USA > New York > Niagara County > Outpost of empires; a short history of Niagara County > Part 23
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Finally they appealed to the great god of clouds and rain. This was Hinan, who lived among the thundering waters of the cataract itself. He listened to their prayers, and answered. Waiting care- fully for the serpent to show itself, Hinan stood poised with his fiery bolts of lightning.
Suddenly the serpent rose out of the depths of the water. Quick- ly Hinan hurled a bolt of lightning at the evil one. Mortally wounded, the serpent twisted and turned, trying to escape down the gorge. But Hinan was too powerful. Again and again, swift flashes of lightning pierced the serpent's skin. In the pains of death, his great body and tail ,lashed the walls of the gorge. That is why the rock walls are so scarred and twisted today.
Thus did-the Indians' story teller explain one part of the great work of nature that we call Niagara Falls.
What the Indian legends tell us
The legend of Hinan and the serpent tells us a great deal about the early people of this region. It shows us, first, that the In- dians believed in spirits, and second, that these spirits were of two kinds-good and evil. Third it tells us that these spirits played a part in the lives of the people, and, finally, that the Indians asked for help from the spirits.
All of these things we learn from the legend. Wherever primi- tive people live in the world, we find ideas such as these about things they cannot explain in any other way. Where we use our scientific knowledge to explain disease, the natural world, and other things, these primitive people use their legends.
Another common practice of primitive people is that of making sacrifices to please their gods. These sacrifices are of different kinds. They may be of food, or of animals, or of humans. Each one is a kind of offering, or tribute, to the gods. Legends often arose from this custom.
Lelawala dwelt in the mist
The tale of Lelawala, the beautiful Maid of the Mist, is one of these. In order to make their chief spirit, the Great Manitou,
happy, the Indians sacrificed the most beautiful maiden of the tribe each year. A white canoe, filled with fruits and decorated with flowers, was made ready. The chosen maiden then paddled the canoe out into the rapids above the falls and was carried over to her death.
One year the Indians chose Lelawala, daughter of the great Seneca chief, Eagle Eye. He was very sad at the thought of losing his daughter. Yet it was an honor to be chosen, and he could not prevent her death. On the day of the sacrifice, he stood by the shore waiting for the white canoe to appear.
Soon it came, with Lelawala sitting bravely in all her regal beauty. As she paddled toward the rapids, the chief could bear his grief no longer. Quickly he pushed his own canoe into the river and paddled toward her. The rapids drew both canoes toward the roar of the falls. The chief could not save his daughter, nor himself. To- gether they were swept over the cataract to their deaths. The legend tells us that they are still there today. Eagle Eye and Lelawala dwell together in a cave behind the falling waters.
The Indian legends were an attempt to explain the thundering cataract and its great gorge. The mystery and beauty of the falls have fascinated many people since the days of the Indian. Niagara Falls is one of the natural wonders of the world. Tales of its ma- jestic beauty and awesome power have brought people from all over the earth to visit and admire the thundering waters.
Niagara's attraction lies in three things. The first is the falls themselves-the American Falls and the Horseshoe Fall of Canada. The second is the Niagara Gorge where the rushing waters run foaming to Lake Ontario. The third is the churning Whirlpool, where the waters form a great spinning circle before they escape to run to the north.
Great natural phenomena have always been a challenge to man -a challenge to explain and a challenge to conquer.
Daredevils challenge nature
What did Sam Patch do?
The challenge to conquer has led to a great many spectacular exploits. Men have tried to conquer the falls, the rapids, and the whirlpool. Some have succeeded, but more have failed.
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The first of the "Niagara Fools" to risk his life was Sam Patch. In the summer of 1829, the people of the falls became very inter- ested in Sam's preparations. At the foot of Goat Island, down near the bottom of the falls, he set up two ladders. These long and spind- ly things came together ninety-seven feet above the water in a small platform. Twice that summer Sam Patch risked his life. Standing on the platform, he boldly looked over the crowd watching him. Then taking a great leap, and holding his arms stiffly by his sides, he dropped like a stone. Down and down he fell, ninety-seven feet, into the water below. Popping up to the surface of the water he swam to the base of his ladders, climbed out, and waved his arms to the shouts of the crowd.
