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Maps, platas, charts, ate, may ba filmad at diffarant raduction ratios. Thosa too larga to ba antiraly includad in ona axposura ara filmad baginning in tha uppar laft hand cornar, laft to right and top to bottom, as many framaa as raquirad. Tha following diagrama illustrata tha mathod: Las cartas, planchas, tablaaux, ate, pauvant Atra filmto A das taux da reduction diffArants. Lorsqua la documant ast trop grand pour Atra raproduit an un saul clichA, 11 ast filmA A partir da I'angia supAriaur gaucha, da gaucha A droita, at da haut an tMs, an pranant la nombra d'imagas nAcassaira. Las diagrammas suivants illustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 THE Niagara (Region IN History By Peter A. Porter Reprinted from the Niagara Power Number of Casnier's Magazine NEW YORK AND LONDON 1895 X Copyri((litei) by llic CASSIKR MACAZINK CO. 1895 AI,I. KIC.IITS I A. IWIcr. TIIP. OLD STONE CIIIMNKV AT NIAUARA, liriLT IN I75O. IN 1764 Sir William Jolin- soii, commaiulcr of the English forces in the Niagara region, supplement- ing the treaty of the preced- ing year between England France, assembled all the Indian warriors of that region, some 2000 , in number, comprising chiefly the hostile Sen- ecas, at Fort Niagara, and acquired from them, for the English Crown, together with other territory, a strip of land, four miles wide, on each bank of the Niagara river (the islands being excejited) from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The Senecas also ceded to him, personally, at this time, "as proof of their regard and of their knowledge of the trouble which he had had with them from time to time," all the islands in the Niagara river, and he, in turn, as compelled by the military law of that period, ceded them to his Sovereign. It is ot the territory included in the above two grants, a region now popularly known as "the Niagara frontier," that the writer proposes to treat. And a famed and famous terri- tory it is, for it would be difificult to find anywhere else an eciual area of country (36 miles long and 8 miles broad, be- sides the islands) around which cluster so many, so important and such varied associations as one finds there. Through its centre flows the grand Niagara river, between whose banks the waters of four great lakes, — the water- shed of almost half a continent, — find their way to the ocean ; and through the centre of the deepest channel of this river runs the boundary line between the two great nations of North Amer- ica. In it arc located the I'alls of Ni- agara, the ideal waterfall of the universe; in it are found the two government |)arks or reservations, established, re- spectively, by the State of New York and the province of Ontario, in order that the immediate surroundings of Ni- agara might be preserved, as nearly as possible, in their natural state and be forever free to all mankind. In it one meets with many and wondrous aspects of natural scenery ; in it one finds geo- logic records, laid bare along the river's chasm by the force of the water thou- sands of years ago, and which hold so high a place in that science, that among its classifications the name Niagara is applied to one of thegrouj)s. In it are found botanic specimens of beauty and rarity, and it is stated that on Goat Island, embracing 80 acres, are to be found a greater number of species and flora than can be found in an etjual area anywhere else. In it are to be found, also, the development of hydraulic en- terprises which are regarded as stupen- dous even in this age of marvels ; while as to places noted for historic interest, one may truly .say that it is all historic ground. Within sight of the spray of the Falls the red men, in ages long gone by, lived, held their councils, waged their inhuman warfares and offered up their human sacrifices. To this Niagara re- gion long ago came the adventurous French traders, the forerunners of the " coureurs de bois," believed to have been the first white men who ever gazed upon the Falls, though the name of the man to whom that honour belongs, and the e.xact date at which he saw them will probably forever remain unknown. Across Niagara's rapid stream went several of the early missionaries of the N/AGAR A JX ///STORY. VIIK l-lKSr KNllW.N I'lLlTKK til' NIAliAUA 1 AI.I.S. (From Pnther Ileiineiiin'ii " Noiivelle Uecouvcrle," 1697.) Catholic church as they carrictl the j,n)s- pel to the v.uious lucHaii trilies in the unknown wiltlerness. To this rcj^^ion came the Trench, first ottki.illy in tin- person of La Salle; after', irds, by their armies, seeking con(im^t and the con- •"ol of the fur trade. At the mouth of the Niagara river the French established one of their most important posts. There they traded with, conferred with and intriguetl with the Indians, making firm friends of st)nie of the tribes and bitter enemies of others ; and during the fourscore years that France heUl sway on the American continent, this region was a famous part of her domain in the new world. Later on, steadily but surely driving the French before them, and finally totally depriving them of their posses- sions, came the English. Shortly after England became the undisputed owner of the region, the American Revolution began, and within twenty years after England had dispossessed France of this famous territory, she herself was compelled to recognize a new nation. formed by her own descendants, and to ceile to it one-half, or, counting the islands, more than one-half of the lanils bordering on the Niagara river. From thai time on, the