USA > New York > Pioneer history of the Holland Purchase of western New York : embracing some account of the ancient remains > Part 20
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My father received the appointment of Surgeon to the garrison, and, contrary to the present practice, was allowed to remain there ten years. There was a constant interchange of civilities and kind- nesses, between the officers of Fort Niagara and the British Fort
* But one hundred and twenty-three years since the structure was commenced by the French, that our fair correspondent is describing.
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George, and the inhabitants of the little town of Niagara, until the war of 1812 severed many ties of friendship. I well remember the Sunday previous to the receipt of the declaration of war; being at church at Niagara; on our return Gen. BROCK accompanied us to the boat, and, taking myself and sisters by turns in his arms, said :- "I must bid good bye to my little rosy cheeked Yankees;" then extending his hand to my father, said :- "Farewell, Doctor; the next time we meet it will be as enemies." Then came the official declaration of war, the reception of which is as vivid in my memory as if it had occured but last week. We were aroused by the Sentinel's cry, "who goes there?"-then the call to the Corporal of the guard to conduct the intruder to the Captain, who no sooner received the document from his hands than he hastened to consult with my father. I fancy I can see him now, seated on the side of the bed half dressed, with the most rueful countenance, saying :- "What shall we do ?- we are liable to attack at any moment, with our fortifications out of repair. We have but one company, and scarcely any arms and ammunition." Sleep was banished from all eyes for the remainder of that night. At dawn of day, we heard the sound of the artificer's hammer mingled with those of other implements of toil. The old well in the hall, which had been covered up as unfit for use, was uncovered and cleaned out to be used in case of necessity. A heavy cannon was drawn into the porch; every crack and crevice in the pickets closed up; new embankments made, and old ones repaired; cannon mounted; "and everything done that circumstances would admit of, to strengthen the garrison. Then came company after company of militia, pouring in from all quarters, gay with all sorts of uniform. and as raw and undisciplined as ever stood their ground, or ran from a foe. The families of the officers were obliged to vacate their quarters to make room for them, and we were sent into the country. On our way up the river, we met about one hundred of the Tuscarora Indians, headed by their chief, all powerful, active young men, decorated with their war paint and armed with toma- hawk and hatchet, on their way to offer their services at the fort.
We returned after an absence of four weeks to a residence near the fort. Father remained day and night at his post, attending to his professional duties, while our family were safely at the farm; unmolested, except occasionally by the enemy landing from their boats and plundering the hen-roost. At one time. the voice of a
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British officer was heard, and recognizing us as acquaintances, observed: " there are no American officers here, and we do not war with women, let us get some fowls and be off." At another time an English vessel remained all day, making ineffectual attempts to reach the house with their cannon balls, but when near enough to do so, they could not clear the high bank of the lake. They did not probably wish to annoy the family, but they well knew that not many hours passed without some of the officers from the fort being there. There were a large number there on the day of the cannonading.
The news of the capture of "Little York"-(now large Toronto)- was preceded by the report of the explosion of the magazine, which jarred our house, and was distinctly heard at the fort. It was soon followed by dispatches, bringing the gratifying intelligence of the capture of the town, and the sad intelligence of the death of the brave Gen. PIKE. Then came our gallant soldiers who had fought so bravely under the command of Gen. DEARBORN. Many were the wounded and dying that were brought over. They were conveyed to the shore by boats from the fleet, and encamped in a field directly opposite our house. Day and night we heard the groans of the sufferers, and well do I remember walking with my father between the rows of white tents, stopping in front of them while he made his professional visits. To some we were admitted. And, oh, what scenes of sorrow and suffering! Here lay a poor soldier without an arm, or the hand gone and the arm hanging loosely by his side; there one without a leg; there one with most of his face shot off. Many died, and were buried in the same field. Gen. DEARBORN and his staff, and many others whose names now stand foremost in the ranks of the army, were quartered at our house, as every apartment at the fort, and every inch of ground there was occupied. As many as could find room in the house spread their matrasses upon the floor, (none but the general officers expecting the luxury of a room and bed;) the rest occupying the yard with their marquees much to my chagrin. as the continual pacing of the sentinels defaced the green sward; and Col. SCOTT, (now the gallant Commander-in-Chief of our Army,) even went so far as to order his tent pitched upon my favorite rose bush.
