WHEN NIAGARA FALLS RAN DRY
Photograph showing the Canadian and American Falls with an Ice Bridge in the Gorge and “Shanty’s” on top of the ice. The Suspension Bridge in foreground.
In 1848, a unique spectacle occurred which some people considered to be a harbinger of the end of the world: water ceased to flow over the Horseshoe Falls. After an exceptionally cold winter, the thick ice on Lake Erie had begun to break up during a warm spell in March. On March 28 and 29, strong easterly winds drove huge amounts of ice across Lake Erie. The swift current then drew the ice into the mouth of the Niagara River, where it began to pile up. Reinforced by cold winds, the ice formed a dam between Buffalo and Fort Erie, cutting off the flow of water into the river and over the Falls for a period of thirty hours.
The change in the water level of the river began at about midnight on March 29, 1848, and by early morning, the entire riverbed from Fort Erie to the crest of the Falls was exposed. Amongst the first to notice this alteration were the owners of the flour mills along the riverbank, whose water wheels were demobilized as a result of the dry conditions. Many incredulous individuals flocked to the river and cautiously ventured onto the riverbed, some crossing to Goat Island and beyond. Residents of Chippawa found muskets, bayonets, swords and other military equipment on the bed, which were thought to have been discarded by American troops after the Battle of Chippawa (July 5, 1814). Some business-minded youths drove a logging cart onto the bed and removed a number of large pine timbers, over 12 inches square and 40 to 60 feet long, which were on the riverbed just off Three Sister's Islands. On the night of March 29, hundreds of people were reported to have carried lit torches across the brink of both the Horseshoe and American Falls, whilst the U.S. Cavalry rode back and forth.
For more, click link: Dry Falls
|
The Willoughby Historical Museum is the rural branch of the Niagara Falls Museums. Whereas the Ferry Street site is grandiose and impressive, this humble one-room schoolhouse provides the perfect setting in which to experience the charm of early life in the area known as Willoughby.