United .States and (ireat Britain have held undisputed possession of all this wondrous section. Looking back in history for the first references to the Niagara region, we find them derived from Indian tradition or hearsay, and that, almost entirely by reason of the Falls and Rapids. However, it was not their grandeur, but the fact that the Indians were com- pelled to carry their canoes so many miles around them that impressed them. Thus, thee.xistenceof a great fall at this point was known to the Indians all over the North American continent, we know not how far back ; certainly as early as the arrival of Columbus at San Salva- dor. I" 1535 Jacques Cartier made his second voyage to the St. Lawrence, and the Indians living along that river narrated to him what they had heard of the upper part of that stream, and of n/ac;a/,'ara luyond doubt, and in tliat river lie indicates a " sault d'eau," or water fall. In 1^)15 Idienne nrnlc, who was Chanii)lain's inter- preter, was in that vicinity, in the territory of the Neu- ter nation, and may have been the first |)ale-face to have seen the Falls. In 1626 the Franciscan priest Joseph de la Roche Dallion was on the Niaj^ara river in the course of his missionary labors among the Neutrals. It is more than probable that at this date the Ni- agara route westward, as itistinguished from the Ot- tawa route, was known and had been traversetl by white men — the French traders or "coureurs de bois" previ- ously mentioned. In the 1632 edition of his " Voy- ages," Champlain again, though inaccurately, lo- cates on his map a river which cannot be any other than the Niagara, and quite accurately locates also a " waterfall, very high, at the end of Lake St Louis (Ontario), where many kinds of fish are stunnetl in the descent." In 1640 the Jesuit fathers Brebeuf and Chaumonot undertook their mis- sion to the Neuter nation, the existence of the famous river of this nation having been familiar to the Jesuits before this d.itt'. They trosscd from tin- westerly to tlu; »'.i>>lerly slinrc of the Ni.igara river, re tossing ag.iin, near where the \ill.ige of l.cwiston now stands, when their mission proved unsuccc-shil. In thej<'suit Rel.itions wi" find refer'ti) I. a Salh- madi' a visit to tlii' Srm'(a> who dwtll in wliat is now known as Western New KKNK KOIIKKT CAVKI.IKK, SIKt'H UK LA SAL (From an K: as far as the western end of Lake On- tario, whence La Salle returned east- ward. Gallinde's journal of that jour- ney includes the earliest known descrip- tion of Niagara Falls, which is as fol- lows : ' ' We found a river, one-eighth of a league broad, and extremely rajiid, forming the outlet or communication from I aki- Lrie t fit t. In i.n t, we heard it from the pi, ice where we were, .lit ho ugh from 10 to 13 Kagues distant ; but the fall gives such a iiionientiim to the w.iter th.'.t its velocity prevented our ascending the current by rowing, except with great difficulty. At a (|uartt'r of a league from the outlet win re we were it grows narrower and its chan- nel is confined between two very high, steep, rocky banks, inducing the l)elief tiiat 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 are overwhelmed in the frightful abyss. I will leave you to judge if that is not a tine cataract in which all the water of that large river falls from a height ol LE. 200 feet with a noise that is heard not only at the place where we were, 10 or 12 leagues THE RED man's FACT. 14 NIAGARA IN HISTORY. THE BUILDING OF THE GRIFFON, 1679. (Fac-simile reproduction of the original copper-plate engraving:, first published in Father Hennepin's •"NouvelleDecouvcrte," Amsterdam, 1704.) the American side, where to-day is a hamlet bearing his name, he there built and launched the Griffon, the first ves- sel, other than Indian canoes, that ever sailed the upper lakes, and the pioneer of an inland commerce of un- told value. In 1687, the Marquis de Nonville, returning from his expedition against the Senecas, fortified La Salle's trading post at the mouth of the river, but it was abandoned during i:he following year. It was, however, rebuilt in stone in 1725 by consent of the Iroquois, and thereafter maintained. The site of the present village of Lewiston, named in honour of Governor' Lewis of New York, — the head of navigation on the lower Niagara, — was the commence- ment of a portage of which the unper terminus was about a mile and a half above the Falls, the road traversed being, even now, called the "portage road." The upper end of t'.is portage, at first merely an open landing place for boats, necessarily grew into a fortifi- cation, which was completed in 1750 and was called Fort de Portage, or, by some, Fort Little Niagara. A short distance below the site of this fort the French built their barracks. These and the fort itself were burnt in 1759 by Joncaire, who was in command, to pre- vent their falling into the hands of the victorious English, and he and his men retreated to a station on Chippewa creek, across the river. An old stone chimney, believed to be the first stone structure built in that part of the coun- try, and around which were built the French barracks, stands to day solitary and alone, the only reminder of the early commercial and military activities at this point. It was in 1759 that the English com- menced that short, memorable and de- cisive campaign which was forever to crush out French rule in North America. General Prideaux was in charge of the English forces thereabouts, and, carry- ing out that part of the plan assigned to him, collected his forces east of Fort Niagara