"Chicago to the Sea." Eastern Excursionist / A complete guide to the principal eastern summer resorts, including: Niagara Falls, the White Mountains, Saint Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers, Montreal and Quebec, the New England sea beaches, etc., and how and when to enjoy them.

by William C. Gage

We design to give in this chapter such facts as shall serve as a complete guide for the tourist in visiting this resort, not only to all the points of interest, but such other information as shall render his visit enjoyable. Before entering into particulars, we present a general description of Niagara, in a comprehensive view, which will assist the reader in understanding the several detailed descriptions which follow.

Niagara River is the outlet of Lake Erie, connecting it with Ontario, the lowest in the great chain of lakes, which unitedly are the largest inland reservoirs in the world. The river is only 33 miles in length, and the total descent in that distance is 334 feet, Lake Ontario being that much lower than Erie, which is 565 feet above sea level. About a mile above the Falls the waters commence to descend with great velocity, constituting what is known as the Rapids, second in interest only to the Falls themselves, and adding to the interest of the latter by giving such an increased velocity to the water in its plunge over the precipice. The total descent in this mile is 52 feet, and the waters come rushing and tumbling along the rocky bed of the stream, which is here considerably narrower than its general channel above.

Just above the Falls are several small islands, connected by a system of bridges with one another and the American shore, and affording a magnificent view of the Rapids. Standing on one of the bridges, or the upper shore of an island, and looking up the stream, the view presented is grand and impressive, as the resistless torrent seems ready to overwhelm all in its course.

These islands, combined with a sharp curve in the course of the stream, widen the channel to about 4,750 feet, one-fourth of which is occupied by Goat Island, the largest of the group, which here extends to the extreme verge of the precipice, and divides the stream and the Falls into two distinct parts.

The American Fall is about 1,100 feet wide, and the remainder, or Canada fall, about double the width, although from its curved or horseshoe shape the line of the brink is considerably longer than the direct breadth.

Our [illustration] presents a fine view of the American Fall from below, looking northward. The waters here make a sheer descent of 164 feet, while the height of the Canadian Fall is from 12 to 14 feet less, owing to the lengthening of the Rapids and the curve of the stream.

The volume of water in the Canada Fall is much greater, however, than that of the American, and the impetus given by the Rapids carries the water over the precipice with great velocity, and it forms a grand curve in the descent, falling clear of the rocky wall into the bed of the river below. The lower strata of this wall being of a loose, shaly character, the action of the spray has hollowed it out, so that between the wall of rock and the descending wall of water, a cavernous space exists, into which the tourist may venture by a rocky and somewhat perilous path from the Canada side. It is needless to add that a water-proof suit adds materially to the comfort of those who thus venture. Similar trips may be made under the American Fall, which will be duly described in detail.

Below the Falls, on the American side, is a stairway and an inclined-plane railway, leading to the water’s edge, and connecting with a ferry which here crosses to the Canada shore by means of small boats, amid the spray and over the turbulent waters, not yet at rest from their mighty plunge.

The banks below the Falls are very high and precipitous, and the channel contracts to less than a thousand feet, varying in the descent to Lake Ontario, from 200 to 400 yards.

The entire river, from its source to its mouth, is an interesting geological study. The changes that have taken place in the formation of its banks, and the topography of the country through which it passes, furnish much food for conjecture, upon which several theories have been constructed, one of which seems to be quite universally adopted, viz., that the Falls have gradually receded from a point below
their present location, some say as far down as the high bluff at Lewiston, seven miles from Lake Ontario.