Who first conquered the gorge?
The next daredevil to perform at the falls was Blondin, billed as the greatest tightrope walker in the world. Blondin was born in France in 1824 as Jean Pierre Gravelot. As a little boy, he showed an unusual sense of balance. His parents sent him to the School for Gymnasts at Lyons. For several years after that he traveled with a company of acrobats.
Blondin challenged the great gorge of Niagara in the summer of 1859. His tightrope was stretched 1,100 feet across the gorge. It hung 160 feet above the waters below. About five thousand people gathered to see the brave Blondin attempt a feat that no other man had tried.
First, Blondin made a careful inspection of his equipment on the lip of the gorge. Then, holding at its middle a long pole as a balancing staff, he started across. Halfway over he stopped and sat down on the tightrope. The crowd gasped at his boldness. He got up, went a bit further, and then lay down on his back. Again, a bit further on, he turned a somersault, 160 feet above the raging waters.
Quickly, then, without any further display of contempt for the gorge, he walked the rest of the way to the Canadian shore. The band struck up the French national anthem, "The Marseillaise," and the crowds cheered.
In less than thirty minutes he was back again. This time he paused on the trip across and took a photograph of the river. Then he took a chair out on the rope and for a few death-defying moments he balanced himself on the chair on the rope. Again and again the crowd cheered these unbelievable feats of skill and daring.
A few days later Blondin was out on the rope again. This time he crossed blindfolded. His amazing skill also enabled him to make
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the trip with his feet chained together. On another trip he crossed with his feet in baskets. One day he carried a stove out on the rope. There, balancing the stove carefully, he cooked an omelet over the rushing waters far below.
Probably the most amazing feat performed by Blondin took place on August 17, 1859. On that day he carried his manager, Harry Colcord, across the rope on his back. The trip was almost too much for them, but both reached the opposite shore safely. It certainly was an unusual event in the life of a manager!
Blondin returned to the falls several times after that first ex- hibition. He performed again in 1860 before the Prince of Wales, who was then visiting Canada. He lived to be an old man with seventy years of memories of death-defying feats on the high wire. Unlike many of his less fortunate fellow performers, he died peace- fully in his own bed.
There were many others who defied the angry waters of the river. Some of them jumped from the bridges during the eighteen- seventies and eighties. Others used the tightrope and crossed the gorge with wheelbarrows and on bicycles. One of the later dare- devils was a woman, Signora Maria Spelterini, who crossed the wire with her feet in baskets.
What adventures did the rapids hold for challengers?
Not all the daring men and women who came to the falls tried to cross the gorge. There were the falls themselves to conquer as well as the rapids below. During the 1880's, several people attempted each of these tasks. Captain Matthew Webb, who already swum the English Channel, tried to master the Whirlpool Rapids in 1883. He got through the rapids safely but was drowned in the whirlpool itself.
Webb was followed by a Boston policeman, William Kendall, who was successful in swimming the rapids and gaining the shore of the whirlpool. Kendall told about his swim later. The great force of the whirlpool and the pounding of the water had almost been enough to finish him.
Others tried to go through the rapids in boats or in barrels. Carlisle Graham, George Hazlett, and William Potts were three of these. Two women also tried during this period. The first was Maud Willard of Canton, Ohio. She died while trying to go through the rapids in Graham's barrel. Another woman, Sadie Allen, later made the same trip with success.
One of the most successful of the rivermen was a native of the village of Niagara Falls, Ontario. This was William "Red" Hill.
He cheated the rapids several times in boats and barrels. One of his less pleasant tasks was to take from the river the bodies of those who were not so forunate.
What daredevils performed at the waterfalls?
A few people have gone over the falls and lived to tell their stories. On October 4, 1901, Annie Edson Taylor rode over the Horseshoe Fall in a barrel that was specially built for the task. Bobby Leach, from England, also did it in a steel barrel in 1911. The same falls was the site of a successful trip by Jean Lussier. He made the trip in a thick-walled ball on July 4, 1928.