on the shore of Lake Ontario. That fort had been strongly fortified, and this fact, coupled with its location, made its capture necessary for English success. Prideaux' s demand for its surrender having been refused, he laid siege to it. He was killed during the continuance of the siege, and the com- mand devolved on Sir William John- yon, who pushed operations vigorously NIAGARA IN HISTORY. H and captured the fort before French re- inforcements could arrive. These reinforcements had been sent from Venango, on Lake Erie, and, coming down the Niagara river, had reached Navy Ishind (Isle de Marine), then held by the French, when they heard of the fall of Fort Niagara. The certainty that the two vessels which had brought the troops and ammunition from Venango would be captured by the English, induced the French to take them, together with some small vessels nected with the great French and Eng- lish struggle. Cham plain's early hos- tility to the Iroquois, when he sided with the Senecas against them, had made the Iroquois the firm friends of the English during all the subsequent years, and it had also endeared the F"reiich to the Senecas, even though the latter had subsequently joined the Iroquois confederacy. After the total defeat of the F"rcnch and their practical surrender of all their territory in 1759, the old hatred of the W!l!f''^7'';'"V ■'.:.' ^W^^ THIi CAPTfRK OF FORT GEORGE, iSl'J. (From au Old Engraviag.) which had recently been built on Navy Island, over to the northern shore of Grand Island, lying close by, into a quiet bay, where they set them on fire and totally destroyed them. As late ?.s the middle of the present century, portions of these vessels were clearly visible under water in the arm of the river, which, from this incident, has become known as " Burnt Ship Bay." One more historical point, the scene of the Devil's Hole massacre, is con- English on the part of the Senecas, abetted, no doubt, by French influences, led them to commence a bloody cam- paign against the English in 1763. They knew the English were, on a certain day, to send a long train of wagons, filled with supplies and ammu- nition, from Fort Niagara to Fort Schlosser, a station, built in 1761 by Capt. Joseph Schlosser of the English army, to replace Fortde Portage, which had been destroyed two years pre- i6 NIAGARA IN HISTORY. vjously. They knew also that the military force accompanying the train was to be a small one. At a point, known as the Devil's Hole, about three miles below the Falls, and at the edge of the precipice, they ambushed this fited supply train and destroyed it, forcing both train and escort over the high bank, and killing all but three of the escort and drivers. They then cun- ningly ambushed the relief force, which at the sound of the firing had set out from Lewiston where the English main- tained a slight encampment, and killed all but eight of these. It was a striking example of Indian warfare and of Indian shrewdness. Shortly after this, in 1763, the treaty between France and England was signed, whereby England became the absolute owner and master of the northeastern portion of the North American continent. No serious conflict marked England's rule in her new territory, acquired by so long and fierce a struggle and at so great a cost of lives and money. But thirteen years after the above treaty was signed, the American Revolution com- menced. Had Gen. Sullivan's expedi- tion against the Senecas in 1779, been successful, as planned, he would have pursued the dusky warriors who fled to Fort Niagara, and would have attacked and probably captured that fort, then in possession of the English ; but mis- fortune befel him on his westward march, and the Niagara region was never the scene of actual hostilities dur- ing that war. When it closed, England had lost and relinquished to the United States all that portion of this region that lies east of the Niagara river. The Niagara region, especially that part lying along the banks of the river, felt the full burden of the three years of border warfare between American and English forces, each with their Indian allies, known in history as the war of 1812. In the fall of 1812, about four months after the declaration of war. Gen. Van Rensselaer established his camp just east of the village of Lewiston, and collected an army for the invasion of Canada. After some delay and one unsuccessful attempt to dross the river, many of his men reached the Canadian shore and promptly and easily occupied an advantageous position on Queenston Heights. Gen. Brock hastened from Fort George, at the mouth of the river, with English reinforcements, and, in endeavoring to recapture this point of vantage, was killed at the head of his troops. Other English reinforcements having arrived, the Americans were defeated and dislodged from their posi- tion, many being forced over the edge of the bluff. Most of these and many on the brow of the mountain were taken prisoners. Meanwhile, directly across the river, on the American side, in full view of the battle, were several hundred American volunteers who basely refused to go to the aid of their companions. The results of this first battle were most depressing to the American cause. At the foot of Queenston Heights m inscribed stone, set in place in i860 oy the Prince of Wales with appropriate ceremonies, marks the spot where Gen. Brock fell, and on the heights above a lofty column was erected to his memory in 1826, as a monument of his country's gratitude. This was blown up by a miscreant in 1840, but was replaced in 1853 by the present