane S. Townsend distant sixty
+(60) links northerly measured on said division line from the northerly
+boundary of River street; thence on a course south seventy-two degrees
+nineteen minutes west, two (2) chains and ten (10) links to a point in
+the division line between lands owned or occupied by Jane S. Townsend,
+and lands owned or occupied by Josephine M. Porter, distant, measuring
+on said division line sixty-four (64) links northerly from the northerly
+boundary of River street; thence on a course south seventy-three degrees
+thirty-four and one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and four (4) links
+to a point; thence south seventy-six degrees twenty-eight and one-half
+minutes west, one (1) chain and two (2) links to a point; thence south
+eighty-two degrees four and three-fourths minutes west, one (1) link to
+a point, thence south eighty-six degrees forty-three and one-fourth
+minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence south eighty-nine degrees
+fifty-six minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence north
+eighty-eight degrees forty-three minutes west one (1) chain and one (1)
+link to a point in the easterly boundary of Fourth street, distant
+ninety (90) links northerly, measuring on said easterly boundary of
+Fourth street, from the intersection of the same with the northerly
+boundary of River street; thence across said Fourth street and on a
+course north eighty-two degrees thirty-two and one-half minutes west,
+one (1) chain and one (1) link to a point in the westerly boundary of
+Fourth street, distant eighty-six (86) links northerly measuring on said
+westerly boundary of Fourth street; from the intersection of the same
+with the northerly line of River street: thence on a course north
+seventy-eight degrees fifty-three minutes west, two (2) chains and six
+(6) links to a point in the division line between lands owned or
+occupied by Peter A. Porter, and land owned or occupied by S. M.
+Whitney, which point is distant seventy (70) links northerly, measuring
+on said division line, from the northerly line of River street; thence
+on a course north seventy-nine degrees seventeen and three-fourths
+minutes west, one (1) chain and three (3) links to a point; thence north
+seventy-six degrees eight minutes west, one (1) chain and four (4) links
+to a point; thence north seventy-three degrees seven and one-fourth
+minutes west, ninety-five (95) links to a point; thence north
+seventy-one degrees twenty-five and one-fourth minutes west, fifty (50)
+links to a point in the division line between lands owned or occupied by
+S. M. Whitney, and lands owned or occupied by Albert H. Porter which
+point is distant northerly, measuring on said division line, seventy
+(70) links from the northerly line of River street; thence on a course
+north sixty-eight degrees thirty-five and one-fourth minutes west,
+sixty-eight (68) links to a point; thence north sixty-three degrees
+thirty-eight and one-fourth minutes-west, ninety-eight (98) links to a
+point; thence north fifty-three degrees fifteen and one-fourth minutes
+west, one (1) chain and thirteen (13) links to a point in the division
+line between lands owned or occupied by Albert H. Porter and lands owned
+or occupied by Jane S. Townsend, which point is distant northerly,
+measuring on said division line, ninety-two (92) links from the
+northerly line of River street; running thence on a course north
+forty-eight degrees fifty-six and one-fourth minutes west, eighty-nine
+(89) links to a point; thence north fifty degrees one and one-half
+minutes west, one (1) chain and two (2) links to a point; thence north
+fifty-five degrees two and one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and one
+(1) link to a point; thence north sixty degrees ten minutes west, fifty
+(50) links to a point in the division line between lands owned or
+occupied by Jane S. Townsend and lands owned or occupied by the heirs of
+Augustus S. Porter, which point is distant northerly, measuring on said
+division-line, one (1) chain and fifty-six (56) links from the northerly
+line of River street; thence on a course north sixty degrees fifteen and
+one-half minutes west, fifty (50) links to a point; thence north
+sixty-seven degrees ten and one-half minutes west, ninety-nine (99)
+links to a point; thence north sixty-eight degrees nineteen and
+three-fourths minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence north
+seventy-one degrees forty-five and one-fourth minutes west, one (1)
+chain to a point distant one (1) chain and twenty-eight (28) links,
+measuring on a course north twenty-seven degrees east from the northerly
+line of River street; thence on a course north sixty-three degrees
+fifty-five and one-half minutes west, one (1) chain and eleven (11)
+links to a point; thence north fifty-five degrees one and one-fourth
+minutes west, one (1) chain to a point; thence north fifty-one degrees
+forty-one and one-half minutes west, eighty-nine (89) links to a point;
+thence north forty-seven degrees fifty minutes west eighty-three (83)
+links to a point; thence north forty-five degrees forty-two minutes
+west, one (1) chain and two (2) links to a point; thence north forty-two
+degrees twenty-five minutes west, two (2) chains and two (2) links to a
+point; thence north forty-three degrees seventeen and three-fourths
+minutes west, one (1) chain and nine (9) links to a point in the
+easterly boundary of Mill street, distant northerly, measuring along
+said easterly boundary of Mill street, twenty (20) links from the
+intersection of the same with the northerly boundary of River street;
+thence on a course north twenty-eight degrees nineteen and one-fourth
+minutes east, and along said easterly boundary of Mill street, two (2)
+chains and thirty (30) links to the intersection of said easterly line
+of Mill street with the southerly line of Buffalo street; thence on a
+course north sixty-two degrees forty-five minutes west, across said Mill
+street, one (1) chain to the westerly boundary line thereof, and to the
+point of intersection of the westerly line of Mill street with the
+southerly line of Buffalo street; thence on a course north sixty-one
+degrees thirty-two minutes west, along the southerly boundary of Buffalo
+street, five (5) chains and thirty-two (32) links to the point of
+intersection of the southerly line of Buffalo street with the easterly
+boundary line of the Mill slip (so called), which point is distant
+northerly measuring on said easterly line of the Mill slip, seventy-one
+(71) links from the intersection of the same with the northerly line of
+River street; thence on a course north sixty-one degrees thirty-two
+minutes west, across said Mill slip, fifty-one and forty-two
+one-hundredths (51.42) links to a point in the westerly boundary line
+thereof, distant northerly, measuring along said westerly line of said
+Mill slip, seventy-five and twenty-three one-hundredths (75.23) links
+from the intersection of the same with the northerly line of River
+street; thence along said westerly boundary line of said Mill slip and
+on a course south fifty-four degrees four and three-fourths minutes
+west, seventy-five and twenty-three one-hundredths (75.23) links to the
+intersection of said westerly boundary line of said Mill slip with the
+northeasterly boundary line of River street; thence on a course north
+thirty-three degrees ten minutes west, along said north-easterly
+boundary line of River street, five (5) chains and seventy-four and
+two-tenths (74.2) links to a point in said northeasterly line of River
+street, where the same is intersected by the southerly line of Bridge
+street, which point is marked by a stone monument erected at the
+intersection of said lines of said streets; thence on a course north six
+degrees thirty-six and one-fourth minutes east, across said Bridge
+street, one (1) chain and three (3) links to the northerly boundary line
+thereof, and to the point of intersection of the northerly boundary line
+of Bridge street with the northeasterly line of Canal street; thence on
+a course north thirty-seven degrees thirty-three and one-half minutes
+west, and along said northeasterly boundary line of Canal street four
+(4) chains and eighty-seven (87) links to the intersection of said
+northeasterly line of Canal street with the southerly line of Falls
+street; thence on a course north thirty-seven degrees thirty-six and
+three-fourths minutes west, one (1) chain and eighty-two (82) links
+across Falls street to the northerly boundary thereof; thence on a
+course north thirty-seven degrees thirty-six and three-fourths minutes
+west, and along said north-easterly line of Canal street, one (1) chain
+and twenty-two (22) links to an angle in said north-easterly line of
+Canal street; thence on a course north two degrees thirty-eight and
+one-fourth minutes west, and along the easterly line of Canal street,
+ten (10) chains and one and eighty-five one-hundredths (1.85) links to
+the intersection of the easterly line of Canal Street with the southerly
+line of Niagara street; thence on a course south eighty-seven degrees
+fourteen minutes west, across said Canal street, one (1) chain and fifty
+and thirty-four one-hundredths (50.34) links to the westerly boundary
+line thereof; thence on a course south two degrees fifty-one minutes
+east, along said westerly boundary line of Canal street, two (2) chains
+and sixty-seven and twelve one-hundredths (67.12) links to a point in
+the westerly line of Canal street, supposed to be the northeasterly
+corner of Prospect Park (so called); thence on a course south eighty-six
+degrees nineteen and one-half minutes west, along the north boundary of
+said Prospect Park, one (1) chain and three (3) links to an angle in
+said boundary line; thence on a course north fifty-two degrees eighteen
+minutes west, along said northerly boundary of said Prospect Park, six
+(6) chains and eighty-five (85) links to the water's edge of the Niagara
+river; thence along said line prolonged into said river, and on a course
+north fifty-two degrees eighteen minutes west, more or less, to the
+boundary line between the United States of America and the Dominion of
+Canada; thence along said boundary line up the middle of said river to
+the Great Falls; thence up the falls through the point of the Horse
+Shoe, keeping to the west of Iris or Goat island and the group of small
+islands at its head, and following the bends of the river, and along
+said boundary line to a point at which said boundary line meets, and is
+intersected by the prolongation of the line running north three degrees
+forty-nine and one-fourth minutes west, first above mentioned; thence
+following said line, and on a course north three degrees forty-nine and
+one-fourth minutes west, more or less, to the point or place of
+beginning.
+
+Together with all the right, title, and interest of all persons or
+corporations of, in, and to the premises embraced within said boundary
+lines, including all water-rights, made-land (so called), debris,
+titles, or claims (if any) to lands lying under the Niagara river,
+rights of riparian owners, easements, and appurtenances of every name
+and nature whatsoever, including all the rights of, in, and to all
+streets, or portions of streets, embraced and included within said
+boundary lines.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter V
+
+  Harnessing Niagara Falls
+
+
+Lord Kelvin, when visiting Niagara Falls, was not moved by that which
+appeals to the ordinary tourist, the roaring of the cataract, the waters
+in their mad rush from the Falls to the whirlpool and thence to Lake
+Ontario, nor the mists rising night and day from the waters churned into
+foam. For him, Niagara was a monster piece of machinery, accomplishing
+nothing but the pounding out of its own life on the rocks which formed
+its bed. In his mind's eye there appeared vast factories, deriving their
+power from the Falls, furnishing hundreds of men employment and
+distributing millions of dollars' worth of products to be placed nearer
+the hands of the poorer classes because of having been created by the
+cheap power furnished here by nature.
+
+Various estimates have been made regarding the volume of water flowing
+over the Falls; but the calculations by United States engineers
+extending over a number of years places the amount at about 224,000
+gallons a foot per second. These are the figures taken as the basis of
+many calculations; upon this basis the Falls would furnish 3,800,000
+horse-power exclusive of the rapids. If the fall of about fifty feet
+which is produced by the rapids in their descent from the Dufferin
+Islands be added to this amount, the sum total of power would be
+greatly increased. To make some use of this almost inconceivable amount
+of power which has been wasting itself for ages has been the problem
+which has caused much investigation and to-day it seems to be nearing a
+practical solution.
+
+Niagara Falls were first used as a source of power in 1725, when a
+primitive saw-mill was built just opposite Goat Island to saw lumber for
+the construction of Fort Niagara. For years men have made many attempts
+to use some of the power to be had here for the taking, and in a very
+small way have been successful. A number of establishments for several
+decades have been making use of power developed by the Falls by means of
+the Hydraulic Canal on the American side. This canal was begun in 1853
+and passes through the city of Niagara Falls, terminating on the cliff
+half a mile below the cataract; here are to be found a number of mills,
+which however utilise only a small fraction of the fall available,
+probably because at the time of their construction, the high grade
+water-wheels of to-day were not in existence. Some of the waste water
+from the tail races of these mills is now being collected into large
+iron-tubes and is used again by mills situated at the base of the cliff.
+
+[Illustration: Bird's-eye View of the Canadian Rapids and Fall.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+In 1885, the late Thomas Evershed, of Rochester, New York, devised a
+plan for wheel-pits a mile and a half above the Falls. The water was to
+be conducted to these pits by lateral canals, from which it was to be
+taken to the river below the Falls by means of a tunnel cut through the
+solid rock. This plan seemed more practicable than any proposed
+heretofore, and commanded the attention of many leading engineers of the
+country. The present great developments at the Falls had their
+inception in the organisation of the Niagara Falls Power Company. This
+company obtained a charter from the State of New York in 1886, giving
+them permission to use water sufficient to generate two hundred thousand
+horse-power. This company could accomplish very little on account of its
+limited capital. In a short time, however, New York capitalists and
+bankers, perceiving the practicability of the company's plans, became
+interested in the project, and furnished the necessary funds. The first
+earth was turned for this great work in October 1890 and the tunnel was
+completed in the autumn of 1893. The first main wheel-pit was ready for
+its machinery by the following March.
+
+The device for applying Niagara's power to the turbines is on the same
+principle of construction, in each of the recently erected plants as in
+this first one. In the case of the Niagara Falls Power Company, a broad
+deep inlet leads from the river at a point a mile and a half above the
+American Falls, two thousand feet back in a north-easterly direction.
+The canal is protected by a lining of heavy masonry, which is pierced at
+its upper end by a number of gateways; through these water is admitted
+by short canals to pits emptying into huge steel pipes or penstocks, as
+they are called. These penstocks terminate at the bottom in wheel boxes,
+in which are placed the bronze turbine wheels, connected with the
+surface by means of steel shafts parallel to the penstocks. From the
+turbine wheels the water whirls and rushes on through a subterranean
+passage to the main tunnel. Here it starts on its long journey of over a
+mile under-ground, beneath the heart of the city, until it emerges again
+at an opening in the cliff just below what is known as the new
+suspension bridge. A very ingenious plan was adopted for the application
+of the power to the turbines. The penstocks are brought down under the
+wheels and are made to discharge their waters upward into the boxes.
+This contrivance causes the water to bear up the great weight of the
+wheels, from the bearings beneath for their support, besides that of the
+hundred and forty feet of shafting connected with the turbines for
+transmitting power to the surface.
+
+The tunnel which receives these waters after leaving the turbines is no
+less than six thousand seven hundred feet long, and discharges below the
+Falls just past the suspension bridge. Its cross-section somewhat
+resembles a horseshoe in shape, and this sectional area is three hundred
+and eighty-six square feet throughout, the average height and width
+being twenty-one and sixteen feet respectively. The company owning the
+mills connected with this tunnel, together with the Niagara Falls
+Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company, of which mention has been
+made, are the only ones using water to any great extent on the American
+side.
+
+On the Canadian side, three great canals are drawing water from the
+river. It is the construction of these mammoth Canadian power plants,
+and the devising of means for leading water to the turbines together
+with the development of a plan for the disposal of the waste water by
+means of some form of tail race, which must necessarily consist of a
+monster tunnel broken through the solid rock, which has developed some
+of the greatest and most unique engineering problems ever before dreamed
+of, and which has presented a work hazardous and spectacular in the
+extreme.
+
+To meet the engineering problems concerned in locating the three
+Canadian plants along the shore of the river, involving the taking of
+water by some form of canal, and the disposal of waste water through
+tunnel or by other means to the lower river, each without interfering
+with any of the other plants, taxed even Yankee engineering ingenuity.
+One company had to unwater a considerable area of Niagara River at
+Tempest Point where the waters have a great depth and the current is of
+high velocity. From here then a tunnel, the largest in the world, must
+be broken through solid rock, under the bed of the river, to a point
+directly behind the great sheet of water plunging over the apex of the V
+formed by Horseshoe Falls. A second company takes its water through a
+short canal to its wheel-pits, which are sunk about half a mile above
+Horseshoe Falls in Queen Victoria Park, discharging it through a tunnel
+two thousand feet long into the lower river. To find room for the third
+of these companies was a puzzling problem for some time. Finally the
+difficulty was solved by a departure from the plan of the other
+companies, both in the manner of taking water from the river and in the
+location of the power-house. Instead of locating the wheel-pits above
+the Falls as in the case of the others, this company has it power-house
+located in the Gorge below the Falls along the lower level. It takes its
+water from farther up the river than any of the companies, thus being
+further removed from any difficulties arising from recession of the
+Falls besides obtaining the additional power to be given by the descent
+of the rapids to the crest of the cliff, which amounts to about fifty
+feet. The water is taken from near the Dufferin Islands through the
+largest steel conduit in the world, which runs not far from the shore of
+the river, skirting the other plants, and terminates at the power-house
+situated in the canyon below the Falls.
+
+It is interesting to visit and survey these hydro-electric
+power-generating stations, to note the different methods for taking the
+water from the river and for carrying it to the lower river after having
+passed through turbine wheels. It is well here to take a brief resume of
+the main features connected with the obtaining of this water supply and
+its disposal. The first American company, that of the Niagara Falls
+Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company, takes its water through a
+canal from the upper river. This canal passes through the centre of the
+city of Niagara Falls to the cliff just below the first steel cantilever
+bridge, the power plant and industries making use of its waters are
+located here at the top of the cliff. The other American company known
+as the Niagara Falls Power Company takes its water by a short canal,
+about a mile above the Falls and discharges the dead water through a
+tunnel that runs under the city of Niagara Falls to a point near the
+water's edge in the lower river directly below the first steel bridge.
+The Canadian Niagara Falls Power Company, allied with the American
+company, takes its water from Queen Victoria Park and discharges it
+below the Falls through a two thousand foot tunnel. The Toronto and
+Niagara Power Company, with its power plant built in the bed of the
+river near Tempest Point takes water through massive stone forebays in
+the river and sends it to the lower level through a tunnel beneath the
+river's bed opening directly behind the V in the Horseshoe Falls. The
+Ontario Power Company takes its water into large steel conduits near
+Dufferin Islands. These underground pipes conduct the water along the
+shore of the river to the power house situated on the lower level. The
+waste water is discharged through draft tubes directly into the river.
+
+With this general picture of these great power companies in mind, it is
+proper to survey some of the more interesting details of construction
+which may appeal to individual taste and curiosity. Space forbids
+entering into the minutia either of construction or machinery used. Only
+the main principles of interest to the general reader can be touched
+upon.
+
+Let us descend first into the tunnel under the bed of the river, which
+discharges the tail water from the power-house of the Toronto Company,
+hurling it with almost inconceivable fury against the mass of foaming
+water plunging over the Horseshoe precipice. Here is a sight to thrill
+even the most jaded traveller hunting for new wonders. A trip through
+this underground passage which American genius has shot through a mass
+of solid shale and limestone, beneath the bed of the river, will in
+itself more than compensate for a trip to Niagara Falls. Some idea of
+the size of this tunnel is indicated by the fact that two lines of
+railways were maintained in it to dispose of the rock and shale
+excavated by the workmen. Clad in rubber coat and boots the visitor to
+the Falls may wend his way down along the visitors' gallery which is
+suspended from the roof of the tunnel, one hundred and fifty-eight feet
+below the river bed, to where the outrushing waters join the great
+volume of the river in its headlong plunge over Horseshoe Falls. Here
+standing behind that mighty veil of rushing water, with the spray swept
+into the opening by furious storms of howling winds, one beholds a
+spectacle, almost terrifying in its grandeur, the equal of which perhaps
+can not be found in any of the numerous attractions of the Falls.
+
+[Illustration: American Falls from Below.]
+
+Before work on the main tunnel was begun, a shaft was sunk on the river
+bank just opposite the crest of Horseshoe Falls. From this shaft a
+tunnel was dug to the point where the lower end of the main tunnel would
+terminate. No difficulties were experienced in the driving of this
+opening until near the face of the cliff behind Horseshoe Falls. Here,
+with only fifteen feet to go, water began to rush into the cavern
+through a fissure in the rocks. The engineers fought against the water
+for several days but could not stop its flow. Finally eighteen holes
+were drilled into the cliff between the end of the tunnel and where the
+final opening was to be made; these holes were loaded with dynamite,
+which, together with a large charge placed against the end of the
+passage, was exploded, after the tunnel had been flooded. This only
+accomplished a part of what was desired. An opening was made in the
+cliff but too near the roof of the tunnel to allow of any work. What to
+do now was a difficult problem, but American daring accomplished the
+work. Volunteers were called for to crawl along the ledge of rock
+running along the cliff behind the Falls to where the opening had been
+made. Several men offered to make this almost impossible trip. Lashed
+together with cords, with the thunder of the Falls in their ears,
+blinded by spray which was driven into their faces with cyclonic fury,
+the men at last reached the opening and placed a heavy charge of
+dynamite against the opposing wall. This was discharged, making a
+sufficiently large opening for the water to run out, and the work was
+continued.
+
+In the design of the main tunnel, ingenious provision was made for
+recession of the Falls. From the opening in the cliff for three hundred
+feet the lining will be put in in rings six feet long; this arrangement
+will allow a joint to drop out whenever the Falls recede so that it is
+exposed, thus leaving a smooth section always at the end of the tunnel.
+Through this main tunnel and through the branch races, the water, after
+having left the turbines, will whirl along at the rate of twenty-six
+feet per second, having generated a total of 125,000 electric
+horse-power. In engineering problems connected with the tunnel and the
+construction of the plant, the work of this company far surpasses that
+of any of the others. In order to secure a place for the wheel-pit and
+gathering dam, an area of about twelve acres in the bed of the river was
+converted into dry land. To do this a coffer dam was constructed 2153
+feet in length and from twenty feet to forty-six feet wide in water
+varying in depth from seven feet to twenty-four feet, besides being very
+swift in most places. About two thousand feet above the Falls, in the
+space thus deprived of its water, an immense wheel-pit was sunk into the
+solid rock. On the bottom of this pit, 150 feet below the surface rest
+the monster turbines, from which two tail-races conduct the water to the
+main tunnel. A large gathering dam sufficient to supply the maximum
+capacity of this plant runs obliquely across the river for a distance of
+750 feet. The height of this dam varies from ten to twenty-three feet;
+it is constructed of concrete, the top being protected by a course of
+cut granite. The power plant is located on the original shore line and
+parallel to it in Queen Victoria Park. In the power room are to be found
+eleven monster generators capable of developing 12,500 horse-power each.
+
+A short distance farther up the river at the Dufferin Islands is the
+beginning of the mammoth steel conduits of the Ontario Power Company.
+These pass about a hundred yards from the shore and conduct the water to
+the power-house situated in the canyon below the Falls. This contrivance
+for water transmission consists of three steel pipes, the largest in the
+world, eighteen feet in diameter, and a little over six thousand feet
+long. This plant has the advantage of the others in several respects.
+While it draws its water from farther up the river, it preserves it for
+a longer time from the recession of the Falls, besides securing to it
+the greater amount of power per volume by obtaining the additional
+advantage of the descent of the rapids which amounts to about fifty-five
+feet. The power plant located as it is in the Gorge discharges its waste
+waters directly into the lower river without the necessity of an
+intervening tunnel. Lastly, the plan of applying the power to the
+turbines is slightly different in this case from the others, being made
+possible by its different plan. Here the turbines are placed vertical
+instead of horizontal, and are directly connected with the main
+generators, which are the only machines located on the floor of the
+station.
+
+A departure from the ordinary construction of the dynamo is noticed in
+those for use at Niagara. The ordinary one is built with the
+field-magnets so placed that the armature revolves between them, the
+field-magnets being stationary. In these monster dynamos, developing
+thousands of horse-power, and weighing many tons, the field-magnets
+revolve around the armature which remains stationary. With such an
+enormous weight of swiftly revolving parts, it became necessary to
+lessen the immense centrifugal force tending to tear the machine to
+pieces. Engineering skill surmounted this problem as it did all others
+in what might be called this mighty scientific drama, and, by reversing
+the parts of the dynamo, secured the desired result. The field-magnets,
+being placed on the outside and being made the revolving part, by their
+mutual attraction for its armature within their ring are pulled, as it
+were, toward the centre, thus lessening the great strain produced by the
+centrifugal force upon the large steel ring upon whose inner
+circumference they are mounted.
+
+The currents furnished by the power-houses at Niagara are all
+alternating. This kind of current being decided upon for various
+reasons. It can be used for driving dynamos as well as any, and as
+nearly all the power developed at the Falls is used in this way no
+provision is made for a direct current. Where a direct current is
+desired the electricity is made to drive a dynamo of the alternating
+type which in turn is made to drive another of the kind of current
+desired. Establishments on or near the grounds use the power furnished
+them direct from the power-house. When the power must be transmitted to
+a distance, it becomes necessary to use a step-up transformer for the
+purpose of losing as little power as necessary in the transmission, this
+to produce a higher voltage. When the current reaches those places where
+it is to be used a low voltage is again obtained by the step-down
+transformer.
+
+Almost, if not quite as interesting as the development of all this
+power, together with its transmission, are the manufacturing
+establishments springing up here to take advantage of the great
+opportunities offered by the harnessing of this mighty cataract. Among
+those which stretch along the river for several miles are to be found
+those interested in the manufacture of carborundum, aluminum, carbide,
+graphite, caustic potash, muriatic acid, emery wheels, railway supplies,
+hook-and-eye fastenings, and shredded wheat, which are of special
+interest to the visitor.
+
+Industrialism has seized upon the immense power of Niagara and is now
+shaping it into commodities for the use of man. Now what is the real
+menace to the Falls? Many lament the erection of the power plants and
+manufacturing establishments in the vicinity; but those, at least
+already in existence, have come to stay. So we may turn our attention
+from the marring of the surrounding beauty to the Falls themselves.
+
+Geological changes are taking place so slowly that they need not be
+reckoned with as a probable destroyer of the Falls for ages yet to come.
+Moreover, their effect is treated in another chapter. The history of the
+Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company, as a user of
+power from the Falls, antedates even its legislative recognition.
+Between the years of 1888 and 1894 nine companies were recognised or
+chartered in the State of New York. These charters were granted very
+freely, no revenue was required for the use of the waters, and in some
+cases no limitation was placed upon the amount to be used. Of these
+charters, all were granted in good faith; but it is very doubtful if all
+were received in that spirit. Some of the companies failed to effect an
+organisation, others offered to sell their rights as soon as obtained.
+Various limitations were put upon the time in which work must be begun.
+At least three of the charters have lapsed by their own time
+limitations, one franchise was sold by its original owners; one other
+shows at times faint signs of life; another is leading a questionable
+existence, while two, the Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company and
+the Niagara Falls Power Company, are producing and selling power. To
+these two organisations are to be credited the great industrial
+development on the American side and they are not yet using the amount
+of water allowed them by their charters.
+
+As a result, of course, the flow of water is of smaller volume; but this
+cannot be perceived by the casual observer. However, citizens of Niagara
+Falls insist that the decreased flow is manifested in other ways; such
+as the annual gorging of ice at the head of the American channel almost
+laying this channel bare and sending its water to the Canadian side.
+This happens very rarely with a normal depth. Besides this it became
+necessary not long ago to move the dock at which the _Maid of the Mist_
+lands, the water line having retreated as a result of decreased volume.
+
+The two American companies are not expecting to diminish their
+consumption of water in any way. The growing demands for power have
+caused each continually to enlarge its plants. The Niagara Falls Power
+Company, realising the great growing demand for cheap power, has
+obtained a large interest in one of the Canadian companies. The amount
+of water which may be used by these companies according to charter
+limits is as follows:
+
+  Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing
+  Co.                             7,700 cu. ft. per sec.
+
+  Niagara Falls Power Company     8,600  "   "   "   "
+
+  Total                          16,300  "   "   "   "
+
+The power produced by these companies at present is no fair estimate of
+the amount of water taken from the river. On the American side, below
+the steel arch bridge, may be seen what is called the "back yard view of
+Niagara." Here a number of small cascades are seen spouting from the
+side of the cliff, only a small part of the fall being utilised by the
+factories situated there. Some of this water is now being collected into
+penstocks, to be utilised again at the base of the cliff.
+
+On turning to the three Canadian companies, those of the American side
+pale beside their gigantic proportions. In contrast with the companies
+chartered, it may be said that none of these is inactive; on the
+contrary they are giving the strongest manifestations of energy.
+Following are the limits to which they may make use of Niagara's waters:
+
+  Canadian Niagara Power Co.         8,900 cu. ft. per sec.
+
+  Ontario Power Co.                 12,000  "   "    "   "
+
+  Toronto and Niagara Power Co.     11,200  "   "    "   "
+
+  Total                             32,100
+
+Adding to this total the charter limits of the two American companies
+now operating, the grand total is raised to 48,400 cubic feet per
+second. This of itself is a dry fact and does not form much of a
+percentage of the whole volume going over the Falls. Such a loss would
+not mean so much if it would manifest itself the same along the whole
+crest of the line of the cliff; but here must be taken into
+consideration the configuration of the bed of the river.
+
+The bed of Niagara is composed of rock which dips gradually and
+uniformly westward. The ledge is ten feet higher on the American side
+than on the Canadian. The water of the American fall is therefore ten
+feet shallower. The amount of water going over the Falls has been
+variously estimated, engineers differing in their conclusions as much as
+sixty thousand cubic feet per second. Averages based upon the estimates
+of United States engineers for forty years, of the amount of mean flow
+of water passing Buffalo from Lake Erie, shows 222,400 cubic feet per
+second. This of course does not make allowance for that taken by the
+Welland and the Erie canals. This is probably about equalised by the
+amount entering the lake and river between this city and the Falls, so
+that the figures forming the basis of most computations are 224,000
+cubic feet per second. The amount of power capable of development by the
+Falls is about 3,800,000 horse-power, which would be greatly increased
+by adding the fall from the beginning of the rapids to the crest of the
+cataract. Goat Island, situated just off the American shore, divides the
+waters very unevenly, sending more than three-fourths the volume toward
+the Canadian shore. Now, as has been seen, less than one-fourth the
+whole volume pours down the American channel; and as this is much
+shallower than the main body of water, it is here that any diminished
+flow will be first felt. At the head of the island the great body of
+the current turns toward the west, by far the larger amount converging
+into the funnel of the magnificent Horseshoe Falls. The American channel
+in contrast contains a very feeble flow, and therefore would be the
+first to exhibit any dearth of water.
+
+Calculations based upon the preceding figures, taking into consideration
+the length of the Falls, and the difference in elevation of the river's
+bed at the crest, show that when the flow has been reduced by 184,000
+cubic feet per second, or by 40,000 cubic feet, the water in the
+American channel will be brought down to the rock bottom of the shore's
+edge. Then, although the Horseshoe Falls will continue to be an object
+of admiration to the traveller, and although the current will continue
+to sweep through the American channel and over the American Falls, the
+beauty and grandeur of the latter will fade away. Let the amount of
+water abstracted from the river be doubled, and, though the Canadian
+Falls would still continue an object of admiration, the American channel
+would be entirely dry.
+
+Returning to the present and immediately contemplated draft upon the
+river's waters, we find that the two American and the three Canadian
+companies, when using their charter limits, will take 48,000 cubic feet
+per second. This will bring the level at the crest of the Falls down to
+the bottom of the river at the American shore. This, then, is the
+immediate prospect. Many things may intervene before this point is
+reached. We are not permitted to stop, however, with the consideration
+of these five companies alone. One of the last organisations chartered
+by the State of New York to obtain water from Niagara is the Niagara
+Lockport and Ontario Power Company. In 1894, this company obtained a
+franchise placing no restriction upon the amount of water to be used,
+and limited to ten years in which to begin work. In 1904, they came
+again to the Legislature, asking for an improved charter in several
+respects, especially a lengthening of time in which to begin operations.
+This company proposed to take water from near La Salle and not to return
+it to the river at all, but to take it overland by canal to Lockport and
+then empty it directly into Lake Ontario. The bill providing for this
+charter passed both houses, but it was vetoed by Governor Odell. The
+veto took place on May 15, 1904. The original charter was granted on May
+21, 1894. Six days of grace yet remained of the ten years allowed the
+company. There is said to be a slender, shallow ditch south of Lockport,
+which represents the work done in the six days left. It has been
+rumoured that the most of this company's stock has passed into the hands
+of a great corporation. Undoubtedly, under some form of reorganisation,
+there will, in the near future, be an attempt on the part of its members
+to gain a share of the great free power of Niagara. Under the old
+charter, which does not limit the amount of water to be consumed, it
+will probably not consume less than the other large companies, say
+10,000 cubic feet per second.
+
+But the only danger to the life of the Falls is not to be found alone in
+the Niagara power companies. Six hundred miles to the west is the
+Chicago Main Drainage Canal, which at first took from the Lakes about
+three thousand cubic feet per minute. Many propositions have been made
+to enlarge this canal. These are fraught with taxing engineering
+problems; but it is difficult to say just what the future has in store
+in this line. This, however, is not all; Canada, in the hope of gaining
+part of the commerce of the Great Lakes for the St. Lawrence, has
+proposed a canal by way of Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River, thus
+shortening the lake route by five hundred miles. To these may be added
+propositions for a deep-water connection between the Lakes and the
+Hudson, between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Superior, between Toronto and
+Lake Huron, the demands of Cincinnati and Pittsburg for canals,
+Wisconsin's desire for a canal connecting the Lakes through her
+territory with the Mississippi, the plan for a canal from Duluth to the
+Mississippi; and one may see with what danger this great natural wonder
+is threatened. Many of these proposed plans, doubtless, will never be
+realised; some on account of engineering difficulties, others on account
+of the failure of their projectors to count upon the true relation
+between cost of construction and what would likely be the revenue
+obtained. All these subjects, however, must be given due consideration
+by one who desires to know what is considered to be the immediate danger
+to the Falls, or that which may effect them at no very distant future
+date.
+
+On January 18, 1907, Secretary of War Taft rendered a decision under the
+Burton Act for the preservation of Niagara Falls on the applications of
+American companies for the use of water and of Canadian companies
+wishing to send electric power into the United States, and at the same
+time announced the appointment of a commission to beautify the vicinity
+of the Falls. The amount of water allowed to companies in New York is
+practically that now used, and substantially as limited by the Act of
+Congress as a maximum. The Secretary found no evidence that the flow
+over the American Falls has been injuriously affected in recent years.
+The claims of the Canadian companies, acting in conjunction with
+electric companies on this side of the river, had to be materially cut
+down to come within the law limiting the total current to 160,000
+horse-power. The allotments in electric horse-power to be transmitted to
+the United States are as follows:
+
+The International Railway Company, 1500. (8000 asked).
+
+The Ontario Power Company, 60,000 (90,000 asked).
+
+The Canadian Niagara Falls Power Company, 52,500 (121,500 asked).
+
+The Electrical Development Company, 46,000 (62,000 asked).
+
+All these permits are revocable at pleasure, and, in the absence of
+further legislation in Congress, will expire on June 29, 1909.
+
+In the course of his decision, after discussing the intent of the law,
+Mr. Taft says:
+
+    Acting upon the same evidence which Congress had, and upon the
+    additional statement made to me at the hearing by Dr. John M.
+    Clark, state geologist of New York, who seems to have been one
+    of those engaged from the beginning in the whole movement for
+    the preservation of Niagara Falls, and who has given close
+    scientific attention to the matter, I have reached the
+    conclusion that with the diversion of 15,600 cubic feet on the
+    American side and the transmission of 160,000 horse-power from
+    the Canadian side the scenic grandeur of the Falls will not be
+    affected substantially or perceptibly to the eye.
+
+    With respect to the American Falls, this is an increase of only
+    2500 cubic feet a second over what is now being diverted and has
+    been diverted for many years, and has not affected the Falls as
+    a scenic wonder.
+
+    With respect to the Canadian side, the water is drawn from the
+    river in such a way as not to affect the American Falls at all,
+    because the point from which it is drawn is considerably below
+    the level of the water at the point where the waters separate
+    above Goat Island, and the Waterways Commission and Dr. Clark
+    agree that the taking of 13,000 cubic feet from the Canadian
+    side will not in any way affect or reduce the water going over
+    the American Falls. The water going over the Falls on the
+    Canadian side of Goat Island is about five times the volume of
+    that which goes over the American Falls, or, counting the total
+    as 220,000 cubic feet a second, the volume of the Horseshoe
+    Falls would be about 180,000 cubic feet. If the amount withdrawn
+    on the Canadian side for Canadian use were 5000 cubic feet a
+    second, which it is not likely to be during the three years'
+    life of these permits, the total to be withdrawn would not
+    exceed ten per cent. of the volume of the stream, and,
+    considering the immense quantity which goes over the Horseshoe
+    Falls, the diminution would not be perceptible to the eye.
+
+    Taking up first the application for permits for diversion on the
+    American side, there is not room for discussion or difference.
+    The Niagara Falls Power Company is now using about 8600 cubic
+    feet of water a second and producing about 76,630 horse-power.
+    There is some question as to the necessity of using some water
+    for sluicing. This must be obtained from the 8600 cubic feet
+    permitted, and the use of the water for other purposes when
+    sluicing is being done must be diminished. The Niagara Falls
+    Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company is now using 4000
+    cubic feet a second and has had under construction for a period
+    long antedating the Burton Act a plant arranged to divert 2500
+    cubic feet a second and furnish 36,000 horse-power to the
+    Pittsburg Reduction and Mining Company. A permit will therefore
+    issue to the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing
+    Company for the diversion of 6500 cubic feet a second, and the
+    same rule must obtain as to sluicing, as already stated.
+
+    [Illustration: The Riverside at Willow Island.]
+
+    As the object of the act is to preserve the scenic beauty of
+    Niagara Falls, I conceive it to be within my power to impose
+    conditions upon the granting of these permits, compliance with
+    which will remedy the unsightly appearance that is given the
+    American side of the canyon just below the falls on the American
+    side, where the tunnel of the Niagara Falls Power Company
+    discharges and where the works of the hydraulic company are
+    placed.
+
+    The representative of the American Civic Association has
+    properly described the effect upon the sightseer of the view
+    toward the side of the canyon to be that of looking into the
+    back yard of a house negligently kept. For the purpose of aiding
+    me in determining what ought to be done to remove this eyesore,
+    including the appearance of the buildings at the top, I shall
+    appoint a committee consisting of Charles F. McKim, Frank D.
+    Millet, and F. L. Olmsted to advise me what changes, at an
+    expense not out of proportion to the extent of the investment,
+    can be made which will put the side of the canyon at this point
+    from bottom to top in natural harmony with the Falls and the
+    other surroundings, and will conceal, as far as possible, the
+    raw commercial aspect that now offends the eye. This
+    consideration has been in view in the construction of works on
+    the Canadian side and in the buildings of the Niagara Falls
+    Power Company, above the Falls. There is no reason why similar
+    care should not be enforced here.
+
+    Water is being withdrawn from the Erie Canal at the lake level
+    for water-power purposes, and applications have been made for
+    permits authorising this. Not more than four hundred cubic feet
+    are thus used in the original draft of water that is not
+    returned to the canal in such a way as not to lower the level of
+    the lake. The water is used over and over again. It seems to me
+    that the permit might very well be granted to the first user. As
+    the water is taken from the canal, which is state property, and
+    the interest and jurisdiction of the federal government grow out
+    of the direct effect upon the level of the lake, the permit
+    should recite that this does not confer any right upon a
+    consumer of the water to take the water from the canal without
+    authority and subject to the conditions imposed by the canal
+    authorities, but that it is intended to operate and its
+    operation is limited to confer, so far as the federal government
+    is concerned and the Secretary of War is authorised, the right
+    to take the water and to claim immunity from any prosecution or
+    legal objection under the fifth section of the Burton Act.
+
+When Sir Hiram S. Maxim, the distinguished inventor and scientist, made
+his recent announcement to Peter Cooper Hewitt that the next great
+achievement of science would be the harnessing of the whole energy of
+Niagara and the sending of a message to Mars, he hit the nail, in the
+opinion of Nikola Tesla, squarely on the head.
+
+Mr. Tesla announces that with the co-operation of power-producing
+companies at Niagara Falls he is preparing to hail Mars with Niagara's
+voice. A way has been found at last for transmitting a wireless message
+across the gulf, varying from 40,000,000 to 100,000,000 miles, which
+separates this earth from Mars. Once that has been accomplished and
+Mars, which is considerably older and supposedly more advanced in
+science than we, has acknowledged the receipt of our signal and sent
+back flash for flash, it will remain to devise an interplanetary code
+through the medium of which the scientists of this world and of Mars
+will be able to understand what each is saying to the other.
+
+Mr. Tesla has been quietly working for several years on a wireless power
+plant capable of transmitting 10,000 horse-power to any part of the
+world, or to any of our neighbouring planets, for that matter. The mere
+matter of distance between despatching and receiving points is
+absolutely no object whatever. Wireless power, Mr. Tesla says may be
+sent one million or more miles just as easily as one mile.
+
+Several of the electric power companies with immense generating plants
+at Niagara Falls, it is reported, have agreed to co-operate with Mr.
+Tesla in an effort to reach Mars by wireless.
+
+The development of the hydraulic power of Niagara on the Canadian side
+is leading to some interesting sequences.
+
+    A tribunal called the hydro-electric power commission has been
+    created [says a writer in a recent issue of _Cassier's
+    Magazine_], and in the hands of this body has been placed the
+    entire domestic regulation of the power product of stations
+    coming within government control.
+
+    In addition there has been given to the various municipalities
+    the right to undertake the distribution of electrical energy
+    within their respective limits.
+
+    In order that the commission may be in a position to dictate
+    terms to the existing private companies it is important that the
+    co-operation of the municipalities be obtained, and this appears
+    to be partially accomplished.
+
+    The city of Toronto has already arranged for 15,000 horse-power
+    of electric energy from Niagara, the price being $14 to $16 per
+    horse-power for a supply for a 24-hour day, including
+    transmission to Toronto, the local distribution to be in the
+    hands of the municipality, and it is believed that a number of
+    other cities and towns will make similar arrangements.
+
+    These arrangements are made with the hydro-electric power
+    commission, and it in turn must either secure the power supply
+    from the existing private companies or else proceed to develop
+    its own stations.
+
+    It is hardly probable that the latter alternative will be found
+    necessary, since the result would be to leave the private
+    corporations with the greater part of their prospective custom
+    permanently taken away, so that the real consequence of the
+    recent legislation is to compel the companies to supply the
+    municipalities through the commission at prices determined by
+    the engineers of the new body.
+
+    It is possible that such measures will prove advantageous to the
+    public, but much will depend upon the manner in which the law is
+    carried out. It has been intimated that this legislation will
+    render it exceedingly difficult for promoters to induce outside
+    capital to engage in the development of natural resources in
+    Canada hereafter.
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter VI
+
+  A Century of Niagara Cranks
+
+
+The swirling waters of Niagara have ever been a challenge to a vast army
+of adventurers who found in their own daring heedlessness a means here
+of gaining money and a mushroom glory. Of all these "Niagara Cranks," as
+they are known locally, the tight-rope walkers undoubtedly have the
+strongest claim to our admiration for the utter daring of their feats,
+however mercenary may have been the motives. "Tut, tut! my friends,"
+would reply one of these brave, popular heroes if you had mentioned
+fear, "'tis nothing at all"; then, confidentially, he would have
+whispered in your ear: "You can't help getting across. You get out to
+the middle of the rope, and there you are. If you turn back you lose
+your money, and if you go on you get it. That's all."
+
+It was the great Blondin who stands king of the tight-rope walkers of
+Niagara, leaving behind him a reputation as the greatest tight-rope
+walker of the century.
+
+Charles Emile Gravelet was born at Hesdin, near Calais, on the
+twenty-eighth of February, 1824, and died in Ealing, near London,
+February 22, 1897. His father, whose nickname, "Blondin," from the
+colour of his hair, descended to his son, was a soldier of the First
+Empire who had seen service under Napoleon at Austerlitz, Wagram, and
+Moscow, but died when his son was in his ninth year. The pluck and
+strength that young Blondin had was displayed as early as his fourth
+year; when only a few years older he was trained by the principal of
+_l'Ecole de Gymnase_ at Lyons in many gymnastic feats, and after six
+months there, was brought out as "The Little Wonder." He excelled
+especially at tight-rope dancing, jumping, and somersault-throwing. One
+of his notable jumps was over a double rank of soldiers with bayonets
+fixed. The agent of an American Company--the Ravels--aware of his
+success in the French provinces finally gave him a two years' engagement
+for the United States, which afterwards was extended to eight years. He
+came to America in 1855; and it was not long after, when looking across
+the Niagara Falls, that he remarked to Mr. Ravel:
+
+"What a splendid place for a tight-rope performance."
+
+[Illustration: Goat Island Bridge. Showing Niagara's Famous Cataract and
+International Hotels.]
+
+The idea was impressive and as a result, after laborious preparations,
+Blondin was ready to cross a wire, June 30, 1859. Despite the unanimous
+howl of derision at the idea, people could not resist the temptation to
+see the rash performer throw his life away; and the crowd that gathered
+was the largest ever seen at the Falls. It is interesting, from more
+than one standpoint, to quote the New York _Herald_ of July 1, 1859, on
+the exploit:
+
+    Monsieur Blondin has just successfully accomplished the feat of
+    walking across the Niagara on a tight-rope, in the presence of a
+    crowd variously estimated at from five thousand to ten thousand
+    persons. He first crossed from the American side, stopping
+    midway to refresh himself with water raised in a bottle with a
+    rope from the deck of the steamer _Maid of the Mist_. The time
+    occupied in the first crossing was seventeen minutes and a half.
+    The return from the British to the American side was
+    accomplished in twelve minutes.
+
+According to other sources, the crowd was estimated at fifty thousand.
+Blondin did considerably more than merely pass over, for he carried a
+pole weighing forty pounds, and did some extraordinary feats of
+balancing and came ashore amid the huzzas of the crowd, with the whole
+country ringing with the news of the daring exploit.
