USA > New York > Niagara County > A brief history of old Fort Niagara > Part 8
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RENÉ ROBERT CAVELIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE. (From an Edition of 1688 )
York. With him went Fathers Dollier de Casson and René Gallinée, traveling as far as the western end of Lake On- tario, whence La Salle returned east- ward. Gallinée'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 rapid, forming the outlet or communication
from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The outlet is 40 leagues long and has, from Io to 12 leagues above its embrochure into Lake Ontario, one of the finest falls of water in the world, for all the In- dians of whom I have inquired about it say that the river falls at that place from a rock higher than the tallest pines, - that is, about 300 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 chan- nel 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 are overwhelmed in the frightful abyss. I will leave you to judge if that is not a fine cataract in which all the water of that large river 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."
Neither Gallinée, Champlain, nor any of the other writers quoted heretofore, ever saw the Falls. In 1678 Father Hennepin visited the Falls and in 1683 published his first work, "Louisiana," in which he tells of the Niagara river and of the Falls themselves, calling them 500 feet high. On Coronelli's map of 1688 the word Niagara first appears in
NIAGARA IN HISTORY.
THI CATARACT OF NIAGARA, WITH THE COUNTRY ADJACENT From . Drawing taken on the spot by Lieut Win Piefie of the British Royal Artillery,-
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cartography. In 1691 Father Le Clercq., in his "Establishment of the Faith in New France," uses the words "Niagara Falls." In 1697 Father Hennepin published his "New Dis- covery," in which he gives the well known description of Niagara Falls, commencing "betwixt the lakes On- tario and Erie there is a vast and pro- digious cadence of water which falls down after a surprising and astonishing manner insomuch that the universe does not afford its parallel." Later on, in the same work, he describes them again, giving their height as 600 feet. He also gives in that work the first known picture of Niagara Falls, re- produced on page 6. Hennepin's two works as above, and a third, entitled "Nouveau Voyage," were translated into almost all the languages of Europe and by means of this, as well as by the work of Campanius Holm, published in 1702, who reproduces Hennepin's sketch of Niagara, and by the works of La Hontan, published in 1703, and of others later on, this region and Niagara Falls became familiar to all Europeans. It was reserved for Charlevoix and Borassow, each independently of the other, in 1721, to accurately measure the height of the Falls.
Hennepin was the first to use the modern spelling "Niagara," and he was followed by De Nonville, Coro- nelli and by all French writers since that time. English writers, on the other hand, did not uniformly adopt this spelling until the middle of the 18th century. The Neuter nation of Indians occupied all the territory now called " the Niagara Peninsula," by far the larger number of their villages being on the western side of the river. It was the Indian custom to give their tribal name to, or to take it from, the chief nat- ural feature of, the country which they inhabited ; hence, they were called "Onguiaahra, the same name as the river," as noted by Father Ragueneau. The Neuter nation were so called, be- cause, living between the Hurons on the west and the Iroquois on the east,- two tribes which were sworn enemies,- they were at peace with both, and in
their cabins the warriors of these two nations met without strife and in safety. The Neuters, however, were frequently at war with other tribes, and eventually even their neutrality towards the Hu- rons and the Iroquois disappeared and about 1643 the Senecas, the most west- erly and also the most savage tribe of the Iroquois confederacy, attacked and annihilated the Neuters, their remnant being merged into the Iroquois.
There are numerous ways of spelling the Indian name of this Neuter nation, thirty-nine of them being given in the index volume of the Colonial History of the State of New York. The forms most commonly met with in early days were Jagara, Oneagerah, Onygara, Iagara, Onigara, Ochniagara, Ognio- gorah, and those previously noted in this article. The word Niagara, ac- cording to Marshall, was derived by the French from Ongiara. The Senecas, when they conquered the Neuters, adopted that name as applied to the river and region, as near as the idiom of their language would allow ; hence, their spelling, Nyah-ga-ah. The word, thus derived through the Iroquois and from the Neuter language, is said to mean the "thunder of the waters," though this poetic significance has been questioned by some who claim that it signifies "neck," alluding to the river being the connecting link between the two lakes. The Iroquois language had no labial sound and all their words were spoken without closing the lips. They seem to have pronounced it " Nyáh-ga- rah," and later on "Nee-ah-ga-rah," while in more modern Indian dialect, all vowels being still sounded, “ Ni-ah- gáh-rah " was the ordinary pronuncia- tion. Our modern word "Niagara" should really be pronounced Ni-a-gá-ra.
Many were the superstitions and legends which the Indians, living along the Niagara river and in the whole re- gion, held as sacred. To the Neuter nation, naturally, the Falls of Niagara appeared in the nature of a divinity. From them they had taken their tribal name, and considered them the em- bodiment of religion and power. To them they offered sacrifices of many
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kinds, often journeying long distances for the purpose. In the thunder of the Falls they believed they heard the voice of the Great Spirit In the spray they believed they saw his habitation. To him they regularly and religiously contributed a portion of their crops and of the results of the chase, and exult- ingly offered human sacrifices and trophies on returning from such war- like expeditions as they were compelled to undertake. To him each warrior frequently made offerings of his personal adornments and weapons, and as an annual offering of good will from the tribe and a propitiation for continued neutrality, and therefore existence, they sacrificed each spring the fairest maiden of their tribe, sending her over the Falls in a white canoe, which was filled with fruits and flowers and guided solely by her own hand. The honour of be- ing selected for this awful death was earnestly coveted by the maidens of that stoical race, and the clan to which the one selected belonged, held such choice to be a special honour to itself.