more beautiful shaft, within whose foundations Gen. Brock's remains lie buried. It was in November, 181 2, that Gen. Alexander Smythe, of Virginia, com- manding the American army on this frontier, issued his famous bombastic circular, inviting everybody to assemble at Black Rock, near the source of the Niagara river and to invade Canada. ' ' Come in companies, half companies, pairs or singly ; come anyhow, but come," was its substance, and about 4000 men responded. But Smythe proved incapable, and having made himself a laughing-stock in many ways, among others in challenging Gen. Porter, who had questioned his courage, to a duel (which challenge was ac- cepted and shots were exchanged on Grand Island), the contemplated in- vasion was abandoned. In May, 18 13, the Americans cap- tured Fort George and the village of Newark, both on the Canadian shore; NIAGARA IN HISTORY. 17 near the mouth of the river, and held them until December of that year. So effectual was American supremacy at this time, that the English Fort Erie, at the source of the river, and Chippawa, just above the Falls, together with all barracks and store houses along the river, were abandoned, and the English evacuated the entire frontier. Fort Erie was promptly occupied by the Americans. Several minor attacks were made by small parlies of English at points on the American side during 18 13, one at Black Rock, where the English were badly repulsed, being the most important. In December, 181 3, the British as- sumed the offensive on their side of the river and soon Gen. McClure, who was in command of the American forces holding Fort George, determined to abandon it and cross to Fort Niagara. He blew up Fort George and applied the torch to the beautiful adjoining village of Newark. This was the oldest settlement in that part of Canada, was at one time the residence of her lieu- tenant-governor, and was further noted as the place where the first Parliament of Upper Canada was held in 1792. Its destruction was in the line of military tactics which leaves nothing to shelter an enemy when they occupy evacuated ground ; but it was a severe winter, the snow was deep, and the sufferings of those whose homes were thus burnt, were excessive. The burning of Newark raised a storm ofwraththroughoutCanadaand England which stimulated the English forces to make great efforts for victory and re- taliation. In these they were decidedly successful, for ten days later, at three o'clock in the morning. Col. Murray, of the British Army, surprised and cap- tured Fort Niagara. Had Capt. Leon- ard, who was in charge of the Fort '.vhile Gen. McClure was at his head- quarters in Buffalo, been vigilant, the Fort would have, probably, been suc- cessfully defended. As it was, it fell an easy prey. Lossing says : " It might have been an almost bloodless victory had not the unhallowed spirit of re- venge demanded victims. " As it was, many of the garrison, including inva- lids, were bayonetted after all resist- ance had ceased. The British General Riall, with a force of regulars and Indians was waiting at Queenston for the agreed signal of success, and when the cannon's roar announced the vic- tory, he hurried tliem across the river to the village of Lewiston, which was sacked and destroyed in spite of such opposition as the few Americans in Fort Gray on Lewiston Heights could make. After a temporary check on Lewiston Heights the British pushed on to Man- chester (that name having been given to it in anticipation of its ultimatelv becoming the great manufacturing vil- lage of America) as the settlement at the Falls was then called. That place, the settlement at Schlosser, two miles above, and the country for some miles back shared the fate of Lewiston ; the same was meted out to Youngstown, near Fort Niagara. The destruction of the bridge across the creek at Tona- wanda saved Buffalo from the same fate, but only for a few days. Gen. Riall crossed the river at Queenston, and a few days later appeared opposite Black Rock which adjoined Buffalo. This he promptly attacked and captured. The hastily gathered and unorganized American forces not only offered little resistance, but hundreds deserted. Buffalo was burnt, only four houses being left standing, and many persons were killed. The opening of the campaign of 18 14 found an American army at Buffalo, and on July 3, Fort Erie surrendered to the Americans. On July 5, the Ameri- cans met and, after a fierce fight, de- feated the British in the memorable battle of Chippawa, on the Canadian side, two miles above the Falls. Soon afterwards, the British retreated to Queenston, followed by the Ameri- cans under Gen. Brown, who then de- termined to recapture Fort George ; but learning that the expected fleet could not co-operate with him, he changed his plans and returned to Chippawa. Gen. Scott, reconnoitering from this place in the late afternoon of July 25, found Gen. Riall with his re- iR NIAGARA IN If IS TORY. inforccd army drawn up in line of buttle at Lundy's Lane. Gen, Scott, with a nominal force, but with the hope of gaining time for the advent of Gen. Brown s army, immediately gave battle. Of the details of that battle, fought mainly by the glorious light of a sum- mer moon, and continued until after midnight, with the spray of Niagara drifting over the heads of the opposing armies and the thunder of the Falls mingling with the roar of the cannon, it is not possible to recount much. The central point on the hill was held by a British battery, and it was in response to an order to capture it that Col. Miller made his famous