[Our correspondent here gives some account of the battle of Queenston, and the cannonading between Fort Niagara and Fort
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George, which is omitted, as those subjects must necessarily be embraced in some sketches of the local events of the war of 1812.]
Gen. DEARBORN and his staff, and many others, returned and took up their quarters at our house, where they remained until they again made an attack upon Canada. The capture of Fort George and Niagara followed. Soon after, owing to my father's continued ill health, we left the frontier, and I can recollect but little more that is not familiar to all readers of American history. In our absence, in connection with the news that the British were in possession of Fort Niagara, we heard that our house, with every other on the lines, was in ashes.
In after years, when visiting the fort, my blood has boiled and my cheeks have been tinged with shame, on being shown the place where the British entered, and hearing a recital of the affair. They entered at a place where twenty men could have successfully opposed hundreds, had the commander been at his post. But he had gone home that night, (his family living about two miles off in the country,) and laid down by the fire for a few moments with his clothes on, his horse being saddled at the door ready for an immediate return. - He was awakened by the firing, and springing upon his horse, lost no time in reaching the fort, where he was met by a British soldier who immediately took him prisoner. It is true that he might not by his presence have saved the fort, but he would have saved his reputation, a court- martial, and dismissal from the army.
EARLY NOTICES OF NIAGARA FALLS.
It is difficult to conclude who was the first European that saw Western New York, or the Falls of Niagara. There are some accounts from which it may be inferred that CHAMPLAIN was upon lake Ontario at different times, from 1614 to 1640, and LE Roux in 1628, but no hint occurs in connection, that they visited its southern shore. French traders are said to have visited the Falls as early as 1610, '15, but there are no authentic accounts to confirm the statement. JOSEPH DE LA ROCHE DALLION, a Franciscan Father, a missionary of ardent religious zeal and enterprise, was in this region as early as the year 1626 or "7, and was probably the first European adventurer who saw Western New York, but there is no evidence that he visited the Falls. He made but a
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short stay, the severity of the winter, and the hostility of the Iroquois to his presence and mission, obliging him to retreat. There are no reliable accounts of any further attempts to explore this region until 1641. [ See Father ALLEMONT's account of BREBEUF and CHAUMANOT's visit, page 65. DUCREUX, the author of "Historia Canadensis," has noted the Falls on a map dated 1660, but does not allude to them in his narrative. * The earliest dates which have been discovered, engraved upon the rocks at the Falls, arc of 1711, 1712 1726, and 1745. There is a date 1745, on a tree on Goat Island, which shows that the French must have had access to the Island while occupants of this region.
HENNEPIN, who, as will have been seen, was with LA SALLE at the primitive commercial advent upon the Lakes in 1688, has given us the earliest description of the Falls that has found its way into our histories; if indeed it is not the earliest description of them, in any form, extant. t He thus describes them: -
"Betwixt the lakes Ontario 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. 'Tis true, Italy and Switzerland boast of some such things, but we may well say that they are sorry patterns, when compared with this of which we now speak. At the foot of this horrible precipice, we meet with the river Niagara, which is not. above a quarter of a league broad, but is wonderfully deep in some places. It is so rapid above this descent, that it violently hur- ries down the wild beasts while endeavoring to pass it to feed on the other side, and not being able to withstand the force of its current, which inevitably casts them headlong above six hundred feet high.
" This wonderful downfall is compounded of two great cross- streams of water, and two falls into an isle sloping along the middle of it. The waters which fall from this horrible precipice, do foam
* The generally correct and indefatigable gleaner of history, antiquarian and naturalist, Dr. Barton, of Philadelphia, is in error in concluding that the Falls were " described and delineated" by Frenchmen, as early as 1638.
: The following is the title of his book: "A new discovery of a vast country in - America, extending above four thousand miles between New France and New Mexico, with a description of the great Lakes, Cataracts, Rivers, Plants and Animals; also the manners, customs, and languages of the several native Indians, and the advantages of commerce with those different nations, with a continuation giving an account of the attempts of the Sieur De La Salle upon the mines of St. Barbe, &c. The taking of Quebec by the English ; with the advantages of a shorter cut to China and Japan. Both parts illustrated with maps and figures, and dedicated to His Majesty K. William. By L. Hennepin, now resident in Holland. To which is added several new discoveries in North America, not published in the French edition. London, 1698."
