staying in the Toronto area, one of our first
outings was to run down to Niagara Falls to see one of the seven
natural wonders of North America. We figured that it being a
Thursday, we would have the Falls pretty much to ourselves.
Wrong! We forgot to take into account the fact that many of the
people were there for 4th of July and Canada Day (July 1). Ten
thousand people jammed the walkway along Niagara Falls Parkway,
cramming three and four deep against the retaining wall that ran
for over a mile along the edge of the escarpment on the Canadian
side. It was a beautiful warm sunny day and everybody was out and
about. It seemed that there was no place along the walkway, that
we could stand where we didn't hear some other language spoken,
besides English. There was also no place 
to park. We elected to use one of the distant
parking lots which aforded us an opportunity to ride one of the
famous "Red Rover" English style busses. The history of
the Falls is somewhat old, having started during the 4th glacial
ice age when the North American Great Lakes were gouged and
pressed by tons of ice forming and reforming. After the ice had
receded the last time, the gigantic holes left behind filled up
with water. Over time this water worked its way toward the
Atlantic Ocean in many ways, one of them being over the Niagara
Escarpment. This started some 20,000 years ago when the Falls
were believed 
to have been some 250 feet high. Year after year
the fast moving, ever pounding forces of the water carved away
the limestone and sedimentary rock causing the edge of the falls
to break away and crash down into the river below.During the last 200 years, the Falls have been moving steadily upstream. The Horseshoe Falls has receded 865 feet since 1764. If this rate of recession were to continue, the American Falls would dry up in another century or so as the more rapidly moving Horseshoe captured all the water of the Niagara River. Man, however has changed the picture. Remedial works and dams have spread the flow of water more evenly over the two Falls. Power
stations
take up to 75% of the water. Recession is now less than one foot
per year. It seams likely that these man-made changes, together
with other projects to stabilize the American Falls will maintain
the present appearance for many years to come. Indians have lived
near the Falls ever since the ice has receded, though little is
known about their daily lives. The first white man to write about
this natural wonder was a Frenchman named Samuel de Champlain in
1064, who reported it as it was told to him by the local
inhabitants. The first white man to actually see the falls is
believed to be a Father Louis Hennepin, a Recollect priest from
Spanish Netherlands who in 1683 recorded his observations of a
waterfall that could be heard from miles away, and who's plume or
mist could also be seen for miles. The Falls have always been an attraction for mankind but after the War of 1812, the Falls really
came into their own as a tourist attraction. By
1820 there were three hotels catering to the needs of the
visitors. Very quickly, the Falls became synonymous with
dare-devil stunts. The very first recorded one was in 1827 and
was arranged by the hotel owners, who acquired the Lake Eire
Schooner "Michigan" , filled it with a dozen or so wild
animals and sent it over the falls before a crowd of some 10,000.
The first person to actually go over the Falls was Sam Patch. He
erected a flimsy 100-foot tower at the foot of Goat Island which
runs between the American and Horseshoe falls and made two leaps
from the tower into the Niagara River. He hit the water at 60
mph. Anything less than a perfect feet-first entry would have
been fatal. He lived to try the stunt 2 times before moving on to
other things. The first person to go over the Falls in a barrel
was actually a woman. In 1901, a schoolteacher, Mrs. Annie
Taylor, made the decision to try for fame and glory by going over
the Falls in a barrel. Not sure of her success, she decided to
send the barrel over the Falls first and see what happened. She
added her cat as a last minute thought. The barrel made it, the
cat didn't. Undaunted, on October 4th, her ample body was lowered
into a airtight
barrel which had been beefed up with addition
straps and padding, screwed down the lid and added some air.
Within seconds she was off bouncing off rocks as the rapids
carried her up and over the Falls. She described the ride as the
most awful jostle she had ever experienced and the fall just a
blank as she lost consciousness upon hitting the water. For 17
minutes her limp body flopped around in the air tight barrel
until it traversed the Canadian shore and was hauled in. Dazed
but alive, Anne Taylor walked away to a cheering crowd, the first
person every to go over the Falls and survive. Thus the stunts of
dare-devils were started, to continue on over the years. Although
new regulations provide for a maximum fine of $10,000 for
stunting on the Niagara River, it hasn't deterred the really
determined stunters. Some stunts were well thought out, others
were not so well planned. The last dare-devil to tempt fate and
the heights of the Falls was Robert Overacker, a social reformer
from California who, desiring to draw attention to the plight of
the homeless, decided to shoot off the top of the Falls on a jet
ski then descend on a rocket propelled parachute to a safe
landing some 156
feet beyond the rocks. He also became the
latest fatality when his chute failed to open. Not withstanding
the fun and excitement of the entertainment that the Falls has
created, the raw natural power exerted by such a mass of water
all falling a tremendous distance to the river below is awe
inspiring. It is worth the trip just to stand and feel the
strength of this uncontrollable force. By all means, see it from
the Canadian side. That way you are facing the falls, not
standing beside them. 