Others have attempted to plunge over the cataract but have failed. The last of these was a son of "Red" Hill, William Hill, Jr. He was drowned while trying to go over the falls in a craft made of inner tubes on August 6, 1951.
But the most spectacular story of all occurred in July, 1960. Roger Woodward was boating above the rapids with his sister, Deanne, and a family friend, James Honeycutt. While trying to repair the motor, they drifted into the rapids and the boat capsized throwing them into the churning waters. Deanne was rescued at the very brink of the Horseshoe Fall. Honeycutt was drowned. But seven-year-old Roger plunged over 160 feet into the waters below. His brightly colored life jacket was spotted by the crew of the Maid of the Mist and he was pulled to safety.
One of the interesting feats that took place was the flying of an airplane over the falls. That might not seem such a great event in our day of jets and helicopters. But in 1911, when Lincoln Beachy did it, things were different. The planes themselves were undependable. It was a great risk just to go up in one of them. The pilots were men of considerable courage. Beachy was one of the at- tractions of the International Carnival held that year.
From the Wright Brothers who were still in the experimental stages of aircraft design and construction, Beachy was to get $2,500 for two days of flying. If he flew over the falls he was to earn an additional $1,000. Many expected that he would not try, especially when the day broke with a high wind. The air currents were very treacherous over the falls and the river even at best. In the frail planes of those days, it was truly a great gamble.
Beachy did not disappoint the crowds. Near the end of the day, about six o'clock, the plane appeared over the Horseshoe Fall. Dropping down through the great cloud of mist that rose high above
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the falling waters, Beachy leveled out about twenty feet above the river and flew under the first steel arch bridge. Pulling back on the stick, he brought the plane rapidly up on the other side and landed safely on the Canadian shore.
Why did the Maid of the Mist risk the rapids and whirlpool?
We cannot leave this part of our story without telling about the famous Maid of the Mist. The second boat to bear this name was launched in 1854. It carried sightseers around in the river just below the falls. The operator of the boat, W. O. Buchanan, was not as successful as he had hoped with the "Maid." He was forced to sell her, but to do so, he had to deliver her downstream at Queenston. This meant that the little vessel would have to run the rapids and escape the whirlpool.
The captain of the vessel was Joel R. Robinson. James McIntyre and James Jones also went along on the dangerous trip. The little vessel got up steam and chugged out into the flat water below the falls on June 5, 1861. It seemed like a routine trip at first, but a careful observer would have noticed that her decks were remark- ably clear of any loose gear. Suddenly, the wheel was thrown hard over, and the little boat plunged down the gorge. Down through the rapids she bounced. Her smokestack was broken off and her wheel- house smashed. But she made the trip through the rapids and out of the clutches of the swirling whirlpool. The rest of the trip was uneventful, but it was a trip that none of the three men wished to take again.
Bridges span the gorge
How was the first bridge built?
A kite carried the first line across Homan Walsh was an expert young kite flyer of Lockport. But he never expected to be a hero with hundreds of people watching him fly his kite-not even when the new contractor in town offered a prize of five dollars for the boy who flew a kite across the gorge of the Niagara River. Of course Homan would try.
On the first day he tried, the wind was blowing as usual from the southwest. This meant that he had to cross the river by the ferry. Carrying his kite and kite string, Homan walked up to the lip of the gorge. He had named his kite "The Union," which was a very good name. If he was successful, the two shores of the Niagara would be united by a bridge.
NFT
Homan Walsh flies his kite
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A good breeze was blowing and the kite was started up without difficulty. Higher and higher it went, tugging steadily at the string in Homan's hands. When the wind died down that evening, the kite would go down with it. But it would have carried the string across the chasm. Then a cord would be tied to the string and pulled across, to be followed in turn by a rope and a wire cable.
But the wind didn't die down. Night came and still the string pulled and pulled against Homan's hand as the kite sailed high in the dark sky, out of sight. The shore was lined with people, all watching Homan and his kite. Fires were lit on the Canadian side to keep the onlookers warm. First one and then another was lit, until the edge of the gorge was lighted by the flames. Then, across the river, a fire was lit on the American side, and another, and still another. Homan saw that he wasn't alone. Other people watched, many of them as anxious as he about the success of his kite. The sight of the fires and the people encouraged Homan.