Tradition says that this annual sacri- fice was abandoned, because, one year, the daughter of the great chief of the tribe was selected. Her father betrayed no emotion, but on the fateful day, as the white canoe, guided by his daugh- ter's hand, entered the rapids, another canoe, propelled by a paddle in her father's hand, shot swiftly from the bank, followed the same channel and reached the brink and disappeared into the abyss but a moment after the one which bore his daughter. The tribe thought the loss of such a chief in such a way to be so serious a blow that the sacrifice was abandoned in order to pre- vent the possibility of a repetition. A more likely, but less poetic, reason for its abandonment lies in the belief that on the extermination of the Neuters, their conquerors, having no such inherent adoration for the Great Spirit of Ni- agara, and for many years not even occupying the lands of their victims, failed to continue the custom. The Neuter warriors also wanted to be bur- ied beside their river, as many exhumed skeletons at various points along its
banks prove ; ail tjes nearer to the Falls, the greater the honour. Goat Island is said to have been the burying ground reserved for great chiefs and brave warriors, and the body of many an Indian brave lies in the soil of that beautiful spot.
Prior to 1678 France laid claim to a vast area, now embraced by Canada and the northern portion of the United States, east of the Mississippi, includ- ing the Niagara region, by reason of early explorations and discoveries by her seamen, traders and missionaries. From that date, when La Salle began his westward journeys of exploration, for eighty years, she was a paramount force in that region, though during the last few years of that period her prowess and supremacy were waning and were swept away in 1759 by the capture of Quebec and Fort Niagara, the latter being the last of the important posts that she held in the long line of fortifications which connected the great tract, known as Louisiana, with her eastern Canadian possessions. From 1759, by occupa- tion, and from 1763, by treaty, England owned all this territory until 1776, when the Colonists demanded recognition as a separate nation. This England con- ceded in 1783, and thus relinquished all ownership of that portion of the Ni- agara region that lies cast of the river, although it was not until after the ratifi- cation of Jay's treaty, in 1796, that England relinquished Fort Niagara ; nor until the treaty of Ghent, in 1816, was it absolutely conceded that most of the islands in the Niagara river be- longed to the United States.
On December 6, 1678, La Salle anchored his brigantine of ten tons in the Niagara river, just above its mouth. He saw the value, from a military stand- point, of the point of land at the mouth of the river and straightway built there a trading post. Proceeding up the river to where Lewiston now stands, he built there a fort of palisades, and carrying the anchors, cordage, etc., which he had brought with him for that purpose, up the mountain side and through the forest to the mouth of Cay- uga creek, five miles above the Falls on
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THE WHITE MAN'S FANCY.
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THE RED MAN'S FACT.
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THE BUILDING OF THE GRIFFON, 1679.
(Fac-simile reproduction of the original copper-plate engraving, first published in Father Hennepin's " Nouvelle Decouverte," 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 the 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 upper 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 this 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- son, who pushed operations vigorously
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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 Island (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 sma vessels
nected with the great French and Eng- lish struggle. Champlain'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 French to the Senecas, even though the latter had subsequently joined the Iroquois confederacy.
After the total defeat of the French and their practical surrender of all their territory in 1759, the old hatred of the
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THE CAPTURE OF FORT GEORGE, 1813. From an Old Engraving.
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 as 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 Fort de Portage, which had been destroyed two years pre-
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viously. 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 fated 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 cross 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 an inscribed stone, set in place in 1860 by 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, 1812, 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, 1813, the Americans cap- tured Fort George and the village of Newark, both on the Canadian shore
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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 parties of English at points on the American side during 1813, one at Black Rock, where the English were badly repulsed, being the most important.
In December, 1813, 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 of wrath throughout Canada and 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 while 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 reslit- ance had ceased. The British General Riall, with a force of regulars aud Indians was waiting at Queenston for the agreed signal of success, and when the cannon's roar announced the vie- tory, he hurried them 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 Main chester that name having been given to it in anticipation of its ultimately 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 creck at Tome wanda saved Buffalo from the same fite but only for a few days. Gen. Rill crossed the river at Queenston_ anla few days later appeared opposite Black Rock which adjoined Buffalo. This He promptly attacked and captured. The hastily gathered and unorganized American forces not ofdly 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 1514 found an American army at Buffalo, And on July 3. Fort Erie surren lered 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 retreital 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-
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inforced army drawn up in line of battle 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 held by the Americans against oft- repeated and brave attacks by the British.
When at last the British army re- treated, 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 Bridgewater 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
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