+
+Some little difficulty was always encountered by tight-rope walkers from
+proprietors of the river banks where the rope was to be attached on
+their theory that nothing could be allowed to occur at Niagara of a
+money-making nature unless they were a party to the plunder. One Hamblin
+stood surety for the payment for Blondin's rope, which was over fifteen
+hundred feet long and cost thirteen hundred dollars.
+
+A few months later Blondin carried his manager, Harry Colcourt or
+Colcord, across on his back. It is said (and also has been denied) that
+on this occasion Blondin had a quarrel with Colcord. The latter had
+previously been trained to balance himself in order that he might be let
+down on the rope in the middle of the river, to permit Blondin to take
+breath. The wind was strong, and the manager showed visible signs of
+nervousness, while the rope swayed in a sickly manner. Then, according
+to the story, Blondin threatened to leave his manager on the rope at the
+mercy of the waters underneath, unless he kept himself under control.
+Needless to say, the threat was successful, and the trip across was
+safely made. For this special feat Blondin received a gold medal from
+the inhabitants of the village, as a tribute of admiration, with the
+following inscription:
+
+    Presented to Mons. T. F. Blondin by the citizens of Niagara
+    Falls in appreciation of a feat never before attempted by man,
+    but by him successfully performed on the 19th of August, 1859,
+    that of carrying a man upon his back over the Falls of Niagara
+    on a tight-rope.
+
+Of the ordinary run of mortals few would care to attempt Blondin's feat,
+but it is not impossible that many an actor envied the daring athlete's
+position of utter mastery over his manager.
+
+A few days later the fearless Blondin again crossed the river chained
+hand and foot. On his return he carried a cooking stove and made an
+omelet which he lowered to the passengers on the deck of the _Maid of
+the Mist_ below. At another time he crossed with a bushel basket on each
+foot, and once carried a woman on his back. On September 8, 1860,
+Blondin performed before the Prince of Wales, now Edward VII., the rope
+being stretched 230 feet above the rapids, between two of the steepest
+cliffs on the river. The cool actor turned somersaults before His Royal
+Highness, and successfully managed to cross on a pair of stilts. The
+Prince watched every movement through a telescope and was highly
+interested, but it is reported that he exclaimed, when Blondin safely
+reached the end of the rope, "Thank God, he is over!" and hurried him a
+check for the perilous feat.
+
+Apparently Blondin did not know what nervousness meant; his secret has
+been described as confidence in himself, obtained by long practice in
+rope-walking. There is no doubt some of the victims he has carried
+across his rope have suffered; it is said that Blondin would talk to his
+companions on the most indifferent subjects; he would urge them to sit
+perfectly still, avoid catching him around the neck or looking downward.
+What he considered as one of his greatest feats was in walking on a rope
+from the mainmast to the mizzen on board the Peninsular and Oriental
+steamer _Poonah_, while on her way to Australia, between Aden and Galle,
+in 1874. He had to sit down five times while heavy waves were
+approaching the ship. Blondin's last performance was in Agricultural
+Hall, London, on Christmas, 1894, where he appeared as active and nimble
+as ever. The fact is certainly wonderful that for nearly seventy years
+he walked the tight-rope without accident.
+
+Mr. W. D. Howells was an eye-witness to three crossings of Blondin's in
+1860, which he has graphically described:
+
+    The man himself looked cool and fresh enough but I, who was not
+    used to such violent fatigues as he must have undergone in these
+    three transits, was bathed in a cold perspiration, and so weak
+    and worn with making them in sympathy that I could scarcely walk
+    away.
+
+    Long afterwards I was telling about this experience of mine--it
+    was really more mine than Blondin's--in the neat shop of a
+    Venetian pharmacist, to a select circle of the physicians who
+    wait in such places in Venice for the call of their patients.
+    One of these civilised men, asked: "Where was the government?"
+    And I answered in my barbarous pride of our individualism: "The
+    government had nothing to do with it. In America the government
+    has nothing to do with such things." But now I think that this
+    Venetian was right, and that such a show as I have tried to
+    describe ought no more to have been permitted than the fight of
+    a man with a wild beast. It was an offence to morality, and it
+    thinned the frail barrier which the aspiration of centuries has
+    slowly erected between humanity and savagery.
+
+Enough savage criticism met Blondin in England; his rope-walking in
+Crystal Palace, Sydenham, upon a rope 240 feet long and at a height of
+170 feet, in imitation of the Niagara feat, was considered a sickening
+spectacle. Said _Once a Week_:
+
+    We wish Mr. Blondin no sort of harm, but if his audiences were
+    to dwindle down to nothing, so as to cause him to retire upon
+    his savings, we should congratulate him upon having escaped a
+    great danger, and the country upon getting rid of a disgrace to
+    the intelligence of the age.
+
+Blondin ended his career as an English country gentleman at Niagara
+House, South Haling. He was wont to display a profusion of diamond rings
+and studs, all gifts of admirers, and the cherished gold medal from the
+citizens of Niagara Falls; he, too, was the proud possessor of one of
+the two gold medals struck in commemoration of the Crystal Palace in
+1854, Queen Victoria having the other. He had also the cross from
+ex-Queen Isabel of Spain, entitling him to the title of Chevalier. The
+athlete's baggage, when on a tour, consisted of a main rope of eight
+hundred feet, six and a half inches in circumference, and weighing eight
+hundredweight; twenty-eight straining ropes, eighty tying-bars, the
+average weight, not including poles, being five and a half tons. The
+freight of his outfit, including a huge travelling-tent, which could
+encompass fourteen thousand people, amounted to five thousand dollars
+between Southampton and Melbourne. About three days were consumed in
+making his preparations by the aid of a dozen assistants. The due
+adjustment of the rope was his principal care, and he superintended
+every detail.
+
+Like many a Frenchman, Blondin never mastered the intricacies of the
+English language. In a rather queer and rambling fragment of
+autobiography written some years ago, he tells us that the rope he
+generally used was formed with a flexible core of steel-wire covered
+with the best manila-hemp, about an inch or three quarters in diameter,
+several hundred yards in length, and costing about fifteen hundred
+dollars. A large windlass at either end of the rope served to make it
+taut, while it was supported by two high poles. His balancing poles of
+ash wood varied in length and were of three sections, and weighed from
+thirty-seven to forty-seven pounds. He was indifferent as to the height
+at which he was to perform. Blondin has never confessed to any
+nervousness on the rope, and, while walking, he generally looked
+eighteen or twenty feet ahead, and whistled or hummed some snatch of a
+song. The time kept by a band frequently aided him in preserving his
+balance. He was something of both carpenter and blacksmith, and was able
+to make his own models and fit up his own apparatus.
+
+While Blondin yet performed at the Falls there appeared Signor Farini in
+1860, and stretched a cable across the Gorge near the hydraulic canal
+basin. On August 8, 1864, Farini reappeared walking about the Rapids
+above the American fall on stilts. He was certainly an expert on the
+rope and commanded much attention, but he was not able to snatch the
+laurel from the Frenchman's brow--he has been forgotten, while Blondin's
+fame has lived. We must, however, chronicle a thrilling incident
+attached to his performance in 1864. Between Robinson's Island and the
+precipice Farini was suddenly delayed. He claimed his stilts caught in a
+crevice. His brother succeeded in reaching a log between the old
+paper-mill and Robinson's Island, from which he threw a line, with a
+weight attached, to the adventurer, and by this line a pail of
+provisions was sent to Farini. A larger line was thrown and both reached
+shore by way of Goat Island.
+
+[Illustration: The Path to the Cave of the Winds.
+
+From a photograph by Notman, Montreal.]
+
+There has hardly been a year in which some tight-rope exhibition has not
+taken place at Niagara Falls.
+
+Harry Leslie crossed the Gorge on a rope-cable in July and August, 1865.
+He achieved the title of "The American Blondin."
+
+In 1873, when Signor Balleni (Ballini?) stretched a cable from a point
+opposite the old Clifton House to Prospect Park, he leaped three times
+into the river as an extra inducement, aided in his descent by a rubber
+cord. In 1886 he reappeared, climbed to the iron railing on the upper
+suspension bridge, knocked the ice from under his feet to secure a
+footing, and at the signal of a pistol shot jumped into the air. He
+struck the water in four seconds, broke a rib, lost his senses, and came
+to the surface some sixty feet from where he entered. This was the same
+man who jumped from Hungerford Bridge, London, in 1888, and was drowned.
+In July, 1876, Signorina Maria Spelterini crossed the Gorge on a
+tight-rope with baskets on her feet. The performance brought out a
+tremendous crowd, probably because she was the first woman daring to try
+conclusions with Blondin and his many imitators. She got across safely
+with her baskets and her name. She won great favour and forever
+established the fact that a woman is as level-headed as a man. In the
+seventies of the last century, a young fellow, Stephen Peere, a painter
+by trade, stretched a cable across the Falls. In 1878 he gave variety to
+his career by jumping from one of the bridges, and in 1887 he finished
+it by jumping to his death. He had previously, on June 22, 1887, walked
+across the Gorge on a wire cable six-eighths of an inch in diameter.
+This was a wonderful performance, considering the fact that all the
+others had used a rope two inches in diameter. Only three days later he
+was found dead on a bank beneath his rope, stretched between the old
+suspension and the cantilever bridges. It is supposed he attempted to
+practise in night time, but as nobody saw him he met his fate; this is
+only supposition. A man, "Professor" De Leon, aspiring to become Peere's
+successor, started out on August 15, 1887, to cross the latter's cable.
+After going a short distance he became frightened, slid down a rope, and
+disappeared in the bushes. He was later seen ascending the bank by a
+ladder, and thus came back to the bosom of his family. MacDonald made
+several very creditable attempts, and proved himself an excellent
+walker. He also went across with baskets on his feet, and frightened the
+gaping crowd by hanging with his legs from the wire, head downwards.
+
+Another freak, I. F. Jenkins, stretched his cable across the Gorge over
+the Rapids. With a keen eye for effect and sensation he selected as one
+of his principal feats, crossing by velocipede. The machine, however,
+was specially constructed for this purpose; it was a turned-down
+contrivance, only resembling a bicycle, and had an ingeniously devised
+balancing apparatus in lieu of a pole attached by a metal framework to
+the wheels. Thus this _piece de resistance_ was not so remarkable after
+all. Samuel John Dixon, a Toronto photographer, was on his way to a
+Photographers' Annual Convention when he observed Peere's cable still
+stretched across the Rapids of Niagara. He remarked that he too could
+cross on it, but the remark was not taken seriously; to prove that he
+was in earnest, Dixon, on his return, actually made the dangerous trip
+on the three-quarter inch cable, measuring 923 feet in length. One of
+this amateur's crack feats was laying down with his back on the wire. He
+has made several other passages since,--the first occurring on September
+6, 1890--always with great _eclat_. Dixon has always been vigorously
+applauded. James E. Hardy has also successful crossings at the Gorge to
+his credit. He also holds the "record" of being the youngest man that
+ever performed the feat. Another Toronto man, Clifford M. Calverley, has
+been styled "The World's Champion," and "The American Blondin," but
+although very clever, many of his feats are just those which made the
+Frenchman famous over forty years ago. His wheelbarrow feat is certainly
+middle-aged although it still remains as difficult to perform as it was
+in Blondin's days. People never tire of it and Calverley was, indeed, a
+remarkable gymnast. He erected a wire cable at about the same point
+between the bridges at which Peere and Dixon had crossed, and gave
+public exhibitions on October 12, 1892, and July 1, 1893. He performed
+numerous stunning feats as high-kicking, walking with baskets on his
+feet, cooking meals on the rope, and chair-balancing; he also gave night
+exhibitions, which was original.
+
+One man at least took the tight-rope route across Niagara who had not
+practised the feat. This was a criminal who escaped his captors near
+this locality in 1883; the sheriff was behind him, the river in front,
+and only the wires of the old bridge at Lewiston to help him across.
+Hand over hand he began the passage. His hands quickly blistered, and
+then they bled. Again and again he rested his arms by hanging by his
+legs, and at last reached the opposite bank where he lay panting fully
+an hour before he continued his flight.
+
+We have seen that all the tight-rope walkers at Niagara met with
+extraordinary luck while crossing the Gorge; in fact, we have no record
+that anybody ever lost his life while performing on the wire. Peere met
+with an accident, and was killed in night-time; it is said he was
+intoxicated and tried to cross with his boots on. Ballini met his death
+in the Thames River. Many lives, however, have been lost in attempting
+to brave the waters of the canyon at Niagara.
+
+Attracted by the sensational setting adrift of the condemned brig
+_Michigan_ over the Falls in 1829, Sam Patch, a man who had won fame at
+Pawtucket Falls and other Eastern points as a high-jumper, erected a
+ladder on the foot-path under Goat Island, and announced to the world
+that he would jump into Niagara River. The hotel keepers patted him on
+the back, and left no stone unturned to enable him to draw the biggest
+crowd of the season. Patch rested the bottom of his ladder on the edge,
+just north of the Biddle Stairs, with the top inclining over the river,
+staying it with ropes to the trees on the bank. At the top was a small
+platform, and from this Patch dived ninety-seven feet; he jumped a
+second time to prove that the first feat was not a fluke. Shortly
+afterwards he leaped to his death from the Genesee Fall in Rochester, N.
+Y.
+
+Captain Matthew Webb, of Niagara fame, was born in Shropshire, England,
+in 1840. He went to sea at an early age and became captain of a
+merchantman, and first attracted notice by jumping from a Cunard steamer
+to save a man who had fallen overboard, for which he was awarded a gold
+medal by the Royal Humane Society. In 1875 he accomplished the feat of
+swimming the English Channel from Dover to Calais, a distance of
+twenty-five miles.
+
+The disastrous attempt to swim the rapids at Niagara took place on July
+2, 1883. Webb wore no life preserver and scorned a barrel, depending
+solely on his own strength to put him through. Leaving his hotel, the
+old Clifton House, since destroyed by fire, at 4 P.M., before an immense
+crowd on the cliffs and bridges (for the event had been well heralded),
+he entered a small boat with Jack McCloy at the oars, and was carried to
+a point on the lower river several hundred feet above the lower bridges.
+It was 4.25 when, clad in a pair of red trunks, he leaped from the boat
+into the water, and boldly swam towards the Rapids. It was 4.32 when he
+passed under the bridges. He then stroked out gracefully and
+beautifully. In three minutes more he had reached the fiercest part of
+the Rapids when a great wave struck him--and he disappeared from the
+sight of the thousands of eyes that watched the boiling waters, praying
+that his life might be spared. He came once again into view but then
+disappeared forever in the raging waters.
+
+The _Saturday Review_ of July 28, 1883,[15] voiced the British feeling
+when it said:
+
+    It was unquestionably very appropriate that Mr. Webb should have
+    met his death in America, and in sight of the United States.
+    That country has a passion for big shows, and has now been
+    indulged in the biggest thing of its kind which has been seen in
+    this generation. Nothing was to be gained by success--if success
+    had been possible--beyond a temporary notoriety and the applause
+    of a mob. . . .
+
+    As long as there is a popular demand for these essentially
+    barbarous amusements, men and women will be found who are
+    desperate, or greedy, or vain enough to risk their lives and
+    ruin their health for money or applause. . . . The death of Mr.
+    Webb is shocking in the last degree; but it will not be wholly
+    useless if it at least awakens the sight-seeing world to some
+    sense of what it is they have been encouraging.
+
+It is interesting to compare this just criticism with that passed on
+Blondin's exhibition at Crystal Palace previously quoted.
+
+When Webb swam across the channel, the feat was a remarkable instance of
+strength and endurance. It showed that a powerful man who was a good
+swimmer could continue to make progress through the water on a very fine
+day for over twenty hours. Indeed, shipwrecked sailors have done nearly
+as much under far less favorable circumstances; but as far as it went,
+Webb's was a very creditable performance. But in the Channel many
+vessels were following him and would have picked him up the moment he
+became exhausted. Yet it was nowise to his credit to throw his life away
+at Niagara, and render his children orphans, for the ignoble object of
+pleasing a mob.
+
+It was not long before another swimmer appeared who wore a harness over
+his shoulders to which was attached a wire running loosely over a
+cylinder on the bridge, which kept his feet straight towards Davy
+Jones's locker; he survived the leap to his considerable personal
+profit. From bridge to water he went in four seconds--the only time on
+record. Another foolhardy feat was performed by some of the reckless men
+who decorate almost inaccessible landscapes with possibly truthful but
+most annoying, puffs of ague-pills, liver-pads, tooth-powder, and such.
+A log once lodged forty rods above Goat Island, where for four years it
+lay seemingly beyond human reach. It touched the pride of certain
+shameless and professional advertisers, who were famous for their
+ingenious vandalism, that such a chance should be wasted. So, when the
+Rapids were thinly frozen over, they made their cautious way to the log,
+and soon there was a gorgeous sign fixed, twelve feet by four, on the
+very fore-front of one of the world's grandest spots, to-wit:
+
+  Go East via Lake Winipiseogee R. R.
+
+[Illustration: American Falls from Goat Island.]
+
+Nothing daunted by the sad fate of Captain Webb, a burly Boston
+policeman, W. I. Kendall, went through the Rapids on August 22, 1886,
+protected by only a cork life-preserver. All previous trips had been
+publicly announced, but Kendall slipped through with only a few
+spectators, accidentally on the cliffs or bridges, to bear witness. For
+this reason some have felt that the trip was never made, but men of
+integrity are known who witnessed the performance. On Sunday, August 14,
+1887, "Professor" Alphonse King crossed the river below the Falls and
+bridge on a water bicycle. The wheel with paddles was erected between
+two water-tight cylinders, eight inches in diameter and ten feet long.
+
+"Steve" Brodie, who had achieved great notoriety by jumping from
+Brooklyn Bridge, created a greater sensation by going over the Falls.
+This occurred on September 7, 1889. Brodie wore an india-rubber suit,
+surrounded by thick steel bands. The suit was very thickly padded, yet
+Brodie was brought ashore bruised and insensible. His victories won, he
+became the proprietor of a Bowery bar-room, and the pride of the
+neighbourhood.
+
+The cranks that were trying to get through the Whirlpool did not arrive
+at Niagara until about 1886, but from that on we find an _embarras de
+richesse_ of them for a decade or so until the peculiar mania for
+notoriety died out.
+
+The fate that befell Webb could not discourage others to venture the
+perilous trip, and, probably, the pioneer of them was C. D. Graham, an
+English cooper of Philadelphia, who conceived the idea that, though no
+regular boat could live in the rush of the waters below the Falls of
+Niagara, it would perhaps be possible for a novel kind of boat, a cask
+shaped like a buoy, with a man in it, to get down to Lewiston in safety.
+He therefore made a series of such casks at an expenditure of a great
+deal of time and labour; and, at last finding a shape to his mind,
+filled two or three in succession with bags of sand equal to his own
+weight, and set them afloat at Niagara. They arrived safely in smooth
+water, threading the Rapids and the Whirlpool after a journey of some
+five miles; the inventor thereupon resolved to keep one side uppermost,
+in which was left an air-hole, and fastened in the cask a long canvas
+bag, made like a suit of clothes, and waterproof. Getting into this bag
+on July 11, 1886, he grasped two iron handles fixed to the staves on the
+inner side of the cask; a movable cover being fastened on, the odd craft
+was shoved into the rushing waters. The cask, of course, turned over and
+over; and though water got into the air-hole, it did not get into the
+canvas bag; the surging waters handled the cask so roughly that Graham
+straightway fell sick, but clung to his iron staples, and in a space of
+time exceeding thirty minutes--accounts differ here--reached smooth
+water at Lewiston, five miles away, and was safely taken out, able to
+boast that he had performed a feat hitherto deemed impossible.
+
+His record trip in a cask was made on August 19, 1886. On this occasion
+he announced that he would make the trip with his head protruding from
+the top of the barrel. This was actually done; he went as far as the
+Whirlpool, but it left him very little hearing, for a big wave gave him
+a furious slap on the side of the head. Graham made other trips in 1887
+and 1889, and his last, probably, in 1901. This nearly ended his life,
+as he was caught in an eddy where he was held for over twenty minutes;
+when he finally reached the Whirlpool and was taken out he was nearly
+suffocated.
+
+Graham's performances, possibly, were also of some practical value. It
+was proven to the observant that a particular shape of cask might, under
+certain conditions, be used to draw feeble or sickly passengers from a
+wrecked ship in bad weather, for a woman or a child could have lived in
+Graham's machine as well as the cooper himself; however, the
+circumstances are few under which it would be useful, and Graham, by
+his own account, had no idea of applying his contrivance in any such
+way.
+
+It is a question whether the barrel-cranks made any money by their
+foolhardy feats. That nothing interests callous men like the risk of a
+human life is undoubtedly true and has been proved by the whole history
+of amusement. The interest must depend on sight. Nobody would pay merely
+to know that at a specified hour Blondin was risking his life a hundred
+miles off. The man in the cask would not be seen, and to see a closed
+cask go bobbing about down five miles of rapids would not be an exciting
+amusement, more especially as, after two or three successful trials, the
+notion of any imminency or inevitableness of actual danger would
+disappear from the spectator's mind. Captain Webb, of course, expected
+his speculation to pay him; but then, it was in a somewhat different
+way. He did not expect any money from those who gazed from the shore,
+but believed,--as did also the speculators who paid him--that if he swam
+Niagara, he would revive the waning interest in his really splendid
+feats of customary swimming.
+
+Copying somewhat the idea that Graham had developed so successfully,
+George Hazlett and William Potts, also coopers of Buffalo, made a trip
+through the Rapids in a barrel of their own construction on August 8,
+1886. The barrel they used more closely resembled the familiar type of
+barrel, having no unusual features of form. In this same barrel used by
+the two coopers, Miss Sadie Allen and George Hazlett made a trip through
+the Niagara Gorge on November 28, 1886. There was then, I believe, a
+cessation of the barrel-fiends, who, nevertheless, re-appeared in the
+twentieth century.
+
+At the end of the summer of 1901, Martha E. Wagenfuhrer, the wife of a
+professional wrestler, announced that she would go through the river in
+a barrel, the date of September 6th being selected, possibly because the
+woman believed that she might have a President of the United States in
+her audience, for on that day President McKinley visited Niagara. Quite
+a crowd collected, for she was the first woman to try the feat alone.
+She was rescued after being in the water over an hour.
+
+    It was nearly six o'clock in the afternoon [to quote the New
+    York _Times_ of September 7, 1901,] when the barrel containing
+    Martha E. Wagenfuhrer was set adrift on the lower Niagara River,
+    to be carried by the currents into the rapids and vortex of the
+    Whirlpool. The trip through the rapids was quickly made, but the
+    rescue from the Whirlpool was delayed. Night fell before the
+    barrel was recovered, and the woman's friends had availed
+    themselves of the help of a powerful searchlight to illuminate
+    the rushing tossing waters of the pool. She started at 5.56
+    o'clock, and it was 7 o'clock when the barrel was landed. The
+    head of the cask had to be broken in in order to get the woman
+    out. She was in a semi-conscious condition. Before entering the
+    barrel she had indulged freely in liquor, but when she got out
+    her first call was for water.
+
+Female barrel-fiends now followed in rapid succession. Maud Willard of
+Canton, Ohio, lost her life on the 7th of September, 1901, in navigating
+the Whirlpool Rapids in Graham's barrel. Graham, as we have seen, had
+made five successful trips, and Miss Willard desired to attain fame by
+doing the same. She and Graham were good friends, and to please her he
+was to swim from the Whirlpool to Lewiston following her trip through
+the Rapids. The barrel was taken to the river in the morning. It was an
+enormous affair, made of oak, and at 4 o'clock Miss Willard got into it,
+accompanied by her pet dog. The cover was put over the manhole, and she
+was taken out into the stream in tow of a small boat, and left to the
+mercy of the currents.
+
+Miss Willard passed safely through the Rapids, but the mighty maelstrom
+then held her far out from shore, where her friends and would-be
+rescuers could not reach her. From 4.40 o'clock until after 10 o'clock
+at night she was whirled about in the peculiar formation of the Niagara
+here. Messengers were sent to Niagara Falls to have the searchlight car
+of the electric line sent down the Gorge; huge bonfires were built to
+warm the spectators, and likewise to illuminate the river. Soon a beam
+of white light shot across the waters from the American to the Canadian
+side; now and then the tossing barrel could be seen tumbling and
+bobbing, and rolling in the currents. The latter were then suddenly
+changing--first a piece of wood came in drifting toward shore--within a
+short time the barrel hove in sight within the light of the beacons, and
+men swam out to catch it.
+
+When the manhole cover was removed, Miss Willard was limp and lifeless.
+Death probably came gradually, and possibly without much suffering. The
+little dog came out alive, and none the worse for the perilous trip.
+
+While she was tossing in the Whirlpool, Graham made his trip to
+Lewiston, the only person who ever swam from the pool to Lewiston. When
+he returned up the Gorge he found the barrel and Miss Willard still in
+the terrible pool.
+
+A widow, Mrs. Anna Edson Taylor, safely passed over Niagara Falls in a
+barrel on Friday, October 24, 1901, the trip from end to end being
+witnessed by several thousand people. The fact that Mrs. Taylor failed
+to appear, as advertised, on the Sunday before, and again on Wednesday,
+did not lessen the confidence of the public. It was beyond belief that
+she would live to tell the story, but she came out alive and well so
+soon as she recovered from the shock.
+
+This initial voyage over Niagara's cataract began at Port Day, nearly a
+mile from the brink of the Falls. At this point the daring woman and her
+barrel were taken out to Grass Island, where she entered; at 3.50 she
+was in tow of a boat speeding well out into the Canadian current. Soon
+after the barrel was cast adrift on the current that never before was
+known to spare a human life once fallen in its grasp. From the spot
+where the rowboat left the barrel the current runs frightfully swift,
+soon boiling on the teeth of the upper rifts; the barrel was weighted
+with a two hundred pound anvil, and it floated nicely in the water, Mrs.
+Taylor apparently retaining an upright position for the greater part of
+the trip down the river and through the rapids. Fortunately the cask
+kept well within the deep water, and except for passing out of sight
+several times, in the white-crested waves, it was in view for the
+greater part of a mile. In passing over the Horseshoe Fall the barrel
+kept toward the Canadian side at a point three hundred feet from the
+centre.
+
+[Illustration: Horseshoe Falls from Goat Island.]
+
+It dropped over the Fall at 4.23 o'clock, the bottom well down. In less
+than a minute it appeared at the base of the Fall, and was swept down
+stream. The current cast it aside in an eddy, and, floating back
+up-stream, it was held between two eddies until captured at 4.40
+o'clock. As it was grounded on a rock, out in the river, it was
+difficult to handle, but several men soon had the hatch off. Mrs. Taylor
+was alive and conscious but before she could be taken out of the barrel
+it was necessary to saw a portion of the top away. Her condition was a
+surprise to all. She walked along the shore to a boat, and was taken
+down the river to the _Maid of the Mist_ dock, where she entered a
+carriage and was brought to Niagara Falls. The woman was suffering
+greatly from the shock, and had a three-inch cut in her scalp, back of
+the right ear, but how or when she got it she did not know. She
+complained of pains between the shoulders, but it is thought that this
+was due to the fact that her shoulders were thrown back during the
+plunge, as she had her arms in straps, and these undoubtedly saved her
+neck from breaking.
+
+She admitted having lost consciousness in passing over the Falls. While
+thanking God for sparing her life, she warned every one not to repeat
+her foolhardy trip. So severe was the shock that she wandered in her
+talk, with three doctors attending her; she, however, soon recovered.
+
+Mrs. Taylor was forty-three years old when she made this marvellous
+trip. She was born in Auburn, N. Y., and was a school teacher in Bay
+City, Mich., before she came East. She had crossed the American
+continent from ocean to ocean eight times, and during her stay East
+impressed everybody with her wonderful nerve.
+
+The barrel in which Mrs. Taylor made the journey was four and one-half
+feet high, and about three feet in diameter. A leather harness and
+cushions inside protected her body. Air was secured through a rubber
+tube connecting with a small opening near the top of the barrel. Her
+warning evidently has been heeded. To our knowledge no barrel-fiend has
+reappeared at the shores of Niagara within the last five years.
+
+In the year 1846, a small steamer was built in the eddy just above the
+suspension bridge to run up to the Falls, and very appropriately named
+the _Maid of the Mist_. Her engine was rather weak, but she safely
+accomplished the trip. Since she took passengers aboard only from the
+Canada side, however, she did little more than pay expenses, and in
+1854, a larger, better boat, with a more powerful engine, a new _Maid of
+the Mist_, was put on the route and many persons since have made this
+most exciting and impressive voyage along the foot of the Falls.
+
+    Owing to some change in the appointments of the _Maid of the
+    Mist_ which confined her landings to the Canadian shore she too
+    became unprofitable and her owner having decided to leave the
+    place wished to sell her as she lay on her dock. This he could
+    not do, but having received an offer of more than half of her
+    cost, if he would deliver her at Niagara-on-the-Lake, he
+    determined a consultation with Joel Robinson, who had acted as
+    her captain and pilot on her trips under the Falls to make the
+    attempt to take her down the river. Mr. Robinson agreed to act
+    as pilot on the fearful voyage; the engineer, Mr. Jones,
+    consented to go with him and a courageous machinist by the name
+    of McIntyre volunteered to share the risk with them. The boat
+    was in complete trim, removing from deck and hold all
+    superfluous articles and as notice was given of the time of
+    starting, a large number of people assembled to watch the
+    spectacular plunge, few expecting to see either boat or crew
+    again. About three o'clock in the afternoon of June 15, 1861,
+    the engineer took his place in the hold, and, knowing that their
+    drifting would be short at the longest, and might be only the
+    preface to a swift destruction, set his steam valve at the
+    proper gauge and awaited--not without anxiety--the tinkling
+    signal that should start them on their flying voyage. McIntyre
+    joined Robinson at the wheel on the upper deck. Self-possessed,
+    and with the calmness which results from undoubted courage and
+    confidence, yet with the humility which recognises all
+    possibilities, Robinson took his place at the wheel and pulled
+    the starting bell. With a shriek from her whistle and a white
+    puff from the escape-pipe to take leave, as it were, of the
+    multitude gathered at the shores, she soon swung around to the
+    right, cleared the smooth water and shot like an arrow into the
+    rapid under the bridge. She took the outside course of the rapid
+    and when a third of the way down it, a jet of water struck
+    against her rudder, a column dashed up under her starboard side,
+    hurled her over, carried away her smoke-stack, threw Robinson
+    flat on his back, and thrust McIntyre against her starboard
+    wheel-house with such a force as to break it through. The little
+    boat emerged from the fearful baptism, shook her wounded sides,
+    and slid into the Whirlpool riding for the moment again on an
+    even keel. Robinson rose at once, seized the helm, set her to
+    the right of the large pot in the pool, then turned her directly
+    through the neck of it. Thence, after receiving another
+    drenching from its combing waves, the craft dashed on without
+    further accident to the quiet of the river at Lewiston.
+
+Thus was accomplished one of the most remarkable and perilous voyages
+ever made by man; the boat was seventy-two feet long with seventeen feet
+breadth of beam and eight feet depth of hold, and carried an engine of
+one hundred horse-power.
+
+Robinson stated after the voyage that the greater part of it was like
+what he had always imagined must be the swift sailing of a large bird in
+a downward flight; that when the accident occurred the boat seemed to be
+struck from all directions at once, that she trembled like a
+fiddlestring and felt as if she would crumble away and drop into atoms;
+that both he and McIntyre were holding to the wheel with all their
+strength, but this produced no more effect than if they had been two
+flies; that he had no fear of striking the rocks, for he knew that the
+strongest suction must be in the deepest channels, and that the boat
+must remain in that. Finding that McIntyre was somewhat bruised and
+bewildered by excitement on account of his fall, and did not rise,
+Robinson quickly put his foot on him to keep him from rolling round the
+deck, and thus finished the voyage.
+
+    The effect of this trip upon Robinson was decidedly marked. To
+    it, as he lived but few years afterward, his death was commonly
+    attributed. "He was," said Mrs. Robinson in an interview,
+    "twenty years older when he came home that day, than when he
+    went out. He sank into his chair like a person overcome with
+    weariness. He decided to abandon the water, and advised his sons
+    to venture no more about the Rapids. Both his manner and
+    appearance were changed." Calm and deliberate before, he became
+    thoughtful and serious afterwards. He had been borne, as it
+    were, in the arms of a power so mighty, that its impress was
+    stamped on his features and on his mind. Through a slightly
+    opened door he had seen a vision which awed and subdued him. He
+    became reverent in a moment. He grew venerable in an hour.
+
+As an illustration of the lengths unscrupulous sensationalists will go
+at Niagara to satisfy the curious throngs, in September, 1883, several
+enterprising citizens of Niagara Falls purchased a small boat which they
+fitted up to represent the _Maid of the Mist_, and sent it through the
+Rapids. Men were stationed about the boat in effigy, but no human beings
+were allowed on board, although, indeed there were many applications for
+passage. The boat passed through the Gorge in good shape.
+
+On August 28, 1887, Charles Alexander Percy, a waggon-maker of
+Suspension Bridge, went over the Rapids to win fame. He had conceived
+the idea of constructing a boat, and, having been previously a sailor he
+knew how to build a staunch craft. The vessel was of hickory, seventeen
+feet long and four feet ten and one-quarter inches wide. It had
+sixty-four oak ribs, and an iron plate weighing three hundred pounds was
+fastened to the bottom. The boat as completed weighed nine hundred
+pounds, and was covered with white canvas. At 3.30 o'clock in the
+afternoon on the day mentioned, Percy, having with great difficulty
+transported his craft to the old _Maid of the Mist_ landing above the
+cantilever bridge, took off his coat and waistcoat, put them in a valise
+and stowed it away in one of the compartments. Then he sat in the middle
+part of the boat, which had no deck, rowed out into the Niagara, just
+above the cantilever, unshipped his oars and fastened them to the boat
+and then crawled into one of his air-tight compartments. Many people
+watched his white craft from the bridges and banks, but the excursion
+had not been advertised and many visitors to the Falls knew nothing of
+it. The boat shot down toward the Whirlpool. On the theory that there
+was an undercurrent which ran stronger than the surface current, Percy
+had attached a thirty-pound weight to a ten-foot line, which he threw
+overboard to act as a drag; this had no apparent effect; the two-mile
+trip to the Whirlpool occupied less than five minutes, and while the
+boat was submerged repeatedly, it did not turn over. When near the
+Whirlpool it drifted close to the American shore, Percy, thinking he was
+in the quiet water on the further side of the Whirlpool, stuck out his
+head, but closed the aperture just in time to escape a tremendous wave.
+The boat passed straight across the Whirlpool, and on the other side
+Percyl crawled out of the compartment, took his oars, and rowed
+leisurely around to the foot of the inclined railway on the Canadian
+side, where he landed, his voyage having lasted twenty-five minutes. He
+gave much the same account of the adventure as was given by Graham of
+barrel fame, and Kendall, the Boston policeman, who swam into the
+Whirlpool in 1886. He thought he struck rocks in the passage down, but
+the boat showed no marks.
+
+[Illustration: Ice Bridge and American Falls.]
+
+Percy and a friend, William Dittrick, repeated the trip on September 25,
+1887, through the lower half of the Gorge from the Whirlpool to
+Lewiston, having a thrilling experience. Dittrick occupied one of the
+air compartments, while Percy sat in the cockpit.
+
+Finally, on September 16, 1888, Percy again risked his life in making a
+voyage through the waters of the Gorge near Lewiston. In this trip he
+narrowly escaped death and the boat was lost.
+
+Elated by his success, Percy now made a wager with Robert William Flack
+of Syracuse, "for a race through the Whirlpools in life-boats for five
+hundred dollars a side." The race was set for August 1, 1888, but on
+July 4th, Flack was first to show that his craft was seaworthy. The boat
+was of the clinker pattern, had no air-cushions, and was partly
+constructed of cork. In the presence of an immense concourse of
+spectators it went first along gaily, but in three minutes the boat was
+upset and carried into the Whirlpool bottom upwards. It was a frightful
+spectacle, witnessed by thousands of people. The boat capsized three
+times; the last time it tossed high in the air. It stood on end for an
+instant and then it toppled over on poor Flack, who was strapped to the
+boat helpless and floated about the pool upside down for about an hour,
+until captured on the Canadian side. Flack's body was only a mass of
+bruised flesh. Percy meantime, having witnessed the tragedy from the
+American side, jumped into a trap, and drove to the Whirlpool on the
+Canadian side where, throwing off his clothes, he leaped into the river
+and swam for the boat which was now approaching the shore. But he was
+too late. His courageous feat could not help Flack, who was found dead,
+hanging on the straps he had placed there to aid him to save his life.
+
+In 1889 Walter G. Campbell tried to make the perilous trip in an open,
+flat-bottomed boat, which he launched above the Rapids. His only
+companion was a black dog. Campbell, with a life-preserver about his
+body, stood up, using his oar as a paddle, and boldly drifted with
+increasing speed toward the seething pool. The trip took about twenty
+minutes, but, fortunately, the boat capsized before the worst water was
+reached, and Campbell just managed to struggle to the shore. The poor
+black dog paid the penalty of his master's folly.
+
+Peter Nissen, of Chicago, made a successful trip through the Whirlpool
+Rapids of Niagara on July 9, 1900, being the first man to go through in
+an open boat and come out unharmed. He entered the Rapids at 5 P.M., the
+boat gliding down easily bow first, entering the first wave end on, and
+going partly over and partly under the water, drenched its occupant
+completely. The second wave struck him with terrific force almost
+broadside, the boat being partly turned by the first wave, smashing
+Nissen against the cockpit, knocking off his hat and nearly smothering
+him. A moment later he entered the frightful mass of warring waters
+opposite the Whirlpool Rapids station, and for a few moments it looked
+as though his end had come, the boat being tossed with terrific force
+out of the water, broadside up, the iron keel, weighing 1250 pounds,
+being plainly seen. Boat and occupant then disappeared altogether, not
+being again seen for several seconds until the worst was feared.
+Suddenly both man and boat reappeared farther down the stream, and the
+hundreds of onlookers gave vent to their feelings in cheers. The hardy
+navigator now went under the waters again receiving a crushing blow as
+he entered every succeeding wave when the staunch craft and its master
+raced into the Whirlpool. But Nissen was not yet safe. Having no means
+of guiding or propelling the boat, Nissen was compelled to sit in the
+water in the cockpit for fifty minutes, being carried around the
+Whirlpool four times. Once the boat approached the vortex and was sucked
+down about half its length, the other half standing out of the water in
+an almost vertical position. It was immediately thrown out, however, and
+resumed its course around the pool. When at the farther end, where the
+current has the least strength the boat then being about fifty feet from
+shore, three young men swam out with a rope and fastened it to the boat,
+which was then drawn in by very willing hands. Nissen, when questioned,
+said he was not injured in the least, only feeling cold and weak. He was
+stripped and given dry clothing, and he then declared he felt all right.
+In making the trip he wore his usual clothing, pulling on an ordinary
+life-preserver to aid him if he should be thrown out. He did not intend
+to fasten himself in the boat, but at the last moment passed a rope over
+his shoulder, which probably saved his life.
+
+The boat, which he had named the _Fool-Killer_, was twenty feet long,
+four feet wide, and four feet deep. The deck was slightly raised in the
+centre, gently sloping to the gunwales. In the centre of the deck a
+cockpit four feet long and twenty inches wide extended down to the keel,
+a distance of four feet. The side-planking of the cockpit was carried
+above the deck, forming a combing six inches in height; six water-tight
+compartments were built in the boat, two at each end and one on each
+side of the cockpit; three hundred pounds of cork were also used, so
+that the boat was unsinkable. The main feature of the boat was the keel.
+This was a shaft of round iron, four inches in diameter and twenty feet
+long, hanging two feet below the bottom of the boat, and held in
+position by five one-inch iron bars.
+
+Our record of sensationalism at Niagara would be lacking in fulness, at
+least, if mention were not made of the many gruesome suicides that have
+occurred here, but we forbear. A story of what a dog endured, however,
+is quite in place:
+
+    A large dog lately survived the passage over Niagara Falls and
+    through the rapids to the whirlpool. He was first noticed while
+    he was within the influence of the upper rapids. As he was
+    whirled rapidly down over the Falls, every one imagined that
+    that was the last of him. Shortly afterwards, however, he was
+    discovered in the gorge below the Falls vainly endeavouring to
+    clamber up upon some of the debris from the remains of the great
+    ice bridge which recently covered the water at this point, but
+    which had nearly all gone down the river. The news spread
+    rapidly through the village, and a large crowd gathered at the
+    shore. Strenuous efforts were made to get the struggling animal
+    on shore, for an animal which had gone safely over the Falls
+    would be a prize worth having, but without success. Finally the
+    dog succeeded in getting upon a large cake of ice, and floated
+    off upon it down towards Suspension Bridge and the terrible
+    Whirlpool Rapids. Information of the dog's coming was telephoned
+    to Suspension Bridge village, and a large crowd collected on the
+    bridge to watch for the coming wonder. In due time the poor
+    fellow appeared upon his ice-cake, howling dismally the while,
+    as if he appreciated the terrors of his situation. An
+    express-train crossing the bridge at the time stopped in order
+    to let the passengers witness the unusual spectacle. Round and
+    round whirled the cake, in a dizzy way, and louder and more
+    prolonged grew the howls of the poor dog. As the influence of
+    the Whirlpool Rapids began to be felt, the cake increased in
+    speed, whirled suddenly into the air, broke in two, and the dog
+    disappeared from view. No one thought that he could possibly
+    survive the wild rush through the rapids. When, therefore, word
+    was received that the dog was in the whirlpool, still living,
+    and once more struggling vainly to swim to land, it was received
+    with marked incredulity. This story was substantiated by several
+    trustworthy witnesses. It seems incredible that an animal could
+    go through the upper rapids, over the Falls, through the Gorge,
+    through the Whirlpool Rapids, and into the whirlpool itself, a
+    distance of several miles, and still be alive. The poor animal
+    perished in the whirlpool.
+
+In various instances dogs have been sent over the Falls and survived the
+plunge.
+
+As early as November, 1836, a troublesome female bull-terrier was put in
+a coffee sack by a couple of men who had determined to get rid of her,
+and thrown off from the middle of Goat Island Bridge. In the following
+spring she was found alive and well about sixty rods below the Ferry,
+having lived through the winter on a deceased cow that was thrown over
+the bank the previous fall. In 1858, another dog, a male of the same
+breed, was thrown into the Rapids, also near the middle of the bridge.
+In less than an hour he came up the Ferry stairs, very wet and not at
+all gay. He was ever after a sadder, if not a better dog.
+
+[Footnote 15: Vol. lvi., p. 106, seq.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter VII
+
+  The Old Niagara Frontier
+
+
+What has been loosely called the "Niagara Frontier" embraces all the
+beautiful stretch of territory south of Lakes Ontario and Erie,
+extending westward quite to Cleveland, the Forest City on the latter
+lake. It would be difficult to point to a tract of country in all
+America the history of which is of more inherent interest than this
+far-flung old-time frontier of which the Niagara River was the strategic
+key. The beautiful cities now standing here, Buffalo, Cleveland, and
+Toronto, as well as the ancient Falls, forever new and wonderful, bring
+to this fair country, in large volume, the modern note that would drown
+the memory of the long ago; but here, as elsewhere, and particularly
+here, the Indian left his names upon the rivers and the shores of the
+lakes, beautiful names that will neither die nor permit the days of
+Iroquois, Eries, and Hurons to pass forgotten.
+
+Historically, the Niagara frontier is memorable, firstly, because it
+embraced in part the homes and hunting-grounds of the Six Nations, the
+pre-eminent Indian confederacy of the continent. The French name for the
+confederacy was Iroquois; their own, "Ho-de-no-sote," or the "Long
+House," which extended from the Hudson to Lake Erie and from the St.
+Lawrence to the valleys of the Delaware, Susquehanna, and Allegheny.
+This domain was divided between the several nations by well-defined
+boundary lines, called "lines of property." The famous Senecas were on
+the Niagara frontier.
+
+[Illustration: Colonel Roemer's Map of the Country of the Iroquois,
+1700.]
+
+In this pleasant land the Iroquois dwelt in palisaded villages upon the
+fertile banks of the lakes and streams which watered their country.
+Their houses were built within a protecting circle of palisades, and,
+like all the tribes of the Iroquois family, were long and narrow, not
+more than twelve or fifteen feet in width, but often exceeding one
+hundred and fifty in length. They were made of two parallel rows of
+poles stuck upright in the ground, of sufficient widths at the bottom to
+form the floor, and bent together at the top to form the roof; the whole
+was entirely covered with strips of peeled bark. At each end of the long
+house was a strip of bark or a bear skin hung loosely for a door.
+Within, they built their fires at intervals along the centre of the
+floor, the smoke rising through the opening in the top, which served, as
+well, to let in light. In every house were fires and many families, and
+every family having its own fire within the space allotted to it.
+
+Among all the Indians of the New World, there were none so politic and
+intelligent, none so fierce and brave, none with so many heroic virtues
+mingled with savagery, as the people of the Long House. They were a
+terror to all the surrounding tribes, whether of their own or of
+Algonquin speech. In 1650 they overran the country of the Huron; in 1651
+they destroyed the neutral nation along the Niagara; in 1652 they
+exterminated the Eries. They knew every war-path and "their war-cry was
+heard westward to the Mississippi and southward to the great gulf."