reply, " I'll try. Sir." He did try, and successfully, and the battery, once captured, was the Americans against oft- and brave attacks by the held by repeated British. When treated. at last the British army re- the Americans fell back to their camp at Chippawa, and before they returned the next morning, the British had once more, owing to the American General Ripley's negligence, occupied the field and dragged away the cannon which had been captured from them. The battle of Niagara Falls, Lundy's Lane, or Bridgevvater as it is variously called was claimed as a victory by the British, and is still annu- ally celebrated, on the battlefield, as such. The Americans, too, regarded it as a substantial victory, and the United States Congress voted to Generals Scott, Brown, Porter, Gaines and Rip- ley gold medals for their services in this and other battles of the war. The American army now returned to Fort Erie which they strongly fortified, and where they were besieged on August 3, by the British. For ten days both armies were busy preparing for the inevitable and decisive contest. Just after midnight on August 14, the British attacked the fort, but were finally re- pulsed. From this time to September 17, there was frequent cannonading, but on that date a sortie from the fort was made by the Americans, and was so boldly planned and so faithfully exe- cuted, that the British were completely routed, and Buffalo and Western New York saved from invasion. Lord Napier refers to this sortie as the only instance in modern warfare, where a besieging army was totally routed by such a movement. A few more desultory en- gagements occurred along the Canadian bank of the river. Gen. Izard having assumed command of the American army ; but the season was too far ad- vanced for any further offensive opera- tions on this peninsula, and Canada was abandoned. Fort Erie was mined, and on November 5, 1814, was laid in ruins. It still remains so, — a picturesque spot. Some space has been devoted to this war, although not a fraction of what its importance demands. During its con- tinuance almost every foot of land along both banks of the Niagara river was the scene of strife, of victory and defeat, of triumphs of armies and of bravery and heroism of individuals. 1 he treaty of Ghent restored peace to both countries, to the delight of all, especially of the inhabitants along the frontier. The commissioners appointed under that treaty to settle the question of the boundary between the United States and Canada agreed subsequently that that line, "between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario should run through the centre of the deepest channel of the Niagara river, and through the point of the Horse Shoe Fall." Later years proved this to be a variable line as far as the point of the Fall is concerned, though this fact will never impair the validity of the boundary line. By the above decision Grand Island and Goat Island became American soil, and Navy Island fell under British rule. The frontier, especially on the American side, recovered rapidly from the effects of the war, for it was a section sought by settlers, and many who reached the Niagara river on a projected journey to lands farther west, became residents of the locality. Prior to 1825, all heavy goods were sent westwards by Lake Ontario vessels to Lewiston ; thence, were carted over the well-known "Portage road" to Schlosser, and there again reloaded into vessels which went up the Niagara NIAGARA IX HISTORY 19 river, pust Black Rock and Buffalo at the source of the river, and then out into Lake Erie. Freights from the west followed the opposite course, over the same route ; and this carrying trade along the frontier, controlled almost en- tirely by one firm, was a source of per- sonal wealth to its members, a means of livelihood to many a family, and a prominent factor in the speedy develop- ment of the region. On October 26, 1 825, a cannon in the village of Buffalo, at the source of the Niagara river boomed forth its greeting, followed, a few sec- onds later, by another cannon, near Black Rock ; and thus thundered can- non after cannon, down the Niagara river, to Tonavvanda ; thence, easterly to Albany, and south, along the Hudson river, to New York city, announcing the glad message that, at the source of the Niagara river, the waters of Lake Erie had just been let into that barely completed water-way, the Erie Canal. The completion of the canal built up Buffalo, but at the same time, checked the rapid growth of the northern portion of the region, by causing a total sus- pension of traffic over the old portage. Two events, entirely dissimilar and in no way connected with warlike opera- tions, occurred in this region in the year 1826, and each attracted the attention of the whole world. The first was the proposal of Major Mordecai M. Noah to create a second City of Jerusalem within clear view of the Falls of Niagara, by buying Grand Island, comprising some 18,000 acres, and there building up for the Hebrew race an ideal com- munity of wealth and industry. He even went so far, in his assumed capa- city of the Great High Priest of the project, as to lay the corner stone of the future city of Ararat. This he did, not even within the boundaries of his proposed city, but some miles away, on the altar of a Christian church in Buffalo, to which church, clad in sacerdotal robes, attended in procession by mili- tary and civic authorities, local societies, and a great concourse of people he was impressively escorted. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, however, refused his sanction to the project, money did not pour in to its support, and it was ulti- mately abandoned. The cornei stone was, however, built into a small brick monument at White Haven, a point on Cirand Island opposite Tonawanda, and is now 'n the rooms of the Buffalo Historical Society. The other event was the reputed murder of William Morgan, of Batavia, who had threatened to disclose the secrets of the masonic fraternity in print. He was quietly seized and taken away from his home, and was traced, in the hands of his abductors, through Lewiston, to Fort Niagara. There he was confined in what is still called "Morgan's Dungeon," a windowless cell that was probably used as a powder magazine. All trace of him was lost after he entered the fort, and tradition says he was taken from his dungeon by night, placed in a boat, to be sent, as he was told, to Canada, rowed out on Lake Ontario, and forced into a watery grave. Several persons were arrested and tried for his murder, but no proof of their being directly con- cerned in the matter, nor, in fact, any direct proof of Morgan's death being introduced, they were discharged. Some persons, however, were sentenced to imprisonment for conspiracy in con- nection with the matter. Thus the episode upon which the famous, power- ful and widespread anti-masonic agita- tion was based, occurred in, and became an integral part of Niagara's history. In the same year, the first survey and report were made at Lewiston on a pro- ject, which, so far as any commence- ment of it is concerned, is now as re- mote as it was then. Yet, it is a pro- ject which has a national importance, on which, in at least four surveys, the United States Government has em- ployed some of its greatest engineers, and one which has, on numerous occa- sions, been discussed and advocated by commercial bodies, and in the halls of the United States Congress ; namely, a ship canal, of a capacity large enough to float the largest war vessels around the Falls of Niagara. From a point from two to four miles above the Falls, to the deep and quiet waters near a'/A(;ar.i /jv ///s/oa'): Lcwistnn, has bct-n the route? most generally approvud for such a canal, of which the cost would he enormous. The resultiiij^ benefits, hosvexcr, especially as the population and wealth of the United States increase, mi,y:ht be ines- timable, especially in the event of a war with ICnj^'land and Canatla. The Nia>;ara rej^ion ajjain became the theatre of war in 1S37, when the Patriots undertook to upset the (lovern- ment of Canada. While the first revolt occurred at York, now Toronto, the entire Canadian bank of the Niajjara river was kejit in a ferment for several months. Navy Island was at one time the principal rendezvous of the Patriots, and from there, on December 17, 1837, William I, yon Mackenzie, the leader, sij^ninj^ himself "Chairman pro tem of the provincial (a printer's error, which should read provisional) government of the State of Upper Canada," issued his famous proclamation to the inhabitants of the Province. Without reference to the various in- trigues carried on all along the frontier by the Patriots with their American sympathizers, of whom there were, doubtless, a goodly number, the writer would mention only the crucial event of the war, the Caroline episode. It was openly charged by the Canadians that substantial aid was being rendered from the American side to the Patriots, both by private individuals in various ways, and especially by reason of the non-in- terference of the national and New York State authorities wh.?n informed, on credible testimony, that arms and amunition were being shipped and other aid was being furnished from American soil to the Canadian rebels. This feel- ing was so bitter on the part of the English that it is not surprising that they seized the first opportunity for retaliation. A small steamer, the Caroline, had been chartered by some people in BuflFalo to run between that city, Navy Island where the insurgents were en- camped, and Schlosser, on the Ameri- can side, where there was a landing place for boats and a hotel. They maintained that it was a private money- making venture, transporting the sight- .seers to the Patriot's camp ; but from the Can.ulian's view the real object was to convey provisions and arms to their enemies. On the night of December 29, 1837, the Caroline lay moored at .Schlosser dock. The e.vcitement of the rebellion had drawn many people to this locality, the little hotel was filled and some persons had .sought a night's loflging on the boat. At midnight, si.x boats, filled with British soldiers, sent from Chippawa by .Sir Allan McNal), silently approached the Caroline. Tlie soldiers promptly boarded her, drove off all on board, both crew and lodgers, cut her adrift, set her on fire, and again taking to their boats, towed her out to the middle of the river and cast her loose. And a j^lorious sight, viewed merely from a scenic standpoint, it was. The clear dark sky above and the cold dark body of water beneath. Ablaze all along her decks, her shape clearly outlined by the flames, she drifted grandly and swiftly towards the Falls, Reaching the rapids, the waves extinguished most of the flames ; but, still on fire, racked and broken, she pitched and tossed forward to and over the Horse Shoe Fall, into the gulf below. The whole affair, the incentive therefor, the methods employed, and the manner of the attack caused intense excitement, and once again the Niagara frontier was threatened with war, and the militia along the border were