13
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and boil after the most hideous manner imaginable, making an outrageous noise, more terrible than that of thunder; for when the wind blows out of the south, their dismal roaring may be heard more than fifteen leagues off.
-
" The river Niagara having thrown itself down this incredible precipice, continues its impetuous course for two leagues together, to the great rock, above mentioned, with an inexpressible rapidity; but having past that, its impetuosity relents, gliding along more gently for two other leagues, till it arrives at lake Ontario or Frontenac.
"From the great fall into this roek, which is to the west of the river, the two banks of it are so prodigious high, that it would make one tremble to look steadily over the water, rolling along with a rapidity not to be imagined. Were it not for this vast Cataract, which interrupts navigation, they might sail with barks or greater vessels, more than 450 leagues, crossing the lake of Hurons, and reaching even to the further end of lake Illinois; which two lakes we may easily say are little seas of fresh water.
" After these waters have thus discharged themselves into this gulf, they continue their course as far as the three mountains, which are on the east of the river, and the great rock which is on the west, and lifts itself three fathoms above the waters, or thereabouts."
The exaggerated account of LA HONTAN, follows next in order of time. [[ See page 157.] In 1721, CHARLEVOIX gave a des- cription of the Falls, in connection with his account of the diplo- macy of JONCAIRE in obtaining permission to fix his residence at Lewiston. His is the first description made with any considerable degree of accuracy.
"The officers having departed, I ascended those Mountains,* in order to visit the famous fall of Niagara, above which I was to take water; this is a journey of three leagues, though formerly five; because the way then lay by the other, that is, the west of the river, and also because the place for embarking lay full two leagues above the Fall. But there has since been found, on the left, at the distance of a half a quarter of a league from this cataract, a creek t where the current is not perceivable, and consequently a place where one may take water without danger. My first care after my arrival, was to visit the noblest cascade perhaps in the world; but I presently found the Baron LA HONTAN had committed such a mistake with reference to its height and figure, as to give
* The "Three Mountains" of Hennepin, the "Hills" of La Hontan; at Lewiston.
t Gill Creek.
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grounds to believe he had never seen it. It is certain that if you measure its height by that of the three mountains, you are obliged to climb to get at it, it does not come much short of what the map of M. DELISLE makes it; that is, six hundred feet, having certainly gone into this paradox either on the faith of baron LA HONTAN or Father HENNEPIN; but after I arrived at the summit of the third mountain, I observed that in the space of three leagues, which I had to walk before I came to this piece of water, though you are some- times obliged to ascend, you must still descend still more, a circum- stance to which travellers scem not to have sufficiently attended. As it is impossible to approach it but upon one side only, and conse- quently to see it, excepting in profile or side-ways, it is no easy matter to measure its height with instruments. It has, however, been attempted by means of a pole tied to a long line, and after repeated trials it has been found only one hundred and fifteen or one hundred and twenty feet high. But it is impossible to be sure that the pole has not been stopped by some projecting rock; for although it was always drawn up wet, as well as the end of the line to which it was tied, this proves nothing at all, as the water which precipitates itself from the mountain, rises very high in foam. For my own part, after having examined it on all sides, where it could be viewed to the greatest advantage, I am inclined to think we cannot allow it less than one hundred and forty or fifty feet.
"As to its figure, it is in the shape of a horse shoe, and it is about four hundred paces in circumference; it is divided in two, exactly in the centre, by a very narrow Island, half a quarter of a league long. It is true these parts very soon unite; that on my side, and which I could only have a side view of, has several branches which project from the body of the cascade, but that which I viewed in front, appearing to me quite entire. The Baron de LA HONTAN mentions a torrent, which, if this author has not invented it, must certainly fall through some channel on the melting of the snows.