Midnight came and finally the wind began to lessen. The kite didn't pull so hard on the kite string. Then from the other side of the river, carrying against the dying wind, came the sound of people cheering. Homan had done it! The kite was across the gorge and down on the other side. Now the work of pulling across the cord, the rope, and the wire cable could begin.
But wait. The sagging string was caught. In falling, it had snagged on an ice floe in the gorge. There was a tense moment as the strain on the kite string increased-and then the string snapped. The attempt to span Niagara was a failure.
Disappointed, Homan turned to leave for home. But he couldn't cross on the ferry. For eight days he was sheltered in a Canadian home because of the weather. When it cleared, he tried again with his kite. And this time he was successful. The first strand of a bridge across the gorge was a plain, ordinary string. Then the cord and the rope were drawn across. The wire cable followed.
Hulett's cable-car carried men and supplies An iron basket, designed by a resident of Niagara Falls, T. G. Hulett, rode on the first cableway across the Niagara River. With this basket to carry men and supplies, the bridge was begun. But there were many more tense moments before the bridge was finished.
Men worked in danger
On October 10, 1843, a strong wind began to blow. The workmen watched the swinging cable and the basket as they were tossed about by the wind. Then, suddenly, in a violent burst, the wind "ecked one section of the bridgework built upon cables. The floor
with four men on it was thrown across the bridge cable. Back and forth, beaten by the wind, the four men tossed. Two hundred feet below the deadly river waited to swallow its victims.
A volunteer went to the rescue of his companions. Riding out across the gorge in the iron basket on the upper cable, he brought a ladder. Carefully lowering this down on the bridge cable below, the volunteer called out in encouragement. The first man grabbed the ladder and began his climb. The rescuers held their breath. At last he made it over the side and collapsed into the safety of the basket. Then the second, the third, and finally the last of the men was rescued from certain death. The Niagara gorge was not easy to conquer.
Finally the bridge was completed. For the first time, man had spanned the awesome gorge. A kite string, a cord, a rope, a wire cable had made possible a wooden bridge. The engineer for the first bridge was Charles Ellet. He was one of the four men who had replied to a letter asking about the bridge project. Each of the men who replied had their turn at building a bridge. Their names were John Roebling, Samuel Keefer, Edward Serrell, and Ellet.
What happened to the second bridge?
Edward Serrell had his turn next. He selected a site further down the river, at Lewiston. Like the first bridge, this was a bridge that was supported by cables. But it was larger than Ellet's. This was one twenty feet wide so both wagons and people could cross and pass each other at the same time. The distance between the towers on each side of the gorge was more than a thousand feet. This bridge collapsed in 1864 after being battered by gale winds.
Why did Roebling's bridge endure?
The third bridge across the Niagara River was built by John Roebling. This engineer is better known as the man who built the famous Brooklyn Bridge. Ellet's bridge was a small footbridge, Roebling's was much more ambitious. It was designed to carry pedestrians, carriages, and railroad trains. The carriages and pedestrians would cross on a lower level, and the trains would run on an upper level.
The bridge was finally complete and ready for its first test on March 16, 1855. Starting from the Canadian side, a heavy freight engine weighing twenty-eight tons began pushing a string of twenty freight cars across the span. Each of the cars was loaded to twice its normal weight. Carefully the engineer eased the cars out further on the bridge. Finally the whole train, covering almost the whole length of the span, was on the bridge. A total weight of
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268 tons, more than anyone ever expected to see in one trip, was carried by the bridge with no vibration at all. The bridge was clear- ly a success. As Mr. Roebling said later, "No one is afraid to cross."
What was the fate of Keefer's bridge?