actually called into the field. Long diplomatic correspondence fol- lowed, the British Government assum- ing full responsibility for the claimed breaches of international kw and the acts of her oflicers. During the mel^e at the dock, one man, Amos Durfee, was killed. A British subject, Alex- ander McLeod, claimed to have been one of the attacking force, was soon after arrested on American soil and was tried for the murder in New York State, but was finally acquitted. War was wisely averted, but another fateful chap- ter had been added to Niagara' s history. With the exception of the Fenian outbreak on the Canadian side of the NIAdARA IN HISrORY 31 river in ifififi, the refjion has bc(>ii free from war's alarinn hIiicc thi* days of tlie Patriots. The Fenian outbreak was one of the results of the plan of the revolutionary Irishmen to oppose the Iilnglish Government, and to compel that government to restore Ireland's rights. The Fenian hostility to Canada was solely because of the fact that the latter was an ICnglish dependency. The special time was selected, because of the actual service that many loyal Irishmen In i88,s. thoStatcof New York, after an agitation by prominent men for st-v- eral years, purchased the land on the Anierican side, including (ioat Island and all the smaller islands adjacent to the F'alls, and al)ove and below them, for a State Reservation. In 1M.S7, the Province of Ontario, Canada, took a .similar action. The Canadian (iovern- ment, many years ago, with rare fore- sight had reserved astrip of laud, sixty- six feet wide, along the water's edge ill f ; THE BTBAMKR CAROL .NK BURNT AND KOHCKD OVKR TUB FALLS ON lll'XKMMKH 39, IR37. (Prom au Old Eugravlng.) iil had just then seen in the United States army during the Rebellion. Of actual hostilities on this frontier there was but one occurrence during the brief agita- tion, fought on the Canadian side opposite Buffalo, from which city the Fenians invaded Canada. It was known as the battle of Ridgeway, the main contest having been at that point, with a subordinate engagement at a hamlet called Waterloo, close to the water' s edge. The F'enians were tempo- rarily successful, but were ultimately entirely defeated and their invading force quickly dispersed. above the Falls, ;ind along the edge of the high bank below them, from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, as a military reserve. This is now under the control of the Canadian Park Conimissioners, and, together with the adilitional lands acquired near the Falls, and the land around Brock's Monument, forms an ideal government reservation. The honour of first suggesting the preservation of the scenery about the F'alls has been claimed for many per- sons. Others, later on, suggested it officially ; others still, advocated it more publicly and more persistently, 33 NIACARA IN HISTORY. A RBC8NT VIBW OF NIAUAKA PAl.LS. NIAGARA IN IIISTOR). ^y but the firnt rcnl suepfcfltinn, thniif^h iniulc without any reference to tU'tails, came from two Scotchmen, . .ulrew Reed and Jnnu-s Matheson, who, in 1835, in a work describing their visit as a deputation to the American churches, first broached the idea that " Nia((ara does not belong to Canada or America. Such sj)ots sliould be deemed tlie prop- erty of civilized mankind, and nothing should be allowed to weaken their effi- cacy on the tastes, the morals, and the enjoyment of men." .Such, in the ordinary acceptation of the word ami in the briefest form, is an outline of the history of the Niajfara region. Many points and facts of in- terest have necessarily been left un- tC! . Ill, but brief reference should be niau: to the old tramway, built from the water's edge, at the very head of navigation on the lower river, up the almo.st perpendicular bank, 3(X3 feet high, close to Hennepin's " three moun- tains." It was used in very early days, probably before the American Revolu- tion, for raising and lowering heavy goods between the vessels and the port- age wagons, and consisted of a flat car, on broad runners, moving on wooden rails. It was raised and lowered by a windlass, and this latter was operated by Indian labour then accessible only at the Indians' own price. Braves who ordinarily would scorn to work at any manual labour, gladly toiled all day for a plug of tobacco and a pint of whiskey. The tramway was notable as being the first known adaptation of the crude principle of a railroad in the United States. It may not be amiss to mention also, the reservation of the Tuscarora Indians, east of Lewiston, where the half-breed remnants of the last-embraced tribe of the Six Nations now reside, cultivating their fields, and educating their children under the care of the State. A tribute also is due to Canadian foresight in the building of the Welland Canal which connects Canada's frontage on the Great Lakes with her system of St. Lawrence canals to the seaboard. Mention, finally, should be made of the modern suggestion of a ship railway around the Falls, touching, at its termi- nals, about the same points on the upper and lower river as those helil in view in the |)reviously-suggested ship canal, and proposing, in the a.scent and descent of the Li-wiston mountain (which was the old shore of Lake Ontario before it rrcedcd to its present level), as remarkable a triumph of engi- neering skill as was sh<»wn in the enormous |)rojectcd locks and one hun- dred-acre basin of the ship canal. Next, glance back to the many Indiim villages which, long years ago, dotted the region, the four or more of the Neuter nation, or Kahkwas, on the eastern