+They were, in fact, the conquerors of the New World, perhaps not
+unjustly styled the "Romans of the West." Wrote the Jesuit Father
+Ragueneau, in 1650, "My pen has no ink black enough to describe the fury
+of the Iroquois." In 1715, the Tuscaroras, a branch of the Iroquois
+family, in the Carolinas, united with the Five Nations, after which the
+confederacy was known as the Six Nations, of which the other five tribes
+were named in order of their rank, Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Oneidas,
+and Cayugas.
+
+Iroquois government was vested in a general council composed of fifty
+hereditary sachems, but the order of succession was always in the female
+and never in the male line. Each nation was divided into eight clans or
+tribes. The spirit of the animal or bird after which the clan was named,
+called its "To-tem," was the guardian spirit of the clan, and every
+member used its figure in his signature as his device. It was the rule
+that men and women of the same tribe could intermarry. In this manner
+relationships were interlocked forever by the closest of ties. The name
+of each sachemship was permanent. When a sachem died the people of the
+league selected the most competent from among those of his family, who
+by right inherited the title, and the one so chosen was raised in solemn
+council to the high honour, and dropping his own received the name of
+the sachemship. Two sachemships, however, after the death of the
+original sachems ever remained vacant, those of the Onondagas and
+"Ha-yo-went-ha" (Hi-a-wat-ha) immortalised by Longfellow, of the
+Mohawks. Daganoweda was the founder of the league, whose head was
+represented as covered with tangled serpents; Hi-a-wat-ha (meaning "he
+who combs") put the head in order and this aided the formation of the
+league. In honour of these great services this sachemship was afterward
+held vacant.
+
+The entire body of sachems formed the council league; their authority
+was civil, confined to affairs of peace, and was advisory rather than
+otherwise. Every member of the confederacy followed, to a great extent,
+the dictates of his own will, controlled very much by the customs of his
+people and "a sentiment that ran through their whole system of affairs
+which was as inflexible as iron."
+
+The character of the Iroquois confederacy has a bearing on the history
+of the Niagara country of prime importance; while their immediate seats
+were somewhat south of Niagara River itself, they were the red masters
+of the eastern Great Lake region when white men came to know it,
+conquering, as we have noted, the earlier red races, the Eries and
+Neutrals, who lived beside Lake Erie and the Niagara River. Of these
+very little is known; placed between the Iroquois on the South and the
+Hurons on the North both are accounted to have been fierce and brave
+peoples, for a long time able to withstand the savage inroads of the
+people of the Long House. The Eries occupied the territory just south of
+Lake Erie, while the Neuter or Neutral towns lay on the north side of
+the lake--stretching up perhaps near to Niagara Falls. They claimed the
+territory lying west of the Genesee River, and extending northward to
+the Huron land about Georgian Bay as their hunting-ground, and could, it
+was affirmed by Jesuits, number twelve thousand souls or four thousand
+fighting men in 1641, only a decade before annihilation by the southern
+foe.
+
+    Although the French applied to them the name of "neuter" [writes
+    Marshall, the historian of the Niagara frontier], it was always
+    an allusion to their neutrality between the Hurons and the
+    Iroquois. These contending nations traversed the territories of
+    the Neutral Nation in their wars against each other, and if, by
+    chance, they met in the wigwams or villages of this people, they
+    were forced to restrain their animosity and to separate in
+    peace.
+
+Notwithstanding this neutrality, they waged cruel wars with other
+nations, toward whom they exercised cruelties even more inhuman than
+those charged upon their savage neighbours. The early missionaries
+describe their customs as similar to those of the Hurons, their land as
+producing Indian corn, beans, and squashes in abundance, their rivers as
+abounding in fish of endless variety, and their forests as filled with
+animals yielding the richest furs.
+
+They exceeded the Hurons in stature, strength, and symmetry of form, and
+wore their dress with a superior grace, and regarded their dead with
+peculiar affection; hence arose a custom which is worthy of notice, and
+explains the origin of the numerous burial mounds which are scattered
+over this vicinity. Instead of burying the bodies of their deceased
+friends, they deposited them in houses or on scaffolds erected for the
+purpose. They collected the skeletons from time to time and arranged
+them in their dwellings, in anticipation of the feast of the dead, which
+occurred once in ten or twelve years. On this occasion the whole nation
+repaired to an appointed place, each family, with the greatest apparent
+affection, bringing the bones of their deceased relatives enveloped in
+the choicest furs.
+
+The final disruption between Neuters and Senecas came, it would seem,
+in 1648, in the shape of a challenge sent by the latter and accepted;
+the war raged until 1651, when two whole villages of Neuters were
+destroyed, the largest containing more than sixteen hundred men. Father
+Fremin in 1669 found Neuters still living in captivity in Gannogarae, a
+Seneca town east of the Genesee. Some two years later, seemingly by
+accident, a rupture between Senecas and Eries, farther to the westward,
+took place, resulting in a similar Seneca victory; thus the Iroquois
+came to be the masters of the Niagara country.
+
+What this meant becomes very evident with the advance of France to this
+old-time key of the continent; here lay the strongest, most civilised
+Indian nations, conquerors of half a continent; what the friendship of
+the Iroquois meant to these would-be white conquerors of the self-same
+empire no words could express; as we have noted, the Niagara River was
+the direct passageway to the Mississippi basin. It is one of the most
+interesting caprices of Fate that France should have been given the
+great waterway--key of the continent; now, with a friendly alliance with
+the Six Nations the progress of French arms could hardly be challenged.
+But France, in the early hours of her progress, and by the hand of her
+best friend and wisest champion, Champlain, incurred the inveterate
+hatred of these powerful New York confederates. This he did in 1609 by
+joining a war-party of Algonquins of the lower St. Lawrence region on
+one of their memorable raids into the Iroquois country by way of the
+Richelieu River and Lake Champlain. Dr. Bourinot,[16] perhaps most
+clearly of all, has explained Champlain's own comprehension of the
+matter by saying that the dominating purpose of his life in New France
+was the exploration of the vast region from which came the sweeping
+tides of the St. Lawrence; supposing, naturally, that the Canadian red
+men were to be eventually the victors in the ancient war, especially if
+aided by the government of New France, it was politic for Champlain to
+espouse their cause since no general scheme of exploration "could have
+been attempted had he by any cold or unsympathetic conduct alienated the
+Indians who guarded the waterways over which he had to pass before he
+could unveil the mysteries of the Western wilderness."
+
+In June this eventful invasion of the Iroquois country was undertaken,
+and on the last day of July but one, near what was to become the
+historic site of Fort Ticonderoga, a pitched battle was fought.
+Champlain's own account of this the first decisive battle of America
+cannot be excelled in its quaint and picturesque simplicity:
+
+    At night [he wrote] we embarked in our canoes, and, as we were
+    advancing noiselessly onward, we encountered a party of Iroquois
+    at the point of a cape which juts into the lake on the west
+    side. It was on the twenty-ninth of the month and about ten
+    o'clock at night. They, as well as we, began to shout, seizing
+    our arms. We withdrew to the water, and the Iroquois paddled to
+    the shore, arranged their canoes, and began to hew down trees
+    with villainous-looking axes and fortified themselves very
+    securely. Our party kept their canoes alongside of the other,
+    tied to poles, so as not to run adrift, in order to fight all
+    together if need be. When everything was arranged they sent two
+    canoes to know if their enemies wished to fight. They answered
+    that they desired nothing else but that there was not then light
+    enough to distinguish each other and that they would fight at
+    sunrise. This was agreed to. On both sides the night was spent
+    in dancing, singing, mingled with insults and taunts. Thus they
+    sang, danced, and insulted each other until daybreak. My
+    companions and I were concealed in separate canoes belonging to
+    the savage Montagnoes. After being equipped with light armour,
+    each of us took an arquebus and went ashore. I saw the enemy
+    leaving their barricade. They were about two hundred men, strong
+    and robust, who were coming toward us with a gravity and
+    assurance that greatly pleased me, led on by three chiefs. Ours
+    were marching in similar order, and told me that those who bore
+    the three lofty plumes were chiefs and that I must do all I
+    could. The moment we landed they began to run toward the enemy,
+    who stood firm and had not yet perceived my companions who went
+    into the bush with some savages. Ours commenced calling me with
+    a loud voice, opening the way for me and placing me at their
+    head, about twenty paces in advance, until I was about thirty
+    paces from the enemy. The moment they saw me they halted, gazing
+    at me and I at them. When I saw them preparing to shoot at us, I
+    raised my arquebus, and aiming directly at one of the chiefs,
+    two of them fell to the ground by this shot, and one of their
+    companions received a wound of which he died afterwards. I had
+    put four balls into my arquebus. Ours, on witnessing a shot so
+    favourable to them, set up such tremendous shouts that thunder
+    could not have been heard, and yet there was no lack of arrows
+    on the one side or the other. The Iroquois were greatly
+    astonished at seeing two men killed so instantaneously,
+    notwithstanding that they were provided with arrow-proof armour
+    woven of cotton thread and wood. This frightened them very much.
+
+    Whilst I was unloading, one of my companions fired a shot which
+    so astonished them anew, seeing their chiefs slain, that they
+    lost courage, took to flight, and abandoned the field and their
+    fort, hiding in the depths of the forest, whither pursuing them
+    I killed some others. Our savages also killed several of them
+    and took ten or twelve of them prisoners. The rest carried off
+    the wounded. These were promptly treated.
+
+    After having gained this victory, our party amused themselves
+    plundering Indian corn and meal from the enemy, and also their
+    arms which they had thrown away the better to run. And having
+    feasted, danced, and sung, we returned three hours afterwards
+    with the prisoners.[17]
+
+[Illustration: Champlain.]
+
+No victory could have been so costly as this; indeed, one is led to
+wonder whether any battle in America ever cost more lives than this; for
+one hundred and fifty years and forty-five days, or until the fall of
+Quebec and New France, this strongest of Indian nations remembered
+Champlain, and was the implacable enemy of the French; and, what was of
+singular ill-fortune, these very Iroquois, in addition to holding the
+key of the West in their grasp, lay exactly between the French and their
+English rivals at the point of nearest and most vital contact. After the
+Ticonderoga victory an Iroquois prisoner, previous to being burned at
+the stake, chanted a song; wrote the humane Champlain, "the song was sad
+to hear." For a century and a half sad songs were sung by descendants of
+those Algonquin and French victors who listened in the wavering light of
+that cruel fire to the song of the captive from the land of Long Houses
+below the Lakes! True, the Iroquois and the French were not continually
+at war through this long series of years; and French blandishments had
+their effect, sometimes, even on their immemorial foe, especially at the
+Seneca end of the Long House, nearest Niagara.
+
+Six years later, in 1615, Champlain set out on his most important tour
+of western discovery, largely for the purpose of fulfilling a promise
+made to one of his lieutenants on the upper Ottawa to assist him in the
+continual quarrel between the Hurons to the northward and the Iroquois.
+Here again is forced upon our attention one of the most important
+sequences of the battle of Lake Champlain. The two routes to the Great
+Lakes of Montreal were by the St. Lawrence River and by the Ottawa
+River. Either route the voyage was long and difficult, but by the Ottawa
+the voyageur came into the "back door" of the Lakes, Georgian Bay, by a
+taxing portage route; while, once stemming the St. Lawrence, Lake
+Ontario was gained and, with the Niagara portage accomplished the
+traveller was afloat on Lake Erie beyond which the waterway lay fair and
+clear to the remotest corner of Superior. But the St. Lawrence led into
+the Iroquois frontier, and the Ottawa to the country of the French
+allies, the Hurons. The result was that, to a great extent, French
+movement followed the northerly course; no one could bring this out more
+clearly than Hinsdale and those whom he quotes:
+
+    [The Iroquois] turned the Frenchmen aside from the St. Lawrence
+    and the Lower Lakes to the Ottawa and Nipissing; they ruined the
+    fur trade "which was the life-blood of New France"; they "made
+    all her early years a misery and a terror"; they retarded the
+    growth of Absolutism until Liberty was equal to the final
+    struggle; and they influence our national history to this day,
+    since "populations formed in the ideas and habits of a feudal
+    monarchy, and controlled by a hierarchy profoundly hostile to
+    freedom of thought, would have remained a hindrance and a
+    stumbling-block in the way of that majestic experiment of which
+    America is the field."[18]
+
+Two insignificant historical facts illustrate this power exerted on
+westward movement from Canada: Lake Erie was not discovered until half a
+century after Lake Superior, in fact was practically unknown even for
+fifty years after Detroit was founded in 1701.
+
+From the rendezvous in the Huron country this second army of invasion,
+at the head of which rode Champlain, set out for the Iroquois land, to
+carry fire and sword to the homes of the enemy and forge so much the
+more firmly the chains of prejudice and hatred. Crossing Lake Ontario at
+its western extremity the march was taken up from a point near Sacketts
+Harbour for the Onondaga fort, which was located, probably, a few miles
+south of Lake Oneida.
+
+The importance of the campaign on the Niagara frontier history is
+sufficient for us to include again Champlain's account of it:
+
+    We made about fourteen leagues in crossing to the other side of
+    the Lake, in a southerly direction, towards the territories of
+    the enemy. The Indians concealed all their canoes in the woods
+    near the shore. We made by land about four leagues over a sandy
+    beach, where I noticed a very agreeable and beautiful country,
+    traversed by many small streams, and two small rivers which
+    empty into the said Lake. Also many ponds and meadows, abounding
+    in an infinite variety of game, numerous vines, and fine woods,
+    a great number of chestnut trees, the fruit of which was yet in
+    its covering. Although very small, it was of good flavour. All
+    the canoes being thus concealed, we left the shore of the Lake,
+    which is about eighty leagues long and twenty-five wide, the
+    greater part of it being inhabited by Indians along its banks,
+    and continued our way by land about twenty-five or thirty
+    leagues. During four days we crossed numerous streams and a
+    river issuing from a lake which empties into that of the
+    _Entouhonorons_. This Lake, which is about twenty-five or thirty
+    leagues in circumference, contains several beautiful islands,
+    and is the place where our Iroquois enemies catch their fish,
+    which are there in great abundance. On the 9th of October, our
+    people being on a scout, encountered eleven Indians whom they
+    took prisoners, namely, four women, three boys, a girl, and
+    three men, who were going to the fishery, distant four leagues
+    from the enemies' fort. . . . The next day, about three o'clock
+    in the afternoon, we arrived before the fort. . . . Their
+    village was enclosed with four strong rows of interlaced
+    palisades, composed of large pieces of wood, thirty feet high,
+    not more than half a foot apart and near an unfailing body of
+    water. . . . We were encamped until the 16th of the month. . . .
+    As the five hundred men did not arrive, the Indians decided to
+    leave by an immediate retreat and began to make baskets in which
+    to carry the wounded, who were placed in them doubled in a heap,
+    and so bent and tied as to render it impossible for them to
+    stir, any more than an infant in its swaddling clothes, and not
+    without great suffering, as I can testify, having been carried
+    several days on the back of one of our Indians, thus tied and
+    imprisoned, which made me lose all patience. As soon as I had
+    strength to sustain myself I escaped from this prison, or to
+    speak plainly, from this hell.
+
+    The enemy pursued us about half a league, in order to capture
+    some of our rear guard, but their efforts were useless and they
+    withdrew. . . . The retreat was very tedious, being from
+    twenty-five to thirty leagues, and greatly fatigued the wounded,
+    and those who carried them, though they relieved each other from
+    time to time. On the 18th considerable snow fell which lasted
+    but a short time. It was accompanied with a violent wind, which
+    greatly incommoded us. Nevertheless we made such progress, that
+    we reached the banks of the lake of the _Entouhonorons_, at the
+    place where we had concealed our canoes, and which were found
+    all whole. We were apprehensive that the enemy had broken them
+    up.
+
+[Illustration: Map of French Forts in America, 1750-60.]
+
+As the roar of Niagara greets from afar the listening ears of the
+innumerable host of pilgrims who come to it to-day, so the fame of the
+cataract reached the first explorers of the continent long before they
+came to it, indeed almost as soon as their feet touched the shore of the
+New World. Four centuries ago Niagara was the wonder of the world as it
+must be four centuries hence and four times four.
+
+In May, 1535, Jacques Cartier left France on his second voyage to
+America in three ships; reaching the St. Lawrence, which he so named
+from the Saint, he asked concerning its sources and
+
+    was told that, after ascending many leagues among rapids and
+    waterfalls, he would reach a lake 140 or 150 leagues broad, at
+    the western extremity of which the waters were wholesome and the
+    winters mild; that a river emptied into it from the south, which
+    had its source in the country of the Iroquois; that beyond the
+    lake he would find a cataract and portage, then another lake
+    about equal to the former, which they had never explored.
+
+This is the first known mention of Niagara Falls. Champlain mapped the
+Niagara frontier, and his map of 1613 shows the position of the great
+Falls; he refers to it only as a "waterfall," which was "so very high
+that many kinds of fish are stunned in its descent." He probably never
+saw Niagara but wrote his description from hearsay. During the half
+century between Champlain's Lake Ontario tour and the coming of La Salle
+and Hennepin the Niagara must have been often visited by the Catholic
+missionaries, but few of them left mention of it.
+
+In 1615, Champlain's interpreter, Etienne Brule, was sent southward to
+seek aid from the Andastes and is lost to sight in the western forests
+for three years; it is possible that Brule even reached the copper
+region of Lake Superior at this time, and it is fairly probable that
+this intrepid wanderer, first of all Frenchmen, followed the Niagara
+River and gazed upon its mighty cataract. The first knowledge we have,
+however, of a Frenchman's presence on Niagara River is of Father Joseph
+de la Roche Dallion, who crossed it near Lewiston eleven years later,
+1626. Nicolet was in the Straits of Mackinac and at Sault Ste. Marie in
+1634, at the time that Champlain (now in the last year of his eventful
+life) founded Three Rivers on the St. Lawrence above Quebec for the
+defence of this endangered capital!
+
+Father L'Allemant, in his _Relation_ of 1640-41, refers to the Niagara
+River as the _Onaguiaahra_, and calls it the "celebrated" river of the
+Neutral Nation.
+
+Montreal was founded in 1642, simultaneously with the memorable capture
+of Father Jogues, who now, first of Europeans, passed through Lake
+George en route to the homes of the merciless Iroquois. In fact it was
+Father Jogues who first named this beautiful sheet of water, when he
+entered it on the eve of Corpus Christi, "Lake Saint Sacrament"; Sir
+William Johnson, at a later date rechristened it Lake George. Jogues may
+have heard the Niagara cataract.
+
+Ragueneau, writing to France in 1648, affirmed that "North of the Eries
+is a great lake, about two hundred leagues in circumference, called
+Erie, formed by the discharge of the _mer-douce_, or Lake Huron, and
+which falls into a third lake called Ontario, over a cataract of
+frightful height." The description by La Salle's Sulpician companion,
+Galinee, in 1669, is the most accurate of all early accounts. After La
+Salle's visit to the Senecas the party struck westward toward Niagara.
+
+[Illustration: Niagara Falls by Father Hennepin.
+
+The first known picture of Niagara, dated 1697.]
+
+    We found [wrote Galinee] a river, one-eighth of a league broad
+    and extremely rapid, forming the outlet of communication from
+    Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The depth of the river (for it is
+    properly the St. Lawrence), is, at this place extraordinary,
+    for, on sounding close by the shore, we found 15 or 16 fathoms
+    of water. The outlet is 40 leagues long, and has, from 10 to 12
+    leagues above its embouchure into Lake Ontario, one of the
+    finest cataracts, or falls of water, in the world, for all the
+    Indians of whom I have enquired about it, say, that the river
+    falls at that place from a rock higher than the tallest pines,
+    that is about 200 feet. In fact we heard it from the place where
+    we were, although from 10 to 12 leagues distant, but the fall
+    gives such a momentum to the water, that its velocity prevented
+    our ascending the current by rowing, except with great
+    difficulty. At a quarter of a league from the outlet where we
+    were, it grows narrower, and its channel is confined between two
+    very high, steep, rocky banks, inducing the belief that the
+    navigation would be very difficult quite up to the cataract. As
+    to the river above the falls, the current very often sucks into
+    this gulf, from a great distance, deer and stags, elk and
+    roebucks, that suffer themselves to be drawn from such a point
+    in crossing the river, that they are compelled to descend the
+    falls, and to be overwhelmed in its frightful abyss.
+
+    Our desire to reach the little village called Ganastogue
+    Sonono-toua O-tin-a-oua prevented our going to view the wonder,
+    which I consider as so much the greater in proportion as the
+    river St. Lawrence is one of the largest in the world. I will
+    leave you to judge if that is not a fine cataract in which all
+    the water of that large river, having its mouth three leagues
+    broad, falls from a height of 200 feet, with a noise that is
+    heard not only at the place where we were, 10 or 12 leagues
+    distant, but also from the other side of Lake Ontario, opposite
+    its mouth, where M. Trouve told me he had heard it.
+
+    We passed the river, and finally, at the end of five days'
+    travel arrived at the extremity of Lake Ontario, where there is
+    a fine large sandy bay, at the end of which is an outlet of
+    another small lake which is there discharged. Into this our
+    guide conducted us about half a league, to a point nearest the
+    village, but distant from it some 5 or 6 leagues, and where we
+    unloaded our canoes.
+
+The first eye-witness to describe Niagara Falls was Father Hennepin who
+visited them in the winter of 1678-79, and made the first pictorial
+representation of them.
+
+    Betwixt the Lake _Ontario_ and _Erie_, there is a vast and
+    prodigious Cadence of Water which falls down after a surprizing
+    and astonishing manner, insomuch that the Universe does not
+    afford its Parallel. 'T is true, _Italy_ and _Suedeland_ boast
+    of some such Things; but we may well say they are but sorry
+    Patterns, when compared to this of which we now speak. At the
+    foot of this horrible Precipice we meet with the River
+    _Niagara_, which is not above half a quarter of a League broad,
+    but is wonderfully deep in some places. It is so rapid above
+    this Descent, that it violently hurries down the Wild Beasts
+    while endeavouring to pass it, to feed on the other side; they
+    not being able to withstand the force of its Current, which
+    inevitably casts them down head-long above Six hundred foot.[19]
+
+    This wonderful Downfall is compounded of two great Cross-streams
+    of Water, and two Falls, with an Isle slopeing along the middle
+    of it. The Waters which fall from this vast height do foam and
+    boil after the most hideous manner imaginable, making an
+    outrageous Noise, more terrible than that of Thunder; for when
+    the Wind blows from off the South, their dismal roaring may be
+    heard above fifteen Leagues off.
+
+    The River _Niagara_ having thrown itself down this incredible
+    Precipice continues its impetuous course for two Leagues
+    together, to the great Rock above-mentioned, with an
+    inexpressible Rapidity: But having pass'd that, its Impetuosity
+    relents, gliding along more gently for two Leagues, till it
+    arrives at the Lake _Ontario_ or _Frontenac_.
+
+    Any Barque or greater Vessel may pass from the Fort to the foot
+    of this huge Rock above-mention'd. This Rock lies to the
+    Westward, and is cut off from the Land by the River _Niagara_,
+    about two Leagues farther down than the great Fall; for which
+    two Leagues the People are oblig'd to carry their Goods
+    overland; but the way is very good, and the Trees are but few,
+    and they chiefly Firrs and Oaks.
+
+    From the great Fall unto this Rock, which is to the West of the
+    River, the two Brinks of it are so prodigious high, that it
+    would make one tremble to look steadily upon the Water, rolling
+    along with a Rapidity not to be imagin'd. Were it not for this
+    vast Cataract, which interrupts Navigation, they might sail with
+    barques or greater Vessels, above four hundred and fifty Leagues
+    further, cross the Lake of _Hurons_, and up to the farther end
+    of the Lake _Illinois_; which two Lakes, we may well say, are
+    little Seas of fresh Water.
+
+In 1646 Father Jogues was killed in the Long House, and though in 1647
+eighteen priests were at work in the eleven missions in the West (most
+of them in the Huron country), the Iroquois carried the war to their
+very altars, the mission of St. Joseph being destroyed and the Hurons,
+blasted as a nation, scattered to the four winds of heaven. In 1656
+Mohawks even descended upon fugitive Hurons hovering about Quebec under
+the very guns of Fort St. Louis; it is interesting to compare these
+far-eastwardly onslaughts with the simultaneous far-eastern progress of
+the French explorers, for, as the Mohawks were falling upon Quebec those
+adventurous pioneers, Radisson and Grossilliers, were (it is now
+believed) on the point of discovering the Mississippi River, which they
+probably did in 1659.
+
+The plan of a grand Iroquois campaign against Canada in 1660 probably
+had its part in the awakening of the monarchy at home to the real state
+of affairs in America; if New France was to be more than a myth
+something must now be done or the entire European population of the St.
+Lawrence--not yet numbering more than two thousand souls--might be swept
+away as were the Hurons. The energy of Louis's famous minister,
+Colbert, is now in evidence as Marquis de Tracy, special envoy, appeared
+on the scene, as the population of Canada doubled in a score of months,
+the Richilieu was manned with forts and an army of thirteen hundred men
+invaded the Iroquois country and secured a comparatively lasting peace.
+
+A new era dawned, renewed spirit enthused the explorer, missionary,
+_coureur-de-bois_, and soldier. In 1669 the boldest man after Champlain,
+as Frontenac was the most chivalrous, La Salle, crossed Lake Ontario and
+in the two following years probably discovered and followed the Ohio, if
+not the Mississippi itself. In 1671 the noblest soldier of the cross in
+early American annals, Marquette, founded St. Ignace, and, two years
+later, in company with Joliet, found and descended the "Missipi."
+Simultaneously, as if to end once for all fear of Iroquois opposition,
+Frontenac erected the fort named for himself near the present site of
+Kingston, Canada. But French activity proved a little too successful,
+for it not only awed the Iroquois but alarmed the English, who had taken
+New York from the Dutch nine years before.
+
+La Salle was in France during 1677, where he received letters-patent
+concerning forts to be built south and west, in which direction "it
+would seem a passage to Mexico can be discovered," while Father
+Hennepin, soon to be the great discoverer's companion and mouthpiece,
+was among the Senecas near the Niagara frontier gaining a useful fund of
+information for the grand campaign of empire founding that La Salle had
+planned with Fort Frontenac as his base of supplies.
+
+[Footnote 16: _Canada_, p. 72, Story of the Nations Series.]
+
+[Footnote 17: A very excellent account of the battle of Lake Champlain
+is found in _The St. Lawrence River_, Ch. vi., by George Waldo Browne.]
+
+[Footnote 18: _The Old Northwest_, p. 25. A novel, _The Road to
+Frontenac_, presents a clear picture of French-Iroquois hostility on the
+St. Lawrence.]
+
+[Footnote 19: Hennepin's exaggerations add a spice to his marvellous
+stories as is true of Arabella B. Buckley's _The Fairyland of
+Science_ (p. 122) wherein we read: "The river Niagara first wanders
+through a flat country and then reaches the Great Lake Erie in a
+hollow plain. After that it flows gently down for about fifteen
+miles and then the slope becomes greater and it rushes on to the
+Falls of Niagara." Every age has its Hennepins!]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter VIII
+
+  From La Salle to De Nonville
+
+
+Receiving authority to explore the Mississippi to its mouth, as well as
+a grant made in 1675 of Fort Frontenac and surrounding lands as a
+seigniory, La Salle returned from France in 1678, and began the
+wonderful career that will hand his name down through countless years as
+the greatest explorer in the annals of America. He allied with him Tonty
+and Father Hennepin, the latter already known, as we have seen, along
+the Niagara frontier.
+
+La Salle at once advanced to Fort Frontenac, which was to be his point
+of rendezvous and eastern base of supplies. His first act was to fortify
+this point strongly as though already foreseeing the recall of the
+sturdy Frontenac and the consequential uprising of the slumbering
+Iroquois.
+
+The plan of Fort Frontenac published by Faillon shows that Frontenac's
+hasty palisades were replaced by La Salle with hewed stone on at least
+two landward sides, and within were to be found a barrack, bakery, and
+mill; by 1780 fourteen families replaced the four lone _habitans_ left
+at the fort in 1677; his improvements had cost La Salle thirty-five
+thousand francs. In Parkman's graphic words we see La Salle reigning
+
+    the autocrat of his lonely little empire, as feudal lord of the
+    forests around him, commander of a garrison raised and paid by
+    himself, founder of the mission, patron of the church. But he
+    had no thought of resting here. He had gained what he sought, a
+    fulcrum for bolder and broader action. His plans were ripened
+    and his time was come. He was no longer a needy adventurer,
+    disinherited of all but his fertile brain and his intrepid
+    heart. He had won place, influence, credit, and potent friends.
+    Now, at length, he might hope to find the long-sought path to
+    China and Japan, and secure for France those boundless regions
+    of the west.[20]
+
+La Salle now pushed his impetuous campaign, showing as much foresight as
+daring in this conception. To hold the golden West in fee three
+important projects at once demanded attention: fitting out two ships,
+one for Lake Ontario and one for the upper Niagara River and the lakes
+from which its waters came, and the acquiring at some proper rendezvous
+of the first invoice of furs. A brigantine of ten tons was building
+simultaneously with Fort Frontenac, and in the fall of the year (1678)
+was ready for its cargo of material for a sister-ship to be built above
+the great falls. A party in canoes, carrying some six thousand francs'
+worth of goods, had gone forward to the further lakes to engage and
+secure from the Indian tribes provisions for the expedition and a
+consignment of furs for the homeward voyage.
+
+[Illustration: R. Rene Cavelier, Sieur De La Salle.]
+
+On November 18th, the brigantine with its singular freight weighed
+anchor and sped from sight of La Salle and the watchers at Fort
+Frontenac; the party was under the temporal command of Sieur la Motte de
+Lussiere and the spiritual guidance of the famous historian Father
+Hennepin, "who belonged," writes one scholar, "to that class of writers
+who speak the truth by accident"; of him La Salle generously said that
+he wrote more in conformity to his wishes than his knowledge. After a
+rough voyage this unknown craft entered "the beautiful river Niagara,"
+as Hennepin truthfully stated, on St. Nicholas's Day, December 6th and
+the _Te Deum Laudamus_ was sung feelingly by the crew, which had barely
+escaped shipwreck near the mouth of Humber River.
+
+Here, near the mouth of the Niagara River, La Salle had planned to build
+a fort to bear the name Fort Conti in honour of his chief patron, the
+Prince of Conti; Lake Erie he had already named Lac de Conti. "It is
+situated," he wrote Conti, before it was built, "near that great
+cataract, more than a hundred and twenty toises [780 feet] in height, by
+which the lakes of higher elevation precipitate themselves into Lake
+Frontenac." A party of Senecas welcomed the little party, listening
+wonderingly to their anthem, supplying them with no end of white fish
+which they had come to catch here, living the while in a sort of a
+village near by, comprising probably a few huts erected for temporary
+purposes. It is possible these dwellings were of a more permanent
+character; at any rate Seneca sovereignty was assured, as the Frenchmen
+discovered just as soon as post-holes for Fort Conti were being dug.
+Concerning this, as well as the other features of this early Niagara
+River history, the record of Father Hennepin is about our only source of
+information; let us, therefore, quote from his _A New Discovery_
+concerning Frontenac and Niagara days:
+
+    That very same Year, on the Eighteenth of November, I took leave
+    of our Monks at Fort Frontenac, and after mutual Embraces and
+    Expressions of Brotherly and Christian Charity, I embark'd in a
+    Brigantine of about ten Tuns. The Winds and the Cold of the
+    Autumn were then very violent, insomuch that our Crew was afraid
+    to go into so little a Vessel. This oblig'd us and the Sieur de
+    la Motte our Commander, to keep our course on the North-side of
+    the Lake, to shelter ourselves under the Coast, against the
+    North-west Wind, which otherwise would have forced us upon the
+    Southern Coast of the Lake. This Voyage prov'd very difficult
+    and dangerous, because of the unseasonable time of the Year,
+    Winter being near at hand.
+
+    On the 26th, we were in great danger about Two large Leagues off
+    the Land, where we were oblig'd to lie at an Anchor all that
+    Night at sixty Fathom Water and above; but at length the Wind
+    coming to the North-East, we sail'd on, and arriv'd safely at
+    the further end of the Lake Ontario, call'd by the Iroquese,
+    Skannadario. We came pretty near to one of their Villages call'd
+    Tajajagon, lying about Seventy Leagues from Fort Frontenac, or
+    Catarakouy.
+
+    We barter'd some Indian Corn with the Iroquese, who could not
+    sufficiently admire us, and came frequently to see us on board
+    our Brigantine, which for our greater security, we had brought
+    to an Anchor into a River, though before we could get in, we run
+    aground three times, which oblig'd us to put Fourteen Men into
+    Canou's, and cast the Balast of our Ship overboard to get her
+    off again. That River falls into the Lake; but for fear of being
+    frozen up therein, we were forced to cut the Ice with Axes and
+    other Instruments.
+
+    The Wind turning then contrary, we were oblig'd to tarry there
+    till the 15th of December, 1678, when we sailed from the
+    Northern Coast to the Southern, where the River Niagara runs
+    into the Lake; but could not reach it that Day, though it is but
+    Fifteen or Sixteen Leagues distant, and therefore cast Anchor
+    within Five Leagues of the Shore, where we had very bad Weather
+    all the Night long.
+
+    On the 6th, being St. Nicholas's Day, we got into the fine River
+    Niagara, into which never any such Ship as ours entred before.
+    We sung there Te Deum, and other Prayers, to return our Thanks
+    to God Almighty for our prosperous Voyage. The Iroquese
+    Tsonnontouans inhabiting the little Village, situated at the
+    Mouth of the River, took above Three Hundred Whitings which are
+    bigger than Carps, and the best relish'd, as well as the
+    wholsomest Fish in the World; which they presented all to us,
+    imputing their good luck to our Arrival. They were much
+    surprized at our Ship, which they call'd the Great Woodden
+    Canou.
+
+    On the 7th, we went in a Canou two Leagues up the River to look
+    for a convenient Place for Building; but not being able to get
+    the Canou farther up, because the Current was too rapid for us
+    to master, we went over land about three Leagues higher, though
+    we found no Land fit for culture. We lay that Night near a
+    River, which runs from the Westward, within a League above the
+    great Fall of Niagara, which, as we have already said, is the
+    greatest in the World. The Snow was then a Foot deep, and we
+    were oblig'd to dig it up to make room for our Fire.
+
+    The next day we return'd the same way we went, and saw great
+    Numbers of Wild Goats, and Wild Turkey-Cocks, and on the 11th we
+    said the first Mass that ever was said in that Country. The
+    Carpenters and the rest of the Crew were set to work; but
+    Monsieur de la Motte, who had the Direction of them, being not
+    able to endure the Fatigues of so laborious a Life, gave over
+    his Design, and return'd to Canada, having about two hundred
+    Leagues to Travel.
+
+    The 12th, 13th, and 14th, the Wind was not favourable enough to
+    sail up the River as far as the rapid Current above mention'd
+    where we had resolv'd to build some Houses.
+
+    Whosoever considers our Map, will easily see, that this New
+    Enterprise of building a Fort and some Houses on the River
+    Niagara, besides the Fort of Frontenac, was like to give
+    Jealousie to the Iroquese, and even to the English, who live in
+    this Neighbourhood, and have a great Commerce with them.
+    Therefore to prevent the ill Consequences of it, it was thought
+    fit to send an Embassie to the Iroquese, as it will be mention'd
+    in the next Chapter.
+
+    The 15th I was desired to sit at the Helm of our Brigantine
+    while three of our Men hall'd the same from the Shore with a
+    Rope; and at last we brought her up, and moor'd her to the Shore
+    with a Halser, near a Rock of a prodigious heighth lying upon
+    the rapid Currents we have already mentioned. The 17th, 18th,
+    and 19th, we were busie in making a Cabin with Pallisado's, to
+    serve for a Magazine; but the Ground was so frozen, that we were
+    forc'd to throw several times boiling Water upon it to
+    facilitate the beating in and driving down the Stakes. The 20th,
+    21st, 22d, and 23d, our Ship was in great danger to be dash'd in
+    pieces, by the vast pieces of Ice that were hurl'd down the
+    River; to prevent which, our Carpenters made a Capstone to haul
+    her ashore; but our great Cable broke in three pieces; whereupon
+    one of our Carpenters surrounded the Vessel with a Cable, and
+    ty'd it to several Ropes, whereby we got her ashore, tho' with
+    much difficulty, and sav'd her from the danger of being broke to
+    pieces, or carryed away by the Ice, which came down with an
+    extream violence from the great Fall of Niagara.
+
+Returning to Niagara with little or no promise of success, yet La
+Salle's _avant-couriers_ were in no way dissuaded from their purposes of
+fortifying the important Niagara portage and building a vessel for the
+upper lakes in which to carry the produce of those regions to Niagara
+and from thence to Canada. Reaching the Niagara January 14th, the French
+party was joined six days later by the indomitable La Salle who, he
+reported, had paused on his way thither from Fort Frontenac and visited
+the unmoved Iroquois and secured their consent to the plan of
+fortification. Yet even La Salle was too optimistic as to his success,
+
+    for certain Persons [wrote Hennepin], who made it their Business
+    to Cross our Design, inspired the _Iroquese_ with many
+    suspicions, about the fort we were building at _Niagara_, which
+    was in great forwardness; and their Suspicions grew so high,
+    that we were obliged to give over our Building for some time,
+    contenting ourselves with an Habitation encompass'd with
+    Pallisado's.
+
+The embassy to the Iroquois mentioned by Hennepin was duly organised and
+sent forward through the winter snows to seek the good-will of the
+famous owners of the soil in a fort-building project; in order to allay
+the suspicions of the Senecas in what Hennepin calls "the little village
+of Niagara," they were told that their purpose was, not to build a fort,
+but "a Hangar, or Store-house, to keep the Commodities we had brought to
+supply their Occasions." Nevertheless it was necessary to supply gifts
+and make assurances that an embassy would forthwith depart for the
+Iroquois council house. Anything less than Hennepin's own account would
+not fairly describe this interesting mission:
+
+    We travelled with Shoes made after the Indian way, of a single
+    Skin, but without Soles, because the Earth was still cover'd
+    with Snow, and past through Forests for thirty two Leagues
+    together carrying upon our Backs our Coverings and other
+    Baggage, lying often in open Field, and having with us no other
+    Food but some roasted Indian Corn: 'T is true, we met upon our
+    Road some Iroquese a hunting, who gave us some wild Goats, and
+    Fifteen or Sixteen black Squirrels, which are excellent Meat.
+    However, after five Days' Journey, we came to Tagarondies, a
+    great Village of the Iroquese Tsonnontouans, and were
+    immediately carry'd to the Cabin of their Principal Chief, where
+    Women and Children flock'd to see us, our Men being very well
+    drest and arm'd. An old Man having according to Custom made
+    publick Cries, to give Notice of our arrival to their Village;
+    the younger Savages wash'd our Feet, which afterwards they
+    rubb'd over with the Grease of Deers, wild Goats, and other
+    Beasts, and the Oil of Bears.
+
+    The next Day was the First of the Year 1679. After the ordinary
+    Service I preach'd in a little Chapel made of Barks of Trees, in
+    presence of two Jesuites, viz. Father Garnier and Rafeix; and
+    afterwards we had a Conference with 42 old Men, who make up
+    their Council. These Savages are for the most part tall, and
+    very well shap'd, cover'd with a sort of Robe made of Beavers
+    and Wolves-Skins, or of black Squirrels, holding a Pipe or
+    Calumet in their Hands. The Senators of Venice do not appear
+    with a graver Countenance, and perhaps don't speak with more
+    Majesty and Solidity, than those Ancient Iroquese.
+
+    This Nation is the most cruel and barbarous of all America,
+    especially to their Slaves, whom they take above two or three
+    hundred Leagues from their Country, . . . however, I must do
+    them the Justice to observe, that they have many good qualities;
+    and that they love the Europeans, to whom they sell their
+    Commodities at very reasonable Rates. They have a mortal Hatred
+    for those, who being too self-interested and covetous, are
+    always endeavouring to enrich themselves to the Prejudice of
+    others. Their chief Commodities are Beavers-Skins, which they
+    bring from above a hundred and fifty Leagues off their
+    Habitations, to exchange them with the English and Dutch, whom
+    they affect more than the inhabitants of Canada, because they
+    are more affable, and sell them their Commodities cheaper.
+
+    [Illustration: Frontenac, from Hebert's Statue at Quebec.]
+
+    One of our own Men nam'd Anthony Brossard, who understood very
+    well the Language of the Iroquese, and therefore was Interpreter
+    to M. de la Motte; told their Assembly:
+
+    First, That we were come to pay them a Visit, and smoak with
+    them in their Pipes, a Ceremony which I shall describe anon: And
+    then we deliver'd our Presents, consisting of Axes, Knives, a
+    great Collar of white and blue Porcelain, with some Gowns. We
+    made Presents upon every Point we propos'd to them, of the same
+    nature as the former.
+
+    Secondly, We desir'd them, in the next place to give notice to
+    the five Cantons of their Nation, that we were about to build a
+    Ship, or great woodden Canou above the great Fall of the River
+    Niagara, to go and fetch European Commodities by a more
+    convenient passage than the ordinary one, by the River St.
+    Laurence, whose rapid Currents make it dangerous and long; and
+    that by these means we should afford them our Commodities
+    cheaper than the English and Dutch of Boston and New-York. This
+    Pretence was specious enough, and very well contriv'd to engage
+    the barbarous Nation to extirpate the English and Dutch out of
+    America: For they suffer the Europeans among them only for the
+    Fear they have of them, or else for the Profit they make in
+    Bartering their Commodities with them.
+
+    Thirdly, We told them farther, that we should provide them at
+    the River Niagara with a Black-smith and a Gun-smith, to mend
+    their Guns, Axes, &c. having no body among them that understood
+    that Trade, and that for the conveniency of their whole Nation,
+    we would settle those Workmen on the Lake of Ontario, at the
+    Mouth of the River Niagara. We threw again among them seven or
+    eight Gowns, and some Pieces of fine Cloth, which they cover
+    themselves with from the Wast to the Knees. This was in order to
+    engage them on our side, and prevent their giving ear to any who
+    might suggest ill things of us, entreating them first to
+    acquaint us with the Reports that should be made unto them to
+    our Prejudice, before they yielded their Belief to the same.
+
+    We added many other Reasons which we thought proper to persuade
+    them to favour our Design. The Presents we made unto them,
+    either in Cloth or Iron, were worth above 400 Livres besides
+    some other European Commodities, very scarce in that Country:
+    For the best Reasons in the World are not listened to among
+    them, unless they are enforc'd with Presents.
+
+    The next Day the Iroquese answered our Discourse and Presents
+    Article by Article, having laid upon the Ground several little
+    pieces of Wood, to put them in mind of what had been said the
+    Day before in the Council; their Speaker, or President held in
+    his Hand one of these Pieces of Wood, and when he had answer'd
+    one Article of our Proposal, he laid it down, with some Presents
+    of black and white Porcelain, which they use to string upon the
+    smallest Sinews of Beasts; and then took up another Piece of
+    Wood; and so of all the rest, till he had fully answer'd our
+    Speech, of which those Pieces of Wood, and our Presents put them
+    in mind. When this Discourse was ended, the oldest Man of their
+    Assembly cry'd aloud three times, Niaoua; that is to say, It is
+    well, I thank thee, which was repeated with a full Voice; and in
+    a tuneful manner by all the other Senators.
+
+    'T is to be observ'd here, that the Savages, though some are
+    more cunning than others, are generally all addicted to their
+    own Interests; and therefore tho' the Iroquese seem'd to be
+    pleas'd with our Proposals, they were not really so; for the
+    English and Dutch affording them the European Commodities at
+    cheaper Rates than the French of Canada, they had a greater
+    Inclination for them than for us. That People, tho' so barbarous
+    and rude in their Manners, have however a Piece of Civility
+    peculiar to themselves; for a Man would be counted very
+    impertinent if he contradicted anything that is said in their
+    Council, and if he does not approve even the greatest
+    Absurdities therein propos'd; and therefore they always answer
+    Niaoua; that is to say Thou art in the right Brother; that is
+    well.
+
+    Notwithstanding that seeming Approbation, they believe what they
+    please and no more; and therefore 't is impossible to know when
+    they are really persuaded of those things you have mention'd
+    unto them, which I take to be one of the greatest Obstructions
+    to their Conversion: For their Civility hindering them from
+    making any Objection, or contradicting what is said unto them,
+    they seem to approve of it, though perhaps they laugh at it in
+    private, or else never bestow a moment to reflect upon it, such
+    being their indifference for a future Life. From these
+    Observations, I conclude that the Conversion of these People is
+    to be despair'd of, 'till they are subdu'd by the Europeans, and
+    that their Children have another sort of Education, unless God
+    be pleas'd to work a Miracle in their Favour.
+
+On the 22nd of the month the party struck out for the upper Niagara for
+the purpose of carrying out the original design of building a ship for
+the upper lake trade. Hennepin gives the site of this interesting
+adventure as "two leagues above the great Fall--this was the most
+convenient place we could pitch upon, being upon a River which falls
+into the Streight [Niagara River] between the Lake _Erie_, and the great
+Fall of Niagara." Even had the common portage around the Falls and
+Rapids been on the American side Hennepin's account makes it fairly
+clear that the boat building took place on Cayuga Creek; the only other
+"river" above the Falls falling into the Niagara is the Chippewa, and
+Hennepin clearly notes this stream in his first tour of exploration
+above the Falls as "within a league above the great Fall"; it is clear
+that the Cayuga, therefore, is the probable site of this first boat
+building along the Niagara frontier.[21] The little village at this
+point has been appropriately named La Salle from the famous adventurer
+who here dreamed that emparadising dream of discovery and
+empire-founding. Hennepin's account, quaintly worded, again becomes of
+more interest than any record of those days to be made from it:
+
+    The 26th, the Keel of the Ship and some other Pieces being
+    ready, M. de la Salle sent the Master-Carpenter, to desire me to
+    drive in the first Pin; but my Profession obliging me to decline
+    that Honour, he did it himself, and promis'd Ten Louis d'Or's,
+    to encourage the Carpenter, and further the Work. The Winter
+    being not half so hard in that Country as in Canada, we employ'd
+    one of the two Savages of the Nation call'd the Wolf, whom we
+    kept for Hunting, in building some Cabins made of Rinds of
+    Trees; and I had one made on purpose to perform Divine Service
+    therein on Sundays, and other occasions.