" You may easily guess, Madame, that a great way below this fall, the river still retains strong marks of so violent a shock, accordingly it becomes only navigable three leagues below, and exactly at the place where JONCAIRE has chosen for his residence. It should by right, be equally unnavigable above it, since the river falls perpendicularly the whole space of its breadth. But besides the Island, which divides it into two, several rocks which are scattered up and down above it, abate much of the rapidity of the stream; it is notwithstanding so very strong, that ten or twelve Outaways trying to cross over to the Island to shun the Iroquoise who were in pursuit of them, were drawn into the precipice, in spite of all their efforts to preserve themselves.
"I have heard say that the fish that happen to be entangled in the current, fall dead into the river, and that the Indians of those parts were considerably advantaged by them; but I saw nothing
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of this sort. I was also told that the birds that fly over were sometimes caught in the whirlwind formed by the violence of the torrent. But I observed quite the contrary, for I saw small birds flying very low, and exactly over the fall, which yet cleared their passage very well.
"This sheet of water falls upon a rock, and there are two reasons which induce me to believe that it has either found, or perhaps in process of time hollowed out a cavern of considerable depth. The first is, that it is very hollow, resembling that of thunder at a distance. You can scarce hear it at M. de JON- CAIRE's, and what you hear in this place, may possibly be that of the whirlpools, caused by the rocks, which fill the bed of the river as far as this. And so much the rather, as above the cataract you do not hear it near so far. The second is, that nothing has ever been seen again that has once fallen over it, not even the wrecks of the canoes of the Outaways, I mentioned just now. Be that as it will, OvID gives us the description of another cataract, situated according to him in the delightful valley of Tempe. I will not pretend that the country of Niagara is as fine as that, though I believe its cataract much the noblest of the two."
"Besides, I perceive no mist above it, but from behind, at a distance, one would take it for smoke, and there is no person who would not be deceived with it, if he came in sight of the isle. without having been told before hand that there was so surprising a cataract in the place."
In reflecting upon these early advents to this now great center of attraction, the mind is prone to wander back and associate with it the vast wilderness, its silence only broken by the ceaseless roar -in which was but occasionally mingled the sound of human voices-the war whoop, the festive shout of the Iroquois, or the stranger sounds of the Gallic dialect, uttered by the trader or missionary, in their unfrequent visits. The European adventurer. as Mr. GREENWOOD beautifully expresses it :- "stood alone with God!" Yes, alone! communing with the Great Architect, in the presence of the triumphs of His Omnipotence! where, gathering the waters of vast inland seas, it would seem that He
"Poured them from His hollow hand," * * *
" And spoke in that lond voice which seemed to him Who dwelt in Patmos for his Savior's sake,
' The sound of many waters;' and had bade
The flood to chronicle the ages back
And notch His centuries in the eternal rocks." *
* Brainard.
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The early adventists were men of devout minds, and upon errands of devotion. How, when the mighty scene was first presented, must they have anticipated the sublime conceptions of the poet in an after age :-
" Deep calleth unto deep. And what are we, That hear the question of that voice sublime?"
* " Yea, what is all the riot man can make In his short life, to thy unceasing roar! And yet, bold babbler, what art thou to Him Who drowned a world and heaped the waters far Above its loftiest mountains ?- a light wave That breaks and whispers of its Maker's might."
Theirs must have been the thoughts that in after years found utterance in the verse of another of the gifted in the annals of American literature ;- theirs, the feelings that were embodied in her exclamation of mingled wonder, awe, and chastened admiration:
"Flow on forever in thy glorious robe Of terror and of beauty! God hath set His rainbow on thy forehead, and the cloud Mantled around thy feet, and He doth give The voice of thunder power to speak of Him Eternally- bidding the lip of man Keep silence, and upon thy rocky altar pour Incense of awe-struck praise." *
How wild and magnificent this panorama of the wilderness, as it must have appeared to those solitary wanderers! It was unheralded; no traveller had spread before them maps or descrip- tions; the sound of its rushing waters, booming over the unbroken forest, and assailing their ears as they were leaving the "Lake of Frontenac," and entering the "Streights of Herrie Lake," first attracted their attention. Approaching the "great waterfall" by stealth-watchful of the poisonous reptile that coiled in their path -fearful of the Iroquois that lurked in the dark surrounding forests-stunned by the sounds that fell heavier and heavier upon the ear, as they approached their source ;- they emerged from behind the forest eurtain, and the scene in all its lonely, primeval grandeur, like a flood of light, burst upon their view! It was Nature in her retreat. Hid away in the bosom of this then vast
* Mrs. Sigourney,
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wilderness, before unknown to any portion of the civilized world, was one of the mightiest achievements of Creative Power.