side of the river, and a much larger number on the western side ; later on, to the gradual occupation of these lands by the .Senecas, almost three generations after their ancestors had annihilated the Neuters ; then, to the .Seneca village, built on the site of the present city of Huffalo, and then to the one built yi-ars ago on the site of the village still called Tonawanda, where, of late years, at the " long house," was annually held the council of the remnants of the .Six Nations ; and then at the docks in that village where once floated the Indian's canoe, and where now is seen the maze of vessels whose cargoes have, in the last two decades, built up the commercial trade of this, the second largest lumber market in America. Turn, next, to the geological page and recall the ever fresh and still much- discus.sed question as to the ages that it has taken the Falls to cut their way back from Lewiston to their present location ; consider, too, the (juestion regarding the time when a great inland sea covered the whole region, of which proof is, even to-day, found in the shells wliich underlie the soli on Cloat Island and the adjacent country. Con- sider, further, the query as to when and why the great flood of waters abandoned its old channel which ran westward from the whirlpool to the edge of the bluflf at St. Davids, far to the west of the present outlet of the river into Lake Ontario, and how that old channel, still easily traceable, was 24 NIAGARA IN HISTORY. filled up to nearly the level of the sur- rounding country. Look also at the view, given in very recent years by nature, of how her forces worked to excavate the Niagara gorge in the mass of old Table Rock, left hang- ing over the abyss for years and falling by its own weight in 1853. Remember the thrilling trip of the little steamer "Maid of the Mist," which, from the quiet waters of her usual, circumscribed limit below the Falls, was, in 1861, taken through the mad rapids safely into the whirlpool and, thence, through the lower rapids into Lake Ontario, — the only vessel that, during the 100 years of Queenston's existence as a port of entry, ever entered it from up-stream; and which vessel was compelled by the canny officer then in charge of the port, to take out entrance and clearance papers, although, according to these, sae carried "no passengers and no freight. " The trip of that litde steamer proved, so far as the river below the Falls was concerned, what the courts have since decided, that the Niagara river throughout its entire length is a navigable stream. Finally, think of Niagara as the Mecca of all travelers to the New World, think of " what troops of tourists have encamped upon the river's brink. What poets have shed from countless quills, Niagaras of ink." Turn also to the long list of noted persons who have paid their devotions and tributes at Niagara' s shrine. Poten- tates and prifices have come, gazed on the Falls, and gone away, their visit to Niagara, perhaps like their lives, color- less and without a trace. Then, with grepter satisfaction, turn to the large number of famous men and women, un- crowned, but still, by reason of their abilities, rulers of the people, who by their words, their pens, or their pencils, have given their impressions of the cataract to the world, and have, at least, earned for themselves thereby the right to be allowed a niche in Niagara's temple of fame. And numerous are the names of men and women who, in these and other ways, have connected their names wi"h Niagara, embracing the leaders in every branch of science, knowledge and art. There is yet another set of men whose greatest notoriety has been acquired at Niagara. Among these are Francis Abbott, "the hermit of Niagara," whose solitary life, close to the Falls themselves, and his death by drowning, have stood as a perpetual proof of the influence of the great cataract on human nature ; Sam Patch, whose daring led him to make two jumps from a scaffold, 100 feet high, into the deep waters at the base of the Goat Island cliff, safely in both cases, although, not long after- wards, a similar attempt at the Genesee Falls proved to be his last ; Blondin, whose marvelous nerve led him repeat- edly, and under various conditions, to cross the gorge on a tight-rope ; Joel Robinson, whose life was often risked thereabouts to save that of others ; and Matthew Webb, whose prowess as a swimmer led him to try, unaided by artificial appliances, to swim through the whirlpool rapids, in which attempt he lost his life. Of early Indian names on the frontier, two are specially prominent, — Red Jacket, a Seneca, the greatest of all Indian orators, who spent most of his long life near Buffalo, and died there, and who fought, with the rest of his tribal warriors, in the American army in the war of 1 8 1 2 ; and John Brant, son of the famous Joseph Brant, a Mohawk, educated mainly at Niagara at the mouth of the river in Canada, whose first leadership in war was as an ally of the British at the battle of Queenston. Forever and inseparately connected with the Niagara region will be the names of all of the persons here referred to, some mentioned merely as members of a class, others individually. Among the first on this roll of honour, as they weie among the first to view, depict, and describe the Falls, are the names of La Salle and Hennepin, — the intrepid explorer, and the noble, though much villified, priest, for since 1678 there has been no portion of the globe to which the attention of mankind has been more, and in more ways, attracted than to this Niagara region.