+
+    M. de la Salle having some urgent Business of his own, return'd
+    to Fort Frontenac, leaving for our Commander one Tonti, an
+    Italian by Birth, who had been forc'd to retire into France
+    after the Revolution of Naples, in which his Father was
+    concern'd. I conducted M. de la Salle as far as the Lake Ontario
+    at the Mouth of the River Niagara, where we order'd a House to
+    be built for the Smith he had promis'd to the Iroquese; but this
+    was only to amuze them, and therefore I cannot but own that the
+    Savages are not to be blam'd for having not believ'd every thing
+    they were told by M. la Motte in his Embassie already related.
+
+    He undertook his Journey a-foot over the Snow, having no other
+    Provisions, but a little Sack of Indian Corn roasted, which
+    fail'd him two Days before he came to the Fort, which is above
+    fourscore Leagues distant from the Place where he left us.
+    However he got home safely with two Men, and a Dog, who dragg'd
+    his Baggage over the Ice or frozen Snow.
+
+    When I return'd to our Dock, I understood that most of the
+    Iroquese were gone to wage War with a Nation on the other side
+    of the Lake Erie. In the mean time, our Men continu'd with great
+    Application to build our Ship; for the Iroquese who were left
+    behind, being but a small number, were not so insolent as
+    before, though they come now and then to our Dock, and express'd
+    some Discontent at what we were doing. One of them in
+    particular, feigning himself drunk, attempted to kill our Smith,
+    but was vigorously repuls'd by him with a red-hot Iron-barr,
+    which, together with the Reprimand he receiv'd from me, oblig'd
+    him to be gone. Some few Days after, a Savage Woman gave us
+    notice, that the Tsonnontouans had resolv'd to burn our Ship in
+    the Dock, and had certainly done it, had we not been always upon
+    our Guard.
+
+    These frequent Alarms from the Natives, together with the Fears
+    we were in of wanting Provisions, having lost the great Barque
+    from Fort Frontenac, which should have reliev'd us, and the
+    Tsonnontouans at the same time refusing to give us of their Corn
+    for Money, were a great discouragement to our Carpenters, whom
+    on the other hand, a Villain amongst us endeavour'd to reduce:
+    That pitiful Fellow had several times attempted to run away from
+    us into New-York, and would have been likely to pervert our
+    Carpenters, had I not confirm'd them in their good Resolution,
+    by the Exhortations I us'd to make every Holy-day after Divine
+    Service; in which I represented to them, that the Glory of God
+    was concern'd in our Undertaking, besides the Good and Advantage
+    of our Christian Colonies; and therefore exhorted them to
+    redouble their Diligence, in order to free our selves from all
+    those Inconveniences and Apprehensions we then lay under.
+
+    The two Savages we had taken into our Service, went all this
+    while a Hunting, and supply'd us with Wild-Goats, and other
+    Beasts for our Subsistence; which encouraged our Workmen to go
+    on with their Work more briskly than before, insomuch that in a
+    short time our Ship was in a readiness to be launched; which we
+    did, after having bless'd the same according to the use of the
+    Romish Church. We made all the haste we could to get it afloat,
+    though not altogether finish'd, to prevent the Designs of the
+    Natives, who had resolv'd to burn it.
+
+    The Ship was call'd the Griffon, alluding to the Arms of Count
+    Frontenac, which have two Griffons for Supporters; and besides,
+    M. la Salle us'd to say of the Ship, while yet upon the Stocks,
+    that he would make the Griffon fly above the Ravens. We fir'd
+    three Guns, and sung Te Deum, which was attended with loud
+    Acclamations of Joy; of which those of the Iroquese, who were
+    accidentally present at this Ceremony, were also Partakers; for
+    we gave them some Brandy to drink, as well as our Men, who
+    immediately quitted their Cabins of Rinds of Trees, and hang'd
+    their Hammocks under the Deck of the Ship, there to lie with
+    more security than ashore. We did the like, insomuch that the
+    very same Day we were all on Board, and thereby out of the reach
+    of the Insults of the Savages.
+
+    The Iroquese being returned from hunting Beavers, were mightily
+    surprised to see our Ship a-float, and call'd us Otkon, which is
+    in their Language, Most penetrating Wits: For they could not
+    apprehend how in so short a time we had been able to build so
+    great a Ship, though it was but 60 Tuns. It might have been
+    indeed call'd a moving Fortress; for all the Savages inhabiting
+    the Banks of those Lakes and Rivers I have mentioned, for five
+    hundred Leagues together, were filled with fear as well as
+    Admiration when they saw it. . . .
+
+    Being thus prepar'd against all Discouragements, I went up in a
+    Canou with one of our Savages to the Mouth of the Lake Erie,
+    notwithstanding the strong Current which I master'd with great
+    difficulty. I sounded the Mouth of the Lake and found, contrary
+    to the Relation that had been made unto me, that a Ship with a
+    brisk Gale might sail up to the Lake, and surmounted the
+    Rapidity of the Current; and that therefore with a strong North,
+    North-East Wind, we might bring our Ship into the Lake Erie. I
+    took also a view of the Banks of the Streight, and found that in
+    case of Need, we might put some of our Men a-shore to hall the
+    Ship, if the Wind was not strong enough.
+
+The _Griffon_ being more or less completed Father Hennepin followed La
+Salle in returning to Fort Frontenac to secure necessaries for the tour
+of the upper lakes. Returning, La Salle and Hennepin did not reach
+Niagara again until the 30th of July, but found the _Griffon_ riding
+safely at anchor within a league of Lake Erie.
+
+    We were very kindly receiv'd [writes the Father], and likewise
+    very glad to find our Ship well rigg'd, and ready fitted out
+    with all the Necessaries for sailing. She carry'd five small
+    Guns, two whereof were Brass, and three Harquebuze a-crock. The
+    Beak-head was adorn'd with a flying Griffon, and an Eagle above
+    it; and the rest of the Ship had the same Ornaments as Men of
+    War use to have.
+
+    The Iroquese were then returning from a Warlike Expedition with
+    several Slaves, and were much surpriz'd to see so big a Ship,
+    which they compar'd to a Fort, beyond their Limits. Several came
+    on board, and seem'd to admire above all things the bigness of
+    our Anchors; for they could not apprehend how we had been able
+    to bring them through the rapid Currents of the River St.
+    Laurence. This oblig'd them to use often the Word Gannorom,
+    which in their Language signifies, That is wonderful. They
+    wonder'd also to find there a Ship, having seen none when they
+    went; and did not know from whence it came, it being about 250
+    Leagues from Canada.
+
+    [Illustration: Luna Island Bridge.]
+
+    Having forbid the Pilot to attempt to sail up the Currents of
+    the Streight till farther order, we return'd the 16th and 17th
+    to the Lake Ontario, and brought up our Bark to the great Rock
+    of Niagara, and anchor'd at the foot of the three Mountains
+    Lewiston, where we were oblig'd to make our Portage; that is, to
+    carry over-land our Canou's and Provisions, and other Things,
+    above the great Fall of the River, which interrupts the
+    Navigation: and because most of the Rivers of that Country are
+    interrupted with great Rocks, and that therefore those who sail
+    upon the same, are oblig'd to go overland above those Falls, and
+    carry upon their Backs their Canou's and other Things. They
+    express it with this Word, To make our Portage; of which the
+    Reader is desir'd to take notice, for otherwise the following
+    Account, as well as the Map, would be unintelligible to many.
+
+    Father Gabriel, though of Sixty five Years of Age, bore with
+    great Vigour the Fatigue of that Voyage, and went thrice up and
+    down those three Mountains, which are pretty high and steep. Our
+    Men had a great deal of trouble; for they were oblig'd to make
+    several Turns to carry the Provisions and Ammunition, and the
+    Portage was two Leagues long. Our Anchors were so big that four
+    Men had much ado to carry one; but the Brandy we gave them was
+    such an Encouragement, that they surmounted cheerfully all the
+    Difficulties of that Journey; and so we got on board our Ship
+    all our Provisions, Ammunitions, and Commodities. . . .
+
+    We endeavour'd several times to sail up that Lake; but the Wind
+    being not strong enough, we were forc'd to wait for it. In the
+    mean time, M. la Salle caus'd our Men to grub up some Land, and
+    sow several sorts of Pot-Herbs and Pulse, for the conveniency of
+    those who should settle themselves there, to maintain our
+    Correspondence with Fort Frontenac. We found there a great
+    quantity of wild Cherries and Rocambol, a sort of Garlick, which
+    grow naturally in that Ground. We left Father Melithon, with
+    some Work-men, at our Habitation above the Fall of Niagara; and
+    most of our Men went a-shore to lighten our Ships, the better to
+    sail up the Lake.
+
+    The Wind veering to the North-East, and the Ship being well
+    provided, we made all the Sail we could, and with the help of
+    Twelve Men who hall'd from the Shoar, overcame the Rapidity of
+    the Current, and got into the Lake. The Stream is so violent,
+    that our Pilot himself despair'd of Success. When it was done,
+    we sung Te Deum, and discharg'd our Cannon and other Fire-Arms,
+    in presence of a great many Iroquese, who came from a Warlike
+    Expedition against the Savages of Tintonha; that is to say, the
+    Nation of the Meadows, who live above four hundred Leagues from
+    that Place. The Iroquese and their Prisoners were much surpriz'd
+    to see us in the Lake and did not think before that, we should
+    be able to overcome the Rapidity of the Current: They cry'd
+    several times Gannorom, to shew their Admiration. Some of the
+    Iroquese had taken the measure of our Ship, and immediately went
+    for New-York to give notice to the English and Dutch of our
+    Sailing into the Lake: For those Nations affording their
+    Commodities Cheaper than the French, are also more belov'd by
+    the Natives. On the 7th of August, 1679, we went on board being
+    in all four and thirty men, including two Recollets who came to
+    us, and sail'd from the Mouth of the Lake Erie.
+
+The loss of the _Griffon_ by shipwreck on its initial voyage and the
+subsequent misfortunes that seemed to follow the brave La Salle up to
+the very day that witnessed his brutal murder in a far Texan prairie in
+1687, are, in a measure only a part of the story of Niagara. Had that
+great man lived to realise any fair fraction of his emparadising dream
+of empire the effect on the history of the Niagara frontier would have
+been momentous; a mere comparison of what now did transpire at the mouth
+of the Niagara, in the very year of La Salle's death, illustrates
+perfectly the lack of enterprise that seems suddenly to have faded from
+the situation. With La Salle gone, the whole attitude of the regime in
+power at Quebec seems to change; whereas La Salle was on the very point
+of establishing at Niagara an important station on the communication to
+Louisiana. What actually did happen here is pitiful by comparison.
+
+The new Governor, De Nonville, in order to bring the Iroquois into a
+proper state of submission and compell them to desist from annoying
+travellers on the St. Lawrence, determined to repeat Champlain's feat
+of invading their homeland. The record of this expedition from the mouth
+of its commanding officer, the Governor himself, is a very interesting
+document, especially to those interested in the study of that famous
+Long House that lay south of Lake Ontario.[22] Embarking at Fort
+Frontenac July 4, 1687, the expedition landed at Irondequoit Bay six
+days later, where De Nonville was reinforced by a party of French which
+had rendezvoused at Niagara from the West. Of this party little is
+known; possibly some of La Salle's crew were here, coming from their
+cabins at either end of the Niagara portage path, or possibly from the
+ship yard at the present La Salle. "It clearly appears," writes
+Marshall, "from De Nonville's narrative, that the party which he met at
+the mouth of the bay, was composed of French and Indians from the far
+west, who sailed from . . . Niagara, to join the expedition pursuant to
+his orders." These Indians, Mr. Browne affirms, were from
+Michilimackinac. Marching inland to the region Mr. Marshall believed, in
+the neighbourhood of the village of Victor, ten miles north-west of
+Canandaigua, a party of Senecas was put to flight and the entire region
+devastated until the 23rd; it was estimated that in the four Seneca
+villages the soldiers had destroyed about 1,200,000 bushels of
+corn--350,000 minots, of which all but 50,000 were green. On the 24th
+the lake was again reached.
+
+The situation on the Niagara frontier at this moment could not better be
+described than it has been by Mr. Browne in his _The St. Lawrence
+River_, as follows:
+
+    De Nonville had now a clear way to build his fort at Niagara,
+    which he proceeded to do, and then armed it with one hundred
+    men. If triumphant in his bold plans, he had to learn that the
+    viper crushed might rise to sting. The Senecas had their
+    avengers. Maddened by the cowardly onset of De Nonville and his
+    followers, the Iroquois to a man rose against the French. This
+    was not done by any organised raid, but, shod with silence,
+    small, eager war-parties haunted the forests of the St.
+    Lawrence, striking where they were the least expected, and never
+    failing to leave behind them the smoke of burning dwellings and
+    the horrors of desolated lives. From Fort Frontenac to Tadousac
+    there was not a home exempt from this deadly scourge; not a life
+    that was not threatened. Unable to cope with so artful a foe,
+    De Nonville was in despair. He sued for peace, but to obtain this
+    he had to betray his allies, the Indians of the Upper Lakes, who
+    had entered his service under the conditions that the war should
+    continue until the Iroquois were exterminated. The latter sent
+    delegates to confer with the French commander at Montreal.
+
+    While this conference was under way, a Huron chief showed that
+    he was the equal of even De Nonville in the strategies of war
+    where the code of honour was a dead letter. Anticipating the
+    fate in store for his race did the French carry out their scheme
+    of self-defence, this chief, whose name was Kandironk, "the
+    Rat," lay in ambush for the envoys on their way home from their
+    conference with De Nonville, when the latter had made so many
+    fair promises. These Kandironk captured, claiming he did it
+    under orders from De Nonville, bore them to Michilimackinac, and
+    tortured them as spies. This done, he sent an Iroquois captive
+    to tell his people how fickle the French could be. Scarcely was
+    this accomplished when he gave to the French his exultant
+    declaration, "I have killed the peace!" The words were
+    prophetic. Nothing that De Nonville could say or do cleared him
+    of connection with the affair. His previous conduct was enough
+    to condemn him. To avenge this act of deceit, as the Iroquois
+    considered it, they rallied in great numbers, and on the night
+    of August 4, 1689, dealt the most cruel and deadly blow given
+    during all the years of warfare in the St. Lawrence valley.
+    Fifteen hundred strong, under cover of the darkness, they stole
+    down upon the settlement of La Chine situated at the upper end
+    of the island of Montreal, and surprised the inhabitants while
+    they slept in fancied security. More than two hundred men,
+    women, and children were slain in cold blood, or borne away to
+    fates a hundred times more terrible to meet than swift death.
+    The day already breaking upon the terror-stricken colonists was
+    the darkest Canada ever knew.
+
+The result of the expedition, so far as result appears, was effected
+when the ships bearing his men turned toward the Niagara River and were
+anchored off the point of land where now stands historic Fort Niagara.
+Here a fort was to be built forthwith, as much to secure the fur trade
+and to overawe the Indians as to keep the English from making any
+advance toward the territory of the Lakes. On the very day of his
+arrival De Nonville set his men to work. The fortification was
+constructed partly of earth surmounted by palisades. The building of the
+structure was no easy matter. There were no trees in the immediate
+vicinity, so the soldiers had to obtain their timber to the east along
+the lake or across the river. After the timber had been obtained from
+these forests, it was a very difficult matter to drag it up the high
+bank. However, De Nonville was so energetic and his men worked so
+faithfully that in three days a fort was built with four bastions, where
+were mounted two large guns. Several cabins were also built. As the work
+progressed, many of those who had come with De Nonville, both French and
+Indians, began to leave. Du Luth, Durantaye, and Tonty, together with
+the Illinois Indians who had allied themselves with the French against
+the Iroquois, departed for the trading-posts of Detroit and
+Michilimackinac. Soon after De Nonville himself left for Montreal, taking
+with him all but a hundred men. Those whom he left behind were placed
+under the command of De Troyes, with promises to send provisions as soon
+as possible, and fresh troops in the spring.[23]
+
+The men left behind were truly in a surly mood. In spite of De Nonville's
+assurance of provisions, and his assertion that the Senecas had been
+subdued, these men knew only too well not to depend too much on the
+first, and as to the second, that the Indians had only been enraged,
+rather than vanquished.
+
+For a time there was enough work to keep all hands busy. M. de Brissay
+left on the 3d of August, commanding M. de Vaudreuil to help in the
+constructing of the cabins and the completion of the fort. There was an
+immense amount of work to be accomplished in the cutting, dragging,
+hewing, and sawing of the timbers; but, despite the hot weather, there
+was soon completed a house with a chimney of sticks and clay for the
+commandant. Three other cabins were afterward built in the square and in
+the midst of these a well was dug; but its waters were always roiled
+from improper curbing.
+
+[Illustration: "Carte du Lac Ontario." A Specimen French Map of the
+Niagara Frontier.
+
+Dated October 4, 1757.
+
+From the original in the British Museum.]
+
+Vaudreuil left toward the latter part of August after having seen the
+company well roofed. Many of the number, who were at first fired by the
+spirit of adventure and a desire to remain at Niagara, now, foreseeing
+the suffering to be undergone, desired to return with Vaudreuil; but
+nearly all were compelled to remain at the fort.
+
+Although the expedition when it set out against the Senecas was
+tolerably well supplied with necessaries for an Indian campaign, those
+who were left at the fort were left in a bad condition indeed. About
+three thousand bushels of corn had been destroyed which belonged to the
+Senecas; but scarcely a week's rations had been brought along to their
+destination. Very few had brought any seeds, and not much gardening
+could have been done anyway, on account of the lateness of the season.
+The few attempts that were made brought no returns on account of a
+drought. No hunting could be undertaken except in large parties so as to
+be secure from the savages. Almost the only food supply was the fish
+caught in the lake.
+
+There was unbounded joy at the fort when the sail of the ship with
+supplies, which had been promised by De Nonville, was seen on the
+horizon. But even then the unlading was delayed two days by calms which
+prevented the vessel from coming nearer than several miles from the
+shore. Finally a landing was effected; and the cargo was quickly stowed
+in the fort. The ship immediately returned to Canada.
+
+From the very first the provisions proved to be bad. Still with these,
+together with the few herbs of the forest, a small amount of game and
+fish, the men managed to eke out an existence. There was no labour to
+perform--nothing to do but complain of the food and hard life which they
+were compelled to live.
+
+Toward the latter part of September, the Indians made their first
+appearance. A hunting party in the vicinity of the Falls lost two men.
+Another party was cut off from the fort. Their dead bodies were found
+scalped and mutilated by the savages. The commander, De Troyes, soon
+fell ill, as did also Jean de Lamberville, the only priest in the
+colony. Thus at almost the same time was the company deprived of
+leadership and religious consolation. Christmas season drew on; but it
+was a sorry time for those at the fort. The weather had become severe,
+and fierce snow-storms were frequent. No one ventured beyond the
+palisades except in quest of firewood; and it was almost impossible at
+times to obtain this. Many were nearly frozen in their cabins. One day
+the wood-choppers were overwhelmed in the snow in sight of the fort. No
+one dared to go to their succour for fear of suffering the same fate.
+Two days after, those within the stockade saw their dead comrades
+devoured by wolves. Not a charge of powder was left. The food was almost
+unbearable. The biscuits were full of weevil from the first, and the
+meat was in such a putrefied condition that no one could eat it. Scurvy
+broke out. De Troyes could not leave his cabin and was compelled to
+trust everything to his men.
+
+From a band of gallant soldiers, they had been reduced to a mere handful
+of disease-infected skeletons. In six weeks there were sixty deaths; and
+this was only the middle of February. Only a few of the stronger were
+left able to do the work which was absolutely necessary, such as
+supplying firewood and burying the dead, and these duties were performed
+with infinite toil and danger. More than twenty died in the month of
+March; in this number was the brave commander De Troyes. With their
+leader seemed to perish all the little spirit left in his followers.
+Almost no hope was left for the suffering inmates of the fort. It was
+still many weeks until the promised succour could possibly come from
+Montreal. The Western savages had promised an alliance and aid to the
+French against the Iroquois, but little confidence was to be placed in
+their promises.
+
+Just as the men left in the fort were reduced to the very last
+extremity, and were wishing for death to relieve them of their miseries,
+a war-party from the Miamis on an expedition against the Senecas reached
+the fort and gave that relief so long vainly looked for by the inmates.
+Several of these who first regained their strength set out for Montreal
+to carry the news of their sore straits to the government; and on one
+pleasant, beautiful day in April the long expected sail was seen on the
+horizon bringing relief to the remnant of those who had been left in the
+fort the preceding summer.
+
+In command of the expedition was D'esbergeres, and with him Father
+Milet, besides a large company of companions. As soon as they landed,
+Father Milet conducted mass and then put all the men who were able to
+work constructing a large cross. While they were at the work, Father
+Milet traced upon its arms: "Regnat, Vincit, Imperat Christus."
+
+On Good Friday, the priest again held mass, and erected the cross in the
+centre of the square of the fort, thus symbolising a victory wrung from
+the clutches of defeat itself.
+
+With spring, the new companions, and a goodly supply of provisions, was
+born new hope in the fort. The little company were very busy during the
+summer, despite the fact that the Iroquois, stirred on by the English,
+gave them continual trouble. In September Mahent came with the vessel
+_La General_, with orders to D'esbergeres to abandon the fort. This was
+quite a blow to the commander, as having held the post all summer he
+hoped to continue to do so. The outer barracks were all destroyed, which
+was not so difficult a task, as the severe storms of the previous winter
+had done much of this work; but the cabins were all left standing. On
+the morning of the 15th of September, 1688, the garrison sailed away,
+once more leaving the shores of the great Niagara untroubled by the
+contentions of white men, and open to the nation who should seize it or
+conciliate the savages who held the surrounding regions.
+
+Yet De Nonville had done something for which to be remembered beyond
+raiding the Long House and fortifying the river of the Neuters; he had
+left it a name that should live as he had, first of white men, so far as
+we know, written it. The orthography of the name Niagara seems to have
+now been established--1687. Champlain did not use any name in 1613,
+though on his map we find the following words attached to the stream
+connecting Lakes Erie and Ontario, _chute d'eau_, giving us our first
+genuine record of Niagara Falls.
+
+We have seen that L'Allemant spelled the name _Onguiaahra_ in 1640. In
+1657 it appears on Sanson's map as _Ongiara_, and is applied to the
+Falls; in 1660 Ducreux's map shows us "_Ongiara_ Cataractes." In 1687
+De Nonville gives us our present Niagara. Of the name Mr. Marshall has
+left this authoritative opinion:
+
+    Onguiaahra and Ongiara are evidently identical, and present the
+    same elements as Niagara. They are undoubtedly compounds of
+    words expressive of some meaning, as is usual with aboriginal
+    terms, but which meaning is now lost. The "o" which occurs in
+    both the French and English orthography is probably a neuter
+    prefix, similar to what is used by the Senecas and Mohawks. One
+    writer contends that Niagara is derived from Nyah'-gaah', or as
+    he writes it, "Ne-ah'-gah," said to be the name of a Seneca
+    village which formerly existed on the Niagara River below
+    Lewiston, and now applied by the Senecas to Lake Ontario. This
+    derivation, however, cannot be correct, for Onguiaahra, and its
+    counterpart Ongiara, were in use as names of the river and falls
+    long before the Seneca village in question was in existence. The
+    Neutral Nation, from whose language the words were taken, lived
+    on _both_ borders of the Niagara until they were exterminated by
+    the Senecas in 1643. It is far more probable the Nyah'-gaah' is
+    a reappearance of Ongiara in the Seneca dialect, and this view
+    is strengthened by the fact that the former, unlike most
+    Iroquois names, is without meaning, and as the aborigines do not
+    confer arbitrary names, it is an evidence that it has been
+    borrowed or derived from a foreign language. The conclusion then
+    is, that the French derived Niagara from Ongiara, and the
+    Senecas, when they took possession of the territories of the
+    Neutral Nation, adopted the name Ongiara, as near as the idiom
+    of their language would allow, and hence their name Nyah'-gaah'.
+
+[Footnote 20: _Discovery of the West_, pp. 115-16.]
+
+[Footnote 21: The exact spot of building is the subject of a monograph
+_The Shipyard of the Griffon_ by Cyrus Kingsbury Remington (Buffalo, N.
+Y. 1891), in which the author, while advocating his own theory, presents
+liberally views held by those in disagreement with himself. We find O.
+H. Marshall in accord with Mr Remington that what is known as the "Old
+Ship Yard" or Angevine place, at La Salle, was the site of the building
+of the _Griffon_.]
+
+[Footnote 22: The Narrative is given in full with careful introduction
+and explanations in Marshall's _Writings_, pp. 123-186.]
+
+[Footnote 23: A most thrilling account of this fort-building effort at
+the mouth of the Niagara is to be found in Severance, _Old Trails of the
+Niagara Frontier_, on which the present writer has based his description
+here given.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter IX
+
+  Niagara under Three Flags
+
+
+The abdication of De Nonville at Niagara marks, as nothing else perhaps
+can, the rise of English influence along the Lakes and among the crafty
+Iroquois. Slowly but surely this influence made itself felt among the
+Six Nations in the attempt to swing the entire current of the fur trade
+from the north-west through the Long House to New York.
+
+With the destruction of the little fort built by De Nonville, however,
+it becomes clear that when on the same basis the English were no match
+for the French, so far as winning the redskins to their interests was
+concerned; it may be that with the withdrawal of the French there
+followed a natural diminution of English anxiety and activity in the
+matter: whether this was true or not there immediately ensued a notable
+increase of French attention to the Six Nations who, after all,
+controlled the destinies of this key of the continent. As days of war
+and days of peace came and went the governors both of New York and
+Quebec sought permission to fortify the Niagara River, but the
+eighteenth century dawned with no step taken by either side, though each
+had most jealously been watching the other.
+
+It was characteristic of Frenchmen, however, to meet and mingle with
+the Indians as the English seldom did; it was not wholly out of the
+common, indeed, for them to adopt Indian dress and customs and be, in
+turn, adopted into some Indian tribe. Through the fortunate influence
+exerted by one of these adopted sons of the wilderness was New France
+now able to refortify the strategic Niagara region, temporarily besting
+England in the contest for the supremacy here. Chabert Joncaire, taken
+prisoner by the Senecas and adopted into their tribe, married an Indian
+woman and became an important factor among the warriors and war councils
+of the western end of the Long House. In the year 1700 Joncaire became a
+missionary for the French political cause, and he seems to have managed
+affairs so diplomatically that he in no wise lost caste among the
+Iroquois, for six years later they suggested to him "to establish
+himself among them, granting him liberty to select on their territory
+the place most acceptable to himself for the purpose of living and in
+peace, even to remove their villages to the neighbourhood of his
+residence in order to protect him."[24]
+
+In the next decade France made considerable headway in undoing the
+miserable work of De Nonville by disarming the hostility of the Iroquois,
+especially with the Senecas who held the Niagara frontier, through
+Joncaire, who in 1719 was sent to "try the minds of the Seneca nation
+and ascertain if it would permit the building of a French house in
+their country." As a result, in 1720, Joncaire built a bark cabin at
+Lewiston which he called "Magazine Royal." In November of that year,
+according to English report, which was undoubtedly exaggerated through
+prejudice, the "cabin" is described as a blockhouse forty feet in length
+and thirty in width, enclosed with palisades, musket-proof and provided
+with port-holes. The location of this post signifies of itself alone the
+larger strategic nature of Niagara geographically, for it was not at the
+mouth of the river but at the beginning of the portage around the Rapids
+and Falls, at Lewiston, just where La Salle's storehouse, built in 1679,
+had stood. It is believed that the former building had disappeared by
+this time. Charlevoix, who came here the next year, 1721, confounds the
+sites of De Nonville's fort and the "Magazine Royal." Mr. Porter brings
+out well the office of Joncaire's cabin, in which, by the way, a few
+soldiers were maintained as "traders" by saying:
+
+    . . . The trade in furs was brisk, the Indians from the north,
+    west, and south coming there to barter. The chain of friendship
+    with the Senecas was kept bright by friendly intercourse with
+    their warriors, who constantly came there; French trading
+    vessels came often to its rude wharf bringing merchandise to
+    Frontenac and returning laden with furs. Thus the English for
+    the first time failed to overcome the French, while the English
+    in New York did not delay their expostulations regarding what
+    they called French incroachment at Niagara; but so far were they
+    from being successful that the French were able within four
+    years to begin a more important fortification on the site of the
+    "Magazine Royal."
+
+[Illustration: Stones on the Site of Joncaire's Cabin under Lewiston
+Heights, where the Magazine Royal was Erected in 1719.]
+
+American history furnishes many illustrations of the genius of the
+French _coureurs-de-bois_ for winning to themselves the friendship of
+the Indians, but perhaps there is no specific illustration of this more
+clear than this reabsorption of the Niagara region after having once
+abandoned it. Said Sir Guy Carleton:
+
+    France did not depend upon the number of her troops, but upon
+    the discretion of her officers who, learned the language of her
+    natives, distributed the king's presents, excited no jealousy,
+    entirely gained the affections of an ignorant, credulous, but
+    brave people, whose ruling passions are independence, gratitude,
+    and revenge.
+
+Governor Duquesne once said to a deputation of Indians:
+
+    Are you ignorant of the defence between the king of France and
+    the English? Look at the forts which the king has built; you
+    will find that under their very walls the beasts of the forests
+    are hunted and slain; that they are, in fact, fixed in places
+    most frequented by you merely to gratify more conveniently your
+    necessities.
+
+M. Garneau, the historian, frankly acknowledges that the Marquis
+accurately stated the route of Indian admiration for the Frenchmen they
+saw; but it should not be overlooked that the French also were "the most
+romantic and poetic characters ever known in American frontier life.
+Their every moment attracts the rosiest colour of imagination"; all this
+helps to fascinate the savage.
+
+In 1725, the Marquis De Vaudreuil proposed the erection of a storehouse
+at Niagara, and soon the agent met the council of the Five Nations and
+got their permission to build what was really a fort at Niagara, which
+was to cost $5592; one hundred men were instantly sent to begin the
+work.[25] Thus the historic pile known as the "Mess House" or "Castle"
+was begun in 1725 and completed in 1726; at a council fire at Niagara
+the Senecas gave their final ratification to this project, July 14,
+1726.
+
+Joncaire's "Magazine Royal" was permitted to fall into decay, being
+abandoned in 1728 despite the fact that Louis XV. gave his approval to a
+plan for spending twenty thousand livres for its repair although
+approving strongly the erection of the castle, as it would prevent the
+English from trading on the north shore of Lake Ontario as well as
+getting a foothold on the Niagara River. Mr. Porter brings out well the
+service of Joncaire's "Magazine Royal" by saying:
+
+    That building had done good service; it had given the French the
+    desired foothold on the Niagara River; it had held and fostered
+    the trade in furs; it had established French supremacy in this
+    region, and furnished them with the key to the possession of the
+    Upper Lakes and the Ohio Valley; and last, and most important of
+    all, it had been the means of France obtaining a real fortress
+    at the point where her diplomats and armies had been waiting to
+    erect one; for over half a century it had served its purposes; a
+    fort had been built at the mouth of the river, its usefulness
+    was ended, and it was abandoned forever.
+
+The story that the foundations of the castle were laid within a gigantic
+wigwam at a time when the French had induced the Indians to go on a
+hunting expedition is probably no less true than most legends of the
+kind with which our history is filled; and if it is not literally true,
+the spirit of it undoubtedly is, for there must have been a fine story
+of stratagem and diplomacy in the conception and the erection of this
+massive old building upon which the tourist looks to-day with much
+interest. It is also a legend that the stone for the fort was brought
+from Fort Frontenac; this in a way threatens the authenticity of the
+former legend of the magical erection of the building. De Witt Clinton
+writing in 1810 explains that as the stones about the windows are
+different and more handsome than those in the rest of the building it is
+possible that they were brought from Kingston; he gave the measurements
+of the building as 105 by 47 feet.
+
+It is interesting and informing to observe from whence the fort here at
+the mouth of the Niagara received, first and last, its armament; it
+appears that upon the capture of Oswego twenty-four guns "of the largest
+calibre" were sent to Fort Niagara, and we know that during the final
+siege in 1759 some of the guns trained upon Johnson's army were lost by
+Braddock away down in the forests beside the Monongahela River. The
+position held by Fort Niagara in the French scheme of western occupation
+is clearly suggested by these facts.
+
+The modern tourist looking upon the massive, picturesque "Mess House"
+must not forget that "Fort Niagara" was a thing of slow growth. The
+first work here was undoubtedly the foundation and first story of the
+Mess House, surrounded by the common picket wall always found around the
+frontier fort. The first picket wall was falling down by 1739, when it
+was repaired. At this time Niagara was fast losing its hold on western
+trade because of the enforcing of the policy of not selling the Indians
+liquor; however, in 1741, the Governor of New York affirmed that he held
+the Six Nations only by presents and that Fort Niagara must be captured.
+In 1745, when the French policy regarding the Indians was changed, Fort
+Niagara contained only a hundred men and four guns. It is said that the
+fort had been used to some extent as a State prison; surely few French
+prisons, at home or abroad, had a more gloomy dungeon than that in Fort
+Niagara which is shown visitors to-day; the apartment measures six by
+eighteen feet and ten feet in height, of solid stone with no opening for
+light or air. The well of the castle was located here, and many a weird
+story attaches, especially of the headless trunk of the French general
+that haunted the curbstone moaning over his sorry lot. This dungeon is
+one of the places named as the scene of imprisonment of the anti-Masonic
+agitator William Morgan in later days.
+
+As the middle of the eighteenth century drew on France and England
+turned from the European battlefields to America to settle their
+immemorial quarrel for the possession of the continent. It is
+interesting to note that the opening of the struggle occurred not in the
+North or East, as would naturally be expected, but in the West to which
+Niagara offered "the communication."
+
+In 1747 the Ohio Company was formed in Virginia and received its grant
+of land beyond the Alleghanies from the British King. With the exception
+of Lederer, whose explorations did not reach westward of Harper's Ferry,
+and Batts, who had visited the Falls of the Great Kanawha, the English
+colonies knew little or nothing of the West, save only the fables
+brought back by Spottswood's _Knights of the Golden Horseshoe_. But the
+doughty Irish and Scotch-Irish traders had pierced the mountains and
+made bold to challenge the trade of the French with the western
+nations. Immediately Celoron was sent from Montreal on the long voyage
+by way of Niagara to bury his leaden plates on the Ohio to re-establish
+the brave claim incised on La Salle's plate buried at the mouth of the
+Mississippi in 1682, which vaunted French possession of all lands
+drained by waters entering the Gulf of Mexico through the mouth of the
+Mississippi.
+
+Celoron's expedition is interesting because this was the first open
+advance upon the Ohio Valley by France, leading to the building of a
+chain of forts westward from the key position, Fort Niagara. Celoron's
+Journal reads:
+
+    I arrived at Niagara on the 6th of July, where I found him [Mr.
+    Labrevois]; we conferred together, and I wrote to the Chevalier
+    de Longnaiul that which I had learned from Mr. de la Nardiere,
+    and desired him, that if these nations of Detroit were in the
+    design to come and join me, and not delay his departure, I would
+    give the rendezvous at Strotves[26] on the 9th or 10th of
+    August; that if they had changed their mind I would be obliged
+    to him to send me couriers to inform me of their intentions, so
+    that I may know what will happen to me. On the 7th of July, I
+    sent M. de Contrecoeur, captain and second in command of the
+    detachment, with the subaltern officers and all my canoes to
+    make the portage. I remained at the fort, to wait for my savages
+    who had taken on Lake Ontario another route than I had; having
+    rejoined me I went to the portage which M. de Contrecoeur had
+    made, on the 14th of the same month we entered Lake Erie; a high
+    wind from the sea made me camp some distance from the little
+    rapid; there I formed three companies to mount guard, which were
+    of forty men commanded by an officer.
+
+Returning from the Ohio trip Celoron reached Niagara again the 19th of
+February, 1750, and Montreal the 10th of March. At last reaching Quebec
+the frank leader of this spectacular expedition rendered his report
+concerning French possession of the West. "All that I can say is, that
+the [Indian] nations of these places are very ill-disposed against the
+French," were his words, "and entirely devoted to the English. I do not
+know by what means they can be reclaimed." Then followed one of the
+earliest suggestions of the use of French arms to retain possession of
+the great interior. "If violence is employed they [Indians] would be
+warned and take to flight . . . if we send to trade with them, our
+traders can never give our merchandize at the price the English do . . .
+people our old posts and perpetuate the nations on the Belle Riviere and
+who are within the reach of the English Government."
+
+[Illustration: Specimen Manuscript Map of Niagara Frontier of Eighteenth
+Century.
+
+From the original in the British Museum.]
+
+The plates of lead along the Ohio had very little effect in retarding
+the Ohio Company of Virginians, and Celoron had hardly left the Ohio
+Valley when Christopher Gist entered it to pick out and mark the
+boundaries of the Ohio Company's grant of land. This was in 1750. The
+Quebec Government, too, acted. If leaden plates would not hold the Ohio,
+then forts well guarded and manned would accomplish the end sought; and
+English spies on watch at Fort Oswego now saw a strange flotilla
+crossing Lake Ontario and knew something extraordinary was in the air.
+It was Marin's party on its way to fortify Celoron's route by building a
+chain of posts from Fort Niagara to the present site of Pittsburg at the
+junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. After a rest at
+Niagara the fort-building party proceeded along Lake Erie to Presqu'
+Isle, now Erie, Pennsylvania. There they built Fort Presqu' Isle; at
+Watertown Fort La Boeuf was erected and Fort Machault at Franklin on the
+Allegheny, and Fort Duquesne at the junction of the Allegheny and
+Monongahela. All this between 1752 and 1754, despite the message sent by
+Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia by the hand of Major Washington
+requesting that the French withdraw from the Ohio Valley. In the latter
+year Washington marched westward to support the party of Virginian
+fort-builders who had been sent to fortify the strategic position on the
+Ohio, but was forced to capitulate by the French army, which drove back
+the English and on their beginnings erected Fort Duquesne.
+
+The line of forts from Quebec to Fort Duquesne was now complete, and of
+them Fort Niagara was the key. To wrest from the French this western
+empire it was necessary to strike Fort Niagara, but, with the rare lack
+of foresight characteristic of the government headed by the impossible
+Newcastle, the great campaign of 1755 was as poorly conceived as it was
+executed. It was composed of three spectacular advances on this curling
+line of French forts that hemmed in the colonies; one army, under Sir
+William Johnson, should attack the forts on Lakes George and Champlain;
+Governor Shirley of Massachusetts should leap at Fort Niagara, and
+General Braddock, formerly commander of Gibraltar, should lead an army
+from Virginia across the mountains upon Fort Duquesne, after capturing
+which he should then join forces with Shirley for the conquest of
+Niagara if that post had not been previously reduced.
+
+From almost any view-point the scheme of conquest seems a glaring
+inconsistency, but from what is this so conspicuous as by looking upon
+this French line of fortresses as a serpent whose head was Quebec,
+whose heart was Fort Niagara, and whose tail rattled luringly on the
+Ohio at Fort Duquesne? The chief expedition, on which the eyes of the
+ministry were centred, was the one which launched at this serpent's
+tail. Moreover, in addition to being wrongly directed it was improperly
+routed, since there were both waggons and wheat in Pennsylvania but
+comparatively none in Virginia, and the ill-fated commander of the
+expedition, General Edward Braddock, was the victim of the lethargy and
+indifference of the colonies.
+
+It is pitifully interesting to observe in the letter of instruction
+issued by Cumberland to Braddock that the latter seemed to have held the
+view that his most proper course was to strike at Niagara at the outset,
+undoubtedly appreciating the significant fact that to capture that key
+position of communication was to doom the Allegheny line of forts to
+starvation itself. "As to your design," read those instructions, "of
+making yourself master of Niagara, which is of the greatest consequence,
+his Royal Highness recommends you to leave nothing to chance in the
+prosecution of that enterprise." In all that was planned for this grand
+campaign those words give us the only hint of Braddock's own notion.[27]
+Those instructions also advise that if the Ohio campaign should progress
+slowly Braddock was to consider whether he should not give over the
+command of that campaign to another officer and proceed to Niagara.
+Nothing could illustrate more clearly than this the importance of the
+position of Niagara in the old French War. But as Braddock did not deem
+it wise to give over the command of the Ohio campaign, Governor Shirley
+was left in charge of it.
+
+The Northern campaigns, however, were of little more success than that
+of the ill-fated Braddock. True, Johnson won his knighthood beside the
+lake to which he gave his master's name, but the victory was as much of
+an accident as was Braddock's defeat, and was not followed up with the
+capture of the forts on Lake Champlain which was the object of the
+campaign. Shirley, on the other hand, made an utter failure of his
+_coup_, after reaching Oswego with incredible hardship; the news of
+Braddock's defeat demoralised whatever spirit was left in his sickly
+army; and Fort Niagara was not even threatened. We note here again the
+interdependence of the Braddock and Shirley campaigns, and the pity that
+the two armies could not have been combined for a strong movement
+against Fort Niagara. The Ohio fortress could not have existed with the
+line of communication once cut, and Braddock's as well as Forbes's
+campaigns, costing such tremendous sums, would have been unnecessary--or
+Prideaux's in '59 either, for that matter.
+
+And yet the English campaigns of this year played their part in
+awakening the French to the situation; and Niagara was taken in hand at
+once, as though the presentiment was plain that the flag of the Georges
+would wave over the Niagara some day. Writes Mr. Porter:
+
+    The contemplated attack on Fort Niagara, in 1755, under Shirley,
+    had told the French that that fort must be further strengthened,
+    and Pouchot, a captain in the regiment of Bearn, and a competent
+    engineer, was sent to reconstruct it. He reached the fort with a
+    regiment in October, 1755. Houses for these troops were at once
+    constructed in the Canadian manner. These houses consisted of
+    round logs of oak, notched into each other at the corners, and
+    were quickly built. Each had a chimney in the middle, some
+    windows, and a plank roof. The chimneys were made by four poles,
+    placed in the form of a truncated pyramid, open from the bottom
+    to a height of three feet on all sides, above which was a kind
+    of basket work, plastered with mud; rushes, marsh grass or straw
+    rolled in diluted clay were driven in between the logs, and the
+    whole plastered. The work of strengthening the fort was pushed
+    on all winter, 300 men being in the garrison, and in March,
+    1756, the artillery taken from Braddock arrived. By July, 1756,
+    the defences proposed were nearly completed, and Pouchot left
+    the fort. Vaudreuil stated that he [Pouchot] "had almost
+    entirely superintended the fortifications to their completion,
+    and the fort, which was abandoned and beyond making the smallest
+    resistance, is now a place of considerable importance in
+    consequence of the regularity, solidity, and utility of its
+    works." Pouchot was sent back to Niagara, as commandant, with
+    his own regiment, in October, 1756, and remained there for a
+    year. He still further strengthened the fort during this period,
+    and when he left he reported that "Fort Niagara and its
+    buildings were completed and its covered ways stockaded." On
+    April 30, 1759, he again arrived at Niagara to assume command
+    and "began to work on repairing the fort, to which nothing had
+    been done since he left it. He found the ramparts giving way,
+    the turfing all crumbled off, and the escarpment and counter
+    escarpment of the fosses much filled up. He mounted two pieces
+    to keep up appearances in case of a siege." From the general
+    laudatory tone of his own work we are led to feel that Pouchot
+    overpraised his own work of fortifying Niagara in 1756 and 1757,
+    when no immediate attack was looked for, otherwise it could
+    hardly have been in so poor a condition eighteen months
+    afterwards (1759, as just quoted), unless, as is very likely, he
+    foresaw defeat when attacked, as he was advised it would be, and
+    wanted to gain special credit for a grand defence under very
+    disadvantageous conditions. By July Pouchot had finished
+    repairing the ramparts. He gives this description of the
+    defence: "The batteries of the bastions which were in barbette
+    had not yet been finished. They were built of casks and filled
+    with earth. He had since his arrival constructed some pieces of
+    blindage of oak, fourteen inches square and fifteen feet long,
+    which extended behind the great house on the lake shore, the
+    place most sheltered for a hospital. Along the faces of the
+    powder magazine, to cover the wall and serve as casemates, he
+    had built a large storehouse with the pieces secured at the top
+    by a ridge. Here the guns and gunsmiths were placed. We may
+    remark that this kind of work is excellent for field-forts in
+    wooded countries, and they serve very well for barracks and
+    magazines; a bullet could only fall upon an oblique surface and
+    could do little harm, because this structure is very solid."
