Niagara Part 1

Niagara.

by Peter A. (Peter Augustus) Porter.

NIAGARA, AN ABORIGINAL CENTER OF TRADE

The printed story of Niagara dates back only three centuries; and during the first three decades of even that period the references to this wonderful handiwork of Nature--which was located in a then unexplored region of a New World, a Continent then inhabited only by warring tribes of superst.i.tious Savages--are few and far between.

Three facts relating to this locality--and three only--seem to be proven as ante-dating the commencement of that printed story.

That its "Portage" had long been in use.

That it was then, and long had been, a spot for the annual a.s.semblage of the Indians "for trade."

That here, and here only, was found a certain substance which the Aborigines had long regarded as a cure for many human ills.

Before 1600, everything else that we think we know, and like to quote about Niagara, is only Indian Myth or Tradition; possibly handed down for Ages, orally, from generation to generation, amongst the Aborigines; or, quite as probable, it is the invention of some Indian or White man Mythologist of recent times; the presumption in favor of the latter being strengthened, when no mention of the legend, not even the slightest reference thereto, is to be found in any of the writings of any of the authors, who (either through personal visits to the Tribes living comparatively near to the Cataract, or from narrations told to them by Indians living elsewhere on this Continent) had learnt their facts at first hand, and had then duly recorded them,--until long after the beginning of the eighteenth Century.

It is probably to the latter cla.s.s--modern traditions--even with all their plausibilities, based upon the superst.i.tious and stoical nature of the Aborigines--that several of the best-known Legends concerning Niagara belong.

Three of those legends, especially, appeal to the imagination. One relates to Worship, one to Healing, one to Burial,--embracing the Deity, Disease, and Death.

The Legend of Worship is the inhuman yet fascinating one that the Onguiaahras (one of the earliest-known orthographies of the word Niagara), who were a branch of the Neutrals, and dwelt in the immediate vicinity of the Great Fall--and, according to Indian custom, took their name from the chief physical feature of their territory--long followed the custom of annually sacrificing to the Great Spirit "the fairest maiden of the Tribe"; sending her, alive, over the Falls in a white canoe (which was decked with fruits and flowers, and steered by her own hand) as a special offering to the Deity for tribal favor, and for protection against its more numerous and more powerful foes.

And that, at the time of this annual Sacrifice, the tribes from far and near a.s.sembled at Niagara, there to worship the Great Spirit. If this Legend is based on fact, it would certainly have made the locality a famous place of annual rendezvous; and at such a rendezvous the opportunities for the exchange of many and varied commodities--"trade"--would surely not have been neglected.

The Legend of Healing is, that anyone, Brave or Squaw, if ill, would quickly be restored to perfect health could they but reach the base of the Falls, go in behind the sheet of falling waters,--entering, as it were, the abode of the Great Spirit,--and, on emerging therefrom, be able to behold a complete circular Rainbow--which should symbolize the Deity's absolute promise of restoration to perfect health.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MAIDEN SACRIFICE.]

Of course, it was the difficulty and danger of descending into the Gorge, and of scaling the face of the cliff in returning--accomplishable in those days only by means of vines which clung to the rocks, or by crude ladders (formed of long trunks of trees, from which all branches had been lopped off about a foot from the trunk, and set upright, close to the face of the cliff)--that lends any plausibility to the legend.

The Legend of Burial was, that Goat Island was specially reserved as a burying-ground for famous chiefs and noted warriors.

If this Legend was founded on fact, it certainly would have made Niagara at that time one of the best known and most frequented spots on the Continent; and at each visit for such burial, trade would doubtless have been carried on.

CIRCULAR RAINBOWS

It is possible to-day, as it most certainly was in those traditional days, to behold a complete circular Rainbow at Niagara; generally, only when one is out in front of the falling waters, close to the spray, near the level of the river in the Gorge; always with the Sun at one's back--and the Sun must shine brightly, and the Mist must be plentiful.

It is possible to see a complete circular Rainbow anywhere, on land or water, whenever one stands between the Sun and a sufficiently abundant mist (standing close to the latter), and the Sun is near the horizon.

It is possible to see it, at some point at Niagara, often,--that is on every bright day,--because that abundant curtain of mist is ever present; and the Gorge, by reason of its great width and depth, affords specially favorable opportunities.