How primitive the scene! All but the roar of the mighty cataract was hushed silence. That, rioted in a monopoly of sound, as does the rolling thunder in the heavens, when, as the voice of God, it chastens all things else to stillness and humility.
At each crackling beneath their footsteps, the wild beast started from his lair in the ever-green shades that crown the lofty palisades of rock ;- the timid deer, as if transfixed, gazed for a moment upon strange faces, and bounded to his forest retreat; the eagle, frightened from his eyrie, sailed away, in an atmosphere of spray and fleeting cloud, the tints of the rainbow that spans the deep abyss, reflected from his glossy wing. Onward! Onward! came the avalanche of waters! Ages have passed,-all but that has changed! Civilization, the arts, the highest achievements of genius, human progress, are placing their triumphs by its side, and claiming a divided admiration. Tens of thousands, gathered from almost every portion of the habitable globe, come annually, pilgrims and sojourners, to gaze upon the works of God, and the feebler yet interesting consummations of Art. How vividly, do thoughts, contrasts of the past and present, cluster around this spot!
The general narrative, which has been interrupted by the intro- duction of distinct local topics, will be resumed.
The treaty of Aix la Chapelle, as other treaties, had left matters of dispute between England and France unsettled. Either nation was at liberty. whenever its interests might be promoted by so doing, to revive any of the vexed and difficult questions of discovery, boundary and occupancy, that had frequently involved them and their distant colonies, in war, disasters and ruin. Their contending armies had enjoyed but a short armistice - hostilities on the extended frontier of their colonial settlements had but just ceased-the conquests that had been made, had hardly been surrendered and re-occupied-when the French began a system of encroachments, which they intended should result in confining the English colonies within the comparatively narrow limits between the Alleghanies and the Atlantic, and secure to themselves undisputed possession of all the territory west and south-west. around the Lakes, and in the vallies of the Mississippi and its
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tributaries. The warlike preparations and collisions that occurred during the two years immediately preceding the public declaration of war on the part of England, in 1756. were the immediate consequences of the far-reaching policy deliberately adopted and steadily pursued by France. Both England and France were anxious to gain the good will and aid, alliance and trade, of the Indian nations yet occupying and owning the contested dominions. Their respective agents made use of every means to win their favor, make treaties of friendship with them, and fill their minds with hatred and enmity; - induce them to believe that either one nation or the other was their exclusive friend and protector. The Indians regarded these two European nations as perpetual enemies, for they were almost always wrangling at the council fires, interrupting each other's trade, or making the battle field the arbitrer of their disputes. They were never united against the Indians as a common enemy; and the Indians, in turn, generally sided with the one that offered the best terms. Especially was this the case with the Iroquois; the French missionaries, and the French faculty generally, of adapting themselves to wild forest life, and the habits and customs of the Indians, gave them decidedly the vantage ground among the less independent and politie nations of the West. If the Indians attacked the frontier settlements, or committed any acts of hostility, one nation was sure to charge it to the instigation of the other, and hold the implicated party responsible. Out of this state of things, and out of the desire which both had to maintain their rival and irreconcilable claims- to strengthen their influence and ascendency-arose mutual suspicions, distrusts, jealousies, and open acts of aggression. Both became watchful and vigilant that one should not obtain the advantage of the other. Each nation had formed a firm determi- nation to defend what it regarded its just rights, and was secretly, though efficiently, preparing itself for the great struggle which was to decide the fate of their colonial dependencies in North America. Both were ambitious to extend and widen their western boundaries, and consolidate the power by which they held and governed them. When both were so sensitive and watchful, it needed only a slight occasion to terminate a peace which gave any thing but repose and quietness to the parties that professed to observe it; and to cause a war which involved the destiny of the contestants in its issues, and the possession of empires in its fortunes.
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