+    Pouchot says that the garrison of the fort at this time
+    consisted of 149 regulars, 183 men of colonial companies, 133
+    militia and 21 cannoniers. A total of 486 soldiers and 39
+    employees, of whom 5 were women or children. These served in the
+    infirmary, as did also two ladies, and sewed cartridge bags and
+    made bags for earth. There were also some Indians in the fort,
+    and the officers may not have been included in this number. The
+    fort was capable of accommodating 1000 men.
+
+[Illustration: A Drawing of Fort Niagara and Environs Showing Plan of
+English Attack under Johnson.]
+
+The great campaigns of 1759 were planned by the new commander-in-chief,
+Sir Jeffrey Amherst. The Niagara attack was placed in the hands of
+General John Prideaux, who was ready to sail from Oswego to his death at
+Fort Niagara on the 1st of July, 1759, with twenty-two hundred regulars
+and provincials and seven hundred of the Six Nations, brought very
+quickly to their senses after the successes of British arms in the year
+previous when Fort Duquesne was captured, under Sir William Johnson. On
+the 6th of July a hunter brought word to Pouchot that the English were
+at the doors of Niagara, the army having landed down the shore of the
+lake at a distance of four miles. The commander, realising that the
+crucial moment had come, sent a messenger post-haste to Little Fort
+Niagara, at the upper end of the portage, and on to the forts in the
+West for aid; Niagara had assisted Fort Duquesne and the Allegheny forts
+in their days of trial and it was now turn for them to help her. Little
+Fort Niagara, or, more properly, Fort du Portage, previously mentioned,
+was erected probably about ten years before this to defend the portage
+landing. It was now commanded by the Joncaire--son of the famous French
+emissary among the Senecas who had given New France a foothold at
+Niagara--who had proved such a diplomatic guide to Celoron in his
+western trip; Pouchot ordered him to move the supplies at Fort du
+Portage across to the mouth of the Chippewa Creek and hasten to Fort
+Niagara. It is worth while to pause a moment to observe that we have
+here one of the first references to that shadowy western shore of the
+Niagara, where Forts Erie, George, and Mississauga were soon to appear;
+though the town of Newark, or Niagara-on-the-Lake, as it is known
+to-day, was the first settlement on this side of the river, it is clear
+that there was at least a storehouse at Chippewa Creek in 1759;
+unquestionably the portage path on the western shore of the river was a
+well-worn highway long before even Fort Niagara itself was proposed, for
+we know that it was the northern shore of Lake Erie that was the common
+route of the French rather than the southern from the record left by the
+Celoron expedition and Bonnecamp's map.
+
+[Illustration: A Sketch of Fort Niagara and Environs; by the French
+Commander Pouchot, Showing Improvements of 1756-1758.]
+
+Prideaux forced the siege by digging a series of trenches toward the
+fort, each one in advance of the last. Finally, just before merited
+success was achieved, a bursting cohorn killed Prideaux and thrust the
+command upon that deserving but lucky son of fortune, Sir William
+Johnson. The siege was pressed most diligently--as though Johnson was
+fearful that the honour thrust upon him would escape him through the
+arrival of General Gage, who was on his way to assume command. The fort
+was completely hemmed in, and its surrender was peremptorily demanded.
+Johnson was more than a match for the intriguing French Indians who
+attempted to alienate his Iroquois. He likewise played the clever
+soldier in handling the relieving army that was already on its Way from
+the West. Three of the four messages sent by Pouchot had been
+intercepted by the English commander's scouts. The one that went through
+successfully accomplished its purpose and twelve hundred recruits were
+en route for the besieged fortress. The scouts told of their progress,
+to which captured letters from the commanding officers, D'Aubrey and De
+Lignery, to General Pouchot, gave added information. Descending the
+Niagara from its head to Navy Island, the reinforcements awaited the
+commands of their general. The order was to hasten on. Johnson
+redistributed his force to meet the crisis, at once detailing a
+sufficient part to cope with the relieving party and retaining a
+sufficient quota to prevent a sortie from the rapidly crumbling fort,
+which at best could not hold out longer unless succoured. At an eighth
+of a mile from the fort, in olden times called _La Belle Famille_, now
+within the limits of the beautiful village of Youngstown, the clash
+occurred that settled the fate of the brave Pouchot. With the Iroquois
+posted in hiding on either flank and the regulars waiting behind slight
+breastworks, the French force rushed headlong to the attack within the
+carefully laid ambuscade. After the opening fire of the Indians, the
+English troop made a savage charge--and the affair was over; the
+retreating French were followed and nearly a hundred and fifty were
+captured, including the officers.
+
+Sir William Johnson used his leverage thus gained upon the commander of
+the doomed fortress with alacrity and success, sending with the officer
+who went to demand its surrender some of the prisoners captured at the
+scrimmage up the river, who told the story of their defeat and rout. Had
+they known it, they might have added that the terror-stricken fugitives
+from that field of strife hastened to the fleet of boats (in which they
+had descended the Niagara) and, steering them all into what is called
+even to this day Burnt Ship Bay, on the shore of Grand Island, set fire
+to the entire flotilla, lest the English secure an added advantage; and
+from this fact may we not draw the conclusion that these French hoped to
+hold the remainder of the great western waterway even if Fort Niagara
+fell? They could not use those boats very well on the lower Niagara,
+though with them once in hand they could easily strike at Presqu' Isle
+and Detroit.
+
+[Illustration: Canadian Trapper, from La Potherie.]
+
+Poor Pouchot demanded the best terms that he dared; it was agreed that
+the garrison should retain arms and baggage and one cannon as they
+marched out of the battered shell of a fort they had endeavoured to
+hold, and, upon laying down their arms, should be transported, in
+vessels furnished by the English, to New York; it was also demanded that
+they should be protected from the insults of the redskin allies of the
+English. That the latter stipulation was agreed to and honestly enforced
+illustrates the genuine hold Johnson had upon his brown brethren of the
+Long House. The articles were signed on the night of July 24th and on
+the 25th the flag of England rose to the breeze that fanned the lake and
+the wide-sweeping Niagara frontier--the second flag that had dominated
+that strategic spot in the century. The garrison numbered over six
+hundred men and eleven officers; the French total loss was about two
+hundred including the action at Youngstown; the English loss was sixty
+killed and 180 wounded. Forty-three iron cannon were found within the
+fort, fifteen hundred round shot, forty thousand pounds of musket-balls,
+five hundred hand grenades, and many tools, etc. The important result,
+however, was the removal of French domination over the warlike Seneca
+nation in this region and the natural inheritance that came with
+Niagara, the trade of which it was the centre. Near the site of the
+destroyed Fort du Portage, at the upper end of the portage, Captain
+Schlosser erected Fort Schlosser. Fort Niagara itself was improved; the
+present "bakehouse" was built in 1762. The Niagara of this time has been
+well described by Mr. Porter:
+
+    It was the head centre of the military life of the entire
+    region, the guardian of the great highway and portage to and
+    from the West; and hereabouts, as the forerunners of a coming
+    civilisation and frontier settlement, the traders were securing
+    for themselves the greatest advantages. To the rude transient
+    population--red hunters, trappers, Indianised
+    bush-rangers--starting out from this centre, or returning from
+    their journeys of perhaps hundreds of miles, trooping down the
+    portage to the fort, bearing their loads of peltries, and
+    assisted by Indians who here made a business of carrying packs
+    for hire, Fort Niagara was a business headquarters. There the
+    traders brought their guns and ammunition, their blankets, and
+    cheap jewelry, to be traded for furs; there the Indians
+    purchased, at fabulous prices, the white man's "fire water," and
+    many, yes, numberless were the broils and conflicts in and
+    around the fort, when the soldiers under orders tried to calm or
+    eject the savage element which so predominated in the life of
+    the Garrison.
+
+[Illustration: Youngstown, N. Y., from Paradise Grove.]
+
+Pontiac's rebellion came fast on the heels of the old French War, so
+fast indeed that we cannot really distinguish the line of division
+except for the fact of English occupation of Fort Niagara; with
+astonishing alacrity the incorrigible Senecas took up Pontiac's bloody
+belt, especially disgruntled with English rule in the Niagara country
+because the carrying business at the Niagara portage had been taken away
+from them upon the introduction of clumsy carts which carried to Fort
+Schlosser what had before been transported on the backs of Seneca
+braves. The retaliation for this serious loss of business was the
+terrible Devil's Hole Massacre of September 14, 1763, which occurred on
+the new portage road between Fort Schlosser and Lewiston at the head of
+what is known as Bloody Brook, in the ravine of which at the Gorge lies
+the Devil's Hole. Here a party of five hundred Senecas from Chenussio,
+seventy miles to the eastward of Niagara, waylaid a train of twenty-five
+waggons and a hundred horses and oxen, guarded, probably indifferently,
+by a detachment of troops variously estimated from twenty-five to three
+hundred in number, on its way from Lewiston to the upper fort. But three
+seem to have escaped that deadly ambuscade, and a relieving party,
+coming hurriedly at the instance of one of the survivors, ran into a
+second ambush, in which all but eight out of two companies of men
+escaped. On the third attempt the commander of the fort hastened to the
+bloody scene with all of the troops at his command except what were
+needed to defend the fort. But the redskins had gone, leaving eighty
+scalped corpses on the ground. The first convoy probably numbered about
+twenty-five and the relieving party probably twice that number. The
+Indians had thrown or driven every team and all the whites surviving the
+fire of their thirsty muskets over the brink of the great ravine in
+which lies the Devil's Hole, fitly named.
+
+At the great treaty that Sir William Johnson now held at Niagara with
+all the western Indians--one of the most remarkable convocations ever
+convened on this continent--the Senecas were compelled to surrender to
+the English Government all right to a tract four miles wide on each side
+of the Niagara River from Fort Niagara to Fort Schlosser. When it came
+time to sign the articles agreeing to this grant, Johnson, at the
+suggestion of General Bradstreet, who had in mind a fortification of the
+present site of Fort Erie, asked to extend the grant to include all land
+bordering the entire river from mouth to source and for four miles back.
+To this the Senecas agreed, but signed the treaty, as it were, with
+their left hands, never intending to keep it. However, it is to this
+date that we trace first actual white man's ownership of the first foot
+of land on the Niagara frontier, save perhaps the enclosure at Fort
+Niagara. Until this agreement was reached Sir William refused to deal
+with the gathered host of Indians from the West; thus was the Devil's
+Hole Massacre avenged.
+
+Over two thousand Indians had met to treat with the now famous Indian
+Commissioner for the Crown, coming from Nova Scotia in the East and the
+head streams of the Mississippi River in the West; that Niagara should
+have been the chosen meeting-place illustrates again its geographical
+position on the continent. Shrewd at this form of procrastinating
+business, Sir William laid down the policy of treaty with each tribe
+separately and not with the nations as such, and this, added to the
+formality observed, tended to make the procedure of almost endless
+duration. But Johnson knew his host and it is said on good authority
+that the vast sum now invested by the Crown paid good interest; the
+congress cost about ten thousand dollars in New York currency, and about
+two hundred thousand was distributed in presents to the vast assemblage.
+"Though this assemblage consisted of peace-desiring savages, their
+friendly disposition was not certain. Several straggling soldiers were
+shot at, and great precautions were taken by the English garrison to
+avert a rupture." Writes the graphic Parkman: "The troops were always on
+their guard, while the black muzzles of the cannons, thrust from the
+bastions of the fort, struck a wholesome awe into the savage throng
+below."
+
+[Illustration: The Stone Redoubt at Fort Niagara, Built in 1770.
+
+From the original in the British Museum.]
+
+The Fort Niagara of that day little resembled the sight that greets the
+tourist's eye at that point to-day. When the French built the "Mess
+House" or "Castle" they built one story only, but afterward added a
+second, the walls of which probably extended above the roof to serve as
+a breastwork for gunners. The present roof is an English addition,
+comparatively modern. The French built also the two famous block-houses,
+the walls of which also protruded from the ancient roof for the same
+purpose as on the "Mess House," and these were used as late as the War
+of 1812. The old Magazine was built by the French, but its present-day
+roof is, of course, of modern construction, being in reality nothing but
+a covering over the stone arch which was the ancient roof. So far as
+appearance goes the waters of the hungry lake have probably done more
+altering of the natural aspect than has the hand of man. The fantastic
+"castle" now stands close to the water's edge, whereas, in the olden
+time there were upwards of thirty rods of ground between the "Mess
+House" and the lake, supporting an orchard. The present stone wall was
+erected in 1839, and the brick walls constructed outside the old line of
+breastworks in 1861; four years later the lighthouse was established in
+the upper story of the "Castle"; in 1873 the present lighthouse was
+erected.
+
+No serious conflict now marked England's rule in her new territory, and
+the people of Canada, and especially of the Niagara region, had now
+comparatively a few years' repose, but then came one of the most
+important periods in its history. Their country was invaded, and for a
+time seemed on the point of passing under the control of the Congress of
+the old Thirteen Colonies, now in rebellion against England. Only the
+genius of an able governor-general saved the valley of the St. Lawrence
+to the British Crown.
+
+In the year 1774, Parliament intervened for the first time in Canadian
+affairs, and passed what was known as the "Quebec Act," which greatly
+extended the boundaries of the province of Quebec, as defined by the
+Proclamation of 1763. On one side the province now extended to the
+frontiers of New England, Pennsylvania, New York Province, the Ohio, and
+the left bank of the Mississippi; on the other to the Hudson's Bay
+Territory; Labrador, Anticosti, and the Magdalen Islands, annexed to
+Newfoundland by the Proclamation of 1763, were made part of the province
+of Quebec. The "Quebec Act" created much debate in the House of Commons.
+The Earl of Chatham, in the House of Lords, described it as a "most
+cruel and odious measure." The opposition in the province was among the
+British inhabitants, who sent over a petition for its repeal or
+amendment, their principal grievance being that it substituted the laws
+and usages of Canada for English law. The "Act of 1774" was exceedingly
+unpopular in the English-speaking colonies, then at the commencement of
+the Revolution, on account of the extension of the limits of the
+province so as to include the country long known as the "Old North-west"
+in American history, and the consequent confinement of the Thirteen
+Colonies between the Atlantic coast and the Alleghany Mountains, beyond
+which the hardy and bold frontiersmen of Virginia and Pennsylvania were
+already passing into the great valley of the Ohio. Parliament, however,
+appears to have been influenced by a desire to adjust the government of
+the province so as to conciliate the majority of the Canadian people at
+the critical time.
+
+The advice of Sir Guy Carleton, afterwards Lord Dorchester, who
+succeeded General Murray as Governor-General, had much to do with the
+liberality of the "Quebec Act" towards the French Canadians. He crossed
+the Atlantic in 1769 and remained absent from Canada for four years. He
+returned to carry out the "Quebec Act," which was the foundation of the
+large political and religious liberties which French Canada has ever
+since enjoyed. The "Act" aroused the indignation of the older American
+colonies, and had considerable influence in directing the early course
+of the Revolution which ended in the establishment of a federal
+republic. To it the Declaration of Independence refers as follows:
+"Abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring province,
+establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its
+boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for
+introducing the same absolute rule in other colonies." During the
+Revolution the Continental Congress attempted to secure the active
+alliance of Canada, and to that end sent a commission made up of
+Franklin, Chase, Charles Carroll, and John Carroll to Quebec; but the
+province remained loyal throughout. It will be noticed in another
+chapter that General Brock, in answering the "Proclamation" issued by
+Hull in 1812, voiced the belief that Canada was the price the American
+Colonies had promised to pay France in return for her valuable aid in
+the Revolution!
+
+[Illustration: Pfister's Sketch of Fort Niagara and the "Communication,"
+Two Years before the Outbreak of the Revolutionary War.]
+
+It is not necessary to dwell here on the events of a war the history of
+which is so familiar to every one.[28] When the first Continental
+Congress met at Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, the colonies were on
+the eve of independence as a result of the coercive measures forced on
+Parliament by the King's pliable ministers led by Lord North. The
+"Declaration," however, was not finally proclaimed until nearly two
+years later, on July 4, 1776, when the Thirteen Colonies declared
+themselves "free and independent States," absolved of their allegiance
+to the British Crown. But many months before this great epoch-making
+event, war had actually commenced on Lake Champlain. On an April day, in
+the now memorable year 1775, the "embattled farmers" had fired at
+Concord and Lexington, the shots "heard round the world," and a few
+weeks later the forts at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, then defended by
+very feeble garrisons, were in the possession of colonial troops, led by
+Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, the two "Green Mountain Boys" who organised
+this expedition. Canada was at this time in a very defenceless
+condition. Burgoyne was defeated at Saratoga, and his army, from which
+so much was expected, made prisoners of war. This great misfortune of
+the British cause was followed by the alliance of France with the
+States. French money, men, and ships eventually assured the independence
+of the Republic, whose fortunes were very low at times despite the
+victory at Saratoga. England was not well served in this American war;
+she had no Washington to direct her campaign, and Gage, Burgoyne, and
+Cornwallis were not equal to the responsibilities thrown upon them.
+Cornwallis's defeat at Yorktown, October 19, 1781, was the death blow to
+the hopes of England in North America.
+
+Had General Sullivan's campaign of 1779, as planned, been successful, he
+would have attacked Fort Niagara, but disaster overtook him, though he
+led an expedition against the Iroquois, routed a force of Indians and
+Tories at Newtown, near the present Elmira, and wrought wide devastation
+in the country of the Cayugas and Senecas.
+
+Yorktown led to the Treaty of Versailles and independence, but oddly
+enough it was almost a generation before a third flag arose above the
+historic "Castle" at the mouth of the Niagara. In 1784 the United States
+came into the control of the territory extending from Nova Scotia (which
+then included New Brunswick) to the head of the Lake of the Woods and to
+the Mississippi River in the West, and in the North from Canada to the
+Floridas in the South, the latter having again become Spanish
+possessions. The boundary between Nova Scotia and the Republic was so
+ill defined that it took over fifty years to fix the St. Croix and the
+Highlands which were, by the treaty, to divide the two countries. In
+the Far West the line of division was to be drawn through the Lake of
+the Woods "to the most north-western point thereof, and from thence on a
+due west course to the River Mississippi"--a physical impossibility,
+since the head of the Mississippi, as was afterwards found, was a
+hundred miles or so to the south! In later times this geographical error
+was corrected, and the curious distortion of the boundary line that now
+appears on the maps was necessary at the Lake of the Woods in order to
+strike the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, which was
+subsequently arranged as the boundary line as far as the Rocky
+Mountains.
+
+A strip of land one mile wide along the American shore from Lake Ontario
+to Lake Erie had been exempted when New York ceded the ownership of what
+is now the western part of this State to Massachusetts, which ownership
+New York subsequently reacquired. Finally the Indians, who, in spite of
+their former cessions to England, still claimed an ownership, ceded to
+New York, for one thousand dollars and an annuity of one thousand five
+hundred dollars, their title to all the islands in the Niagara River.
+The State of New York patented the mile-strip to individuals, commencing
+in the first decade of the nineteenth century.
+
+In spite of the Treaty of Versailles in 1783, as noted, neither Niagara
+nor Detroit was surrendered by the British until 1796. Both forts were
+held as English outposts and strengthened. We have shown that the
+boundary-line between Canada and the United States was improperly
+conceived; but it is a fact that during the Revolutionary War the people
+of the North-west had been warned from Niagara and Detroit to take up
+arms in behalf of the Americans. Nothing aggressive, however, had been
+accomplished. The wilderness of three hundred miles between Detroit and
+the Eastern States made an attack upon the posts by the Americans
+impracticable; moreover, most of the fighting in this region was done by
+the British and the Indians and the people of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
+
+It is due to the statesmanship of John Jay that the posts still
+garrisoned by British troops in the United States, contrary to the
+stipulations of the Treaty of Paris, were finally evacuated in 1796. Jay
+had been sent by President Washington to go to Great Britain in 1794 as
+special envoy to settle differences growing out of the failure of that
+country to keep the obligations of the Treaty of 1784, differences which
+had aroused a strong war-spirit all over the States. It was easy to
+foresee, as Jay recognised, that the outcome of the situation would in
+all probability be unpopular with the people, but he did not hesitate to
+meet the responsibility that Washington believed he could meet better
+than any other man, partially because of the reputation he had
+established in England while negotiating the Treaty of 1784. Jay set
+sail on May 12, 1794 in the ship _Ohio_, with his son Peter Augustus,
+and with John Trumbull as secretary. On June 8th he landed at Falmouth
+and at once entered into relation with Lord Grenville, the Secretary of
+Foreign Affairs, who was commissioned by the King to treat with Mr. Jay.
+The sincerity and candour of the two negotiators soon led to a degree of
+mutual confidence that both facilitated and lightened their labours. A
+treaty resulted known on this side of the ocean as "Jay's Treaty,"
+which settled the eastern boundary of Maine, recovered for illegal
+captures by British cruisers $10,000,000, secured the surrender of the
+western forts still garrisoned by the British, and contained an article
+about the West India trade. With the exception of the latter article,
+the treaty was approved by the President and ratified by the Senate. But
+many were not satisfied, and denounced Jay with tongue and pen, and even
+burned him in effigy in Boston, Philadelphia, and at his own home in New
+York. How different was the homecoming from that after the negotiation
+of the other treaty, when the freedom of the city was presented to him
+in a golden box, and each one seemed to vie with every other in
+extending a welcome! In a letter to a friend, Jay said at that time,
+"Calumny is seldom durable, it will in time yield to truth," and he bore
+himself at that time as one having full confidence that he had acted
+both wisely and skilfully, and expected the people to realise it in
+time. The British, however, would not evacuate Niagara and the other
+forts without a semblance of fighting on paper. They held, amongst other
+reasons, that they were yet justified in maintaining a garrison on
+American soil because "it was _alleged_ by divers merchants and others,
+His Majesty's subjects," that they had sustained various losses by the
+legal impediments they had experienced in collecting debts in America
+due to them before the war. Mr. Jay, however, with great diplomacy,
+removed this obstacle by the appointment of Commissioners of Award, and
+as the British finally were deprived of all pretence for maintaining the
+posts, it was agreed that they should be surrendered on or before the
+first of June, 1796. This was finally done and the third and last flag
+floated lazily in the Lake Ontario breezes over the historic point. The
+settlers and traders within the jurisdiction of the posts were permitted
+to remain and to enjoy their property without becoming citizens of the
+United States unless they should think proper to do so.
+
+[Illustration: Fort Erie and the Mouth of the Niagara, by Pfister, in
+1764.
+
+From the original in the British Museum.]
+
+Anthony Wayne's army now took full possession of the Niagara region.
+With the exception of a small strip of land on the river and lake, all
+the present State of Michigan was occupied by Indians--Pottawattomies,
+Miamis, Wyandots, Chippewas, Winnebagoes, and Ottawas. The first
+American commander of the post was Colonel John Francis Hamtramck, who
+died in 1803. At that period Detroit was headquarters of the Western
+Army, but the whole garrison only consisted of three hundred men.
+
+Niagara-on-the-Lake may be called the Plymouth Rock of upper Canada. It
+was once its proud capital. Variously known in the past as Loyal
+Village, Butlersbury, Nassau, and Newark, it had a daily paper as early
+as 1792, and was a military post of distinction at the same period, its
+real beginnings, however, being contemporaneous with the War of
+Independence. Here, within two short hours' ride of the most populous
+and busy city of western New York, typical of the material forces that
+have moulded the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we come upon a spot
+of intensest quiet, in the shadow of whose ivy-mantled church tower
+sleep trusted servants of the Georges, Loyalists and their Indian
+allies.
+
+The place has been overtaken by none of that unpicturesque commercial
+prosperity which further up the frontier threatens to destroy all the
+natural beauties of the river-banks.
+
+The Welland Canal and the Grand Trunk and Great Western Railway systems
+diverted the great part of the carrying trade, and with it that growth
+and activity which have signalised the neighbouring cities of Canada.
+"Refuse the Welland Canal entrance to your town," said the
+Commissioners, "and the grass will grow in your streets." Here General
+Simcoe opened the first Upper Canadian Legislature; and later, from here
+the noble Brock planned the defence of Upper Canada. While the cities of
+western New York, which have now far eclipsed it, were rude log
+settlements, at "Newark" some little attempt was made at decorum and
+society.
+
+Here landed in 1783-'84 ten thousand United Empire Loyalists, who, to
+keep inviolate their oaths of allegiance to the King, quitted their
+freeholds and positions of trust and honour in the States to begin life
+anew in the unbroken wilds of Upper Canada. History has made us somewhat
+familiar with the settlement of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by the
+expatriated Loyalists. Little has been written of the sufferings and
+privations endured by the "makers" of Upper Canada. Students and
+specialists who have investigated the story of a flight equalled only by
+that of the Huguenots after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes have
+been led to admire the spirit of unselfish patriotism which led these
+one hundred thousand fugitives to self-exile. While the Pilgrims came to
+America leisurely, bringing their household goods and their charters
+with them, the United Empire Loyalists, it has well been said, "bleeding
+with the wounds of seven years of war, left ungathered the crops of
+their rich farms on the Mohawk and in New Jersey, and, stripped of
+every earthly possession, braved the terrors of the unbroken wilderness
+from the Mohawk to Lake Ontario." Inhabited to-day by the descendants of
+these pioneers, the old-fashioned loyalty and conservatism of the
+Niagara district is the more conspicuous by contrasting it with
+neighbouring republicanism over the river.
+
+Here, over a century ago, near Fort George, stood the first Parliament
+House of Upper Canada. Here, seventy years before President Lincoln's
+Emancipation Proclamation, the first United Empire Loyalist Parliament,
+like the embattled farmers at Concord, "fired a shot heard round the
+world." For one of the first measures of the exiled patricians was to
+pass an act forbidding slavery. Few readers know that at Newark, now
+Niagara, was enacted that law by which Canada became not only the first
+country in the world to abolish slavery, but, as such, a safe refuge for
+the fugitive slaves from the Southern States.
+
+General Simcoe, the first governor, was born in 1752 and died in 1806. A
+landed gentleman of England and likewise a member of the British House
+of Commons he voluntarily relinquished all the luxuries of his beautiful
+English home and estates to bury himself in the wilderness of Canada and
+the Niagara region. As governor-general he exemplified the extremest
+simplicity. His guard consisted of four soldiers who came from Fort
+George, close by, to Newark, every morning and returned thither in the
+evening. Mrs. Simcoe not only performed the duties of wife and mother,
+but also acted as her husband's secretary. The name of Simcoe is
+indelibly entered in the history of the development of the Niagara, and
+it is doubly appropriate that her interesting drawings should illustrate
+a volume dealing with this region she loved.
+
+Here Cooper is said to have written his admirable novels of border and
+Indian life, novels which have been devoured by me and millions of
+readers; it is fair to predict that the stories will be read for another
+century to come.[29] Many other interesting characters have at different
+periods made Fort George their abode. In 1780, a handsome house within
+its enclosure was occupied by General Guy Johnson.
+
+[Footnote 24: _Colonial Documents of New York_, vol. ix., p. 773; in the
+history of the French regime at Niagara special acknowledgment must be
+made to Porter's _Brief History of Old Fort Niagara_ (Niagara Falls,
+1896), which is particularly rich in references to the important sources
+of information concerning the French along and at the mouth of the
+Niagara River.]
+
+[Footnote 25: _Colonial Documents of New York_, vol. ix., pp. 952, 958.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Logstown?]
+
+[Footnote 27: In the author's _Historic Highways of America_, vol. iv.,
+chap. 2, this whole problem is discussed and Cumberland's instructions
+quoted.]
+
+[Footnote 28: The record of these bloody years is hinted in the
+number of prisoners brought to Niagara. On this topic Frank H.
+Severance writes [In _Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier_, pp. 89-91.
+Mr. Severance, Secretary of the Buffalo Historical Society, has
+ably taken the place of the eminent scholar of the Niagara country
+O. H. Marshall. In his volume above quoted Mr. Severance provides a
+most interesting, scholarly series of papers which no one who loves
+New York's old frontier should miss. Our story of the famine at De
+Nonville's fort was written with Mr. Severance's book open before us.]:
+
+    "Just how many American prisoners were brought into Fort Niagara
+    during this period I am unable to say, though it is possible
+    that from the official correspondence of the time figures could
+    be had on which a very close estimate could be based. My
+    examination of the subject warrants the assertion that several
+    hundred were brought in by the war-parties under Indian,
+    British, and Tory leaders. In this correspondence, very little
+    of which has ever been published, one may find such entries as
+    the following:
+
+    "Guy Johnson wrote from Fort Niagara, June 30, 1781:
+
+    "'In my last letter of the 24th inst. I had just time to enclose
+    a copy of Lieut. Nelles's letter with an account of his success,
+    since which he arrived at this place with more particular
+    information by which I find that he killed thirteen and took
+    seven (the Indians not having reckoned two of the persons whom
+    they left unscalped). . . .'
+
+    "Again:
+
+    "'I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency a general
+    letter containing the state of the garrison and of my Department
+    to the 1st inst., and a return, at the foot, of the war parties
+    that have been on service this year, . . . by which it will
+    appear that they have killed and taken during the season already
+    150 persons, including those last brought in. . . .'
+
+    "Again he reports, August 30, 1781:
+
+    "'The party with Capt. Caldwell and some of the Indians with
+    Capt. Lottridge are returning, having destroyed several
+    settlements in Ulster County, and about 100 of the Indians are
+    gone against other parts of the frontiers, and I have some large
+    parties under good leaders still on service as well as scouts
+    towards Fort Pitt. . . .'
+
+    "Not only are there many returns of this sort, but also
+    tabulated statements, giving the number of prisoners sent down
+    from Fort Niagara to Montreal on given dates, with their names,
+    ages, names of their captors, and the places where they were
+    taken. There were many shipments during the summer of '83, and
+    the latest return of this sort which I have found in the
+    archives is dated August 1st of that year, when eleven prisoners
+    were sent from the fort to Montreal. It was probably not far
+    from this time that the last American prisoner of the Revolution
+    was released from Fort Niagara. But let the reader beware of
+    forming hasty conclusions as to the cruelty or brutality of the
+    British at Fort Niagara. In the first place, remember that
+    harshness or kindness in the treatment of the helpless depends
+    in good degree--and always has depended--upon the temperament
+    and mood of the individual custodian. There were those in
+    command at Fort Niagara who appear to have been capable of
+    almost any iniquity. Others gave frequent and conspicuous proofs
+    of their humanity. Remember, secondly, that the prisoners
+    primarily belonged to the Indians who captured them. The Indian
+    custom of adoption--the taking into the family circle of a
+    prisoner in place of a son or husband who had been killed by the
+    enemy--was an Iroquois custom, dating back much further than
+    their acquaintance with the English. Many of the Americans who
+    were detained in this fashion by their Indian captors, probably
+    never were given over to the British. Some, as we know, like
+    Mary Jemison, the White Woman of the Genesee, adopted the Indian
+    mode of life and refused to leave it. Others died in captivity,
+    some escaped. Horatio Jones and Jasper Parrish were first
+    prisoners, then utilised as interpreters, but remained among the
+    Indians. And in many cases, especially of women and children, we
+    know that they were got away from the Indians by the British
+    officers at Fort Niagara, only after considerable trouble and
+    expense. In these cases the British were the real benefactors of
+    the Americans, and the kindness in the act cannot always be put
+    aside on the mere ground of military exchange, prisoner for
+    prisoner. Gen. Haldimand is quoted to the effect that he 'does
+    not intend to enter into an exchange of prisoners, but he will
+    not add to the distresses attending the present war, by
+    detaining helpless women and children from their families.'"
+
+    In justice to Col. Guy Johnson's administration at Fort Niagara,
+    as well as to give one of the clearest (if biased) views of the
+    trials and perplexities of those hard days, we reproduce a
+    "Review of Col. Johnson's Transactions"; as Mr. Severance notes,
+    this review shows "the real state of affairs at Fort Niagara
+    towards the close of the Revolutionary war" better than does
+    almost any other document [I quote Mr. Severance's copy from
+    _Canadian Archives_, Series B, vol. 106, p. 122, _et seq._]:
+
+    "Montreal, 24th March, 1782.
+
+    "Before Colonel Johnson arrived at Niagara in 1779 the Six
+    Nations lived in their original possessions the nearest of which
+    was about 100 and the farthest about 300 miles from that post.
+    Their warriors were called upon as the service required parties,
+    which in 1776 amounted to about 70 men, and the expenses
+    attending them, and a few occasional meetings ought to have been
+    and he presumes were a mere Trifle when compared with what must
+    attend their situation when all [were] driven to Niagara,
+    exposed to every want, to every temptation, and with every claim
+    which their distinguished sacrifices and the tenor of Soloman
+    [solemn] Treaties had entitled them to from Government. The
+    years 1777 & 1778 exhibited only a larger number occasionally
+    employed and for their fidelity and attachment to Government
+    they were invaded in 1779 by a rebel army reported to be from 5
+    to 600 men with a train of Artillery who forced them to retire
+    to Niagara leaving behind them very fine plantations of corn and
+    vegetables, with their cloathing, arms, silver works, Wampum
+    Kettles and Implements of Husbandry, the collection of ages of
+    which were destroyed in a deliberate manner and march of the
+    rebels. Two villages only escaped that were out of their route.
+
+    "The Indians having always apprehended that their distinguished
+    loyalty might draw some such calamity towards them had
+    stipulated that under such circumstances they effected
+    [expected] to have their losses made up as well as a liberal
+    continuation of favours and to be supported at the expence of
+    Government till they could be reinstated in their former
+    possessions. They were accordingly advised to form camps around
+    Niagara which they were beginning to do at the time of Colonel
+    Johnson's arrival who found them much chagrined and prepared to
+    reconcile them to their disaster which he foresaw would be a
+    work of time requiring great judgment and address in effecting
+    which he was afterwards successful beyond his most sanguine
+    expectations, and this was the state of the Indians at Colonel
+    Johnson's arrival. As to the state and regulation of Colonel
+    Johnson's officers and department at that period he found the
+    duties performed by 2 or three persons the rest little
+    acquainted with them and considered as less capable of learning
+    them, and the whole number inadequate to that of the Indians,
+    and the then requisite calls of the service, and that it was
+    necessary after refusing the present wants of the Indians to
+    keep their minds occupied by constant military employment, all
+    which he laid before the Commander in Chief who frequently
+    honoured his conduct with particular approbation."]
+
+[Footnote 29: Here, the story runs, the brother of Sir Walter Scott
+concocted the plots and outlines of Sir Walter's famous novels and sent
+them on to England to be polished up for publication--a story worthy of
+a Hennepin.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter X
+
+  The Hero of Upper Canada
+
+
+General Isaac Brock, the Hero of Upper Canada, was the kind of man men
+delight to honour--honest, capable, ambitious, faithful, kind. Nothing
+less than a tremendous gorge, such as separates Queenston from Lewiston
+Heights, could keep the people of one nation from knowing and loving
+this hero of another; since Brock's day this gorge has been spanned by
+beautiful bridges, and it is full time now, as the centennial of the
+second war with England approaches, that the appreciation of the
+characters of the worthy, patriotic heroes of that olden day o'erleap
+the chasm of bitter rivalry and hostility and become common and genuine
+to the northward and the southward of the Niagara.
+
+Isaac Brock was the eighth son of John Brock, Esq., born on the sixth
+day of October, 1769, in the parish of St. Peter-Port, Guernsey--the
+famous birth-year of Wellington and Napoleon. Tall, robust, and mentally
+conspicuous as a lad, Isaac followed his elder brother into the British
+Army, purchasing the ensigncy in the 8th, or King's Regiment, in 1785.
+His promotion was the result of merit in addition to possessing the
+means to purchase higher office; in 1790 we find him a lieutenant in the
+49th Regiment, advancing to his majority in 1795 and two years later
+becoming senior lieutenant-colonel. Supplanting now an officer accused
+of peculation who had brought the whole regiment into public notice,
+Brock exerted an influence that seemed to transform the regiment, making
+it "from one of the worst," said the Duke of York himself, "one of the
+best regiments in the service."
+
+[Illustration: Major-General Brock.]
+
+The opportunity of active service soon came, as the 49th was thrown into
+Holland, Brock being wounded at Egmont-op-Zee, or Bergen. His simple
+statement concerning being struck in the breast by a spent bullet is
+interesting: "I got knocked down soon after the enemy began to retreat,"
+he remarks, "but never quitted the field, and returned to my duty in
+less than half an hour."[30] Here Brock fought under Sir John Moore and
+Sir Ralph Abercrombie; in 1801 he was second in command of the land
+forces at Copenhagen and saw Lord Nelson on the _Elephant_ write his
+famous letter to the Crown Prince of Denmark. During the next year the
+49th was sent to Canada and was quartered at Fort George near Newark,
+the present Niagara-on-the-Lake. The character of Brock's management of
+the troops under him is well illustrated in the case of a strange mutiny
+that came near to breaking out at this time at Fort George due to the
+useless annoyance, or alleged actual severity, which so exasperated the
+men that an almost inconceivable plot to kill the officers was
+discovered. After the crime the soldiers were to cross the river into
+the United States and escape. One of the confederates was sent by the
+commanding officer to Brock at York with a letter describing the
+horrifying discovery. The incensed commander compelled the soldier at
+the point of a musket to disclose the chief conspirators. Hastening to
+Fort George the ringleaders were apprehended at the dinner table and
+hurried off to Quebec, where they were summarily shot. As a result Brock
+himself was ordered to make Fort George his headquarters, whereupon all
+trouble seems to have ceased.
+
+In 1805 Brock received his colonelcy and with it leave of absence. While
+at home he made a report to the commander-in-chief which throws an
+interesting light on affairs at that period, favouring the formation of
+a veteran battalion for service in Upper Canada. He wrote:
+
+    The artifices employed to wean the soldier from his duty,
+    conspire to render almost ineffectual every effort of the
+    officers to maintain the usual degree of order and discipline.
+    The lures to desertion continually thrown out by the Americans,
+    and the facility with which it can be accomplished, exacting a
+    more than ordinary precaution on the part of the officers,
+    insensibly produces mistrust between them and the men, highly
+    prejudicial to the service.
+
+    Experience has taught me that no regular regiment, however high
+    its claim to discipline, can occupy the frontier posts of Lower
+    and Upper Canada without suffering materially in its numbers. It
+    might have been otherwise some years ago; but now that the
+    country, particularly the opposite shore, is chiefly inhabited
+    by the vilest characters, who have an interest in debauching the
+    soldier from his duty; since roads are opened into the interior
+    of the States, which facilitate desertion, it is impossible to
+    avoid the contagion. A total change must be effected in the
+    minds and views of those who may hereafter be sent on this duty,
+    before the evil can be surmounted.[31]
+
+Such was the warlike tenor of despatches now at hand from Canada that
+Brock, eager to be at the post of duty at a critical time, hastened from
+London in June, 1806, cutting short his leave of absence. Throughout
+that year and its successor he was actively engaged in studying his
+province with regard to military demands that might suddenly be made
+upon it; it is noteworthy that the commander feared that in case of an
+outbreak between England and America a considerable part of the
+inhabitants of Upper Canada (Loyalists) would prove friendly to the
+young Republic. Discussing a new militia law he wrote as follows to the
+Council:
+
+    In thus complying with the dictates of his duty, Colonel Brock
+    was not prepared to hear that the population of the province,
+    instead of affording him ready and effectual support, might
+    probably add to the number of his enemies; and he feels much
+    disappointment in being informed by the first authority, that
+    the only law in any degree calculated to answer the end proposed
+    was likely, if attempted to be enforced, to meet with such
+    general opposition as to require the aid of the military to give
+    it even a momentary impulse.
+
+If such were the apprehensions of the commanding officer in Canada
+little wonder General Hull, in later days, counted on the co-operation
+of many of the inhabitants of the trans-Niagara country. In September,
+1807, Brock, who was acting-governor in Canada pending the arrival of
+Sir James Craig, was fortifying Quebec in anticipation of an immediate
+outbreak of the impending war. In this connection a little incident
+displays his character. He had caused to be erected at Quebec a very
+powerful battery, and of it he wrote his brothers:
+
+    I erected . . . a famous battery, which the public voice named
+    after me; but Sir James, thinking very properly that anything so
+    very pre-eminent should be distinguished by the most exalted
+    appellation, has called it the King's Battery, the greatest
+    compliment, I conceive, that he could pay to my judgment.
+
+The true modesty of the really great man shines out in these charming
+words.
+
+As the war cloud seemed to dissipate toward the close of 1808, General
+Brock seems to have set his eyes toward Europe in the hope of
+opportunity of active service; on November 19th he writes quite
+despondently:
+
+    My object is to get home as soon as I can obtain permission; but
+    unless our affairs with America be amicably adjusted, of which I
+    see no probability, I scarcely can expect to be permitted to
+    move. I rejoice Savery [Brock] has begun to exert himself to get
+    me appointed to a more active situation. I must see service, or
+    I may as well, and indeed much better, quit the army at once,
+    for no one advantage can I reasonably look to hereafter if I
+    remain buried in this inactive, remote corner, without the least
+    mention being made of me.
+
+It is exceedingly noticeable that Brock now seems to pin all his hope to
+being recalled in order that he might win his laurels in the
+tremendously spectacular campaigns against Napoleon in Spain. From his
+letters we learn that the French-Canadians looked for the Corsican's
+ultimate triumph and his final possession of Canada itself, and adds
+that under like circumstances Englishmen would be even more restless
+under French rule than the French-Canadians were under English; "Every
+victory which Napoleon has gained," he observes, "for the last nine
+years has made the disposition here to resist more manifest."
+
+In the middle of July Brock writes his sister-in-law, Mrs. William
+Brock, that the die is cast and that he is ordered to Upper Canada. If
+it is character, rather than mere performance that, in the last
+analysis, gives every man his historic position in the annals of the
+world, the truth is nowhere better shown than here in the case of this
+splendid Canadian hero. Could his Governor have spared him Brock would
+have, ere this, been at home or en route to Spain and fame; but the
+conditions demanded a strong, diplomatic officer at Fort George, and
+there was nothing for it but that Brock must go; and there followed
+war--and bloody Queenston Heights. "Since I cannot get to Europe," are
+his gloomy words, "I care little where I am placed."
+
+By September 13th he is writing his brothers from Fort George, but still
+hinting of his hopes to get leave to return to England eventually. What
+an out-of-the-way place for fame to seek and find a man--a man repining
+that he cannot go in search of her! Yet he writes: "I should stand
+evidently in my own light if I did not court fortune elsewhere." The
+attitude of Sir James Craig in the matter of his transfer to the
+European service was candidly stated by a letter from Colonel Baynes as
+follows:
+
+    In reply to an observation of mine, that you regretted the
+    inactive prospect before you, and looked with envy on those
+    employed in Spain and Portugal, he said: "I make no doubt of it,
+    but I can in no shape aid his plans in that respect; I would
+    not, however, be the means of preventing them, and although from
+    his local knowledge I should regret losing him in this country,
+    yet I would not oppose it if he could obtain an appointment to
+    the staff on service; but in that case I would ask for another
+    general officer being sent in his place immediately to Upper
+    Canada." I tell you this, my dear general, without reserve, and
+    give you, as far as I can recollect, Sir James's words. If he
+    liked you less, he might, perhaps, be more readily induced to
+    let you go; as matters stand, I do not think he will, although I
+    am convinced that he will feel very sincere regret in refusing
+    you on a subject upon which you appear to be so anxious.
+
+In his correspondence we now and then get a glimpse of the General's
+tastes and inclinations; that he was not a frugal entertainer we have
+considerable proof,[32] likewise evidence of his temperate tastes. In
+his lonely life by the Niagara he had recourse to such books as were to
+be found.
+
+    But books are scarce [he writes], and I hate borrowing. I like
+    to read a book quickly, and afterwards revert to such passages
+    as have made the deepest impression, and which appear to me most
+    important to remember--a practice I cannot conveniently pursue
+    unless the book be mine. Should you find that I am likely to
+    remain here, I wish you to send me some choice authors in
+    history, particularly ancient, with maps, and the best
+    translations of ancient works. I read in my youth Pope's
+    Translation of Homer, but till lately never discovered its
+    exquisite beauties. As I grow old, I acquire a taste for study.
+    I firmly believe that the same propensity was always inherent in
+    me, but, strange to tell, although many were paid extravagantly,
+    I never had the advantage of a master to guide and encourage me.
+    But it is now too late to repine. I rejoice that my nephews are
+    more fortunate.
+
+Colonel Vesey, writing to Brock, states that he regrets not having a
+daughter of marriageable age. "You should be married," runs the letter,
+"particularly as fate seems to detain you so long in Canada--but pray do
+not marry there." In another letter, dated Portsmouth, June 10, 1811,
+the same correspondent refers to Brock's appointment as Major-General.
+Oddly enough General Vesey says, referring to his friend's probable
+future: "It may perhaps be your fate to go to the Mediterranean, but the
+Peninsula is the most direct road to the honour of the Bath, and as you
+are an ambitious man, that is the station you should prefer. . . ." Only
+sixteen months from the day this letter was written Brock was gazetted
+Knight of the Bath--the lonely, patient, splendid man winning the great
+honour in the very land he was longing so sincerely to leave. On October
+17th a communication from Lieutenant-Colonel Torrens gives General Brock
+permission to return to England, but it was too late; both honour and
+necessity demanded his presence in Canada as the exciting days of 1812
+drew on apace.
+
+[Illustration: A Plan of Fort Niagara after English Occupation, by
+Montresor.]
+
+At the outbreak of hostilities in this year the United States embraced
+an immense territory, extending from the St. Lawrence to Mexico,
+excepting Florida--which remained in the possession of Spain until
+1819--and from the Atlantic indefinitely westward to the Spanish
+possessions on the Pacific coast, afterwards acquired by the United
+States. The total population of the United States was upwards of eight
+million souls, of whom a million and a half were negro slaves in the
+South. Large wastes of wild land lay between the Canadian settlements
+and the thickly populated sections of New England, New York, and Ohio.