Nature challenges man
Then, on January 10, 1889, strong winds began to blow from the southwest. Across the edge of the Horseshoe Fall and straight down the gorge they roared. The bridge shuddered with the force of
Samuel Keefer began his bridge in the winter of 1867-'68. The their blows. All that day and on into the night the winds tore at first step was to carry the first cable across the gorge on the ice the bridge. About 11:30 that night Dr. J. W. Hodge started across
bridge below the falls. All during the year 1868, work went on the structure from Canada. He had been visiting a sick patient and wanted to get home. As he made his way, the wind tore at his clothes steadily. By January of 1869, the bridge was complete. This was the longest bridge built to this time-1,268 feet between the towers. and blew sheets of water into his face. He had to hang on tightly,
The bridge was all wood except for the cables. Whenever parts working his way across the bucking, swaying bridge foot by foot. needed repairing, however, they were replaced with steel so that, in At one time the wind tore the buttons from his overcoat. But the time, the wooden bridge ended up as a steel one. It lasted just a few doctor couldn't pull it closed about him-he didn't dare take his weeks more than twenty years. Just before its destruction it had hands from the bridge. The winter winds chilled him. Water and been widened. All that summer and on into the fall, workmen spray froze on his clothes. His hands grew numb with the cold. He struggled to get the job done before winter set in. Finally it was must have wondered many times if he would reach the other side. completed. Finally he was across and standing on good firm earth.
The first railroad suspension bridge across the gorge.
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The bridge was not so fortunate. When the morning of January 11 came, all that was left of the once proud bridge, were the cables strung across from tower to tower. The suspender cables hung down uselessly. The roadway was at the bottom of the gorge.
But such a convenient way to cross the river was too important to abandon. Re-building began right away and, in the amazingly short time of 117 days, a new bridge was completed. But it lasted only ten years longer. This time it was destroyed, not by fierce gales, but by progress. The ever-increasing traffic over the bridge made it necessary to replace it with a stronger one.
What happened to the Falls View Bridge?
This span was the famous Falls View Bridge, built in 1898. It was a great steel arch bridge, one of the greatest in the world. It lasted a long time-until January 26, 1938. Then it too was wrecked by the force of nature. During the days just before its collapse, a high wind had driven huge floes of ice down the river. This ice jammed up in the gorge and began to pile higher and higher under the supports of the bridge. The pressure became greater and greater. Finally the support-arches of the span gave way. With a shudder, the bridge collapsed onto the ice jam in the gorge.
What is the latest bridge like?
The newest bridge is the Rainbow Bridge which now spans the gorge just below the falls themselves. There was some debate about who was to build the structure-private companies or a public agency. Because of these delays, it was not completed until 1941.
Although there have been other bridges built over the Niagara River, the ones we have mentioned are the most important. There is one other modern bridge. This is the Michigan Central Railroad cantilever span which was built in 1925. It is located just above the Whirlpool Bridge. Of course, we cannot forget the new International Power Bridge built in the 1960's by the New York State Power Authority near Lewiston.
Laws protect the beauty of Niagara
Why was there early concern for the falls?
All during the middle of the nineteenth century, when what he had foretold was taking place, there were people who felt saddened by it. What these people objected to was the commercialization of the Falls, the use of them to make money. This was done in two ways. One of these was to build mills in order to make use of the water power that was available. The other was to take advantage of the many people who came to visit the area. This meant the building of hotels, restaurants, and saloons, of gaudy souvenir shops, and of stairways to view the falls.
The mills turned aside water for their own uses and thus re- duced the amount that flowed over the falls themselves. The busi- nesses catering to the tourist trade made a cheap carnival out of the magnificent spectacle of Niagara. In addition, all kinds of people living off the tourist trade gathered to annoy the visitor. On every side the tourist was beset by someone who wanted money. It cost about a quarter to ride the railway from the foot of the Ameri- can Falls to the top, another fifty cents to visit Goat Island, and so forth.
Brightly painted buildings, run-down board fences, and huge advertising signs spoiled the beauty of the Falls. More and more citizens became concerned about this. Even people who had never visited the falls wanted something done to prevent further annoy- ances of this sort.
How did the reservation movement help preserve Niagara for the future?
In the summer of 1878, Lord Dufferin, the Governor-General of Canada, talked with Governor Lucius Robinson of New York State about the possibility of making the area into a joint government reservation. The following year, Governor Robinson, in his annual message to the legislature, recommended the setting up of a joint commission by the governments of New York and Ontario, Canada. This was done and a survey of the situation was made. The report of the commission was accepted by the state in 1883 and steps were taken to take over the land from private owners.
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