This curious phenomenon is obtainable easily and regularly only in the Gorge at the Goat Island end of the American Fall, from the rocks in front of the Cave of the Winds (for the prevailing winds of the locality are from the southwest, which bring the spray cloud into the best relative position at this point), or from the deck of the steamboat, at certain parts of the trip,--and from both only in the afternoon.

It can sometimes be seen from Prospect Point, and from the Terrapin Rocks--in the early morning, when the spray-cloud rises towards the north.

It can also, sometimes (at the season when the Sun sets farthest to the northward), be seen from the rocks out in front of the American Fall, below Prospect Point.

This was the spot where the Aborigines would most easily have tested the efficacy of the Legend; for their descent into the Gorge was made at a point on the American sh.o.r.e, not so very far north from the end of that Fall.

When white men first settled near the Cataract, in the first decade of the 19th Century, the location of the "Indian Ladder" was amongst the present overflows from the mills of the Lower Milling district. That, by reason of the "debris slope" of the Gorge being highest at that point, had doubtless been its location for ages.

The fact that, even at the most accessible (and that by no means easily reached) end of the Fall in the Gorge, the entire conditions of the Legend could so rarely be fully complied with, would have been to the unscientific minds of the Savages only an additional incentive to a firmer belief in it.

It is also observable from the rocks beyond and below Terrapin Point, on the Goat Island side of the Horse-Shoe Fall; but the climb out to that point is both arduous and dangerous, and is very rarely attempted.

No such phenomenon can be seen from the Canadian sh.o.r.e, because there are no rocks out in front of that end of the Horse-Shoe Fall on which one can stand.

Were one to stand upon the apex of the Rock of Ages, or on the apex of any other high rock at the base of the Fall, at noon, when the sky was clear above, and the currents of air happened to surround the base of that rock on all sides with spray, as one turned completely around one would be in the center of a complete circular Rainbow--which would be below the level of the feet--and of which one would see but the half at any portion of the turn.

At Niagara, when one gazes on a complete circular bow, as seen against the perpendicular curtain of spray, the center of the circle will always be lower than the point where one is standing. This is necessarily so, from the very nature of things,--because the Sun, one's head, and the center of that circle must be in a line.

When the point of observation is high enough, and the spray-cloud spreads out extensively enough, it is possible to see two concentric, complete Rainbows at one time. In fact, one does often see a portion of the arc of such a second bow; but three complete concentric bows, or three arcs of bows, are never seen at Niagara, nor anywhere else.

George William Curtis, in "Lotus Eating," records,--

"There [at the Cave of the Winds], at sunset, and there only, you may see three circular rainbows, one within another,"--

He does not say, "complete circles"; he doubtless meant "arcs." He does not say he saw them; so in the absence of a more definite statement, it was certainly merely hearsay to which he referred.

John R. Barlow, who has been a guide at the Cave of the Winds for over thirty years, says that on numerous occasions during that period he has seen two complete circular Rainbows at one time, at that point. He observed it twice, and only twice, in 1905.

In 1872, Professor Tyndall, with Barlow as his guide, made an exhaustive study of the Goat Island ends of the American and Horse-Shoe Falls. As he was gazing at a complete Rainbow circle, Barlow told him that he had sometimes seen two complete concentric bows at one time.

"That is possible," replied Tyndall.

"And I have heard people say they have seen three such bows; though I myself have never seen the third," said Barlow.

"Because it is an impossibility," answered Tyndall. "The second bow is merely the reflexion of the first. A third bow would be a shadow of a shadow; and no one can see that."

Had this Legend of Healing been found recorded in any of the early chronicles, it would have been the earliest known reference to Niagara in its relation to Medicine; and would have a.s.sociated the Cataract therewith long, long before the advent of the white man.

But, alas! it is not so found; and no trace of it can be met with, until a very recent date. It has so much the appearance of a made-to-order story, such a specially-prepared-to-fit-the-locality aspect, it savors so strongly of an attempt to make the early Indian Mythology conform to the Christian story of the "Bow of Promise," that its Aboriginal authenticity may well be doubted.

FIRST WHITE VISITOR

We do not know, and we never shall know, the name of the first white man who gazed upon the Cataract of Niagara; that marvelous spot, the scenic wonder of the World, that glory of Nature, which has been referred to as "The Emblem of G.o.d's Majesty on Earth,"--where, in the words of Father Hennepin, in 1697,--

"Betwixt the lakes Erie and Ontario, is a great and prodigious cadence of water, which falls down after a surprising and astonishing manner; insomuch that the Universe itself does not afford its parallel."