+It was only with great difficulty and expense that men, munitions of
+war, and provisions could be brought to the frontier during the contest.
+
+The principal causes of the war are quite intelligible to the historical
+student. Great Britain was engaged in a great conflict at the beginning
+of the nineteenth century, not only for her own national security but
+also for the integrity of Europe, then threatened by the insatiable
+ambition of Bonaparte. It was on the sea that her strength mainly lay.
+To ensure her maritime supremacy England reserved the right of searching
+neutral, especially American, vessels. This so-called right meant that
+wherever an English warship met American merchantmen or war-vessels, the
+latter were required to stop, order their men on deck, and permit as
+many sailors to be seized and forced into the English service as were
+unable to prove their nationality. It was maintained that only deserters
+from the English navy were wanted; but in the period from 1796 to 1802,
+nearly two thousand American seamen were pressed into the English naval
+service on the plea that they were deserters. Likewise England became
+jealous of American trade. French, Spanish, and even English traders
+raised the American flag in order to get the advantages of neutrals.
+Thus it appeared that English commerce would fall into the hands of her
+rivals. It cannot be denied that illicit trade and outrages were really
+committed and brought back to American doors. The Lion roared. English
+vessels were stationed just outside the ports of more or less importance
+to the United States. British cruisers virtually blocked the Atlantic
+coast from Maine to Georgia. Then happened the _Chesapeake_ affair. On
+June 27, 1803, the British war-vessel _Leopard_ signalled the
+_Chesapeake_ to stop as she was leaving Norfolk Harbour. An officer was
+sent on board, but Commodore Barron refused to muster his men. The
+_Leopard_ thereupon opened fire, took the _Chesapeake_ by surprise,
+three men being killed and eighteen wounded. One Englishman was found
+when the search was completed; nevertheless, three American sailors (one
+being a negro) were taken away. This affair excited the American people
+almost beyond precedent. Indignation meetings were held all over. War
+soon became the cry. President Jefferson sent an agent to England to
+demand reparation for the attack on the _Chesapeake_, but England paid
+no attention to the President's representations.
+
+The Embargo Act of President Jefferson and similar measures solved none
+of the difficulties they were intended to solve. The South suffered much
+hardship, tobacco and wheat shrinking to one-half their former value.
+
+Then came the _Little Belt_ affair, when, in May, 1811, the United
+States frigate _President_ encountered the British sloop _Little Belt_,
+and, after a hot chase of several hours practically annihilated her.
+Never was news more welcome to American ears, and the _Chesapeake_
+affair had been revenged. But the incident did not help to improve the
+situation. Lastly it was generally believed that England instigated the
+Indian attacks which led to the battle of Tippecanoe, where the
+Americans, under General William Henry Harrison, gained a complete
+victory, to which our readers' attention will be directed later.
+
+All these causes would, perhaps, have been ineffective but for the
+revolution in the following year which took place in the American
+Republican party--the controlling party since 1801. Henry Clay of
+Kentucky, and John S. Calhoun of South Carolina, advocated war; others
+followed and President Madison joined them. They hoped to compel Europe
+to respect the American flag; they had confidence in the young Republic;
+they dreamed, perhaps, of an alliance with France, of an annexation of
+Canada. After long and stormy debates war was declared June 18th, the
+invasion of Canada had already begun!
+
+The War of 1812 officially commenced on June 18th. Great Britain,
+indeed, had extended a reconciliatory hand but it was too late. The army
+of the United States numbered at that time 6744 regulars. Congress had
+authorised its increase to 25,000, and provided, at least by law, for a
+second volunteer army of 50,000 men. The militia of several States was
+likewise called on to co-operate with the regulars and the volunteers.
+But the result was very unsatisfactory. The regular army during the war
+never reached 10,000; the volunteers appeared only in small numbers, and
+the militia offered to serve only for short terms and preferably in
+their own States. The Treasury, with its "sinews of war" was in a
+precarious condition. The Union had to resort to loans to which the
+capitalists did not respond with alacrity. On the other hand the British
+troops in Canada numbered barely seven thousand men; their line of
+defence was one thousand miles long. England was contending in Europe
+with her great enemy, Napoleon. The English Navy was, however, the
+undisputed mistress of all the seas; the British North Atlantic Squadron
+counted three battleships, twenty cruisers, and fifty smaller ships.
+
+The mind of the man who had been unwittingly awaiting the impossible in
+the Upper Province for so many gloomy months is well displayed now in a
+letter written to headquarters at the first intimation of the
+declaration of war which reached him through round-about sources:
+
+    Fort George, July 3, 1812.
+
+    I have been anxiously expecting for some days to receive the
+    honour of your excellency's commands in regard to the measures
+    the most proper to be pursued on the present emergency.
+
+    The accounts received, first through a mercantile channel, and
+    soon after repeated from various quarters, of war having been
+    declared by the United States against Great Britain, would have
+    justified, in my opinion, offensive operations. But the
+    reflection that at Detroit and Michilimakinack the weak state of
+    the garrisons would prevent the commanders from accomplishing
+    any essential service, connected in any degree with their future
+    security, and that my means of annoyance on this communication
+    were limited to the reduction of Fort Niagara, which could
+    easily be battered at any future period, I relinquished my
+    original intention, and attended only to defensive measures. My
+    first object has been the calling out of the flank companies of
+    militia, which has produced a force on this line of about eight
+    hundred men. They turned out very cheerfully, but already show a
+    spirit of impatience. The king's stores are now at so low an
+    ebb, that they scarcely furnish any article of use or comfort.
+    Blankets, hammocks, and kettles, are all to be purchased; and
+    the troops, when watching the banks of the river, stand in the
+    utmost need of tents. Mr. Couche has adopted the most
+    efficacious means to pay the militia in paper currency. I cannot
+    positively state the number of militia that will be embodied,
+    but they cannot exceed throughout the province four thousand
+    men.
+
+    The Americans are very active on the opposite side, in the
+    erection of redoubts; we are not idle on our part, but
+    unfortunately having supplied Amherstburg with the guns which
+    that post required from Fort George, depending upon getting
+    others from Kingston to supply their place, we find ourselves at
+    this moment rather short of that essential arm. I have, however,
+    every reason to think that they are embarked on board the _Earl
+    Moira_, which vessel, according to Major M'Pherson's report, was
+    to have sailed on the 28th ultimo. The Americans have, I
+    believe, about 1200 regulars and militia between Fort Niagara
+    and Black Rock, and I consider myself at this moment perfectly
+    safe against any attempt they can make. About one hundred
+    Indians from the Grand River have attended to my summons; the
+    remainder promise to come also, but I have too much reason to
+    conclude that the Americans have been too successful in their
+    endeavours to sow dissension and disaffection among them. It is
+    a great object to get this fickle race interspersed among the
+    troops. I should be unwilling, in the event of a retreat, to
+    have three or four hundred of them hanging on my flank. I shall
+    probably have to sacrifice some money to gain them over, and the
+    appointment of a few officers with salaries will be absolutely
+    necessary.
+
+    The Americans make a daily parade of their force, and easily
+    impose on the people on this side in regard to their numbers. I
+    do not think they exceed 1200, but they are represented as
+    infinitely more numerous.
+
+    For the last fortnight every precaution has been taken to guard
+    against the least communication, and to this day we are ignorant
+    whether the President has sanctioned the war resolutions of the
+    two houses of Congress; that is, whether war be actually
+    declared.
+
+    I have not been honoured with a line from Mr. Foster,[33] nor
+    with all my endeavours have I been able to retain information of
+    any consequence. The _Prince Regent_ made her first voyage this
+    morning, and I purpose sending her to Kingston this evening, to
+    bring such articles as are absolutely necessary, which we know
+    have arrived from Quebec. I trust she will out-sail the _Oneida_
+    brig.
+
+The arrival of General Hull at Detroit and his "invasion" of Canada
+followed hard on the declaration of war; as a preliminary step previous
+to invasion he issued the Proclamation for which he was afterward so
+roundly scored. The proclamation was really an invitation to all
+disaffected persons in the Upper Provinces to join Hull's army. That it
+had no more success than it did, was due, it may be believed, to the
+personal magnetism of the able man in control of affairs--to the trust
+that the people had as a whole in General Brock. To counteract Hull's
+proclamation Brock replied in one of his own, and it contains several
+statements of interest as displaying the character of its author:
+
+    The unprovoked declaration of war by the United States of
+    America against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
+    and its dependencies, has been followed by the actual invasion
+    of this province, in a remote frontier of the western district,
+    by a detachment of the armed force of the United States.
+
+    The officer commanding that detachment has thought proper to
+    invite his majesty's subjects, not merely to a quiet and
+    unresisting submission, but insults them with a call to seek
+    voluntarily the protection of his government.
+
+    Without condescending to repeat the illiberal epithets bestowed
+    in this appeal of the American commander to the people of Upper
+    Canada, on the administration of his majesty, every inhabitant
+    of the province is desired to seek the confutation of such
+    indecent slander in the review of his own particular
+    circumstances. Where is the Canadian subject who can truly
+    affirm to himself that he has been injured by the government, in
+    his person, his property, or his liberty? Where is to be found,
+    in any part of the world, a growth so rapid in prosperity and
+    wealth, as this colony exhibits? Settled not thirty years, by a
+    band of veterans, exiled from their former possessions on
+    account of their loyalty, not a descendant of these brave people
+    is to be found, who, under the fostering liberality of their
+    sovereign, has not acquired a property and means of enjoyment
+    superior to what were possessed by their ancestors.
+
+    [Illustration: "Navy Hall Opposite Niagara."
+
+    A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.]
+
+    The unequalled prosperity would not have been attained by the
+    utmost liberality of the government, or the persevering industry
+    of the people, had not the maritime power of the mother-country
+    secured to its colonists a safe access to every market, where
+    the produce of their labour was in request.
+
+    The unavoidable and immediate consequences of a separation from
+    Great Britain must be the loss of this inestimable advantage;
+    and what is offered you in exchange? To become a territory of
+    the United States, and share with them that exclusion from the
+    ocean which the policy of their government enforces; you are not
+    even flattered with a participation of their boasted
+    independence; and it is but too obvious that, once estranged
+    from the powerful protection of the United Kingdom, you must be
+    re-annexed to the dominion of France, from which the provinces
+    of Canada were wrested by the arms of Great Britain, at a vast
+    expense of blood and treasure, from no other motive than to
+    relieve her ungrateful children from the oppression of a cruel
+    neighbour. This restitution of Canada to the empire of France,
+    was the stipulated reward for the aid afforded to the revolted
+    colonies, now the United States; the debt is still due, and
+    there can be no doubt but the pledge has been renewed as a
+    consideration for commercial advantages, or rather for an
+    expected relaxation in the tyranny of France over the commercial
+    world. Are you prepared, inhabitants of Canada, to become
+    willing subjects, or rather slaves, to the despot who rules the
+    nations of continental Europe with a rod of iron? If not, arise
+    in a body, exert your energies, co-operate cordially with the
+    King's regular forces to repel the invader, and do not give
+    cause to your children, when groaning under the oppression of a
+    foreign master, to reproach you with having so easily parted
+    with the richest inheritance of this earth--a participation in
+    the name, character, and freedom of Britons!
+
+    The same spirit of justice, which will make every reasonable
+    allowance for the unsuccessful efforts of zeal and loyalty, will
+    not fail to punish the defalcation of principle. Every Canadian
+    freeholder is, by deliberate choice, bound by the most solemn
+    oaths to defend the monarchy, as well as his own property; to
+    shrink from that engagement is a treason not to be forgiven. Let
+    no man suppose that if, in this unexpected struggle, his
+    majesty's arms should be compelled to yield to an overwhelming
+    force, the province will be eventually abandoned; the endeared
+    relations of its first settlers, the intrinsic value of its
+    commerce, and the pretensions of its powerful rival to possess
+    the Canadas, are pledges that no peace will be established
+    between the United States and Great Britain and Ireland, of
+    which the restoration of these provinces does not make the most
+    prominent condition.
+
+    Be not dismayed at the unjustifiable threat of the commander of
+    the enemy's forces to refuse quarter, should an Indian appear in
+    the ranks. The brave bands of aborigines which inhabit this
+    colony were, like his Majesty's other subjects, punished for
+    their zeal and fidelity, by the loss of their possessions in the
+    late colonies, and requited by his Majesty with lands of
+    superior value in this province. The faith of the British
+    government has never yet been violated--the Indians feel that
+    the soil they inherit is to them and their posterity protected
+    from the base arts so frequently devised to over-reach their
+    simplicity. By what new principle are they to be prohibited from
+    defending their property? If their warfare, from being different
+    to that of the white people, be more terrific to the enemy, let
+    him retrace his steps--they seek him not--and cannot expect to
+    find women and children in an invading army. But they are men,
+    and have equal rights with all other men to defend themselves
+    and their property when invaded, more especially when they find
+    in the enemy's camp a ferocious and mortal foe; using the same
+    warfare which the American commander affects to reprobate.
+
+    This inconsistent and unjustifiable threat of refusing quarter,
+    for such a cause as being found in arms with a brother sufferer,
+    in defence of invaded rights, must be exercised with the certain
+    assurance of retaliation, not only in the limited operations of
+    war in this part of the King's dominions, but in every quarter
+    of the globe; for the national character of Britain is not less
+    distinguished for humanity than strict retributive justice,
+    which will consider the execution of this inhuman threat as
+    deliberate murder, for which every subject of the offending
+    power must make expiation.
+
+Few men ever had the task that General Brock now essayed thrown upon
+their shoulders. With some fifteen hundred men he had to occupy the
+forts St. Joseph, Amherstburg (Malden), Chippewa, Erie, and George,
+together with York (Toronto) and Kingston; maintain British supremacy,
+if possible, on three great lakes; preserve the long communication and
+defend a frontier eight hundred and more miles in length. And it is to
+be remembered that even in time of peace there had been no little
+trouble in keeping the British regulars from deserting to the American
+side of the Niagara--probably to take advantage of the splendid
+agricultural and commercial opportunities in the West just then being
+thrown open to the pioneer hosts and to which Easterners were flocking
+"in shoals," as one observer put it. His position was the more peculiar
+because of the nature of the larger portion of the inhabitants of the
+upper province, the loyalists. Having fled from the United States in the
+hours of the Revolution, fancy now the thoughts of these honest people
+as they faced the prospect of their land of refuge being invaded by an
+army from the land below the lakes! Seldom did a people have more cause
+for apprehension; seldom did the inhabitants of an invaded land look
+less for commiseration on the part of the invaders. The result was that
+a very few fled back again to the land of their birth; but the vast
+majority resolved to trust the issue to Providence--and these looked to
+General Brock to preserve the land.
+
+The situation was unique and gave the man at the helm a singular
+opportunity to prove himself and win the deathless devotion of a whole
+people. Little wonder that the man who proved himself equal to this
+critical hour will forever be known as "The Hero of Upper Canada."
+
+Brigadier-General Hull had advanced into Upper Canada from Detroit
+early in July, but it was not until the capture of Hull's despatches by
+Colonel Proctor in the affair near Brownsville when Van Horne's party
+was ambushed that Brock planned to execute the daring advance which
+ended in the astonishing capture of Detroit and Hull's entire army. On
+the 6th of August Brock departed from York, with five hundred additional
+volunteers, largely sons of loyalists, who were very true to their
+adopted country in this crisis--or, perhaps we should say, loyal to this
+brave leader in whom were suddenly found the qualities required by the
+extraordinary occasion. Being compelled to leave a part of the little
+force he was leading westward along the Niagara River, General Brock
+reached Amherstburg (Malden) in five days and nights with some three
+hundred followers. It is plain on this showing that whatever the result
+of the bold enterprise there was now no hesitation in carrying it out.
+Tecumseh's salute in his honour was suppressed as quickly as possible,
+such was the scarcity of powder! There is something pathetically
+interesting in two despatches issued by Brock on two successive
+days,--August 14th and 15th. One was an appeal to his troops to prevent
+desertion among the country folk who felt it imperative to get in their
+crops; the other was an ultimatum to Hull summoning him to surrender.
+The incongruity of the two epistles is almost amusing, especially when
+it is remembered that the British had very little powder and a force
+smaller than that opposed to it beyond the Detroit River. And yet the
+bombastic order reads:
+
+    The force at my disposal authorises me to require of you the
+    immediate surrender of Fort Detroit. It is far from my
+    inclination to join in a war of extermination; but you must be
+    aware that the numerous body of Indians who have attached
+    themselves to my troops will be beyond my control the moment the
+    contest commences. You will find me disposed to enter into such
+    conditions as will satisfy the most scrupulous sense of honour.
+    Lieut.-Colonel M'Donell and Major Glegg are fully authorised to
+    conclude any arrangement that may lead to prevent the
+    unnecessary effusion of blood.
+
+An answer of bold and frank tenor from Hull was received by the
+desperate Brock, who immediately chose his course; there was nothing for
+it but to retreat or attack the enemies' position; he could not sit
+still; he was in George Rogers Clark's shoes at Kaskaskia a generation
+before when Hamilton had captured Vincennes--he must capture Hull or be
+captured by Hull. It was true to the kind of man he was that Brock
+should spurn the advice of his officers to retreat and should determine,
+despite their objections, to put his threat into execution. On Sunday,
+the 16th of August, Brock's determined men were crossing the Strait. His
+force included less than four hundred regulars and about that many
+militia supported by some six hundred Indians. The American troops
+numbered upwards of two thousand. As is well known Brock received
+notification as his force was moving upon the fort that General Hull was
+ready to treat with him. The resolute deportment of the desperate Brock
+had won for him and his King a bloodless conquest that will go down in
+history as one of the most heroic on the part of one commander and most
+despicable on the part of the other to be found in the annals of
+warfare. Congressmen who had been boasting in debate that it was
+unnecessary to even send troops into the Canadas since officers alone,
+by appearing there, could rally armies of disaffected persons about
+them, now read that one determined man, acting against the advice of his
+officers had appeared at the gates of Detroit with half an army and
+taken its keys as readily as though they were voted to him by the city
+fathers and brought to him on a silver salver. "We have the Canadas,"
+rang the silvery voice of Henry Clay in Congress, "as much under our
+command as Great Britain has the ocean; and the way to conquer her on
+the ocean is to drive her from the land." No one could have more
+completely misjudged an enemy or his own country as did the great
+Kentuckian in this instance.
+
+It is interesting in the extreme to survey the man who had won a signal
+triumph as he now marches back to York and Fort George where he had
+spent so many useless, fruitless years, as it seemed to him--yearning in
+season and out of season for the opportunity to get away to the
+Peninsula, or somewhere where fame might be achieved. Brock's success is
+a great lesson to all ambitious men. Doing the humble drudgery of the
+duty that lay next his hand, despite the regret and even pain occasioned
+by lack of opportunity, this man suddenly came into a fame world-wide
+and the honour of the Bath that he thought could come to him only in
+sunny Spain. On the 10th of the following October General Brock's
+brother William was asked by his wife why the park and tower guns were
+saluting. "For Isaac, of course," he answered, playfully; "don't you
+know that this is Isaac's birthday?" A little later he learned that the
+news of the surrender of Detroit had just been received, and that his
+playful answer was very near the truth after all!
+
+[Illustration: Queenston and Brock's Monument.
+
+From a photograph by Wm. Quinn, Niagara-on-the-Lake.]
+
+It is fruitless to imagine what might have been the trend of events in
+Canada but for the daring decision made by Brock to move upon Detroit;
+his courage in running in the teeth of the wind and trusting to
+Providence to fetch the quay by hook or crook, is the very quality of
+the human heart that mankind most delights to honour; it is remarkable
+that the imbecility of Hull could have so completely blinded our
+American eyes to this display of splendid daring of Brock's, which ranks
+with Clark's bold march through the drowned lands of the Wabash, or
+Wayne's attack on Stony Point. The capture of Hull and Detroit
+unquestionably saved Upper Canada to England; for though American arms
+were successful to some degree beyond the line, as we shall see, the
+successes did not count toward conquest and annexation as would have
+been the case, perhaps, had they come at the outbreak of the war. All
+Canada felt the heartening effect of Brock's inexplicable victory;
+thousands who had feared instant and ruthless invasion now felt strong
+to repel any and all invaders; and the effect extended to the Indian
+allies and across the ocean to the home-country, as well. Had Clay's
+theory been true and the war had to be settled by land battles, Detroit
+would have delayed the end for many years; but America was soon to show
+a power on the sea as surprising as the stupidity of some of her
+commanders on shore and play England at her own sea-dog game with her
+own weapons and gain the victory.
+
+The General's letter to his brothers is interesting as exhibiting the
+man's private views on his great success:
+
+    I have received [he writes] so many letters from people whose
+    opinion I value, expressive of their admiration of the exploit,
+    that I begin to attach to it more importance than I was at first
+    inclined. Should the affair be viewed in England in the light it
+    is here, I cannot fail of meeting reward, and escaping the
+    horror of being placed high on a shelf, never to be taken down.
+    Some say that nothing could be more desperate than the measure;
+    but I answer, that the state of the province admitted of nothing
+    but desperate remedies. I got possession of the letters my
+    antagonist addressed to the secretary of war, and also of the
+    sentiments which hundreds of his army uttered to their friends.
+    Confidence in the General was gone, and evident despondency
+    prevailed throughout. I have succeeded beyond expectation. I
+    crossed the river, contrary to the opinion of Colonel Proctor,
+    . . . etc.[34]; it is, therefore, no wonder that envy should
+    attribute to good fortune what, in justice to my own
+    discernment, I must say, proceeded from a cool calculation of
+    the _pours_ and _contres_.
+
+General Brock, along with most other British leaders who operated along
+the American frontier, has been accused of using the savages to fight in
+savage ways the battles of white men against fellow whites. Rossiter
+Johnson, in his _War of 1812_, to cite one of the careful students who
+has thus referred to Brock, in speaking of the minute-guns fired on the
+American shore during Brock's funeral, says:
+
+    There was perhaps no harm in this little bit of sentiment,
+    though if the Americans remembered that two months before, in
+    demanding the surrender of Detroit, General Brock had threatened
+    to let loose a horde of savages upon the garrison and town, if
+    he were compelled to capture it by force, they must have seen
+    that their minute-guns were supremely illogical, not to say
+    silly.[35]
+
+One who has any reason to know how much basis Washington had for his
+sweeping remark that most of the trouble the United States had with the
+western Indians was due to the demeanour of British officers to them,
+could only with difficulty become prejudiced in favour of any British
+officers who had actual dealings with the Canadian Indians and actually
+led them in person to battle. And yet the present writer has found
+sufficient ground in Brock's correspondence for holding that Brock was
+above reproach personally on this score--that he was a gentleman here as
+elsewhere, a true nobleman. We cannot here enter into a lengthy
+discussion of such a difficult problem. A letter extant, written by
+Brock to General Prevost, shows his attitude in this delicate matter
+during those desperate days when Harrison was fighting the wily
+Tecumseh:
+
+    My first care, on my arrival in this province, was to direct the
+    officers of the Indian department at Amherstburg to exert their
+    whole influence with the Indians to prevent the attack which I
+    understood a few tribes meditated against the American frontier.
+    But their efforts proved fruitless, as such was the infatuation
+    of the Indians, that they refused to listen to advice.
+
+It will always be an open question how much control the responsible men,
+either American or British, had over their red-skinned "brothers"
+compared with their half-renegade, forest-running underlings who
+dispensed the powder, blankets, and fire-water and directed affairs much
+as they pleased.
+
+Before the outbreak of the war Brock wrote to his superiors concerning
+his province as follows:
+
+    The first point to which I am anxious to call your excellency's
+    attention is the district of Amherstburg. I consider it the most
+    important, and, if supplied with the means of commencing active
+    operations, must deter any offensive attempt on this province,
+    from Niagara westward. The American government will be compelled
+    to secure their western frontier from the inroads of the
+    Indians, and this cannot be effected without a very considerable
+    force. But before we can expect an active co-operation on the
+    part of the Indians, the reduction of Detroit and
+    Michilimakinack must convince that people, who conceive
+    themselves to have been sacrificed, in 1794, to our policy,[36]
+    that we are earnestly engaged in the war. The Indians, I am made
+    to understand, are eager for an opportunity to avenge the
+    numerous injuries of which they complain. A few tribes, at the
+    instigation of a Shawnese, of no particular note, have already,
+    although explicitly told not to look for assistance from us,
+    commenced the contest. The stand which they continue to make
+    upon the Wabash, against about two thousand Americans, including
+    militia and regulars, is a strong proof of the large force which
+    a general combination of the Indians will render necessary to
+    protect so widely extended a frontier.
+
+Again, Brock was in a very different position from the British
+commanders during the Revolution; his province was being invaded and the
+Indians who had settled under the auspices of the British Government in
+that province were threatened with destruction as seriously as the
+loyalists or the native Englishmen transplanted from the mother-country.
+Surely, no one would expect Indians whose homes lay in the upper
+province to remain neutral when that province was invaded. Indeed, in
+February, 1812, we find Brock complaining to his superior of the lax
+attention that was paid by the Government to the Indians settled in the
+province he had been sent to govern.
+
+    Divisions are thus uninterruptedly sowed among our Indian
+    friends [he wrote, meaning, of course, sowed by Americans], and
+    the minds of many altogether estranged from our interests. Such
+    must inevitably be the consequence of our present inert and
+    neutral proceedings in regard to them. It ill becomes me to
+    determine how long true policy requires that the restrictions
+    imposed upon the Indian department ought to continue; but this I
+    will venture to assert, that each day the officers are
+    restrained from interfering in the concerns of the Indians, each
+    time they advise peace and withhold the accustomed supply of
+    ammunition, their influence will diminish, till at length they
+    lose it altogether.
+
+Nothing shows better the activity of the American officers in seeking to
+line the Indians up on the side of the fighting Republic than Brock's
+letters to his superiors. We have already seen that Brock had, as late
+as July 3d, little hope of keeping the Indians of the Grand River true
+to him because of the American influence exerted over them by active
+agents. And we have seen, in his counter-proclamation answering that
+issued by General Hull, that Brock places the employment of the Indians
+on the ground of territorial rights: "By what new principle," he asks,
+"are they to be prohibited from defending their property?"
+
+The ominous words used by General Brock in his summons to Hull to
+surrender have, it must be admitted, all the ring of a threat; but, for
+one, I do not take them to be that primarily, but rather the honest,
+frank words of a gentleman. In case of the sacking of Detroit Brock
+could not have controlled those redskins of his, and he knew it. In like
+circumstances what general had been able to control the Indians attached
+to him? In the single instance of Sir William Johnson at the fall of
+Fort Niagara, we find an illustration of approximate control, yet
+nothing in the world but the power of that great man would have answered
+under the circumstances. I would believe that Brock knew he could not
+control his Iroquois allies,[37] whether in victory or in defeat, and
+made a plain statement to Hull to that effect. That he told the truth I
+think no one can doubt after examining the situation; whether he would
+have told the truth if the truth had not carried a threat may be
+questioned. The truth usually answers a gentleman's purposes, and Brock
+was that to the marrow of his bones.
+
+Brock had not overestimated the effect and influence of his bloodless
+victory upon the English, but, by strange caprice of Fate, was not
+permitted to live to receive the high honours bestowed upon him. On the
+thirteenth of the following October, in the battle of Queenston Heights,
+elsewhere described, while reforming the broken British ranks for a
+second time, a bullet in the breast cut short a life that promised very
+high attainment. As was his custom the General had arisen before
+daybreak on this fatal day and had left Fort George at the first sound
+of the battle on the heights. His conspicuous presence, bright uniform,
+and animated deportment in attempting to reform the broken lines, made
+him a plain target for Wool's heroic men, who had climbed up a pathway
+steeper than any Wolfe's troops ever saw at Quebec. "Push on the York
+volunteers," were the words of the brave man's last order; but as he lay
+in the arms of his aides he begged that his injury might not be noticed
+by the troops or disconcert their advance; and with one half-understood
+wish concerning a token of love to be given to his sister, Isaac Brock
+fell dead.
+
+It is not given to many notable men to fall in the very midst of
+spectacular success; it can easily be believed that General Brock, being
+the man we know him to have been, would have made the best use of his
+triumph, and that it would have been but a stepping-stone to enlarged
+opportunities where each duty in its turn would have received the same
+decent, earnest attention that the man gave to his work throughout those
+half-unhappy days when he felt marooned in the wilds of a dreary ocean,
+where no one could prove his merit, calibre, or knowledge. And so, after
+all is said for this fine man, I, for one, like best to go back to those
+days of impatient longing for opportunity amid the dull grind of routine
+at Fort George, and see the real spirit of Brock who, in all truth,
+deserves the honourable title of "Hero of Upper Canada"; and when you
+have caught the spirit displayed by him in those dispiriting days,
+realise his careful faithfulness in the humdrum life he was asked to
+live, while his schoolmates of war were winning great glory on the
+epoch-making European battlefields, join to it that sudden burst of
+splendid grit and heroism that provoked the Detroit attack despite the
+advice of the staff officers, and you have a combination that thrills
+the heart of friend and enemy--of all who love patient doing of duty and
+real displays of undiluted heroism.
+
+Some of the best tributes to Brock, were, as should have been the case,
+those paid by persons who knew of his place in the hearts of the people
+of his adopted land of service:
+
+    The news of the death of this excellent officer [observed the
+    Quebec _Gazette_] has been received here as a public calamity.
+    The attendant circumstances of victory scarcely checked the
+    painful sensation. His long residence in this province, and
+    particularly in this place, had made him in habits and good
+    offices almost a citizen; and his frankness, conciliatory
+    disposition, and elevated demeanour, an estimable one. The
+    expressions of regret as general as he was known, and not
+    uttered by friends and acquaintances only, but by every
+    gradation of class, not only by grown persons, but young
+    children, are the test of his worth. Such, too, is the only
+    eulogium worthy of the good and brave, and the citizens of
+    Quebec have, with solemn emotions, pronounced it on his memory.
+    But at this anxious moment other feelings are excited by his
+    loss. General Brock had acquired the confidence of the
+    inhabitants within his government. He had secured their
+    attachment permanently by his own merits. They were one people
+    animated by one disposition, and this he had gradually wound up
+    to the crisis in which they were placed. Strange as it may seem,
+    it is to be feared that he had become too important to them. The
+    heroic militia of Upper Canada, more particularly, had knit
+    themselves to his person; and it is yet to be ascertained
+    whether the desire to avenge his death can compensate the many
+    embarrassments it will occasion. It is indeed true that the
+    spirit, and even the abilities, of a distinguished man often
+    carry their influence beyond the grave; and the present event
+    furnishes its own example, for it is certain notwithstanding
+    General Brock was cut off early in the action, that he had
+    already given an impulse to his little army, which contributed
+    to accomplish the victory when he was no more. Let us trust that
+    the recollection of him will become a new bond of union, and
+    that, as he sacrificed himself for a community of patriots, they
+    will find a new motive to exertion in the obligation to secure
+    his ashes from the pestilential dominion of the enemy.
+
+A Montreal newspaper of the day also contained the following
+observations:
+
+    The private letters from Upper Canada, in giving the account of
+    the late victory at Queenstown, are partly taken up with
+    lamentations upon the never-to-be-forgotten General Brock, which
+    do honour to the character and talents of the man they deplore.
+    The enemy have nothing to hope from the loss they have
+    inflicted; they have created a hatred which panteth for revenge.
+    Although General Brock may be said to have fallen in the midst
+    of his career, yet his previous services in Upper Canada will be
+    lasting and highly beneficial. When he assumed the government of
+    the province, he found a divided, disaffected, and, of course, a
+    weak people. He has left them united and strong, and the
+    universal sorrow of the province attends his fall. The father,
+    to his children, will make known the mournful story. The
+    veteran, who fought by his side in the heat and burthen of the
+    day of our deliverance, will venerate his name.
+
+And the sentiments of the British Government, on the melancholy
+occasion, were thus expressed in a despatch from Earl Bathurst, the
+secretary of state for the colonies, to Sir George Prevost, dated
+December 8, 1812:
+
+    His Royal Highness the Prince Regent is fully aware of the
+    severe loss which his Majesty's service has experienced in the
+    death of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. This would have been
+    sufficient to have clouded a victory of much greater importance.
+    His Majesty has lost in him not only an able and meritorious
+    officer, but one who, in the exercise of his functions of
+    provisional lieutenant-governor of the province, displayed
+    qualities admirably adapted to awe the disloyal, to reconcile
+    the wavering, and to animate the great mass of the inhabitants
+    against successive attempts of the enemy to invade the province,
+    in the last of which he unhappily fell, too prodigal of that
+    life of which his eminent services had taught us to understand
+    the value.
+
+The body of the fallen hero lay in state at the government house until
+the 16th of October, when, with that of Colonel McDonell, it was buried
+with due honours in a cavalier bastion of Fort George, at the spot now
+marked by the tablet indicating the first burial-place. On the 13th of
+October, 1824, the remains were moved to the summit of the heights,
+whereon a beautiful monument had been erected by the Provincial
+Legislature, 135 feet in height, bearing this "splendid tribute to the
+unfading remembrance of a grateful people":
+
+  UPPER CANADA
+  HAS DEDICATED THIS MONUMENT
+  TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE
+  MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC BROCK, K.B.
+  PROVISIONAL LIEUT.-GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER OF THE FORCES
+  IN THIS PROVINCE
+  WHOSE REMAINS ARE DEPOSITED IN THE VAULT BENEATH
+  OPPOSING THE INVADING ENEMY
+  HE FELL IN ACTION NEAR THESE HEIGHTS
+  ON THE 13TH OCTOBER, 1812
+  IN THE 43D YEAR OF HIS AGE
+  REVERED AND LAMENTED
+  BY THE PEOPLE WHOM HE GOVERNED
+  AND DEPLORED BY THE SOVEREIGN
+  TO WHOSE SERVICE HIS LIFE HAD BEEN DEVOTED.
+
+[Illustration: Brock's Monument.]
+
+The following description of this interesting pageant portrays the
+genuine feeling of devotion felt for the "Hero of Upper Canada" that
+filled the hearts of his countrymen:
+
+    There is something so grand and imposing in the spectacle of a
+    nation's homage to departed worth, which calls for the exercise
+    of so many interesting feelings, and which awakens so many
+    sublime contemplations, that we naturally seek to perpetuate the
+    memory of an event so pregnant with instruction, and so
+    honourable to our species. It is a subject that in other and in
+    older countries has frequently exercised the pens, and has
+    called forth all the descriptive powers of the ablest writers.
+    But here it is new; and for the first time, since we became a
+    separate province, have we seen a great public funeral
+    procession of all ranks of people, to the amount of several
+    thousands, bearing the remains of two lamented heroes to their
+    last dwelling on earth, in the vaults of a grand national
+    monument, overtopping the loftiest heights of the most
+    magnificent section of one of the most magnificent countries in
+    the world.
+
+    The 13th of October, being the anniversary of the battle of
+    Queenstown, and of the death of Brock, was judiciously chosen as
+    the most proper day for the removal of the remains of the
+    general, together with those of his gallant aide-de-camp,
+    Lieutenant-Colonel M'Donell, to the vaults prepared for their
+    reception on Queenstown Heights.
+
+    The weather was remarkably fine, and before ten o'clock a very
+    large concourse of people, from all parts of the country, had
+    assembled on the plains of Niagara, in front of Fort George, in
+    a bastion of which the bodies had been deposited for twelve
+    years.
+
+    One hearse covered with black cloth, and drawn by four black
+    horses, each with a leader, contained both the bodies. Soon
+    after ten, a lane was formed by the 1st and 4th regiments of
+    Lincoln militia, with their right on the gate of Fort George,
+    and their left extending along the road towards Queenstown, the
+    ranks being about forty paces distant from each other; within
+    this line was formed a guard of honour of the 76th Regiment, in
+    parade order, having its left on the fort. As the hearse moved
+    slowly from the fort, to the sound of solemn music, a detachment
+    of royal artillery began to fire the salute of nineteen guns,
+    and the guard of honour presented arms.
+
+    On moving forwards in ordinary time, the guard of honour broke
+    into a column of eight divisions, with the right in front, and
+    the procession took the following order:
+
+  A Staff Officer.
+  Subdivision of Grenadiers.
+  Band of Music.
+  Right Wing of 76th Regiment.
+  THE BODY.
+  Aide-de-Camp to the late Major-General Sir Isaac Brock.
+  Chief Mourners.
+  Commissioners for the Monument.
+  Heads of Public Departments of the Civil Government.
+  Judges.
+  Members of the Executive Council.
+  His Excellency and Suite.
+  Left Wing of the 76th Regiment.
+  Indian Chiefs of the Five Nations.
+  Officers of Militia not on duty--Junior Ranks--First Forward.
+  Four deep.
+  Magistrates and Civilians.
+  With a long Cavalcade of Horsemen, and Carriages of every description.
+
+On the 17th of April, 1840, a miscreant by the name of Lett laid a train
+to a quantity of gunpowder secreted beneath the monument to General
+Brock and fired it, partially wrecking both the base and the pillar. The
+criminal had been compelled to flee the country during the rebellion
+then just over, and, returning, took this outrageous method of
+gratifying his malice. As we look upon the beautiful monument that
+stands above Brock's remains to-day it is with a feeling almost of
+pleasure that such a wretched deed was necessary to result in the fine
+pillar that is one of the scenic beauties of the Niagara country to-day.
+This fine shaft bears the following inscription:
+
+    The Legislature of Upper Canada has dedicated this Monument to
+    the very distinguished, eminent, civil, and military services of
+    the late Sir Isaac Brock, Knight of the Most Hon. Order of the
+    Bath, Provisional Lieutenant-Governor, and Major-General
+    commanding the Forces in this Province, whose remains are
+    deposited in the vault beneath. Having expelled the Northwestern
+    Army of the United States, achieved its capture, received the
+    surrender of Fort Detroit, and the territory of Michigan, under
+    circumstances which have rendered his name illustrious he
+    returned to the protection of this frontier; and advancing with
+    his small force to repel a second invasion of the enemy, then in
+    possession of these heights, he fell in action, on the 13th of
+    October, 1812, in the forty-third year of his age, honoured and
+    beloved by the people whom he governed and deplored by his
+    Sovereign, to whose service his life had been devoted.
+
+[Footnote 30: _The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir Isaac
+Brock, K.B._, by Ferdinand Brock Tupper, p. 16. This most interesting
+volume has furnished very much of the material for this chapter. D. B.
+Read's _Life and Times of General Brock_ is an excellent book for
+popular use and will be found quoted herein.]
+
+[Footnote 31: One cause of desertion seems to have been the ubiquitous
+American girl. In a later letter Brock wrote:
+
+    "Not a desertion has been attempted by any of the 49th for the
+    last ten months, with the exception, indeed, of Hogan. He served
+    Glegg, who took him with him to the Falls of Niagara, where a
+    fair damsel persuaded him to this act of madness, for the fellow
+    cannot possibly gain his bread by labour, as he has half killed
+    himself with excessive drinking; and we know he cannot live upon
+    love alone."]
+
+[Footnote 32: A letter from Colonel Kempt runs: "I have just received a
+long letter . . . giving me an account of a splendid ball given by you
+to the _beau monde_ of Niagara and its vicinity, and the manner in which
+she speaks of your liberality and hospitality reminds me of the many
+pleasant hours I have passed under your roof. We _have no such parties
+now_, and the indisposition of Sir James having prevented the usual
+public days at the castle, nothing more stupid than Quebec now is can be
+imagined."]
+
+[Footnote 33: British Ambassador to the United States.]
+
+[Footnote 34: In the face of the fact here divulged concerning Proctor's
+attitude toward Brock's determination to move upon Detroit it is
+interesting to remember Brock's very high praise of Proctor in his
+report of the capture. His words, so characteristic of the gentleman,
+were: "I have been admirably supported by Colonel Proctor. . . ."]
+
+[Footnote 35: P. 60.]
+
+[Footnote 36: The reference here is to the failure of the British to
+assist the Indian confederacy withstand General Wayne's invasion of the
+Maumee Valley which ended in the victory of Fallen Timber.]
+
+[Footnote 37: That Brock feared the Indians when acting in unison, that
+is, when not "interspersed" among the troops, is perfectly plain from
+his letter to General Prevost of July 3d.]
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter XI
+
+  The Second War with England
+
+
+We have explained the influence of the life and death of General Brock
+in the upper province sufficiently for the reader to conceive, perhaps,
+an unusual interest in the course of the war that soon was raging, in
+reality or in burlesque, as it sometimes appeared, along the northern
+border; no one can take any interest in Brock's career without wondering
+whether his province was invaded or conquered despite the sacrifices of
+this undefeated but dead hero.
+
+Upon Brock's return from Detroit he found General Stephen Van Rensselaer
+commanding the American shore of the river, preparing, according to
+report, to begin the conquest of the upper province. There was much
+cause for delay, which in turn provoked criticism and unrest, but as
+October of 1812 drew near it was considered necessary and possible to
+execute the advance upon Brock's positions along the river and on
+Queenston Heights and Fort George. The first attempt to advance on the
+night of the 10th proved abortive through the treachery of an
+irresponsible lieutenant. Instead of quieting the ardour of the army
+this disgusting mishap made the troops the more eager for the conflict,
+and a new plan was very secretly arranged, with such success that it is
+pretty sure that General Brock was in doubt up to the last moment where
+the attack was to be made. A strong force had been kept at Fort Niagara,
+and this, with the stationing of Colonel Chrystie's troops at Four Mile
+Creek, caused Brock to believe that the attack was to be made on Fort
+George.
+
+The night of the twelfth was set as the time for the second attempt to
+cross the Niagara. Soon after dark, Chrystie with his three hundred men
+marched from Fort Niagara by interior routes to Lewiston, reaching his
+destination before midnight. Re-enforcements had also come from the
+Falls, as well as Colonel Scott who had just arrived at Schlosser,
+aroused by the information that a battle was soon to be fought and glory
+to be won. Scott presented himself to the General asking permission to
+take part in the engagement, and though Van Rensselaer could not change
+his plans he offered to let Scott take position on Lewiston Heights and
+co-operate with the rest of the army as he saw fit.
+
+Solomon Van Rensselaer was again placed in command but Colonel Chrystie
+was allowed to lead an equal force, thus recognising his rank. Three
+o'clock in the morning, October 13th, was the time set for crossing the
+river. The night was very dark. The plan was for Chrystie and Van
+Rensselaer to cross and storm the heights, when the rest of the army
+should follow on the second trip and attack Queenston. The boats,
+however, would not carry more than half the desired number; these with
+their leaders landed on the Canadian shore not more than ten minutes
+after leaving Lewiston landing, at the very spot aimed at, at the foot
+of the cliff under Lewiston suspension bridge. The British were found
+very much on the alert and opened fire from the heights the moment the
+boats touched land. Lovett's battery on Lewiston Heights immediately
+opened fire in answer, and this, with a charge by the regulars of the
+Thirteenth under Wool, soon drove the enemy backward toward Queenston.
+Wool took position just above Queenston when orders were given him to
+storm the heights. Eager and anxious for the struggle, his troops were
+immediately put in motion, but he soon received orders countermanding
+the first just as he was moving rapidly toward the heights. No sooner
+had his men taken position in accord with it than the right flank was
+fiercely attacked by Dennis's full force. At the same moment the British
+opened fire upon the little body from the heights. Wool immediately,
+without tarrying for orders, faced about and poured such a fierce fire
+into Dennis's command that it was compelled to fall back. In the
+meantime Van Rensselaer had come up with his command and taken position
+on Wool's left. In this short engagement, the Americans suffered most
+severely. Van Rensselaer was so severely wounded that he was forced to
+relinquish the command, and Wool had been wounded though refusing to
+leave the field.
+
+The British on the heights kept up a continual fire on the Americans,
+which from their position could not be returned with effect, and the
+little invading army fell back to the shore below the hill where they
+occupied a more sheltered position.
+
+Daybreak had now come, and a storm which had raged all morning had
+ceased with the retreat of the Americans; but the storm of lead was soon
+to break more furiously than before, although the little army was in a
+sorry plight. Wool was only twenty-three years old. The commanding
+officer, Solomon Van Rensselaer, was forced to retire. What was to be
+done? Wool had asked for orders. The heights must be taken or the
+enterprise abandoned; Wool was ordered to storm the heights and Lush
+commanded to follow and shoot the first man that wavered--for signs of
+disaffection were already showing themselves. No sooner did Wool receive
+his orders than, fired by the frenzy of the battle, forgetting wounds
+and all else, he sprang forward to its execution. Up the ascent the men
+rushed, protected from fire to a degree by bushes and rocks. Many parts
+of the hill were so steep that there was nothing for it but to pull
+themselves along by the roots and shrubs. General Brock, in the
+meantime, hardly knew what to expect. He was at Fort George and seems to
+have had a determined suspicion that the main attack would be made upon
+Fort George from Fort Niagara. He heard the early cannonading but
+supposed that it was only a feint to conceal the point of real movement.
+However, the true soldier mounted his horse and raced away immediately
+to the scene of action and death. On arriving and taking a view of the
+field Brock considered affairs favourable to the British; however, he
+had hardly dismounted at the redan battery than Wool's men scrambled
+upon the heights and opened up a galling fire. So hot was the attack
+that the Canadians were immediately forced from their stronghold; a few
+moments later the flag of the Union waved there.
+
+[Illustration: "Queenston or Landing near Niagara."
+
+A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.]
+
+Brock immediately sent to Fort George for re-enforcements, rallied the
+disorganised force, and with Williams's and Dennis's commands attempted
+to turn the American right flank; Wool perceived the move and tried to
+anticipate it by sending fifty men to its protection. These were forced
+back by superior numbers, and the whole command was compelled to give
+ground until the edge of the precipice was reached with the rushing
+river flood two hundred feet below. It seemed that they must either
+surrender or perish; one captain attempted to raise a white flag but was
+stopped by Wool, who, having addressed a few hurried words to his men,
+led them to the charge with such fierce zeal that the British in turn
+gave back. The brave Brock saw this movement in dismay; with a stinging
+rebuke, which called every man back to a realisation of his duty, the
+General placed himself at the head of the column to lead it back to
+victory. His tall form, towering above that of the soldiers around him,
+made a conspicuous mark for the American sharpshooter, and he was soon
+struck in the wrist but bravely pressed on; shortly after a ball entered
+his breast and passed out of his side, inflicting a death wound. He
+scarcely had time to make a few last requests when he died. As soon as
+the soldiers knew of their commander's death, they became infuriated.
+The column charged up the hill toward the Americans. Wool's little
+command, doubtful of victory, spiked the cannon in the redan. The
+struggle was fierce for a few moments; but the British were again made
+to retire, leaving Wool master of Queenston Heights.
+
+Re-enforcements were slowly crossing the river. Colonel Scott had
+arrived early in the morning and had placed his cannon to protect the
+crossing as far as possible. Later he received permission to cross over
+as a volunteer. Having met with Wadsworth of the New York militia, that
+officer unselfishly waived his rank on account of Scott's superior
+military experience, and allowed him to take command of regulars and
+militia, amounting in all to some six hundred. While Scott was
+superintending the unspiking of the cannon in the redan his command on
+the heights was assailed by a band of Indians under John Brant, son of
+the famous Mohawk chieftain. So furious and unexpected was their attack
+that the pickets were driven in immediately and the main body began to
+draw back. This was shortly after one o'clock in the afternoon. The
+militia, unused to being under fire, were beginning to break away when
+Scott appeared and by his commanding presence and steady nerve led the
+men back to order. A charge was immediately ordered, which was executed
+so fiercely that the Indians retired; however, they kept up a fire on
+the Americans from sheltered positions until Scott ordered a general
+assault and drove them from the heights. Lieutenant-Colonel Chrystie
+then appeared on the field for the first time and ordered Wool to the
+American shore to have his wounds dressed.
+
+General Sheaffe now arrived from Fort George with re-enforcements and
+took command of the British forces; these now numbered about thirteen
+hundred while the Americans could not count over six hundred. Sheaffe
+marched to the east to St. Davids and by brilliantly counter-marching
+gained the rear of the American army. Van Rensselaer was on the heights
+at this time; seeing these movements he returned to send over
+re-enforcements. But to his surprise, and their own eternal disgrace,
+the American militia, which had been crying out so long for action,
+refused to budge. He, as well as others, threatened, entreated, and
+implored; all in vain. The men who but a few hours before had demanded
+to be led to the war, now, at sight of blood and the smell of
+gun-powder, refused to help their comrades threatened with destruction
+on the heights across the river. Van Rensselaer transmitted this
+information to Wadsworth and promised boats if he wished to retreat, but
+he could not even make this promise good, as the frightened boatmen
+refused to raise an oar. Nothing was left for the little band on the
+heights but surrender or death! It has been offered in extenuation of
+the action of the militia that there had been gross mismanagement of the
+boats, only one or two being at hand, necessitating their being sent
+across the river in dangerously small parties. Wherever the blame should
+be placed, there was enough of it to go around and to make any patriot
+blush. The militia were within their legal rights in refusing to pass
+beyond the boundaries of their State, and may have been entirely right
+in refusing to attempt the crossing if it could not be made in force.
+
+The final engagement of the battle of Queenston Heights was inaugurated
+about four o'clock in the afternoon by General Sheaffe directing a large
+body of Indians and regulars against the American right. The superior
+numbers, together with the impetuous advance, threw the Americans into
+confusion. Sheaffe ordered an advance along the whole line and the
+American ranks were soon broken, most of those fleeing toward the city
+being cut off by the Indians; some few escaped by letting themselves
+down the steep hill by roots and bushes. Several attempts were made to
+surrender, but it is said that even those bearing the flag were shot
+down by the Indians. Colonel Scott was attacked by two savages while on
+this mission, but was valiantly rescued by a British officer. On
+reaching headquarters terms were soon agreed upon by which all the
+Americans on the Canada side became prisoners of war.
+
+Thus ended this, the spectacular battle of Queenston Heights. In many
+ways it was typical of so many battles in American military annals; the
+eagerness of hot-headed militia to hear the guns popping, the daring
+attack, the heroism of cool, undaunted officers, the loss of enthusiasm
+as the struggle wore on, the final conflict of regular and militia, the
+seemingly inexcusable lack of interest on the part of the
+non-combatants, the flight and surrender--all are typical.
+
+The death of the noble Brock has thrown a halo over the Niagara frontier
+for Briton and American alike. As you wander to-day across the pleasant
+commons at Niagara-on-the-Lake to the site of old Fort George, or
+scramble up the steep sides of beautiful Queenston Heights, you will
+find yourself thinking of the heroic leaders at the battle of
+Queenston--Brock, Wool, Chrystie, and the impetuous Scott; to one
+rambler, at least, amid these striking scenes, the battle, as such,
+quite faded out of the perspective, leaving the fine military figure of
+the British commander looming up alone beside that of the
+twenty-three-year-old boy Wool, who had jumped from his law books down
+in New York to come here as captain of militia and give the world
+another clear picture of absolute daring not surpassed in any point by
+Wolfe's at Quebec; the young Scott appears too, so willing to be in the
+fracas across the river that he crosses as a private soldier. Had the
+faltering militia caught his spirit there would have been, perhaps,
+another story to tell of the outcome of the battle! It is to be hoped
+that the year 1912 will not pass without seeing raised on Lewiston
+Heights a monument to these noble men equal in point of beauty to the
+splendid shaft raised across the river to the memory of Brock.
+
+On the 17th of November, a bombardment was opened on Black Rock from
+batteries which had been constructed across the river. The firing was
+kept up all day; but little damage was done to the Americans, and almost
+none to the British, as few cannon were mounted against them. On the
+21st of November a fierce cannonade was opened from a number of
+batteries which had been erected opposite Fort Niagara. At the same time
+the guns of Fort George, and all those of the vicinity which could be
+brought to bear, directed their fire against Fort Niagara, and kept up
+all day. The fort was fired several times by red-hot shot as were also
+the works of the enemy. Two Americans were killed and two by the
+bursting of a cannon, while four were wounded; night ended the fight and
+it was not renewed.
+
+General Smyth had succeeded in the command of the American forces in Van
+Rensselaer's place after the engagement at Queenston. He had given it as
+his opinion that the invasion should have taken place at some point
+between Black Rock and Chippewa Creek and was now in position to carry
+out his own plans. After a number of boastful proclamations, orders were
+given the army on the 25th to be ready to march at a moment's notice.
+The line of advance was planned and the whole campaign marked out. Boats
+sufficient for men and artillery were provided, and Lieutenant-Colonel
+Boerstler was to cross in the darkness and destroy a bridge about five
+miles below Fort Erie, capture all men and supplies possible, and
+return to the American shore. Captain King was to cross higher up the
+river and storm the batteries. But the enemy was not to be caught
+napping; Smyth's idle boasts and proclamations, together with his
+statements as to the proper place for crossing, had put the British on
+their guard with the result that the whole upper river was well guarded.
+
+The advance parties embarked at three o'clock on the morning of the
+29th. Of King's ten boats only four were able to effect a landing. His
+small command jumped ashore into the very thickest of the fire and
+almost immediately captured two batteries. Angus and his seamen who had
+accompanied King rushed upon the Red House, captured the field-pieces
+stationed there, spiked them, and threw them and the caissons into the
+river. Angus returned to the river, and, not knowing that the other six
+boats had been unable to land, supposed King had either returned or been
+taken prisoner. It being too dark to reconnoitre, he struck away to the
+American shore in the four boats, leaving King and his handful of men
+helpless in Canada. King, on the other hand, not receiving
+re-enforcements, returned to the landing and found all the boats gone,
+and passing down the river about two miles he discovered two boats in
+which he placed his prisoners and half his command, and started them for
+the American shore. Only a few moments later he and all with him were
+taken prisoners.
+
+[Illustration: Lieutenant Pierie's Sketch of Niagara, 1768.
+
+From an old print.]
+
+The firing had roused the British all along the line. A number of
+Boerstler's boats were not able to find the point designated as their
+landing-place, and of those that did all were driven off but Boerstler's
+own. In the face of a hot fire, he landed, forced back the enemy to the
+bridge, but when he attempted to destroy that structure he found that in
+the excitement the axes, militia-like, had been left behind, so that his
+work was only partly accomplished. While thus engaged he received the
+interesting intelligence that the whole force at Fort Erie were only
+five minutes distant. In the darkness the enemy could not be seen; but
+their advancing tramp could be easily heard. Boerstler, addressing his
+subordinates as field officers, succeeded in deceiving the British as to
+the size of his command. The Americans fired one volley and then charged
+with such spirit that the British fell back, and the little command
+recrossed the river without being further molested.
+
+It was late in the afternoon before all was in readiness for a general
+advance and the enemy were on the alert ready to give a warm reception.
+Smyth had not been seen all day. When finally all was prepared orders
+came to disembark and dine and, as nothing could be done, the soldiers
+retired to their quarters.
+
+A council was called, but no agreement could be reached. Smyth ordered
+another advance on the 30th which never took place. Disagreements
+between officers and insubordination among the soldiers soon led to the
+abandonment of the plan entirely. General Porter openly attributed the
+failure to Smyth, which shortly led to a duel in which neither was
+injured and each one's honour was vindicated.
+
+While these absurd pantomime war measures were transpiring on land the
+little American navy covered itself with glory. By hard work Lieutenant
+Oliver H. Perry had gotten ready nine vessels and fifty-five guns at
+Erie, Pennsylvania, to oppose six vessels and sixty-three guns under the
+English commander Barclay. After a careful cruise of the Lake, Perry met
+the enemy in ill condition for a battle near Put-in-Bay on the 10th of
+September, 1813. The completeness of his victory was described in his
+famous despatch to Harrison: "We have met the enemy and they are ours;
+two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop."
+
+Shortly before the victory on Lake Erie, Gen. W. H. Harrison, who now
+commanded the North-western army, accompanied by Johnson and his
+Kentucky rifles, crossed into Canada and during the last week of August
+and the first week of September was kept busy by the enemy. Proctor did
+not, however, seem anxious to fight but kept falling back before the
+Americans, much to the disgust of the famous Shawanese chieftain
+Tecumseh, who was anxious for a battle. The army at last took position
+on the Thames River on the 5th of August. Here they were attacked by
+Harrison's forces, Johnson's Kentuckians leading the successful charge.
+In a few minutes the British army with its Indian allies was routed and
+Tecumseh killed. The North-west was relieved of further danger; and much
+that was lost by Hull was regained with something in addition.
+
+The Army of the North under General Dearborn, during the year of 1813
+was to co-operate in the invasion of Canada, and on the 27th of April,
+1813, the American army crossed Lake Ontario to York, now Toronto, and
+were entirely successful in capturing that point, as more fully noted in
+our chapter on that city.
+
+It was part of Dearborn's plan on capturing York to press on over the
+thirty miles to the River Niagara and take Fort George. On account of
+unfavourable weather the army did not leave York until the 8th of May,
+the fleet being under command of Chauncey and being joined in the
+evening of the 25th by Perry, who had come hastily from Erie. The attack
+was to be made on the morning of the 27th. Dearborn was himself sick,
+being confined to his bed most of the time, but his orders were
+faithfully carried out by his under officers. An attempt to launch
+several boats on the evening of the 26th brought on a cannonade from the
+batteries along both shores as well as from Fort George and Fort
+Niagara. Darkness, however, came on and the preparations were made by
+the Americans under its cover without further molestation. The morning
+was somewhat foggy but a light breeze soon dissipated this and revealed
+a fine sight for friend and foe alike. The waters of the lake were
+covered with boats large and small, crowded with guns and soldiers, all
+advancing bravely on the British position.
+
+As soon as the fog lifted the batteries of both sides began a brisk
+fire. Colonel Scott was in command of the landing party, assisted by
+Chauncey with four hundred seamen to be used if necessary. Lieutenant
+Brown directed such a hot fire against the battery at the landing that
+it was finally silenced and Perry then, being in command of the boats,
+rushed in despite a somewhat rough sea, to effect a landing, many of the
+troops in their eagerness leaping into the water before the boats
+touched land. The landing party was assailed by a heavy, well-directed
+musketry fire from a neighbouring ravine, which caused them to scurry
+for shelter under the bank. Perry seemed everywhere present, urging the
+gunners on the boats to greater efforts and cheering on the landing
+parties with words of confidence. In attempting to scale the bank, the
+Americans were several times hurled back to the beach, but Scott was
+finally successful in gaining a sheltered position in a neighbouring
+ravine where a sharp conflict ensued for several minutes, but between
+the execution of the American rifles and a well-directed cannonade from
+one of the vessels the doughty British were compelled to retreat.
+
+General Vincent, being persuaded that Fort George could not be saved,
+ordered its destruction, which information reached Scott by two escaped
+prisoners. He immediately attempted to save it if possible, but a short
+distance from its walls one magazine blew up, though he reached his
+destination in time to extinguish two other fuses and save the remainder
+of the fort. He then continued his pursuit but was ordered to return and
+had to give up what he thought half the glory of the contest.
+
+Hearing that Colonel Proctor was coming from the West to help regain the
+Niagara region, General Winder was sent in pursuit of Vincent. On the
+5th he was joined by Chandler with five hundred men, who took the chief
+command. At Forty-mile Creek they encountered a body of the enemy and
+drove them off; twice now they drove the pickets in on the main body of
+the army, causing no little alarm, but finally on account of treacherous
+negligence in the American camp the British effected a night attack so
+well planned and brilliantly executed that the force was in the heart of
+the American camp while the soldiers were still sleeping. In the
+confusion that followed, the Americans several times attacked their own
+men. The British loss was the heavier, and they were compelled to
+retire, but the victory was felt to be a decided one from the fact that
+they captured two American generals.
+
+The Americans, fearing a renewal of the attack, began to retreat. Near
+Forty-mile Creek they were joined by Colonel Miller with reinforcements,
+and retreat was continued with a fleet watching them from the lake and a
+small army of regulars and a body of savages following in the rear. The
+army finally reached Fort George after having lost several prisoners who
+had been picked up in the rear. For several days the vessels were a
+continual menace to the passage of American supplies, but on the 20th
+the squadron sailed for Oswego. Not daring to make an attack here, they
+again turned westward and took position off Niagara River.
+
+While the operations were going on against the Niagara frontier, a
+British squadron appeared against Sacketts Harbour. On the morning of
+May 29th the attack was made, but so vigilant a defence was made by
+General Brown with his raw militia that the enemy were forced to
+withdraw.
+
+General Dearborn, now at Fort George, sent a force to attack the enemy
+at Beaver Dam and Ten-mile Creek, by way of St. Davids, on June 23d. It
+was annoyed for a greater part of the way by Indians, and when near the
+enemy's camp, having been deceived as to the opposing force, the whole
+command was surrendered. The British, emboldened by this success,
+suddenly retook Queenston and shortly after invaded Fort George, General
+Dearborn being relieved of command by the still more incompetent General
+Wilkinson.
+
+The British, encouraged by their success, now began to make raids into
+the American territory. One of these expeditions was directed against
+Black Rock on July 11th. The expedition put to flight the American
+guards with almost no fighting, took the city and supplies, and obtained
+a large amount of booty. General Porter, however, rallied a small body
+of the retreating militia and with these and reinforcements which had
+arrived from Buffalo and about fifty citizens he fell with such force
+upon the invaders that they retreated precipitately to their boats.
+During the remainder of the summer little fighting was done in the
+vicinity of Fort George except by foraging parties.
+
+Most of the troops had been withdrawn from the fort in the early winter,
+leaving only about sixty men within its walls; news was being
+continually received of forces marching to the Niagara region and,
+fearful of losing the fort, McClure, its commander, determined to
+destroy it and retreat to Fort Niagara. The fort was partially
+demolished, December 10th, but Newark was wantonly fired, leaving
+hundreds of people homeless in the severest weather and rousing the
+British to a revenge which they now visited on the Americans.
+
+[Illustration: Old View of Fort Mississauga.]
+
+On the 12th, Fort Niagara was invested. So negligent were the officers
+that on the morning of the 13th one of the gates was found open, and the
+enemy entered without opposition to a victory which might have been
+almost bloodless had not the attacking force, incensed by the burning of
+Newark, been led to revenge; a number of the garrison were bayoneted;
+Lewiston was sacked, plundered, and almost entirely destroyed. A body of
+soldiers pressed on to the town of Niagara Falls. They were met on the
+heights by a small force which was not able to check them and the whole
+Niagara region was laid waste. The Indians were turned loose and many
+innocent persons perished at their hands. The advance on Buffalo and
+Black Rock was only temporarily checked and on the 30th these cities
+were captured and plundered as elsewhere described. Only four houses
+were left in Buffalo and one in Black Rock. Such was the revenge of the
+burning of Newark. These were dark days along the Niagara, when hatred
+never bred in honest warfare flamed up in the hearts of men, and the
+beginning of the story goes back to the inhuman destruction of old
+Newark.
+
+Toward the latter part of March the campaign of 1814 was opened by
+General Wilkinson in the north, but little being accomplished he was
+soon superseded by General Brown. By the end of June the Northern army
+was gathered under Brown, once more prepared to carry the war into
+Canada, Buffalo being the headquarters. On the morning of the 3d of
+July, before daylight, General Scott crossed the river from Black Rock
+to invest Fort Erie. General Ripley was to have followed immediately,
+but he was delayed so long that it was broad day before he reached the
+Canadian shore. Scott pushed forward and drove the enemy's pickets into
+the fort. Brown, not waiting for Ripley, pushed into the forest in the
+rear of the fort, extending his lines so as to enclose the post. Ripley
+then appeared and took position in connection with Scott's command. The
+fort was then summoned to surrender, which summons, on account of its
+weak condition, was soon complied with just as reinforcements were on
+their way to give aid.
+
+To stop the advance of these troops, Scott was sent with his command
+down the river. His march of about sixteen miles was a continual
+skirmish with the British, and finding the enemy in force across the
+Chippewa Creek he encamped for the night. Before morning of the fifth he
+was joined by the main body of Brown's army. On the east was the river,
+on the west a heavy wood, and between the armies the Chippewa and
+Street's creeks. The British had also received reinforcements during the
+night, and the battle of Chippewa was opened by each army attempting to
+test the other's strength.
+
+The American pickets on Scott's left were in trouble by four o'clock and
+Porter was sent to relieve them; he drove back the British and Indians,
+but in following up his success found himself suddenly confronted by
+almost the whole of the enemy's army which attacked immediately. Porter
+maintained his ground at first but was finally compelled to give the
+order to retreat and this soon became a panic. General Brown noticed
+this and correctly supposed that the whole force of the enemy was
+advancing. Ripley and Scott were immediately rushed to the rescue,
+Ripley to fall on the rear of the British right by stealing through the
+wood, Scott to make a frontal attack.
+
+The latter advanced across Street's Creek and the engagement became
+general along the whole line of both armies. Time and again the British
+line was broken but it sternly closed and continued the contest. Scott
+finally decided to take advantage of what he considered the unskilful
+manoeuvres of his foe; advancing, he ordered his forces to charge
+through an opening in the lines. Almost at the same instant Leavenworth
+executed a like movement, while Towson's battery poured canister into
+the British ranks. They were completely demoralised and gave back.
+Jesup on the American left had suffered greatly during the battle;
+forced to fall back, he finally found a better position, and now poured
+such a well-directed fire that the troops before him also retired. The
+British retreat did not stop until the troops were behind their
+entrenchments below Chippewa and the bridge across its waters destroyed.
+This stronghold could not be taken by the Americans; the command was
+given to retreat, and the same relative positions were occupied by the
+armies the night after the battle as the night before.
+
+On the eighth the whole American force again moved forward. The British
+broke camp and retreated down the river closely pursued by Brown, who
+took possession of Queenston on the 10th. The enemy occupied Fort George
+and Fort Mississauga. Here Brown decided to await reinforcements from
+Chauncey and his fleet. News, however, soon came of the commander's
+illness and his blockade in Sacketts Harbour, whereupon Brown on the 23d
+fell back to the Chippewa. In case Riall did not follow, he expected to
+unlimber and fight wherever the enemy might be found; the night of the
+24th, the army encamped on the battle-ground of the 5th, unconscious of
+the laurels to be won in a few short hours at far-famed Lundy's Lane.
+
+The morning of the 25th dawned clear and beautiful. Unconscious of the
+proximity of the enemy, the Americans were enjoying a much-needed rest
+behind the village of Chippewa, when about noon news came that the
+British were in force at Queenston and on the heights, and that Yea's
+fleet had appeared in the river. Next came information that the British
+were landing at Lewiston and were threatening the supplies at Fort
+Schlosser. These reports were partly true. Pearson had advanced, unknown
+to the Americans, and taken position at Lundy's Lane a short distance
+from the Falls. Brown seemed impressed with the idea that the British
+were after the supplies at Schlosser and he was ignorant of the size of
+the force opposed to him. He at once determined that the best way to
+recall the British was to threaten the forts at the mouth of the river
+and Scott was detailed to accomplish this task. Eager for the conflict
+his whole command was in motion twenty minutes after having received the
+order. Between four and five o'clock the march of twelve hundred men
+began toward the forts.
+
+Near Table Rock, Scott was informed that General Riall and his staff had
+just departed. In fact the Americans saw the troops move off from the
+house as they were advancing toward it, and the informant also stated
+that the enemy were in force behind a small strip of woods in front; but
+so convinced was the American leader that Fort Schlosser was the
+objective point of the British movement that he would not credit the
+story. Believing that but a small force was in front, he dashed into the
+woods to dispel them. Imagine his surprise when he found himself faced
+at Lundy's Lane by Riall's whole force! Scott's position was indeed
+perilous. To advance seemed destruction, to stand still would be equally
+fatal, while to retreat would probably throw the whole army into
+confusion. With that resource which always distinguished him, he quickly
+decided to engage the enemy, and if possible deceive them into believing
+that the whole American army was present while he sent back for
+reinforcements.
+
+General Brown had been misinformed as to the enemy's movements. No
+soldiers had crossed to Lewiston, but the whole force was with Riall
+preparing for the present move. Scott found himself opposed to fully
+eighteen hundred men. The English lines extended over the hill in a
+crescent form with the horns extending forward. In its centre and on the
+brow of the hill, the strongest point of the position, was placed a
+battery of seven guns. Into the very centre of this crescent he had
+unconsciously led his army.
+
+Scott immediately perceived on the enemy's left flank an unprotected
+space of brushwood along the river and instantly he ordered Major Jesup
+to seize this and turn the flank if possible. While this move was being
+accomplished Scott's troops engaged the enemy in front, only hoping to
+hold the army in check until the reserves arrived.
+
+Jesup was more than successful. He turned the left flank of the enemy,
+gained his rear, and kept the reinforcements sent to Riall's aid from
+joining the body of the army. Besides this he had captured Riall himself
+with a number of his staff. By nine o'clock at night Jesup had
+accomplished this and in the meantime Scott had beaten back a fierce
+charge made by the British right; only the centre stood firm now.
+
+Informed of the true state of affairs, and leaving orders for Ripley to
+make all haste possible with the whole reserve force, Brown mounted his
+horse and rode to the field, arriving just at this critical juncture. He
+immediately saw that the hill crowned with cannon was the key to the
+enemy's position; Ripley was advancing along the Queenston road; Scott's
+worn men had been recalled. The commander turned to Colonel Miller,
+saying, "Colonel, take your regiment, storm that work, and take it."
+"I'll try, Sir," said Miller, and at once moved forward. At this moment
+the regiment under Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholas, which was to draw the
+enemy's fire from Miller, gave way. Nothing daunted, the young
+commander, with three hundred followers, crept up the hill in the shadow
+of an old rail fence thickly grown over with shrubbery. In this way they
+reached unobserved a point only several rods distant from the enemy,
+whom they saw around the guns waiting the order to fire. Resting their
+pieces across the old fence the little command took deliberate aim, the
+order was given by Miller in a whisper, a sheet of flame broke from the
+shrubbery, and not a man was left to apply a match to the British
+artillery. The men then broke from cover with a shout and rushed
+forward, and all seven of the cannon were captured. A fierce
+hand-to-hand contest was waged for a short time with the body of
+infantry stationed behind the guns, but they were finally forced from
+the hill. Four different attempts were made to recapture the position
+but all were unsuccessful.
+
+While these events were taking place Scott was maintaining his position
+with great difficulty. His regiments were being literally cut to pieces
+and, finally, he gathered the remnants into one mass, formed in line for
+storming, and had given the order to move forward when the battery was
+taken by Miller. Scott countermanded his order and returned to his
+position at the base of the hill.
+
+[Illustration: Monument at Lundy's Lane.]
+
+Brown and Scott were both severely wounded and the command devolved now
+on Ripley. When the battle was finally won Brown ordered Ripley to fall
+back to the Chippewa to give the soldiers a much-needed rest during the
+night, but to be back at Lundy's Lane by daybreak the next morning to
+obtain the fruits of the victory. Day came and Ripley had not moved from
+his quarters, but the British had returned and the two armies occupied
+almost the same ground as before the battle. Ripley advanced but the
+enemy's position was too strong to attack, so he discreetly returned to
+camp. Brown was so disgusted that he sent to Sacketts Harbour for
+General Gaines to come and assume command.
+
+Generals Brown and Scott's troops were moved from the field supposing
+that Ripley would at least hold his position. Hardly had they gotten out
+of sight when Ripley ordered a retreat to Black Rock. Here he was
+forbidden by Brown to cross the river, so he took up a position above
+Fort Erie; at the same time the fortifications were strengthened in
+order to repel the expected siege.
+
+The work on Fort Erie went forward unmolested until the 3d of August.
+Drummond then appeared before the fort with his army, which had been
+resting at Lundy's Lane since the battle of the 20th of July.
+Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker was sent across the river with a body of
+troops to capture Black Rock and Buffalo. These were met so gallantly by
+Morgan and his riflemen that they were compelled to return. Drummond at
+the same time opened fire on the fort; this was discontinued until the
+seventh, the respite being spent by both parties in preparing for the
+siege. Gaines arrived on the 5th and assumed command while Ripley
+returned to the head of his own brigade. On the 6th Morgan and his
+riflemen attempted to draw the enemy from his trenches but were
+unsuccessful; the cannonade was opened on the fort on the morning of
+the 7th and was continued until the 13th. On the next day all the guns
+possible were brought to bear on the fort, causing its commander to
+believe that an assault was planned and arrangements were made to
+receive the enemy. The guns were heavily shotted, vigilance of the
+guards doubled, and things made ready for the warm reception of the
+enemy. At midnight of the 14th, all was still quiet; a body of a hundred
+men under Belknap had been thrown out toward the British army to do
+picket duty as the night was so dark that the movements of the enemy
+could not be seen. Their stealthy advance, though cautious, was detected
+by the sharp ears of the waiting men; an alarm gun was fired and the
+advance party fell back toward the fort. Fifteen hundred men came
+charging against Towson's battery on the left, expecting to find the
+soldiers asleep, but a broad sheet of flame burst from the long
+twenty-four pounders here which made the line waver in its advance. At
+the same moment the line of the 21st shone forth in its own light, then
+all was darkness except as the guns were loaded and fired. Five times
+the attack was renewed by the two columns; each time they were beaten
+back.
+
+Almost simultaneous with the attack on the left, another was made on the
+American right, against the old fort; this was repelled, but Drummond,
+valiant man, could not be held in check, and under cover of a heavy
+cloud of smoke, followed by a hundred of the Royal Artillery, he crept
+silently around the fort and by means of scaling ladders gained the
+parapet almost unobserved. All attempts to dislodge the enemy failed.
+Time and again they were charged, but each time they beat back their
+assailants. Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond commanded his men to give no
+quarter, and in a short time he fell, pierced through the heart by a man
+to whom he refused mercy. Daylight dawned with the enemy repulsed on the
+left. Reinforcements were brought to the right but there was no room to
+use them. The Americans were finally gathered for a furious charge, when
+that part of the fort which the British had seized was blown suddenly a
+hundred feet into the air and fell in ruins. At the same instant a
+galling fire was opened from the batteries and the enemy was compelled
+to retire.
+
+Both armies now received reinforcements and kept preparing for a second
+engagement. A continual cannonade was kept up, when on the 28th of
+August General Gaines was so injured by a shell that he had to retire
+from action. General Brown, though shattered in health then resumed
+command. The British were continually strengthening their works and he
+saw that his only hopes lay in a sortie. The weather had been rainy
+which inconvenienced the enemy as their works were located on the low
+ground. Their numbers had also been greatly reduced by fever. These
+facts were learned from prisoners which had been captured. The sortie
+was planned for the 17th of September, all the officers acquiescing
+except General Ripley. The plan was laid with great secrecy and was
+favoured by heavy fog on the morning of the proposed action. The
+Americans were entirely successful, the enemy being driven from their
+works and almost all their supplies captured. This victory was hailed
+with delight by the whole country. This, with the brilliant achievement
+at Plattsburg, and the repulse of the British from Baltimore caused
+rejoicing all over the nation, and restored the people from that gloom
+into which they had been cast by the fall of the national capital.
+
+On the 5th day of October General Izard arrived with reinforcements and
+took command. With almost eight thousand troops he now prepared to
+attack Drummond, but all attempts to draw him out of his trenches
+failed.
+
+Learning that there was a large store of grain at the mill on Lyons
+Creek, Bissell was sent to destroy it. On the night of the 18th, he was
+attacked but was successful in driving off the enemy and accomplishing
+his task. Drummond, now perceiving that he could not hope to cope
+successfully with the superior forces brought against him, fell back to
+Fort George and Burlington Heights. General Izard soon removed his whole
+force from Canada. On the 5th of November Fort Erie was blown up, to
+keep it from falling again into the hands of the British.
+
+On September 11th, the brilliant victory, mentioned before, was gained
+by the Americans at Plattsburg and with the opening of winter, the
+militia was disbanded and the war closed on the Canadian frontier.
+
+In 1837 the Niagara was again the scene of military operations on a
+slight scale when the Patriot War broke out, an uprising of
+revolutionists who planned the overturning of the Canadian Government.
+Navy Island was for a time the headquarters of the ferment, and from
+here, under the date of December 17th, the leader, William Lyon
+Mackenzie, issued a proclamation to the citizens of Canada. This strong,
+misguided man is most perfectly described in Bourinot's _The Story of
+Canada_:
+
+    He had a deep sense of public wrongs, and placed himself
+    immediately in the front rank of those who were fighting for a
+    redress of undoubted grievances. He was thoroughly imbued with
+    the ideas of English radicalism, and had an intense hatred of
+    Toryism in every form. He possessed little of that strong
+    common-sense and power of acquisitiveness which make his
+    countrymen, as a rule, so successful in every walk of life. When
+    he felt he was being crushed by the intriguing and corrupting
+    influences of the governing class, aided by the
+    lieutenant-governor, he forgot all the dictates of reason and
+    prudence, and was carried away by a current of passion which
+    ended in rebellion. His journal, _The Colonial Advocate_, showed
+    in its articles and its very make-up the erratic character of
+    the man. He was a pungent writer, who attacked adversaries with
+    great recklessness of epithet and accusation. So obnoxious did
+    he become to the governing class that a number of young men,
+    connected with the best families, wrecked his office, but the
+    damages he recovered in a court of law enabled him to give it a
+    new lease of existence. When the "family compact" had a majority
+    in the assembly, elected in 1830, he was expelled five times for
+    libellous reflections on the government and house, but he was
+    re-elected by the people, who resented the wrongs to which he
+    was subject, and became the first mayor of Toronto, as York was
+    now called. He carried his grievances to England, where he
+    received much sympathy, even in conservative circles. In a new
+    legislature, where the "compact" were in a minority, he obtained
+    a committee to consider the condition of provincial affairs. The
+    result was a famous report on grievances which set forth in a
+    conclusive and able manner the constitutional difficulties under
+    which the country laboured, and laid down clearly the necessity
+    for responsible government. It would have been fortunate both
+    for Upper Canada and Mackenzie himself at this juncture, had he
+    and his followers confined themselves to a constitutional
+    agitation on the lines set forth in this report. By this time
+    Robert Baldwin and Egerton Ryerson, discreet and prominent
+    reformers, had much influence, and were quite unwilling to
+    follow Mackenzie in the extreme course on which he had clearly
+    entered. He lost ground rapidly from the time of his indiscreet
+    publication of a letter from Joseph Hume, the English radical,
+    who had expressed the opinion that the improper proceedings of
+    the legislature, especially in expelling Mackenzie, "must hasten
+    the crisis that was fast approaching in the affairs of Canada,
+    and which would terminate in independence and freedom from the
+    baneful domination of the mother-country." Probably even
+    Mackenzie and his friends might have been conciliated and
+    satisfied at the last moment had the imperial government been
+    served by an able and discreet lieutenant-governor. But never
+    did the imperial authorities make a greater mistake than when
+    they sent out Sir Francis Bond Head, who had no political
+    experience whatever.
+
+    From the beginning to the end of his administration he did
+    nothing but blunder. He alienated even the confidence of the
+    moderate element of the Reformers, and literally threw himself
+    into the arms of the "family compact," and assisted them at the
+    elections of the spring of 1836, which rejected all the leading
+    men of the extreme wing of the Reform party. Mackenzie was
+    deeply mortified at the result, and determined from that moment
+    to rebel against the government, which, in his opinion, had no
+    intention of remedying public grievances. At the same time
+    Papineau, with whom he was in communication, had made up his
+    mind to establish a republic, _une nation Canadienne_, on the
+    banks of the St. Lawrence.
+
+    The disloyal intentions of Papineau and his followers were made
+    very clear by the various meetings which were held in the
+    Montreal and Richelieu districts, by the riots which followed
+    public assemblages in the city of Montreal, by the names of
+    "Sons of Liberty" and "Patriots" they adopted in all their
+    proceedings, by the planting of "trees" and raising of "caps" of
+    liberty. Happily for the best interests of Canada the number of
+    French Canadians ready to revolt were relatively insignificant,
+    and the British population were almost exclusively on the side
+    of the government. Bishop Lartigue and the clergy of the Roman
+    Catholic Church now asserted themselves very determinedly
+    against the dangerous and seditious utterances of the leaders of
+    the "Patriots." Fortunately a resolute, able soldier, Sir John
+    Colborne, was called from Upper Canada to command the troops in
+    the critical situation of affairs, and crushed the rebellion in
+    its very inception. A body of insurgents, led by Dr. Wolfred
+    Nelson, showed some courage at St. Denis, but Papineau took the
+    earliest opportunity to find refuge across the frontier. Thomas
+    Storrow Brown, an American by birth, also made a stand at St.
+    Charles, but both he and Nelson were easily beaten by the
+    regulars. A most unfortunate episode was the murder of
+    Lieutenant Wier, who had been captured by Nelson while carrying
+    despatches from General Colborne, and was butchered by some
+    insurgent _habitants_, in whose custody he had been placed. At
+    St. Eustache the rebels were severely punished by Colborne
+    himself, and a number burned to death in the steeple of a church
+    where they had made a stand. Many prisoners were taken in the
+    course of the rebellious outbreak. The village of St. Benoit and
+    isolated houses elsewhere were destroyed by the angry loyalists,
+    and much misery inflicted on all actual or supposed sympathisers
+    with Papineau and Nelson. Lord Gosford now left the country, and
+    Colborne was appointed administrator. Although the insurrection
+    practically ended at St. Denis and St. Charles, bodies of rebels
+    and American marauders harassed the frontier settlements for
+    some time, until at last the authorities of the United States
+    arrested some of the leaders and forced them to surrender their
+    arms and munitions of war.
+
+The _Caroline_ incident most closely connects the immediate Niagara
+region with the Patriot rebellion. This small steamer was chartered by
+Buffalo parties to run between that city, Navy Island, and Schlosser,
+the American landing above the Falls. The Canadian authorities very
+properly looked upon this as a bold attempt to provide the freebooters
+on Navy Island with the sinews of rebellion. Colonel Allan McNab was
+sent to seize the vessel, and the fact that it was found moored at the
+American shore in no way troubled the determined loyalists. It was about
+midnight December 29th when the attacking party found the ship. In the
+melee one man was killed; the boat was fired and set adrift in the
+river, passing over the Horseshoe Fall while still partly afire.
+
+
+
+
+  Chapter XII
+
+  Toronto
+
+
+It is believed that the word Toronto is of Huron origin, and that it
+signified "Place of Meeting." This has been contested; in any case it
+should be spelled _To-ron-tah_. The word is also interpreted as "Oak
+Trees beside the Lake," a derivation rather divergent from the above
+version and we must leave this to the learned etymologists.
+
+Glancing over maps of the middle of the eighteenth century designed
+after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), we see the names of many
+forts and posts intended to keep up "the communications" between Canada
+and Louisiana, and overawe the English colonies then confined to their
+narrow strip of territory on the Atlantic coast. Conscious of the
+mistake that they had made in giving up Acadia, the French at this
+moment claimed that its "ancient limits" did not extend beyond the
+isthmus of Chignecto--in other words, included Nova Scotia. Accordingly
+they proceeded to construct the forts of Gaspereau and Beausejour on
+that neck of land, and also one on the St. John River, so that they
+might control the land and sea approaches to Cape Breton from the St.
+Lawrence, where Quebec, enthroned on her picturesque heights, and
+Montreal at the confluence of the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence, held the
+keys to Canada. The approaches from New England by the way of Lake
+Champlain and the Richelieu were defended by the fort of St. John, near
+the northern extremity of the lake, and by the more formidable works
+known as Fort Frederick or Crown Point--to give the better known English
+name--on a peninsula at the narrows towards the South. The latter was
+the most advanced post of the French until they built Fort Ticonderoga
+or Carillon on a high, rocky promontory at the head of Lake St.
+Sacrament. At the foot of this lake, associated with so many memorable
+episodes in American history, Sir William Johnson erected Fort William
+Henry, about fourteen miles from Fort Edward or Layman, at the great
+carrying place on the upper waters of the Hudson. Returning to the St.
+Lawrence and the Lakes, we find Fort Frontenac at the eastern end of
+Lake Ontario, where the old city of Kingston now stands.
+
+Within the limits of the present city of Toronto, La Gallissoniere then
+built Fort Rouille[38] as an attempt to control the trade of the Indians
+of the North, who were finding their way to the English fort of Oswego
+which had been commenced with the consent of the Iroquois by Governor
+Burnet of New York, and was now a menace to the French dominion of Lake
+Ontario. At the other extremity lay Fort Niagara. When the French were
+establishing this chain of forts or posts through the West and down the
+Mississippi valley Fort Rouille was founded on a site even then
+commonly called "Fort Toronto." It does not seem ever to have been a
+dominant strategic point; the probabilities are there was no force
+stationed here worth mentioning and, possibly, it was a mere dependency
+of Fort Niagara. It was destroyed in 1756 to prevent its fall into the
+hands of the English.
+
+Little is known about the region of Toronto prior to Revolutionary times
+save the above records. It was untrodden wilderness. But when the fort
+was erected here the district in a general sense appears to have been
+known as "Toronto." Under French dominion it was a royal trading post
+and in the course of time the name attached itself to the fort and
+village at the neighbouring bay, which have grown to be the beautiful
+Capital City of Ontario. But the Toronto of the river Don and the great
+bay is strictly of English origin, and had for its Romulus
+Lieutenant-General Simcoe (1752-1806), first governor of Upper Canada.
+
+[Illustration: Lieutenant-General Simcoe.]
+
+When John Graves Simcoe arrived in Canada in 1792, the site of the
+present city of Toronto was covered by the primeval forest, its only
+human tenants being two or three families of wandering savages who had
+happened to select the spot for the erection of their temporary wigwams.
+One hundred years later we find at that very spot a magnificent city
+having a population of 250,000 people, a prosperous and enterprising
+community, possessed of all the comforts and appliances of modern
+civilisation and refinement,--and, instead of the sombre, impenetrable
+wilderness, the most wealthy and populous city of Upper Canada, with
+streets and private dwellings, and public edifices that will compare
+favourably with those of many other cities which have had centuries for
+their development. For its rapid rise to its present eminence Toronto
+is almost exclusively indebted to its admirable commercial position, its
+advantages in that respect having been appreciated by the far-seeing
+sagacity of Governor Simcoe, when selecting the site for a capital.
+
+In 1791, when the former province of Quebec was divided into the
+provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, Upper Canada contained about ten
+thousand inhabitants, chiefly Loyalists, who, as noted elsewhere, when
+the United States threw off allegiance to Great Britain, sought new hope
+in the wilds of Canada; where, though deprived of many comforts, they
+had the satisfaction of feeling that they kept inviolate their loyalty
+to their sovereign and preserved their connection with the beloved
+mother country.
+
+In 1792 General Simcoe was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Upper
+Canada; and in the summer of that year arrived in the colony. In the
+first instance the Government was established at Niagara, and there the
+first Legislature of Upper Canada was convened on the 17th of September,
+1792. It was seen, however, that from its position on the frontier,
+Niagara was not well adapted for being the seat of government, and one
+of the first subjects which occupied the attention of Governor Simcoe
+was the selection of another site for a capital. On this point he very
+soon came into collision with the views of the Governor-General, Lord
+Dorchester, who was in favour of making Kingston the capital on account
+of its proximity to Lower Canada which he regarded as a matter of the
+first importance from a standpoint of trade, and also because of its
+possibility of defence, as, in the event of an invasion, troops from
+Lower Canada could be more easily forwarded to Kingston than to a more
+westerly point. Governor Simcoe, however, had visited Toronto Harbour,
+and had traversed the route thence to Penetanguishene on the Georgian
+Bay. He perceived that that was the most advantageous route for the then
+existing North-west trade,--the vast development of which since his time
+he may have dimly foreseen--and that so soon as a road was opened up to
+Lake Simcoe (then _Lacaux Claics_) merchandise from New York for the
+North-west, would be sent by Oswego to Toronto, and then _via_ Lake
+Simcoe to Lake Huron, avoiding the circuitous passage of Lake Erie.
+Finally the Lieutenant-Governor's views prevailed, and the site of a
+town having been surveyed on the margin of Toronto Bay, his first step
+thereafter was to commence the construction of a road (Yonge Street) to
+Lake Simcoe. In recent years the idea which thus originated with the
+first governor has been completely carried out until to-day Toronto is,
+with Montreal, the chief railway centre and the second city of the
+Dominion. How long ere it will outrank its rival?
+
+[Illustration: "York Harbor."
+
+A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.]
+
+The very next year after his assumption of the government of Upper
+Canada General Simcoe ordered the survey of Toronto Harbour, and
+entrusted the task to Colonel Bouchette, the Surveyor-General of Lower
+Canada, who gives us our first historical glimpse of Toronto a hundred
+years ago, or so, in the following passage:
+
+    It fell to my lot to make the first survey of York Harbour in
+    1793. Lieutenant-Governor, the late General Simcoe, who then
+    resided at Navy Hall, Niagara, having formed extensive plans for
+    the improvement of the colony, had resolved upon laying the
+    foundation of a Provincial capital. I was at that period in the
+    naval service of the lakes, and the survey of Toronto (York
+    Harbour), was entrusted by His Excellency to my performance. I
+    still distinctly recollect the untamed aspect which the country
+    exhibited when first I entered the beautiful basin which thus
+    became the scene of my early hydrographical operations. Dense
+    and trackless forests lined the margin of the lake, and
+    reflected their inverted images in its glassy surface. The
+    wandering savage had constructed his ephemeral habitation
+    beneath their luxuriant foliage--the group then consisting of
+    two families of Missassagas--and the Bay and neighbouring
+    marshes were the hitherto uninvaded haunts of the wild fowl;
+    indeed they were so abundant as in some measure to annoy us
+    during the night. In the spring following, the
+    Lieutenant-Governor removed to the site of the new capital,
+    attended by the regiment of Queen's Rangers and commenced at
+    once the realisation of his favourite project. His Excellency
+    inhabited, during the summer and through the winter, a canvas
+    house which he imported expressly for the occasion, but, frail
+    as was its substance, it was rendered exceedingly comfortable,
+    and soon became as distinguished for the social and urbane
+    hospitality of its venerated and gracious host, as for the
+    peculiarity of its structure.
+
+Governor Simcoe gave the name of York to the capital he had selected,
+and the rivers on either side received the names of the Don and Humber.
+His own residence he built at the brow of the hill overlooking the
+valley of the Don, at the junction of what was a few generations later
+Saint James Cemetery with the property of F. Cayley, Esq., calling it
+"Castle Frank," the name which the property still retains.
+
+While the gubernatorial residence was being erected Governor Simcoe
+returned to Niagara, where he opened the third session of the Upper
+Canada Parliament on June 20, 1794. In the fall of that year, orders
+were given for the construction of Parliament buildings at York on a
+site at the foot of what in 1857 was Parliament Street, adjoining the
+place where the "gaol stands." In 1795 the Duc de Rochefoucauld was in
+Upper Canada, and in his published _Travels_ alludes to a visit paid to
+York by some of his companions:
+
+    During our stay at Navy Hall, Messrs. Du Petit Thouars and
+    Guillemard, took the opportunity of the return of a gun-boat, to
+    pay a visit to York. Indolence, courtesy towards the Governor
+    (with whom the author was then residing at Navy Hall), and the
+    conviction that I would meet with few objects of interest in
+    that place, combined to dissuade me from this journey. My
+    friends informed me on their return, that this town, which the
+    Governor had fixed upon as the Capital of Upper Canada, has a
+    fine, extensive bay, detached from the lake by a tongue of land
+    of unequal breadth, being in some places a mile, in others only
+    six score yards broad; that the entrance of this bay, about a
+    mile in width, is obstructed in the middle by a shoal or
+    sand-bank, the narrow passages on each side of which may be
+    easily defended by works erected on the two points of land at
+    the entrance, on which two block-houses have already been
+    constructed; that this bay is two miles and a half long, and a
+    mile wide, and that the elevation of its banks greatly increases
+    its capability of defence by fortifications thrown up at
+    convenient points. There have not been more than a dozen houses
+    built hitherto in York, and these are situated in the inner
+    extremity of the bay, near the river Don. The inhabitants, it is
+    said, do not possess the fairest character. One of them is the
+    noted Batzy, the leader of the German families, whom Captain
+    Williamson accuses the English of decoying away from him, in
+    order to injure and obstruct the prosperity of his settlement.
+    The barracks which are occupied by the Governor's Regiment,
+    stand on the bay near the lake, about two miles from the town.
+    The Indians are for one hundred and fifty miles round the sole
+    neighbours of York.
+
+Nothing shows better than this that we must remember that Old World
+measurements of growth and cultural life cannot be applied to the
+condition of a new continent where every foot of land had to be taken
+from the aborigines, a continent in its agricultural infancy,
+devastated by wars, changing ownership thrice within one hundred years.
+The Indians in the district one hundred and fifty miles around Toronto
+have been replaced to-day by a million of people as enterprising as they
+can be found on the surface of the globe. In lieu of the dozen huts
+described by our noble writer in 1795, you will find to-day a city of a
+quarter million inhabitants, steamships, railroads, telegraph, electric
+light--the "City of Churches."
+
+Toronto, as noted, owes the progress it has made almost entirely to its
+advantageous commercial position, which was the chief circumstance that
+originally weighed with General Simcoe in selecting this as a site for
+the capital of Upper Canada. The city is built on a slope, rising with a
+very slight inclination from the bay, sufficient to secure its
+salubrity, and to admit of a complete system of sewerage; but not enough
+to give its architectural beauties the advantage they deserve to gratify
+the aesthetic taste which would be disposed to seek on the shores of Lake
+Ontario for a parallel to the grand old cities of Europe.
+
+Governor Simcoe's amenities and hospitalities, his simplicity, his cares
+and troubles are all parts of the early history of the province; his
+administration in Canada has been generally commended, despite the
+displays of prejudice against the United States. His schemes for
+improving the province were "extremely wise and well arranged." But his
+stay was abruptly cut short. It seems to-day that England was fearful he
+might involve the mother-country in a new war with the young Republic
+and he was rather hastily recalled to England in 1796, although at the
+same time promoted a full lieutenant-general in the army.
+
+In 1804 a census of the inhabitants of Toronto was taken, and it was
+found that they numbered 456. At that time the town was bounded by
+Berkeley Street on the east, Lot, now Queen Street on the north, and
+New, now Nelson Street on the west. In 1806, Toronto or York was visited
+by George Heriot, Esq., Deputy Postmaster-General of British North
+America, and from the terms in which he speaks of it in his _Travels
+through the Canadas_, it appears that it had then made considerable
+progress. He says:
+
+    Many houses display a considerable progress. The advancement of
+    this place to its present condition has been effected within the
+    lapse of six or seven years, and persons who have formerly
+    travelled in this part of the country, are impressed with
+    sentiments of wonder, on beholding a town which may be termed
+    handsome, reared as if by enchantment in the midst of a
+    wilderness.
+
+The Parliament buildings, when Heriot visited Toronto, were two
+buildings of brick, at the eastern extremity of the town, which had been
+designed as wings to a centre, and which were occupied as chambers for
+the Upper and Lower House of Assembly.
+
+In 1807 the inhabitants numbered 1058, and continued slowly to rise till
+1813, when the American War brought calamities on to Toronto, from the
+disastrous effects of which it took more than a decade to recover.
+
+In 1813 the campaigns of the war centred, as we have seen, around Lake
+Erie. The Navy had lately restored American confidence, and a second
+invasion of Canada was a principal feature in the programme. At the
+middle of April Dearborn and Chauncey matured a plan of operations. A
+joint land and naval expedition was proposed, to first capture York, and
+then to cross Lake Ontario and reduce Fort George. At the same time
+troops were to cross the Niagara, from Buffalo and Black Rock, capture
+Fort Erie and Chippewa, join the fleet and army at Fort George, and all
+proceed to attack Kingston. Everything being arranged, Dearborn embarked
+about 1700 men on Chauncey's fleet, at Sacketts Harbour on the 22d of
+April, and on the 25th the fleet, crowded with soldiers, sailed for
+York. After a boisterous voyage it appeared before the little town early
+in the morning of the 27th, when General Dearborn, suffering from ill
+health, placed the land forces under charge of General Pike, and
+resolved to remain on board the Commodore's flagship during the attack.
+
+The little village of York, numbering somewhat more than one thousand
+inhabitants at the time, was then chiefly at the bottom of the bay near
+a marshy flat, through which the Don, coming down from the beautiful
+fertile valleys, flowed sluggishly into Lake Ontario, and, because of
+the softness of the earth there, it was often called "Muddy Little
+York." It gradually grew to the westward, and, while deserting the Don,
+it wooed the Humber, once a famous salmon stream, that flows into a
+broad bay two or three miles west of Toronto. In that direction stood
+the remains of old Fort Toronto, erected by the French. On the shore
+eastward of it, between the present new barracks and the city, were two
+batteries, the most easterly one being in the form of a crescent. A
+little farther east, on the borders of a deep ravine and small stream,
+was a picketed block-house, some intrenchments with cannon, and a
+garrison of about eight hundred men under Major-General Sheaffe. On
+"Gibraltar Point," the extreme western arm of the peninsula, that
+embraced the harbour with its protecting arm, was a small blockhouse;
+another stood on the high east bank of the Don, just beyond a bridge at
+the eastern termination of King and Queen streets. These defences had
+been strangely neglected. Some of the cannon were without trunnions,
+others, destined for the war-vessel then on the stocks, were in frozen
+mud and half covered with snow. Fortunately for the garrison, the _Duke
+of Gloucester_ was then in port, undergoing some repairs, and her guns
+furnished some armament for the batteries. These, however, only amounted
+to a few six-pounders. The whole country around, excepting a few spots
+on the lake shore, was covered with a dense forest.
+
+On the day when the expedition sailed from Sacketts Harbour General Pike
+issued minute instructions concerning the manner of landing and attack.
+
+    It is expected [he said] that every corps will be mindful of the
+    honour of the American, and the disgraces which have recently
+    tarnished our arms, and endeavour, by a cool and determined
+    discharge of their duty, to support the one and wipe off the
+    other. [He continued:] The unoffending citizens of Canada are
+    many of them our own countrymen, and the poor Canadians have
+    been forced into the war. Their property, therefore, must be
+    held sacred; and any soldier who shall so far neglect the honour
+    of his profession as to be guilty of plundering the inhabitants,
+    shall, if convicted, be punished with death. But the commanding
+    general assures the troops that, should they capture a large
+    quantity of public stores, he will use his best endeavours to
+    procure them a reward from his government.
+
+[Illustration: "The Garrison at York."
+
+A drawing on bark by Mrs. Simcoe.]
+
+It was intended to land at a clearing near old Fort Toronto. An easterly
+wind, blowing with violence, drove the small boats in which the troops
+left the fleet full half a mile farther westward, and beyond an
+effectual covering by the guns of the navy. Major Forsyth and his
+riflemen, in two bateaux led the van, and when within rifle shot of the
+shore they were assailed by a deadly volley of bullets by a company of
+Glengary Fencibles and a party of Indians under Major Givens, who were
+concealed in the woods that fringe the shore. "Rest on your oars!
+Prime!" said Forsyth in a low tone. Pike, standing on the deck of the
+_Madison_, saw this halting, and impatiently exclaimed, with an
+expletive: "I cannot stay here any longer! Come," he said, addressing
+his staff, "jump into the boat." He was instantly obeyed, and very soon
+they and their gallant commander were in the midst of a fight, for
+Forsyth's men had opened fire, and the enemy at the shore were returning
+it briskly. The vanguard soon landed, and were immediately followed, in
+support, by Major King and a battalion of infantry. Pike and the main
+body soon followed, and the whole column, consisting of the Sixth,
+Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Twenty-First Regiments of Infantry, and
+detachments of light and heavy artillery, with Major Forsyth's riflemen
+and Lieutenant McClure's volunteers as flankers, pressed forward into
+the woods.
+
+The British skirmishes meanwhile had been re-enforced by two companies
+of the Eighth or King's Regiment of Regulars, two hundred strong, a
+company of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, a large body of militia, and
+some Indians. They took position in the woods, and were soon encountered
+by the advancing Americans, whose artillery it was difficult to move.
+Perceiving this, the British, led by General Sheaffe in person, attacked
+the American flank with a six-pounder and howitzer. A very sharp
+conflict ensued, and both parties suffered much. Captain McNeil, of the
+King's Regiment, was killed. The British were overpowered, and fell
+back, when General Pike, at the head of the American column, ordered his
+bugler to sound, and at the same time dashed gallantly forward. That
+bugle blast thrilled like electric fire along the nerves of the Indians.
+They gave one horrid yell, then fled like frightened deer to cover, deep
+into the forest. That bugle blast was heard in the fleet, in the face of
+the wind and high above the voices of the gale, and evoked long and loud
+responsive cheers. At the same time Chauncey was sending to the shore,
+under the direction of Commander Elliott, something more effective than
+huzzas for he was hurling deadly grape-shot upon the foe, which added to
+the consternation of the savages, and gave fleetness to their feet. They
+also hastened the retreat of Sheaffe's white troops to their defences in
+the direction of the village, while the drum and fife of the pursuers
+were briskly playing _Yankee Doodle_.
+
+The Americans now pressed forward rapidly along the lake shore in
+platoons by sections. They were not allowed to load their muskets, and
+were compelled to rely upon the bayonet. Because of many ravines and
+little streams the artillery was moved with difficulty, for the enemy
+had destroyed the bridges. By great exertions a field-piece and a
+howitzer, under Lieutenant Fanning, of the Third Artillery, was moved
+steadily with the column. As that column emerged from thick woods,
+flanked by McClure's volunteers, divided equally as light troops under
+Colonel Ripley, it was confronted by twenty-four pounders on the Western
+Battery. Upon this battery the guns of some of Chauncey's vessels which
+had beat up against the wind in range of the enemy's works were pouring
+heavy shot. Captain Walworth was ordered to storm it with his
+grenadiers, of the Sixteenth. They immediately trailed their arms,
+quickened their pace, and were about to charge, when the wooden magazine
+of the battery, that had been carelessly left open, blew up, killing
+some of the men, and seriously damaging the defences. The dismayed enemy
+spiked their cannon, and fled to the next, or Half-Moon, Battery.
+Walworth pressed forward; when that, too, was abandoned and he found
+nothing within but spiked cannon. Sheaffe and his little army, deserted
+by the Indians, fled to the garrison near the Governor's house, and
+there opened a fire of round and grape-shot upon the Americans. Pike
+ordered his troops to halt, and lie flat upon the grass, while Major
+Eustis, with his artillery-battery moved to the front, and soon silenced
+the great guns of the enemy.
+
+    The firing from the garrison ceased, and the Americans expected
+    every moment to see a white flag displayed from the block-house
+    in token of surrender. Lieutenant Riddle, whose corps had
+    brought up the prisoners taken in the woods, was sent forward
+    with a small party to reconnoitre. General Pike, who had just
+    assisted with his own hands in removing a wounded soldier to a
+    comfortable place, was sitting upon a stump conversing with a
+    huge British sergeant who had been taken prisoner, his staff
+    standing around him. At that moment was felt a sudden tremor of
+    the ground, followed by a tremendous explosion near the British
+    garrison. The enemy, despairing of holding the place, had blown
+    up their powder magazine, situated upon the edge of the water at
+    the mouth of a ravine, near where the buildings of the Great
+    Western Railway now stand. The effect was terrible. Fragments of
+    timber and huge stone of which the magazine walls were built
+    were scattered in every direction over a space of several
+    hundred yards. When the smoke floated away the scene was
+    appalling. Fifty-two Americans lay dead, and one hundred and
+    eighty others were wounded. So badly had the affair been managed
+    that forty of the British also lost their lives by the
+    explosion. General Pike, two of his aids, and the British
+    sergeant were mortally hurt, while Riddle and his party were
+    unhurt, the missiles passing entirely over them. The terrified
+    Americans scattered in dismay, but they were soon rallied by
+    Brigade-Major Hunt and Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchell. The column
+    was re-formed and the general command was assumed by the gallant
+    Pennsylvanian colonel, Cromwell Pearce, of the Sixteenth, the
+    senior officer. After giving three cheers, the troops pressed
+    forward toward the village, and were met by the civil
+    authorities and militia officers with propositions of a
+    capitulation in response to a peremptory demand for surrender
+    made by Colonel Pearce. An arrangement was concluded for an
+    absolute surrender, when, taking advantage of the confusion that
+    succeeded the explosion, and the time intentionally consumed in
+    the capitulation, General Sheaffe and a large portion of his
+    regulars, after destroying the vessels on the stocks, and some
+    storehouses and their contents, stole across the Don, and fled
+    along Dundas Street toward Kingston. When several miles from
+    York they met a portion of the King's Regiment on their way to
+    Fort George. These turned back, covered Sheaffe's retreat, and
+    all reached Kingston in safety. Sheaffe (who was the military
+    successor of Brock) was severely censured for the loss of York.
+    He was soon afterward superseded in command in Upper Canada by
+    Major-General De Rottenburg and retired to Montreal to take
+    command of the troops there.
+
+On hearing of the death of General Pike, General Dearborn went on shore,
+and assumed command after the capitulation. At sunset the work was
+finished; both Chauncey and Dearborn wrote brief despatches to the
+government at Washington; the former saying: "We are in full possession
+of the place," and the latter: "I have the satisfaction to inform you
+that the American flag is flying upon the fort at York." The post, with
+about two hundred and ninety prisoners besides the militia, the war
+vessel _Duke of Gloucester_, and a large quantity of naval and military
+stores, passed into the possession of the Americans. Such of the latter
+as could not be carried away by the squadron were destroyed. Before the
+victors left, the public buildings were fired by some unknown hand, and
+consumed.
+
+Four days after the capitulation, the troops were re-embarked,
+preparatory to a descent upon Fort George. The post and village of York,
+possessing little value to the Americans, were abandoned. The British
+repossessed themselves of the spot, built another block-house, and on
+the site of the garrison constructed a regular fortification.
+
+The loss of the Americans in the capture of York was sixty-six killed
+and two hundred and three wounded on land, and seventeen killed and
+wounded on the vessels. The British lost, besides the prisoners, sixty
+killed and eighty-nine wounded. General Pike was crushed beneath a heavy
+mass of stones that struck him in the back. He was carried immediately
+after discovery to the water's edge, placed in a boat, and conveyed
+first on board the _Pert_, and then to the Commodore's flagship. Just as
+the surgeons and attendants, with the wounded general, reached the
+little boat, the huzzas of the troops fell upon his benumbed ears. "What
+does it mean?" he feebly asked. "Victory," said a sergeant in
+attendance. "The British union-jack is coming down from the blockhouse,
+and the Stars and Stripes are going up." The dying hero's face was
+illuminated by a smile of great joy. His spirit lingered several hours,
+and then departed. Just before his breath ceased the captured British
+flag was brought to him. He made a sign for them to place it under his
+head, and thus he expired. His body was taken to Sacketts Harbour, and
+with that of his pupil and aid, Captain Nicholson, was buried with
+military honours within Fort Tompkins there.
+
+[Illustration: Captain Sowers's drawings of Fort Niagara, 1769.
+
+From the original in the British Museum.]
+
+It was not till 1821 that the town recovered from these disasters, and
+then the population only amounted to 1559. In 1830 it was 2860; but in
+1834, a strong tide of emigration into Canada having set in, the
+population increased to 9254. In that year the town was incorporated as
+a city, and Mr. William Lyon Mackenzie was elected the first mayor of
+Toronto, April 3, 1834. In 1838 the inhabitants numbered 12,571; in
+1848, 15,336; in 1861, they had increased to 44,821; in 1871, to 56,039;
+in 1881, 86,415; in 1891, 181,220; and finally, in 1903, to 266,989.
+
+In 1821, E. A. Talbot, the author of some works of travel[39] visited
+the town. He states that the public edifices at that time were a
+Protestant Episcopal Church ("a wooden building with a wooden belfry"),
+a Roman Catholic Chapel (a brick building "not then completed, but
+intended to be very magnificent"--the present St. Paul's Church in Power
+Street), a Presbyterian Meeting House (a brick building, occupying the
+site of what is now Knox's Church), a Methodist Meeting House, situated
+in a field, nearly on the present site of the _Globe_ office, the
+Hospital (the brick building on King Street now known as the Old
+Hospital, and occupied as Government offices), which Talbot describes as
+the most important building of the province, "bearing a very fine
+exterior," the Parliament House (a brick building erected in 1820 on the
+former site, and destroyed by fire in 1824), and the residence of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, a wooden building, "inferior to several private
+houses of the town, particularly that of Rev. Dr. Strachan," says
+Talbot. The streets, he adds, are regularly laid out, but "only one of
+them is in a finished state, and in wet weather those of them which are
+unfinished, are if possible more muddy than the streets of Kingston."
+
+How different to-day, when Toronto has been called the "City of
+Churches," because of the large number of fine churches that have been
+erected in it! The distinctive feature of church architecture in Toronto
+consists in the fact that all denominations have built a considerable
+number of fine churches instead of concentrating their efforts on the
+erection of a few of greater magnificence. The large churches are not
+confined to the central portion but are found widely distributed
+throughout. Toronto to-day is the see of both Anglican and Roman
+Catholic archbishops. The city has suffered from destructive
+conflagrations, notably in 1890, and in April, 1904, when more than one
+hundred buildings in the wholesale business section were burned down,
+some five thousand persons were thrown out of work, and about eleven
+millions' worth of property was destroyed.
+
+The year 1866 is a memorable one in the history of Toronto as well as
+all Canada as the year of the Fenian raids. The Toronto regiments of
+volunteers were promptly sent to drive the Fenians out of the Niagara
+peninsula. The "Queen's Own" met the enemy at Ridgeway, and sustained a
+loss of seven killed and twenty-three wounded. The beautiful monument
+erected to the memory of those who fell at Ridgeway is decorated each
+year on June 2d by their comrades and by the school children of the
+city. Another monument in Queen's Park commemorates the loyalty and
+bravery of Toronto volunteers. It records the gallantry of those who
+were killed during the North-west rebellion of 1885.
+
+Toronto is a notable educational centre. The university is one of the
+best equipped in America. The first step towards its establishment was
+taken as early as 1797, but the university was not founded until 1827,
+chartered and endowed somewhat later, and opened for students in 1843.
+Until then it had rather a sectarian character, but nowadays it
+embraces, besides the four principal faculties, the following
+institutions: Ontario Agricultural College, Royal College of Dental
+Surgeons, the College of Pharmacy, the Toronto College of Music, the
+School of Practical Science, and the Ontario Veterinary College. The
+students in 1905-06 numbered 2547. The University buildings, it is said,
+are the best specimen of Norman architecture in America. The most
+beautiful other public buildings of Toronto are: the new Parliament
+buildings, the new City Hall, Osgood Hall, the Seat of the Provincial
+Courts and Law School, Trinity University, McMaster University, the
+Normal School, Upper Canada College, and the Provincial Asylum.
+
+Toronto is pre-eminently a city of homes. It claims to have a larger
+proportion of good homes and a much smaller proportion of saloons than
+any city of its size in America. One of the gratifying features of
+Toronto that distinguishes it from most large cities is the fact that
+there is no part of the city that can be fairly regarded as a "slum"
+district.
+
+The city covers a very large area so that there is no overcrowding.
+Working men have no difficulty in obtaining homes with separate gardens,
+and it is a common practice to use these gardens in growing both flowers
+and vegetables.
+
+The Park System is extensive and beautiful, possessing about 1350 acres,
+the chief being Queen's Park, adjoining the university, and the
+extensive High Park on the west of the city. But the most popular is
+probably Island Park, on Hiawatha Island, which lies immediately in
+front of the city in the form of a crescent about three miles in length.
+
+The following great Canadians were born in Toronto: Professor Egerton
+Ryerson; Sir John MacDonald; Sir Daniel Wilson; Reverend Wm. Morley
+Puncheon; Hon. George Brown; Sir Oliver Mowat; but the most widely known
+Toronto citizen is probably Goldwin Smith, the great historian and
+economist. Toronto has ever shown itself fervently British in sentiment.
+Its later history has been purely civic without other interest than that
+attaching to prosperous growth. A pleasant society and an attractive
+situation make it a favourite place of residence.
+
+In the first quarter of the nineteenth century, there was a certain Mr.
+Hetherington in Toronto, one of the clerks of St. James. Now the music
+of those primitive times seems to have been managed altogether after the
+old country village choirs. Mr. Hetherington was wont, after giving out
+the Psalm, to play the air on a bassoon; and then to accompany with
+fantasias on the same instrument, when any vocalist could be found to
+take the singing in hand. By-and-by the first symptoms of progress are
+apparent in the addition of a bass-viol and clarinet to help Mr.
+Hetherington's bassoon--"the harbinger and foreshadow," as Dr. Scadding
+says, "of the magnificent organ presented in after-times to the
+congregation of the 'Second Temple of St. James' by Mr. Dunn, but
+destroyed by fire, together with the whole church, in 1839, after only
+two years of existence."
+
+Incidents of a different character no less strongly mark the changes
+which a period of only ninety years has witnessed. In 1811, namely, we
+find William Jarvis, Esq., His Excellency's Secretary, lodging a
+complaint in open court against a negro boy and girl, his slaves. The
+Parliament at Newark had, indeed, enacted in 1793--in those patriarchal
+days already described, when they could settle the affairs of the young
+province under the shade of an umbrageous tree--that no more slaves
+should be introduced into Upper Canada, and that all slave children born
+after the 9th of July of that year should be free on attaining the age
+of twenty-five.
+
+But even by this creditable enactment slavery had a lease of life of
+fully a quarter of a century longer, and the _Gazette Public
+Advertiser_, and other journals, continue for years thereafter to
+exhibit such announcements as this of the Hon. Peter Russell, President
+of the Legislative Council, of date, February 19, 1806: "To be sold: a
+black woman, named Peggy, aged forty years, and a black boy, her son,
+named Jupiter, aged about fifteen years." The advertisement goes on to
+describe the virtues of Peggy and Jupiter. Peggy is a tolerable cook and
+washerwoman, perfectly understands making soap and candles, and may be
+had for one hundred and fifty dollars, payable in three years, with
+interest, from the day of sale. Jupiter, having various acquirements
+besides his specialty as a good house servant, is offered for two
+hundred dollars, but a fourth less will be taken for ready money. So
+recently as 1871, John Baker, who had been brought to Canada as the
+slave of Solicitor-General Gray, died at Cornwall, Ontario, in extreme
+old age. But before that the very memory of slavery had died out in
+Canada; and it long formed the refuge which the fugitive slave made for,
+with no other guide than the pole-star of our northern sky.
+
+The history of Toronto, as already noted, is necessarily to a great
+extent that of the province, and of the whole region of Canada.
+
+    Upper Canada [says Dr. Scadding], in miniature, and in the space
+    of a century, curiously passed through conditions and processes,
+    physical and social, which old countries on a large scale, and
+    in the course of long ages passed through. Upper Canada had its
+    primeval and barbaric, but heroic age, its mediaeval and high
+    prerogative era; and then, after a revolutionary period of a few
+    weeks, its modern, defeudalised, democratic era.
+
+[Footnote 38: Named in honour of a French Minister of Colonies. The
+_Rouilles_ are a celebrated family, later on styled Rouille-de-Marboeuf.
+The above-named Rouille is highly praised by St. Simon as a statesman of
+ability and integrity.]
+
+[Footnote 39: _Five Years' Residence in the Canadas._]
+
+
+
+
+  Index
+
+
+  A
+
+  Abbott, Francis, the "Hermit of Niagara," 40
+
+  Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, Brock under, 232
+
+  Allen, Ethan, mentioned, 222
+
+  Allen, Sadie, shoots the Rapids, 139
+
+  "American Blondin," the, see Calverly
+
+  _American Canals, Great_, see Hulbert
+
+  American Civic Association mentioned, 119
+
+  Amherst, Sir Jeffrey, campaign of 1759, 209
+
+  Anderson, M. B., on first Niagara Commission, 80
+
+  "Angevine place," building-site of _Griffon_, 181
+
+
+  B
+
+  Bakewell's estimate of Niagara's age, 65
+
+  Balleni, tight-rope artist, 130
+
+  Barton, J. L., reminiscences of early Buffalo, 7
+
+  Bath Island, 76
+
+  Biddle Stairs, 32
+
+  Bird Island, 30, 76
+
+  Black Rock, origin of name, 8
+
+  Blondin, career of, 123-129;
+    W. D. Howells's description of, 127-128
+
+  Blossom, I. A., agent of Holland Land Co., 7
+
+  Bourinot, Dr., quoted, 159-160, 288-291
+
+  Braddock, plans to capture Ft. Niagara, 206-207
+
+  Brock, Gen. Isaac, sketch of life, 231-238;
+    replies to Hull's Proclamation, 244-246;
+    captures Hull, 246-253;
+    relations with the Indians, 252-253;
+    death, 256;
+    eulogies, 257-262;
+    monuments to, 48, 259-262
+
+  Brodie, "Steve," goes over the Falls, 137
+
+  Browne, G. W., on St. Lawrence, 4, 161;
+    on De Nonville at Niagara, 187-189
+
+  Brule on Niagara frontier, 165
+
+  Buckley, A. B., _Fairyland of Science_, cited, 168
+
+  Buffalo, N. Y., growth of, 4-8
+
+  Buffalo Historical Society mentioned, 6
+
+  Burnt Ship Bay, 10, 212
+
+  Burton Act for preservation of Niagara, 116-120
+
+
+  C
+
+  Calverly, C. M., the "American Blondin," 132
+
+  Campbell, W. G., Niagara crank, 149
+
+  _Canada_ (_Story of the Nations_), see Bourinot
+
+  Canadian Niagara Falls Power Co., 104, 112, 117
+
+  _Canals, Great American_, see Hulbert
+
+  Cantilever bridge, 46
+
+  _Caroline_, the, incident, 291
+
+  _Cassier's Magazine_ quoted, 121
+
+  Cataract House, the, 75
+
+  "Cave of the Winds," the, 28, 31-33
+
+  Cayuga Creek mentioned, 10
+
+  Celoron at Niagara, 203
+
+  _Century Magazine_ quoted, 29, 42-44
+
+  Champlain on Niagara frontier, 158-163
+
+  Chippewa Creek, 46; battle of, 279 _seq._
+
+  Chrystie, Col., in War of 1812, 264
+
+  Church's "Niagara" mentioned, 14
+
+  Clark, George Rogers, compared with Brock, 249
+
+  Clark, Dr. John M., on "destruction of Niagara," 117
+
+  Colcourt, Henry, Blondin's assistant, 125
+
+  Colour of Niagara water explained by Mrs. Van Rensselaer, 42-44
+
+  Commissioners of N. Y. State Reservation, first report of, 82 _seq._
+
+  Crystal Palace, Blondin at, 128
+
+  Cutter, O. W., Niagara committeeman, 89
+
+
+  D
+
+  Dallion, Father, at Niagara, 166
+
+  "Darting Lines of Spray" explained, 45
+
+  Day, D. A., report, 17
+
+  Dearborn, Gen., in War of 1812, 274 _seq._
+
+  De Leon, "Prof.," Niagara crank, 131
+
+  De Nonville, Gov., on Niagara frontier, 186-194
+
+  "Destruction of Niagara" discussed, 110-120
+
+  De Troyes at Fort Niagara, 190-194
+
+  "Devil's Hole," 49;
+    massacre, 214-215
+
+  Dittrick, W., Niagara crank, 148
+
+  Dixon, S. J., tight-rope artist, 132
+
+  Dogs go over Falls, 151-152
+
+  Dorsheimer, William, on first Niagara Commission, 80;
+    presents the park to New York State, 92
+
+  Dufferin Islands, 46
+
+
+  E
+
+  Electrical Development Co., 117
+
+  Ellicott, Andrew, estimates Niagara's age, 63
+
+  Erie Canal, importance to Niagara frontier, 6
+
+  Evershed, Thomas, devises wheel-pits, 101
+
+
+  F
+
+  Farini, Signor, tight-rope artist, 129
+
+  Flack, R. W., killed in race in Niagara River, 148
+
+  _Fool-Killer_, see Nissen
+
+  Forts: Chippewa, 46;
+    Drummond, 48;
+    du Portage, 15;
+    Erie, 8;
+      battle of, 285 _seq._;
+    Frontenac, 17, 170;
+    George, 50, 274-276;
+    Niagara, the first, 189-194;
+      building, 197-202;
+      during French War and Revolution, 204-229;
+      Sir William Johnson captures, 278;
+    Rouille, 293;
+    Schlosser, 15
+
+  Fuller, Margaret, describes Niagara by night, 12;
+    on Goat Island flora, 18;
+    quoted, 28
+
+
+  G
+
+  Galinee on Niagara frontier, 166
+
+  Geology of Niagara, 52 _seq._
+
+  Goat Island, 16-19, 25, 29, 40, 74
+
+  _Golden Book of Niagara_, names in the, 79
+
+  Gorge of Niagara, its history, 63 _seq._
+
+  Graham, C. D., performs at Niagara, 137
+
+  Gravelet, see Blondin
+
+  Gray, Dr. Asa, on Goat Island flora, 16
+
+  Great Lakes, drainage, 3
+
+  Green, A. H., on first Niagara Commission, 80
+
+  Green Island, 30
+
+  _Griffon_, the, built at La Salle, N. Y., 180-186. See Remington
+
+  Gull Island, 40
+
+
+  H
+
+  Hall, Capt. Basil, experiment at Niagara, 34
+
+  Hall, Prof. James, survey of Falls, 65
+
+  Hardy, J. E., tight-rope artist, 132
+
+  Hazlett, George, Niagara crank, 139
+
+  "Heart of Niagara," 38, 45
+
+  Hennepin, Father, Narrative, quoted, 168, 173-184
+
+  Hennepin's View, 21
+
+  Heriot, George, quoted, 300
+
+  "Hermit of Niagara," see Abbott
+
+  "Hermit's Cascade," 40
+
+  Hill, Gov. D. B., signs Niagara Reservation Bill, 81
+
+  _Historic Highways of America_, cited, 206
+
+  _Historic Towns of the Middle West_, quoted, 5
+
+  Holland Land Co., mentioned, 7
+
+  Hooker, Sir J., on Goat Island, 16
+
+  Houghton, George, "The Upper Rapids," quoted, 13
+
+  _How Niagara was Made Free_, see Welch
+
+  Howells, W. D., quoted, 28, 29, 72-73, 74, 127-128
+
+  Hulbert, A. B., _The Ohio River_, cited, 3, 4;
+    _Great American Canals_, cited, 6;
+    _Historic Highways_, cited, 206
+
+  Hull, General, surrenders to Brock, 243, 277-279
+
+  Hunt, William M., painting of Niagara, 14
+
+  Hunter, Colin, view of Niagara rapids, 11
+
+
+  I
+
+  Ice Age, Niagara in the, 58-59
+
+  Ice Bridge, 39
+
+  Inspiration Point, 44
+
+  International Railway Co., 117
+
+  Iris Island, see Goat Island
+
+  Iroquois, dominate Niagara frontier, 153 _seq._;
+    Hennepin's embassy to, 177-180
+
+
+  J
+
+  Jay's treaty, 225-226
+
+  Jenkins, I. J., tight-rope artist, 131
+
+  Johnson, Sir William, captures Fort Niagara, 211-213;
+    treaty at Fort Niagara, 215-216
+
+  Joncaire, Chabert, erects "Magazine Royale," 197-200
+
+
+  K
+
+  Kendall, W. I., swims Niagara rapids, 136
+
+  King, Alphonse, performs at Niagara, 136-7
+
+
+  L
+
+  _La Belle Famille_, see Youngstown, N. Y.
+
+  La Salle, on Niagara frontier, 170-186
+
+  La Salle N. Y., the _Griffon_ built at, 183
+
+  Lewiston Heights, 50, 264-265
+
+  _Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, K. B._, see
+    Tupper
+
+  _Life and Times of General Brock_, see Read
+
+  Luna Island, 31
+
+  Lundy's Lane, 46;
+    battle of, 282
+
+  Lyell, Sir Charles, estimates Niagara's age, 65
+
+
+  M
+
+  Mackenzie, William Lyon, Bourinot describes, 288
+
+  "Magazine Royale," Joncaire builds, 197-200
+
+  Mahany, R. B., in _Historic Towns of the Middle States_, 5
+
+  _Maid of the Mist_, 44;
+    voyage through lower rapids, 144-146
+
+  Manchester, see Niagara Falls, N. Y.
+
+  Mars, Tesla's project to signal, 120
+
+  Marshall, O. H., mentioned, 157, 187, 194-195, 219
+
+  Matheson, James, advocates reclamation of Niagara, 77
+
+  _Michigan_, brig, sent over the Falls, 133
+
+  Milet, Father, at Fort Niagara, 193
+
+  Mohawk River in the Ice Age, 60
+
+  Montresor, Capt., blockhouse, 15
+
+  Morgan, William, mentioned, 202
+
+
+  N
+
+  _Nation, The_, on the "desecration of Niagara," 78
+
+  Neuter Nation first inhabit Niagara frontier, 156 _seq._
+
+  Newark, see Niagara-on-the-Lake
+
+  "New Jerusalem," Major Noah's, 9
+
+  New York State Reservation, history of, 77-96
+
+  _New York Times_, on opening of New York Reservation, 94-95
+
+  _Niagara Book, The_, cited, 28
+
+  Niagara Falls, N. Y., described, 96-98
+
+  Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Co., 102, 104, 110,
+    111-112, 118-119
+
+  Niagara Falls Power Co., 101, 104, 111-112, 118-119
+
+  Niagara, Lockport, and Ontario Power Co., 114-115
+
+  Niagara-on-the-Lake, 50, 227-230
+
+  Niagara Reservation Act, 79-82, 84
+
+  Niagara River, historic importance, 2;
+    drainage area, 2-4;
+    description of the upper, 8-22;
+    upper rapids of, 10-15;
+    islands of, 12-22;
+    historic sites of upper, 14-16;
+    Falls of, 20 _seq._;
+    bridges over, 21 _seq._;
+    music of, 24-27;
+    Howells on repose of, 28;
+    air pressure at Falls of, 34-37;
+    when dry, 38;
+    in winter, 39;
+    changes in, 41-42;
+    Mrs. Van Rensselaer on colour of, 42-44;
+    view of, from Queen Victoria Park, 44;
+    a tour around, 20-51;
+    the lower, described, 46-51;
+    the geology of, 52-71;
+    recession of Falls of, 63-71;
+    George Frederick Wright on age of, 66-70;
+    during era of private ownership, 72-77;
+    struggle for passage of "Reservation Act," 77-82;
+    _Golden Book of_, names in, 79;
+    as producer of power, 99-122;
+    volume of, 99;
+    tunnel beneath, 106;
+    manufacturing companies, use of, 111-113, 117;
+    use of water of, discussed, 111-122;
+    Burton Act concerning, Taft on, 117-120;
+    Blondin, career on, 123-129;
+    performances of cranks on, 129-152 (see Farini, Dixon, Webb, Graham,
+      etc.),
+    _Maid of the Mist_ sails lower, 144-146;
+    controlled by Iroquois, 153-156;
+    Neuter Nation inhabit banks of, 156-157;
+    French occupation of, 158-213;
+    Cartier hears of, 165;
+    described by Galinee, 166-167;
+    Hennepin describes, 167 _seq._;
+    reached by La Salle, 173-186;
+    the _Griffon_ built on, 181 _seq._;
+    first fort built on, 189;
+    sufferings of first French troops on, 191-194;
+    name of, discussed by Marshall, 194-195;
+    Joncaire on, 197-198;
+    in Old French War, 200 _seq._;
+    French lose, 209-212;
+    in Revolutionary War, 217-226;
+    fixed as international boundary line, 223-226;
+    Loyalists settle upon, 227 _seq._;
+    in the War of 1812, 263 _seq._
+
+  Nissen, Peter, exploits at Niagara, 149-151
+
+  Noah, Maj. N. N., "New Jerusalem," 9
+
+
+  O
+
+  Official opening of New York Reservation, 85-95
+
+  _Ohio River, The_, see Hulbert
+
+  "Old Indian Ladder," 46
+
+  Old Stone Chimney mentioned, 15
+
+  Olmsted, F. A., on Goat Island flora, 16-18;
+    mentioned, 77-78, 119
+
+  Ontario Power Co., 104, 108, 112, 117
+
+  Ottawa River, in Ice Age, 63
+
+
+  P
+
+  Papineau in Patriot War, 290
+
+  Parkman's works quoted, 171, _seq._
+
+  Patch, Sam, jumps at Niagara, 133
+
+  Patriot War, Bourinot on the, 288-291
+
+  Peere, Stephen, tight-rope artist, 131
+
+  Percy, C. A., goes through rapids, 146-149
+
+  Perry, Lieut. O. H., captures Fort George, 274-276
+
+  Pike at the capture of York, 302 _seq._
+
+  Pittsburg Reduction and Mining Co., 118
+
+  Platt, John J., mentioned, 80
+
+  Portage, old Niagara, 15, 18
+
+  Porter's Bluff, 33
+
+  Porter, Judge, 37, 38, 96
+
+  Porter, Hon. Peter A., _Guide Book_, 11;
+    _Old Fort Niagara_, 11, 197, 200, 207-209, 213;
+    _Goat Island_, 11, 19;
+    on proposed attack on Fort Niagara in 1755, 207-209;
+    on commercial importance of Fort Niagara, 213-214
+
+  Potts, William, Niagara crank, 139
+
+  Pouchot, Gen., surrenders Fort Niagara, 209-213
+
+  _Poughkeepsie Eagle_ quoted, 80
+
+  Power development at Niagara, 99-122
+
+  Prideaux, Gen. John, captures Fort Niagara, 209 _seq._
+
+  Prospect Point, 20, 21
+
+
+  Q
+
+  "Quebec Act," effect of, 217-218
+
+  Queen Victoria Park, 44, 108
+
+  Queen's Royal Hotel, 51
+
+  Queenston, 50
+
+  Queenston Heights, 48;
+    battle on, 263 _seq._
+
+
+  R
+
+  Rapids of Niagara, 11-15, 22, 45, 46, 49-50;
+    Hunter's painting of, 11, 14
+
+  Read, D. B., _The Life and Times of General Brock_, cited, 232
+
+  Red Jacket, anecdote of, 22
+
+  Reed, Andrew, suggests reclamation of Niagara, 77
+
+  Remington, C. K., on the building-site of the _Griffon_, 183
+
+  _Road to Frontenac, The_, mentioned, 162
+
+  Robb, J. H., on first Niagara Commission, 80
+
+  Robinson, Joel, sails the _Maid of the Mist_ through lower rapids,
+    144-146
+
+  Rogers, Sherman S., on first Niagara Commission, 80
+
+
+  S
+
+  St. Davids, Ont., in the history of geologic Niagara, 63
+
+  St. Lawrence drainage, 3
+
+  St. Lawrence River, George Waldo Browne on, 4
+
+  Schlosser, Capt., 15, 213;
+    see Fort Schlosser
+
+  Scott, Gen. Winfield, in War of 1812, 267 _seq._
+
+  _Scribner's Monthly_ quoted, 25
+
+  Senecas dominate Niagara frontier, 5
+
+  Severance, F. H., _Old Trails of the Niagara Frontier_, 6, 219-222
+
+  Sheaffe, Gen., mentioned, 268 _seq._
+
+  Ship Island, 30
+
+  "Shipyard of the _Griffon_," the, see Remington
+
+  Shirley, Gov., plans Niagara attack, 207
+
+  "Shoreless Sea," the, 45
+
+  Silliman, Prof., Basil Hall writes, 34-35
+
+  Simcoe, Gov., John Graves, mentioned, 229, 294 _seq._
+
+  Smyth, Gen., in War of 1812, 271 _seq._
+
+  Spelterini, Signorina, tight-rope artist, 130
+
+  Spencer, J. W., estimates Niagara's age, 66
+
+  Spouting Rock, 41
+
+  Steadman Bluff, 30
+
+  Steadman, John, first owner of Goat Island, 18
+
+  Steel arch bridge, built by Roebling, 46
+
+  _Story of Canada, The_, by Bourinot, quoted, 288-291
+
+  Sullivan's campaign of 1779, 223
+
+
+  T
+
+  Table Rock, 38, 45
+
+  Taft, Sec'y William H., on the "destruction of Niagara," 117-120
+
+  Talbot, E. A., description of early Toronto, 308
+
+  Taylor, Mrs. A. E., barrel-fiend, 141-143
+
+  Tempest Point, 104
+
+  Terrapin Rocks, 33, 37-38
+
+  Terrapin Tower, 33, 37
+
+  Tesla, Nikola, on Niagara electrical power, 120
+
+  Thayer, Eugene, on the music of Niagara, 25-26
+
+  Thompson, Sir William, prophesies era of electricity, 77
+
+  Three Sister Island, 40
+
+  Tonawanda, N. Y., mentioned, 10
+
+  Toronto, Ont., 51;
+    history of, 292-313
+
+  Toronto and Niagara Power Co., 104, 105, 112, 121
+
+  Tupper, Ferdinand Brock, _The Life and Correspondence of Major-General
+    Sir Isaac Brock, K. B._, cited, 232
+
+  Tyndall, Prof., on Terrapin Rocks, 33
+
+
+  U
+
+  United Empire Loyalists, 228
+
+  Upper Canada, and Lower, divided, 295
+
+
+  V
+
+  Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Schuyler, on Niagara, quoted, 24, 27, 42-44
+
+  Van Rensselaer, Col. Solomon, 264-266
+
+  Van Rensselaer, Gen. Stephen, 263
+
+  Victoria Falls compared with Niagara Falls, 13
+
+
+  W
+
+  Wagenfuhrer, Martha E., barrel-crank at Niagara, 140
+
+  War of 1812, 263-291
+
+  Webb, Capt. Matthew, drowned at Niagara, 134-135
+
+  Welch, Thomas V., labours to enfranchise Niagara, 79;
+    _How Niagara was Made Free_, cited, 79-82;
+    mentioned, 81, 89
+
+  Whirlpool, the, 47, 50
+
+  Whitney, Gen. P., 40
+
+  Willard, Maud, Niagara crank, killed, 140
+
+  Woodward, Prof., surveys Niagara Falls, 65
+
+  Wool, Capt., hero of Queenston Heights, 265 _seq._
+
+  Wright, Dr. Geo. Frederick, makes new estimate of Niagara's age, 66-70
+
+
+  Y
+
+  York, Ont., Americans capture, 300-306
+
+  York Harbour, early description, 296-297
+
+  Youngstown, N. Y., 50;
+    skirmish at, 211
+
+
+
+
+  =Transcriber's Notes:=
+  original hyphenation, spelling and grammar have been preserved as in
+    the original
+  various "De Nonville" changed to "Denonville" [Ed. for consistency]
+  Page xii, "Fort Missisagga" changed to "Fort Mississauga"
+  Page 2, "Lake Superior. 381 miles" changed to "Lake Superior, 381 miles"
+  Page 3, "length. the Niagara" changed to "length, the Niagara"
+  Page 50, "Fort Mississagua" changed to "Fort Mississauga"
+  Page 82, "Albany, N Y" changed to "Albany, N. Y."
+  Page 88, "with the nortnerly" changed to "with the northerly"
+  Page 95, "made to day." changed to "made to-day."
+  Pages 124,126,127 "tight rope" changed to "tight-rope" [Ed. for
+    consistency]
+  Page 169, "Raddison" changed to "Radisson"
+  Page 179, "Belief to the fame." changed to "Belief to the same."
+  Page 187, "Writings, 123-186." changed to "Writings, pp. 123-186."
+  Page 210, "Mississaga" changed to "Mississauga"
+  Page 262, "this Monuument" changed to "this Monument"
+  Page 268, 269, "Scheaffe" changed to "Sheaffe"
+  Page 278 plate, "Fort Missisagua" changed to "Fort Mississauga"
+  Page 281, "Mississaga" changed to "Mississauga"
+  Page 317, "Magazine Royale" changed to "Magazine Royale,"
+  Page 317, "MagazineRoyale," changed to "Magazine Royale,"
+  Page 317, "see Niagara-on-the Lake" changed to "see Niagara-on-the-Lake"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Niagara River, by Archer Butler Hulbert
+
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